So far this year, I have read a number of incredible books, none of which have come close to The Break by Katherena Vermette. I finished this book months ago, and have since been haunted by some of its vivid, upsetting and heartwarming scenes. In many ways, this book is far too grand to summarize. In fact, what you will read below is less of a book review, and more of a post on why everyone in Canada should read this book.
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) expresses its deepest sympathies to members of the American Jewish community following the killing this morning of ten worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA.
Internationally known left-wing writer and scholar Tariq Ali was in Toronto last night. Two back-to-back speaking events were hosted by the Toronto Public Library as part of the On civil society series. He first talked about his favourite writer Eduardo Galeano, and then about the Left more broadly. Both talks were sold out, the second even requiring an overflow room.
Doug Ford and his conservatives attack the rights of workers in Ontario with the repeal of Bill 148 provisions. This brings us back to the regressive position workers were in before Bill 148. For workers seeking union protection, the law removes all of the provisions that brought some balance back to workers. The new legislation will tilt labour law drastically in favour of employers and capitalists.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) will begin rotating strikes at 12:01 am tomorrow in Victoria (British Columbia), Edmonton (Alberta), Windsor (Ontario), and 1:01 am in Halifax (Nova Scotia). All times listed in local time. The strikes will last for 24 hours with locations striking daily.
Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – The Charter – lists your fundamental freedoms under the Constitution of Canada. The fundamental freedoms are freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of belief, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association.
Jonny Appleseed is heading back to the Peguis First Nations community where he was born, just outside of Winnipeg, because his stepfather passed away. Such is the premise of this short, punchy first novel by author Joshua Whitehead. In this book, Jonny's character wanders through thoughts and memories, feelings of pain and joy as he attempts to gather enough money to go back to the reserve to see his mother.
'And, you know—and it's only since the '60s that, you know, radicals have been thinking about like elections as the way. And it's very connected, you know, with the New Left stopping organizing labor and focusing on students. All the sudden in the '60s, you heard the students are the revolution. It was not historically accurate. It's not based on any other revolutions, except for maybe there was, at the same time, the Cultural Revolution in China. But other than that, wasn't historically accurate. And it was a focus on students and spectacle that has led—and has led to like people not knowing what to do and basically saying, “Well, all I'm going to do is electoral politics.”'
Ontario universities have academic freedom enshrined in their very fabric, negotiated in collective agreements and outlined in the principles of their governing bodies. Protecting the rights of these organizations to continue their work is essential to maintaining the academic culture of free exchange on campuses. Instead of expanding and fostering the healthy freedom of expression enjoyed on Ontario's university and college campuses, the Ford government's new 'free speech' directive will put a chill on academic freedom and debate.
In the middle of the municipal election campaign, the new conservative government in Ontario run by Doug Ford (the one-time failed councillor from Toronto) has announced massive changes to the number of councillors in Toronto and the structure of representation in the city.
