According to CD columnist Alex Cosh, it is up to extra-parliamentary movements to hold the BC government’s feet to the fire on behalf of working people. Photo courtesy the Province of British Columbia/Flickr. It’s been a tumultuous year or so for British Columbia’s fragile right-wing political coalitions. After winning its
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Canadian Dimension: It shouldn’t have taken this long for the BC NDP to legislate paid sick leave
That it took more than a year into a once-in-a-generation public health crisis for an NDP government to introduce such a basic provision as provincial sick pay is beyond disappointing. Image by Canadian Dimension. Following months of pressure and after more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, British Columbia’s
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: How the KKK capitalized on Canada’s racism
The Ku Klux Klan in Canada: A Century of Promoting Racism and Hate in the Peaceable Kingdom Allan Bartley Formac, 2020 Aside from accounts of the many acts of horrific, hate-driven violence committed by the Ku Klux Klan in Canada, one of the most disturbing quotes from Allan Bartley’s new
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: BC NDP cruise to a majority, but the real work lies ahead
BC NDP leader John Horgan speaks during a campaign stop, October 12, 2020. Photo from Flickr. As widely predicted, British Columbia’s NDP government has renewed its mandate with a thumping majority, making John Horgan the province’s first sitting New Democratic premier to win re-election. At the time of writing, the
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Modest Rental Supplements Aren’t Enough. We Need More Public Housing Now.
Downtown Eastside (DTES), Vancouver, during the coronavirus pandemic, April 19, 2020. Photo from Flickr. After the spread of COVID-19 resulted in massive job losses, provincial governments across Canada have over the past few weeks patched together various measures aimed at protecting renters from evictions and financial ruin. Although British Columbia’s
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: UK Labour Party’s leadership race a test of strength for grassroots democratic socialism
UK Labour Party leadership hopeful Rebecca Long-Bailey looks on as Jeremy Corbyn delivers a speech. Still image from YouTube. As neoliberal centrists seek to use the British Labour Party’s disastrous election defeat to push for a return to Blairism, the left faces the task of electing a new leader who
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Why the ‘Ok Boomer’ phenomenon is short-sighted
Starting as an internet meme, the ‘OK boomer’ trend has exploded, from TikTok videos to merchandise including hoodies, iPhone cases and shower curtains. Image taken from Amazon.com. The “Ok Boomer” meme, which many young people are using online as a rebuttal against out-of-touch baby boomers, taps into frustrations disproportionately experienced
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Why a wealth tax must be part of any plan to end income inequality in Canada
According to a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, fewer than 90 of the richest families in Canada own as much wealth as all of the people living in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island – combined. Photo courtesy Bloomberg News. Earlier this summer, Vancouver-based real-estate mogul
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: ‘Too little, too late’: Don’t wait for CSIS to stop the rise of right-wing extremism in Canada
While some observers hailed the federal government’s recent addition of the Neo-Nazi groups Blood & Honour (B&H) and Combat 18 (C18) to the national terrorist list as symbolically important, analysts point out that Canada’s security services are doing far too little, far too late to address the broader dangers of
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: B.C. Green’s anti-worker biases expose the party’s contradictions on climate change
Photo by Arnold Lim After making vague promises in its 2017 election platform to “modernize” provincial labour standards, the British Columbia Green Party recently blocked two important reforms to the province’s labour code, showing that, in practice, Canada’s mainstream Green movement harbours anti-worker biases that negatively impact the struggle against
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Never mind the yuppies: Vancouver’s wealthy elites driving away workers who keep the city safe
Photo by Heydrienne (Flickr) Vancouver’s business community often bemoans affordability challenges faced by middle-class professionals in the upper echelons of the tech and corporate sectors. However, a more alarming consequence of the city’s housing crisis — caused in large part by federal underinvestment in social housing and real-estate speculation from
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