Argentines weary of annual inflation soaring above 140 percent and a poverty rate that reached 40 percent have elected right-wing libertarian economist Javier Milei. He had campaigned on the promise to privatize state-owned enterprises, slash government spending, dollarize the economy, eliminate the central bank, and close key ministries, among them health and education.

The victory of Geert Wilders in the Dutch general elections should provoke intense self-reflection in the European Union. Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom won 37 seats of 150, becoming the largest party in the House of Representatives and the latest right-wing challenger to ‘Merkelism,’ named for long-time German chancellor Angela Merkel.

You have to hand it to the suits at News Media Canada, who have pulled yet another lucrative rabbit out their hat by persuading Ottawa to not only extend its five-year $595 million bailout for five more years, but to more than double its allowed payout per journalist. This cash injection likely avoids disaster in the wake of the government’s Online News Act.

What does “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” actually mean? And when it comes to political slogans, should impact matter more than intent? As Carleton University professor Mira Sucharov explains, the controversy the chant generates suggests there is work to be done in better communicating with and understanding one another.

Those seeking an economic and industrial policy agenda that will reduce inequality, empower workers, and support a just transition in Manitoba can look to capital spending, legislative reform, and opportunities in the Crown corporation sector as areas where progress is possible, even if the narrow fiscal policy battle may have been temporarily lost.

Being on the left will never be easy given the forces we confront, and that pessimism of the intellect must be fused to optimism of the will. Few understood this as well as Canada’s perennial optimist Ed Broadbent, and that is why the new book, Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality, is an inspiring read.

A full reckoning of what transpired during Euromaidan requires one to look at both internal and external factors, namely the divisions that existed within Ukrainian society, the peculiar ideology of Ukraine’s pro-European liberal intelligentsia, and the manner in which Ukraine became a battleground for competing geopolitical interests.

It’s not often that the prime minister of Canada gets his lunch handed to him by a small-town journalist, but that’s exactly what happened last week in Sault Ste. Marie, where Justin Trudeau sat down for an interview with Village Media Editor-in-Chief Michael Friscolanti. During the interview, Friscolanti asked Trudeau if passing the Online News Act was the right move.

As those of us in Toronto watch the devastation occurring in Gaza, where Israel’s bombing campaign this month is estimated to have killed over 8,000 Palestinians, including over 3,000 children, and displaced 1.4 million residents, we are also witnessing Mayor Olivia Chow and other politicians condemning Palestinian activism here as antisemitic.

A call for an immediate ceasefire is a call to stop this massacre. Nothing more, nothing less. Several states, non-governmental organizations, and international legal experts support this call, and global civil society is mobilizing to urge all governments to demand a ceasefire. So, we ask: where is Canada?