Desmond Cole case reignites age-old debate | What's Left
Cole's activism is one of principle and justice, and his work will be important to follow outside of the pages of the Toronto Star.
Middlemarch by George Eliot
For a Franco-Ontarian who has mostly read in French her entire life, certain English classics have always felt out of reach. George Eliot's Middlemarch, for example, which spans the imposing length of just under 900 pages, is not a book I would have picked up just for the sake of it. Its length should not put anyone off, though, since Eliot's writing has the ability to take the reader on a long, excursionary journey well worth travelling.
What's Left 2017-05-14 Volume 93
Putting organizing at the top of the agenda in the Canadian labour movement; Desmond Cole case reignites age-old debate; Canadian media proves ignorance on cultural appropriation; Middlemarch: a study of provincial life through the ages; On writing in hard times
Fees, taxes, and revenue generation | What's Left
There has been a recent uptick in discussions around the failure of the private sector to provide quality services. From airlines to infrastructure, from safe jobs to retirement, from the transition to a low-carbon environment to agrochemical companies poisoning the ground, from the cost of rent to the price of housing. People in the US are starting to realize that the private sector in a deregulated market is not able to stop greed from doing harm to many things we enjoy.
What's Left 2017-04-23 Volume 92
Fees, taxes, and revenue generation
Auschwitz survivor confronts ICE Director: 'History is not on your side' | Metro
What's Left 2017-03-12 Volume 90
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois Running for Québec Solidaire; ServiceOntario is a for-profit American company; Fighting Propaganda; Repeal of Obamacare; France; LEFT NOISE; What we shared this week
Has the meaning of 'organizing' been forgotten? | What's Left
Rising inequality, US anti-union laws crushing organized labour south of the boarder, and the slow unrelenting decline of union density here in Canada has renewed the focus on labour union organizing. The response from the leadership of the movement has been focused – rightly – on changes to law regulating labour unions that make it harder to organize. However, changing labour laws will not undo the slow decline in union density alone. Unions will also have to actually go out and talk to workers, sign them up, establish a local, bargain a first agreement, and enforce those terms.
What's Left 2017-03-26 Volume 91
Has the meaning of 'organizing' been forgotten?; Organizing and Labour Laws; Recommendations for socialists; Just Kids by Patti Smith; WHAT WE SHARED THIS WEEK
Book Review: Just Kids by Patti Smith
Patti Smith has had a long, creative life as a singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist. In Just Kids, she writes the memoir of her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. She dives back into the New York City of the 1960's and 1970's when both of them were young, emerging artists and just getting started in their life-long artistic journeys.