The public/private divide in Ontario labour

Union wage settlements in Ontario in 2022 is a good snapshot of how the labour movement in Ontario is divided between public and private sector, and directly reflects where resistance is bubbling and where it is not.

Russian retreats, NATO escalation

When NATO members ranging from paralyzed Germany to pro-war Canada balk at shipping tanks to Ukraine for yet another round of escalation, NATO's General Secretary says otherwise. And now Germany follows suit. Canada will be next. The dam has burst.

Does anyone still deny this is a proxy war? It boggles the mind how the stream of arms shipments into Ukraine from NATO countries can be conceived as anything else. What do people imagine a proxy war is?

The All-Party Healthcare Privatization Consensus

As I write, the news is breaking of major new incursions into the hospital sector by for-profit hospitals. Millions in public healthcare dollars are being funneled into for-profit hospitals to "solve" the crisis that has been allowed to deepen by the Ontario PC government. Once the private hospitals are firmly established as necessary components of a "public" system, the new centralized cabinet-controlled Ontario Health Agency will likely begin allowing the private hospitals to apply to run the Ontario Health Teams that have replaced the LHINs (aka regional health authorities).

Bud the Spud outside Tim Hortons

Here we see Tim Hortons sourcing its tomatoes from California for sale in Ontario, and presumably across Canada.

These palettes of tomatoes, recently delivered to a local food bank, have been through the TDL warehouse in Kingston - one of seven TDL warehouses serving Tim Hortons restaurants and drive-thrus across Canada (Langley, Calgary, Edmonton, Guelph, Kingston, Montreal, Debert outside Truro).

Whither Langford? The contending parties

Note: The third installment of a veteran dissident's analysis of the Langford Now challenge to a multi-decade pro-business occupation of Langford City Hall. These are being published for the purpose of informing and stoking a new perspective and understanding of left-wing municipal strategy.

In my third Langford Democracy Forum post, I share my own Leftie view of the main political features of the campaign with a week to go until E-Day. My specific perspective is based on my outsider observations of the campaign and is influenced by my democratic local politics experience in public education discussed in previous posts. My political take is markedly distinct from all the players in the Langford election and I am not a member of any elector organization.

Whither Langford? Getting out the vote

Note: The second entry in the "Langford Democracy Forum" written by a seasoned political activist on Vancouver Island. These dispatches are republished here because they provide a thorough examination of how to wage an effective and principled left-wing campaign in municipal elections, with special attention on the Langford, BC election. Langford Now is a new dissident slate taking on a business-first, developer-first slate of incumbents campaigning under the slate of name of Community First Langford.

A critical fact for readers outside British Columbia is that BC's municipal candidates are elected at-large. It is not a ward or district system as in other provinces, such as Ontario. In Langford, where there are six councilors, you can vote for up to six councilors.

In my second Langford Democracy Forum post, I share thoughts around what is most immediately important---the strategy and tactics of vote deployment and mobilizing.

10 observations about Poilievre's polling lead

 A fascinating poll...here are ten observations...