One of the ironies of Canadian politics is that NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's biggest political challenge likely won't be coming from the rabble-rousing, populist right, but from the establishment-loving, elitist left.

Why is this the case?

Well, first of all, it's important to understand that the kind of "leftism" favored by today's ruling classes isn't exactly the old school, Karl Marx-Tommy Douglas-David Lewis-style of socialism.

What today's elites have created, in fact, is a new brand of left-leaning ideology, one that basically mixes elements of socialism with elements of crony capitalism.

You might call it, "Sociacorporatism."

At any rate, it's a philosophy which on the one hand supports things like government intervention in the economy, social liberalism and battling climate change, while on the other, it supports freer international trade; massive subsidies to corporations and building the occasional oil pipeline.

This basically is the philosophy of Canada's Establishment, i.e. the people who hold positions of authority and influence; their main goal is to maintain an economic status quo which works to their benefit.

And for this crowd, the perfect politician is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

After all, Trudeau comes from a privileged background, his friends include millionaires, billionaires and Hollywood celebrities and he's just left-wing enough to be trendy, but not so left-wing as to be scary.

In short, the Prime Minister can more or less be relied on to keep the Establishment happy.

But the same can't be said for Singh, because from the ruling classes' point of view, his party is an ideological wildcard.

My point is, when the elites look at the NDP they see a party whose ranks include battalions of left-wing activists, which is to say true believers in socialism, people who care more about the "proletariat" than they do about corporate profits.

This means they also see a party that theoretically-speaking might one day go all "Jeremy Corbyn" and embrace and promote a hard-core, far-left-wing, status-quo-threatening agenda.

And it's this possibility which spooks the elites.

Plus, more than just ideology separates Canada's ruling classes from the NDP.

There's also a cultural element at play.

Elites typically identify with upper middle class, university-educated, urbanites and while this demographic makes up a part of the NDP's base, many of its supporters are still Canadians from small towns and from rural Canada and many are blue collar workers — the kind of people Hillary Clinton (herself an elite favorite) once famously referred to as "deplorables."

So for both ideological and cultural reasons, the elites prefer the Liberals to the NDP.

That's not to say they don't see a positive role for the NDP, but that role, as leftist elites see it, is to support the Liberals.

Basically, the elites want the NDP to attack the Conservatives and only the Conservatives.

And this puts Singh in a strategic dilemma.

What if, for instance, Singh's pollsters and strategists tell him that if the NDP is to make any gains in the next election, it will have to degrade Trudeau's brand?

In other words, instead of going negative against Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer, the NDP will have to go negative against Trudeau.

Unfortunately for Singh, if his party were to actually carry out such a strategy, if he were to put his party's interests first, he'd be overwhelmingly condemned by powerful voices in the media.

You'd see headlines like "Singh's attack on Trudeau only helping the Right Wing!" or "NDP is Ensuring the Conservatives Win Election."

In short, he'd be portrayed as betraying the cause.

Needless to say, Singh would require special kind of courage to endure such a barrage.

It's hard to roar like socialist lion when the Establishment demands you meow like a Liberal kitten.

Photo Credit: Toronto Star