Welfare not Warfare
by Yves Engler
Resistance to militarism is growing. Hopefully it can restrain Mark Carney’s extremism. In recent days we’ve seen messages from the Council of Canadians, Toronto District Labour Council and other established left groups questioning militarism. One of the five demands of the Draw the Line coalition that brought out tens of thousands Saturday was “End the war machine. Stand for justice and peace.”
Their statement noted: “Canada is joining the global arms race and massively increasing its military spending alongside NATO partners while cutting funding from healthcare, housing, and public services. Canada is arming Israel’s genocide in Palestine and fueling global conflicts that enrich weapons manufacturers like Lockheed Martin. We refuse to let war profiteers prosper while people suffer. We demand an immediate two-way arms embargo on Israel, cancelling Canada’s plans to balloon its military budget, and a foreign policy based on diplomacy and peace-building.”
‘Let’s Block Everything’
by John Wilson
The pro-Palestinian anti-war movement has grown faster and more broadly than any similar movement in our planet’s history. The momentum continues to rise as evidenced by the recent general strike led by Italian trade unionists. In North America an increasing number of unions have passed or strengthened pro-Palestinian resolutions.
The Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU), representing over 200,000 public workers, has finally recognized Anti-Palestinian Racism. OPSEU has declared it will no longer tolerate harassment and discrimination against Palestinians and will undertake training of its membership. In addition, “Palestinians“ will now be included in the Statement of Respect read before all union events. Earlier this summer National Union of Provincial Government Employees (NUPGE) demanded an arms embargo against Israel.
Imperialist Hands Off Venezuela
by Barry Weisleder
Donald J. Trump says that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Why? Because Trump, the modern-day Hermann Goebbels, claims that he has stopped at least five wars. He neglects to mention that he started or fueled several of the wars now raging. To what wars am I referring?
I refer to the genocide in Gaza, the demolition of homes in the West Bank, the bombardment of Iran, the assassination of Iranian military and political officials, repeated attacks on Yemen, the Zionist invasion of Lebanon and Syria, and of course, the NATO conflict with Russia over Ukraine. And currently, Trump is sending U.S. war ships across the Caribbean Sea to the coastal waters of Venezuela. Already, U.S. forces destroyed one small boat carrying eleven passengers. The White House claimed that the boat was involved in drug smuggling. Washington provided no evidence to support the allegation, nor did it attempt to arrest and charge the passengers in the small boat -- a vessel that had no capacity to reach the shores of America.
B.C. Public Workers’ Strike Escalates
by Gary Porter
After more than 5 weeks of escalating strikes and overtime bans, the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) has mobilized more than 13,000 workers out of the 34,000 work force at more than 28 different sites across the province. Each day the scope of the strike expands in an attempt to pressure David Eby’s NDP government back to the bargaining table.
Job action sites include the liquor and cannabis distribution centres, mining sector, (where a number of projects are being fast tracked), the Royal BC Museum, IMAX Theatre, BC Archives, Ministry of Citizens’ Services offices, as well as the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch.. On Sept 23, 2,800 workers joined the strike in Health, Forests, Transportation and Vehicle Safety. On Sept 24, 600 more workers at 25 Liquor retail stores walked off the job.
Me, Myself & Inc.
by Anthony Marco
One of the greatest hypocrisies in modern law is the way corporations are treated as individuals. Courts have granted corporations the legal rights of “personhood” when it comes to contracts, property, and liability. Yet when it comes to accountability about crimes that destroy lives, communities, and ecosystems, corporations enjoy a protection that no actual human being could ever hope for.
If an individual robs a bank, they are swiftly arrested, prosecuted, and locked away. But if a corporation launders money through offshore tax havens, manipulates its books to avoid billions in taxes, or pushes financial schemes that devastate livelihoods, the worst it faces is a fine or a penalty that, more often than not, is simply written off as the cost of doing business.
Because It won’t Be the Last Blackout: What Energy Model and Distribution System for the Ecological Transition?
by Daniel Albarracin
In this sense, it’s worth noting that the energy system is at a historic crossroads. Climatic crisis, geopolitical fragility, and resource scarcity force us to rethink how we produce, distribute, and consume energy. In this context, expanding energy capacity based on renewable energy appears to be a crucial opportunity.
But not just any deployment will do: many reproduce the logic of the fossil fuel system they claim to replace, because the current energy transition model is being led by large private companies, with profitability as their objective. A private oligopoly, which has penetrated and monopolised all sources and technologies, including renewables, is protected by the State and an artificial marginal pricing system that guarantees profit for the most profitable sector of the Spanish economy.
Red Flag: Why Trotsky Still Matters, 85 Years After His Murder
by Nathaniel Flakin
85 years ago today, Leon Trotsky was struck down by a Stalinist assassin in Coyoacán in Mexico. As his grandson recalled in 2017, this was not the first attempt on the life of the man who founded the Red Army.
I’ve never understood why anyone on the Left would tell jokes about that ice axe. You never hear “canal jokes” about Rosa Luxemburg or “shotgun jokes” about Malcolm X.
Some might accuse Trotsky of being a “splitter” due to his struggle against Stalinism. But Malcom X was no less a “splitter,” both from Martin Luther King and from Wallace Fard Muhammad. Rosa Luxemburg was a “splitter” par excellence, breaking with the PPS, the SPD, the USPD, etc. Splits in progressive movements happen all the time—the question is: which side is right?