Socialist Action 2023 Fund Appeal: Invest in the Struggle

News flash: Generous supporters pledged close to $3,000 in the first week of this campaign. Will you join them now? Now that another year of pandemic is behind us, it is time for us at Socialist Action to reflect on the year that was 2022, and to replenish our resources. The aim of this New Year’s Fund Appeal is to raise over $7,000 between now and February 28, 2023, to enable Socialist Action Canada to rise to the challenges ahead. We seek to enlist your support for our efforts to build a larger, more effective, non-sectarian, socialist working class party.

anonymous people standing on street among smoke during protests at night

Socialist Action Digest, December 2022

On the domestic political landscape, the biggest development in the Fall was the two-day walkout by CUPE-Ontario education workers. They boldly defied a law pre-emptively banning strike action. CUPE and allies, including the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union, forced the Thug Ford Conservative government to rescind Bill 28 and its use of the notwithstanding clause to violate the Charter of Rights.  

Radical Vancouver Politics — The Birth of Vote Socialist

Radical Vancouver Politics — The Birth of Vote Socialist

On May 1st, 2022, a new united front electoral alliance launched in Vancouver. With demands to defund the Vancouver Police Department, build public housing, and to tax big corporations, Vote Socialist ran a five month whirlwind of a campaign that netted its three candidates — Sean Orr for city council, Dr. Karina Zeidler for school board, and Andrea Pinochet-Escudero for park board — a combined 45,000 votes. This is the story of how Vote Socialist came to be.

“The entire labor movement in the province was ready for a general strike”

Tout le mouvement syndical de la province était prêt à une grève générale

C’est avec un peu de retard que nous revenons ici, sur une mobilisation du personnel de l’éducation au début novembre et publions le contenu de l’interview que nous a accordée Julius Arscott, membre de la commission exécutive du syndicat des employés de la fonction publique de l’Ontario. Ce mouvement a été remarquable par la pression mise par les syndiqués sur leur direction syndicale, pour ne pas faire de concessions au patronat dans un contexte d’inflation (5,6 %). L’autre trait remarquable a été la solidarité de tout le mouvement syndical envers les travailleurs de l’éducation. Une révolte… qui en appelle d’autres !

a cryptocurrency advertisement on white paper

Behind Sam Bankman-Fried’s Cryptocurrency Crash

Thirty-year-old “wonder boy” Sam Bankman-Fried (often called SBF) was, at $21 billion, among the richest men on earth. Until a month ago, he was CEO of the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, FTX—valued at $32 billion. On the cover of Forbes and Fortune magazines, he was touted as a financial genius akin to Berkshire Hathaway’s billionaire financier, industrial magnate, and “philanthropist” Warren Buffett. But SBF’s FTX filed for bankruptcy in early November. A competitor, CoinDesk, apparently hacked its financial balance sheet and made it public, revealing grave discrepancies between FTX’s claimed worth and the reality of its investment portfolio. All hell broke lose as investors ran for the hills. In a matter of days most of FTX’s $32 billion evaporated.

monochrome photo of resist signage

Socialist Action | Looking back at 2022, and Going Forward in Struggle

Socialist Action is a growing revolutionary workers’ party that puts a great emphasis on political education. At the same time, SA is an activist organization. It has many practical accomplishments to its credit, including achievements in local elections, in building a fighting left wing inside mass working class organizations, and in promoting international solidarity. From Iran to Haiti, from Britain to Ontario, 2022 has been a year of revolt against austerity, authoritarianism, and repression.

photo of woman painting on wall

New Brunswick Artists in Survival Mode

If you were a New Brunswick artist would you be able to eat well and drive a functional car? Would you be able afford day care for your children or receive a pension? Would you be able to establish a viable business based on selling your art? Probably, the answer to all of the above, and more, is No. According to Future First, a report of the Premier's task force released last year, artists in NB face economic insecurity with job instability, low income and a limited regulatory framework. The report was debated by dozens of artists at a contemporary arts conference in Saint John, NB in late October 2022, titled "Future Possible." It was, perhaps, the first opportunity for artists to confer in person about the report which was released last year.