CONTENTS
CALLS TO ACTION
Protect Affordable Housing!
Doug’s Demoviction Bill 23 claims to solve the housing crisis by building more luxury condos and unaffordable single family homes on wetlands and farmland. But it lacks any understanding of the problem and the true cost of losing rental replacement bylaws.Rental replacement bylaws are a tool cities can use during the redevelopment of affordable housing to require developers to replace the affordable units in the new development and offer them back to existing tenants at the same rent. They are a key protection that help preserve the existing affordable/low-end of market housing in major Ontario Cities. Bill 23 gives the power to the Province to eliminate rental replacement bylaws which will in turn erode the remaining affordable housing in Ontario’s major cities.
acorncanada.org
EVENTS
[Montreal] UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15)
When: December 7 – 19Where: Montreal
Despite on-going efforts, biodiversity is deteriorating worldwide and this decline is projected to worsen with business-as-usual scenarios. The UN Biodiversity Conference will convene governments from around the world to agree to a new set of goals for nature over the next decade through the Convention on Biological Diversity post-2020 framework process. The framework sets out an ambitious plan to implement broad-based action to bring about a transformation in society’s relationship with biodiversity and to ensure that, by 2050, the shared vision of living in harmony with nature is fulfilled.
The Conference will also look at the implementation of the protocols of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that deal with the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of nature, and the safe transport, handling and labelling of Living Modified Organisms.
unep.org
Year-End review of the Canada Disability Benefit
When: December 8th, 12pm ETCelebration of IDPD 2022 Year-end review of CDB
Find out how our year went and where things are going with the Canada Disability Benefit.
Please join us for this inspiring conversation!
hubspotpagebuilder.com
SURJ Social! Get Involved!
When: December 8th, 6pmPart 4 of our Anti-Racist series! Come and meet some of the SURJ organizers. This will be a fun and friendly hang-out. Folks can hear more about our work, ask any questions, and chat with some great people.
zoom.us
OCBCC Community Check-in
When: December 8th, 7pmWe want to hear about your Day of Action! Come connect with educators from across the province and share your experience of November 30th – whether it was a meaningful conversation with a colleague, attending the Queen’s Park rally, or chatting and learning with families in your community – we want to hear it all! We will also come together to discuss next steps, and where we collectively want our movement to go from here.
zoom.us
The Struggle for Freedom in Iran
When: Sunday December 11th, 2pmThe death in September of 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Armini, a Kurdish woman killed while in the custody of Iran’s “morality police” for failing to cover her hair as required by Iranian law, has sparked the most sustained wave of anti-government protests since the 1979 Iranian revolution. The government crackdown has been brutal: more than 300 protesters have so far been killed by the police.
What are the main social forces currently engaged in this struggle? What prospects do the protesters have of forcing the authoritarian theocratic regime to grant serious change? Join a discussion led by three speakers with distinctive insights into the current situation in Iran.
zoom.us | Facebook event
Myths, damn myths and voting system change
When: December 11th, 7pmIs electoral reform really about “trade-offs” as so many academics have suggested? What about simplicity, accountability, stability and local representation?
Join Dennis Pilon as he explores how political scientists have perpetuated myths about electoral reform, and how to reframe the debate based on an honest look at history and the struggle for democracy.
zoom.us
Health Coalition Rally
When: Monday December 12th, 12pmWhere: 585 University Ave.
Force Ford to act urgently to support our public hospitals now and stop privatizing their services!
Join healthcare providers, patients, advocates and all those who depend on public healthcare for themselves and their families, in this emergency rally to defend our hard-fought for public healthcare system.
Facebook event
Reinventing Work with Mike Yates
When: Tuesday December 13th, 7pmThe Socialist Project is proud to present Reinventing Work, a launch event for Work, Work, Work: Labor, Alienation, and Class Struggle, the insightful new book by Mike Yates. Please join us for this special online event, featuring a presentation from Mike on the book’s perspective and its relevance to today’s moment, as well as opportunities for Q&A and discussion.
Leanne MacMillan and Herman Rosenfeld, both retired union staff persons, will comment on how the issues raised in Mike’s book relate to Ontario and Canada today.
Facebook event
Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education
When: January 13th, 7pmWhere: 720 Bathurst St.
Curious about socialism? Interested in a discussion of whether it is really possible and a sober look at the problems it will face? Wondering why socialists put so much emphasis on the working class?
In these uncertain and dangerous times, the Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education is a space to listen, discuss and challenge the contemporary relevance of socialism. The school will provide an introduction to socialism, as well as a variety of courses and events that seek to expand on key aspects of socialist thought and practice. It will be a gathering place for both those already sympathetic to socialism but looking to learn more and those new to socialist ideas and full of questions.
As such, we are thrilled to officially announce the launch of the school at a very special event on January 13, 2023, 7pm. Featured will be an introduction of the school and a guest lecture by Bryan D. Palmer, Professor Emeritus at Trent University, on the topic of “Capitalism, Colonialism, and Canada: How the past is before us.”
eventbrite.com
ARTICLES
University of California Comes to a Standstill as Academic Workers Strike
By Sonali KolhatkarNearly 50,000 academic workers at the University of California (UC) launched a historic strike on November 14 after contract negotiations with their employer failed. Postdoctoral scholars, researchers, trainees, fellows, graduate student instructors, readers, and tutors, who are from ten UC campuses across the state and are unionized with United Auto Workers, walked out of their jobs. Such workers are not traditionally associated with militant labor actions as intellectual work has historically been well-compensated in the United States.
Source: The Bullet No. 2737
The Renewable Energy Transition Is Failing
By Richard HeinbergDespite all the renewable energy investments and installations, actual global greenhouse gas emissions keep increasing. That’s largely due to economic growth: While renewable energy supplies have expanded in recent years, world energy usage has ballooned even more – with the difference being supplied by fossil fuels. The more the world economy grows, the harder it is for additions of renewable energy to turn the tide by actually replacing energy from fossil fuels, rather than just adding to it.
Source: The Bullet No. 2738
Back to Year Zero of the 1979 Iranian Revolution
By Amir Kianpour and Omid MontazeriThe time seems to be ripe for the women and the Kurds to write the last year of the Islamic State’s history through rewriting the year Zero of the Revolution. On July 14, 1789, when the revolutionary insurgents stormed the Bastille in France, Louis XVI asked the Duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt if this was a “revolt,” and the latter replied, “No Sire, it’s a revolution!”
Source: The Bullet No. 2739
As UK Premier Polishes his ‘Brand Rishi’ Image, the Country Slides Into Recession
By Nizar K. VisramWhen British Conservative Party MPs anointed Rishi Sunak, in October this year, as their new prime minister, he effectually came to power without people having the chance to vote. He took over from Liz Truss who lasted for only 45 days. In fact, he was the third prime minister in two months, inheriting a crisis-ridden government. Many demanded a general election to end the “musical chairs at the top of government.”
Source: The Bullet No. 2740
Delivery Workers’ Union Takes on Amazon Japan
By Chie MatsumotoDelivery workers in Japan are fed up with Amazon Japan’s practices that make accidents and injuries more likely by increasing delivery volume and speed. They are now organising unions to take on Amazon. Here is their story. In his 40s, Susumu Adachi (not his real name) has been delivering for Amazon for nearly three years. “The last mile is the toughest part,” he said. The “last mile” refers to the final stage of delivery: from the distribution centre to the point of delivery.
Source: The Bullet No. 2741