There’s the story of the guy who went to the gas station to pump up his car tires… they charged him 50 cents. He said, “it was only 20 cents last week.” The attendant replied, “that’s inflation for you.” Except inflation is no joke. When certain phrases get constantly used, they can lose their meaning. […]
Continue Reading
A joke currently doing the rounds: “Definition of a fossil fool — A politician who spends $9.1 billion on an emission reduction plan while spending twice as much to expand a tar sands pipeline.” No prize for identifying the fool in question. The foolishness is underlined by the recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on […]
Continue Reading
Ontario goes to the polls on June 2. Doug Ford must go. Yet, this seems unlikely with the polls giving him a clear lead. How, after four years of U-turns, cutting services, gaffes and COVID shambles, is this possible? Somehow, Ford has led a charmed life over these years. He started off with policies to […]
Continue Reading
It would be a grave mistake for the NDP and union leaders to assume that everything is back to normal now that the convoy has ended. It isn’t. The convoy provoked a decisive change in Canadian politics, with the alt-right pumped after the successful encampment and US border blockades. But more importantly, these actions have […]
Continue Reading
The “freedom” convoy has come and gone. It has had a major politicizing impact on Canadian society as well as having repercussions internationally. Unfortunately, it has disoriented some on the left — some have claimed it to be a working-class uprising aimed at the ruling-class elites while others have denounced it as a manifestation of […]
Continue Reading
While the convoy has been cleared from the streets of Ottawa, many questions need to be asked both about the role of former police and military personnel within the convoy, and the response of the police to the convoy and blockades. The police’s general motto is “to protect and to serve.” Ottawa’s police department expanded […]
Continue Reading
Socialist Alternative recently examined the idea that Doug Ford had become the friend of labour after his government increased the minimum wage and proposed that delivery workers should be allowed to use washrooms at locations they deliver to and that workers should have the right to “disconnect from work” (not answer the phone, reply to […]
Continue Reading
Some people have been fooled into thinking that recent policy announcements by the Conservative government of Doug Ford have made him an advocate for working-class interests. Ontarians have seen a slew of announcements this fall about temp workers, gig workers, injured workers, being able to “disconnect from work” and the minimum wage. Ford is obviously […]
Continue Reading
“Keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer” goes the saying. In the case of the telecom giant, Rogers, it would appear that it’s your own family members who need to be the closely watched ones. Rogers ─ which currently has two duelling boards of directors, a stalled multibillion-dollar takeover, a feud among the […]
Continue Reading
In 2016 it was Panama. In 2017 it was Paradise, This year it’s Pandora. It’s appropriately named as, in Greek mythology, curiosity led Pandora to open a container left in care of her husband, which released physical and emotional curses upon humanity. In modern times an idiom has grown from the story meaning any source […]
Continue Reading