CONTENTS
CALLS TO ACTION
Tax the Super-Rich
Rising wealth and rising poverty are two sides of the same coin.The 41 richest Canadian billionaires now own as much as the poorest 40% of people in Canada — 15.3 million people in all. Things are hardly better for middle-income people, whose hopes of owning a home or investing in their futures are also being crushed by the cost of living.
Worse still, much of this skyrocketing corporate and billionaire wealth is the result of predatory practices by food, energy and pharmaceutical corporations, among others: profiting from the day-to-day essentials that people in Canada most desperately need.
Oxfam Canada is calling for two simple, but effective measures that would hold billionaires and corporations accountable — and help to increase funding for urgently needed essential public services like healthcare, childcare, affordable housing, social protection and more:
– The Government of Canada should implement a temporary windfall tax on excess profits for corporations that capitalized on emergency situations in order to maximize profits.
– The Government of Canada should also introduce a 1% annual wealth tax on the wealthiest Canadians; doing so could provide up to $20 billion annually for urgently needed public services.
action.oxfam.ca
EVENTS
Film: Threads
When: April 13th, 6:30pmWhere: Paul Cadario Conference Centre, U of T
Time to have some fun and also learn about nuclear warfare. Come to Science for Peace’s Movie Night on Thursday, April 13th at 6:30 at what was formerly the Croft Chapter House at University College, U of T (direct entrance from King’s College Circle at southwest corner of UC). Show begins at 6:45 with songs from Snakeoil Blues. The movie “Threads” follows, focusing on what happens in Sheffield, UK, following a strike by a nuclear missile. Q & A and discussion follows with Dr Arnd Jurgensen. Admission is free, though donations are welcome.
The night will begin with a live performance by ‘SNAKEOIL BLUES,’ featuring songs by Arnd and group.
facebook.com/science4peace
Ontario Health Coalition Referendum
When: April 13th, at 8pmGet ready for a province-wide referendum on May 26th and 27th to get more than a million votes against healthcare privatization.
The Ford government is going to pass legislation to privatize our public hospitals (Bill 60) in the next few weeks. Now is the time to fight back to save our public hospitals and healthcare.
zoom.us
Missing and Missed: From Report To Action
When: April 15th, 12 pm to 3 pmWhere: Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street W, in the Rotunda
The Missing and Missed Implementation Team will be hosting a community engagement event to mark the second anniversary of the release of Missing and Missed – Report of The Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations.
tps.ca
Canadian Foreign Policy Hour with Yves Engler
When: Mondays at 6pmJoin author Yves Engler on Mondays for a weekly news roundup and interactive discussion about Canada’s role abroad. This weekly session will delve into the latest developments on subjects ranging from military affairs and Canada’s role in Ukraine to its contribution to Palestinian dispossession and exploitation of African resources. Join Yves for a critical take on Canada’s foreign policy. Questions, comments and criticisms are all welcome.
zoom.us
OFL Open Organizing Meeting
When: April 17th, 6pmSaturday, June 3 is a province-wide day of action when tens of thousands of people across Ontario will join together to say “Enough is enough!” Find out what’s happening in your community on June 3, and what you can do to help make it a mass action.
ofl.ca
Political Economy of Global South’s Debt
When: April 18th, 8amThe Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and OU Economics are delighted to host the launch of Ndongo Samba Sylla’s latest book, Imperialism and the Political Economy of Global South’s Debt. In the volume, a number of experts connect the history of this issue with a range of factors including class dynamics, the changing landscape of sovereign debt markets, the global liquidity cycle, the enduring constraints of commodity dependence, ecological sustainability, and the limitations of the current ad hoc sovereign debt restructuring procedures.
eventbrite.co.uk
Free the Santa Marta Water Defenders!
When: Tuesday April 18th, 5pmLearn the Santa Marta 5 story and how it is connected to the broader struggle of the Salvadoran people. You will hear how to become allies in defending peace accords and water and how to take action wherever you are. This webinar is organized by the Americas Policy Group (APG) and the International Allies against mining in El Salvador and will take place in Spanish and English.
zoom.us
Sanctions, a wrecking ball in the global economy
When: April 18th, 7pmWhere: Different Booklist
The report “Sanctions: A Wrecking Ball in a Global Economy” is a comprehensive overview of sanctions on more than 40 countries, imposed by the US and in turn by many of its allies [such as Canada].
It covers the decades-long sanctions against countries such as Cuba, the longstanding trade embargoes on countries like Iran and Zimbabwe and the recent sanctions against Russia and other countries resulting from the war in Ukraine. What comes through strongly is the “wrecking ball” effect on national economies, with the victims usually being the poorest citizens.
adifferentbooklist.com
Cuba From Inside
When: April 19th, 6:30pmWhere: A Different Booklist, 779 Bathurst St.
Speaker: The Honorable Consul of Cuba in Toronto.
We invite the friends of Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Peru, Haiti and all others who have experienced this aggression, as well as all those who strive for peace, to come and join the discussion on the lessons to be learned from the Cuban people in reference to their successful mobilization in defeating this imperialist attack and in reference to their achievements, as we continue our ongoing struggle for peace.
adifferentbooklist.com
Dental Care in Canada
When: April 19th, 7pmA discussion with the Coalition for Dental Care to explore the challenges and possibilities in Canada’s dental care system.
We are excited to welcome Mary Otto, Dr. Paul Allison, and Dr. Hasan Sheikh as our panellists for the evening! The discussion will be moderated by Brandon Doucet, the founder of “Coalition for Dentalcare.”
zoom.us
Corporate interference and the climate crisis
When: Wednesday April 19, at 7:30pmForeign interference has made headlines in Canada lately – but what about corporate interference?
Corporate interference – or corporate capture – refers to the means by which large corporations can (and do) influence politicians and political decision-making. You don’t hear about it too much in mainstream media – but it’s unfortunately alive and well in Canada. We have to wonder: how does corporate interference affect the climate crisis in Canada?
This month, join our Off the Hill panel as we discuss this and more. Guests this month include MP Leah Gazan, rabble columnist and policy researcher Chuka Ejeckam, and climate and housing justice activist Diana Yoon. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
Faceboook event
Racial Capitalism: From Slavery to Trumpism
When: June 5th to 16thWhere: York University
Each summer the Graduate Program of Political Science (LAPS) along with the Graduate Program in Environmental Studies and Geography (EUC) co-sponsor the International Political Economic and Ecology Summer School (IPEE).
The guest Course Director this year will be Dr. David McNally. The topic will be “Racial Capitalism: From Slavery to Trumpism”. The course will be for two weeks (3 hours/day) from June 5 – 16 from 10:00 – 1:00. The application deadline is April 17th.
Prof. McNally was a faculty member in the Department of Politics until a few years ago. We are happy to be able to invite him back for the IPEE.
For more information, please see www.yorku.ca
ARTICLES
The Internationale Will Be The Human Race
L’InternationaleSera le genre humain
C’est la lutte finale
Groupons-nous, et demain,
L’Internationale
Sera le genre humain.
The International
Will be the human race
This is the final struggle
Let us group together and tomorrow
The International
Will be the human race.
Source: YouTube shorts
A World Gone Haywire: Brutality Toward Children
By Judith DeutschIn recent radio interviews, Wole Soyinka, the 88-year old Nobel literature prize recipient from Nigeria, spoke of a “world gone haywire,” about the human world completely transformed in the way people are understood and treated. He spoke of the current focus on events and not on understanding people, and he said there is no longer moral education or an ethical factor in societies. The infection has trickled down from influential people into general populace – “Kidnapping of children by the hundreds – what is going on?” The late Desmond Tutu, South African 1984 Nobel peace prize recipient, said many times that people killed in war “are not collateral damage. They are human beings of flesh and blood.”
Source: The Bullet No. 2806
The Long Arm of Washington Extends Into Africa’s Sahel
By Vijay PrashadOn March 16, 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced – during his visit to Niger – that the United States government will provide $150-million in aid to the Sahel region of Africa. This money, Blinken said, “will help provide life-saving support to refugees, asylum seekers, and others impacted by conflict and food insecurity in the region.” The next day, UNICEF issued a press release with information from a report the United Nations issued that month stating that 10 million children in the central Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger need humanitarian assistance.
Source: The Bullet No. 2807
Canadian Unions and the State: Losing Ground, Moving On
By John ClarkeThere have now been four editions of From Consent to Coercion: The Continuing Assault on Labour (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2023), the first dating back to 1985, and it still must be considered a work in progress that seeks to inform and influence workers’ struggles in Canada. Tragically, Leo Panitch didn’t live to see the publication of this latest edition, where original co-author Donald Swartz is joined by Bryan Evans and Carlo Fanelli, or be a part of the effort to put its conclusions to the test.
Source: The Bullet No. 2808