Photo by Kris Krüg/Flickr Free Transit Ottawa (FTO) organized a public meeting on March 18 on the theme “Fighting Climate Change: Beyond the Carbon Tax.” The event was co-sponsored by a range of local climate justice movements including, Ecology Ottawa, Horizon Ottawa, Justice for Workers, Fridays for Future and the
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Canadian Dimension: Remembering Québec’s October Crisis
Troops on Montréal streets during the October Crisis, 1970. Photo courtesy the Toronto Star archives. 50 years ago this month, the federal government, invoking the War Measures Act—its first use in peacetime—occupied Québec with 12,000 troops, arrested almost 500 citizens without a warrant, and carried out 36,000 police searches of
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: NDP repudiates Quebec’s Bill 21 but falters in its explanation
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh delivers a stump speech in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Photo from Instagram. The NDP is fighting for its life in Quebec, where the Bloc Québécois supported by the right-wing government of François Legault threatens many if not all of the party’s current 14 seats, already much reduced from
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Rethinking some dominant approaches to climate change
Photo by Fabrice Florin Climate change is the most visible, most threatening expression of a larger, planetary ecological crisis, the result of an economic system (capitalism) with an inherent growth and profit dynamic which ensures that the exploitation of natural resources (both renewable and non-renewable) exceeds the carrying capacity of
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Québec solidaire reviews the election and maps campaign on climate crisis
Photo by Jacques Boissinot/CP Québec solidaire will make climate change the party’s main political campaign issue in the coming year, both in and outside the National Assembly. The campaign will build on the major proposals in the QS economic transition plan featured in the recent Quebec general election. Meeting in
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Venezuelan people are prime victims of Ottawa’s sanctions
Introduction “Since 2014,” writes a reporter in the online journal Venezuelanalysis, “Venezuela has been suffering from a deep economic crisis brought about by the drop in global oil prices, a dysfunctional exchange rate system, and a decrease in oil production levels. “So far the crisis has been characterised by triple
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Québec Solidaire Clarifies Its Support for Independence
Photo from Public Domain There were two main tasks on the agenda at the congress of the left party Québec solidaire (QS), meeting in Longueuil December 1-3. One was the adoption of the party’s platform for the next Quebec general election, to be held in October 2018. The other was
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Québec solidaire: No to an electoral pact with the PQ, Yes to a united front against austerity
Photo from Public Domain MONTRÉAL – As expected, the 500 delegates to the congress of Québec solidaire (QS), held here May 19-22, voted to work toward a fusion with Option nationale, debated and adopted the remaining part of the party’s draft program with few major amendments, and elected a new
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Major decisions face Québec solidaire at its forthcoming congress
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois • Photo by People’s Social Forum Quebec’s broad party of the left, Québec solidaire (QS), will open a four-day congress on May 19 in Montréal — the 12th congress in its 11-year history. The delegates face a challenging agenda. It includes the final stage of adoption of the
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Climate justice movement shakes Canada’s NDP
Illustration by Malcolm Mayes
In a stunning rebuff to the party establishment, delegates to the federal convention of the New Democratic Party, meeting in Edmonton, Alberta April 8-10, voted to reject Thomas Mul…
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Canada’s election: Voters defeat Harper, but elect another Trudeau
Photo by Renegade98 Canada’s federal election October 19 was effectively a plebiscite of voter opinion on the decade-long rule by the ultra-neoliberal Conservatives (Tories) led by Stephen Harper. With some 70% of the electorate declaring for “change” in successive polling, the overriding issue was which of the main opposition parties,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Quebec Left Debates Perspectives in Canada’s Federal Election
Photo by D’Arcy Norman Canada’s current federal election campaign is now at the half-way point in the lead-up to October 19. The three major parties are polling almost equally, with the ruling Conservative vote dropping steadily while the opposition New Democrats (NDP) and Liberals are virtually tied overall at just
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Québécois solidarity with Greece
Québec solidaire president Andrés Fontecilla speaks at Montréal rally in solidarity with Greece Greece’s battle for relief from its European financial creditors has attracted substantial sympathy and solidarity in Quebec, especially among those fighting the austerity blitz of the Couillard government. On July 5, Greek voters resoundingly rejected the ultimatums
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: ‘Je suis Charlie’? Not I. Here’s why…
Photo by Claude Truong-Ngoc Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people are taking to the streets in France and elsewhere in Europe and North America to protest the brutal murderous attacks by Islamist extremists on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a Kosher supermarket in Paris. At Charlie Hebdo,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Bolivia to host 2015 meeting of social movements to fight climate change
Photo by Pete Souza Meeting in Havana December 14, the 13th summit of ALBA leaders endorsed a Bolivian proposal to host an international assembly of social movements in 2015 to discuss and adopt a united strategy for fighting climate change. The decision by the Bolivarian Alliance for the peoples of
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Ecosocialism: Why Greens Must be Red and Reds Must be Green
Photo by Jialiang Gao Ian Angus discusses the need to build a movement based on socialist and ecological principles to counter and supplant the destructiveness of capitalism. Ian Angus is editor of Climate and Capitalism, a founding member of the Ecosocialist International Network, co-author of the Belem Ecosocialist Declaration, and
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Campaign against Alberta tar sands given massive boost by Quebec public
Photo by Letartean Quebec’s movement against climate disaster has been given a major boost by Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the former student leader who just received the Governor General’s Literary Award for his book on the 2012 student strike. Nadeau-Dubois announced Sunday night, during his appearance on the popular television program Tout
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: How Bolivia is leading the global fight against climate disaster
Photo by Joel Alvarez Bolivia goes to the polls next Sunday, October 12, in the country’s third national election since the victory of Evo Morales and his Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) in December 2005 and the second since the adoption of its radically new constitution in 2009. The MAS list,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Scotland’s referendum: Some lessons for Quebec… and Canada
Garnotte, Le Devoir, September 20, 2014 Superficially, the 55-45 victory of the No in Scotland’s referendum on September 18 was a clear rejection of independence. The Yes forces won a majority only in the four poorest and most deprived of the nation’s 32 local divisions, although a class breakdown of
Continue readingCanadian Dimension | Articles: Scotland’s referendum: Some lessons for Quebec… and Canada
Superficially, the 55-45 victory of the No in Scotland’s referendum on September 18 was a clear rejection of independence. The Yes forces won a majority only in the four poorest and most deprived of the nation’s 32 local divisions, although a class breakdown of the vote would show a majority
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