As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact Canada, we see all levels of government taking increasingly desperate measures to avert the kind of catastrophe we are seeing unfold in Italy. On more than one occasion, officials have referred to past outbreaks, like SARS, to pat themselves on the back and talk about how much they’ve […]
Continue Reading
What a difference a few weeks and a major disease outbreak makes! Not that long ago, if I remember correctly, there was no money for pretty much anything but tax cuts and supports for business. Now, suddenly, there seems to be cash aplenty, to be sure, mainly for the rich, but with a substantial amount […]
Continue Reading
I work “full time” for a hotel. A cog in Vancouver’s tremendous tourism industry. Since I started work here, the fact that my contract stipulates “full time” availability with zero guaranteed hours has laid cold and squirming in the back of my mind, a worm undermining the small sense of security that comes with regular […]
Continue Reading
Carlo Mosti is a member of Alternative Socialiste (ISA in Quebec). from Alternative Socialiste Québec The “railway crisis,” as journalists called it, was a new wave of First Nations against Canadian neo-colonial capitalism. This time, the blockades had paralyzing effects on the economy of some provinces comparable to a transportation strike. The bosses, worried about […]
Continue Reading
1,200 hotel workers in UNITE HERE Local 40 won dignity and job security in a battle against global corporations that rule the most luxurious hotels in downtown Vancouver. The two-month strike, the longest in the city’s hotel industry, demonstrated the power of unions when they have determination to win and a fighting strategy. The workers, […]
Continue Reading
Fifty years ago, Canadian women joined an uprising of women around the world. Feminists were active in a range of issues: mobilization against the Vietnam War, nuclear disarmament, employment equality, birth control, abortion rights and ending violence against women. This second wave of feminism spanned 1960 to 1985. There were hard-fought victories for birth control […]
Continue Reading
Tim Heffernan is a retired Ontario Teacher. Friday, February 21, saw the biggest show of united action by Ontario teachers since 1997. All 4 unions (elementary, secondary, Catholic and French) representing 160,000 teachers, in a one day strike closed down schools that affected 2 million students. In Toronto, an estimated 30,000 teachers, education workers, parents […]
Continue Reading
Stop Press On Friday, February 21, Trudeau stated that “the barricades need to come down now.” This is a warning that his pretend conciliation is coming to an end. On the same day the B.C.s’ Environmental Assessment Office has halted construction until Coastal GasLink consults with Indigenous communities. As Parliament resumed this week, Justin Trudeau is […]
Continue Reading
Tim Heffernan is a retired Ontario Teacher. Two months after the first one day strike by Ontario High School Teachers, the two sides are still miles apart. (This article gives background to the strike.) The High School teachers in the public boards, organized by OSSTF, were the first to take action with a series of […]
Continue Reading
Early on Thursday, February 6, the RCMP launched a military style assault on the traditional territory of the Wet’suwet’en in north western BC. The Wet’suwet’en, led by their traditional chiefs, have set up camps to peacefully claim their control of this territory, land that has never been relinquished by treaty. The hereditary chiefs are a […]
Continue Reading