Canada

Canadian Education Workers Strike Against Anti-Strike Law And Inflation

November 9, 2022 Ben Marenlensky, Left Voice. Resist! Canada, Education, Labor Movement, Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

Ontario, Canada - The Canadian province of Ontario is in the midst of a fierce labor struggle, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades. On Thursday, November 3, Ontario Premier Doug Ford signed Bill 28 (the “Keeping Students in Class Act”), which made it illegal for education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) to go on strike. The next day, 55,000 education workers walked off the job in defiance of the bill, risking a C$4,000 fine. These workers, mainly janitors, early childhood educators, librarians, and other support staff, are demanding a C$3.25 pay raise, overtime pay, an expansion of benefits, and 30 minutes of daily prep time. The mood at the Friday demonstration was combative.

Go Transit Workers To Hit Picket Line As Ontario Strike Wave Grows

November 8, 2022 Benjamin Bilgen, Spring Mag. Resist! Canada, Ontario, Strikes, Transportation, Worker Rights and Jobs

Ontario, Canada - On Friday, November 4, the 55,000 education workers represented by CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) went on strike in defiance of the Ford Government’s Bill 28, an unprecedented piece of legislation which makes it illegal for CUPE members to strike, imposing a contract on them while suspending their fundamental rights protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for a five-year term. Ontario labour organizations are denouncing the legislation for what it is: an egregious and unprecedented violation of the most basic rights of workers and Canadians. Worker dissent is mounting, and so is a spirit of solidarity among workers and unions in Ontario.

American-Born Canadian Professor Attacked By Mainstream Media For Opposing Nato Narrative On Ukraine

November 7, 2022 Aidan Jonah, Covert Action Magazine. Educate! Canada, Media, NATO, Russia, Ukraine

A highly regarded Russia specialist in Canada, Professor Michael Carley at the University of Montreal, has refused to support the NATO narrative on the Ukraine conflict and has since been subjected to a vicious smear campaign. Canada’s role in the Ukraine conflict and the power of the right-wing Ukrainian diaspora in Canada may be underestimated, according to the vitriol we have seen directed at Professor Carley. He is among the first in Canada to feel the wrath of the country’s mainstream media, after Russia’s special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. To grasp why the gripes of this diaspora have received such attention and consideration from Canadian media, it is first necessary to understand how the right-wing element of Ukrainian-Canadians gained dominance over the diaspora.

Education Workers On ‘Illegal Strike’ Shut Schools Down

November 7, 2022 David Bush, Spring Mag. Resist! Canada, Education, Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

Canada - On Friday, 55,000 Ontario education workers with CUPE walked off the job in an “illegal” strike. They were joined by OPSEU education workers, who also “illegally” walked off the job. Over 2.1 million students were out of school as school boards were forced to shut down schools. Pickets lines were up outside Conservative MPP offices and elsewhere in the province. In Toronto, a massive all-day picket line and rally was held at Queen’s Park, which the media estimated reached 10,000 people. But it wasn’t just striking workers; a huge number of parents, students, trade unionists, and other workers showed up. The mood was electric and defiant, and it was clear the fight was much broader than just education workers’ demands. Their strike has turned into a class-wide fight over fundamental workers’ rights and the right to fight for a better life.

Wet’suwet’en Water Protector To CEO: ‘You Are Not A Climate Leader’

October 30, 2022 Brent Patterson, PBI Canada. Resist! Canada, climate crisis, Genocide, Indigenous Rights, Water Protectors, Wet’suwet’en

On October 27, Wet’suwet’en water protector Eve Saint spoke at a protest outside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto as the London, Ontario-based Ivey Business School presented RBC CEO Dave McKay with their Ivey Business Leader award. Ivey notes: “More than 400 guests, including some of Canada’s most distinguished business leaders, attended the formal dinner at The Ritz-Carlton. The award honours individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of business in Canada, and demonstrated leadership in both business and their communities.” The day before the award ceremony RBC released its 2030 emission reduction targets. McKay claimed: “RBC is committed to helping build a cleaner future.” But Saint said of McKay: “You are not a climate leader, you are a leader in genocide.

Haitians Reject Canada/US Decision To Compose An International Force

October 29, 2022 Tanya Wadhwa, People's Dispatch. Resist! Canada, Haiti, Military Intervention, US Imperialism

For over two months, hundreds of thousands of Haitians have been taking to the streets across the country demanding the resignation of the US-backed de-facto president Ariel Henry and his administration. The people are demanding concrete responses to their emergencies, such as growing food insecurity, rampant inflation and severe fuel shortages. Haitians demand that the de-facto government of the ruling far-right Haitian Tèt Kale Party (PHTK) withdraw the suffocating increase of up to 128% in fuel prices, implemented on the request of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They demand that the international community respect Haiti’s sovereignty and their right to self-determination, and cease supporting Henry’s illegitimate government and stop interfering in the country’s internal affairs.

Canadian Land Defenders Continue Struggle Against Illegal Developments

October 1, 2022 Matthew Walters, Left Voice. Resist! Canada, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Landback

Ontario, Canada - On September 12-13, Indigenous land defenders were once again in courts after over 20 months of fighting land grabbing in Ontario, Canada. The case is between Foxgate, a real estate development company in Ontario, and 1492 Land Back Lane, a land reclamation started by land defenders from Six Nations established on the land Foxgate seeks to develop on. Foxgate points to the agreements between themselves and the “official” government of Six Nations, the Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC), obtained after acquiring rights to the land from Haldimand County, as proof that they obtained “free, prior and informed consent” for the rights to the land. Whatever technical and legal trickery Foxgate may use to defend their development, the clear and easily provable facts are that this land is and remains unceded, and the Haudenosaunee have not been meaningfully consulted.

Violence Against Indigenous Women Grows In Vancouver

September 16, 2022 Tanupriya Singh, People's Dispatch. Educate! Canada, Genocide, Indigenous Rights, MMIWG2S

Violence against Indigenous women is “escalating like never before,” the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) has warned. A series of tragedies have rocked the city of Vancouver (unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh lands) in recent months, including the discovery of the body of a 14-year-old Indigenous child, Noelle O’Soup, in May. “Apathy and injustice prevail among the authorities while the intersecting crises of MMIWG2S+ [missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, and others], the colonial child welfare system, homelessness, and the opioid crisis are literally killing our people,” said Kukpi7 (Chief) Judy Wilson, UBCIC secretary-treasurer, according to a press release by the organization.

Tyre Extinguishers Claim More Than 600 SUVs ‘Disarmed’ In One Night

September 11, 2022 Damien Gayle, The Guardian. Resist! Canada, climate crisis, France, SUVs, United Kingdom (UK)

The climate activist group the Tyre Extinguishers has claimed its largest night of action yet against SUVs, with more than 600 vehicles “disarmed” across nine countries. Over the night marking six months since the launch of the campaign, which encourages people to covertly deflate the tyres of SUVs, activists took action in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Canada. “Courageous citizens all over the world last night … deflated tyres on at least 600 SUVs, exactly two months before the opening of the United Nations Cop27 climate summit in Egypt,” the Tyre Extinguishers said.

Why I Interrupted A Major Funding Announcement

September 3, 2022 Yves Engler, Palestine Chronicle. Resist! BDS, Canada, Higher Education, Israel, Palestine

On Wednesday, August 31, I interrupted a major funding announcement at McGill to ask the head of the university about her suppression of Palestine solidarity. As she spoke from the Faculty Club’s stage I asked Principal Suzanne Fortier, “Do McGill students have the right to oppose the killing of Palestinian children? Do they have the right to oppose Israeli colonialism and apartheid?” McGill’s principal failed to respond. I then stated that her administration’s threat to cancel the student union’s funding after students voted overwhelmingly for a “Palestine Solidarity Policy” was “anti-democratic and anti-Palestinian”. I added it was “shameful” and made her “complicit in Israeli colonialism and violence”.

Overcoming Fear And Apathy When Unionizing

August 30, 2022 Gabriela Calugay-Casuga, Rabble.ca. Organize! Canada, Labor Movement, Starbucks, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Gains are being made in the unionizing effort at different Starbucks locations across Canada after a flurry of activity in the U.S. that saw more than 200 Starbucks locations join unions this year. A handful of stores in B.C. and Alberta are joining the United Steelworkers (USW) union to win better working conditions. According to a release by the USW, Starbucks workers are joining in hopes of winning higher wages, more paid hours to avoid understaffing and better health and safety measures. In June, only one Starbucks location in Canada was unionized, according to Canadaland. Now, the USW says they represent Starbucks workers in Calgary, A.B., and Victoria, Surrey and Langley in B.C.

How The Ghana Susu System Helps The African Diaspora

August 25, 2022 Amidu Mutaru, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Banking, Canada, Economic Security, Solidarity Economy

I was born in Nalerigu village in northeastern Ghana. For most of my life, I watched as my mother, Mariama, worked as a trader and used Susu to meet her financial needs. My mother used money from susu to pay my school fees and to carry out her trade business. Ghana’s Susu system is widely used by the people. Susu means “small small” in the Twi language (Amankwah et al. 2019:2). I only knew about Susu as a banking tradition in Ghana. I did not know that I would come to learn of its activity in a ‘developed’ country when I moved to Toronto, Canada to carry out my doctoral studies in anthropology. In the Spring 2022 I was hired as a research assistant to work on a project to understand rotating savings and credit associations – known as ROSCAs.

Statement By Honourable Murray Sinclair On The Pope’s Apology

July 29, 2022 Last Real Indians. Educate! Canada, Indigenous Rights, Pope Francis, Residential Schools

I want to recognize the importance of the Pope’s apology to Survivors, their families, and communities. For many Survivors, I know that hearing the words of contrition from the Pope was, and is, an essential factor in their personal recoveries and growth. My thoughts and prayers were with them as they listened. Despite this historic apology, the Holy Father’s statement has left a deep hole in the acknowledgment of the full role of the Church in the Residential School system by placing blame on individual members of the Church. It is essential to underscore that the Church was not just an agent of the state, nor simply a participant in government policy, but was a lead co-author of the darkest chapters in the history of this land.

International Students In Ontario Are Fighting Wage Theft

July 22, 2022 Caitlyn Clark, Labor Notes. Resist! Canada, Student Activism, Wage Theft, Worker Rights

In Brampton, Ontario, a small team of young organizers has begun taking on the businesses that exploit them, one case at a time. The Naujawan Support Network, a collective of international students and migrant workers from Punjab, India, has won back more than $200,000 Canadian ($154,000 U.S.) in stolen wages in just over a year. “We started a year ago because we observed that there was an increase in suicides among international students,” said Simran Dhunna, one of the founding members of NSN. “Every week we would see GoFundMes raising funds to cover the costs of sending the corpse of a young worker back home. A big reason behind it was the exploitation people faced.” Over 30 percent of international students in Canada come from India, and while enrollment of Indian students in Canada has increased by nearly 200 percent over the last five years, many are struggling.

Max Blumenthal And Aaron Mate Slam Corporate Media Disinformation

July 18, 2022 Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate, The Grayzone. Resistance Report Canada, Corporatism, Media, Propaganda

At the Collision tech conference in Toronto on 6/21/22, before a hostile audience filled with members of the corporate press, The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate explain how the mainstream media is the most prolific source of disinformation on the planet, working closely with the national security state to cultivate public support for war while deflecting scrutiny from the oligarchy that controls it.

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