Canada’s 100 highest-paid corporate executives made an average of $14.3 million in 2021, exceeding the previous record of $11.8 million set three years earlier. By January 3, the average CEO on that list made $58,800, the amount an average Canadian worker earns in an entire year, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Regarding “Scrap fighter-jet purchase plan” (Jan. 6): I have serious reservations about the Trudeau government’s decision to procure F-35 fighter jets at a life-cycle cost of over $70 billion. Despite previous Liberal government statements that the F-35’s “stealth first-strike capability” was not needed to defend Canada, Minister Anita Anand now asserts that the F-35 is needed to protect Canada and fulfil its obligations. In truth, funding these costly carbon-intensive war machines will drastically undermine our capacity for Indigenous reconciliation, adequate housing, accessible health care, education and urgent climate action.
Last week, Canadian peace activist Tamara Lorincz, along with Socialist Action federal secretary Barry Weisleder, made international headlines by disrupting a Toronto Star live stream event that hosted Canada’s Defense Minister Anita Anand.
The global political situation is sobering, even dire, but its very volatility is pregnant with radically progressive potential outcomes.
The President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, announced that on July 31, 2022, through an airstrike, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, was killed in Kabul. On the basis of this ‘historic feat’, he spoke about the delivery of “peace and justice". The American government, which itself is the producer and supporter of terrorism around the world, can never be the hero of the fight against terrorism. Didn't Hillary Clinton, the former US Secretary of State, admit that "The people we are fighting today, we funded twenty years ago"? Didn't John Bolton, former National Security Adviser of the US, admit that he organized coups in various countries, including in Latin America?
n this episode of The Red Review, brought to you by Socialist Action, Daniel talks with Hamza, a lead organizer with Yemeni Community Canada! He speaks out about the seven-year Saudi-led invasion of Yemen and how Canada is complicit in this illegal war.
Ottawa’s promise to “Build Back Better” is gonzo. In its place are billions more in military spending, billions more in subsidies for Big Oil and Gas, and a fake social housing agenda. Liberal Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland forecasts a lower deficit, which means a return to austerity -- even as working people struggle to cope with an ongoing pandemic, record-high inflation, and unfolding climate catastrophe.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh found a way to avoid a federal election, and to gain a vague promise of health service reforms – likely at the cost of huge increases in military spending. The Liberal-NDP deal paves the way for Justin Trudeau to stay in power until 2025, at least. That goes to serve capitalist political ‘stability’ in the relentless march to climate catastrophe, growing social inequality and the horrors of inter-imperialist war.
Enjoy Socialist Action's wonderful webcast for the 2022 celebration of International Women's Day!
Responding to the call of Toronto Rise-Up, some seventy people, including members of at least four socialist parties, held a rally at the Toronto intersection of Christie and Bloor Streets to “take back (public) space” from far-right organizations. The latter recently led the anti-vax, anti-Covid-mandate, so-called Freedom Convoy that blockaded border crossings and occupied downtown Ottawa for nearly three weeks.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been condemned. The suffering of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers is horrible. Righteous fury has been aimed at the primary architect of this crime against humanity. But save some anger for those who will use the invasion to push other agendas that are bad for humanity and other life on our planet.
Socialists oppose all wars, except the class war. Workers and the poor, women and children are the first and foremost victims of war, while a tiny, rich minority profit from the woe it inflicts on the vast majority. The current conflict over Ukraine shows this again. It stems from the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is led by Washington, London, Paris, Ottawa and their imperialist allies. The unfolding tragedy can be halted by mass protest actions in every country, along with the construction of a broad, democratic anti-war movement. Those are the key tasks at this moment.
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.
Robbie Mahood, 75 ans, membre fondateur et figure de proue de la Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action socialiste, est décédé à Montréal le 26 décembre 2021 ; il a perdu sa longue bataille contre le cancer le 24 décembre suite à un accident vasculaire cérébral totalement débilitant. Entouré de sa famille et de ses proches dans sa chambre d'hôpital Robbie a peut-être aussi été conscient de l'affection et de l'adoration exprimées par un grand nombre de camarades de tout le continent qui se sont joints à un rassemblement virtuel en ligne impromptu organisé à son chevet quelques heures seulement avant que sa vie s'éteigne.
Robbie Mahood, 75, a founding member and a leading light in Socialist Action / Ligue pour l’Action socialiste, passed away in Montreal on December 26, 2021. He lost his long battle against cancer following a completely debilitating stroke on December 24. Surrounded in his hospital room by family and loved ones, Robbie may have been conscious of the affection and adoration expressed by a number of comrades from across the continent who joined a hastily convened virtual, online gathering at his bedside just hours before his life ebbed away.
Socialist Action members in Toronto joined about 150 people who rallied outside the Israeli Consulate at Yonge and Bloor Streets on Saturday, November 27 to demand freedom now for thousands of illegally detained and tortured Palestinian political prisoners, an end to the Occupation of Palestinian land, and for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the Zionist Apartheid state.
On November 5, 2021 at 5 p m , members of Tigray community in Toronto rallied outside the office of Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland at 344 Bloor St. W., to demand an end to the funding of the genocide in Ethiopia. In Ottawa a two-day rally drew thousands who demanded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau take action to stop the assault on millions in Africa. Members of Socialist Action joined these protests in an effort to raise awareness and bring justice to the people of Tigray.
Companeros, creemos que Estados Unidos es culpable de secuestro. While the US government is guilty of judicial kidnapping in the cases of Venezuelan Alex Saab and Meng Wanzhou, the Canadian government is implicated in the shameful detention of the Chinese company executive, and its promotion of extra-parliamentary regime change in Venezuela.
In this bonus episode of The Red Review, brought to you by Socialist Action, we feature an interview with Canadian Foreign Policy Institute Fellow, anti-war activist, and No New Fighter Jets organizer Tamara Lorincz.
The same day this podcast is released, No New Fighter Jets will launch a week of action to oppose Canada’s planned procurement of new fighter jets. The Red Review endorses the call — No New Fighter Jets! Demilitarize to decarbonize and decolonize! Check out the website to see a list of webinars and actions for this week and beyond.
On Thursday Oct. 14 at 7:00 p.m. EDT, watch the next live webcast entitled, "Canada's Foreign Policy in Ruins - China, Israel, Haiti, Venezuela", with Yves Engler, Canada's foremost foreign policy expert. Watch live on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/qzsJ8MoY-ns
