Why Canada needs to nurture leaders like Zohran Mamdani, and to embrace democratic socialism

Neoliberalism’s deregulation, privatization, corporate tax cuts, and austerity have only made Canadians poorer and more vulnerable. Democratic socialism could reserve this decline.

By Fareed Khan

A version of this article can be found on Substack.

As Canadian begin the New Year, many were watching New York City yesterday, and were electrified by Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration speech, following his swearing in as New York City’s new mayor.

Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, defied the odds by winning the 2025 election against both Democratic and Republican establishments, including former governor Andrew Cuomo running as an independent and Republican Curtis Sliwa, despite millions poured into anti-Mamdani campaigns by New York City’s billionaire class. His victory speech, delivered amid a Lower Manhattan crowd, bracing against the frigid temperatures, and broadcast widely, wasn’t just rhetoric—it was a blueprint for leadership that spoke directly to the struggling masses, the bottom 95% who’ve been sidelined by elite-driven politics for decades.

In Canada, from Vancouver to Halifax, we have endured generations of leaders who have prioritized corporate interests over the everyday hardships of ordinary Canadians, with few exceptions. Mamdani’s words reminded us what we’ve been missing—politicians who stand unapologetically with workers, immigrants, and the precariously employed, the people who make society function, leaders who wield government as a tool for the collective benefit of the vast majority rather than for the private gain of the powerful, the privileged and the rich.

Mamdani’s address opened with a powerful declaration of solidarity, positioning himself not above but “alongside” New Yorkers—from construction workers in steel-toed boots to halal cart vendors with aching knees, from people working in cramped kitchens, to neglected hospital workers. He acknowledged the city’s unsung heroes--neighbours sharing food with the elderly, strangers helping mothers with strollers on subway stairs. This inclusivity extended to skeptics and opponents, promising to serve all regardless of how they voted or their political views, vowing to “protect you, celebrate with you, mourn alongside you.”

He thanked labour leaders, activists, even his predecessor outgoing Mayor Eric Adams (with a humorous nod to their elevator rapport). He thanked congressional mentors Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and his idol, Senator Bernie Sanders, who swore him in. He expressed personal gratitude to his immigrant parents from Uganda and India, his family, and wife Rama, underscoring his roots as a Muslim kid who grew up eating bagels and lox every Sunday.

Then Mamdani pivoted to talking about transformation, decrying past squandered opportunities where “moments of great possibility” yielded to “small imagination and smaller ambition.” Rejecting advice to lower public expectations, he reset them upward—”We will govern expansively and audaciously.” He revived the idea of “big government” as a force for good, demanding excellence from public servants akin to Broadway stars or Knicks players. Central was the question in his remarks, “Who does New York belong to?” For too long, he noted, the city has belonged to the “wealthy and well-connected,” leaving the city with crowded public school classrooms, broken elevators in public housing, roads filled with potholes, delayed buses, stagnant wages, and corporate exploitation of those people who actually work to create the wealth and make New York City what it is. He invoked past progressive mayors like Bill de Blasio, David Dinkins, and New York City political icon Fiorello La Guardia, pledging to resurrect their legacy with an agenda of “safety, affordability, and abundance.” Mamdani pledged that government will reflect its people, fight corporate greed, and tackle complex challenges.

Quoting Nelson Mandela’s Freedom Charter, Mamdani asserted that New York “belongs to all who live in it,” envisioning a story of “eight and a half million cities”—diverse New Yorkers speaking Pashto, Mandarin, Yiddish, Creole and a multitude of other languages; praying in mosques, synagogues, churches, gurdwaras, mandirs, or not at all. He highlighted immigrants from Brighton Beach to Woodhaven, young people in shaky apartments, Black homeowners overcoming redlining, and Palestinian New Yorkers no longer persecuted or exceptionalized.

Embracing voters who backed Donald Trump before him, he critiqued civility masking as cruelty and promised to meet betrayed communities’ needs, fostering community solidarity over rugged individualism. Specific policies he mentioned included reforming property taxes, establishing a Department of Community Safety for mental health (freeing police to address actual crime), confronting bad landlords, easing bureaucracy for small businesses, universal childcare via taxing the rich, rent freezes, and free, fast buses. These, he said, aren’t just cost reductions but “lives filled with freedom,” echoing the ideals of the New Deal.

Mamdani rooted all of this in personal anecdotes—razor scooter races, pizza slices, hunger strikes, stalled trains, citizenship oaths. After the election he spent 12 hours listening to 142 New Yorkers, listening to stories of heartbreak and hope, uniting around “new politics.” Expect a City Hall of “how?” not “no” he stated, accountable to people, not billionaires. As a democratic socialist, he quoted Sanders--”What’s radical is a system which gives so much to so few.” He called for standing together, sustaining the movement that put him in office beyond the election, overcoming challenges with ambition, not austerity. New York City will exemplify that “anyone can make it,” proving the left can govern and solve struggles, reigniting hope worldwide he told the crowd.

From our vantage point in Canada, watching Mamdani present what his detractors have labelled a “radical” vision for New York City, this is the leadership we have craved but haven’t seen for generations. Since Canada turned from the progressive liberalism of the Pierre Trudeau years in the 1970s and early 80s with interventionist governments, to the dawn of the neoliberal era in the mid-80s, with Prime Ministers Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper, our policies have mirrored those of the US—deregulation, privatization, corporate tax cuts, and austerity to address the government’s financial challenges. The result? Income inequality has surged, with the top 40% holding 64.8% of disposable income in late 2023, while the bottom 40% held just 18.8%, a gap widening annually since the pandemic. Real incomes for the bottom 50% grew only 28.7% since 1982, lagging GDP per capita growth and inflation, leaving 15 million Canadians poorer on average by $6,450 in 2022 if growth had been equitable. Younger Canadians under 44 have seen median incomes stagnate or fall, while seniors fare better. Canada’s affordable housing crisis, precarious gig work, and crumbling public services and infrastructure echoes Mamdani’s New York woes, but our leaders—whether Liberal or Conservative—tinker at edges rather than addressing the issues in a decisive manner, taking their cues from Bay Street and international elites.

Canada once flirted with democratic socialism—the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1932, our first major socialist movement, birthed universal healthcare under Premier Tommy Douglas in Saskatchewan. The New Democratic Party (NDP), influenced by social democracy, pushed for workers’ compensation, minimum wage, old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and family allowances, which all benefitted Canadians and helped create the middle-class. Yet, these gains were co-opted into a neoliberal framework in the last few decades of the 20th century and into the 21st century. Recent NDP governments, like those in Alberta and British Columbia, diluted socialist principles with corporate concessions and tax cuts. Canadian leaders have lacked Mamdani-audacity to tackle big problems with big policies rooted in movements, that are unashamedly socialist, defying billionaires and corporate elites.

What is the path to a better future? The answer is to embrace democratic socialism wholeheartedly—collective ownership of key sectors, progressive taxation and higher tax rates on corporations and elites, universal services like childcare and pharmacare, a reinvestment in public health care in Canada, rent controls, free public transit, mental health investments—all funded by taxing the ultra-rich and corporations which don’t pay their fair share of taxes to begin with. Neoliberalism’s “trickle-down” myth has enriched the top 1% six times more than the bottom 50%, fostering stagnation. It’s time to toss this failed ideology in history’s trash bin, one that has bred inequality, eroded democracy, and left us struggling.

As 2026 dawns, amid economic instability spurred by Trump’s destructive tariff policy, an ever worsening climate crises. and the dawn of AI which will disrupt society, Canadians deserve politicians in the style of Zohran Mamdani--progressives who listen, act boldly, and build solidarity. His win shows it’s possible—defying establishment elites, mobilizing the bottom 95%, and building a government that serves the needs of the vast majority. Let’s demand it in Ottawa and in every province. Let’s elect leaders who make Canada belong to all, not just the privileged few. The work, as Mamdani says, has only just begun, and it’s time for Canadians who want a better Canada to take cues from him and build our own democratic socialist society, on that does not exists only to make the rich richer and give more power to the already powerful. If we want this it’s in our hands to begin this transformation in 2026 for all of Canada. 

© 2026 The View From Here. © 2026 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved.

Who is Zohran Mamdani? A primer on the man creating a political earthquake in New York and beyond

What Mamdani has created isn't just a campaign team but a movement unseen in the city in generations.  He is charismatic, straightforward, funny, sincere, and can connect with voters on the issues. 

By Fareed Khan

A version of this article can be found on Substack.

As a Canadian, you may not have heard of Zohran Mamdani. If not here is a little primer on the man who could be New York City's first Muslim mayor on November 20th, and the political star of his generation.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani, the Democratic Party candidate for mayor of New York City, at just 33 years old, represents the fresh, unapologetic energy that New York City desperately needs—a city buckling under skyrocketing costs, growing inequality, and a political establishment that has long favoured the interests of billionaires over those of everyday people.

Born in Kampala, Uganda, to an Indian family with deep roots in scholarship and filmmaking, Mamdani embodies the immigrant dream that has always defined New York. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a noted academic of Gujarati Muslim descent, born in Mumbai, India and raised in Uganda. While his mother, Mira Nair, is an award-winning filmmaker of movies such as Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala and Monsoon Wedding, and hails from a Punjabi Hindu background in Odisha, India. This interfaith heritage, blending Muslim, Hindu, and African influences, has instilled in Mamdani a profound ability to bridge divides and connect with diverse communities.

Moving to New York at age seven after a brief stint in South Africa, Mamdani grew up in the city's public school system, graduating from the Bronx High School of Science and earned a degree in African Studies from Bowdoin College. His Iranian origins through his father's Muslim heritage—tied to the broader South Asian diaspora that includes Persian influences—further enriches his perspective, allowing his campaign style to resonate with immigrants from the Middle East, South Asia, and beyond who are part of New York's vibrant cultural mosaic. As the first Muslim candidate to win a major party's nomination for mayor in the city's history, Mamdani's rise is not just personal triumph but a beacon for Muslims, immigrants, visible minorities, and all marginalized groups who see in him a leader who understands their struggles intimately.

What sets Mamdani apart from other politicians is his focussed vision to make New York City affordable again, particularly for the working class that has been crushed by decades of neglect. Running under the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) banner while securing the Democratic primary nomination, he has pledged to raise the city's minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030. This is a bold move to ensure working New Yorkers can live with dignity rather than scraping by. He wants to freeze rents on all rent stabilized units in the city, preventing the displacement of families in a city where nearly a quarter of residents in his assembly district spend half their income on housing. In addition, he is proposing free city buses to ease the commute for millions reliant on public transit, provide universal childcare allowing parents to work without fear of bankruptcy, and even city-run grocery stores in each borough to combat "halalflation" and food deserts that prey on low-income neighborhoods.

These aren't pie-in-the-sky ideas but ones that are rooted in Mamdani's legislative record as a member of the New York state assembly, where he secured over $100 million for increased subway service, a fare-free bus pilot program, and participated in a hunger-strike alongside taxi drivers to win $450 million in debt relief for taxi owners. He plans to fund his programs through progressive taxation—hiking corporate taxes to 11.5% to match New Jersey's, adding a 2% income tax on millionaires to generate $20 billion for tuition-free attendance at the City University of New York and State University of New York, and shifting property taxes from overtaxed outer-borough homeowners to luxury homes in wealthier areas.

For the working class, this will mean real relief—200,000 new affordable, union-built homes over 10 years, fully funded public schools with green retrofits to combat climate change, and a Department of Community Safety that invests in violence prevention without gutting the NYPD. Despite what his detractors claim, Mamdani's platform isn't about handouts, it's about reclaiming a city for its people, echoing the legacy of the city's public housing pioneers while addressing modern crises like the housing shortage that has left 400,000 New York Cith Housing Authority tenants in disrepair.

In a broader sense, Mamdani's policies speak directly to the bread-and-butter issues that working and middle-class families face every day—childcare, and rents that drain pocketbooks and force people to make tough choices between essentials. As a Canadian, we might recognize these struggles all too well—the squeeze on affordability in cities like Toronto or Vancouver, where housing prices have soared beyond the reach of many and investment in public transit has failed to keep up with population growth.

Whether it's in the US or Canada, politicians hoping to lead cities, provinces/states, or the country should look to Mamdani as an example of how politics should be done. When one compares Canadian leaders to Mamdani the vast majority of our leaders fall short. We deserve politicians like Mamdani, who has prioritized these pocketbook concerns over corporate interests in his campaign, and promises to deliver tangible relief through a bold, people-first agenda.

For the last two generations Canada has been devoid of mayors, premiers, or prime ministers who can connect with average voters in the way Mamdani can, and who seem sincere about addressing their issues. The only exception might be Calgary’s former mayor Naheed Nenshi, who came out of nowhere to defeat a sitting councillor and held the post for a decade. However, what we see in the approach of Canadian politicians generally is not surprising given how many of them prioritize trade deals over affordable housing, or elite tax cuts over programs that benefit the vast majority. Mamdani shows that sincerity in action, proving that a leader can galvanize change by focusing on what truly matters to the working class, the people who make society function.

Mamdani's ability to galvanize broad support across the boroughs of New York City is historic, drawing crowds and volunteers in numbers unseen in many election cycles. His primary election victory on June 24, 2025, saw him defeat former New York governor Andrew Cuomo 56% to 44% in ranked-choice voting, despite Cuomo's $35 million war chest and backing from moneyed elites and New York City billionaires. It was a stunning upset fuelled by over 50,000 volunteers knocking on a million doors and 20,000 small donors, the most since 2001. Polls now show him leading the general election field with 43%-46% support against Cuomo (24%-28%), Republican Curtis Sliwa (10-15%), and scandal-plagued incumbent Eric Adams (6-9%), a margin that widens among young voters and those prioritizing affordability.

What Mamdani has created isn't just a campaign team but a movement unseen in the city in generations.  His charisma, straightforwardness, humour, sincere personality, and ability to communicate clearly on the issues important to the city’s voters, has mobilized millennials, Gen Z, and working families, from viral social media videos on "halalflation" to town halls with Senator Bernie Sanders railing against the oligarchy that has controlled New York City for decades. Endorsements from unions like the New York City Central Labor Council, representing over a million workers, underscore his appeal to organized labour, promising a "100% union city" where economic growth benefits everyone. In a city weary of recycled and bought politicians, Mamdani's grassroots surge—flipping even Trump-voting neighbourhoods—signals a rejection of the status quo, much like Fiorello La Guardia's progressive era but updated for today's crises.

Charismatic politicians like Mamdani who can connect with voters only come along once in a generation. His ability to inspire, to turn frustration into action, and to connect on a human level hasn't been seen in New York for decades. He's not just running on policy, he's building a coalition that has drawn in young people, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, the LGBTQ2 community, working families and others who feel ignored by the establishment that has run New York City for decades. In an era of deep political cynicism this generational appeal is what makes his candidacy so electric.  His campaign has reminded voters that leadership can be both visionary and relatable, a rare blend that could redefine urban governance, as others look at his campaign as a case study on how to connect with disaffected voters who feel they have no real voice in a political system that is broken.

Yet, this historic candidacy hasn't come without fierce opposition. Mamdani's detractors—led by Cuomo, Adams, and billionaire-backed super PACs—have unleashed a barrage of smear campaigns, designed to tarnish his reputation and stoke fear. President Trump labeled him a "100% communist lunatic," while right-wing figures called for his deportation and denaturalization, falsely claiming he's not a true citizen despite being naturalized in 2018. Islamophobic attacks against him have flooded social media, with doctored images exaggerating his beard and skin tone to portray him as a "terrorist," and mailers accusing him of participating in "global jihad" or ties to Hamas—claims debunked as baseless yet amplified by outlets like the New York Post and even some Democrats like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Critics dredge up his past DSA affiliations to paint him as anti-police, citing 2020 calls to "defund the NYPD" (which he now clarifies as reallocating funds for community safety, not cuts) and support for decriminalizing sex work.

Pro-Israel groups like the Anti-Defamation League have twisted his criticism of Israel's criminal actions in Gaza—calling it apartheid and genocide—into accusations of antisemitism, despite his endorsements from Jewish leaders like Comptroller Brad Lander and rabbis from Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), who praise his commitment to fighting hate crimes against all communities. These attacks, often laced with racist tropes about the "cheerful brown man" threatening the establishment, reveal more about the fear of change than any real threat from Mamdani, who has consistently affirmed Israel's right to exist as a secular state with equal rights for all. Even within his party, figures like New York governor Kathy Hochul withheld endorsements until recently, pressured by billionaire donors panicking over his tax plans. But New Yorkers have seen through the noise. Polls show 37% believe a socialist mayor would be good for the city, rejecting the fear mongering.

Mamdani's Iranian-influenced roots and multicultural upbringing give him unparalleled ability to connect with minority communities, including immigrants, Blacks, Jews and LGBTQ2 individuals, fostering unity in a divided city. As a Muslim, he has galvanized immigrant and Muslim voters by pledging legal representation for all in detention and enforcing sanctuary city laws, drawing massive turnout from South Asian, Middle Eastern, and African neighbourhoods. His cross-endorsement with Jewish Comptroller Brad Lander—urging voters to rank each other second—built a powerful Jewish-Muslim alliance, with Mamdani winning significant Jewish support (polling second among Jewish voters) through commitments to combat antisemitism and fund hate crime prevention. An endorsement by 38 Rabbis and JFREJ members, hailing him as a "Jewish act" of justice, embraced his plans to protect synagogues and promote interfaith dialogue.

For LGBTQ2 communities, Mamdani proposes making NYC a full sanctuary city with an Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, funding gender-affirming care, and addressing homelessness tied to identity—policies that align with his universal affordability agenda, ensuring no one is left behind. Even conservative mosques have warmed to him for his economic focus, overlooking differences on issues like marijuana legalization because his vision unites working people across socio-economic lines. This broad coalition—from Black voters in Harlem to Asian communities in Chinatown—has propelled his campaign, proving that Mamdani's empathy transcends labels. His support among Jewish voters, for instance, stands at a 17-point lead over his opponents in recent polls, a testament to his genuine outreach and rejection of divisive smears.

If Mamdani wins in November, as current polling indicates, his victory won't just be a win for New Yorkers, it will be a seismic shift for immigrants, Muslims, and all who identify with his story of resilience and inclusion across the US and beyond. In a city where one in three residents is foreign-born, his pledge to fight Trump's deportation machine and expand immigrant services will aim to provide hope to millions facing ICE raids and family separations. For Muslims, long sidelined by post-9/11 suspicion, a Mamdani mayoralty would signal that their voices matter, countering rampant Islamophobia with policies that protect mosques and promote cultural equity. New York’s Jews—the largest Jewish diaspora community outside Israel—are realizing that he is an ally against rising hate, as evidenced by his alliances and plans to boost funding for all faith-based security initiatives. Members of New York’s LGBTQ2 community, from Pride marchers to Trans youth, will benefit from his sanctuary city expansions and anti-discrimination blueprint, making the city a true haven for diverse communities. And for working-class minorities across the board—Black, Latino, Asian, etc.—his affordability initiatives will mean homes they can afford, jobs with living wages, and a government that finally prioritizes people over the interests of the city's rich. A Mamdani win would echo globally, the way Sadiq Khan's victory in London did, inspiring marginalized communities from Toronto to Kuala Lumpur. It would signal that bold, inclusive leadership can triumph over entrenched power.

For Canadians, who are watching the race in New York closely, it's a reminder that the fight for equity transcends borders.  Mamdani's model of addressing pocketbook issues with sincerity could inspire some Canadian politicians to reinvigorate our own politics, where leaders have too often failed to connect with the average voter on the things that matter most.

Mamdani's candidacy is historic because it challenges the very foundations of American urban politics.  A socialist, Muslim, immigrant son rising against billionaire-backed political machines in the world's financial capital. Despite attacks and smears from Trump, Cuomo, and their allies—accusations of communism, antisemitism, and extremism that have only backfired, as New Yorkers rally to his side—he has proven that authenticity and vision win out. With endorsements pouring in, from Gov. Kathy Hochul to unions and progressives, his path to victory is slowly being cleared of hurdles.

Come election night in November, Mamdani could usher in a new political era in New York and be a shining example of how to overcome cynicism in politics, and do things in a way that brings those who haven't seen their interests represented in politics into an expanding tent.  A Mamdani victory would open the doors on a city where the working class, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, LGBTQ2 folks, and all minorities stand taller, because they would have a vested interest in his success as mayor. In all of this observers outside New York should understand that Mamdani’s campaign is not just a race to be mayor, it's a revolution for inclusion and dignity for the vast majority whose interests are too often overlooked by political elites. 

Canadian politicians should watch closely should Mamdani make history, and adopt his strategies on creating winning campaigns that make voters want to vote for someone rather than against candidates who are seen as the greater "evil".  His political star is just beginning to rise, and as a possible future mayor he would be a prime example and object lesson on what a good politician should be. In an age where we see very few candidates like Zohran Mamdani, his example urges us all to demand more of our political leaders, and demand that they follow the example of someone who seems to truly care about the bottom 95% of voters who comprise the working and middle class.  It’s time for all of us to demand that people who run for public office exude sincerity and follow through on their promises, something we've been missing for far too long, but something we all deserve.

© 2025 The View From Here. © 2025 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved.