It’s official: Avi Lewis is running for the NDP in the next federal election, which may well happen later this year. He secured the nomination for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country in late May, and has hit the ground running on his campaign. According to Christo Aivalis, Lewis has an opportunity to make a real impact on Canadian politics within the formal arena.

It is undeniable that the current scope and intensity of criticism towards Israel is unprecedented, and lobby groups designed to silence these critiques are failing to control the narrative as they so often have. Will this shift allies of apartheid like Trudeau and Biden? Almost certainly not. But the world is watching, and this moment will be remembered in future generations as a watershed.

Many will rightly say that the NDP’s position still needs to be stronger in favour of Palestinians and their liberation. But make no mistake, writes Christo Aivalis, despite this being a first step, it is still a historic one. With continued pressure from activists within and beyond the NDP, hopefully it can become a rare beacon of justice for Palestinians among mainstream parties in the Western world.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are not the only COVID villains in this country. But, as Canadian Dimension columnist and author Christo Aivalis points out, as leaders of Canada’s largest jurisdictions, they have among the most power, and can do the most good. Instead, they have chosen to sacrifice workers and trample on their rights when they need help the most.

Yesterday’s 2021 federal budget tabled by Liberal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland fails to meet the needs of Canadians during the greatest crisis facing this country since the Second World War, writes Christo Aivalis. While there are certainly decent elements in this budget, the flaws and omissions are too significant, leaving notable space on the left to critique and improve upon it.

Doug Ford’s latest measures to fight COVID-19 will do nothing to actually stem the tide of the pandemic, but they will put the blame on working class people, steal their public spaces, allow profiteers to enrich themselves off employee suffering, and give the police dangerous powers which will almost certainly be levied against the most vulnerable Ontarians.

The 2021 NDP convention wrapped up today, and it provided a potential roadmap to NDP success in the next election, as well as a more just, equal, and humane Canada. And while the format of this convention didn’t fully facilitate member participation, their energy still shined though. The party must reflect that light and magnify it if it wishes to succeed.

The second day of the 2021 NDP convention remained deeply flawed from a technical standpoint, but historic votes indicate that the party membership is united in moving toward a more just Canada and world. Perhaps most importantly, the NDP adopted a progressive policy on Palestine, endorsing sanctions on Israel, including a ban on trade with Israeli settlements and an arms embargo on Israel.

The first day of the 2021 NDP convention was an interesting one, to say the least, writes CD columnist Christo Aivalis. There was much to celebrate, but at the core, the process was deeply flawed, especially in that there was far too little time to discuss and debate the resolutions delegates worked so hard crafting and prioritizing.

For too many elections, the NDP’s membership has fought to assert a left wing vision for our country and world, only to see election platforms either ignore or dilute those principles. When the next election comes, the NDP must trust in its membership and trust in the progressive values of Canadians. We can built a better world, but we can’t start that work if our leaders are afraid of what we believe in.