Workers looking to the NDP for help will need to look elsewhere.

Touted by many as the party of the working class, COVID-19 has forced the social-democratic NDP into lock-step with the capitalist class. Nowhere has this been made clearer than on the issue of rent.

The crisis of capitalism exacerbated by COVID-19 has thrown millions of workers out of work. As a result, many of these workers will be unable to pay rent for the foreseeable future. It is such a common issue that talks of a rent strike have entered the mainstream.

The Federal NDP was quick to jump on this issue, and called on the federal government to follow up its mortgage moratorium with a moratorium on rents as well. In a letter from party leader Jagmeet Singh and NDP housing and finance critics written on March 29, the NDP called on support for “renters, landlords, and homeowners.”

The Federal NDP’s rhetoric has been lukewarm at best; calling for support for landlords—parasites that make their living by hoarding housing and selling it to workers—shows without a doubt that the NDP is not a party of the working class. But the fact that even such milquetoast rhetoric has not been backed up by action is telling.

And what about provinces where the NDP has provincial power? The story there is even worse.

In BC, the provincial NDP under the leadership of John Horgan have not followed the federal party’s lead. There the NDP was slow to act—slower even than Ontario, ruled by the Progressive Conservatives—in issuing a moratorium on evictions. Finally, earlier this week Horgan announced that the NDP would issue a $500 a month credit directly to landlords with tenants unable to pay rent. This was not coupled with any relief for tenants themselves.

Tenant advocacy groups like ACORN were quick to criticize the decision, noting that this was simply a subsidy for landlords.

Actions speak louder than words. While the federal NDP has called for a moratorium on rent and support for landlords while doing nothing, the BC NDP has directly subsidized landlords instead of workers.

Workers will need to organize themselves rather than rely on the NDP to get out of this crisis.