CONTENTS

1. CALLS TO ACTION
2. EVENTS
3. ARTICLES

Toronto needs new subway trains and service

The subway trains on Line 2 are reaching the end of their life. Without federal funding for new trains, service will become more crowded and less reliable: more malfunctions, more unreliable service and more shuttle buses. The oldest trains on Line 2 will reach the end of their design life in 2026, and the TTC does not have enough funding to order new trains.

The TTC also needs additional new trains to solve overcrowding on Line 1 and Line 2, and for the Scarborough Subway Extension and Yonge North Subway Extension. By 2041, the TTC subway is projected to carry over 2 million riders per day per the latest TTC Staff Report. There will not be enough trains to keep up with the number of riders in the future without new trains, leading to overcrowding and disruptions.

www.ttcriders.ca

Hunger Strike for Gaza

January 17 Update (Day 27)
# of hunger strikes completed: 189
# of upcoming hunger strikes: 291
TOTAL HUNGER STRIKES: 480

February 8: Ontario Education Workers

Canadians are hunger striking for an arms embargo on Israel. The Canadian government has called for a ceasefire in Gaza, but continues to supply weapons to Israel.

Canadians are on a rotating hunger strike. This means that every single day, numerous Canadians from coast to coast will be on a hunger strike.

gazastarving.com | Twitter poster

Right to Resist Teach-in

When: February 8th, 6pm

Join us for a teach-in and panel discussion featuring local organizations who unite on anti-militarist and anti-imperialist lines. The first of a series, this event will feature speakers from Anakbayan Toronto, Palestinian Youth Movement Toronto, Tamil Freedom Coalition, and Samidoun Toronto.

docs.google.com | zoom.us

African Diasporic Histories and Cultures

When: February 8th, 6:30pm
Where: Blackhurst Cultural Centre, 736 Bathurst St
(Reception: 8pm at 777 Bathurst St)

Dr. Harcourt Fuller is a historian at Georgia State university and creator of the traveling museum “Black money exhibit: world currencies featuring African & African diasporic histories and cultures.”

Facebook poster | eventbrite.ca

The Fascist Threat and What it Means for Working Class Politics

When: February 9th, 7pm
Where: Eastminster Church, 310 Danforth Ave

Amidst unfolding environmental disaster, ongoing genocide, and a lack of faith in public institutions, fascist and anti-democratic movements continue to gain political ground, both at home and abroad. How can working class movements respond to these fundamental threats? How can we build a real alternative that can challenge the dominant politics of division and distrust?

To speak to this pressing topic, The Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education is thrilled to host Adolph Reed Jr. for his re-scheduled special guest lecture, THE FASCIST THREAT: What it Means for Working Class Politics.

tickettailor.com

Stop the Grocery Gouge

When: February 10th, 12pm
Where: Matt Cohen Park

Sick and tired of being price gouged by billion dollar corporations on your groceries? We are too, and we’re fighting back!
ACORN is demanding Fair Food for ALL with a nationwide day of action.

We’re demanding an immediate:
– Tax on the rich to stop price gouging
– Cap on the price of essential food items
– And an end to the concentration in grocery store chains!

Facebook event | acorncanada.org

Gaza Lives: Honouring Palestinian Artists

When: February 10th, 6pm
TPFF fundraiser: $30 + donation

Gaza is home to a flourishing cultural and artistic community despite an illegal occupation and blockade. In a matter of months, Israel has destroyed Gaza’s educational, cultural and artistic institutions; and killed so many of Gaza’s emerging and established artists. And yet, amid the rubble, music, art and joy still lives, providing comforts and tales by its presence.


Join TPFF for an unifying night of art and solidarity with Palestine. Our special guests from Toronto’s diverse arts community will help us share a selection of works from Palestinian artists we’ve lost, and those who are visioning Gaza’s liberated future.

eventbrite.ca

West Bank Reportback

When: February 11th, 1pm

This Sunday, IJV member Anna Lippman will share about her time spent volunteering in the West Bank, including the consistent violence faced by Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta and the role volunteers can play in reducing it.

zoom.us

The Wall Between

When: February 11th, 2pm
Where: 286 Harbord St

The Wall Between: A groundbreaking book that offers concrete ways for Jews and Palestinians to speak (and listen) differently to each other.

The Wall Between is a new book written by two Ontario authors, a Palestinian and a Jew. Raja Khouri is a human rights consultant, a co-founder of the Arab/Jewish Leadership Dialogue Group, founding president of the Canadian Arab Institute and a former 10-year commissioner with the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Jeffrey Wilkinson holds a doctorate in Education from the University of Toronto and works actively on issues relating to trauma and the Israel/Palestine struggle.

eventbrite.ca

Hands Off Rafah

When: February 12th, 5:30pm
Where: 2 Bloor St E

Israeli military’s genocidal assault is targeting Rafah, the city that holds more than 1.4 million Palestinians, the majority of whom were displaced from elsewhere in Gaza. Over 70 martyrs and over 230 injured have already been reported in the US-funded Israeli strikes targeting homes, and mosques where many were sheltering. We call on our community to take the streets to defend Rafah, Gaza, and all of Palestine. We must mobilize the masses and demand an end to this genocidal assault.

Instagram Poster

Lessons from Law and Labour

When: February 13th, 12pm

Join Labour for Palestine & ACEP-CAPE for Palestine for a webinar featuring South Africa’s High Commissioner to Canada Riaz Moe Shaik; former UN Special Rapporteur Dr. Michael Lynk, and Dr. Katherine Nastovski on international solidarity, labor activism, and civil society resistance for the Palestinian liberation movement.
zoom.us

Poor People Rise Up

When: February 13th, 5pm

City Council is voting on a budget that gives more $$ for cops to cause harm. Voices is hosting Love the Way You Lie to say Defund the Police & invest in dignity for poor & unhoused folks! Be our radical Valentine at Nathan Phillips Square next Tuesday Feb 13 at 5PM.
Twitter poster

Toronto Budget Rally

When: February 14th, 9am
Where: Nathan Phillips Square

Please join us and others for a Toronto Budget Rally! There will be speakers and representatives from a number of organizations.
Social Planning Toronto

Strawberry Ceremony

When: February 14th,
Where: breakfast 10am Native Women’s Resource Centre; march 11:15am 191 Gerard St E
– 12:30 pm ceremony in front of Police HQ – 40 College St

In honour of MMIW2STG.

The Strawberry Ceremony is an annual event held to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Trans, and Two-Spirit people (MMIWGT2S). Come out and show your support in the wake of widespread violence against Indigenous Women, Girls, Trans, and Two-Spirit people across the country, and stand against settler colonial violence around the world.

Facebook poster

———–
When: February 14th, 12:30pm
Where: 40 College St

Ceremony in front of Police HQ (40 College St) only. No feast.
PLEASE WEAR A MASK TO KEEP EACH OTHER SAFE!
Livestream will be available for virtual participation.

Facebook event

Climate Crisis and Capitalism

When: February 14th, 5pm
Where: 15 King’s College Circle (and zoom)

Speaker: Richard Sandbrook, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at U of T and Vice-President of Science for Peace.

Sandbrook identifies the impasse in reformist and radical approaches to resolving the climate crisis. He proposes a radical-reformist paradigm that might dissolve the impasse by offering a just, viable and feasible pathway to climate stability.

In person | zoom.us

Antisemitism in the Current Moment

When: February 15th, 12pm

Join this panel of Jewish faculty in Canada to consider antisemitism in the context of the recent moment in Israel and Palestine. We are deeply alarmed about how claims of defense of Israel and Jewish rights are being used to justify genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and unprecedented repression against solidarity with Palestine by university administrators, governments, and other institutions. This repression is often couched in false allegations of antisemitism or of supporting terrorism.

Facebook event | zoom.us

Scapegoating Politics

By Adolph Reed Jr.

In 2022 and early 2023, a highly publicized petition campaign sought to recall New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Louisiana law sets high hurdles for recall initiatives; in a jurisdiction the size of New Orleans, triggering the process requires valid signatures from twenty percent of registered voters on a petition requesting a recall election, and the effort ultimately failed. Nevertheless, the campaign is worth reflecting on for three reasons.

Source: The Bullet No. 2944

Arms Exports to Israel Violate Canadian and International Law

By Canadian and Palestinian Coalition

On January 28, a coalition of Canadians and Palestinians wrote to Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly demanding that the federal government immediately halt all exports and transfers of Canadian military goods and technology to Israel. The coalition, which consists of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR), Al-Haq – Law in the Service of Man, Ayman Oweida and a confidential Palestinian asylum seeker, argues that the Export and Import Permits Act prevents Canada from issuing permits to Canadian companies to export military goods and technology to Israel due to the substantial risk that they could be used to commit serious violations of international law and serious acts of violence against women and children.

Source: The Bullet No. 2945

Trudeau, Restore UNWRA Funding Now: An Open Letter

By Michelle Weinroth

Dear PM Trudeau and Minister Hussen, I am still reeling over your decision to cut aid to UNRWA. What a disgrace! And, this, at a time when the people of Gaza (and elsewhere in the Middle East) are in desperate need of help. Allegations levelled at UNWRA, which emanate (through torture) from the Israeli military, are highly suspicious. They come on the heels of the ICJ’s preliminary ruling and can only be construed as a vicious riposte against the UN, and as an orchestrated political manoeuvre to distract from South Africa’s unprecedented indictment of Israel’s genocidal crimes.

Source: The Bullet No. 2946

Palestine Prohibited

A discussion about the repression of Palestinian activism on Canadian campuses and how faculty can organize to speak up about and for Palestine. This event was part of the Faculty For Palestine (F4P) National Week of Action, with coordinated events taking place on campuses across Canada (January 15-19, 2024).

Source: LeftStreamed