Citizens' Press

Lancement de Vendredi Français

2019-04-27

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

Graham Cox

2019-04-22

Defending Student Rights

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.

Le Rouge et le Noir de Stendhal

Roxanne Dubois

2019-04-19

Que dire de ce roman maintes fois revu et analysé? Depuis le temps que j'entends parler du grand classique de Stendhal, je ne m'attendais pas à lire un passionnant thriller psychologique rédigé en language du 19e siècle. Le Rouge et le Noir est sans aucun doute une œuvre impressionnante à bien des égards. Il impressionne grâce à sa longueur, d'abord, car il compte plus de 600 pages. Il impressionne ensuite grâce à ses revirements. Voici le genre de livre qu'il faut lire au moins une fois dans sa vie.

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

JBB

2019-04-04

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

Graham Cox

2019-04-01

Defending Student Rights, Just Transition, Socialism

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.

Regime Change Via Sanctions? U.S. Uses International Finance System to Strangle Venezuelan Economy | Democracy Now

Faiz Ahmed

2019-03-15

'You have, on one side, these democratic—so-called democratic governments in Latin America and Europe, and then, on the other side, they always bring up China or Russia or Turkey, saying, you know, authoritarian governments are supporting the government of Venezuela. But when you look at this, you see that it really is just like the coalition of the willing that George W. Bush had, 48 countries. In this case, there's about 50.'

Critique de livre: Petit pays de Gaël Faye

Roxanne Dubois

2019-03-14

Petit pays met en scène le Burundi, cet état Africain dans la région des Grands Lacs, souvent à l'ombre du Rwanda et de son histoire tumultueuse. Il est indéniable que ce roman parle de la guerre; début 1990 dans cette région du monde, à la veille d'une guerre civile, on ne peut faire autrement. Petit pays est beaucoup plus que ça: c'est un récit d'enfance qui raconte la ville de Bujumbura aux yeux de Gabriel, 10 ans. C'est un roman d'une lumière et d'une légèreté bouleversante.

Book review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Education is a right | Roxanne Dubois

Roxanne Dubois

2019-02-26

From the archives: In 2012, students across the country organized a National Day of Action on February 1. In the lead-up to the day, I wrote a series of posts prompting students to get active in the fight for Education as a right for themselves and the generations of students coming after them. I am re-publishing these posts in the wake of Doug Ford's attack on students' unions in Ontario, the only organized and well-resourced force that has historically resisted tuition fee increases and funding cuts to post-secondary education.