We should seize this unexpected opportunity to withdraw from NAFTA and any other agreement that puts corporate interests before the public interest. Canada is a trading nation and always will be and the U.S. economy will always be a major factor in Canadian economic life — but our economic stability depends on an inward turn toward an east-west rather than a north-south axis, wherever possible replacing global value chains with domestic ones and choosing democratic national planning over capitalist global planning.

Barbara Perry is co-author of Uneasy Alliances: A Look at the Right-Wing Extremist Movement in Canada, a three-year study involving interviews with Canadian law enforcement officials, community organizations and right-wing activists, as well as analyses of open source intelligence. She has written extensively on social justice and hate crimes, and has published several books spanning both areas.

Does the Bernie Sanders campaign matter here? Of course it does. Who among us has failed to “feel the Bern”? Thanks to Bernie, and contrary to what anybody thought possible only a few months ago, Americans are talking class politics — for the first time since the 1930s! It’s the working class versus the billionaire class.

CD had a rare opportunity to interview renowned Indian eco-feminist and alter-globalization activist Vandana Shiva when she visited Winnipeg this past spring. Shiva is a fierce critic of agricultural genetic engineering, and a tireless advocate of saving seed and preserving biodiversity.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive interview with Noam Chomsky about the ecological crisis and what is to be done. It was held in prior to Chomsky’s Montréal lecture in October 2013 (hosted by Canadian Dimension) and has been edited for length and readability. We are delighted to share the interview with you.

“I’m just one voice, but I would use it to speak out on these issues within the caucus. I think it’s very easy to be cynical about politics and frustrated that we don’t get the kind of change that we want from the political system. But there’s a huge role to play for activists and writers and labour and all kinds of groups to create the public awareness and the public debate that will push political leaders to act….”

What motivated me to start producing a magazine in the basement of my rented house in Winnipeg in the fall of 1963? I was 27 years old at the time, and knew nothing at all about how to run a business, let alone publish a magazine. I had no money, nor did I know anyone who did. Even worse, I barely knew anyone who might want to write for a magazine.

Industrialized economies have grown most years since the mid-19th century. Globally, economic output per person increased tenfold between 1900 and 2000. Richard Heinberg says that this long run of economic growth is reaching an end owing to a number of factors: depletion of fossil fuels, minerals and fresh water; the escalating cost of industrial accidents and environmental disasters in the wake of global climate change; and financial disruptions due to the inability of our financial system to service “the enormous piles of government and private debt” generated over the past few decades.

In Canada, it’s rare for a political party to win four consecutive majority governments. Heading to the polls on October 4, will Manitoba’s New Democratic Party be one of those rare exceptions? Does it deserve to be?

An ecosocialist response to the climate crisis.