There have been deeply troubling developments in the implementation of the MAID program to date and the most alarming trends are discernible. If assisted dying is extended and thoroughly normalized, in the context of a deeply degraded social infrastructure, the right to choose may be transmogrified into an ugly way to reduce costs and dispose of those who have been abandoned.

The fight over the fate of 230 Sherbourne points to the desperate need to reverse the rampant commodification of housing that has caused so much damage in Canada and internationally. For that to happen, it will be necessary to build a movement among communities under attack that can challenge the power of the developers and confront their political enablers.

Those who promote right-wing solutions for societal ills have long argued for minimal state interference with the play of market forces. It has often been suggested that all attempts to constrain unbridled profit-making are just so many barriers to ambition, hard work and prosperity. The sexist term “nanny state” is often pressed into service to make the point.

Since the current genocidal assault on Gaza got underway, we are seeing a redoubling of efforts to take the McCarthyist process further still, with even moderate criticism of Israel now treated as anti-Jewish hatred. Those mounting the charge are extending their efforts into the realms of criminal law and the policing of public protests.

US hegemony is by no means as robust as it used to be, threatened as it is by the rising power of China. Though the global empire can rely on an unrivalled military power and a great capacity for economic coercion, a functioning Washington Consensus requires a minimum level of acquiescence and stability and this is being threatened by the present situation.

Over these last weeks, as Israel’s military machine has mounted an industrialized killing operation against hundreds of thousands of trapped people in Gaza, I have echoed the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” I don’t agree for a moment that this is an expression of antisemitic hatred or an incitement to genocide.

We should support the demand for the reinstatement of Sarah Jama; but were she to decide to continue sitting as an independent MPP and to run for office independently of the party that has cast her aside, she would deserve full support. The voice that Doug Ford and—even more shamefully—Marit Stiles want to silence must be heard loudly and clearly.

As a right-wing conservative, Doug Ford has some things in common with Margaret Thatcher, but with a very significant difference: while Thatcher could describe herself as “not for turning,” Ford is less steadfast in the face of major challenges. His crass capitulation over plans to hand a portion of the Greenbelt to his developer friends is evidence of this.

To an ever greater degree and in ways we can’t yet fully appreciate, the unfolding climate disaster is transforming the class struggle and posing massive challenges in the process. In our unions and communities, we need to take stock of these developments, set new goals and develop strategies that reflect the harsh reality that we are now in a struggle for survival.

If we want the recent changing of the guard in the mayor’s office to make any difference, the very worst approach would be to leave it all in Chow’s hands. She will need vigorous social movements pushing at her back, and ready to push harder at the first sign of retreat. If we can muster those forces, some real victories are entirely possible in the days ahead.