-
Never mind the yuppies: Vancouver’s wealthy elites driving away workers who keep the city safe
Canadian PoliticsSolutions to Vancouver’s unaffordability crisis should prioritize accommodating the city’s working people and emergency service staff. Will the city, provincial and federal governments continue passing the burden of unaffordability in Vancouver onto nurses, paramedics, firefighters and other working people, or take decisive steps to end the destructive inflow of speculative international capital, and properly invest in social housing and adequately raise the pay and conditions of workers who keep the city’s essential services safe and operational?
-
So Much for ‘Austerity-Lite’ in Ontario
Canadian PoliticsFor Doug Ford’s Conservatives, democracy is but one more apparently inefficient entanglement getting in the way of business. The 2019 budget makes clear the alignment of the Ford regime with the authoritarian right-wing populism gaining traction around the world as it moves to extend the era of “permanent austerity,” which has been a hallmark since the 2008 recession. This is the political terrain upon which the growing social movement will be forming its strategy of resistance.
-
Green leader May supports same old pro-imperialist foreign policies
Canadian PoliticsWhile she’s criticized some Canadian foreign policy decisions, May rarely strays far from the liberal establishment worldview. In laying out her party’s 2015 election position in Esprit de Corps magazine May wrote, “the world needs more Canada” and argued, “we should also support the United Nations’ ‘responsibility to protect’ doctrine”, which was used to justify bombing Libya in 2011 and ousting Haiti’s elected government in 2004. In her article May also bemoaned that “defence expenditures are headed to an unprecedented low.”
-
Where is Canada’s Socialist Resurgence?
Canadian PoliticsThe growth of socialism is just one side of the political polarization taking place in the United States. The surge of the far-right and the confidence Trump has empowered racists and reactionaries everywhere is extremely troubling. This dynamic of political polarization is occurring in many advanced capitalist countries such as France, the UK, Spain and Germany.
-
Canada’s defence minister promoting arms sales to anti-democratic, repressive regimes
Canadian PoliticsCanada’s current Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan heads a ministry intimately tied to a globally oriented corporate weapons industry that profits from war. Is this something Canadians understand and support? Or would the majority of us be upset to learn their Minister of Defence is an arms pusher, promoting sales to anti-democratic, repressive regimes?
-
Conservative ‘Blue Wave’ Sweeps Across Canada
Canadian PoliticsIt is clear that the blue wave can’t be turned back by the neoliberal centre, whether that is represented by liberals or right wing social democrats who refuse to break with the austerity consensus. It is equally clear that mass social action is urgently required to disrupt and seriously challenge the hard right governments installed across Canada. In Ontario, a recent rally of teachers, students and parents against the attack on public education was far larger than expected and it followed a walkout by over 100,000 students.
-
What a false accusation of antisemitism from Winnipeg’s mayor reminds us about political power
Canadian PoliticsStill licking his wounds from his scrap with Winnipeg Jets owners True North in 2015, Bowman has consciously decided to pick a fight with one of the oldest leftist institutions in the city for booking a renown Palestinian rights activist — all while ignoring the endless slew of bad news that warrants serious condemnation. Such cowardice will likely be no surprise to anyone who has watched the mayor capitulate to the likes of True North, or ignore the opportunity to condemn the controversial 2018 appearance of Jordan Peterson in the city.
-
RCMP invasion of Wet’suwet’en Nation territory breaches Canada’s ‘rule of law’
Canadian PoliticsIn this case, the laws of Canada were neither equally enforced, nor compliant with international human rights standards. Canada is not a country that follows the rule of law. Canada makes and breaks laws to suit its own economic and political interests, which run counter to those of Indigenous peoples. It is time to be honest about it, and call out Canada as an outlaw, and take action to support the Wet’suwet’en Nation, who have occupied their lands since time immemorial.
-
No golden era in Canada’s foreign policy
Canadian PoliticsLinking criticism of current policy to a mythical “golden era” is motivated by ideology and tactical considerations. Many leftists simply can’t think outside the benevolent foreign policy box. At the tactical level, it isolates the issue and is supposed to elicit a “this isn’t the Canada I know” reaction. But, structuring criticism in this way downplays the structural character of the problem and distorts the past.
-
Morbid symptoms: Alberta’s yellow vest movement
Canadian PoliticsAlberta’s protests began as street protests, but gained traction on December 19 when some Yellow Vests joined a convoy of 1,200 trucks. These vehicles driven by oil patch workers and their supporters had assembled just south of Edmonton. Blocking traffic as it went, the convoy drove slowly to the capital and made known its demand that oil pipelines be built to “free” the resource from its land-locked status.
