After Left Nationalism: The Future of Canadian Political Economy

This paper – using as a primary focus the evidence and claims laid out in the most recent exposition of left-nationalism – will argue that the entire Canadian left nationalist dependency perspective has to be abandoned. First, it will argue that the left nationalists are wrong when they see a necessary link between Canadian nationalism and the politics of the left. Second, it will examine and reveal as wanting the empirical foundations of the left-nationalist school. Third, it will argue for the necessity of a break from impressionism and the very flawed interpretation of Marxism inherited from two generations of Canadian communism. Fourth, it will outline the implications of this analysis for an understanding of the “national questions” in Canada and conclude by outlining the first steps towards an alternative left political economy in Canada.