Among the many failings of our economic and political realities revealed by COVID-19, the most visible one is the fact that the pandemic is accentuating all the pre-existing inequalities. In fact, it has a much more devastating impact on oppressed sections of society who are already in fragile financial positions and living off precarious jobs. […]
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The harrowing last minutes of Joyce Echaquan, which she livestreamed in the Joliette hospital in Québec, has again shone a cruel light on the institutional racism that the Canadian state is built on. The Premier of Québec, Legault, has again denied there is systemic racism in Québec, ignoring the crystal clear evidence. A year ago […]
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Capitalism turned the coronavirus into a huge disaster. COVID-19 was not an inevitable and unavoidable pandemic; capitalism made it more likely that a virus would cross to humans and did not prepare for that. Once the virus was known to be infecting humans the response was inadequate. Almost everything capitalism did and is doing made […]
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On October 16, 1970, Liberal PM Pierre Trudeau enacted the War Measures Act, its only usage in peacetime. Québec was flooded with 6,000 armed troops. The Act suspended democratic rights, allowed censorship, and authorized the police to search and arrest people without warrant. The spur for this huge attack was the Quebec Liberation Front’s (FLQ) […]
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Several private clinics in Toronto are now offering COVID-19 testing, as the second wave sweeps over a poorly prepared province. The cost per test varies from $50 to $400. The rationale being played by the corporate heads of companies offering testing is that they are providing a critical service in a time of need, citing […]
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On Friday, October 2, a BC Supreme Court judge killed hopes of saving Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC). Usually courts rule in favour of the owners of property against other claims – such as granting an injunction to Coastal GasLink that led to the RCMP’s invasion of Wet’suwet’en lands. But in the MEC case the owners, the […]
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While COVID-19 has slammed on the entire country’s brakes, this sudden stop has been as severe for Canada’s youth as nearly any other group. Young people across the country are working and living in some of the most precarious situations. Many have been halted in the middle of transitional periods, forced to forgo some newly […]
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To no one’s surprise the BC New Democrats (NDP) have called a provincial election, which they are highly likely to win. The opposition parties are having little or no impact and, not surprisingly, are criticizing the decision. COVID-19 COVID has dominated people’s thoughts for most of 2020. Up to recently, the NDP was considered to […]
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Most people have a healthy scepticism of politicians and their promises. As Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet president in the 1950s, observed, “politicians are the same all over, they promise to build a bridge even when there’s no river.” So, to last Wednesday’s throne speech, either written or pre-approved by Justin Trudeau and delivered by the […]
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Including Growing Second Wave and New Closures Even now, nine months since reports of COVID-9 emerged Canada still does not have enough PPE or test kits and tracing is weak. For months, Canadians have been held in the grip of an unprecedented pandemic that has left few people untouched. Canada failed to protect workers and […]
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