Well, it seems like Elon Musk is set to become our new Twitter overlord. This is a terrible idea, for many reasons which will probably be the subject of my next post. He seems to have become the new hope for the online Right. The one who will restore balance
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Northern Currents –: Ottawa Police refer to anti-vax protestors as “freedom supporters”
In what can only be described as positive public relations spin – or just propaganda in this case – the Ontario Police’s official Twitter account referred to anti-vaccine, pro-disease protestors as “Freedom Supporters.” I’m sorry what? Anti-vaccine protestors have shown themselves to be the least supportive of freedom. This shouldn’t
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: A new direction for Northern Currents
Northern Currents has changed quite a bit since I started it two years ago. I have 60 posts published and have built a small following via social media and the newsletter. I have decided to simplify things a little. You can see the new layout is much more simple and
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Neoliberal failures expose the need to defund the police
Police cannot ever solve broad social and political problems created by the neglect of the neoliberal state. They will forever be locked in a chase to find more crime which is continuously generated by our economic system. A dog chasing its tail. Alternatives must be found.
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: The Conservative Party has become the political arm of the trucker’s convoy
The Conservative party has made a turn to the hard right. No doubt they want to swallow up lost voters further to the right that have turned to the PPC. What this means in practice is an outright rejection of any public health measures that actually prevent Covid infections and
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Vancouver Police release highly militaristic copaganda recruiting ad
The Vancouver Police Department released a series of recruitment ads on March 1st. The VPD’s ad elevated one of the worst parts of policing – the high militarization of the VPD – in a blatant pro-police propaganda campaign.
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Making sense of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
What has become clear is that Canadian and American media are manufacturing consent, and presenting the Russian invasion of Ukraine outside of its historical context. The act of invasion is 100% Vladimir Putin’s decision, and the invasion was not justified. At the same time, the conditions that led to this
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: A left-wing case against Justin Trudeau invoking the Emergencies Act
The central issue with invoking the Emergency Act is twofold: First, it is a step too far in consolidating state power against dissenting citizens. Second, police already had the tools they needed to deal with the occupation in Ottawa but chose not to. If the police had exhausted all their
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Pierre Poilievre is no friend of the working class, despite his pro-worker ranting
Poilievre’s announcement to run as Prime Minister touches on working-class issues, with a mood of plausible, genuine sincerity. He even mentions the working class by name. Of course, Poilievre doesn’t care about the working class at all. His solution to alleviating poverty in Canada is to put the social welfare
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: The truckers convoy promotes social harm, not “mandating freedom.”
The organizers of the covid convoy have been demanding they speak to the manager of Canada. While they claim to fight for freedom and “vaccine choice,” this couldn’t be further from the truth. What all the elements within the spectrum of supporters of the convoy have in common is the
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Where is the convoy to support workers in the trucking industry?
Wage theft is a major problem for workers in the trucking industry, yet the organizers of the so-called Truckers for Freedom Convoy are completely silent about this. How can the organizers and supporters of the convoy claim to support truckers, when they simply used them as a spectacle to draw
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Top Banking CEO blames workers’ wages for causing inflation
In the end, workers are attacked on two fronts via inflation rhetoric. First, by banking CEO’s who claim workers make too much money, and second, by the Conservatives who claim that they received too much government support during the pandemic.
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Right-wing news outlet “True North” posts misleading vaccination statistics
True North, a conservative-leaning news site, has published a highly misleading article that seems to attempt to undermine vaccine effectiveness. It’s actually kind of shocking how bad it is. Putting True North’s own numbers into context tells an entirely different story than the story its readers have heard. According to
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Widely condemned ‘Truckers For Freedom’ rally features Trudeau figure in a noose
Aside from needless greenhouse gas emissions, the only accomplishment of the so-called Truckers for Freedom convoy is further consolidation and recruitment of the far-right. Whatever your stance on vaccines or vaccine mandate, the growth of these far-right conspiracy movements and the inevitable violence that goes along with it should be
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: BC government cut health coverage to migrants twice during the pandemic
BC excludes some workers, students, and newcomers to the province from receiving healthcare benefits. This forces people to pay for their own healthcare out of their own pocket. During the pandemic, temporary policies were introduced to cover these groups of people, but were eventually revoked. If Canada’s public healthcare system
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Abolish public transit fares – for social justice and climate change
Public transit is much more than getting from point A to point B. It is implicitly linked to broader societal issues like climate change and social justice. Eliminating user fares would be a great first step in the right direction.
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Don’t just blame the anti-vaxxers, blame our political elites too
Justin Trudeau has chosen to place all of the blame on the unvaccinated for the current spike in cases and hospitalizations. The problem is, this is only a half-truth. It is political scapegoating. The other half of the problem is Trudeau himself – and the rest of Canada’s political elites
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Businesses received $26 billion more in pandemic relief money than individuals
The influence of the private sector paid off for business owners, as they received more pandemic relief money collectively than individuals did. Justin Trudeau’s federal government came out with a slew of programs to help those in Canada, but many of these predominantly favoured employers. According to a new CCPA
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: How capitalism made the pandemic worse, every step of the way
The internal logic of capitalism has tainted our government’s response to the pandemic. Corporate profits were preserved, while the interests of the working class were disregarded. Pandemic austerity and vaccine nationalism were the primary themes of government responses, and have grave consequences for the working class and health of humanity.
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Sending Crisis Response Teams instead of Police will save lives
One of the responsibilities of the police that could be eliminated is the role of social work and responding to mental health crises. As we’ve seen far too often in Canada and across the world, the police are untrained and ill-equipped in social work. The success of these examples in
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