CONTENTS
CALLS TO ACTION
Don’t give Big Oil a multi-billion dollar lifeline
Minister Wilkinson, Minister Guilbeault and Minister Freeland: Don’t give Big Oil a multi-billion dollar lifeline — fund real climate action, workers, and communities instead. Say no to the carbon capture and storage tax credit.Why is this important?
Natural Resources Minister Wilkinson is considering rubber-stamping a multi-billion dollar tax credit for Big Oil to invest in carbon capture — a fantastical, false climate solution.
you.leadnow.ca
Keep Scarborough Connected
Your commute will get LONGER when the Scarborough RT closes in 2023.But a subway replacement won’t be open until 2029 at the earliest. Your elected representatives must act now to prevent the worst-case scenario: 7+ years of shuttle buses in traffic.
Politicians must seize this opportunity to protect a Scarborough landmark and transform it into a rapid busway with green public space for walking, cycling, and more! Let’s create a unique Scarborough space that will be used for decades to come.
ttcriders.ca
EVENTS
Home Safe Toronto screening and panel discussion
When: Thursday February 3rd, 6pmThe free event will feature a screening of sequences from this ground-breaking feature film, and a panel discussion including the film’s director, Laura Sky as well as anti-poverty activist Rene Adams, and street nurse and activist Cathy Crowe who both appear in the film.
eventbrite.ca
Capitalism and the Sea
When: Friday February 4th, 10amThe Maritime Factor in the Making of the Modern World.
– Liam Campling, Queen Mary University of London
– Alejandro Colás, Birkbeck, University of London
– in conversation with Jeffery R. Webber, York University
zoom.us
Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency
When: February 4th, 3pmJoin Ph.D. Policy Studies program at X University for the second talk of our virtual speaker series, Building Back Better: An Agenda for Progressive Public Policy, featuring Seth Klein.
eventbrite.ca
Canada at a Crossroads on China, /w Noam Chomsky
When: Friday February 4th, 4pmIn aiming to “develop and launch a comprehensive Indo-Pacific strategy” and strengthening ties to the US, the Trudeau government has signalled its intent to join US-led war preparations in the Asia Pacific and provoke China. Join world-renowned linguist and lifetime anti-war activist Noam Chomsky in a webinar to consider the pitfalls of closer alignment with the US empire, and why diplomacy and working with China are the only option to meet the global challenges ahead. Either “Work Together or Perish Together.”
zoom.us
Abolition. Feminism. Now.
When: February 4th, 5pmJoin Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, and Beth E. Richie for an urgent conversation moderated by Mariame Kaba.
As a politic and a practice, abolition increasingly shapes our political moment — halting the construction of new jails and propelling movements to divest from policing. Yet erased from this landscape are not only the central histories of feminist — usually queer, anti-capitalist, grassroots, and women of color — organizing that continue to cultivate abolition but a recognition of the stark reality: abolition is our best response to endemic forms of state and interpersonal gender and sexual violence. Amplifying the analysis and the theories of change generated from vibrant community based organizing, Abolition. Feminism. Now. surfaces necessary historical genealogies, key internationalist learnings, and everyday practices to grow our collective and flourishing present and futures.
eventbrite.com
Our Movement, Our Fight, Our Future
When: February 7th, 6pmKeep it Public: Why Privatization and “Opening up Ontario for Business” Failed the North.
Educator JoAnne Formanek Gustafson lives in northwestern Ontario. She was raised between two communities: her home community of Couchiching First Nation and neighbouring Fort Frances, where she currently lives.
zoom.us
Building Palestine Solidarity after the Bowman Affair
When: February 7th, 7pmIsrael’s war on Gaza last May sparked protest and support for the Palestinian struggle for liberation throughout the world including in the US. The Republicans and Democrats have tried to counter this groundswell of solidarity by demonizing and criminalizing the movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS). Many progressive politicians including DSA member Jamaal Bowman bowed to this Zionist pressure, opposed BDS, and voted for military aid to Israel. Join this webinar to discuss how we must reaffirm solidarity with Palestine and escalate the BDS movement in the wake of the Bowman Affair.
eventbrite.com
Scarborough RT and Fare Plan
When: Tuesday February 8th, 6pmThe Scarborough RT (Line 3) will close in 2023 and the TTC is creating a 5-Year Plan for fares. City Councillors will be making decisions about these two important issues at a TTC Board meeting on February 10, 2022.
Join the organizing meeting to learn about what the TTC is proposing, how you can take action for a fair Line 3 replacement and fare plan, and prepare to speak to Councillors at the February 10 meeting.
Facebook event
Social Justice and the City
When: February 8th, 6pmHow has social justice activism in the city changed with the Pandemic? What has been lost, gained or put on hold? What are the challenges and opportunities that we as organizers have in front of us? As our first event of the new year, OPIRG York invites you to hear about, and reflect on, lessons learned and issues faced by key organizers from several of the city’s key movements and organizations.
eventbrite.ca
Ford’s Bogus Climate Plan
When: February 8th, 7:30pmWith less than 5 months before the June 2, 2022 provincial election, it’s time to take stock of Doug Ford’s climate legacy. Join us for a virtual presentation by David Robertson, from Seniors for Climate Action Now (SCAN!), on the immense and growing cost of Doug Ford’s brand of climate change denial.
zoom.us
Speak at the TTC Board Meeting
When: February 10th, 10:00am – 3:00pm ESTThe Scarborough RT (Line 3) will close in 2023 and the TTC is creating a 5-Year Plan for fares. City Councillors will be making decisions about these two important issues at a TTC Board meeting on February 10, 2022. That’s where you come in!
When you RSVP here to speak at the TTC Board meeting, TTCriders will send you background information and keep you informed about how and when to register via the TTC website.
www.ttcriders.ca
Injunctions: The imbalances, Indigenous injustices, and insights into reform
When: February 10th, 10:30amThis webinar will provide context and background info on injunctions. Injunctions are often favourably granted by the courts against First Nations to corporations to continue to proceed with work unimpeded, and then enforced by RCMP without respect for Free, Prior and Informed Consent or Indigenous laws. In British Columbia, we have witnessed the violent arrests of Wet’suwet’en members, Gitxsan members and other land defenders as part of an injunction to ensure the construction of the Coastal Gas Link pipeline; and at Fairy Creek and surrounding areas to remove Indigenous and other land defenders blocking Teal Jones from pursuing Old Growth logging operations.
zoom.us
ARTICLES
Better Public Bus Service Is a Public Health Measure
By Nick GroverA new COVID wave, a new round of service cuts to public transit. The reasoning always seems common sense enough: between remote working, things being closed down, and aversion to crowds, people are using the bus less. The pandemic has no doubt posed a challenge to public transit, but it’s also been a giant missed opportunity to address multiple public health problems with an expansion of service. Transit regulators seem to think there is a set pool of bus users that can only shrink, never grow.
Source: The Bullet No. 2547
Once Again Austerity Proponents Tell It Like It Isn’t
By Marty Hart-LandsbergThere appears to be growing consensus among economists and policy makers that inflation is now the main threat to the US economy and the Federal Reserve Board needs to start ratcheting up interest rates to slow down economic activity. While these so-called inflation-hawks are quick to highlight the cost of higher prices, they rarely, if ever, mention the costs associated with the higher interest rate policy they recommend, costs that include higher unemployment and lower wages for working people.
Source: The Bullet No. 2548
Emergency Measures Needed to Address Ontario Healthcare Crisis
By Ontario Health CoalitionOntario’s hospitals, long-term care (LTC) and home care services face critical and growing staffing crises. Our province’s health care system is not on the brink of crisis, it is in crisis. It is not an overstatement to describe a number of facilities and services as being in staffing collapse. The Ontario government must take measures commensurate to the emergency as a top priority.
Source: The Bullet No. 2549
The Geopolitics Behind Spiraling Gas and Electricity Prices in Europe
By Prabir PurkayasthaThe current crisis of spiraling gas prices in Europe, coupled with a cold snap in the region, highlights the fact that the transition to green energy in any part of the world is not going to be easy. The high gas prices in Europe also bring to the forefront the complexity involved in transitioning to clean energy sources: that energy is not simply about choosing the right technology, and that transitioning to green energy has economic and geopolitical dimensions that need to be taken into consideration as well.
Source: The Bullet No. 2550
Fighting for the Planet: Unions, Jack Mundey and the Green Bans
A celebration of Jack Mundey (17 Oct 1929 – 10 May 2020) with speakers from Australia and Britain. The fight for our planet needs to nurture radical hope and the strategic, political brilliance of the Green Bans movement and the leadership of Jack will hopefully help to inspire and lift the horizons of the unionists and community leaders gathered in Glasgow from around the world who are continuing the fight for climate justice.Source: LeftStreamed