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Articles from non-mainstream as opposed to corporate for profit sources.

Owl Lovers, We Need Your Help

Details: Published on Friday, 10 July 2020 15:06; Written by editor

Owl Lovers, We Need Your Help r1 ...

Strike! July 26 Webinar - Jeremy Brecher via SCNCC Live

Details: Published on Friday, 10 July 2020 11:42; Written by editor

Strike! July 26 Webinar - Jeremy Brecher via SCNCC Live r1 ...

Dollarama

Details: Published on Friday, 10 July 2020 04:10; Written by editor

You have made huge progress for workers rights at Dollarama during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks to your support, Dollarama just announced that it extended its hazard pay until August -- two months longer than retailers such as Loblaws.

That’s not all. You pushed Dollarama to move from having flimsy dollar store solutions to protect cashiers and customers such as clingy plastic film, to installing actual hard plexiglass in every store a month later.

And because you took action and the pressure from our partners, the Immigrant Workers Center (IWC), Dollarama warehouse workers are now receiving an increase of 3 dollars an hour during the pandemic. The IWC were able to pressure Dollarama into providing free protective equipment to all of its workers.

All this progress happened because of pressure from SumOfUs members like you.

First, tens of thousands of you signed petitions and emailed the CEO Neil Rossy. And we know he heard from you -- many of you forwarded his angry reply to us to show that he responded.

You also embarrassed Dollarama on social media by uploading pictures of the dollar store's flimsy clingy plastic wraps.

You also made our campaign go viral -- because of you, our Dollarama video...

Racism, Class Solidarity and Systemic Change

Details: Published on Friday, 10 July 2020 03:02; Written by editor

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2143 ... July 10, 2020
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Racism, Class Solidarity and Systemic Change

Richard Sandbrook

Martin Luther King’s observation in the late 1960s regarding the black rebellion in the United States remains sadly pertinent. The rebellion, he said:

"is much more than a struggle for the rights of Negroes… It is exposing evils that are rooted deeply in the whole structure of our society. It reveals systemic rather than superficial flaws and suggests that radical reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced… It is forcing America to face all its interrelated flaws – racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism."

Fifty years later, in the midst of the worldwide uprisings precipitated by the police killing of George Floyd, these words still ring true, with the substitution of "African-Americans" for "Negroes." The problem is not only police brutality, but also, pernicious trends "rooted deeply in the whole structure of our society."

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We need you in this fight to end police street checks

Details: Published on Thursday, 09 July 2020 07:16; Written by editor

Ban Street Checks r1

Dear BCCLA Supporter,

In just 3 days, over 4500 people have signed the petition calling for an immediate ban on police street checks across BC.

This makes something clear: communities want radical change to stop the harms of policing and radically shift policing powers, and they want it now.

If you haven’t already, add your voice to the call now. Sign the petition today.

The injustice of racist, harmful and illegal police street checks has gone on for too long. The BC Civil Liberties Association, Black Lives Matter-Vancouver, Hogan’s Alley Society, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, WISH Drop-In Centre Society, and our 68 partner organizations and over 4500 individuals are calling for an immediate end to police harm in the form of street checks.

For many years, we have been pointing to the arbitrary and targeted impacts of police street checks. Indigenous and Black people, particularly Indigenous women, are overrepresented in street checks data for all eleven municipal police forces...

Racism, COVID-19, and the Fight for Economic Justice

Details: Published on Thursday, 09 July 2020 03:26; Written by editor

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2142 ... July 9, 2020
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Racism, COVID-19, and the Fight for Economic Justice

Marty Hart-Landsberg

While the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests sweeping the United States were triggered by recent police murders of unarmed African Americans, they are also helping to encourage popular recognition that racism has a long history of punishing consequences for black people that extend beyond policing. Among these are the enormous disparities between black and white well-being and security. This post seeks to draw attention to some of these disparities by highlighting black-white trends in unemployment, wages, income, wealth, and security.

A common refrain during this pandemic is "We are all in this together." Although this is true in the sense that almost all of us find our lives transformed for the worst because of COVID-19, it is also not true in some very important ways. For example, African Americans are disproportionally dying from the virus. They account for 22.4 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths despite making up only 12.5 per cent of the population.

One reason is that African Americans also disproportionally...

Canada needs to invest in a Just Recovery

Details: Published on Wednesday, 08 July 2020 11:06; Written by editor

Friends,

This afternoon, Finance Minister Bill Morneau gave what he called a “fiscal snapshot”, revealing how much money the government has spent, and plans to invest in a recovery from COVID-19.

The short version is that because of COVID-19, the government expects to have less revenue and more costs.1 And we know that in the past, these kinds of situations can lead to major austerity and corporate handouts, putting people at risk and setting back our ability to tackle the climate crisis. That’s why it’s more important than ever to make it crystal clear to Bill Morneau that Canada’s recovery has to put people ahead of polluters and corporations.

We need to speak up. Sign the petition to demand Bill Moreneau join G20 finance ministers to invest in a Just Recovery for all that puts people before profits.

The fossil fuel industry is on the verge of extinction. South of the border, thanks to the continued Indigenous-led resistance, the US Supreme Court halted the Keystone XL pipeline — which the Alberta government poured billions into pushing forward, and is backed by the same company infringing on Wet'suwet'en unceded lands with Coastal...

Our money, our future

Details: Published on Wednesday, 08 July 2020 07:46; Written by editor

What does a Just Recovery mean to you?

The Just Recovery mask is a symbol of our collective principles and demands for a better world in the wake of this crisis.

Paov,

Unimaginably massive piles of public money are on the table right now.

The world’s powerful – finance ministers and central bank governors from the biggest G20 economies – will meet next week to discuss spending to stimulate the global economy from the coronavirus slowdown.

Our futures, our work, and our lives hang in the balance. We can’t leave it to a small elite group to gamble away, with the usual bailouts for fossil fuel companies and corporate executives that damage our planet and worsen racism and inequality.

It’s time to raise our voices and demand they invest in a Just Recovery – and unleash a wave of people power strong enough to challenge the big banks and corporations that typically have the ear of government ministers.

Here’s what...

COVID and Mass Unemployment: The NDP and Beyond

Details: Published on Wednesday, 08 July 2020 03:08; Written by editor

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2141 ... July 8, 2020
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COVID and Mass Unemployment: The NDP and Beyond

Tim Heffernan, Simon Schweitzer and Bill Hopwood

Canada has now been under COVID-19 restrictions for three months, and many provinces are starting to open up again, although the virus is not under control. Canada is not yet out of the first wave and is certainly not ready to deal with the inevitable second wave. The Liberal government has acted too little and too late, but living next door to US’s Trump-caused disaster, it doesn’t look so bad.

In most countries, there has been a rallying of support for governments if they have acted, even belatedly, on COVID. This is true in Canada with an increase in support for the Federal Liberals and provincial premiers. Politics over these last few months has been dominated by national unity and the claim "We’re all in it together." Yet it is painfully clear that this is not the case -- the homeless are still homeless, care workers lack sufficient PPE, the old and the poor are dying, but very few...

An Update About the Global Citizen Citizenship Levels

Details: Published on Tuesday, 07 July 2020 05:08; Written by editor

Global Citizen Rewards

Hi Paov,

We are working hard to improve our Rewards &...

The Real Masters of 'Cancel Culture' -- The Pro-Israel Lobby

Details: Published on Tuesday, 07 July 2020 00:22; Written by editor

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2140 ... July 7, 2020
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The Real Masters of ‘Cancel Culture’ -- The Pro-Israel Lobby

Larry Haiven

When hockey broadcaster Sportsnet fired Canadian media personality Don Cherry in November 2019 for his bigoted remarks on "Coach’s Corner," we heard the usual right-wing complaint chorus about the suppression of free speech by the liberal/left. A favoured method of censor/censure nowadays is said to be "de-platforming," i.e., denying those you disagree with a platform to speak. This is also called "cancel culture."

But on the left, this is really, at best, a marginal activity. The left still believes in reasoned debate and, what’s more, it lacks a secret powerful ingredient -- weaponized accusations of antisemitism.

This essay refers to the experience in Canada, but it has its counterpart in many other countries as well.

If we want to see real masters of Cancel Culture in action, we need to follow the modus operandi of the institutional pro-Israel bully-boys-and-girls, like the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), B’nai Brith Canada (BBC), the Simon Wiesenthal Centre (SWC) and other organizations...

Take action today: ban street checks now!

Details: Published on Monday, 06 July 2020 08:04; Written by editor

Ban Street Checks r1

Dear BCCLA supporter,

Police street checks are racist and illegal. Banning them is a necessary step in ending police harm.

Street checks are a discriminatory practice, with daily impact on Indigenous, Black, and low-income communities. Street checks also have no basis in law.

This injustice has gone on for too long.

We’ve just launched a petition, and we need you to join us and pressure the Province of BC, City of Vancouver, and Vancouver Police Board to ban street checks once and for all.

Will you add your voice now and demand an immediate ban of all street checks in BC?

As Lama Mugabo, Director of Hogan’s Alley Society, states, “The issue of police street checks is fundamentally connected to anti-Black racism and police violence.”

Indigenous and Black people are significantly over-represented in the numbers of street checks conducted by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). In 2017, 16% of all street checks were of Indigenous people, despite making up...

The European Automotive Sector – Time to Rethink Mobility!

Details: Published on Monday, 06 July 2020 02:46; Written by editor

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2139 ... July 6, 2020
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The European Automotive Sector – Time to Rethink Mobility!

Manuela Kropp

Every sector of the economy has felt the impact of the coronavirus crisis, and car manufacturing is no exception. There are 12 million EU workers employed in the automotive industry, either directly in production or in parts manufacturing, and the sector accounts for 7 per cent of the union’s GDP. If we look at direct automotive employment as a share of total manufacturing across a selection of EU member states, we can see just how significant the car industry is.

The necessary restructuring of the sector will therefore impact millions of employees and have to contend with a well-organized car lobby. At the height of the crisis (25 March 2020), the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) called for the temporary suspension of stricter CO2 emission standards for passenger cars. This is in spite of the fact that transport accounts for a quarter of the EU’s total CO2 emissions and is the EU’s only sector to have actually seen CO2 emission growth in recent...

The Naked City: Traversing Toronto in Pandemic Times

Details: Published on Sunday, 05 July 2020 04:30; Written by editor

Socialist Interventions Pamphlet ... No. 19 ... July 5, 2020

The Naked City: Traversing Toronto in Pandemic Times

The multiple crises that have come together in the current pandemic harbour great dangers, including rampant Social Darwinism and a move to authoritarian rule. At the same time, they offer openings for all who are looking for emancipatory ways out of the crises. In this conjuncture, Rosa Luxemburg’s dictum “Socialism or Barbarism” is as pertinent as ever. Indeed, it does not take much to reframe it as “Health or Capitalism.” Equally pertinent is the idea that a future worth living can only be built in egalitarian, ecological, and democratic ways, through a combination of popular self-management and socio-ecological planning that might yield a “radical democratization of the economy.”

The premise of the following snapshots, inspired by Stefan Kipfer’s daily walks and bicycle trips in the emptying streets of Toronto, is that to understand the dangers and possibilities of the current situation, one needs to attend to the manifold tensions of everyday life. One way of unearthing these daily disjunctures is to follow Marshall Berman’s advice and read “the signs in the street.”

Stefan Kipfer is a member of...

The song remains the same

Details: Published on Saturday, 04 July 2020 05:02; Written by editor

The song remains the same r1 ...

France: In the Wake of Last Sunday's 'Green Wave'

Details: Published on Saturday, 04 July 2020 03:16; Written by editor

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2138 ... July 4, 2020
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France: In the Wake of Last Sunday’s ‘Green Wave’

Ethan Earle

On Sunday, the 28th of June, voters across France went to the polls to decide the municipal governments of 4,820 communes, including all of the country’s largest cities.

The vote took place a record-breaking 100 days after the first round election, in which around 35,000 communes voted in the EU’s largest single municipal election. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing a second-round delay -- leaving those municipal governments with no first round winner in a strange limbo at a critical moment -- all eyes were on these results and what they would portend for the future of French politics.

If you’ve seen a single headline about Sunday’s results, it probably alludes to a "green wave" having washed across France. Indeed, lead candidates associated with EELV-The Greens defeated right-wing incumbents in EU capital Strasbourg, third-largest city Lyon, second-largest city Marseille, and important port city Bordeaux, which had been held by the right for more than 70 years.

Looking beneath the surface, we see...

Update from Peace Brigades

Details: Published on Wednesday, 18 November 2020 13:22; Written by editor

Upcoming events, public statements, and we're hiring

Details: Published on Friday, 03 July 2020 14:16; Written by editor

Download this newsletter in PDF.

We're hiring!

Are you interested in joining a small and dynamic team serving to advance the peace and social justice concerns of Canadian Quakers? We're currently hiring for two positions: A CFSC Administrator (full-time) and a Finance Assistant (part-time maternity leave).

Both positions will begin working from home due to COVID-19 but will be based at our office in Toronto once it is safe again to do so. The deadline to apply is July 20th. For more info visit our website:
Read more: Upcoming events, public statements, and we're hiring

WHO Calls for 'Careful' Review of a New Strain of Swine Flu

Details: Published on Friday, 03 July 2020 04:38; Written by editor

READ

WHO Calls for 'Careful' Review of a New Strain of Swine Flu

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Next Steps in the Anti-Racist Struggle?

Details: Published on Friday, 03 July 2020 01:42; Written by editor

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2137 ... July 3, 2020
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Next Steps in the Anti-Racist Struggle?

Gord Doctorow and Harry Kopyto

We have the good fortune to be living in one of those moments when we have a chance to accelerate history. The uncertainty is whether we can actually make it happen.

The culture of protest that has taken such a firm hold among the racialized, young people, and women especially, over the last five years has given social movements an unprecedented legitimacy and presence. The solidarity and protest demonstrations in the US, Canada and around the world sparked by the killing of George Floyd on May 25 reflect the depth and breadth of the smoldering underneath. This is fertile soil, especially during a pandemic when the future is a little blurred and the path forward is not clear or may even be up for grabs.

The calculus of intersectionality is showing proof that the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts. This time, there is a difference in the air, a sense that the moment has come for a final...

Alternative News

Owl Lovers, We Need Your Help

Strike! July 26 Webinar - Jeremy Brecher via SCNCC Live

Dollarama

Racism, Class Solidarity and Systemic Change