Last week we lost Mel Watkins, a giant on the Canadian left. He leaves behind a legacy that influenced countless people, myself among them. Mel made enormous contributions, many of which were ahead of their time.
In the early 1970s, he helped found the Waffle movement in the NDP, which, among other things, made the case for public ownership of critical industries and questioned Canada’s reliance on manufactured goods made elsewhere.
As we live through COVID-19, it’s worth thinking about Mel’s warning to us decades ago: that public safety requires public ownership. Leaving critical industries in private hands lines the pockets of billionaires and leaves us unprepared to meet urgent challenges.
Consider the impact of privatization in our medical labs. In Ontario, unions in the sector note that $163–$250 million per year is wasted to pad the profit margins of lab firms, which translates into delays and cost increases to the public purse. And what impact does this have now with COVID-19 testing, at the time we need it most?
Or what about our capacity to offer personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers? We currently purchase this equipment from private firms, and have only recently, during a pandemic, made appeals for industry to retool and meet urgent needs.
But some industry players have other plans. Canadian Tire has been blasted for selling face masks at a huge markup, and long-term care homes, themselves scrambling (like hospitals) for PPE, are receiving appeals from private operators for masks at a 700 per cent markup.
This pandemic is exposing the consequences of our dependence on global manufacturing for essential products. Last week, President Trump announced a ban on exports to Canada and Latin America of N95 masks made by 3M in the U.S. that are vital to keeping frontline healthcare workers safe. Ontario, according to the provincial government, will run out of PPE for healthcare workers within one week if the masks are not delivered.
We have the skilled workforce, the resources and the technical know-how to make these masks in Ontario. Never again can we put ourselves at the mercy of global supply chains to provide this life-saving equipment.
That’s the legacy of private ownership in critical industries. That’s the outcome of decades of industrial policy, including job-killing trade deals, that have allowed affluent, connected people the right to own huge swathes of our economy. They service our critical needs only so long as it feeds their bottom line.
Mel Watkins saw this in formation decades ago, and warned us against it. As we mourn his passing, we would be wise to take up the banner of public ownership again to protect what matters most: our planet, our health, and our neighbours. We are truly in this together.
Six years ago, in an edited collection of his life’s work, Mel wrote the following: “These may not be the best of times, and they may well get worse, but there is room for hope if we will but face up to our situation.”
Amen, Mel. Thanks to you, we are better prepared for that task. Rest in power, my friend.
