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.
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.
The policy of the Socialist Caucus includes nationalization of the Irving Empire, under workers’ and Indigenous control. In practice, and by being true to our working class roots, we will change New Brunswick and the world for the better.
On Nov. 10, Eli Lilly, one of three pharmaceutical companies that collectively dominate the global insulin market, tweeted out, “we are excited to announce that insulin is free now.” With the adorned blue check, normally an indicator of a verified…
Read More Verified Twitter Fakes and Contradictions of Capital
The global political situation is sobering, even dire, but its very volatility is pregnant with radically progressive potential outcomes.
National oppression and racism are fundamental features of capitalist states in the world today. In few of them does the national question play such a central role as in Canada. This is most clearly demonstrated in the case of Quebec, where national resentment periodically erupts to take centre stage in political life. It is seen in the rising national consciousness and demands of Indigenous peoples in Canada and Quebec. French-speaking communities outside Quebec which have survived Anglo-assimilation, notably the Acadians in Atlantic Canada, also claim nationhood. And it applies, arguably, to Newfoundland, where a separate society existed for three hundred years before its incorporation, by a fraudulent set of referenda, into the Canadian state in 1949.
In this episode of The Red Review, brought to you by Socialist Action, Emily and Daniel talk with Isabelle Moreton of Brisbane, Australia. Isabelle provides analysis and commentary on various political struggles, including disability justice, queer and trans liberation. With the Labor Party winning the majority of seats in the recent election, who better to speak to about what this actually means for the exploited and oppressed masses in Australia and for the international labour and socialist movement. Expect a more banter-y conversation with striking similarities drawn between the Canadian and Australian political context.
1+1 Ep 123 Yuri & Barry Weisleder of Socialist Action Canada on NDP issues, NDP-Liberal Pact & covid
In this episode of The Red Review, brought to you by Socialist Action, Emily and Daniel talk with Dr. Jessica Hernandez about her new book, Fresh Banana Leaves, and her conceptualization of Indigenous science and eco-colonialism. We finish with a discussion about how Indigenous peoples and settlers can unite against common oppressors and what it takes for that to happen.
The saber rattling is becoming scary. But Canadian officials labelling Russia “aggressive” while stoking unnecessary conflict has a long history.
Echoing a 2009 statement from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently denounced “an aggressive Russia”. Throughout their time in office the Liberals have blamed Russia for complicated conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, as well as nuclear proliferation. In a major 2017 foreign policy speech foreign minister Chrystia Freeland called “Russian military adventurism and expansionism … clear strategic threats to the liberal democratic world, including Canada.” But NATO countries spend $1.1 trillion on their militaries each year while Russia’s military budget is $61 billion.
In the final bonus episode of this season of The Red Review, brought to you by Socialist Action, Emily, Flo, and Daniel interview Theresa Tait-Day or Chief Wi'hali'yte of the Wet'suwet'en nation about what Indigenous self-determination looks like to her.
The British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) Convention, held online December 11-12, met against a backdrop of capitalist catastrophes that are more frequent, more severe and cause greater waves of devastation in their wake. The convention of the labour-based party, originally scheduled for November 17-19, was postponed due to the torrential, record-breaking deluge that swept southern BC.
The downpours tore up roads, railway tracks, took out bridges, caused the collapse of buildings and mountainsides, overflowed dykes, flooded the best agricultural land in Canada, destroyed homes, killed tens of thousands of farm animals, and killed countless wild animals. The agricultural destruction is causing continued food shortages in BC.
A heat wave in June set a global record in which parts of BC were hotter than Death Valley.
One of the most important industries in the Province of New Brunswick is forestry. The importance is both economic and political. Within this vital industry, many practices are taken to maximize profitability. One of those practices is glyphosate spraying. Glyphosate and the Irving family, which control the province's practice, need to have their control and practices challenged both for economic and environmental sustainability. The Irvings tend to push back on these claims, saying that their practices and management are environmentally stable and economically beneficial for the province. The evidence presented will suggest otherwise.
In answer to the question “What is socialism?”, James P. Cannon, a pioneer of the revolutionary workers’ movement in North America, famously said: “Socialism is both a political program and a political movement to achieve it.”
So, what then is Trotskyism? Simply put, Trotskyism is modern-day revolutionary socialism. My aim here is to summarize its main component parts.
Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7:00 p.m. EDT, watch the next live webcast, "A Class Struggle History: The Peasants' Revolt of 1381," with Gary Porter, a leading member of Socialist Action. Watch it live on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/__9jx9ueRpA
To quote Yogi Berra, “It’s deja-vu all over again.”
The 2021 federal election, which Justin Trudeau called just to gain a majority of seats, looks much like the 2019 election result. The same parties are in place, each with nearly the same number of MPs as before.* But something has changed. All the leaders are skating on thin ice. One has resigned; another will soon be forced to do so. And Justin Trudeau is considerably weakened as Prime Minister. With zero appetite for another election, the Liberal minority government will have to lean heavily on the labour-based New Democratic Party to pass legislation. That means working class organizations have a great opportunity to extract concessions from the ruling class.
Thursday, September 23, 7 p.m. Eastern Time, Election 2021: Results and Prospects, with Leah Gazan, NDP MP for Winnipeg Centre, Barry Weisleder, Socialist Action federal secretary, and Christopher Thompson of the New Brunswick NDP Socialist Caucus. Link: https://youtu.be/lvpyJUqcg2c
Thursday, September 16 7 p.m. Eastern Time,Trotsky, Krupskaya and the Bolshevik Tradition, featuring Paul LeBlanc, historian at La Roche University in Pittsburgh, a labor and socialist activist who has written or edited more than 30 books on topics such as Leon Trotsky and Rosa Luxemburg, and…
Read More WEBCAST: Trotsky, Krupskaya and the Bolshevik Tradition
Statues are not history. They are communications devices for ideologies. True for this animal-who is one of the most common in the states of the old Confederacy-not despite the fact he started the KKK, but because of it.
This is an important discussion on the state of the Left in Canada, and on the movement for Eco-socialism. In terms of strategy, it has implications for the very future of humanity and nature.
First of all, I want to congratulate Dimitri Lascaris. He waged an amazing campaign that rallied thousands of people to Eco-socialist ideas. That is a testament to Dimitri’s consummate skills as a superb organizer and an articulate proponent of radical socio-economic change.
In the end, the Green Party selected the most conservative, pro-capitalist candidate who ran to be its Leader. In interviews with the mass media, Annamie Paul emphasized her identity, instead of highlighting her policy ideas. Like her predecessor and major backer, Elizabeth May, Paul’s ideas conform to the tired old Green Party outlook on private ownership of the economy, not to mention its general support for Ottawa’s pro-imperialist foreign policy.
