Rising inequality, social unrest and public distrust, among other systemic challenges and socioeconomic crises, are eroding Canada’s social fabric and destabilizing communities worldwide.
Instead of addressing these inequalities, governments continue to pursue neoliberal economic policies that worsen them.
In response, a resurgence of far-right nationalist and populist movements, exemplified by leaders such as Trump, Bolsonaro, Milei, Meloni, and Le Pen, capitalize on people’s rage, political disenfranchisement and distrust in the system to advance divisive agendas and consolidate power.
Division and ‘otherization’ is a political strategy. As services erode and inequality deepens, anger is redirected toward scapegoats that populist leaders exploit.
Disillusionment with the current state of society and widespread distrust in the system can be traced back to neoliberal, performative and symbolic governance that has failed to meet people’s needs, while enriching the top one per cent and exploiting the global south.
In June, the House unanimously adopted an income tax cut slightly favouring higher-income earners by lowering the bottom marginal rate from 15 per cent to 14 per cent.
In July, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne followed with another classic neoliberal tactic, imposing spending cuts under the banner of budget efficiency.
But austerity kills.
Marginalized communities suffer the most as cuts to essential services and reduced support make it harder to meet basic needs.
Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector labour union, reports current provincial governments’ cuts are higher than any since the 1990s, “cutting funds by $1,100 per person on everything” from healthcare to education and essential social services, including water and food safety.
Research by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) shows the Ontario government has weakened rent controls, cut education funding, left per-capita hospital spending the lowest in the country, and done “nearly nothing about” the postsecondary education funding crisis.
Canada’s Report Card, done by Food Banks Canada, shows housing, health care, and government support continue to fail.
Many households have little money left after covering essentials, with rising food bank use, overcrowded shelters and more encampments appearing across the province.
Canada must embrace participatory democracy and pursue bold progressive social, economic, and political reforms—such as living wages, Universal Basic Income (UBI), progressive taxation, stronger labour rights, and participatory budgets—to build just, democratic societies rooted in trust and participation.
The annual rental wage report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) shows how much a worker must earn per hour to spend less than 30 per cent of their income on rent, a common threshold for affordability.
Some proposed solutions include increasing the minimum wage, non-profit or affordable public housing projects, and converting empty offices into apartments, according to a Macleans article.
Generation Squeeze advocates for stronger renter protection, better market regulation, economic diversification, as well as progressive taxation models.
This model would reduce income and wealth inequality; the collected taxes could fund public services and social programs, strengthening the welfare state, and enabling other progressive measures like Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI).
Instead of transformative and much-needed reforms, the liberal, progressive and leftist forces alienate their base by catering to the right in hopes of bipartisan legislation, while the right goes further and further right, and offers no comparable willingness to compromise.
Zohran Mamdani in the United States is a perfect example of how pro-worker, pro-social justice and pro-equality policies allow liberal parties to reinvigorate local politics.
People are tired and angry with a system where many work paycheque to paycheque, earning too little for a decent life, while stagnant wages, the housing crisis, and weak regulations continue to benefit the wealthy and powerful corporations.
But the fix is easy.
Tax the rich and corporations, redistribute wealth, and fund a strong welfare state. Enforce smart regulation, strengthen unions, collective bargaining, and labour rights. Promote participatory, democratic governance in both the state and corporations, giving everyone an informed say in decisions affecting them, the planet, all living beings, and future generations.