Alberta’s Election: It’s Going to be a Nail-Biter

After a few years of turmoil, Alberta faces a dangerously close election on May 29. The reversal of the deep hatred for the United Conservative Party (UCP) that gripped the province is astonishing. Replacing Premier Jason Kenney (the hated elitist) with Premier Danielle Smith (quietly, a former corporate lobbyist, but loudly, a reactionary right-populist) meant […]

Continue Reading

Socialist Alternative Canada Conference

Clarity and purpose in a world of turmoil Socialist Alternative Canada (SA) recently held its 4th National Conference, which was a resounding success. Members from across the country attended as well as international visitors from four other sections of International Socialist Alternative (ISA): Québec, the United States, Mexico, and China/Hong Kong/Taiwan.  While the conference was […]

Continue Reading

Ford’s Second Black Eye

Court Rules Wage Cap Law Illegal Two weeks ago Doug Ford suffered the first major defeat of his time in office when the strike movement of 55,000 CUPE education workers and the threat of an Ontario-wide general strike forced him to withdraw pre-emptive back-to-work legislation. That was the first black eye. The second one came […]

Continue Reading

Québec Election Strengthens the Right-wing Grip

Unsurprisingly, the Coalition Avenir Québec (Coalition for Quebec’s Future, CAQ) under François Legault won a second term in the province’s election. The far-right libertarian Québec Conservative Party, led by Éric Duhaime, votes grew dramatically. The Liberals and Parti Québécois, which dominated elections for years, continued an ignominious decline. Meanwhile, Québec’s reformist left stagnates and ignores […]

Continue Reading

BC’s NDP Bureaucracy Sinks Appadurai: Desperate to Avoid Change

The New Democratic Party (and its pre-1961 predecessor, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation) was once a party with relatively healthy internal democracy and a relatively active membership. While never more than a social-democratic party, it kept its base engaged through riding association meetings, workplace activity through unions, and literal kitchen-table talks in big cities and small […]

Continue Reading