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Defeating the Stephen Harper government must be the top priority of all progressive Canadians in 2015, Kathleen Monk told delegates to the BC Regional Council meeting today.
“The 2015 elections will be an opportunity for progressives to show Canadians that we don’t have to accept the right wing agenda,” said Monk, a communications specialist.
Monk was director of strategic communications for the late Jack Layton when he was leader of the NDP, and was founding executive director of the Broadbent Institute.
In her report to the council, BC Regional Director Joie Warnock said defeating Harper must be a top priority for Unifor in the coming year, and urged all locals to play an active role.
“We have our target set on making Canada a better place to work and live,” Warnock said. “Stephen Harper’s government is a barrier to that goal.”
Warnock, recalling the struggles the union has faced in BC in its first year, including a long strike at Cascade and the Vancouver Ports dispute, said she knows that Unifor activists can come together to achieve any goal, including defeating Harper.
"We will always stand one day longer than a greedy employer," Warnock said.
Monk said Harper has worked hard to undermine generations of progressive changes that have come to define Canada as a compassionate and equitable society, and to undermine its democratic institutions.
“The Canada we know and love will no longer exist” if Harper is allowed to continue as prime minister, she said.
Defeating Harper will not be easy, she warned. The right wing in Canada is well-funded and very organized. Defeating the Conservatives and bringing in a progressive government will require the left to offer Canadians a clear message that appeals to their core values.
“People become motivated when they connect to what you’re saying,” Monk said. “We have the power to kick out this bad government. We can replace it with a progressive government that will work for all Canadians.”
Unifor National President Jerry Dias told BC Council that Unifor will play an active role in the next federal election.
“We need to make sure that we commit to running the Stephen Harper government out of office next year,” Dias said. “Canadians are counting on us.”
