Once again, the results of yesterday’s federal election demonstrate the unrepresentative nature of our Parliament. It also illustrates why the Liberals, who came second in votes but first in seats, were so willing to backtrack on their 2015 promise to bring in a system of proportional representation. The chart further
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Paul S. Graham: Bryan Palmer: The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike heard around the world
Winnipeg, July 20, 2019: Professor Bryan Palmer at the 14th annual forum of the World Association for Political Economy. Photo: Paul S. Graham The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike was followed with great interest by people around the world, says Dr. Bryan Palmer, Professor Emeritus at Trent University. Professor Palmer was
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: The US/Canadian attack on Cuba and Venezuela
Winnipeg, Oct. 3, 2019 – Arnold August, speaking at the University of Manitoba about US and Canadian foreign policy regarding Cuba and Venezuela. Photo: Paul S. Graham There is no doubt that Canadian foreign policy has taken a hard turn to the right, especially with regard to Latin America. Arnold
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Why you should care about Venezuela
Most Canadians imagine Canada to be a force for good on the world stage. Polite, reasonable, peace-loving and progressive. At least, that is how we like to imagine ourselves. Winnipeg, July 20, 2019: Dr. Maria Páez Victor at the 14th Forum, World Association of Political Economy. Photo: Paul S. Graham
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Make Peace an Election Issue
Aug. 6, 2019: Winnipeggers gather in the shadow of the Manitoba Legislative Building to commemorate the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945. Lanterns for Peace is a ceremony that is held annually in Winnipeg and hundreds of cities worldwide. Photo: Paul S. Graham Picking
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Why I support David Nickarz for MLA in Wolseley
Winnipeg, Sept. 2, 2019 – (l-r) Paul Graham and David Nickarz at the annual Labour Day March. Photo: David Nickarz Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May has said that this year’s federal election is the most important election in Canadian history. It’s a critically important election because time is
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Elizabeth May: Vote as if your life depends on it
Winnipeg, Aug. 15, 2019: “We need people to vote as if their life depended on it, because it just might.” — Elizabeth May. Photo: Paul S. Graham Elizabeth May came to Winnipeg yesterday to lend her voice in support of Manitoba Greens contesting the Sept. 10th provincial election. She
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: 2018 in review at youtube.com/redriverpete
2018 was not my most prolific year in terms of video output, but it provided, nonetheless, some interesting and useful insights into the struggle for peace and human rights in various parts of the world. Here is a rundown of the past 12 months and as we like to say
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Left, Right — Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada
Winnipeg, October 17, 2018: Yves Engler discusses his latest book with an audience at the Université de Saint-Boniface. Photo: Paul S. Graham Some authors are so prolific you can set your calendar by them. So it is with Yves Engler, who seems to put out a new book every fall.
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: What is really happening in Venezuela?
Professor Steve Ellner. Photo: Paul S. Graham Mainstream media and government sources in Canada and the United States have provided an extremely unbalanced picture of Venezuela, portraying it as a dictatorship when in fact the governing party has won re-election consistently over the past (almost) 20 years in contests deemed
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Israel Palestine International Law Symposium
Earlier this month I attended and recorded the proceedings of the Israel Palestine International Law Symposium, held in Winnipeg September 7 – 9. While I thought I was better informed than the average Canadian going into the symposium, by the time it was over I was overwhelmed by the amount of
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Have we finally learned how to stop worrying and love The Bomb?
Slim Pickens on the set of Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb. Last year, the United Nations voted overwhelmingly to abolish nuclear weapons. On July 7, 2017, 122 member countries voted to approve the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Opponents of
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: For a Winnipeg Without Poverty
Last week, anti-poverty activists in Winnipeg released a report aimed at encouraging the City of Winnipeg to develop a strategy for reducing poverty in the city. They called on the mayor to champion poverty reduction, observing that the most promising civic antipoverty programs in Canada (in Edmonton and Calgary) are
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Winnipeg Kurdish Solidarity
Winnipeg, Jan. 23, 2018: The local Kurdish community rallied at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in solidarity with Kurds under Turkish attack in Afrin, Syria. Photo: Paul S. Graham According to a January 23, 2018 story from Reuters, Turkey has killed at least 260 Syrian Kurdish fighters and Islamic
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Let My People Grow!
In two recent announcements the Manitoba Government has revealed how it intends to regulate cannabis when it is legalized in July 2018. In short, the province will source and regulate it and the private sector will retail it. So far, so good. Unhappily, Manitobans will continue to be criminalized if
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Solidarity with Venezuela
Winnipeg, Dec. 6, 2017 – Professor Johnny Márquez, speaking at Winnipeg’s historic Ukrainian Labour Temple on the political and economic situation in Venezuela • Photo by Paul S. Graham When it comes to Venezuela, the mainstream media is awash with lies and distortions and the Canadian government is complicit (with
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Solidarity with Venezuela
Winnipeg, Dec. 6, 2017 – Professor Johnny Márquez, speaking at Winnipeg’s historic Ukrainian Labour Temple on the political and economic situation in Venezuela. Photo: Paul S. Graham When it comes to Venezuela, the mainstream media is awash with lies and distortions and the Canadian government is complicit (with the United
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Changing the Capitalist System – We are closer than you think
I’ve recently changed computer operating systems, moving from Windows 10 to a version of Linux called Mint. I was motivated primarily by concerns about privacy and had grown weary of a computing environment that was constantly trying to sell me stuff I didn’t need. I won’t bore you with what
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Revolutionary Fecklessness
Have you ever noticed that the people who are the most vociferous proponents of radical social change are often the least competent in providing for the everyday needs of the people around them? By everyday needs, I’m talking about the goods and services that glue a society together, like building
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: We can’t afford to forget the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Seventy-two years ago this Sunday, a United States Air Force bomber dropped an atomic bomb, code-named “Little Boy,” on Hiroshima; an estimated 130,000 people perished. Three days later, on August 9, 1945, 70,000 citizens of Nagasaki were vaporized when the atomic bomb code-named “Fat Man” was unleashed. Over the years
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