CONTENTS

1. CALLS TO ACTION
2. EVENTS
3. ARTICLES

Permanent Residency & Rights, Not Cuts

The unprecedented rollback of permanent immigration levels announced on October 24 is a complete betrayal of the government’s commitments to migrants, undocumented people, and refugees.

Cutting permanent resident numbers is a direct assault on migrants who will be forced to remain temporary or become undocumented, pushed further into exploitative jobs. Families will be torn apart and the financial burden on our people will rise.

migrantrights.ca

Canvassing at Main Street Station

When: February 6th, 4:30pm
Where: Main Street Subway Station

Mayor Olivia Chow has proposed to freeze TTC fares in 2025, but it’s not a done deal. On Tuesday, February 11, City Councillors will vote on the City Budget – and could vote against a TTC fare freeze. Your voice is needed to urge City Councillors to support a TTC fare freeze for affordable transit!

Join us as we speak to transit riders Main Street Station about the proposed TTC fare freeze, and urge them to call their City Councillor to support the fare freeze. No experience necessary!

www.ttcriders.ca

Introducing the Employment Standards Database

When: Friday February 7th, 12pm

Hands-on demo: Introducing the Employment Standards Database.

data.genderwork.ca | x.com

Provincial Rally Canvass

When: February 7th, 4:30pm
Where: Yonge and Eglinton (Southwest corner)

The Provincial election is in full swing, and TTCriders is going to make sure transit is a major focus! We will be hosting a Rally to open the Crosstown on February 19, and in the leadup we need to get the word out.

Join us to hand out flyers and talk to transit users about this important issue!

www.ttcriders.ca

Film screening: Jenin, Jenin

When: Friday February 7th, 6:30pm
Where: United Steelworkers’ Hall, 25 Cecil St
Tickets: $10 or DM us on Instagram to pay what you can

Join the Palestinian Youth Movement on Friday, February 7th, for a screening of Mohammad Bakri’s film Jenin, Jenin, the first film in our February Film Series. In this film series, we will gather for a different screening every week in the month of February to watch and engage with films that speak to our struggle for liberation, and the current moment.

Jenin has been under targeted attack by the IOF and the PA since the beginning of the ceasefire in Gaza. In an attempt to quell its resistance and punish its people, Jenin and its refugee camp have been subjected to a massive offensive, known as “Operation Iron Wall,” involving air raids, drone bombings, and abductions. The targeting of historic strongholds of Palestinian resistance in the West Bank, such as Jenin, is nothing new.

ticketstripe.com

Save Our Public Healthcare

When: Saturday February 8th, 12pm
Where: 180 Broadway, Orangeville

Our public healthcare has never been in such disarray and crisis — billions of dollars in public funding has been poured into for-profit privatization while critical funding for hospitals, nurses, and essential services continues to be neglected.

Let’s make it big and show that healthcare matters to Ontarians. The Greater Toronto Health Coalition, Grey Bruce Health Coalition, and Brampton Caledon Health Coalition are calling on all concerned citizens to join this protest at Health Minister Sylvia Jones’ office against the ongoing destruction of our public healthcare.

Facebook | Book a seat on the bus

Solidarity Fundraiser for Sarah Jama

When: February 9th, 2pm

A solidarity event is being hosted online by community, labour and friends for @SarahJama_ who is running in the provincial election for Hamilton Centre.

Registrants will receive the zoom access coordinates via Email.

docs.google.com

Weekly Phone-zap for Palestine

When: Mondays at 12:30pm

Week after week, we’re keeping the momentum going with our Monday lunchtime zaps.

Our collective action is making waves, but we need to ensure our elected officials continue to feel the pressure until real change happens.

Instagram poster | Register at zoom

Canadian Foreign Policy Hour with Yves Engler

When: Mondays at 6pm

Join author Yves Engler on Mondays for a weekly news roundup and interactive discussion about Canada’s role abroad. This weekly session will delve into the latest developments on subjects ranging from military affairs and Canada’s role in Ukraine to its contribution to Palestinian dispossession, and the exploitation of African resources. Join Yves for a critical take on Canada’s foreign policy. Questions, comments, and criticisms are all welcome.

zoom.us

Tell City Council to Fund our City!

When: February 11th, 12pm
Where: Nathan Phillips Square, 100 Queen St W.

On February 11, Toronto City Council will be voting on the 2025 City Budget. Social Planning Toronto and partners are organizing a community rally outside City Hall to let Council know this is no time for cuts.

This year’s proposed budget includes increased investments into vital community services such as affordable housing, transit, and a student nutrition program, but this funding won’t be guaranteed unless City Council votes to support it. It’s time to send a strong message: we need to fund a city where everyone can thrive.

socialplanningtoronto.org

What’s Labour Got To Do With Palestine?

When: Thursday February 13th, 6pm

In recent years, global union leaders have affirmed their support for Palestinian trade unions and the Palestinian people. Scores of unions and labour federations have endorsed BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) as a key form of solidarity with Palestinian workers. Unions in Canada, the United States and around the world called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Some unions have taken direct action, such as refusing to handle military equipment, in efforts to stop arms exports to Israel. In response, conservative critics have asked, “What’s labour got to do with Palestine?” Some in the labour movement have called for unions to stick to the bread-and-butter issues of wages and working conditions.

Through the lens of Israel-Palestine, this webinar explores the past, present and future of labour internationalism and union influence on matters of foreign policy.

eventbrite.ca

Book launch: Against the People

When: Tuesday February 18th, 7pm
Where: CSI Annex, 720 Bathurst St

The Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education is thrilled to host the official launch of the new book Against the People: How Ford Nation is Dismantling Ontario, with editors Bryan Evans and Carlo Fanelli.

The election of the Doug Ford–led Progressive Conservatives unleashed an aggressive and undisguised market fundamentalism. Ford’s government has taken the assault against the social welfare state, labour and environmental protections to new and unprecedented heights. Maintaining a permanent era of austerity has not only steadily reduced the public sector as a proportion of the provincial economy but has also reduced the social protections available to Ontarians.

tickettailor.com

Online edition: Fighting to Win

Fighting to Win: Social Struggles, Containment, and Effective Resistance (online edition)

Fighting to Win is a 12-week course with former OCAP organizer John Clarke, hosted by the Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education.

This edition of the course will be taking place exclusively online via Zoom. Those based in Toronto, Canada, are invited to join us for the next in-person edition of the course later in 2025.

The course will begin in April 2025 and will take place over 12 weeks on Saturdays at Noon (EST/EDT).

docs.google.com

The AI Craze

By Marty Hart-Landsberg

Are you one of those loudly demanding that companies create AI-powered systems to amuse you on Facebook, be your online sexual partner, offer therapy 24-7, provide answers to your search questions, write the news, or enhance management surveillance of worker activity? I would guess not. And yet, everywhere you look, AI is being promoted as the ticket to a more productive and fulfilling life.

Source: The Bullet No. 3091

Education for Acquiescence… Meanwhile, Back in Canada

By William Paul

Donald Trump looms over current events like a volatile bag of gas: Make Canada America’s 51st state. Take Greenland and Panama by force. Round up and deport millions of illegal immigrants. Stop teachers from pushing “woke ideology” down the throats of children. Rename Mars, Trumplandia – whatever. Anything vaguely similar to information that escapes from Trump’s head only underscores the necessity of a robust education system to fight it off like a bad – and spreading – infection.

Source: The Bullet No. 3092

Ford Government Plays Politics with Primary Healthcare

By Ontario Health Coalition

No matter how anyone tries to spin the numbers, the actual data from sources not tainted by politics show that more than a million Ontarians have lost their family doctor since before the Doug Ford government was elected, reports the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC). In 2016, before the Ford government was elected, 1.3 million Ontarians did not have a family doctor, according to data from Statistics Canada. By July 2024, there were 2.5 million Ontarians without a family doctor, according to the Ontario College of Family Physicians and the numbers are projected to get worse.

Source: The Bullet No. 3093