CONTENTS

1. CALLS TO ACTION
2. EVENTS
3. ARTICLES

Canada Must Protect Dr. Hassan Diab

Dear Friends and Supporters,

On April 21, 2023, the nightmare that Dr. Hassan Diab and his family have endured for over 15 years was prolonged further by the guilty verdict produced by an unfair trial at the Court of Assize in Paris. The Court ignored all exonerating evidence (including Hassan’s alibis and the fact that his fingerprints and palm prints do not match those of the suspect), and relied on discredited and unfounded allegations.

Hassan’s lawyer in France remarked that after 43 years “the Court is clinging on to Hassan Diab because of the judges’ fear to be accused of laxity in finding those responsible for the 1980 attack.”

Donald Bayne, Hassan Diab’s Canadian lawyer, called it a “political trial” and remarked that “the victims deserve a trial. What they don’t deserve is a scapegoat or a miscarriage of justice.”

justiceforhassandiab.org

Support PSAC on the picket line

When: As long as PSAC is on strike
Where: pick a location

Workers can’t wait.

PSAC has delivered for Canadians day in and day out. Join us on the picket line to show the government it’s time for them to be there for Canada’s workers. It’s time to take action because our bills can’t wait, and neither can we.

workerscantwait.ca

Resurgence of the Mexican Labour Movement

When: April 27th, 2pm
Where: Kaneff Tower 519, York Univ

Over the past year, thousands of workers in factories across Mexico producing goods for multinational corporations from GM to 3M have joined or formed independent unions, displacing the old pro-employer “protection contract” unions. These struggles have emerged in the context of important changes to Mexican labour law and mechanisms in the new CUSMA/T-MEC/USMCA that penalize corporations which violate workers’ rights to unionize. While fighting to raise wages and improve working conditions, these organizers are also striving to build unions with gender equity, and eliminate violence, harassment and discrimination from the workplace.

yorku.ca

(Anti)Racism in Context of Latin-America

When: April 27th, 5:30pm

Discussion to develop an understanding of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism within our communities & how to be an accomplice against it.

This free community workshop and collective discussion will be a space for students, academic faculty, activists, and community members alike to hear from people within our communities that speak to their lived experiences of anti-Indigeneity, anti-Blackness, persecution and marginalization both within and beyond the academy, and identifying intersecting issues such as working conditions, migration policy in North America, and language barriers.

eventbrite.ca

Film: Haiti Betrayed

When: April 27th, 6pm
Where: Blackhurst Cultural Centre (formerly A Different Booklist), 777 Bathurst St

Please come out and join us for a screening of filmmaker Elaine Brière’s important documentary Haiti Betrayed.

Drawing on the current political situation in Haiti, we will be joined afterward by Jean Jafrikayiti Saint-Vil for a discussion on the latest imperialist interference in the country’s affairs. This discussion will also be live-streamed on our various social media platforms.

Facebook event

Privatization: What does it mean for healthcare in Canada?

When: April 27th, 8pm

Whenever health care is in the news, we inevitably hear about “privatization”. But what does that term really mean in the context of health care in Canada?

At Canadian Doctors for Medicare, we want to look at both how health care is financed (be it publicly-funded services or paid out-of-pocket by patients) and where that care is delivered (in public, non-profit, or shareholder-owned for-profit facilities).

zoom

MayWorks 2023

When: All of May, 2023

Throughout May, we offer 24 free events with 29 participating artists across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and online. Whether through zine, installation, film, performance or dialogue – the festival presents the realities of contemporary labour.

This year’s artists critically investigate various forms of work from arms manufacturing to flower arranging. Their artworks, informed by personal histories of social activism and research, recognize workers as agents of social transformation.

mayworks.ca

Day of Mourning

When: April 28th, 1:30pm
Where: WSIB, 2 Front St. W

Join Injured Workers Action for Justice (IWA4J) and Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW) for a community delegation to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to demand action for workers who have become injured, sick or died because of work. Injured workers and allies will be meeting at the WSIB offices at 1:30pm.

On March 21st, the International Day for the Elimination of Racism, 21 injured migrant farm workers sent messages demanding immediate action to address systemic racism by the WSIB. On April 28th, we will return to the WSIB in larger numbers to demand an answer to our earlier open letter.

Shuttle buses will be leaving the Toronto and York Regional Labour Council’s Day of Mourning event held at Larry Sefton Park (500 Bay St) at 1:00pm.

harvestingfreedom.org

United May Day Celebration

When: April 29th, 6:30pm
Where: 25 Cecil St

For the first time in three years, the United May Day Committee of Toronto is excited to celebrate May Day 2023 in person!

2023 is about Solidarity and workers striking back! We workers own this day! May Day!

Come and celebrate an evening rich with cultural sounds and working class unity. We will enjoy live music, listen to revolutionary poetry, hear solidarity greetings from across the world and be inspired by powerful speakers.

eventbrite.com | Facebook event

International Workers Day 2023

When: Sunday, April 30th, 1pm
Where: Rally at Nathan Phillips Square, March on Queen’s Park

Organized by the Labour May Day Committee

May1LabourTO@gmail.com | Facebook event | allevents.in

May Day Rally with CUPW

When: May 1st, 1pm
Where: Westin Harbour Castle, 1 Harbour Square

Join CUPW National on May 1 for the May Day Rally and March! Like other public sector workers, Canada Post workers are facing similar struggles. Employers are railroading the right to collective bargaining, trying to force bad contracts on workers, and making these jobs less appealing.

Workers are leaving these jobs and the services suffer, opening the door to privatization.

cupw.ca

Booklaunch: The Negroes Are Congregating

When: May 1st, 6pm
Where: Blackhurst Cultural Centre, 777 Bathurst St.

Join author and playwright Natasha Adiyana Morris on May 1 at 6pm for the launch of her play, The Negroes Are Congregating (Playwrights Canada Press).

festivalofauthors.ca

Jeffrey Sachs on the Path to Peace in Ukraine

When: May 3rd, 11am

World-renowned intellectual Jeffrey Sachs will speak on “The Path to Peace in Ukraine”. Sachs was twice named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time and ranked by The Economist among the top three most influential living economists. He will be joined by University of Ottawa Ukraine expert Ivan Katchanovski, who will provide background on the conflict in Ukraine as well as context around Canada’s role.

Host: Canadian Foreign Policy Institute. Moderator: Bianca Mugyenyi.

zoom.us

Racial Capitalism: From Slavery to Trumpism

When: June 5th to 16th
Where: 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

Deal or Default: Is It the Endgame for Pakistan?

By Abdul Khaliq

The IMF mission is currently in Pakistan on a 10-day visit to discuss the stalled ninth review of the country’s current funding programme. The loan talks were restarted after the government finally yielded to IMF demands. Pakistan secured a $6-billion IMF bailout in 2019, which was topped up with another $1-billion last year, but the lender of last resort then stalled disbursements in November 2022 due to Pakistan’s slow progress on so-called economic reforms.

Source: The Bullet No. 2812

Ottawa Budget Struggles: Cut Fares Not Service

By Free Transit Ottawa

Ottawa faces a real risk of more cuts to bus service after a recently announced budget shortfall. This was, unfortunately, entirely self inflicted. The mayor left a $39-million hole in the 2023 transit budget, ultimately approved by a majority of city councilors, on the assumption it would be covered by provincial or federal contributions. It hasn’t been. With insufficient funds in the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission (OC Transpo) reserve, city council must step up and do what it should have done in the first place: fund transit like the critical public service it is.

Source: The Bullet No. 2813

The State and the Future of Socialism

By Michael A. Lebowitz

We are in the midst of a class war. That’s not unusual. There is always class war in capitalism – although sometimes it is hidden and sometimes there is the interlude of an apparent Carthaginian Peace. But the class war has intensified now because of the crisis in capitalism – a crisis rooted in the over-accumulation of capital. And, in this crisis, capital has intensified the class war against the working class. Austerity, cutbacks, the need to sacrifice – these are the demands of capital as it calls upon workers to bear the burden of capital’s own failures.

Source: The Bullet No. 2814

From the Protests to Palestine: The Far Right in Israel and the Left

Interview with Avishai Ehrlich

Benjamin Netanyahu returned to the Israeli prime minister’s office in November, backed by a coalition of religious and far-right ethno-nationalist parties. Since then, clashes between Israeli armed forces and Palestinians have escalated, due largely to increasing raids on Palestinian civilians and highly provocative armed aggression by Israel at the al-Aqsa Mosque. Netanyahu’s government is additionally attempting to consolidate its control over the judiciary.

Source: The Bullet No. 2815

TV Writers Flex Their Union Power

By Sonali Kolhatkar

Television has been experiencing a boom in the United States, the likes of which has never been seen before. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, there were 532 scripted TV shows that were broadcast or streamed the year before – an all-time high. In 2022, there were 599. In fact, according to FX Network Research, since 2012 there has been a steady increase in the number of scripted shows, except for a small dip due to the lockdown-related production halt in 2020.

Source: The Bullet No. 2816