analysis

Trudeau's fading relationship with Canadian labour

rabble staff — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 19:25:24 +0000

Friday, September 2, 2016

So how's Trudeau doing on the labour file? Teuila Fuatai checked in and found four areas that were, let's just say, interesting.

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Remember when new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, met with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) in November? After a decade of hostility under Stephen Harper, the Ottawa meet offered a bit of hope for a beleaguered labour movement.

But, nearly a year later, things aren't that much better. Teuila Fuatai reviews the Liberals' time in office.

Workers' legislation

Marijuana legalization lessons for Canada from around the world

rabble staff — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 17:46:41 +0000

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Canada has started the process to legalize marijuana. But what will this entail, especially for people currently in jail or with records related to marijuana?

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The Trudeau government announced in late June it would begin the process of legalizing marijuana for recreational use, which should be finished by spring 2017.

A nine-member task force has been assembled with former deputy prime minister under Paul Martin Anne McLellan serving as chair. Details of the upcoming process are scarce, but it's probably a given that possessing, selling and growing marijuana will be strictly regulated.

Beyond cabinet parity: Gender equity requires less talk, more legislation

rabble staff — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 12:47:28 +0000

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Justin Trudeau's "Because it's 2015" feminism has a lot of political currency. But is all this rhetoric really addressing a huge issue in Canadian politics: the parliamentary gender gap?

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Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne unveiled a midterm cabinet shuffle last month that boosted the percentage of women in her executive council to 40 per cent, the highest in Ontario's history.

'Groundbreaking' labour ruling highlights Canada's lack of progress for worker rights

rabble staff — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 16:39:20 +0000

Monday, July 18, 2016

Canada's Supreme Court ruling in favour of fired nuclear energy worker Joseph Wilson has been rightly revered. But, it's being celebrated for essentially ensuring the law was followed.

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Canada's Supreme Court ruling, issued on July 14, in favour of fired nuclear energy worker Joseph Wilson has been rightly revered by labour movement representatives.

Before, during, after Pride: Sikhs in solidarity with Black Lives Matter

rabble staff — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 16:49:22 +0000

Monday, July 11, 2016

The narrative that Black Lives Matter Toronto has "hijacked" Pride or is self-serving is a racist and incorrect interpretation of the movement -- one that holds solidarity in high regard.

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Let's be clear: questioning the "appropriateness" of Black Lives Matter Toronto's action at pride, weighing in on their "strategy" or claiming they "hijacked" Pride is racist. The notion that Black Lives Matter Toronto (BLMTO) is self-serving is also racist. More than that, it's just plain wrong.

Trans health care in Canada: A federal responsibility?

rabble staff — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 13:20:03 +0000

Friday, July 1, 2016

In part two of this two-part feature, Laura Brightwell examines the existing health-care provisions for trans Canadians and asks what needs to change.

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Canada has an international reputation for tolerance and free universal health care. However, these provisions don't hold up as well for its trans citizens, whose access to health care is often impinged by systemic transphobia and provincial differences in surgery options.

Trans health care in Canada: A provincial lottery

rabble staff — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 16:42:32 +0000

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

There have been some improvements to trans health care in Canada, but is it much to celebrate? We speak to experts and find out what is available across Canada.

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If last month's attack on the Centre Métropolitain de Chirurgie in Montreal revealed anything, it's the dire lack of surgery resources for trans people in Canada.

'Bill C-14 if enacted is a bad law': Delay of assisted dying legislation could be best option

rabble staff — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 15:25:15 +0000

Thursday, June 2, 2016

The deadline for the assisted dying legislation is coming up quick. But, if Bill C-14 isn't passed, is that really such a bad thing?

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One of the byproducts of the "Elbowgate" scandal beyond the media coverage was the delaying of essential votes on Bill C-14 -- the Liberal government's assisted dying legislation.

After hearing the Carter v. Canada case, the Supreme Court ruled that prohibiting Canadians from accessing assisted dying services was a denial of their charter rights. The Court gave the Canadian government until June 6 to legislate the practice.

No left turn for London's new mayor

rabble staff — Wed, 18 May 2016 18:50:21 +0000

Thursday, May 19, 2016

London's newly elected mayor Sadiq Khan might indicate a victory for multiculturalism and anti-racism, but he also represents New Labour's degraded neoliberalism.

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Everyone on the left is bound to welcome Sadiq Khan's clear victory over Tory Zac Goldsmith to become London's new mayor in succession to Boris Johnson. Khan took 44 per cent of the vote to Goldsmith's 35 per cent, ending eight years of Tory rule at city hall.

Unequal access to extended EI benefits sows confusion in snubbed regions

rabble staff — Mon, 16 May 2016 17:29:51 +0000

Monday, May 16, 2016

The Liberals' extended employment insurance benefits to regions suffering higher-than-normal jobless rates have reignited a debate around the entire program. rabble's labour reporter investigates.

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Pierre Karl Péladeau and the party that can't be saved

rabble staff — Fri, 06 May 2016 15:50:01 +0000

Monday, May 9, 2016

Pierre Karl Péladeau resigned abruptly last week from the Parti québécois. Mathieu Murphy-Perron addresses what this means for Quebec politics, and he does not mince his words.

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With the abrupt departure of Pierre Karl Péladeau on May 2, the Parti québécois (PQ) has lost its truest self. Many members may rejoice at the opportunity to bring in a less cartoonishly evil leader, but in the end, PKP, as he's know in Québec, at the helm of the PQ epitomized everything that has been desperately irreparably wrong with the party for decades.

The price of acceptance: Immigrants with disabilities in a system of disadvantage

rabble staff — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 15:31:28 +0000

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Denying people with disabilities the right to live in Canada reinforces the stereotype that disability is a "burden." We need to change this rhetoric and exclusion.

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Over the last few weeks, we learned that Felipe Montoya and his family were denied permanent resident status in Canada because his child Nico is a person with Down Syndrome.

As community members and service providers who work to bring greater attention to the barriers and challenges some of the most marginalized people in Ontario experience because of race, disability and immigration status, we have heard of many such cases.

Finding the right moment to intertwine progressive movements

rabble staff — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 14:10:31 +0000

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Amira Elghawaby reports back with a snapshot of the Broadbent 2016 Progress Summit including Gloria Steinem's keynote speech, the need for intersectionality, and xenophobia in Canada.

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We sometimes take for granted, just how easy it is for well-meaning people to work in silos.

But, by the same token, we must also appreciate that sometimes movements must take time to find their voice, to understand their motivations and to articulate their demands.

Criminalizing farmers' activism in Colombia

rabble staff — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 16:18:45 +0000

Monday, April 4, 2016

Farmers in Colombia are being systemically detained, say many human rights lawyers. Why is this practice occuring and what is the impact of these mass arrests?

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Alexander Guzmán Romero was five years old when his mother died. His father raised him and six siblings and at the age of ten, he started working on someone else's farm to be able to afford groceries and clothing.

He completed elementary school when he was 18 years old and afterwards, continued working to support his family, including two relatives with special needs.

These borders kill: Canada's lethal immigration system

rabble staff — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 18:46:00 +0000

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Fourteen people have died in detention since 2000, two this month. Canada needs to end indefinite immigration detention and needs a fundamental re-think of immigration policy.

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Francisco Javier Romero Astorga died in immigration detention on March 13. He was 39 years old, from Chile, a father of four. The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), responsible for his detention, has refused to explain how he died.