John Clarke, former major organizer of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, posted this recently on Facebook:
One of the problems with a focus on electoral politics is the almost hypnotic effect it has on those caught up in it. The Toronto mayoral race is almost over and a significant section of leftists are backing the likely winner, Olivia Chow.I can appreciate a position that Chow represents a tactical advantage over a clear Ford ally in the Mayor’s Office. However, the stuff I’m seeing about a political sea change and an earth shattering defeat for the city’s establishment, is simply not rooted in reality.If the next few days produce the expected electoral result, there will be very few developer suicides and no cops are going to be forced to become school crossing guards. The agenda of austerity and the commodification of housing won’t be seriously impacted and the winds of change will be remarkably light.I write this today because we’ve been through this before and should know what’s coming. Hopes have been raised and the inevitable disappointments will lead to some confusion and a tendency towards passivity. Our struggles against the dominant political agenda will need to be continued and intensified regardless of who becomes the next Mayor and we are going to have to come to terms with that in the weeks ahead.
I suspect that the same applies to the candidature of Cornel West–except that West will not win. He will undoubtedly garner more votes than than the anti-capitalist mayoralty candidate Kiri Vadiveulu (who campaigned on an anti-capitalist platform–I voted for him), who obtained only 290 votes yesterday, compared to the darling of the social-reformist or social-democratid left, Olivia Chow, who received 269,372 votes; she is now mayor. Of course, Toronto will hardly change radically. A few changes here, and a few changes there, but the power of the class of employers will not be touched to any great extent.
The Abolitionary 