
Cooperate for Canada: The Plan
What are we asking of progressive leaders?
1. Cooperation
Our votes during the next election must add up to a united progressive front to protect our democracy, to build a fair, equitable society, and a liveable climate for present and future generations.
Our current progressive leaders and candidates must signal their commitment to deliver a clear choice for voters – a single candidate for Progressive Policies to run against the CPC candidate who will take us back decades. Rather than working against each other Progressive parties must work together for the common good. Cooperation is crucial to address the multiple crises we face.
Ways leaders can cooperate to defeat the CPC (click to view):
- Attack the Conservatives not each other: In public debates focus your attack on the Conservatives, their platform and the disaster of a conservative win (accelerated climate breakdown, heightened affordability crisis, attacks on our commons, restriction of dissent);
- Don’t run a candidate: if your party does not have a strong chance of winning the district
- Run a paper candidate: if you have nominated a candidate but don’t have a strong chance of winning (save your funds for where your chances are best).
2. An Alignment of Policy / Values
Our current progressive leaders and candidates must agree to support and work together to achieve policies that secure the future of Canada – policies that address the concerns of Canadians and represent our values.
The majority of Canadians are concerned about at least one of the many crises we are facing:
- worsening climate crisis
- growing economic disparity
- homelessness and the lack of affordable housing
- weakening protections for our environment and endangered species
- biodiversity loss
- inequitable access to clean water
- valuing Indigenous peoples’ wisdom and history as guardians of the land/water/biodiversity
- implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls calls for justice
- the need to strengthen access to secure, publicly funded healthcare including a women’s right to choose
- inadequate benefits for the most vulnerable (persons with disabilities, elderly, low income families)
- protecting and enhancing access to affordable childcare, mental health and drug use services, dental care, vision care and prescription medications
- providing good, safe and sustainable employment for all workers with a standard, basic minimum income
- safeguarding our democratic rights
- safeguarding human rights
- the need to work with Canada’s global partners to expedite climate action and to resolve conflicts peacefully
- electoral reform
- the need to strengthen universal public education
These concerns will not be dealt with under a CPC majority Government.
What is the strategy?
We are focused on key ridings where a cooperative approach could prevent a Conservative win. It will take a national coalition of civil society organizations to pressure the Bloc, Greens, Liberals, and NDP to adopt an electoral cooperation strategy. It will also require immense and coordinated grassroots pressure to convince party leadership.
This strategy of cooperation has worked in the past (click to view):
- Unite the Right (Canada) resulted in the formation of the current Conservative Party of Canada in 2004
- French leftwing parties form ‘Popular Front’ to contest snap election (2024)
- The French legislative election of 2017
- Canadian federal election 2015 informal cooperation
- 2021 Germany federal election: Cooperation between Greens and Social Democrats
- Chile national election 2021
Our plan is to mobilize the campaign on four fronts to pressure progressive parties to cooperate during the next election:
- We are speaking directly to Party leadership to argue for the necessity of cooperation
- We are convening a coalition of national organizations to lead a public campaign supporting this initiative (working through their national and local chapters and membership).
- Through national and local organizations we will work to catalyze a bottom-up, grass-roots movement across the country to work with riding associations and local candidates to cooperate.
- We are encouraging local chapters to identify and rally support for “unity candidates,” those candidates best positioned to win against the Conservatives in local ridings.
Join the call to Cooperate for Canada!
Whether you are an individual, community leader, or a member of a local group, whether you represent a national organization, or are a member of a federal party riding association, or are a candidate, there are ways you can support our campaign for electoral cooperation. Click on the links below to find out how you can ensure our leaders stand together to support and enact policies that reflect Canadians’ values and safeguards our futures.
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