Pretty much everything that we might find redeemable about Canadian society has come as a result of community-based struggles and social movements. Yet, most people have little awareness of the historical significance of collective action because public memory practices rarely recollect, never mind detail, histories of activism.

How truly deflating it must be for The Hub to have its hopes for a right-wing makeover of our country spiked in a matter of weeks by Trumpism. It was no doubt licking its chops over what regulations to remove first, but its expected victory lap has reverted to it again weakly trying to help the Conservatives as they vainly chase the more prudent Liberals.

Despite the documented harm caused by their bad behaviour, landlords across Canada have very little accountability. Just as patients ought to feel assured their nurses and social workers are behaving ethically, tenants deserve to feel confident their landlords are not engaging in exploitative, unsafe, or criminal behaviour.

A new study confirms that the state of local news coverage is dire, which was already evident from every anecdotal and statistical indicator. “The rate of local news deprivation across Canada is snowballing,” notes the report by the CCPA. “The commercial media model that has been dominant in Canada for more than a century is no longer viable.”

While in Gaza an intensifying series of air strikes killing hundreds of Palestinians does not constitute an act of war, the US is the victim of a “invasion” launched by Venezuela involving neither ground troops nor air power, but whose “devastating effects” nevertheless justify the suspension of normal due process rights. Truly we are living in the upside-down.

The real winners of the German election are the hard-right leader Alice Weidel and her White House friends, Elon Musk, J.D. Vance and Donald Trump. Whatever Friedrich Merz’s plans are, he must expect barrage fire from the Weidel-White House connection. Looking back at the election campaign, it looks like he’s actually inviting it.

Amidst Donald Trump’s belligerence Canada continues to assist the US military and arms industry. In response to the president’s hostility, writes Canadian Dimension columnist Yves Engler, Canada should cancel the Lockheed Martin F-35 contract, end officer exchanges, and cease our participation in NORAD’s missile defence program.

Not only does the focus on antisemitic incidents draw Canadians’ attention away from the death toll in Gaza and the muzzling of Canadian voices condemning it, it also amplifies calls by representatives of CIJA, B’nai Brith Canada and other mainstream Jewish leaders for more severe repressive measures against peaceful opposition to Israel’s genocide.

It is obvious that Israel does not allow itself to be bound by ceasefire terms, the UN, international law, or humanitarian law. It exists in a bloodthirsty state of exception, unrestricted by any law or agreement, its violent expansionism fuelled by ordnance from the very countries that claim to endorse a fair and transparent “rules-based order.”

The Wall Street Journal warns that Trump’s “dumbest trade war in history” could lead to recession. But, as McGill University professor Daniel Cere explains, his policies might not be born out of ignorance, but cold-blooded tactics designed to advance the interests of those best positioned to take advantage of economic chaos.