CONTENTS
CALLS TO ACTION
Protect Hassan Diab from further injustice
Say NO to any future request for Hassan’s extradition!We call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian government to protect Dr. Hassan Diab from unjust prosecution and an unfair trial in France for a crime he did not commit.
In 2014, Hassan was wrongfully extradited from Canada to France. After spending more than three years in a French prison, French investigative judges found strong evidence that he was not in France at the time of the 1980 crime. He was released in 2018 and cleared of all allegations.
you.leadnow.ca
EVENTS
Planet in Focus: Film festival
When: October 13 to 23Planet in Focus is an environmental media arts organization that showcases engaging and artistic films that question, explore and tell stories about the world in which we live. Films can be seen in theatres in Toronto during the festival or virtually.
planetinfocus.org
Advocacy for Women’s History Month
When: October 20th, 7pmPresenting this week on Thursday, October 20th, are three experienced women in the field of Advocacy. Last week’s panel on Elected Officials was an amazing and insightful panel. This week we look to continue having insightful conversations. Come and celebrate Black Women’s Excellence in Politics: Advocacy, and learn how these brilliant women engage in advocacy practices.
eventbrite.ca
Evaluation of Encampment Outreach Supports
When: October 21st, 11amWhere: Allan Gardens (south side)
Launch of the Evaluation of Encampment Outreach Supports During the COVID-19 Pandemic. We conducted 127 surveys, 39 interviews with encampment residents, outreach workers and volunteers, made over 40 recommendations.
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OHC – Awards Ceremony
When: Friday October 21st, 12pmThis year’s recipients have made truly extraordinary contributions to stopping for-profit long-term care & advocacy for long-term care residents and their families, stopping the Ford government’s privatization plans, in research that contributes to the public interest and public health care advocacy .
Please join us by Zoom on Friday October 21 at 12 pm as we celebrate the winners of the Ontario Health Coalition’s highest honours: the Ethel Meade Award, the Daniel Benedict Award and the Orville Thacker Award.
Zoom.us
[Hamilton] A Teach-In on Geopolitical Conflict
When: October 22nd, 9:30amWhere: Arnold Centre 135 Fennell Avenue W., Hamilton
The devastating war in Ukraine and the recent political and military stand-off between NATO and China over Taiwan have plunged the global system into political and economic crisis.
In the West, we are presented with a highly mediated view of these conflicts. This view presents a simplistic picture of global politics, in which national “enemies” such as Russia, China, Venezuela, Iran, and Syria are caricatured and demonized. In contrast, the role played by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in fomenting conflict and war around the globe is left completely unmentioned. Also unmentioned is the brutal history and present-day reality of U.S. imperialism, which sees one country claiming hegemony over the global system and attempting to destroy any rival.
eventbrite.com
Education Workers rally
When: Saturday, October 22nd, 11:30amWhere: Toronto Congress Centre, 650 Dixon Rd
Join education workers as we join the Ontario PC Caucus Convention for lunch! Let’s send a clear message that CUPE Education Workers are ready to fight for our students, schools, community and ourselves!
cognitoforms.com
David Camfield Virtual Launch of Future on Fire
When: October 22nd, 8pmThis event will be moderated by Fiona Jeffries and include conversation and words from Sara Birrell, James Hutt, and Saima Desai. This event is co-hosted by McNally Robinson Booksellers and Fernwood Publishing.
Zoom.us
#FundPeaceNotWar
When: Sunday October 23rd, 1pmWhere: Parkette on the southeast corner of Spadina Rd and Bloor St
Across Canada, the U.S. and around the world, peace activists will be on the streets from October 15th to 23th, demanding an end to imperialist wars, occupations, sanctions and military interventions.
The Toronto Association for Peace and Solidarity and the Canadian Peace Congress are planning to hold a peace rally.
peaceandjusticenetwork.ca
Inaugural CensureUofT Lecture
When: October 27th, 6pmWhere: Moot Court, J250, 78 Queens Park
Join us to celebrate the collective success of the campaign and to continue the work of defending academic freedom, fighting systemic racism, and refusing the ‘Palestine exception’ in higher education!
eventbrite.ca
The U.S. Proxy War in Ethiopia and Eritrea
When: October 27th, 7pmSanctions and Human Rights Intervention
Zoom.com
TWHP Book Club
When: October 27th, 7pmJoin the Toronto Workers’ History Project book club – Shut Up, You’re Pretty by Tea Mutonji.
We meet bi-monthly via Zoom at 7:00 pm (usually on a Thursday) and read a book that has been selected by the group.
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ARTICLES
Why Our Electricity Prices Can’t Be Left to Bogus ‘Free Markets’
By Prabir PurkayasthaThe price of electricity has risen astronomically in Europe over the last two years: by four times over the previous year and 10 times over the last two years. The European Union (EU) has claimed that this rise in prices is due to the increase in the price of gas in the international market and Russia not supplying enough gas. This raises the critical question: Why should, for example, the German electricity price rise four times when natural gas contributes around one-seventh of its electricity production? Why does the UK, which generates 40 percent of its electricity from renewables and nuclear plants, and produces half the natural gas it consumes, also see a steep rise in the price of electricity?
Source: The Bullet No. 2701
Huge Cuts in Public Sector Wages Predicted
By Doug AllanThe Ontario Financial Accountability Office (FAO) says that, with inflation, real wages in the public sector will decline 11.3% over the three year period 2021/2 – 2023/4. This would radically deepen the trend toward lower wages during the last ten years. The FAO reports that since 2011, the average annual salary for the Ontario public sector employees (defined here as employees of schools, colleges, provincial government, provincial agencies, and hospitals) has increased by $10,385 – or 1.6 per cent on average annually. This is the lowest increase of all the sectors and lower than inflation, which averaged 1.8 per cent per year. Over the ten years that would be about a 2% pay cut.
Source: The Bullet No. 2702
Israel’s Detention of Palestinian Minors: a Horror Show
By Michelle WeinrothI want you to look at this picture. No, please don’t look away. Look at it carefully. Beyond the huddle of hefty military figures, armed to the teeth with their machine guns – one pressed threateningly against the young boy’s hips – do you see what I see? Obviously, a shocking abuse of power: a mob of soldiers, poised to kill, if not assault, a vulnerable, lightly clad child. But look again. The devil is in the detail. The angle of the youth’s body says much. His neck is strained, the head tilts backwards under pressure; the shoulder and t-shirt are being tugged so that the collar of the boy’s t-shirt is askew and cuts the neck below the Adam’s apple. Jostled by the force of bodies shoving him from behind, he appears to be staggering.
Source: The Bullet No. 2703
Queen Elizabeth II: Pomp, Pageantry, and the Apology That Never Came
By Prabir PurkayasthaHow should we remember Queen Elizabeth II and her 70 years on the British throne? It’s perhaps better to consider after the media parade about her funeral is in the rearview mirror. A number of people have reacted to the glorification of her rule, pointing out the British Royals’ direct connection to the slave trade, Britain’s colonial massacres, mass famines and its loot from the colonies. Britain’s wealth – $45 trillion at current prices from India alone – was built on the blood and sweat of people who lost their land and homes and are today poor countries. Lest we forget, the slave trade was a monopoly of the British throne.
Source: The Bullet No. 2704
Brazilian Elections: The Challenges in the Second Round
By Research Group on Brazilian PoliticsThe general elections underway in Brazil have very different political consequences than the previous ones. In a politically polarized country, the outcome of the polls will decide between two opposing alternatives: Brazilian democracy or the advance of a neo-fascist power project. One week after the first round, now that tensions have eased, it is possible to start drawing up an assessment of the outcomes and offer insights into future scenarios. In this light, we can examine the challenges to former President Lula’s campaign for the second round.
Source: The Bullet No. 2705