RESEARCH - ANALYSIS - SOLUTIONS CCPA R e v i e w Economic & Social Trends

August 2012 ’s NDP: time to return to its social democratic roots

In June, 1969, Manitoba elected ’s first low and modest income groups via the provision NDP government and Manitoba’s first social demo- of goods and services through the public sector, cratic government. The NDP has since become the and increasing equality between men and women. dominant political party in Manitoba, winning 8 of Some of the ideas that emerged from debates the last 12 elections and governing for almost two within the party were quite radical. For example, years in every three since June, 1969. The NDP’s regarding equality, Schreyer stated that an objec- latest run as government began in 1999. tive of his government was “to reduce differentia- tion…bring about greater equality…and reward the The Schreyer Years dignity of work,” and he proposed that the ratio of The first NDP government, led by Ed Schreyer, incomes for those at the top of the income scale, to consisted of a diverse group from different back- the incomes of rank-and-file workers, be no more grounds, bound together by a belief that govern- than 2.5 to 1.0. This is a far cry from today’s scan- ment can and should act to improve conditions in dalous gap between the rich and the rest of us. society. Schreyer and others characterized them- Significant change in global and national econo- selves as democratic socialists or social democrats. mies, including stagflation and growing opposition They implemented public auto insurance, eliminat- to workers and unions, constrained the Schreyer ed Medicare premiums, and amalgamated the City government. Nevertheless, during their second of and surrounding municipalities. They term, 1973-1977, they implemented: Canada’s first adopted measures to reduce poverty, improved comprehensive, province-wide, universal home labour standards and industrial relations legislation, care program; the Marital Property Act, provid- and built public housing for seniors and families. ing for equal division of assets between husband The NDP’s philosophical emphasis was on reducing and wife on the break-up of a marriage; more income inequalities, enhancing the lot of those in public housing; and a partnering with the federal

The Review of Economic and Social Trends is available free from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Each issue features new independent research and analysis on current social and eco- nomic issues affecting Manitobans. For more information or to provide feedback please call or write: 309 - 323 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2C1 ph: (204) 927-3200 fax: (204) 927-3201 [email protected] www.policyalternatives.ca 1 government in an experimental program in Dau- tract with the Manitoba Government Employees’ phin, called “Mincome”, to determine whether Association, then headed by , established a guaranteed, unconditional amount of income a Jobs Fund to create employment, and acceler- caused disincentives to work. Mincome lasted from ated capital projects. Again, equality was central: 1974-1979. Sufficient funding to analyze the data Pawley argued that the objective “was to gradually properly was never provided, but economist Evelyn reduce sharp disparities in income distribution.” Forget’s research has shown that Mincome pro- As a result of this commitment to greater equality duced many positive results. via an activist government, Manitoba’s economy performed well relative to other provinces. The Schreyer government also utilized hydro-elec- During Pawley’s two terms in office important tric power to promote economic development. In changes were made to labour and employment 1966, the then Conservative government approved standards legislation, including First Contract and a hydro project that would have diverted the flow Final Offer Selection legislation and pay equity. of water in the Churchill River to the Nelson River. Improvements in the minimum wage and social The original plan was for a 35 foot high diversion, assistance were made and substantive changes despite warnings that this would cause massive improved Workplace Health and Safety legislation. human and environmental damage. The Schreyer The Pawley government added “sexual orienta- government approved the Churchill River Diversion, tion” to the Human Rights code and made impor- but cut it to 17 feet from 35 feet. The costs of the tant changes to environmental legislation. flooding were reduced, but still extensive: great Equally important, Pawley and his government human damage was done to northern Aboriginal constantly worked to build the party through peoples. It is estimated the costs of redressing annual conventions that brought rank-and-file the damages caused by the diversion since 1970 members and caucus members together to debate now exceeds $700 million; the damage caused policies and party principles. This led to the passing to many Aboriginal people and their families can at Convention of a Statement of Aims, inscribed on never be redressed. The Pawley and Doer/Selinger NDP membership cards, that reads in part: governments have continued to promote hydro development, but there have been significant im- q Our society must change from one provements in handling environmental issues and based on competition to one of coopera- consulting and involving Aboriginal peoples in these tion. later developments. q We wish to create a society where indi- viduals give according to their abilities and The Pawley Years receive according to their needs. q led the NDP to a majority govern- Our purpose as a movement is to foster ment in 1981, after a single term of a right-wing social change toward a more cooperative -led government committed to “acute, society. Our purpose as a political party is protracted restraint.” Like Schreyer, Pawley used to develop a public mandate for that social government to reduce inequalities and to nurture change through giving individuals greater economic growth, and worked to establish a closer control in the economy, in their workplaces, relationship with organized labour. Pawley assumed and their community. office when the national economy was slipping into the deepest recession since the Great Depres- Like Schreyer, Pawley and his government worked sion of the 1930s. It was necessary to find ways to hard to promote greater equality, citizen participa- counteract recessionary pressures. At a time when tion, stronger unions and a positive role for the Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were newly state. The results benefited most Manitobans. triumphant and starting the long, right-wing reign In 1988 the Conservatives, led by , of neoliberalism, Pawley’s NDP government swam replaced the NDP and governed until 1999. Filmon against the current. They negotiated a social con- and his government embraced all the Thatcher/ CCPA-review • Economic & social trends in Manitoba 2 Reagan nostrums: smaller governments, balanced to Manitoba; developing more hydroelectric budgets, and removal of trade union rights to pro- power to fuel energy exports; and adjusting mote competition in labour markets. The deficits taxes to remain “competitive” with the resource resulting from another deep recession in the early rich provinces to the west. 1990s provided the pretext for Filmon to slash gov- ernment spending on health care—notably cuts to However, after the early measures to com- the training and employment of health care profes- pensate for the worst excesses of the Filmon sionals—as well as post-secondary education, social administration, Doer relegated to the margins welfare and housing. Filmon introduced work for important components of the Schreyer/Pawley welfare, pushed down the real levels of minimum eras, particularly the social democratic commit- wages, changed certification procedures making ment to reducing poverty and inequality, and it more difficult for workers who wanted to do so to nurturing the growth of unions. This change to unionize, took rights away from teachers, and can be attributed in large part to the pervasive imposed compulsory days off without pay known as influence of neoliberal ideas and the reluctance “Filmon Fridays.” of the government to depart too far from what Filmon’s legacy was three-fold: a much-diminished had become entrenched political wisdom in Ot- public sector; a dramatic increase in severe poverty tawa and beyond. and related problems; and a weakened economy. The Schreyer/Pawley governments had been The Doer Years characterized by their willingness, at least occa- Filmon was defeated by Gary Doer’s NDP in 1999. sionally, to challenge mainstream political ideas In their first term the Doer government worked in pursuit of policies that embodied their social to undo some of the more reactionary measures democratic principles. The Doer governments of the Filmon government. Card-based certifica- largely abandoned the idea of challenging tion was brought back, to facilitate unionization dominant ideas, substituting the tactical notion where desired by workers, albeit with a 65 percent of “inoculating” themselves against criticism threshold rather than the 55 percent when Filmon from established powers by giving to those— took office. Action to correct the damage done to mostly corporate and media—powers what the health care system included more resources they asked for, and hoping that some, albeit for the updating of hospitals and technology, more reduced, revenues would still be left to commit training places for doctors and nurses to start the to progressive purposes. This was a deliberate long climb back from the damage done by Filmon’s strategy, specifically articulated in an impor- cuts to training spots, and the establishment of a tant article written by the late Donne Flanagan, plan to improve accessibility to sophisticated treat- then a senior advisor to Doer. It meant no more ments—kidney dialysis, chemotherapy etc.—out- challenging of dominant ideas and powerful side Winnipeg. There was also a push to expand forces; they were to be acceded to. The result, education: more resources to school divisions and inevitably, was a steady slide away from social post-secondary institutions, and the freezing of democratic principles, reflected for example post-secondary tuition fees. The government also in a refusal to increase social assistance rates, eliminated some of the worst abuses inflicted on especially the shelter allowance component of social assistance recipients by the Filmon govern- those rates, and an embargo, with minor excep- ments. tions, on improving and adding to social hous- ing. Nor was there any willingness to build on The NDP had established a vision consisting of the evidence from the Mincome experiment of five key elements: protecting and enriching health the Schreyer years, to develop a more progres- services; expanding universities and especially sive and egalitarian approach to income sup- community colleges and increasing the numbers in port for the poor. apprenticeship programs; expanding immigration

CCPA-Review • Economic & social trends in Manitoba 3 While Doer won re-election three times, and thus approach to governance, since unions—contrary to must be seen to have satisfied, at least compared the propaganda aggressively promoted by the likes to the alternatives, a significant proportion of of the federal Harper government and their allies Manitoba’s voters, there was a noticeable backing the Fraser Institute—have always been a driving off from the principles that had driven—however force behind improvements in living standards and many compromises were required along the way— human rights for the majority of Canadians. the Schreyer and Pawley governments. The Selinger government has taken some important anti-poverty initiatives—for example the commit- The Selinger Years—So Far ment to build 500 units of social housing per year When Gary Doer left to become Ambassador to the for five years, the renovation of large numbers of USA, he was replaced by . Selinger’s public housing units and financing of social im- election as party leader, and his defeat of the party provements in low-income areas through initiatives establishment’s much more conservative candi- like Neighbourhoods Alive! However, despite these date, was in large part the result of the mobiliza- important initiatives, the current government has tion of many of the most progressive elements of not adopted a coherent and aggressive anti-poverty the NDP, acting in the belief that Selinger, given his strategy. The heart of such a strategy would be inner-city and anti-poverty background, would re- substantial and consistent public investment in turn to the more progressive—and successful—ap- solutions that have proved to be effective, and it proach to governance of the Schreyer and Pawley would include targets, timelines and enforcement years, and would govern in a fashion more con- mechanisms. Rather, the government’s approach sistent with social democratic principles. To date, is found within their All Aboard Strategy, a piece- however, the Selinger government has adopted an meal strategy that while far better than what the approach more like the cautious and centrist Doer Conservatives would deliver, is not nearly enough governments, than the more activist and egalitarian to solve the deeply entrenched poverty that so Schreyer and Pawley governments. characterizes Manitoba and Winnipeg. The result is that homelessness, food bank dependence and the For example, the Selinger government has been violent activities of street gangs persist. To make reluctant to clear away the obstacles to trade union these matters worse, the Selinger government sup- certification and to alter the terrain of industrial- re ports the hard-line, lock ‘em up approach to crime lations by curbing the advantages now enjoyed by that the federal Harper government is implement- employers when dealing with strikes and lockouts. ing. This is deeply antithetical to social democratic While Manitoba unions have managed to improve principles. the unionization rate despite this failure, they have had little success in overcoming the regressive It is unlikely that this situation will soon improve. changes to labour legislation relating to employer The Selinger government is now boxed in by its “free speech”—allowing employers to threaten commitment to achieving a balanced budget in workers during a unionization drive—made by the 2014 and its indefensible unwillingness to challenge Conservatives. These problems are likely to worsen dominant thinking about the need to increase tax with the growing presence in Manitoba of anti- revenues. On the contrary, this government con- union firms such as Walmart and Target. In the last tinues not only to reduce tax rates, but to boast round of cabinet appointments, Selinger combined about doing so. Finance Minister Stan Struthers Labour with Child and Family Services, the latter a concluded his 2012 budget statement by saying particularly large and complex portfolio, a change that cumulative tax cuts since 1999 had “saved” that we fear does not bode well for Manitoba ‘s Manitobans more than $1.2 million. This is noth- labour movement. Taking steps to make it easier to ing to boast about, at a time when inequalities form unions is exceptionally important if Manitoba are growing ever wider and poverty ever deeper, is to return to a more progressive and egalitarian with all the adverse consequences this is known

CCPA-review • Economic & social trends in Manitoba 4 to produce. Indeed, the Canadian Centre for Policy and legislation to facilitate unionization, and a more Alternatives-Manitoba’s work on the social deter- progressive and effective approach to crime—in minants of health shows clearly that investing now pursuit of a more just and egalitarian society. to reduce poverty and inequality produces future benefits. These include, among others, improved If the Selinger government does not begin to move health and educational outcomes, greater labour in this direction, it is our opinion not only that real market attachment, and reduced levels of crime, all problems will not be solved, but also that the gov- of which would produce significant fiscal benefits. ernment is unlikely to be able to mobilize enough Such measures would also, of course, be consistent enthusiasm from Manitobans to win the next elec- with the progressive legacy of the Schreyer and tion. That would return Manitoba to an alterna- Pawley years, and their governments’ commitment tive that, as developments at the federal level are to social democratic principles. showing, is increasingly vicious. But to take these positive steps—to use the powers of government to reduce poverty and inequality Errol Black and Jim Silver and remove barriers to unionization, for example— would require the government to challenge some of the dominant political ideas of the past 30 years. This the government seems unwilling to do, despite a wealth of evidence that it is these very ideas that have created growing inequality and poverty, and that have driven the global economy to the state of crisis that is apparent to even the most casual observer today.

What Next for Social Democracy in Manitoba? We need a return—a hard-headed, pragmatic re- turn—to the social democratic principles by which the Schreyer and Pawley governments were at least partly characterized. Those principles include a commitment to: moving constantly and purpose- fully toward greater equality and reduced poverty; using the powers of government as a positive force; building the strength of the trade union movement, on the grounds that doing so increases the likeli- hood of our moving collectively in the direction of social democratic goals; promoting the mobiliza- tion of the members of the NDP and Manitobans more generally, and involving them in an ongoing debate about the future of our province; and a will- ingness to challenge dominant thinking and power- ful interests—for example, with respect to taxation to generate the revenue to solve real problems,

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