In a scathing post-election analysis, Reason2Resist host Dimitri Lascaris was joined by author Yves Engler and Green Party of Quebec leader Alex Tyrrell to dissect the historic collapse of Canada’s electoral left in the 2025 federal election. The panel focused on the Green Party’s retreat into militarism, the NDP’s electoral freefall, and how a manufactured two-party dynamic has squeezed out meaningful alternatives.
“This was the fourth consecutive election in which the Liberals won the prerogative to form a government,” Lascaris said. “But like the last one, this Liberal government led by Prime Minister Mark Carney will be in a minority.”
The election results were devastating for Canada’s self-described progressive parties. The Green Party fell to just 1.3% of the popular vote with only one MP—Elizabeth May—re-elected. The NDP dropped from 25 to just 7 seats, despite the party’s claims of holding the Liberals to account.
“These show how deep these problems go,” said Tyrrell. “Going to the center is not the way to have success.”
“We Don’t Have Any Real Big Left-Wing Party in Canada at This Point”
Tyrrell pointed to a rightward drift on foreign policy and militarism under both NDP and Green Party leadership.
“When it comes to things like spending on the military, both the NDP and Greens gave in to the right-wing narrative that this is inevitable, that we have to spend all kinds of money on warfare,” he said.
Lascaris was more direct: “The Green Party almost disappeared from the electoral map.”
Engler argued that both party structures and broader left-wing movements bear responsibility.
“There is no real substantive movement calling for economic democracy or putting forward an alternative to capitalism,” he said. “They’ve basically conceded to Western imperialism very clearly.”
Defeats for Palestine Defenders
Lascaris highlighted the defeat of several high-profile NDP candidates who had taken principled stances on Palestine: Matthew Green, Nikki Ashton, Avi Lewis, and Joel Harden.
“Avi… was quite fearless and eloquent in defense of the Palestinian cause,” Lascaris said. “Nonetheless, Avi fell to a distant third… with 12.6%.”
Engler was blunt: “Those are fairly depressing results from a left perspective and from a pro-Palestinian perspective.”
Green Party in Freefall
The panel also covered the Green Party’s disastrous showing under co-leader Jonathan Pedneault, who resigned after the election.
“Under Pedneault’s leadership, we saw a really radical departure from the founding principles of the Green Party, which include peace and nonviolence,” Tyrrell said.
“He supported the buying of fighter jets for Canada. He supported militarizing the Arctic, increasing the number of troops… This shift failed to inspire people to be involved with the party.”
Lascaris noted that Pedneault finished last in his Montreal riding. Meanwhile, Paul Manly, seen by many as the party’s most principled figure, finished fourth.
“In this election, [the Green Party] had actually fewer candidates than when Annamie Paul ran,” Tyrrell added. “So many people want to run for the Green Party for the right reasons… There’s far fewer people that are interested in being involved to play this kind of centrist game.”
“Elizabeth May Is Back to Being the One-Person Show”
With Pedneault’s resignation, Elizabeth May has resumed sole leadership.
“She’s abandoned her co-leadership title,” Tyrrell observed. “We’re sort of back to the one-person show… Elizabeth has led the party nearly uninterrupted since 2006.”
Tyrrell called on May to step down and sit as an independent MP: “If Elizabeth May were to sit as an independent, not only could the Green Party renew itself… it would allow her to concentrate more on her district.”
Voters Rewarded the Parties Who Created the Crisis
Despite widespread anger over the housing crisis and rising cost of living, 85% of Canadians voted for either the Liberals or Conservatives—far higher than in recent elections.
“These are the people that created the problems that are uppermost in the minds of Canadians,” Lascaris said. “I just find this absolutely mystifying.”
Tyrrell agreed that superficial perceptions of competence and fear of Donald Trump distorted the vote.
“A lot of people voted Liberal to stop Poilievre,” he said. “And we’ve got sort of a return to the two-party system.”
Engler emphasized that left parties failed to propose bold alternatives, particularly on housing. “Take that $40 billion a year [for military spending] and put it into housing,” he urged. “No one’s making claims on those levels of resources for public housing.”
“Carney Will Govern From the Right”
Looking ahead, the panel agreed that Mark Carney’s government will serve elite interests. Lascaris reminded viewers that Carney was “Chair of the Board of Brookfield Asset Management,” a nearly trillion-dollar global investment firm.
“This is someone who is of the global capitalist elite,” said Engler. “He’s not going to make life more difficult for billionaires.”
Tyrrell warned that Canada remains closely aligned with U.S. militarism and empire.
“Our military is completely useless,” he said. “The only thing it’s used for is supporting the U.S. empire in their quest for global domination.”
Still, both Tyrrell and Engler said that public pressure and mass movements could shift the terrain.
“It’s really up to Canadians—how much pressure do people put on Mark Carney?” Tyrrell asked. “Are we going to see widespread protest and Indigenous uprising, or business as usual?”
