Ontario COVID Crisis – the Losing Battle

Doug Ford began his press conference Friday, April 16 with “we’re losing the battle.” Knowing Ford, many expected him to continue with “but we’re winning the war.” Mercifully, he spared us that. It would have been more than a stretch to make that claim given the latest grim figures from Ontario for the virus. The […]

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Amazon and Doug Ford Fail Workers – Again

Amazon’s warehouse in Brampton, on the edge of Toronto, was ordered to close by Peel Public Health…

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Politicians jet-setting, while COVID deaths mount

“We’re all in this together” has been a constant refrain from politicians during the course of the pandemic. From the beginning, there was never any truth in this. In the same storm, yes, but the boats that became available for this storm ranged from yachts, to rowing boats, to scraps of wood. Given what’s happened […]

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Death Stalks Ontario’s long-term care homes

Ford and for-profit homes to blame At the height of the first wave of COVID-19 in Ontario, the Canadian army released a searing report of what the troops found when deployed in some of the worst affected long-term care (LTC) homes. Nearly 77 percent of total COVID-19-linked deaths in the province were residents in LTC, […]

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In Defence of Seniority (and Good Education)

The Ford government in Ontario, using the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse, has launched an attack on the principle of union seniority as it pertains to the hiring of new teachers. The seniority principle, often simplified to “last in, first out” has been incorporated into the language of union collective agreements going back to the […]

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Horrors in Ontario’s “Care” Homes – Profit is Guilty

Tim Heffernan and Jim Sugiyama Cockroaches, rotten food, patients with ulcers left bed-bound, staff moving from unit to unit wearing contaminated gear, staff afraid to ask for supplies for fear of increasing the costs to the home. Those were just some of the disturbing conditions detailed in a Canadian Armed Forces report based on the […]

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The Road to Ontario’s Care Homes Horror

This article updates one from the same author from May 2019. The premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, would have us believe that the deaths of 249 people (April 20) in residential care homes are just an unfortunate aspect of the COVID-19 crisis. In reality, it’s a case of a chronicle of deaths foretold. Step back […]

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160,000 Ontario Teachers Out on One-day Strike

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 […]

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Ontario teacher strike

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 […]

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Socialist Alternative Magazine #14

Climate Justice and Jobs Instability Rising Ontario Struggle Needed Where is Canada’s Women’s Movement? Hypocrisy to Indigenous Peoples No War on Iran 2019: A Year of Struggles Housing Victory … more from Canada and the World If you would like to order copy(ies) contact us at [email protected]

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