On June 22 2020, after a gruelling 6 month lockout, members of Unifor Local 594 who operate the Co-operative Refinery Complex in Regina reached a settlement with their employer, Consumer Co-op Refineries Limited (CCRL). The lockout was an often bitter and at times hostile dispute involving 730 workers. The settlement that was approved by 89% […]
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Governments across Canada, and the world, are pushing to re-open the economy. With COVID-19 still rampaging, this is putting profit before people. But the economy won’t just re-open. Millions are unemployed, many more have lost wages and face a rent crisis. People are not going to spend as they did before. Business is not going […]
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Alberta’s Bill 32: Unprecedented escalation of Kenney’s war on workers There’s a good general rule for whether a piece of legislation will help or harm working people. If the business community says that it will lead to an economic Armageddon, workers probably stand to benefit (at the expense of their profits). But if the bosses […]
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As COVID-19 engulfed the Earth, most governments failed to protect society. A rare few acted quickly and decisively to test, trace, isolate and provide personal protective equipment (PPE), managing without lockdowns and widespread closures to contain the virus. Many, such as Canada, acted too little and too late. Others, such as the US, Brazil, India, […]
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The first thing to note about the WE saga and Trudeau’s previous brushes with matters “ethical” (e.g., the Aga Khan trip, SNC Lavalin) is the obsession that the media has with these issues at the expense of more blatant ethical scandals such as the thousands of deaths in the long-term care homes or the deadly […]
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During the month of March, the whole world was scrambling to wrap their heads around the scale and impact of the COVID-19 crisis. As the coronavirus was scything its way through Asia and Europe, each successive government seemed to be competing to see who was going to bungle its pandemic response more. Meanwhile a different […]
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The German playwright, Bertolt Brecht wrote in the 1930s that it is easier to rob by setting up a bank than by holding up one. If Brecht were alive today, he might want to revise the statement by substituting pharmaceutical company for bank. Using a measure called Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), research shows that […]
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On July 11, 1990, thirty years ago, one of the most longstanding violent confrontations between police and Indigenous groups in Canada began. The Oka Crisis, also known as the Kanesatake Resistance or Mohawk Resistance at Kanesatake, was a 78-day standoff between Mohawk land defenders, Québec police, the RCMP and the Canadian Army. It took place […]
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Karl Marx once said, “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.” While this may be a critique of liberal democracy, it can also apply to the state of temporary foreign workers in Canada who hope to live under better […]
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Today marks 153 years of colonial genocide. Although harms against Indigenous peoples began long before, July 1, 1867 was the inaugural celebration of Canada’s founding. Every July 1 since has been a celebration of colonial, capitalist genocide hidden beneath fireworks and the deceptive lyrics: “our home and native land…the true north strong and free.” Canada […]
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