McMaster students begin 2nd week of hunger strike for a fossil free university

by Tom Baker,  March 27, 2023 On March 24 over 100 students and community members rallied in support of five students from the McMaster Divestment Project (MacDivest) who are on a hunger strike against a duplicitous “green washing” university administration. …

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

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…

SA at Toronto protest outside Mining Convention, June 13

Socialist Action members joined about one hundred opponents of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada which held a publicity gathering at the Metro Convention Centre in downtown Toronto on June 13.

For over two hours, the protest against the PDAC occupied two blocks of Front Street West, adjacent to the CBC headquarters.  Indigenous speakers and dancers, along with environmental activists from northern Canada, Central America and as far away as Tigray (Ethiopia) denounced the harmful labour and natural resource practices of major Canadian mining corporations operating around the world.

Liberal Budget soothes Bay Street, disses Singh

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.

Royal Bank draws protest against Coastal Gas Link pipeline on April 7, 2022

Opponents of pipeline construction that violates unceded Indigenous land rights demonstrated across the Canadian state on April 7, 2022.  The gathering of nearly one hundred at Toronto's Simcoe Park, next to CBC headquarters and opposite the Metro Convention Centre, included dozens of delegates from the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union convention then underway.

The Red Review — Challenging Eco-colonialism Using Indigenous Science with Dr. Jessica Hernandez

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.

LEFT UNITY RISES IN THE B.C. NDP

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.

The Red Review — Oct. and Nov. 2021 Recapped

In this episode of The Red Review, brought to you by Socialist Action, Emily and Daniel discuss major developments across the Canadian State and provide an important update on the struggle for Palestinian liberation. Featuring catastrophic flooding in BC, RCMP invasion of Wet'suwet'en (again), COP26, Climate Action Tracker, 'Facebook' for Palestinians, criminalization of Palestinian human rights groups, Fairy Creek blockade, and striking CUPE workers in New Brunswick.

Get the Irvings and Their Glyphosate out of New Brunswick Forestry    

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.

Hundreds occupy RBC Toronto lobby in support of Wet’suwet’en people on November 19

Across the country, on November 19, people took to the streets to express solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Land Defenders, over a dozen of whom were arrested by RCMP outfitted in combat gear. In Toronto, Socialist Action joined hundreds in a march down University Avenue and along Front Street that led to the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Canada.  Speeches, ceremonial songs and dance brought Indigenous cultures, likely for the first time, to the lobby of the giant bank that is heavily invested in the extraction and transmission of fossil fuels.

The Greenwash Con at Glasgow’s COP26

Literally hours before President Joseph Biden arrived in Glasgow for the COP26 United Nations climate conference, he addressed the G20 richest nations on Earth in Rome demanding that the 24 OPEC+ oil-exporting nations dramatically increase their fossil fuel production in order to reduce the monopolized skyrocketing price of gasoline in the U.S., today, approaching $5.00 per gallon. Biden’s late October Rome bluster aimed at placating angry U.S. election time voters at home beleaguered by rising inflation and historically high gas prices. His proposal was ignored by the oil monarchs who were satisfied with the $81 per barrel price of crude oil that had already reached recent new highs.

SA at the Climate Justice Rally November 6 in Toronto

Hundreds of climate justice advocates rallied at Toronto's Queen's Park on Saturday, November 6.  They gathered in solidarity with tens of thousands who paraded through the streets of Glasgow, the Scottish city hosting the UN climate summit. Around the world, people took action to demand that governments act meaningfully to reduce the use of climate-warming fossil fuels that damage the planet. Socialist Action's banner "Eco-socialism or Extinction", beside the SA canopy and literature display in Toronto, was a busy hub as dozens of people stopped to take photos, buy booklets and buttons, and sign up for more information.

The Red Review — The Case for Demilitarization FT. Tamara Lorincz

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. 

Dans le sillage pandémique, la renaissance des mobilisations climatiques

Cent mille étudiant-e-s en grève, de 15 à 20 mille qui manifestent au Québec Selon la Coalition étudiante pour un virage environnemental et social (CEVES), organisatrice des manifestations climatiques du 24 septembre avec la collaboration du collectif innu Mashk Assi, de…

In the Wake of the Pandemic: The Rebirth of Climate Mobilizations

More than 110,000 students in Quebec went on strike September 24, according to the Coalition étudiante pour un virage environnemental et social (CEVES – Student coalition for environmental and social transition), the Quebec organizer of the demonstrations together with the Innu collective Mashk Assi, Solidarité sans frontières and Pour le futur Montréal. They marched in about a dozen cities, including Montréal, Québec, Sherbrooke, Gatineau (Ottawa), Alma, Rimouski, Granby, La Pocatière and Joliette – 10 to 15 thousand in Montréal, two to three thousand in Québec and hundreds elsewhere. As might be expected, some politicians attended, their presence and mollifying comments featured in the mass media. But a relatively large contingent from Québec solidaire contrasted with the minimal trade-union and popular presence, represented by only a few banners.