Capitalism’s overriding imperative is to extract wealth from the land and labour in order to enrich the elite. Workers struggle to survive or eke out a living as profits flow into the pockets of the wealthy. As capitalism replaced feudalism, the exploitation of both land and labour played out in countries around the world. As […]
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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 […]
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A couple of days ago I asked my old friend Vladan, who taught me how to drive big rigs, about his thoughts on the so-called “truckers’ freedom convoy.” Vladan, who has been trucking long-distance for the last 25 years, answered with resignation in his voice. “What can I say? I waited at the Ambassador Bridge […]
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Now that the convoy has been cleared from Ottawa’s streets, it is worth remembering when desperate workers tried to take their protest to the federal government in Ottawa in 1935. The “On to Ottawa Trek” saw unemployed men housed in military relief camps travel by rail from Vancouver, stopping at towns along the way gaining […]
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Written by Socialist Alternative members in Alberta. Socialist Alternative interviewed Tanner Layton, a striking Faculty and Socialist Alternative member. On the morning of February 10, after failed negotiations between the University of Lethbridge Faculty Association (ULFA) and the University’s Board of Governors, the ULFA began legal strike action. How long have you been part of […]
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The cost of expanding the Trans Mountain Pipeline is out of control. When the government bought the pipeline from Kinder Morgan in 2018 for $4.5 billion, it was estimated that it would cost a further $7.4 billion to complete the expansion. Now the estimate has nearly tripled to $21.4 billion! The increased costs are partly […]
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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 […]
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has invoked the Emergencies Act in response to the ongoing anti-vaccine-mandate “convoy” protests in Ottawa and elsewhere. Socialist Alternative opposes the right-wing convoy protests and also condemns Trudeau’s over-reaching move to impose this anti-democratic Act, which is being implemented for the first time since its passage in 1988. The effects of […]
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The BC Liberals have a new leader — Kevin Falcon. The nearly year-long campaign for the leadership ended on February 5. After the 5th ballot Kevin Falcon took in 52 percent of the votes; however, this result was largely inevitable from the first ballot where he led decisively with 47 percent. The leadership race came […]
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Since the resignation of Stephen Harper in 2015, Canada’s Conservative Party has had four leaders. Again, it is looking for a new leader. Erin O’Toole, elected to head the party by its membership just 17 months before, was voted out of that position by 73 of the Conservative Party’s 119 MPs in an online caucus […]
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