13 / 06 / 2006

The Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians welcomes the resolution passed May 27th by the Ontario branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) * as a sincere attempt to bring peaceful means to bear on the increasingly intolerable and explosive situation between Israel and the Palestinians. (Keep reading…)

from Winnipeg Free Press Sun May 14 2006

THE Green Party of Canada is about to go through a major shakeup that could have quite an impact on the unstable federal scene. Jim Harris, the corporate inspirational speaker who has led the party through a controversial three years of ups and downs, has announced he will step down after a poor showing in the last election. And poised to replace him at an August leadership vote is one of Canada’s most well-known and effective environmentalists, Elizabeth May. She recently resigned her position with the Sierra Club of Canada and announced her intention to run. Depending on how she defines the role of the Green party, it could make federal politics much more interesting. (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension Magazine, May/June 2006 Issue

In the early 1980s, the auto majors reversed four decades of steady growth in wages by successfully forcing concessions out of the once-powerful United Auto Workers. That working-class defeat had not only continental, but global, ramifications. So, when Delphi, the largest parts manufacturer in North America, declared a little over two decades later (2004) that it would reduce workers’ wages by over 60 per cent, it seemed that another, even more dramatic round of concessions was about to begin. But this time a remarkable resistance emerged from below to defeat the auto majors and their strategy. This unexpected victory, combined with worker skepticism of union-negotiated concessions at GM and Ford (with Daimler-Chrysler workers expected to be even more critical), raised instead a new possibility. Could we be on the verge of a revival of the American labour movement? (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension Magazine, May/June 2006 Issue

For more than 100 years, May Day has symbolized the common struggles of workers around the globe. (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension Magazine, May/June 2006 Issue

The January federal election results unexpectedly yielded a minority Conservative government. The Great Moving-To-The-Right Show is having yet another run. In Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada now has the most ideologically committed neoliberal in power since Margaret Thatcher. The five priorities Harper has announced — an accountability package, a cut in the GST, a market-based childcare system, a law-and-order agenda centred on sentencing and a reduction in health-care wait times through increased delivery flexibility — all reflect these commitments. These proposals are embedded in the overall strategic priority of aligning Canada even more tightly with the U.S. through increased overseas military commitments and further economic integration. Canada’s takeover of the NATO command in Afghanistan and increased troop deployment is already sketching in the new terrain. It could hardly be more pressing for the Left to take stock of what the Harper government is and might become. (Keep reading…)

Three years ago, on March 16, 2003, the voice of 23 year-old Rachel Corrie from Olympia, Washington was silenced forever by an Israeli Army bulldozer while she was trying to protect a Palestinian house from demolition in Rafah. Last year, Rachel’s words and vision were brought to life by an award-winning London play based on her writings called “My Name is Rachel Corrie.” Then this month, Rachel was silenced again when the New York production of the play scheduled to open March 22 was “postponed” indefinitely due to political pressure. (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension Magazine, March/April 2006 Issue

George Grant’s conservativism derived from skepticism about the religion of progress. He took issue with the doctrine that technological progress requires more educated and civilized participants in a global economy. Politicians no longer talk of progress. The current cliché is “moving forward.” To examine Grant’s writings in the 1960s, brought together in Volume 3 (1960-1969) of his Collected Works (Arthur Davis and Henry Roper, eds., University of Toronto Press, 2005) and ably edited by Art Davis and Henry Roper, is to gauge how much we have moved forward in the last forty years. (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension Magazine, March/April 2006 Issue

Despite the high spirits at the NDP victory party in Toronto on election night, it’s hard to fathom what there was to celebrate. Their popular vote increased only marginally, their seat total fell shy of affecting the balance of power and they failed to make a breakthrough in Quebec. Before an adoring, T.V.-friendly crowd on election night, Jack Layton claimed his party had earned the trust of millions of “ordinary Canadians.” Yet a more sober assessment might give cause to wonder why the party accomplished so little. (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension Magazine, March/April 2006 Issue

Over the past ten years, the Quebec Left has been consolidating, building unity and building its strength. Now the Left has taken another important step in the construction of a progressive party that will be a true alternative to neoliberal parties. A new party, Québec solidaire (QS), created by the fusion of the Union des forces progressistes (UFP) and the Option citoyenne (OC) movement, emerged in an atmosphere of celebration among the 1,000 people present for the founding congress held in Montreal from February 3 to 5. With five to six thousand members in all regions of Quebec, QS will enjoy an organizational network capable of mobilizing and initiating a new wave of recruitment. The party will only have two years to develop its electoral platform and its organizational structure in view of the next provincial election rendezvous in 2007. (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension Magazine, March/April 2006 Issue

This most recent election will go down in history as one time the Canadian labour movement set a new record in ideological confusion. Buzz Hargrove hugged Paul Martin. A PSAC regional leader speculated on the benefits of electing Tories. (Keep reading…)