During the Ontario election campaign, the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) have been able to capture considerable support from trade unions, something usually associated with the NDP, which has traditionally pursued the blue-collar vote.
Going into the June 2 election, eight trade unions have endorsed the Ontario PCs, a landmark in the province’s political history.
“This does not surprise me a great deal,” says Scott Bennett, a political science professor at Carleton University, noting that the PCs have been courting the union vote as part of their goals for the province’s economy.
“With this strategy for rebalancing the economy, one needs to have allies in the labour force who will benefit from the general direction of new policy, and those allies will support the PCs, at least in official terms,” he said in an interview….