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Socialist Action Canada | Ligue pour L'Action Socialiste

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Socialist Digest –  February 2023

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Discontent with the capitalist status quo is spreading rapidly. At the forefront are mobilizations in France against President Emanuel Macron's reform of the country's retirement law. Under Socialist Party President Francois Mitterrand and up to the 1990s the legal retirement age with full pension was 60 years. Since then, right wing governments have pushed it up to 62 years. Macron announced a move to raise it to 65 years, but backed down. He now proposes age 64. Mass action involving strikes and demonstrations, one day at a time, usually once or twice a week, have followed the parliamentary calendar. More militant sectors in the union movement have been calling for renewable strikes from one day to the next, towards a general strike.

Police Murder in Memphis

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On Friday, January 27, Memphis, Tennessee city officials released over an hour of video showing the murder of Tyre Nichols, a black resident beaten to death by police. Recorded earlier by three body cameras and one stationary surveillance camera, the videos were made available to family members, lawyers, and various public officials, who universally described the contents as disturbing and inhumane.

Windsor City Council Backs Natural Gas Power Plant Expansion Despite Opposition from Residents and Environmental Groups.

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By A. Ellis (MSA Shadow Councillor in Windsor-Essex). Published on the Municipal Socialist Alliance website on Jan. 24, 2023. On January 16, 2023, Windsor City Council supported a proposal from Capital Power to add two natural gas turbines to their…

Read More Windsor City Council Backs Natural Gas Power Plant Expansion Despite Opposition from Residents and Environmental Groups.

silhouette of man holding flamethrower

Socialist Digest –  January 2023

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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.

gray fighter jet flying over the mountain

No More ‘Red-Baiting’ — Letter to the Hamilton Spectator

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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.

Socialist Action 2023 Fund Appeal: Invest in the Struggle

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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

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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.  

“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

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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

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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.

photo of woman painting on wall

New Brunswick Artists in Survival Mode

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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.

Announcing the Municipal Socialist Alliance Shadow Council

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After the 7th MSA convention on Monday, Nov. 21, the MSA announced our shadow council on Wednesday, Nov. 23. A group of MSA candidates and supporters visited city hall for the beginning of a new term of Toronto city council. We intended to hold a press conference outside of Mayor John Tory's office to announce the formation of the MSA shadow council and to observe the first session of city council.

Socialist Digest: School Support Staff Rock the Casbah in Ontario

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On the domestic landscape, the biggest development in November 2022 was the two-day walkout by CUPE-Ontario education support workers. They defied a law that pre-emptively banned strike action. CUPE and allies, including OPSEU, forced the Thug Ford Conservative government to rescind Bill 28 and its use of the notwithstanding clause to violate the federal Charter of Rights. CUPE school workers still do not have a deal to enable them to rise above poverty wages. But everyone knows that Ontario was, as Socialist Action labour leader Julius Arscott put it, 30 minutes away from a general strike. The struggle continues!

Socialist Action Rallies with Thousands at Queen’s Park in Solidarity Support of CUPE Ontario

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Opposition to the bully tactics of the Ontario Conservative government is growing.  Premier Ford's Bill 28, which not only bans a strike by 55,000 school support worker but imposes a wage settlement without arbitration or any further negotiation, is an outrage to millions, including most of the labour movement inside and outside Ontario.  On November 4, well over 10,000 people rallied at Queen's Park, and marched repeatedly around the provincial legislature in defiance of the Draconian law.  A wide range of unions and other working class organizations came to the defense of CUPE-Ontario and the right to strike.  This included LiUNA, which had endorsed Ford and the Tories in the June 2, 2022 provincial election, UNIFOR, the largest private sector union which is outside the CLC, and a host of other labour bodies.

Socialist Action Canada Ontario General Strike

Socialist Action Calls For an Ontario General Strike to Dump Thug Ford 

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The democratic right to strike is at stake as confrontation escalates between 55,000 Ontario school support workers and the Conservative government of Doug Ford.  Rallies, protests, and walk-outs are the order of the day as provincial Tories use bully tactics to perpetuate poverty wages.  Socialist Action Canada and the Workers’ Action Movement urge everyone to gather at Queen’s Park in front of the Ontario Legislature on Friday, November 4, at 11 a.m. to defend the right to strike.