Just-in-time – for Chaos

Just-in-time production was a key part of the process of neoliberalism and globalization, as part of the drive to maximize profits. First used in Japan in the 1970s, it spread around the world and beyond manufacture to almost every facet of capitalist economics and management systems. The core idea is that manufacturers do not hold […]

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Another COP – Another Cop-Out

Julien Daigneault and Hubert Grenon are members of Alternative Socialiste (ISA in Quebec). Bill Hopwood is a member of Socialist Alternative Canada. Humans “with flesh, blood, and brain, belong to nature, and exist in its midst.” Engels Life on earth is in the midst of the “sixth mass extinction.” One in ten plants and animals […]

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More Salmon Woes

For thousands of years Pacific salmon, in their bounty, provided plentiful food for the people of the coast. Many described themselves as “Salmon People.” After living in the ocean for several years, the salmon return to their rivers of birth to swim upstream to the gravel beds to spawn and die. Along the way, overcoming […]

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NDP 1972 Government: A Radical Change

Are we here for a good time, Dave Barrett the new Premier asked at his first cabinet meeting. The answer was yes! Fifty years ago in the fall of 1972, the first NDP government in BC set to work on a powerful program of change to improve life for most in BC. A Landslide Victory […]

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COP 27: Capitalism Values Profits Before a Livable Planet

This year’s annual meeting on climate, COP27, is being held in Egypt, ruled by a brutal dictatorship. The world’s business and political leaders do not want to be disturbed, while the planet burns by the annoying inconvenience of protesters demanding a future for themselves, the future generations, and their homes. The deadly, and frightening, impacts […]

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Right-Wing Win in Vancouver Election

What started out as a very confusing election ended up with a clear result. A triumph for a new right-wing party – ABC. ABC’s mayoral candidate, Ken Sim, won an absolute majority of the votes cast, 51 percent, 85,732 votes compared to former Mayor Stewart’s 49,593 votes. All ABC’s seven council candidates were elected, as […]

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Inflation Emergency: Action Needed

Inflation is soaring and devastating workers’ living standards. Every trip to the food store brings a new shock. Canada’s official inflation rate was an 8.1 percent increase in June over May, the painfully worst increase in 40 years. To add to the pain, the Bank of Canada raised its prime interest rate from 1.5 percent […]

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Court Puts Landlords Before People

One unelected Supreme Court judge has overturned the democratic decision of the City of Vancouver. The ruling backs the greed of landlords over the need of people. In November 2021, Vancouver council agreed, with only one vote against, to implement rent control on Single Room Accommodation (SRA). These small units, about 100 square feet and […]

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BC’s Longest Transit Strike Finally Ends

Workers Win Pay Raise and Cost of Living Agreement After 136 days, the strike of transit workers in the Whistler area ended on June 14. The lack of any public transit in the area caused real hardship, especially for low-paid workers, as well as to the 80 striking workers. The workers took strike action on […]

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Profit-Gouging Oil Companies

Gas prices have soared around the world, adding to inflation that is hitting workers’ living standards. Vancouver, like its overinflated housing market, has Canada’s highest gas prices. The price of gas in Vancouver rose from $1.60 a litre in December 2021 to $2 a litre in March and over $2.30 in May. In most of […]

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