Justin Trudeau has been rightfully credited for being more open to Syrian refugees than Harper’s Conservatives. But we must demand more. With the rise of the far right in the US and worldwide, not to mention a future in which climate refugees will become ever more numerous, Canada needs to welcome more asylum seekers and refugees.

The point is not to copy or even approximate the specifics of the Sanders campaign here in Canada. A revitalized left that responds to the problems the vast majority of us face in one way or another, and that recognizes the economy as a playground for elites, can reignite a political movement to take back power from elites across the board.

We need to explore in much more detail the links between prosperity for corporations and war and repression in places like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. A good start would be a vigorous debate, both in the media and in Parliament, about the largest export manufacturing deal in Canadian history.

Dewar and the NDP were silent when Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez died, so why did the NDP pipe up on Israeli war criminal, Ariel Sharon.

The result of the 2011 Durban climate talks is that the big polluters have given themselves a few more years to fiddle while the world burns. They spin this by telling us that at Durban they agreed to a “roadmap” to a future agreement.