Features

by Editors — last modified 2018-10-06T08:57:06-04:00

Original articles by non-sectarian socialist student, labour and community organizers based in Canada.

#SaveOurLibraries : resisting Ford's ignorant cuts

— by Roxanne Dubois — last modified May 03, 2019 08:59 AM

It was just a question of time before the Ford government went after libraries. Of all the things that are going on in Ontario, it is so sad that we have to take up the fight to defend local library services.

What is a general strike?

— by Editors (What's Left) — last modified May 01, 2019 08:07 AM

Today is May Day, International Workers' Day. With roots in the workers' struggle for an 8-hour work day, this day has been marked for more than a century in countries across the world. May Day is a great day for socialists, labour organizers and agitators to draw connections between the workers' struggle under capitalism and the gains we have made in history. May Day is marked around the world with cultural celebrations and also protests where workers' rights are under attack.

Lancement de Vendredi Français

— by Roxanne Dubois — last modified Apr 27, 2019 09:35 AM

Notre collaboratrice Roxanne Dubois publie un nouveau bulletin hebdomadaire intitulé vendredi français qui s'adresse aux francophones et aux francophiles. Le vendredi, le bulletin présente une sélection de bouchées de culture en français à lire et à apprécier. Roxanne partage des écrits originaux: des nouvelles, poèmes et de l'écriture créative sous plusieurs formes. De temps à autre, elle partage aussi du contenu externe en français comme de la musique, de l'art, des vidéos et des liens médiatiques.

Ontario Budget 2019 undermines the academic system | Graham Cox

— by Graham H. Cox — last modified Apr 22, 2019 08:58 PM

The Ford Government's cuts to the university sector puts additional strain on an already stressed funding system. The new budget drives an aggressive free-market agenda obsessed with short-term results that does not work in a university setting and will undermine teaching, learning, and research in Ontario. The announced direction for Strategic Mandate Agreement's (SMAs) will drive universities to align their teaching and research priorities with short-term labour market demands. This will undermine of the long-term research and teaching objectives at the heart of quality academic education and research. In short, the budget is a disaster for the academy and will bring hardship to the workers, students, and faculty on our campuses.

“It is New Brunswick that enriches the Irvings, not the Irvings that enrich New Brunswick.”

— by JBB — last modified Apr 04, 2019 12:54 PM

The NB Media Co-op interviews philosopher and critic Alain Deneault. "... the Irvings have developed their structures in a productive corner of the country, forgotten by the public authorities and big capital, in a bid to marginalize competition. Multinationals like Shell, Total and Exxon are led to act in a concerted manner, notwithstanding the competitive relationship they maintain among themselves, when they need to curry favour with one of the many states in which they operate. This opens up the game a little, while in the Maritimes, the family holds outrageous power. They managed to obtain from legislators both tax benefits and a readiness to oblige such as are rarely seen."

The Green New Campaigns in Canada | Graham Cox

— by Graham H. Cox — last modified Apr 01, 2019 11:16 PM

In the US, the Green New Deal has gained deserved momentum because it is being promoted by charismatic elected officials, propelled to power on the basis of their broad left-wing credentials -- and not only because of their focus on climate. We cannot bypass this step in Canada. This means that unapologetic socialist elements in our labour party must also be propelled into a position to promote such an agenda.

Student Walkout at Noon on March 20 | Campus Coalition

— by Graham H. Cox — last modified Mar 05, 2019 03:56 PM

Join students from across the province in a walk out on Wednesday March 20 at 12 pm to demonstrate to the Ontario government that we will not tolerate their attacks on students.

Ford's cynical politics and higher education | Graham Cox

— by Graham H. Cox — last modified Jan 18, 2019 12:04 PM

The announcement on post-secondary education by the Ford government was a showcase of the new cynical politics of the right-wing. It was painful to watch. The minister, looking as excited as a drowned cat, delivered an announcement of massive and destructive change to higher education in this province using an ugly caricature of Orwellian language.

Student power through their unions | Graham Cox

— by Graham H. Cox — last modified Jan 12, 2019 08:31 AM

Any challenge to the stability of student unions — one of the last independent democratic structures left in society — is an attack on democracy.

Year-ends and bookends

— by Roxanne Dubois — last modified Dec 31, 2018 10:14 AM

This year, my world was moved by current events and personal challenges. Books helped me steady my way, and so I continued reading. I have read new books, old books, classics in French and English. I have read fiction and non-fiction, in paper and electronic form. I was not particular about what I would read, so long as I kept reading. Here is a round-up of some of my favourites.

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