Cory Morgan: We Should Be Alarmed When a Cabinet Minister Proudly Proclaims He’s a Socialist

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault speaks to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Nov. 7, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Commentary

Pierre Trudeau was arguably the most ideologically left-leaning prime minister Canada ever had. He was often blunt-speaking and rarely backed down in any debates. But even Pierre Trudeau wouldn’t dare embrace the label of being a socialist, and he vehemently denied being a socialist when accused of such.

Political times and ideological leanings have certainly changed when we see a senior government cabinet minister proudly declaring himself a socialist. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault didn’t beat around the bush in the House of Commons when he said, “I’m a Liberal and a proud socialist” in response to a question from a Conservative MP. Such a statement would have been a potential career-killer for any politician outside of the NDP only a decade ago. Today though, it barely merited the raised eyebrows of political watchers.

Communism and socialism are close cousins, and socialism is often considered a stepping stone toward full communism. It can be used as an incremental approach toward communism rather than the more traditional method of using revolution to get there. Most people understood this, thus socialists in democratic nations typically kept their views in the closet. They don’t appear to be afraid to show their socialist leanings today, however, and we should be concerned.

Socialism calls for solid government control over the means of production and, eventually, property. Industries are pressured, regulated, and unionized until they become economically unviable. The next step is the nationalization of the industry as the government takes control of it—and blames capitalism for its failure.

Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project is a prime example of that cycle. The government made the economic environment so unfavourable for Kinder Morgan to expand the pipeline that the company fled. Then, the government bought the pipeline and began the almost interminable process of doing the expansion themselves. Today, the pipeline remains hopelessly delayed and way over budget while defenders of the purchase say it is due to a failure of free markets.

More recently, we have seen the government pressuring retail grocers to freeze or reduce prices for their products. Grocers have been villainized and accused of profiteering despite the government’s own study having found profits to be “modest.” Yet the government is still threatening grocers with taxes and further regulations if they don’t drop prices. If this trend continues, we will see large grocers fleeing the market. They can’t remain if they can’t make a profit. It can only be assumed that the government would step in to fill the void and likely be about as competent with that as it has been in the realm of pipeline construction.

Those examples are of creeping socialism. Whether by mistake or design, the government creates an environment where it can take control of an industry ostensibly on behalf of citizens.

Whenever socialism has been overtly pursued by nations, the results have been invariably catastrophic as governments don’t even try to cloak their interest in seizing the assets of private markets.

Venezuela is a prime example of the failure of socialism. Hugo Chávez swept into power with a socialist mandate in 2006 and the country has been on a downward economic spiral ever since. Venezuela was once one of the richest countries in Latin America. Now, over 75 percent of Venezuelans are living in extreme poverty. This is despite Venezuela having some of the richest agricultural land and largest oil reserves on the planet. Under the current government led by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, things are only getting worse.

So why do some people still pursue socialism when it clearly is a flawed economic model?

It all comes down to ideology. When one becomes an ideologue, they embrace a fervent sense of adherence to the tenets of their political belief. They embrace it like a religion, no amount of reasoning will break them free from that.

Dedicated socialists have traditionally realized that if they are overt in their beliefs, they will become unelectable in free societies. Canada’s NDP is an example of that. Although it occupies a significant level of political support, it can’t win federal elections because people won’t vote for avowed socialists.

How far left has the Liberal Party drifted when one of its senior members is willing to declare himself a socialist?

How desensitized to socialist ideology has the public become when they become indifferent to overt socialists holding the federal reins of power in the country?

Minister Guilbeault’s declaration may have slipped under the news radar for the most part, but it signifies a turning point in Canada.

When socialism is no longer taboo in mainstream politics, we should all take notice. Socialism is much easier to get into than to get out of.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.