Note: opinion column. Summary and short attributed excerpts preserved for reference; full text at the source link above.
A National Post opinion column argues that the resurgence of socialism in the United States, chiefly through the Democratic Socialists of America, “should serve as a warning to Canadians,” and that a comparable current now runs through parts of Canada’s public-sector labour movement. The writer contends that a “small, highly organized group of anti-capitalist activists” is using union resources and political power to advance an anti-capitalist agenda, and that “social unionism” has expanded unions’ role beyond bargaining into broader political activism.
Avi Lewis is presented as the illustration of that link. The column notes that Lewis “decisively won the NDP leadership in March on a more radical, socialist platform than previous NDP party leaders, advocating for publicly owned grocery stores, public phone and internet utilities, and a state-run housing developer.” It states that before winning the leadership he secured endorsements from CUPE Ontario, multiple CUPE locals, a PSAC local, and the Peel Regional Labour Council, whose membership includes CUPE, ETFO, OSSTF and United Steelworkers members.
The column then catalogues what it characterises as socialist commitments embedded in union policy: CUPE Ontario’s draft May action plan on government intervention, political campaigning, “climate justice” and international solidarity; a 2021 CUPE Ontario leadership oath committing executives to “anti-racist, anti-oppression, working-class and social unionism principles”; a 2016 interview in which the CUPW president called for a “democratically controlled economy”; and CUPE materials describing Cuba as a “socialist society where people’s needs are prioritized.” It also points to CUPE Ontario hosting New York City DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo as a keynote speaker in February 2026.
On union finances, the writer argues that the Rand Formula “gives unions broad control over dues that can fund political campaigns, outside organizations and causes beyond collective bargaining,” allowing “a small activist minority” to advance political aims “often without member knowledge.”
The column closes by invoking the Soviet Union, Maoist China and Pol Pot’s Cambodia as warnings, arguing that capitalism “has lifted billions from poverty,” and calling on Canadians to ask “whether public sector unions are using member dues to fight for Canadian workers or advance an agenda that undermines our freedoms.”
Lauren Frenkel is a health care provider and union member.
Source: National Post. Reproduced for reference under fair dealing (Copyright Act, s. 29).