Trudeau’s crisis-driven ‘reset’
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during his Press Conference at the Annual Meeting 2018 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 25, 2018. Photo by Valeriano Di Domenico/Flickr. The…
John Clarke
A Carrot for the Bosses and the Stick for the Workers
Workers have been reluctant to return to work and risk exposing themselves and their families to infection because of the relative security that the Canada Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB) offered.…
Brave New Workforce
LeeAnna Murphy, Spangdahlem Military Clothing Sales store manager, disinfects her work area at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, April 30, 2020. Photo courtesy Spangdahlem Air Base. On May 23, an article…
Demands for a Post-Pandemic Future
Graffiti adorns a boarded-up restaurant in New York City. Photo by Anthony Quintano/Flickr. One might have hoped that the very severity of the threat posed by the pandemic would compel…
Struggles in the Shadow of the Pandemic
Street vendor working during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Qingdao. Photo by Gauthie Delecroix/Flickr. It is a principle of historical materialism that social consciousness reflects social being…
The False Hope of a Pandemic Basic Income
A man walks down an empty Yonge Street in Toronto. Photo by Myles Herod/Instagram. In the conditions of extreme economic dislocation that the COVID-19 pandemic has created, a crisis of…
After the Pandemic
A face mask adorns a statue of St. Francis of Assisi in the town of San Fiorano in Italy. Photo by Marzio Toniolo. When people emerge from their homes after…
The Left Must Fight the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism
Man blows a shofar at a rally in London against anti-Semitism in the UK Labour Party. Photo by Getty Images. Bill 168, the Combating Antisemitism Act, was introduced in the…
The War on the Poor in the Age of Austerity
Homeless camp in East Vancouver, September 2017. Photo by Kenny McDonald (Flickr). Last year, I stepped down as an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) after 28 years…
If Housing is a Right We Should Take It
In Toronto and across Canada, homelessness has reached proportions that no rational and just society would tolerate and it constitutes an emergency situation. The Trump Administration, seeing levels of destitution…
Canada Joins Campaign to Stifle Criticism of Israel
Free Palestine protest at Parliament Hill, Ottawa, July 2014 • Photo by Tony Webster (Flickr) On June 25, Canada’s Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism announced that the Trudeau government’s…
Conservative ‘Blue Wave’ Sweeps Across Canada
Photo by Doug Ford/Twitter The federal system under which the Canadian state operates, places a great deal of decision making power in the hands of its provinces. While the dubiously…
‘Progressive’ Trudeau Government Attacks Venezuela
Photo by Chrystia Freeland (Twitter) Anyone who still entertains any illusions in the ‘progressive’ nature of the Trudeau Government of Canada, would have been shocked to witness the Minister of…
A Tale of Two Austerities
Photo by William Murphy The greatly intensified austerity that has been imposed in the UK since 2010 has been looked to with considerable approval by right wing imitators. Among countries…
Doug Ford’s New Poor Laws Replace Basic Income
Photo by Doug Ford/Ford Nation The decision of the new Tory Government in Ontario to terminate the basic income (BI) pilot project that their Liberal predecessors had set in motion,…
Basic Income: Progressive Dreams Meet Neoliberal Realities
Photo by Eli Christman Up until now, the concept of Basic Income (BI) has enjoyed a greater history of being proposed than of being implemented. We may well be approaching…
Looking the Basic Income Gift Horse in the Mouth
Photo by Jason Hargrove Both the Trudeau Liberals in Ottawa and the Wynne Government at Queen’s Park in Toronto have been making noises of late on the subject of Basic…
The Austerity Agenda in Sheep’s Clothing
Photo by CUPE Ontario As we go into the New Year with Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Government in place, it’s worth noting that the struggle against poverty in Toronto now unfolds…
Toronto’s Plan to Push Out the Homeless
Photo by Ivaan Kotulsky The Mayor’s Office in Toronto is today occupied by a much slicker operation than it was during the years of dysfunctional, bigoted buffoonery that unfolded under…
The Fight Against Street Deaths in Toronto
Photo by Andy Burgess The twin agendas of urban redevelopment and austerity have increased the scale of the homeless crisis in Toronto. Over 4,000 people cram into the emergency shelters…