RBC declares war against Canadian workers: Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is firing dozens of its employees in Canada and replacing them with lower-paid temporary foreign workers. RBC is forcing their soon-to-be-unemployed Canadian employees to train their own replacements. RBC made $7.5 billion in profits in 2012. Also about a
Continue readingTag: Globalization
The Ranting Canadian: Jim Flaherty, the most incompetent finance minister in Canadian…
Jim Flaherty, the most incompetent finance minister in Canadian history, released his pathetic 2013 budget on March 21 and almost immediately snuck off to Hong Kong, en route to Thailand. He only stopped in Vancouver along the way – to give a scripted speech to an exclusive audience of Conservative-friendly
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Interview with Glen “the Hamilton Kid” of the Steeltown Spoilers
Interview with Glen “the Hamilton Kid” of the Steeltown Spoilers: The above link is to an interview with Glen “the Hamilton Kid” of the punk band Steeltown Spoilers. Glen talks about his band of course, but he also discusses the economic decline and political destruction of the city he loves.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: It’s Time that Canada Found a New/Old Economy
By the time you’re in your 60s you’ve developed a sense of a certain cadence to life, something like a master Circadien rhythm that regulates life on our planet. Every now and then something happens and mankind skips a quarter or half a beat. That’s what happened in the Great
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Precariously Employed
The other day I made reference in a post to a study showing that half of the workers in the GTA are precariously employed, meaning they have unstable and unreliable employment with no benefits, a reality sharply at odds with the triumphalism of the right over the putative unalloyed good
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Freedom of Press Under Attack in Montreal (VIDEO)
During the Quebec student protests against the tuition hikes, members of the press came under attack by the SPVM (Montreal Police). This video aims to raise the issue of press freedom in face of suppressive and brutal tactics by the SPVM to deny access of coverage to members of the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Our Race to the Bottom
Rarely have I read a more accurate and succinct chronicle of what the last few decades have done to the people of this country. Enjoy, compliments of The Toronto Star: Re: Credit cards main cause of high debt, Jan. 27 Growing up in Ontario in the 1960s I remember a
Continue readingCanadian Dimension Feed: U.S. Corporations Launch Wave of NAFTA Attacks on Canada’s Energy, Fracking, and Medicines Policies
U.S. corporations have launched an alarming new offensive against Canadian health and environmental policies under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Three U.S. firms recently announced plans to use the “trade” pact to seek nearly one billion taxpayer dollars in private, NAFTA-created tribunals as compensation for Canadian policies on
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Go Back To Sleep America, At Your Own Peril
I never reprint other people’s writings, no matter how good – but I will make an exception for this. This article is a true must-read. Please, take the time to read it. Then act. Good morning America. It’s time for a new day. Kudos and warm thanks to Jill Dalton
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: This is your last chance to submit your comment against the…
This is your last chance to submit your comment against the treasonous, anti-worker, anti-environment Canada-China Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement to the Canada Trade Agreements Secretariat.
The deadline is November 11, 2012.
http…
Northern Insight: Who buys after the last job is outsourced?
Our current home renovation project put us back in the market for major appliances. That brought to mind a 2010 piece, providing my view of Maytag, a once successful manufacturer that lost independence and ended up as one more brand name of Whirlpool Corporation. The following was first published March 3,
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Globalization’s Discontents: Maude Barlow, the Hollow Men, and the Conversation that’s just beginning
Brian ‘Hollow Man’ Mulroney Brain Mulroney was boasting about his magnificent act in getting the US-Canada free trade agreement signed. What he did not talk about – and probably does not realize – is that he is one the Hollow Men: those who, consciously or unconsciously, set about hollowing out
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Should Mulcair channel Hillary Clinton on the Ballot Box Question?
The 2015 election is already on, with Stephen Harper trying to choose the ballot question as anything but the poor Conservative performance in so many areas, the party’s blunders and scandals, and the fact that deep down so many Canadians still do not really trust his party and particularly him.
Continue readingCan Canada not protect its workers from foreign predators?
That the new global economy is a corporate construction is not in doubt. It is arranged to benefit investors and employers, not employees. Canadian and American companies can freely enter Mexico to exploit cheap labour but Mexican workers cannot freely enter Canada or the U.S. to exploit higher wages. It’s
Continue readingbastard.logic: Breaking it Down: Industrial Capitalism vs. Financial Capitalism (or, Why We’re F*cked)
Michael Hudson asks: “In light of the enormous productivity gains since the end of World War II – and especially since 1980 – why isn’t everyone rich and enjoying the leisure economy that was promised?” The answer (per Hudson) is painfully obvious, but bears repeating (ad infinitum): What was applauded
Continue readingOccupy Ottawa: On International Women’s Day, A Focus on Canada’s Gender Deficit
As the world celebrates women’s achievements, Naomi Klein (pictured) stands out among the many gifts Canada has given to the world. Her work and passion around globalization, capitalism, human rights and, recently, the Keystone XL …Read More
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: On International Women’s Day, A Focus on Canada’s Gender Deficit
As the world celebrates women’s achievements, Naomi Klein stands out among the many gifts Canada has given to the world. Her work and passion around globalization, capitalism, human rights and, recently, the Keystone XL pipeline, …Read More
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: “Globalization” and Unions
Last weekend I participated in a labour law conference at the University of Western Ontario, speaking on a panel which was asked to weigh in on the impact of trade and investment on labour rights. I weighed in somewhere between my co panelists Kevin Banks and Marley Weiss, arguing that
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Globaloney
So recent is the word “globalization” that, if you consult the revised 1978 edition of The New Political Dictionary: The Definitive Guide to the New Language of Politics by the eminent neo-conservative writer William Safire, you will not find it. Instead you will find “Globaloney,” a term used in the
Continue readingCanadian Dimension Feed: The Global Crises of Capitalism
From the Financial Times to the far left, tons of ink has been spilt writing about some variant of the “Crises of Global Capitalism.” While writers differ in the causes, consequences and cures, according to their ideological lights, there is a common agreement that “the crises” threatens to end the
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