In a recent article published by Canadian Dimension, Taylor C. Noakes eschews the idea of increased privatization in favour of a national health care system with federal oversight. Yet, as Ashley Holloway argues, transferring the administrative woes of managing the system from the provinces to Ottawa would turn the current less-than-perfect system into an even greater disaster.

You can provide healthy profits to the shareholders of a small number of transport companies in Canada, or you can provide comprehensive service to all corners of the country, but history has demonstrated you can’t do both. Whether Canadians have the right to publicly-funded transport options, and whether they have the right to expect a decent quality of service, are two parts to the same question.

The federal government has a strong incentive to improve health care access nationwide, where artificial provincial borders wouldn’t constrain accessibility. Canada’s major cities, with unique health care needs and resident populations whose needs are often ill-represented by populist provincial governments, could be arguably better served by a federal system rather than the status quo.

The coup against Pedro Castillo is a major setback for the current wave of progressive governments in Latin America and the people’s movements that elected them. This coup and the arrest of Castillo are stark reminders that the ruling elites of Latin America will not concede any power without a bitter fight to the end. And now that the dust has settled, the only winners are the Peruvian oligarchy.

Ottawa’s response to the ouster of left-wing Peruvian President Pedro Castillo last week matches its reaction to similar crises throughout Latin America, in which the right-wing earns Canada’s complete support and progressive forces, be they political leaders or popular social movements, are either demonized or ignored.

In October, the New York office of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung celebrated its 10th year of operation. A number of international delegations were invited and CD columnist André Frappier had the honour of representing Québec solidaire. Attendees discussed the deepening climate crisis, the reenergized extreme right, and the need to reach across borders and build unity to confront the challenges ahead.

As Venezuela emerges from crisis, everyone in the global left should keep an eye on the communes. Currently, there are almost 50,000 registered communes in Venezuela, concentrated in the countryside and the sprawling urban barrios. They are a force for progressive change and an example for anyone who wants to imagine a more socially just and economically sustainable future.

After the results of the US midterms rolled in, the Democratic Party collectively breathed a sigh of relief. The predicted Republican “red wave” turned into a trickle. This elation is understandable. But something curious is also happening: some on the left are claiming that there was a different kind of red wave—of socialism, that is.

On November 3, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn the US government’s economic, commercial, and financial blockade of Cuba. Of the 189 member states present at the vote, 185 called for the blockade’s immediate lifting, equal to 98 percent of the General Assembly. Two voted against the resolution: the United States and Israel.

Despite much discussion about ‘lessons learned,’ there have been few efforts at actually adapting our social protection systems in the pandemic’s wake, writes researcher Chris Webb. There has been alarmingly limited recognition that our income support systems remain ill-equipped to deal with both the changing world of work and future crises.