Canadian Politics

A01(b) - Working-class politics and economic justice

Date: Jun 3 | Time: 08:30am to 10:00am | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : David McGrane (University of Saskatchewan)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : David McGrane (University of Saskatchewan)

National Identity and the Electoral Divergence of the North American White Working Class: Lewis Krashinsky (University of Toronto)
Abstract: Over the last twenty-years, white working-class voters across the American Midwest have shifted their electoral support to Republican presidential candidates. However, while American voters shifted to the right, white working-class voters to the north in the province of Ontario have remained much more supportive of left-wing parties. Utilizing original survey data, a novel conjoint experiment, and qualitative fieldwork in Windsor, Ontario and Macomb County, Michigan, this paper examines the extent to which this puzzle can be explained by differences in national identity. I show that conceptions of the nation and what predicts greater personal attachment to the nation are different between Canada and the United States, which have an important differential effect on how national identity influences political behavior. Employing regression and mediation analyses, I find that national identity is correlated with Republican partisanship and voting among white working-class voters from the Midwest. However, among white working-class voters from Ontario, I find that national identity is instead associated with support for and affiliation with the centre-left Liberal Party.

Class cleavages and evolving working-class voting behaviour in the 2021 Canadian Federal Election: Clay Duncalfe (York University)
Abstract: This study analyzes changing patterns of voting behaviour among working-class voters in Canada. Previous research has demonstrated a historical pattern of support for the NDP from the mid-twentieth century until 2019, when such support declined. Meanwhile, working-class support for the Conservative party has steadily increased since 2004. So far, the literature only analyzes data until the 2019 federal election. This study is the first of its kind to use data from the 2021 Canada Election Survey. I hypothesize that working-class support for the NDP continued to decline and working-class support for the Conservatives continued to increase in 2021. I test these hypotheses through multinominal logistic and ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions to estimate voting patterns of different classes in Canada. I code four types of classes within Canada (managers, professionals, routine non-manual, and working class) using Statistics Canada’s National Occupation Classification system. The dependent variable is the party-based vote choices of survey respondents. This study contributes to the growing literature on contemporary class cleavages in the electoral realm, particularly the observed trend that in the Global North support for social-democratic and centre-left parties among their traditional base – non-degree holding members of the working class – has eroded in recent decades. Knowing whether such trends hold true in Canada therefore sheds light on the shifting nature of Canadian class cleavages, secular trends of class-based voting behaviour in the Global North, as well as the political-economic foundations of electoral politics.

Examining Economic Reconciliation: Hannah Wyile (Concordia University)
Abstract: Discourses of “economic reconciliation” have been ascendant in discussions about the relationship between Canada and Indigenous peoples over the last decade (Cyca 2024; Forester 2023). However, while using the adjective “economic” to qualify the much-debated and oft-ambiguous term “reconciliation” might seem to indicate something more specific, its adoption by actors with diverging worldviews and goals suggests that a closer look is needed before imagining that shared declarations of commitment to economic reconciliation imply convergence on the meaning of reconciliation or consensus about a shared political agenda. In considering the rise of discourses of economic reconciliation, it bears recalling that “reconciliation” holds particular meanings in economics and finance, and that differing normative conceptions of economic relationships have long influenced debates about sociopolitical reconciliation in Canada and other settler colonial contexts. This paper explores a variety of discourses of economic reconciliation from the last five years in Canadian news media, political speeches, and government policy and situates them in relation to etymological and conceptual frameworks regarding different meanings of reconciliation, scholarship on Indigenous peoples’ conceptions of economic relationships and economic justice (Jobin 2023; Hamilton et al. 2021), and earlier examples of economic-focused conceptions of reconciliation in settler colonial contexts. As with the broader term “reconciliation,” understanding the political work being performed by discourses of economic reconciliation requires carefully parsing and contextualizing given uses, and such critical engagement only becomes more important as the term proliferates more widely and is employed by actors promoting divergent political visions.

Small Worlds, Big Boards: Examining the Process and Politics of Labour Relations Boards and Union Decline: William Roelofs (University of Toronto)
Abstract: Canada has seen a significant decline in private sector union density over the past twenty years despite relative stability in public sector unionization. This paper examines this decline, highlighting the role of provincial Labour Relations Boards in shaping these trends. Labour Relations Boards serve as quasi-judicial bodies that oversee union certification, collective bargaining, and workplace standards. While existing literature frequently attributes the de-unionization phenomenon to broader socio-economic shifts—such as neoliberalism, de-industrialization, and financialization—this study contends that these analyses often neglect the crucial role of provincial Labour Relations Boards and subnational political dynamics. Arguing that institutional shifts within these boards, along with changes in labour law have significantly contributed to the decline of unions, this study analyzes regulatory changes and their effects on union membership through 30 qualitative interviews, statistical labour board data, and historical documents. Focusing on Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and Newfoundland, this institutionalist study provides a detailed examination of how regional labor relations frameworks influence unionization patterns. By shedding light on these dynamics, we underscore the urgent need to reassess labor policies to better address the contemporary challenges facing unions in Canada.