democracy movements ← Progressive Bloggers // Blogues progressistes

wmtc: votepopup: voter education at the library

Oct

6

2015

On the long list of anti-democratic policies the majority Harper Government has enacted, the Orwellian-named Fair Elections Act ranks near the top. More properly called a voter suppression law, the Act effectively disenfranchise tens of thousands of Canadians. The Council of Canadians has taken the issue to court, including an ongoing Charter Challenge, but those ...

wmtc: update: mississauga library workers vote to form independent cupe local

Feb

28

2015

When people are denied independence and told that they cannot govern themselves, it only makes them more determined to achieve their independence. This simple principle repeats itself in matters large and small, throughout all history and all cultures. The struggles of 430 library workers in the sprawling suburban city of Mississauga, Ontario are not exactly ...

wmtc: what i’m reading: this changes everything by naomi klein, one of the most important books you’ll ever read

Nov

29

2014

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, by Naomi Klein, is incredibly difficult to write about. I’ve been putting sticky notes beside important paragraphs as I read, and my copy now looks like an art project, bristling with coloured paper squares. I can say without exaggeration that this is one of the most important books ...

wmtc: rest in peace, canine with a brave rebel heart

Oct

13

2014

When I blogged about him a few years back, he was called Kanellos, the Greek rebel dog. Somewhere along the way, English-language media dubbed him Riot Dog. He was also called Louk, short for Loukanikos. Louk, Kanellos, and also Thodoris may or may not have been the same dog. Whatever his name, he was brave, ...

wmtc: revolutionary thoughts of the day: kareem abdul-jabbar, the new yorker, howard zinn

Aug

19

2014

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has an excellent essay in Time, something only a big-name writer can get away with in the mainstream media. Abdul-Jabbar names the stark truths behind the uprising in Ferguson, Missouri. And the mere fact that this appears on Time.com is reason for hope. This fist-shaking of everyone’s racial agenda distracts America from the ...

wmtc: today: call your m.p.! stop the (un)fair elections act!

Feb

10

2014

I trust by now you’ve all heard about Stephen Harper’s latest plan to undermine democracy in Canada, his electoral reform bill that the chief electoral officer of the country has called an affront to democracy. Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand told CBC: “My reading of the act is that I can no longer speak about ...

wmtc: nelson mandela, 1918-2013

Dec

5

2013

“The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices – submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our ...

wmtc: more moyers: democracy and plutocracy don’t mix

Nov

7

2013

I found the preceding rtod post buried in Blogger drafts, something Allan saved there years ago. I never got around to posting it, but I never had the heart to delete it, either. If you’re not familiar with Bill Moyers, he is an American independent journalist, producer, and public intellectual. Earlier in his career, Moyers ...

wmtc: hedges: "when harper passes right-to-work, you must go on a massive general strike, or you’re finished"

Sep

21

2013

Last night, I heard author, journalist, and activist Chris Hedges speak at the Bloor Street United Church in Toronto, sponsored by the excellent Canadian Dimension. Hedges is a radical intellectual, in the Chomsky vein, also compassionate and fearless, in the mode of Howard Zinn. He touched on many subjects – and credited the work and ...

wmtc: happy canada day, a/k/a national stop harper day

Jul

1

2013

This week, pollster Nik Nanos revealed that 51.5% of Canadian voters would not consider voting for the Conservative party, compared to 36.4% only seven months ago. I don’t play the national pastime – election prediction – so I won’t speculate about if or how this poll will translate on the ground. Whether we’ll have to ...

wmtc: my journey to palestinian solidarity and the myth of the self-hating jew, part 3 and final

Jun

29

2013

Part 1 here. Part 2 here. By now it should be clear that my abandonment of my ties to Israel, and my support for the liberation of Palestine, are not based on denial of my Jewish heritage or on anti-Semitism. This is a political issue, and a moral one. Jewish people cannot be – and ...

wmtc: my journey to palestinian solidarity and the myth of the self-hating jew, part 2

Jun

24

2013

Part 1 here. For a while I had been reluctant to write this story, because it seemed so baggy and shapeless. The best essays are crisp, with a clearly defined turning point and an easily identifiable ah-ha moment. This story has none of those that I can see. A clear path would make a better ...

wmtc: rtod

Jun

16

2013

Revolutionary thought of the day: No healthy democracy can endure when the most consequential acts of those in power remain secret and unaccountable. Glenn Greenwald

wmtc: election fraud ruling: demand to know the truth

May

31

2013

While everyone’s been glued to Rob Ford’s crack and Mike Duffy’s featherbedding, something even more important happened: the Federal Court confirmed that there was election fraud in the 2011 federal election. Not just “robocalls” – that diminutive buzzword that the media clings to – but election fraud: a deliberate, targeted attempt at voter suppression. The ...

wmtc: are we seeing the beginning of global people’s revolution?

Jan

17

2013

“There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear…” This week, I attended a talk put on by the International Socialists, featuring an organizer with OUR Walmart, by Skype from Texas, and a Toronto-based union activist. Both speakers were terrific and so inspiring, but although I took copious notes, I’m not posting a summary ...

wmtc: greenwald, ellsberg, and others launch freedom of press foundation to fight government censorship and secrecy

Dec

23

2012

An important and exciting column by Glenn Greenwald. See original for more links. New press freedom group is launched to block US government attacks Nothing is more vital than enabling true transparency and adversarial journalism, and preventing further assaults on them Several weeks ago, I wrote about the steps taken by the US government to ...

wmtc: fighting for democracy in the courts and in the street: #idlenomore, democracy 24/7

Dec

14

2012

I no longer see TV news, but I have it on good authority that if your primary news source is CBC’s The National, you haven’t been hearing about two important developing – and exciting – stories. Idle No More is a campaign led by First Nations peoples to fight back against Canada’s destruction of natural ...

wmtc: saturday across canada: end the siege of gaza

Nov

21

2012

This Saturday, across Canada and around the world, people will gather to condemn Israel’s massacre of Gaza. The call: Stop Israel’s war on Gaza!Stop the killing. End the blockade. Free Palestine. Support BDS. In Toronto:Rally & MarchSaturday, November 24 at 2:00 p.m.Israeli Consulate, 180 Bloor Street WestTTC: St. George or Museum For listings across Canada, ...

wmtc: rtod: i ain’t marching (to the u.s. polls) anymore

Nov

4

2012

I spent the summer and fall of 2004 working on a Get Out The Vote campaign for the Democrats, not because they were my party of choice, but because I was angry at the prospect of another stolen election, and I wanted to make a difference in the popular vote numbers. After that election was ...

wmtc: why is "entitled" a dirty word? some thoughts on what we are all entitled to.

Aug

18

2012

When did “entitled” become a dirty word? Why do we hear “entitled” being used as catch-all slur, a derogatory description to be thrown at progressive people working for change? And why should we permit this word to retain such a heavily negative connotation? Here are some people I have seen called entitled in this negative ...

wmtc: coming soon to a canadian town near you: the fbi

Jul

14

2012

I seldom play the scary “US is taking over Canada” card, but if the Harper government was any deeper into Washington, you’d need a colonoscopy to find them. I blogged about this here, and I’m glad to see the CBC recognize the issue. This is scary, dangerous, and truly disgusting. When the Conservative government passed its ...

wmtc: how are you celebrating national stop harper day?

Jul

1

2012

Today is National Stop Harper Day. People all over the country are using this day, officially known as Canada Day, to gather and organize and express their anger – and their fear – at the anti-democratic and inhumane policies of the Harper Government. In keeping with the spirit of Occupy and all the related democracy ...

wmtc: relax, canadians. voter suppression is "as old as the hills". says a cpc lawyer.

Jun

26

2012

In a recent post, I summarized the Conservatives’ arguments in Federal Court, as they attempted to have the case against their illegal election practices dismissed before any evidence had been heard. I was just paraphrasing, of course. But now I have a real quote, thanks to an email sent today by the Council of Canadians. ...

wmtc: conservative party vs council of canadians, round two

Jun

25

2012

In Federal Court:* Council of Canadians: There was vote supression in the 2011 election. Conservative Party of Canada: Maude Barlow hates us. Council of Canadians: There was vote supression in the 2011 election. Conservative Party of Canada: Maude Barlow is a radical. Council of Canadians: There was vote supression in the 2011 election. Conservative Party ...

wmtc: coyne: the conflict is between conservatives and their souls

Jun

25

2012

Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page’s quest to force the Harper GovernmentTM to release details of its budget cuts escalated over the weekend, when Page said that the government’s secrecy could lay the groundwork for a future economic crisis. Page, of course, has laid the groundwork for a court battle that may force Harper’s hand. Andrew ...