Rabble

In the early morning hours of November 21, 2024, a dozen Greenpeace activists staged a peaceful sit-in on the driveway of Stornoway – the official residence of opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre.

Keith Stewart, Senior Energy Strategist at Greenpeace Canada and Trevor Cluthé, Greenpeace lead Toronto Local Volunteer Group, chained themselves to a replica oil pumpjack that was surrounded by a symbolic burned forest created using charcoal from the 2021 wildfire that destroyed the town of Lytton, BC.

The oil pumpjack also had a sign attached to it that read, “Poilievre: Protecting polluters. BETRAYING people!” 

Because Stewart and Cluthé refused to unchain themselves, they were charged with mischief, intimidation and resisting arrest. Those charges were later downgraded to mischief and obstruction with a court date yet to be set for the new year.

In an interview with rabble.ca, Stewart stated, “We [Greenpeace] don’t normally target leaders of the opposition, usually you’re going after government. But in this case, we thought it was really important to call out Pierre Poilievre because he’s really, really been getting a bit of a free ride in the press.”

Stewart is referring to the fact that Poilievre is continuously attacking the Trudeau government without being held accountable. Poilievre disseminates simplistic slogans while avoiding the tough questions that would press him to explain how he would implement these vague and baseless decisions and inferred plans.

The Greenpeace activists participating in the peaceful sit-in wanted Poilievre to have to actually address climate change once and for all.

“He said a lot about what he would do about climate change, but not really a lot about climate change itself,” Stewart stated.

Stewart points out that the federal Conservatives have promised to dismantle every significant piece of our national climate action plan and no one has called him out on that. 

“Poilievre claims to be ‘for the people,’ but he’s actually for the polluters, big oil, the biggest polluters in the country,” said Stewart.

Poilievre has promised big oil that he will fulfill their wish lists and policy asks including letting them off the hook for the costs associated with remedying their pollution of the environment. That means Canadians will be on the hook for those pollution cleanup costs. 

Poilievre claims that his climate plan will focus on technology rather than taxes, yet he has not explained how that would be executed.

He wants to cancel the consumer carbon tax and associated rebates as well as new clean fuel regulations.

Poilievre has said that he would not implement the proposed oil and gas pollution cap and would approve new nuclear projects.

Perhaps most egregiously, Poilievre would approve liquified natural gas (LNG) exports to Asian countries despite knowing that methane is 80 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2) at warming the climate over a 20-year period.

Poilievre has also said he won’t pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, but his climate action plan will completely miss Canada’s current 2030 climate target.

“His plan is ‘burn, baby, burn.’ It’s expanding fossil fuels. We’re seeing this a lot coming out of the fossil fuel industry where they say the solution to a problem caused by the burning of fossil fuels is in fact burn more fossil fuels,” maintains Stewart.

He’s referring to claims by various players that LNG will reduce coal emissions in other countries. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the case because often LNG is actually displacing new renewables.

LNG, composed of mostly methane with small amounts of ethane, propane, butane, and nitrogen, is a fossil fuel and recent research shows that on a full lifecycle basis it is comparable to coal.

Stewart wants to direct attention to the fact that $20 billion has been invested in the LNG Canada project. Had those funds been invested in wind, solar or free heat pumps for all Canadians, then consumers would be benefitting from more affordable energy bills while helping to fight climate change.

Poilievre doesn’t want to talk about investing in renewables because he supports big oil. In fact, in October 2024, Greenpeace revealed that Poilievre organized a fundraiser where Big Oil’s top lobbyists paid $1,650-a-plate for a private meeting with him. This was after declaring in a National Post op-ed (May 2024) that corporate Canada should fire their lobbyists because he will only listen to the people.

Now that renewable energy is a cheaper choice for producing electricity than fossil fuels, conservative provincial governments are joining the attack on environmentally friendly renewables. 

Alberta’s United Conservative government placed a seven-month moratorium (2023) on all renewable development that will have lasting impacts. Meanwhile, Ontario’s Conservative government passed Bill 165: Keeping Energy Costs Down Act (2024), despite the fact that the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) said no to Enbridge’s plan to pass an annual cost of $250 million for installing gas piping to new homes and businesses onto existing customers.

While the OEB cited more homes being fitted and retrofitted with less expensive, cleaner heat pumps and induction stoves, the Ford government increased natural gas costs for consumers while accelerating the climate crisis and impeding Ontario’s transition to a green economy.

Conservative governments are making these authoritarian policies because increasingly, oil and gas companies are turning to them to protect their market share from renewables and to defend the industry from its critics, in this case, Greenpeace.

Stewart wants folks to remember that the oil under the ground belongs to Canadians – not the oil companies. Depending on the size of their taxable capital, oil companies pay between nine and 15 per cent in corporate taxes. That’s extremely low compared with the United States, 25 per cent, and Norway, 78 per cent.

In 2022, the oil and gas sector generated $269.9 billion in revenue. It paid $45 billion in taxes to the Canadian government and still made record profits of over $63 billion. 

Yet, federal and provincial governments use taxpayer dollars to provide financial supports or tax breaks to fossil fuel companies. These subsidies cost Canadian taxpayers at least $6.03 billion, or roughly $214 per taxpayer every year.

“We should be thinking about how much are we getting from that oil coming out of the ground? And, if we actually got a fair share of that resource, it could be used to fund these alternatives and it could be used to support workers in communities currently dependent on oil and gas to transition to be part of the clean energy economy while protecting us all from climate change,” Stewart said.

Greenpeace is pushing for oil companies to pay excess profit taxes that could be used to create a climate recovery fund similar to the one Vermont state established. 

Essentially, oil and gas companies pay into the climate recovery fund which is used to help communities experiencing climate catastrophes including wildfires, floods and heat waves.

As the Conservative Party of Canada seeks to trigger a federal election, Greenpeace activists want Canadians to recognize Poilievre’s anti-climate agenda places corporations and profits ahead of people and their collective future.

“Poilievre’s promises to give free passes to big oil and gas companies is a threat to our communities and climate, and a betrayal of regular Canadians. If Poilievre really cared about people and fairness, he would not abandon communities to deal with climate impacts on their own so that his friends in the oil industry can make a few more years of excess profits,” maintains Stewart.Greenpeace Canada is urging everyone who cares about the climate, nature, and the future of our communities to demand that Poilievre and all political parties protect people not polluters in the next election.

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The Ontario government is going ahead with its plan to close 10 of the province’s 19 supervised consumption and treatment service (CTS) sites, despite conclusions from the Ontario auditor general’s report, which challenges the decision. 

In November, the Ford government announced a ban for CTS sites operating within 200 meters of schools and daycares. They also announced that some sites would be replaced with new Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs.  

The auditor general’s report, which was released Tuesday, said that the decision to replace consumption sites was made without proper planning, analysis, or public consultation. It also concluded that the Ford government “does not have effective processes in place to meet the challenging nature of the opioid crisis in Ontario.” 

Decision to close sites goes against internal evidence

In a previous interview with rabble.ca, Daniel Werb, director of the Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation (CDPE) and chair in mental health and substance use disorders at St. Michael’s Hospital and The University of Toronto, said that the decision to close CTS sites goes directly against expert evidence. 

“We have known for a while that these sites do save lives,” Werb said. “Stripping away the best line of defense we have against people dying of an overdose at a time when we are in the midst of an overdose crisis that has claimed more lives in this province than the COVID-19 pandemic – it’s extremely radical.” 

In November, The CDPE released an internal review from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care that they received through an access to information request. The review, which consulted 10 experts, concluded that CTS sites result in benefits for communities.  

Read more: Ontario’s safe drug consumption site strategy doesn’t match their own data

The Ontario auditor general’s report also underscored that the government had internal knowledge of the risks associated with closing consumption sites.  

“Our review of the government’s internal documents noted that the Ministry recognized the potential impacts to the health system of closing the 10 supervised consumption services sites,” the report said. 

It concluded that the government was aware of the risk closing sites posed for increased opioid-related death and public drug usage. 

Advocates call for a value-for-money audit 

Ontario’s Green Party and advocates are calling for a value-for-money audit on the closures of CTS sites in response to the decision. 

“We firmly believe that there is a net benefit to all taxpayers, whether people are using substances or not, by having consumption and treatment services in place in communities,” said Michael Parkinson, director of the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario, in a press conference Wednesday. 

Parkinson said CTS sites are tied to a reduction in crime and health issues, which keep more people out of the criminal justice and health care systems. 

“Anytime you can prevent a case of HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C translates into millions of dollars of savings for Ontario taxpayers,” he said. “And we’ve seen evidence that CTS sites both prevent and treat HIV, hepatitis C, and other health issues.”

Aislinn Clancy, MPP for Kitchener Centre and Deputy-leader of the Ontario Green party, said the government’s decision goes against expert evidence and will result in increased death among people who use CTS sites. 

“With a stroke of the pen, they signed the death sentence of the tens of thousands of people who rely on these sites to stay safe,” she said on Wednesday. 

“If the Premier wants to reduce public drug use, he should have consulted experts who are unequivocal that CTS sites keep drug poisonings off of our streets and out of ERs,” she later wrote on X.

The AG report shows the Ford gov's decision to shut down CTS sites was made w/o proper consultation. If the Premier wants to reduce public drug use, he should have consulted experts who are unequivocal that CTS sites keep drug poisonings off of our streets and out of ERs. 3/4

— Aislinn Clancy (@AislinnClancyKC) December 6, 2024

In a statement to rabble.ca, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Health said the government’s decision to close CTS sites reflects the concerns of Ontarians. 

“We’ve heard from families of the harassment, verbal and physical assault they have experienced walking their child to daycare or school,” the statement said. “We have also heard about the phone calls parents have received that their child has picked up a dirty needle, or bag of toxic drugs in the school yard.”

“Enough is enough and our government is taking action to protect children and their families.”

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Warning: This article is about femicide. If you are experiencing intimate partner violence, there are resources available to help: https://www.sheltersafe.ca/

On March 27, 1996, a 4 ft, 7 inches tall, 50-year-old middle-class white woman was found beaten to death with a crowbar in her apartment by her boyfriend, also white, 50-something, recently divorced, successful careerwise. Her face was rendered unrecognizable. Her white leather couch and wall behind splattered red. Neighbours above, below and beside heard yelling. “Stop! Stop! You’re hurting me”.  But did nothing. A lot of yelling happened in that apartment over the past few weeks. They thought it best not to get involved. 

Once the still-clothed, mangled body lay still, the victim’s boyfriend grabbed her keys, went down the elevator, stole her car and drove off. He was later found dead, in her car—carbon monoxide poisoning. A close friend told the reporter, “He was stalking her for several weeks. Male friends and even male strangers, on occasion, intervened when he tried to grab her and “talk” . For example, while heading to her car after shopping at the mall.  She was terrified but didn’t want to call the police. She didn’t want to cause trouble for him. He had grown kids. She just wanted him to go away. He had no prior record of violence. “He is just going through a rough patch.” The same close friend advised her to change the locks weeks ago. The friend asked not to be identified. She was afraid of him, too. 

That close friend was my mother. The victim, Isabelle, her best friend. They were relationally as tight as twins. They talked every day. Isabelle was the cool auntie to my sister and me. We had all met the boyfriend on a few occasions. He seemed meh, but OK. I still have the newspaper clipping from that day and the crystal vase she gave me for my birthday just months before. 

That was 28 years ago. I still think about that day. It changed how I thought about my own safety and the safety of women and girls in general. 

Today, over 11 million Canadians, just over 25 per cent  of us, have directly experienced gender-based violence in our lifetime. If we consider friends and family affected, that adds up to almost all of us knowing someone who has experienced GBV. 

Happy holidays. But we need to act now.

I get it. I, too, need a break from bad news, but femicide and gender-based violence is a fast-metastasizing cancer; It doesn’t take holidays. It feeds on them.

The Canadian Women’s Foundation (CWF) reports 44 per cent of women in Canada experience intimate partner abuse in their lifetime, with rates even higher for marginalized groups such as Indigenous women, women with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals. At that rate, this epidemic truly touches us all. 

Despite 30+ years of advocacy (16 Days of Activism, launched in 1991, Ecole Polytechnic National Memorial Day, 1989) and important policy changes such as Bill S-249 (Georgina’s Law), we have yet to curb the trend. Sexual assault is the only class of violent crime that is growing.

In August 2023, the federal government acknowledged gender-based violence as an epidemic. Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, he says, needs more time to determine if an epidemic exists.

If we want to end gender-based violence, the call for stricter gun licensing requirements and illegal weapon acquisition enforcement needs to continue. We need to direct our governments fund more shelters now. However, we must also stop throwing these issues over the institutional fence. We need to leverage — the power of us.  

We are the answer

Institutional funding and legal change will never be enough. While changes in laws and the judicial system provide legitimacy and deterrence, they rarely trickle down to catalyze real cultural change on the streets and in the homes.  

The truth is that gender-based violence (GBV) is our collective problem. It comes down to you and me. 

In my ideal world, femicidal men like Wayne (the boyfriend in my story) would not exist in the first place because misogyny would be extant. Nor would bystander effect—where people are frozen by not knowing how to help in a crisis.  

However, back to our reality. Misogyny is not going anywhere soon unless we work together to throw this way of thinking in the trash heap along with “the world is flat” beliefs from centuries ago.

CWF President and CEO Mitzi Hunter is rightly concerned, “While funding has increased, COVID has elevated GBV rates.  Plus, the recent U.S. election results have raised concerns about potential impacts on women’s rights and gender-based violence. When political figures who have been accused of perpetuating or downplaying gender-based violence remain in power, it can embolden harmful societal attitudes, as has been seen in the rise of online abuse and misogynistic rhetoric on platforms like X and TikTok following the election. “

We genuinely need all hands on deck. In 2025, let’s make Canada safer for women and girls, everyone. Here’s how to step up: 

• Equip yourself: Visit CWF’s signalforhelp.ca for downloadable tools, tips, and training on responding in supportive, nonjudgmental ways. 

• Know what’s in your neighbourhood: Check out this government list of women’s shelters and services to find one in your area.  Call to find out how you can support. Volunteer.  Put the number on your fridge. 

• Learn: Take a training program. 

• Get Informed: Read the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence to learn more. 

• Give: Support Shelter Movers, a national charity that helps women and children move out and into shelters quickly. 

• Join the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s (CWF) growing community of 80,000+ people who are taking continuous action to end gender-based violence. Visit Canadianwomen.org to learn more.

And let us know in the comments if you did.  

The post No one left untouched: Gender-based violence is an epidemic appeared first on rabble.ca.

Donald Trump has threated to impose a tariff of 25 per cent on goods from Canada. A RadioLabour interview with the president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, Laura Walton. Plus the LabourStart report on union events. And singing: ‘Hold That Line.’

RadioLabour is the international labour movement’s radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provide coverage of news of interest to Canadian workers.

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Amy Blanding joins rabble radio to discuss her recent departure from Northern Health after expressing her own personal solidarity with Palestine, and what the future of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion might look like.

About our guest

Amy Blanding (she/her) is a queer, disabled musician, activist, organizer, and equity specialist living on the unceded, stolen territory of the Lheidli T’enneh. She is a student and steward of radical leadership toward collective liberation and humbly stands on the shoulders of all the Comrades who have come before her. She welcomes connection, so please reach out! 

If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. 

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The Ottawa Food Bank is being forced to scale back some of their operations.

Come January, the bank will reduce some of their services in attempts to adapt to increased demand and decreased donations. 

“The reality is we cannot keep up pace,” said Rachael Wilson, CEO of the Ottawa Food Bank, in an interview with rabble.ca. “There just isn’t enough food.”

The bank’s decision to scale back is one that many food banks in Ontario are also being forced to make, according to a new report by Feed Ontario, which represents a network of over 1,200 food banks in the province. The report found that almost 40 per cent of food banks surveyed have had to reduce the amount of food they supplied per visit to adapt to increased demand. 

The report looked at data from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024. It recorded that over one million people used food bank services in Ontario between 2023 to 2024, representing a 25 per cent increase from the year before. 

There were approximately 500,000 visits to the Ottawa Food Bank last year. This marks a 90 per cent increase since 2019. 

Carolyn Stewart, CEO of Feed Ontario, said that food banks’ decisions to scale back is unprecedented – and cause for alarm. 

“We’ve never seen this,” said Stewart in an interview with rabble.ca. “I’ve been with the organization for 15 years and I’ve never seen food bank use and demand as high as it is today. We’ve never seen food banks have to take such drastic measures.”

“We’re an emergency mechanism, not a full time response or an alternative to a social safety net,” she continued. “With the government not doing their part and improving social policy, this is what we’re seeing on the ground.”

Cost of living forcing more people to rely on food banks

Ricardo Tranjan, a senior researcher on housing and social policy with the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, said one of the reasons behind increased food bank usage is the cost of rent. 

“We see a trend towards rent requiring a large part of tenants’ household income,” Tranjan said in an interview with rabble.ca. “So, the obvious conclusion is that when you see more and more of low wage workers’ income going towards rent, we know that there is little left for other things.”

The average cost of rent in Canada was $2,152 in October, down 1.2 per cent from last year, according to a national rent report released by Rentals.ca and real estate data firm Urbanation. This marks the first decline since July 2021.  

But Tranjan explained that minimum wage and social assistance rates have not kept up with the cost of living. Coupled with rental prices, inflation, and rising food prices, more Canadians are being forced to rely on food banks. 

“The minimum wage right now in many provinces doesn’t quite deliver the kind of increases that we would need to keep up with the cost of living,” he explained. “And when you look at social assistance rates, you know, Ontario Works, the rates have been frozen for quite some time now.” 

Currently, the financial assistance provided through Ontario Works for a single person is $733 a month. 

But Tranjan said the solution to rent prices isn’t simply a matter of building more houses. 

“The narrative that all we need is more supply of housing and that will bring prices down helps to justify the never ending and increasing support to private developers,” he said. 

Tranjan pointed to the 2024 federal budget, which included $15-billion in subsidies and support to private developers through the Apartment Construction Loan Program, which the government says is aimed at stimulating the construction of affordable homes. 

Tranjan said governments should be supporting more non-market housing providers, instead. He also highlighted the need for stronger rent control policies. 

“We only have five provinces that have permanent rent controls and they’re full of loopholes,” he said. “And then you have the other four that have no rent control whatsoever.”

The only provinces with permanent rent control policies are Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Prince Edward Island. Nova Scotia instituted a temporary rent control policy in November, 2020, which is set to expire at the end of 2025. 

“Provincial governments have the ability to make a very significant impact, literally overnight, by strengthening rent controls,” said Tranjan.

What this means for food banks on the front lines

Ninety eight per cent of the Ottawa Food Bank’s funding comes from community donations. Recently, the bank has been forced to get by on fewer donations. 

“We know it’s because our donors are facing the same economic challenges that many of the people who are accessing banks are,” Wilson said. “The cost of food is astronomical. The cost of rent and living in a city like Ottawa is very high. So, unfortunately, that does mean that donors are not able to give as much or as often as they have in the past.”

Stewart said this is something many banks are dealing with – and that there is a sore need for more funding.  

“Our preference is always that the money goes into the pockets of people who are needing a food bank,” she said. “But until the government does that, they have to support food banks.”

Feed Ontario is predicting a 24 per cent increase in food bank visits over the coming year. Wilson said she’s concerned about how The Ottawa Food Bank will continue to meet the needs of their community if demand continues to increase. 

“We are seeing people who are at their wits end who are struggling and very stressed about where their next meal will come from, and it’s only going to get worse every single month,” she said.

Almost 24 per cent of people who accessed food banks in 2023 to 2024 were employed, according to Feed Ontario. Stewart emphasised that people who rely on food banks are not just those who are unhoused. 

“It could be anyone,” she said. “They’re people sitting beside you on the bus. They’re potentially your colleagues. They’re children in the classroom. They can be anyone. Anyone can fall on hard times very easily.”

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Violence against workers in female-dominated public-sector jobs is on the rise. As the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence comes to a close, unions are calling for measures to address this increasing violence. 

In June, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation released survey results showing that 75 per cent of its members believe there has been an increase in violent incidents since their careers began. As well, almost one third of survey respondents had violence used against them. 

In the same month, Nova Scotia Auditor General Kim Adair found daily incidents of violence in Nova Scotia public schools have increased by 60 per cent in the last seven years. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) released a worker-led report in September which showed school support workers bore the brunt of this violence. Of the 5,000 CUPE members working in Nova Scotia schools, 83 per cent are women. 

A report from the University of Ottawa found violence in Saskatchewan schools is also on the rise. 

“We’re seeing this trend all across the country,” said Sarah Cibart, a senior officer in CUPE’s Human Rights branch. “Far right governments are cutting funds to public services, which is a huge contributing factor to the increase of violence.” 

She said the lack of funding leaves workers understaffed which can cause frustration from third parties like patients and students. 

“They’re also experiencing the fallout from those cuts,” Cibart said. “These folks are desperate to get the services they need to live and to strive. But there are simply not enough workers.” 

Cibart said new data has put violence in schools in the public consciousness, but people should know there has been an increase of violent incidents in hospitals and libraries as well. While she is concerned for the safety of workers, Cibart said not all is hopeless. 

In June this year, the International Labour Organization Convention 190 (C190) formally entered into force in Canada. C190 is the first-ever global treaty on ending violence and harassment at work.

“Employers need to have laws, policies and collective bargaining language that prevents and prohibits violence at work,” Cibart said. “By doing that, we can start to talk about how women are the ones  most at risk of this.” 

Aside from improving policy and collective bargaining language, Cibart said ending this violence requires a cultural shift as well. Public services are underfunded and understaffed because feminized work is undervalued, she said. 

“If we look at the nature of the work in the education sector, in hospitals, in libraries, it’s a lot of care work. It’s a lot of emotional labor,” Cibart said. “It’s work that women have been socialized to take on for years and years,” 

She said this labour should not be taken for granted, especially because these public services are relied upon by all. 

Angie Rutera, communications assistant for the Office of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, said the government recognizes gender based violence as a pervasive issue. She said the government has a national action plan which focuses on collaborative efforts across all levels of government to support victims, prevent violence, and create safer communities. 

Rutera added that there is a program which directly funds organizations who are working to create more supportive environments for workers. These organizations strive to create better workplace protections and access to services for those experiencing violence. 

“Our government reaffirms its commitment to ensuring all individuals—regardless of their workplace—are safe, respected, and free from violence,” Rutera said. 

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Under global consumer-capitalism, power and wealth are concentrated in the hands of oligarchs, billionaires and CEOs, supported by the politicians they fund. That was evident at the 29th United Nations Conference of the Parties climate summit (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November and at the earlier COP16 biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia.

Close to 1,800 coal, oil and gas industry lobbyists attended COP29, outnumbering delegates from all but three countries (the host, next year’s host Brazil and Turkey). As the Guardian reports, “The 10 most climate-vulnerable nations have only a combined 1,033 delegates at the negotiations.” Many countries, including Canada, had industry representatives in their delegations, which gave them privileged access to diplomatic negotiations.

Azerbaijan is an oil-producing nation. Just before the talks, COP29’s chief executive Elnur Soltanov — also the country’s deputy energy minister and a former oil industry executive — was filmed agreeing to facilitate oil deals during negotiations.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company ADNOC, chaired last year’s climate conference there. Leaked documents showed the UAE planned to promote deals for its national oil and gas companies at meetings with other countries.

The industrial agriculture sector also sent hundreds of lobbyists to this year’s climate conference. And the biodiversity conference drew 1,261 lobbyists representing “pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, agrochemicals, food and beverage processing and tech,” the Guardian reports.

Most of the industry representatives promote expensive and often unproven technical solutions that allow them to continue or even expand business as usual (often with massive taxpayer subsidies), but lobby against some of the most effective solutions. The biodiversity conference ended on November 2 with many issues unresolved.

Results from the climate conference weren’t much better. As George Monbiot wrote in the Guardian, governments were “prepared to consider any policy except those that might actually succeed: leaving fossil fuels in the ground and ending most livestock farming.” Instead, he noted that much of the focus was on carbon markets, “a futile, impossible attempt to offset with contemporary withdrawals from the atmosphere the hundreds of millions of years’ worth of carbon being brought to the surface.”

This year marked the 29th global climate conference, and the 16th nature summit. Yet, despite some important progress, gas, oil and coal production continues to rise, along with corresponding climate-altering emissions, and destructive industrial agriculture continues to dominate food systems. Had we been serious about the climate and biodiversity crises when we first knew about them decades ago, we could have made a somewhat gradual and orderly shift to better ways of powering and feeding societies.

Now the situation is critical. Although renewable energy growth is creating jobs and helping economies, we can’t get out of this accelerating mess without rapidly changing our ways of life and economic systems. We’re not meeting the emissions reduction targets negotiated over 29 years of climate conferences, which scientists say are necessary to avoid catastrophic heating. And hyper-consumerism is killing us with pollution, resource depletion, nature destruction and climate disruption.

Not only have industries and their CEOs and billionaire owners hijacked the conferences where solutions and agreements are negotiated, they’ve also captured politicians and governments, many of whom appear to know little or nothing about climate, physics, nature or science, and care only about power and profit.

The result is that even politicians who have some understanding of global heating and biodiversity loss don’t treat them as the emergencies they are. Worse, many deny or ignore the crises altogether, often repeating fossil fuel industry messaging and disinformation. Some, including in Canada, are campaigning against effective but still only partial solutions such as carbon pricing.

We can’t leave our future up to governments. And what we do leave up to them must be guided by our voices, not industry lobbyists, CEOs and billionaires. Those of us in democratic countries have an especially important responsibility. We must speak up, protest, educate ourselves and others and get involved in politics.

If we truly care about our future and a healthy, climate-safe future for the children and grandchildren and those yet to be born, we must take a stand. If we care about nature of which we are a part and that we all depend on for survival, we must not be silent.

Time is running out.

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with David Suzuki Foundation Senior Writer and Editor Ian Hanington. Learn more at davidsuzuki.org.

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Mitacs, Canada’s leading innovation organization, recognized eight Canadians for their game-changing contributions across diverse fields including digital technology, artificial intelligence, energy, sustainable solutions, and advanced manufacturing.  

Vancouver researcher, Dr. Paul Onkundi Nyangaresi, was awarded the Mitacs Innovation Award – Inclusive Innovator of the Year for his first-of-its kind water filtration system that provides clean drinking water to school children in his rural home village in Kenya.

The automated filtration system is designed to meet unique cultural and environmental needs with the potential to be replicated in Indigenous and rural communities across Canada

There are currently 28 long-term drinking water advisories (DWAs) in effect on 26 First Nations communities in Canada. Ontario has 24 advisories in 21 communities; Saskatchewan has 5 advisories in 4 communities and Manitoba has 3 advisories in 3 communities.

First Nations communities face disproportionately higher numbers of DWAs that are in place for longer periods of time than non-Indigenous communities. DWAs in First Nations communities are directly linked to chronically inadequate funding, inadequate regulations, and a dearth of resources to support water management.

As an Environmental Engineering and Electronic Science Technologist furthering his research in Canada, Dr. Nyangaresi has developed a low-cost, simple water disinfection system fueled by collected rainwater. The system successfully stores up to 10,000 litres, delivering 500 litres of clean water per day for drinking, cooking and washing.

Dr. Nyangaresi — a postdoctoral researcher working under the supervision of Professor Sara Beck in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of British Columbia — is being recognized for devising a water treatment solution using emerging water treatment technologies like ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV LED) disinfection that can be tailored to meet individual community’s cultural nuances and ways of life.   

“Sometimes projects with good intentions fail because the people implementing them don’t really know what the community wants. I lived there [Kisii County, Kenya] for many years, so I was able to understand and work out the unique issues they face,” said Dr. Nyangaresi. 

When Nyangaresi came to Canada in June 2021, folks in his hometown expected he would focus on earning money. Instead, the Postdoctoral researcher worked to find a way to help his community through his research.

Nyangaresi was able to install an ACUVA ArrowMax HOME UV LED disinfection system donated by Toronto-based Clear Inc., and then paired that technology with a Kenyan-designed filtration system that uses sand to remove disease-causing microorganisms.

“As long as there’s rain — which is abundant in that region — they have clean water and they don’t need any complex equipment or around-the-clock monitoring,” explained Dr. Nyangaresi, who estimates the cost of the system to be around $5,000. 

Understanding the need for culturally competent practices, Nyangaresi actively consulted with the community in research design, used and procured local materials to boost local economic development, and employed local talent to install the system, resulting in a solution that empowers community ownership and sustainability.

In addition to four awards for Outstanding Innovation, there were also individual awards honouring the Inclusive Innovator of the Year, Canadian Start-Up Innovator of the Year, Canadian Enterprise Innovator of the Year, and the award for Outstanding Research Leadership.

While congratulating the winners, Mitacs’s CEO Dr. Stephen Lucas reflected on the organization’s history, “As Mitacs celebrates 25 years as a leader in Canadian innovation, we reaffirm our belief that partnerships between research, enterprises, and talent — like the ones we honour with the Mitacs Innovation Awards — are key to a successful, prosperous Canada,” he said.

The post Awards recognize social innovators appeared first on rabble.ca.

I was thrilled to attend the recent book launch of Not Your Rescue Project: Migrant Sex Workers Fighting for Justice by Elaine Lam and Chanelle Gallant. I have admired Gallant’s writing for a long time. As for Lam—the Founder of Butterfly: Asian Migrant Sex Worker Support Network—our paths often cross at sex worker organization events in Toronto.

The book gives a historical introduction and analysis of Canada’s and America’s longstanding history of racism towards Asian women, with laws that prohibited their immigration, and that were designed to punish Asian women more harshly for sex work compared to other demographics. 

It’s especially topical right now as we’re currently in what’s known as 16 days of Action against Gender-Based Violence. This movement is objectively good and important, but is also highly problematic as many governments, mainstream feminist non-profits, and even the UN continues to conflate sex work with human trafficking. This puts sex workers at risk of criminalization via municipal bylaws, increased police funding and immigration scrutiny, which in turn subject migrant sex workers to real harms, including state violence and deportation. 

It also discusses the UN’s Palermo Protocol, which has been criticized by the authors and many other scholars as negating sex workers’ consent. Like many modern anti-trafficking laws and policies worldwide, the Palermo report makes the position that sex work is inherently violent and exploitative, thus all sex workers are victims, and positions law enforcement agencies as qualified to save them.

Lam and Gallant painstakingly and elegantly refute this narrative: 

“This is why, instead of the terms modern slavery, sex trafficking, or human trafficking, we use language that accurately describes the problems facing migrant sex workers and holds the right people and institutions accountable—terms like police abuse, sexual assault, poor working conditions, workplace discrimination, intimate partner violence, and client violence. Many of the problems sex workers face fall into three types—state violence, intimate partner violence and poor working conditions.”

This distinction above, arrived at through specific use of language, alone made this book worth reading. The authors outline the hallmarks of the anti-trafficking moral panics, those elements include that sex workers are subject to violence, that their money is taken from them by an abusive third party who keeps them under lock and key. Then, they compare them to what happens during a police or bylaw raid on massage parlours. Often, these types of raids are disguised as operations to rescue sex workers.State agents arrive, often abuse the workers, the state confiscates their money, imprisons them and often deports them to a country with poorer economic and political conditions than in the global West. 

Back in 2023, I attended a meeting with Prof. Tomoya Obokata, the UN Special Rappourteur Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery as part of York’s University Critical Trafficking and Sex Work studies cluster. The cluster’s researchers work with sex worker led organizations, Butterfly being one of them, on policies to resist the sex work as human trafficking discourse. We were all thrilled when Prof. Obokata actively listened to, and highlighted our concerns with this current model in his final report. 

“Policies and discourse related to preventing and addressing contemporary forms of slavery in Canada inappropriately conflate commercial sexual exploitation and consensual adult sex work, which negatively impacts the rights of sex workers and deflects focus from persons experiencing contemporary forms of slavery…sex workers reported that they cannot safely engage with law enforcement personnel, who routinely surveil and harass them and raid their workplaces under the guise of anti-trafficking operations. Law enforcement personnel reportedly ignore or minimize their complaints of violence or exploitation, focusing on criminalizing sex workers or their clients. Law enforcement actors may also sexually exploit sex workers that attempt to bring complaints before them. Sex workers from communities that are already overpoliced, including Indigenous and racialized sex workers and LGBTQ+ sex workers, face even greater discrimination.” 

However, at the same time as Prof. Obokata’s report, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem was also travelling the world to consult with government agencies, scholars and communities. This report reiterates the dominant narrative that sex work is inherently exploitative and encourages criminalisation of sex work. Alsalem defends her choice of using prostitution instead of sex work at length by saying “the term wrongly depicts prostitution as an activity as worthy and dignified as any other work.” The report actively recommends that governments constitute to criminalise sex work by encouraging them to “adopt the abolitionist legal framework.”

Not Your Rescue Project dispels these myths step by step, time and time again. It also addresses what it refers to as the Anti-Trafficking Industry, and how even the most well meaning organizations such as the UN perpetuates harm and puts migrant sex workers at risk of state violence.

At the book launch, there was discussion about Donald Trump’s recent election win making him the new President of the United States of America, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s lowering of immigration targets—both Lam and Gallant were quick to point out that migrant sex workers’ struggles and resistance bring valuable grassroots organising skills to the table in todays’ climate of rising populism. Gallant said “the local massage parlour at the local strip mall is already resisting against fascism and authoritarianism”. In writing a book about migrant sex worker justice, the authors bestowed upon us a unique and precious gift: a blueprint on how to organise against racist laws and fight for (im)migrant justice in upcoming years.

Not Your Rescue Project is an excellent starting point for anyone who is interested in learning about critical criminology and (im)migrant justice, but doesn’t know where to start, or doesn’t have the patience to read purely academic work, which is often dry and overly full of academic jargon. 

If you’re wondering how you can support the ongoing 16 days Activism against Gender-Based Violence, then I implore you to check out Butterfly’s work and efforts here, where you can also donate: https://www.butterflysw.org/donate.

The post A new book on migrant sex workers draws a definitive distinction between sex work and sex trafficking appeared first on rabble.ca.

On its face, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s screwball scheme to create a provincial border patrol force intended to prevent Canadian citizens from crossing the U.S. border into Montana is blatantly unconstitutional. 

As evidence, I give you section 6.1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: “Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.”

Plus, of course, controlling the border is clearly federal jurisdiction – never mind Smith’s hypersensitivity about federal intrusions, mostly imagined, into provincial jurisdiction.

If truckloads of Alberta Sheriffs passing their time driving around in the vicinity of Coutts or Del Bonita have probable cause to believe a passing pickup is carrying a load of fentanyl, for example, they would be within their rights to pull the vehicle over and take a peek in the cargo bed. After all, we have criminal laws in Canada about that kind of thing. 

If the driver and passengers of the pickup are not Canadian citizens, the situation might be murkier, but only slightly. 

But if the occupants of the pickup intend to present themselves properly to U.S. officials at the border, the Smith’s promised squad of border Sheriffs have no business harassing them. 

And if they do not, well, that’s not our problem!

Indeed, that is why our neighbour’s government has its own United States Border Patrol with a budget of $5.4 billion US in 2022 and which, by all accounts, is quite capable of doing its job properly, at least along the long border with Canada. 

If large numbers of Canadians are sneaking into Montana to improperly spend their Loonies buying cheap garments made in American Samoa at the Target store in Great Falls, the two national governments presumably know what number to call to discuss what to do about it. 

There is in fact, notwithstanding Smith’s unseemly rush to defend Trump’s crude fantasies, not much of a problem on the Americans’ northern border – at least going in a southerly direction. 

Yes, it is well understood that a significant number of American truckers – indeed, almost all of them – illegally bring firearms into Canada whenever they cross the line to carry fresh vegetables from California or Arizona to Canadian grocery shelves. But this is largely winked at by Canadian authorities because they understand the truckers need firearms for protection back home in the Benighted States and are unlikely to discharge them at passers-by in the short time they are north of the border.

As for illegal migrants, we Canadians are the ones who should be preparing to harden the border to prevent an unmanageable flow of refugees from the United States, including many U.S. citizens, who are bound to try to cross into Canada if Trump keeps some of his non-tariff promises.

In the unlikely event Trump is actually able to impose his 25-per-cent tariff on All Things Canadian, then searching trucks originating in the United States and impounding their drivers’ firearms would seem like a perfectly reasonable and constitutionally defensible activity for the Canada Border Services Agency to engage in.

But as was noted in this space yesterday, Trump’s fairy tale about an influx of illegal border-crossers from Canada or shipments of dangerous illegal drugs manufactured in Canada is performative, intended to justify his use of the 1974 U.S. Trade Act to impose tariffs on an emergency basis without the assent of the U.S. Congress. Even so, such tariffs would be restricted to 15 per cent, for 150 days, without Congressional approval.

Smith knows this, too, of course, and she is gaslighting when she claims Trump has a sound point, as she did again today when she published a whiny official statement about Trudeau’s meeting with Trump to discuss tariffs (embarrassingly spelled “tarif” in the notice emailed to media), which she used as an excuse to complain about the federal emissions cap the UCP persists in calling a production cap.

Premier Smith’s repeated defence of Trump is based more in her sympathy with the president-elect’s MAGA worldview than any honest belief his complaints about the U.S.-Canadian border are justified, which they clearly are not. 

Evidence? Well, the UCP and its federal Conservative allies certainly never hesitated to attack policies of recent Democratic U.S. presidents like Barack Obama or Joe Biden with whom they disagreed, or to ignore them if they could. 

It is becoming increasingly clear from her words and deeds that this premier and close advisors like Chief of Staff Rob Anderson, one of the authors of the “Free Alberta Strategy,” despise Canada, distrust Canadians, and wish Alberta could be remade in the image of the United States.

So this nonsense about creating an Alberta border patrol is intended above all to poke a stick in Ottawa’s eye, open another front in the UCP’s taxpayer supported campaign against the Liberal Government, and create incursions into federal jurisdiction to see if anyone will push back – which the preoccupied Trudeau Government never seems to do. That’s a pity. 

The post Danielle Smith’s border patrol brainstorm blatantly unconstitutional appeared first on rabble.ca.

On Tuesday morning, December 3, a group of 100 Canadian Jews occupied the lobby of the Confederation Building on Parliament Hill, where many MPs have their offices.

They demanded Canada impose an immediate, total arms embargo on Israel, with a view to ending what they described as Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

The activist Jews, who came from a variety of Canadian cities and towns, prayed, sang, invoked Jewish holy texts such as the Torah and the Talmud, and chanted: “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes,” “We are the people; we won’t be silenced,” and “Not in Our Name.”

The demonstrators included representatives of a number of organizations, among them Independent Jewish Voices, If Not Now, and the Jews Say No to Genocide Coalition. Once ensconced in the lobby of the Parliament Hill building, they donned t-shirts emblazoned with the words “Jews for a Free Palestine,” and “Stop Arming Israel”.

Speakers referred repeatedly to their own connections to Jewish values and traditions, and quoted scripture in support of their views. 

Blowing the shofar as a warning

Hamilton-based Rabbi David Mivasair harkened back to another rabbi who marched with U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King, many decades ago. That rabbi had said: “When I march, I pray with my feet.”

Mivasair said Jewish holy texts refer to the many good deeds – mitzvot – which one should undertake, the texts say, as opportunity presents itself. 

When it comes to one category of mitzvot, however, the obligation to act is greater. Jewish tradition and laws enjoin Jews to actively pursue justice and peace, however difficult or inconvenient such pursuits might be.

Mivasair criticized mainstream Canadian Jewish organizations for their passive and uncritical loyalty to the current, far-right regime in Israel, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu.

The rabbi said one should never arm people who are prone to violence. 

“Everyone knows what Israel is doing,” he said, “Don’t give weapons to a country committing genocide.” 

The rabbi blew a shofar, a ram’s horn, which is usually blown on the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. Mivasair said he was blowing the shofar for its original purpose, as a warning against danger. 

He quoted the revered medieval Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides who wrote of the blowing of the shofar that it should: “Arise from your slumber, you who are asleep; wake up from your deep sleep, you who are fast asleep; search your deeds, repent, and remember your Creator.”

‘Never Again’ applies to everybody

Long-time activist, founder of rabble.ca, and current rabble columnist Judy Rebick also spoke. 

She pushed back against those in Canada who question her Jewish credentials, because she is a self-styled secular Jew. She pointed out she was brought up in an Orthodox Jewish home, and said she retained valuable lessons from that upbringing.

Most notable among those is that “Jews believe in supporting oppressed people.”

Rebick has long been a lonely voice among Canadian Jews for a non-violent and just solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. 

At the Ottawa rally she expressed gratitude that there are now many more in the Jewish community who are willing to put themselves on the line to defend the rights of the Palestinian people.

“I feel more a part of the Jewish community than I ever have,” she said.

Despite all she has witnessed during her longstanding advocacy for Palestine, Judy Rebick added that she had never imagined she would be obliged to “condemn genocide committed by Jews!” 

Rebick invoked the phrase “Never Again”, which was coined to express humanity’s commitment to never allow a repeat of the Holocaust inflicted on the Jews, the Roma, and others more than three quarters of a century ago. 

“Never again,” she said, “applies to everybody.”

The entire Parliament Hill action was solemn, respectful, and peaceful. After about an hour, the police told demonstrators they would have to leave the building, which they agreed to do. 

Nonetheless, as some demonstrators were preparing to move the police grabbed them and detained them. 

Elle Flanders of Toronto was among those. She said the police officer who arrested her said she was “taking too long” to move. She, like fifteen others, was held briefly, then released. Her arresting officer told her she could be charged with “trespassing and resisting arrest”.

The same officer also said protesters who had moved outdoors to continue their rally on the wide sidewalk in front of the Confederation Building risked being charged with the serious criminal offense of “mischief”.

The legal definition of mischief includes “the wilful destruction of property, making it dangerous or useless to others. This charge can also be laid if you obstruct or interfere with other people’s lawful use and enjoyment of property.”

None of that definition would have applied to the demonstrators who occupied only a portion of a sidewalk on Ottawa’s Wellington St. on December 3. In 2022, when truckers and their allies entirely occupied the same area with giant, noisy and polluting vehicles the cops showed far more patience and tolerance. 

The Ottawa police chief at the time even went so far as to interpret that highly disruptive and borderline violent action as an exercise of constitutionally-protected “mobility rights”. 

What a difference two years makes.

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As Canada’s foreign interference public inquiry enters its 11th month it does so in the shadow of an International Criminal Court decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and for former defense chief Yoav Gallant for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023.  

It is important to mention this latest development in the Gaza genocide in the context of Canada’s inquiry because as Israel continues to commit heinous crimes against Palestinians, its agents in Canada also continue to work to manipulate, coerce and extort Canadian political leaders to give Israel a pass as it violates international laws with impunity, not just since last October but for decades.

Headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue the inquiry has been examining the involvement of foreign governments and their agents in Canada’s politics and government decisions, looking at issues like manipulating, coercing, or threatening Canadian politicians and government officials to support the interests of foreign governments in this country.

During the hearings scrutiny has largely centered on governments such as China, Russia and India. A striking omission in this discourse has been Israel, a nation that has exerted substantial influence in shaping Canadian policies related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Middle-East broadly for decades.

The discourse surrounding foreign interference should encompass the actions of not only adversarial regimes but also so-called “allies” like Israel, which has demonstrated an unethical proclivity to coerce Canadian officials while working to stifle criticism of its policies and actions in the occupied Palestinian territories. Over the decades, Canadian agents acting on behalf of Israel (like CIJA and B’nai Brith) have utilized a multifaceted approach to influence and intimidate Canadian politicians who criticize Israel, coercing alignment with Israeli governmental interests, and systemically stifling criticism regarding its policies toward Palestinians and the crimes it has committed against the Palestinian people. 

This contrasts sharply with Canada’s swift and vocal condemnation of foreign aggression in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Canadian government and its citizens rallied in support of Ukraine, condemned Russian actions, and emphasized the importance of human rights and the international rule of law. Yet, when confronted with allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ongoing genocide by Israel against Palestinians Canada’s response has been muted, revealing profound biases at play in this country’s political ecosystem and the way issues around it are portrayed in the news media. This is the result of decades of Israel’s Canadian agents intimidating and extorting the Canadian government and elected officials to support Israel lest they be tarred with the label of “antisemitism”.

Canada responded with vigor to Russia’s aggression with the government imposing sweeping sanctions on Russian entities, expediting aid to Ukraine, and actively participating in international coalitions to condemn Russia’s actions. The Canadian government’s support for Ukraine contrasts sharply with its relative apathy relating to Israeli oppression of and aggression towards Palestinians, which have been met with excuses or silence.

The international community has witnessed shocking atrocities committed by Israel against Palestinians for years and particularly since October 2023 when the genocide in Gaza began. These actions have drawn condemnation from international human rights organizations, yet Canada’s political response has been markedly apathetic. When the issue of Israeli crimes against Palestinians has been raised by Canadian human rights activists, politicians have reframed the pro-Palestinian narratives through the lens of antisemitism rather than addressing Israeli violence against the Palestinian people. Such tactics protect Israel and its criminal leaders from scrutiny while silencing voices advocating for Palestinian justice and freedom.

Unfounded allegations of antisemitism are frequently used as a tool of censorship by Israel and their Canadian allies. But the conflation of legitimate criticism of Israel with anti-Jewish hate only serves to obstruct open discussions about the plight of Palestinians and is effectively victim blaming. This dynamic has enabled and fed anti-Palestinian racism, and resulted in a reluctance by many Canadian politicians to confront or acknowledge Israel’s criminal behaviour for reasons related to domestic politics. It creates an atmosphere where criticism of Israel government is met with hostility that stifles voices advocating for truth in the face of extreme injustice.

The overwhelming influence of the Israel lobby within Canada’s political and media landscape significantly shapes public opinion and discourse around issues related to Palestine and the Palestinian people. Many Canadian newspapers and TV news networks selectively present information downplaying or ignoring Israel’s criminal actions while amplifying narratives demonizing Palestinian resistance. This creates an illusion of consensus on the issue but ignores a critical examination of Israel’s egregious human rights crimes, and perpetuates anti-Palestinian prejudice and Islamophobia.

In this context we must look at why foreign interference by Israel remains largely unacknowledged and unchallenged. While the history of Jewish persecution and the Holocaust has led to the establishment of protective doctrines shielding Israel it cannot and should not be at the expense of Palestinian rights. In examining Israel’s exceptional influence in Canadian politics, we have to acknowledge that there is deeply entrenched anti-Palestinian racism at all levels of Canadian society, and much of it is perpetrated by Zionist organizations and their political, media and corporate allies acting in the interests of Israel.

Advocacy for Palestinian rights should be understood as a struggle against occupation, colonialism and ethnosupremacy. In acknowledging that Israel perpetuates a system of violent and racist apartheid, we must also support the human rights of Palestinians, and stand firmly against rhetoric that mutes these arguments through a lens of anti-Palestinian hate. Educational institutions, media, and public officials must work towards dismantling the narratives that enable this racist hierarchy, and emphasize the urgency of the Palestinian struggle for freedom.  

In order to be thorough the Hogue Commission must investigate Israel, a state that utilizes intimidation and coercion to influence discourse around Palestinian rights within the Canadian government (and in the governments of other nations). Investigating countries like China and Russia but ignoring Israel would be a clear demonstration of prejudice and racism on the part of the inquiry, which would sacrifice Palestinians and their rights on the altar of political expediency. Only by including Israel can the inquiry fully expose the depth of foreign governments’ influence on Canadian politics, and make the changes needed to preserve Canadian democracy against the influence of dangerous foreign actors. In light of the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court relating to the Gaza genocide it should motivate Justice Hogue to expand the terms of the inquiry, and bring to light how an apartheid racist state committing genocide has interfered in Canadian politics and government policies not just for the past year, but for decades.

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Today is Giving Tuesday, a campaign that harnesses the power of individual generosity to enact transformative action in the world. It also marks the start of rabble’s winter fundraising campaign. 

Each year, rabble’s audience gives so generously during our winter fundraiser, and we believe it’s because you know that progressive change happens –in part– because of independent news media like rabble.ca. 

Why supporting indie news matters 

As the managing editor of rabble.ca, I am proud to be part of an organization that is committed to sharing the progressive voices of workers, of underrepresented communities, and of the often-unsung heroes leading social change across the country. On our podcast and political panels, and in our columns and original news articles, rabble highlights not only the top stories of the day, but also the stories of hope. 

It’s my opinion that, in times like these, we need those stories more than ever. 

This year, we saw student activists at universities across the country (and internationally) come together in solidarity to join the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. 

We saw queer activists, 2SLGTBQIA+ organizations and teachers fight back against the political moves across provinces to take away trans rights. 

We saw migrant workers, Amazon warehouse workers and student workers fight for their right to unionize spaces and demand better working conditions for all. 

It’s been a scary year, for sure. But there’s been hope in every corner too. 

Covering it all, rabble.ca has been there, speaking with people on the ground and amplifying the progressive reporting that rabble is known for.

We do this without a paywall or a subscription fee. Because we believe in media democracy; we believe that strong, independent media should be accessible to all. This can only happen with the support of readers like you.

This Giving Tuesday, support rabble.ca

Together, we have the power to create meaningful, progressive change across the country. Since 2001, we’ve proven: quality journalism can ignite transformative political action!

With the support from readers like you, rabble will continue sharing the stories and voices that matter most to Canadians.

This Giving Tuesday, at the launch of our winter fundraising campaign, help us ensure the future of independent, progressive journalism in Canada. Become a rabble rouser today by signing up as a monthly donor or gifting a one-time donation. 

Thank you. 

The post This Giving Tuesday, consider supporting independent media appeared first on rabble.ca.

A scrappy, energetic union representing hotel workers in BC has just won an important victory, forcing three of Vancouver’s downtown luxury hotels to sign an unprecedented contract that will see workers receive the highest wages for Canadian hotel workers ever. In a November 21, 2024 press release, UniteHere Local 40 said that its members at Hyatt Regency, Westin Bayshore, and Pinnacle Waterfront will enjoy a cumulative raise of 34 per cent by 2027. Under the new agreement, a room attendant will earn nearly $32.50 per hour on January 1 and will make over $37 per hour in 2027. The improved wages won by militant struggle of a workforce that is typically female and brown compare favorably with this year’s calculated Living Family Wage minimum of $27.05 for this year.

“This contract is a game-changer for us. We are proud of what our union won in this contract fight,” said Naden Abenes, a Hyatt room attendant. “The new wage increases will help us afford to live in Vancouver, and other gains we made, like year-around health benefits for everyone, means we can take better care of our families without constant worry.”

Other contract gains being celebrated by the membership that fought so hard to win them include a successful push back against management proposals to cap health care and against other suggested concessions. This push back was significant for a workforce that has a high level of on-the-job injuries .

Being a room attendant in a hotel can be back-breaking work, and the injury rates  these hard-working women endure are often linked to work quotas that drive them past endurance.

In a survey of more than 600 hotel housekeepers in the US and Canada, 91 per cent said that they have suffered work-related pain. Of those who reported workplace pain: 77 per cent said their workplace pain interfered with routine activities. Two-out-of-every-three workers visited their doctor to deal with workplace pain. Sixty-six per cent took pain medication just to get through their daily work quota.

Local 40 picket lines are a common sight in BC’s Lower Mainland these days and are notable for the high spirits and loud music that often accompany them.

UniteHere Local 40 President Zailda Chan said: “Vancouver’s hotel workers have set a new standard for Canada’s hospitality industry. The achievements in this agreement are a testament to the power of workers and the critical role Local 40 members play in the success of Vancouver’s tourism sector.”

Local 40’s militance and determination represent a fighting tradition that  goes back more than a century to the early days of the North American labour movement.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911 that killed 146 workers in New York City, most of them young, immigrant women,  was a turning point for the union that became UniteHere. Workers –led by young immigrant women–fought to win safe workplaces and union rights that continue to benefit workers today.

The union’s online account of its history notes that: “In the years that followed, our union ancestors laid the groundwork to make textile, garment, laundry, and hospitality jobs good, family-sustaining jobs. They also took the fight for justice outside the workplace. In the 1960s, New York’s HERE locals marched in support of lunch counter sit-ins to end segregation in the South. Forty years later, UNITE HERE led the labor movement to reverse its position on immigrant labor and advocate for immigration reform, organizing the Immigrant Workers’ Freedom Ride in 2003 to counter anti-immigrant bigotry and xenophobia in the wake of 9/11.”

At a moment when the business class press is ramping up its attacks on workers and workers’ struggles, particularly in the repetitive drum beat of insults aimed at postal workers and others who have the nerve to stand up to their employer and fight for job security and better benefits, it is important to remember the lessons taught by UniteHere Local 40’s victory in BC.

The militant membership’s three-hotel victory is the result of years of organizing, public outreach and relentlessly determined action. There are lessons here for all Canadian workers, and for all who consider themselves friends of labour. Briefly put, the lessons that stand out for this observer are simple. When we fight, we win. We are weakened if we let the employer class’s divide and conquer strategies split us up on racial and gender lines. Solidarity from other workers and from the general public can make a difference, and the employer is unlikely to make concessions unless we mobilize enough pressure. As one veteran organizer of my acquaintance likes to say, “ If you want the employer to see the light, you have to turn up the heat!”

The post Big win for hotel workers in BC illustrates important lessons appeared first on rabble.ca.

In our final Off the Hill of the year, our panel reviews the highs and lows of 2024 in Canada, U.S. and globally, and considers the lessons learned which should be taken into 2025. 

2024 was a big year – from a shocking U.S. election, to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, to a shifting political scene in Canada (and more!) there’s much to discuss. 

Join guests NDP Member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway Don Davies, economist Jim Stanford, activist and writer Clayton Thomas-Muller, activist and professor pk mutch, and rabble’s labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga in conversation this December. Together, along with co-hosts Libby Davies and Robin Browne, they’ll review the top stories of 2024 and consider what lessons we should take into 2025. 

Join us for Off the Hill: The ups and downs of 2024 and lessons for 2025. Happening on December 18, 2024 at 4:30pm PT / 7:30pm ET. Register to save your spot today!

About our guests 

Don Davies is the Member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway. He was first elected in 2008 and has served in the last five parliaments. Davies is the federal NDP Finance Critic. Prior to that, he served as NDP Health Critic for eight years.

Gabriela Calugay-Casuga (she/they) has been rabble’s labour reporter since May 2022. They began writing for Migrante Ottawa’s radio show, Talakayang Bayan, in 2017. Before their time at rabble, Calugay-Casuga had written for CHUO FM, The Globe and Mail and The Canadian Press. They have also organized for social and economic justice with groups such as ACORN Canada, Diversify Canterbury and Anakbayan. 

Jim Stanford is an economist and the director of the Centre for Future Work, a labour economics research institute with operations in Canada and Australia. He previously served as economist and director of policy with Unifor.

Clayton Thomas-Müller is a member of the Treaty #6 based Mathias Colomb Cree Nation also known as Pukatawagan located in Northern Manitoba, Canada. He has campaigned in and out of Canada, to support Indigenous Peoples to defend their territories against the encroachment of the fossil fuel industry. He is an award winning film director, media producer, organizer, facilitator, public speaker and bestselling author. His book, Life in the City of Dirty Water, was a national bestseller and a CBC Canada Reads finalist.

pk mutch is an award-winning sustainability/social entrepreneur and former C-suite publishing executive, journalist, writer and educator who is deeply committed to creating an inclusive, just post-growth economy by transforming entrepreneurship narratives, ecosystems, policy and education. mutch is also a columnist for rabble.ca and the former publisher of Liisbeth Magazine. 

About Off the Hill

Since 2019, Off the Hill has been rabble.ca’s live monthly panel. Through this series, we break down important national and international news stories through a progressive lens. 

This webinar series invites a rotating roster of guest activists, politicians, researchers and more to discuss how to mobilize and bring about progressive change in national politics — on and off Parliament Hill. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.

Join us the third Wednesday of every month at 4:30pm PT / 7:30pm ET. The live, digital show is one hour long – 45 minutes of moderated discussion followed by 15 minutes of audience participation.

Want to help projects like this going? rabble runs on reader support! Visit rabble.ca/donate today. 

The post Reviewing the ups and downs of 2024 appeared first on rabble.ca.

Zionist forces are seeking a return to a time when anti-war voices were violently suppressed.

Recently, genocide lobbyists stirred up a storm over a planned vigil in Mississauga to commemorate “resistance leaders” “fighting for Palestinian freedom”. The poster for the Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights event had an image of deceased Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Genocide lobbyists demanded Toronto’s most populous suburb suppress the planned rally. In response to the pressure, Mayor Carolyn Parrish said she wouldn’t shutter Charter protected speech. Parrish added, “I just want to point out, and I’m not being facetious, Nelson Mandela was declared a terrorist by the United States of America until the year 2008. Your terrorist and somebody else’s terrorist may be two different things.”

Those promoting Benjamin Netanyahu’s holocaust in Gaza lost it. How dare Parrish compare the Hamas leader to Nelson Mandela. But Mandla Mandela, Nelson’s grandson and sitting member of South Africa’s legislature, has made similar comparisons.

Canadian media often described Mandela as a terrorist. In 2001 Conservative MP Rob Anders called the then South African President a “communist and a terrorist” and heckled him in the House of Commons. Anders repeated the “terrorist” claim upon Mandela’s 2013 death.

Unlike Mississauga’s mayor, politicians and police across the country are increasingly seeking to suppress those opposing Canada’s assistance to genocide. Ten days ago the Ottawa police violently arrested four protesters during a walking tour of arms production facilities. They followed that repression with a series of arbitrary arrests this weekend. Ottawa family physician Xipeng Ge labelled “the police brutality and repression” on Sunday as “a display of fascist violence.”

In a more egregious example of state overreach, the Vancouver Police Department’s Emergency Response Team raided the home of long-time anti-apartheid activist Charlotte Kates. On November 14 heavily armed officers showed up at 9 a.m. with an armored vehicle and fired flashbangs as part of entering her east Vancouver house.

“I saw what looked like a tank with guys in tactical gear outside aiming a tear gas gun at the house”, a neighbour told Global News. “I feel scared, just because I don’t know what is going on.”

Kates was arrested in the raid and subsequently released. No charges were even laid in this instance of police overreach.

Kates is the international coordinator of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which the Canadian government recently designated a terror entity despite no one even claiming they’ve been involved in violence. A Canadian BDS Coalition statement correctly asserted, “The Trudeau Government Breaches the Constitution in Placing the Samidoun Prisoners Network on the Terrorist List.” The 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms enshrines the principle of habeas corpus yet the terror list subverts a group’s ability to defend itself legally. 

The Canadian BDS Coalition statement notes, “By virtue of the terrorist listing, an organization or even an individual’s assets can be frozen; any use of property owned or controlled by the listed organization becomes a crime. Moreover, there is the ‘black-balling’ of the organization, and anyone accused of being associated with it can be accused of being a ‘terrorist,’ regardless of their personal actions, without ever laying criminal charges or proving guilt in court.”

In a National Post column headlined “Samidoun has been banned. Now, it’s time to stamp it out” Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs representative Mark Freiman and Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism head Mark Sandler are now calling on the government to revoke the citizenship of Kates and her husband Khaled Barakat.

The suppression of anti-genocide protests fits a pattern of the Canadian state and imperialist forces cracking down on anti-war voices. At the beginning of World War I the federal government adopted the War Measures Act, which granted the state sweeping powers to imprison almost anyone considered a security threat. 

Hundreds of pacifists and antiwar activists were arrested while the Industrial Workers of the World and a dozen other revolutionary organizations were banned. Labour organizer Ginger Goodwin was killed on Vancouver Island for opposing the war while in spring 1918 four opponents of conscription were killed by security forces in Québec City.

During WWII hundreds of dissidents and communists, including the president of the Canadian Seamen’s Union and Mayor of Montréal, were interned under the War Measures Act. Dozens of organizations and publications were also banned and like WWI official censorship was imposed.

During the Korean war Canadian Peace Congress chairman James Endicott was bitterly denounced with external minister Lester Pearson calling his college friend a “red stooge” and “bait on the end of a Red hook.” Pearson even called for individuals to destroy the Peace Congress from the inside.

Government attacks spurred media and public hostility. A number of venues refused to rent their space to the Peace Congress and Endicott’s Toronto home was firebombed during a large Peace Congress meeting.

Whether one agrees with everything Samidoun or Charlotte Kates has to say about

Israel, the government criminalizing a Palestinian prisoner solidarity network and the police targeting its coordinator should be troubling. It reflects a regression to a far more repressive time. And it’s being pushed by supporters of a foreign government. All those who believe in our Charter of Rights and Freedom should be concerned.

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Clive Hamilton, in his 2015 Scientific American article, “Geoengineering is not a solution to climate change,” pointed out that technofixes — technical solutions to social problems – “are appealing when we are unwilling to change ourselves and our social institutions.”

Hamilton says that unless we change the political system, technofixes will make the situation worse. He adds, “we cannot stop ourselves voting for politicians whom we know will do little or nothing.”

Consider proposals to inject sulfate into the upper atmosphere to cool the planet.

Supporters cite the two-year period of global cooling that followed the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991. It released huge amounts of sulfur aerosols, which reflected incoming solar radiation back into outer space.

Other geoengineering proposals would modify surface albedo –  the sunlight reflected from the Earth’s surface. These include putting white paint on roofs and roads, using wind-powered snow-making machines to turn seawater into clouds, growing light-colored crops, or even clear-cutting the boreal forest to eliminate its dark pines and spruces.

None of this is going to happen on a meaningful scale.

Stephen Gardiner, in his widely-cited 2006 article, “A perfect moral storm: Climate change, intergenerational ethics and the problem of moral corruption,” explained how moral corruption “provides each generation with the cover under which it can seem to be taking the issue seriously – by negotiating weak and largely substanceless global accords, for example.”

Moral corruption – distraction, complacency, unreasonable doubt, selective attention, delusion, pandering, false witness, and hypocrisy – creates political inertia that blocks climate action.

Naomi Klein argued succinctly in her 2014 book This changes everything: “It’s not about carbon – it’s about capitalism.”

Brendan Barrett, in a 2015 article, “Eco-modernists versus eco-radicals,” said “the former want us to believe that we can solve climate change through accelerated technological progress, while eco-radicals insist that only through fundamental transformation of our consumer capitalist society (in other words by scrapping it) can we avoid disastrous climate change.”

He says his own thinking has shifted from eco-modernism to eco-radicalism, finally ending up somewhere in the middle.

Dismissing technology as a climate solution may seem extreme, even polarizing.  Shouldn’t we hope for a peaceful and just transition from fossil fuels to renewables – one that can avoid, or at least delay, the worst impacts of climate change? Are entrenched corporations and their political supporters so powerful that societal collapse, or violent revolution, is inevitable?

There is a third way. It requires giving rights to Nature.

This does not mean “nature-based solutions.” These involve manipulating ecosystems to meet our own selfish needs. We’ve done that for millennia. It has led to global scale consequences: a disrupted climate and a great wave of human-caused extinctions. The geoengineering proposal to chop down the boreal forest could be seen as a perverted nature-based solution.

Giving legal rights to Nature means rights for all our relations – the two-legged, the four-legged, the crawlers, the swimmers, the plants, the insects, the fungi, the rivers, the marshes, the mountains, the seas. All of us would have the right to reproduce, to evolve, to move, to thrive.

Nature can heal the problems humans have created. Let’s create more places where vegetation is allowed to flourish, maintain hydrologic cycles, and provide homes for diverse native species. This doesn’t have to mean “protected areas.” It can and should be done everywhere: along streams, in city parks, lawns, farms, and woodlots.

Modernizing human legal systems to give rights to nature would empower local communities to protect and restore their natural surroundings. Instead of being exclusively aimed at protecting individual “property” rights, our legal systems would recognize that broader interests are at play – such as mutual survival.

Indigenous legal systems already incorporate a rights of nature approach. They could be joined together with western legal systems.  It would be far easier to evolve our legal system in this way than to change our political and economic systems.

Left to herself, Nature will “save the world”. But that future world might not be habitable for humans. By giving rights to other species and ecosystems, and living in harmony with nature, we will be far more likely to achieve good results.

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If you are experiencing intimate partner violence, there are resources available to help: https://www.sheltersafe.ca/

A new development is being built by the emergency women’s shelter Interval House in Ottawa, thanks to funding from the city.  

Keri Lewis, executive director of Interval House, said the project is needed to address the lack of housing available for survivors of violence.

“Our ability to provide safe shelter for people fleeing violence in the community has been reduced simply because of the lack of affordable housing in our community,” said Lewis in an interview with rabble.ca. 

The project, which is expected to be finished within the year, will provide second-stage housing – also known as transitional housing – for women and families for up to two years while they search for permanent housing. 

Currently, there are only 16 other second-stage housing units available in Ottawa for women fleeing violence. 

Interval House’s current accommodation is only intended for short-term emergency stays, but due to rising rental prices and the lack of transitional housing, Lewis said women and families are being forced to stay much longer than before. 

“Twenty years ago, they would stay for maybe six or eight weeks,” Lewis said. “Now, families are staying beyond a year, simply because there’s nowhere for them to go.”

Many of the families at Interval House are awaiting rent subsidies or subsidized housing placements. 

According to the city of Ottawa’s website, there are approximately 10,000 households currently on the waitlist for social housing in the city. The estimated wait time is up to five years. 

Housing shortage for women in need a national issue

The lack of housing available for survivors isn’t just an issue in Ottawa, said Kaitlin Geiger-Bardswich, director of communications and advocacy at Women’s Shelters Canada. She said the organization is seeing women’s shelters across Canada struggle to keep up with the demand and help women and families find housing. 

“Because women can’t move out of shelters into affordable, safe housing, they’re staying in shelters longer,” Geiger-Bardswich said in an interview with rabble.ca. “And that means new women can’t move in. So, it’s sort of a bottleneck effect we’re seeing.”

According to a new report by Women’s Shelters Canada released Monday, 97 per cent of shelter workers surveyed said it has become harder to support survivors finding housing over the preceding 12 months.

This means that shelters across the country are being forced to turn away those seeking their services. 

“You turn people away every single day. Last year, we turned away about 800 callers, and that’s not even including their kids,” Lewis said. 

Women’s Shelters Canada stopped tracking turn away rates years ago because the rates were so high, said Geiger-Bardswich. 

“We stopped counting that in our shelter voice surveys,” she said. “We haven’t been calculating that anymore because we just know it’s very high.”

From 2015 to 2018, the turn away rate at women’s shelters ranged from 71 to 75 per cent, according to surveys from Women Shelters Canada.

Rates of family violence increased by 17 per cent from 2018 to 2023, and rates of intimate partner violence increased by 13 per cent, report numbers from Statistics Canada. 

Emergency shelter not equipped for long-term stays

Lewis said that while emergency shelters provide temporary safety for women fleeing violence, they’re not meant for long-term stays. 

“I think people for the most part appreciate having a safe place like Interval House to stay, and certainly, in the first few months we hear a lot of expressions of just relief,” she said. “It’s the first time that they or their kids have felt safe in a long time.”

“But then we also hear from clients that once they’ve been here for six months or eight months or a year, they feel like their life is on hold,” Lewis said. 

Communal living can make some people feel restricted, she explained.

“They have to abide by shelter rules that we have and they have to share space with other families who maybe parent differently,” Lewis said. “It’s not your own thing, and that is taxing.”

Lewis is hopeful that the new development, which will include four two bedroom apartments, will better accommodate the families she’s helping – some of which are currently sharing one bedroom at the shelter. 

Geiger-Bardswich said more second-stage housing is needed across the board. She said that’s why Women’s Shelters Canada has launched a program, funded by external donors, to help emergency shelters like Interval House construct second-stage housing. 

Their first project, Sussex Vale Transition House’s Doors of Hope, opened Wednesday in New Brunswick. Another development is currently under construction in Cold Lake, AB. 

But Geiger-Bardswich said what shelters sorely need is more funding. 

“Federal, provincial, territorial, municipal funding is needed so that shelters don’t have to fundraise to keep the doors open,” she said. “Like we’ve facetiously said, bake sales are not going to help, we need real funding.”

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There was a time when sneering at international law would not have been a good look for someone aspiring to be Prime Minister of Canada.

But, charting new territory, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre contemptuously called Justin Trudeau “woke” for indicating Canada would abide by a ruling of the International Criminal Court (ICC) — a court that Canada helped establish to punish war criminals.

Last week, the international court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution, and starvation as a weapon of war. (The ICC panel of eight legal experts unanimously recommending these charges included Theodor Meron, a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor and former Israeli diplomat.)

Needless to say, these are incredibly serious charges coming from the world’s highest criminal court, which has 124 member countries (including Canada, but not the United States or Israel).

A member country doesn’t get to pick and choose which ICC rulings to abide by — any more than citizens choose which domestic court rulings they’ll accept. The law is the law, and everyone is bound by it (except in the United States, where the Supreme Court now allows the president to commit criminal acts as part of his job).

So Trudeau did the right thing. He may not have agreed with the ICC warrant, but he respected the rule of law. By dissing this as “woke,” Poilievre isn’t just trashing Trudeau, he’s also undermining the ICC and the legal obligations it imposes on all member states.

Poilievre specifically rejects the legitimacy of the ICC charges against Netanyahu, on the specious grounds that Netanyahu was democratically elected.

How is that relevant? Netanyahu isn’t charged with failure to secure an electoral mandate. He’s charged with committing crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, killing tens of thousands of them, demolishing their homes, schools, universities and hospitals, as well as starving them.

So, does Poilievre take the position that abiding by the rule of law in order to hold accountable a political leader alleged to have committed heinous crimes is …. woke, just something to ridicule?

Woke has become a right-wing buzzword used to demean people who oppose injustice — from slavery to gender discrimination.

Yet a number of social scientists have advanced theories suggesting that opposing injustice is something innate in humans, that humans have a natural aversion to injustice.

It’s this aversion to injustice that seems to drive people around the world to protest what’s happening to Palestinians. For the most part, the motivation of these protesters has nothing to do with ethnicity or religion. They protest because they consider it deeply unjust that Palestinians (including women and children) are defenceless — under constant bombardment without an army to protect them against two of the world’s most heavily-armed nations, the U.S. and Israel.

And yes, Hamas’ murderous invasion and hostage-taking in Israel on October 7 was also deeply unjust. Accordingly, the ICC also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif (and would have issued warrants for two other Hamas leaders, but Israel had already killed them).

An aversion to injustice may be innate in humans, but it can also be nurtured by a supportive culture, which has traditionally existed in Canada.

Indeed, Canada was pivotal in the establishment of the ICC. Canadian senior diplomat Philippe Kirsch served as chair of the founding 1998 conference in Rome, where the final proposal for the Court was drafted under Canada’s leadership and approved by 120 nations. Canada has remained a strong supporter of the Court, providing resources and diplomatic advocacy.

This is a tradition Canadians can be proud of. But Poilievre would undoubtedly dismiss it all as just more evidence of Canada as a woken, broken country.

Sadly, the view of our would-be prime minister seems closer to that of U.S. Senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham, who last week denounced the ICC warrant against Netanyahu and threatened to “crush” the economy of any nation enforcing it.

This article was originally published by the Toronto Star.

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