CONTENTS
CALLS TO ACTION
Leo Panitch Scholarship Fund at Merchants Corner
Leo Panitch’s family and many friends created this fund to remember Leo, and to provide scholarships for University of Winnipeg students in the Urban and Inner-City Studies program in Winnipeg’s historic North End, based in Merchants Corner.Charitable donations can be made online at mycharitytools.com. Or by cheque:
The Winnipeg Foundation
For the Leo Panitch Scholarship at Merchants Corner
1350 – One Lombard Place Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 0X3
Permanent paid sick days for all
Over half of workers in Canada have no paid sick days. Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, no government in Canada has brought in paid sick days. This is putting workers and public health at risk.Send a letter: workers need 7 permanent paid sick days and an additional 14 paid sick days during public health emergencies.
decentworkandhealth.org
EVENTS
No COVID Evictions! Rent Relief Now!
When: January 28th, 1:00pmDoug Ford says he banned evictions – HE DIDN’T!
ACORN is holding a virtual day of action across Ontario to demand Rent Relief and the shutdown of the LTB. Our communities are seeing spiking case numbers and stricter public health measures, YET Doug Ford is allowing evictions to continue! No one should lose their home during a housing crisis and pandemic!
zoom.us
Complex Systems Change
When: January 28th, 1pmThis weekly webinar series will explore the ways we’re working together today in pursuit of a climate-safe tomorrow.
zoom.us
The future of Toronto transit fares
When: Thursday January 28th, 6:30pmThe pandemic has changed the way we think about public services like the TTC. Transit doesn’t just get us from A to B, it is a lifeline that connects us to essential jobs, health care, and groceries.
It’s more important than ever for transit riders to have a voice and share our vision. The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is creating a 5-year plan for transit fares. Without input from riders like you, the new plan won’t reflect our needs.
eventbrite.ca
Land Acknowledgement Workshop
When: January 28th, 7:00pmA participatory workshop exploring our relationship(s) to the land, taking action, land acknowledgements and how we can make them more meaningful. Join INDIGENizeUS facilitators Leslie McCue and Lindy Kinoshameg for this virtual “hands on” participatory workshop. In this workshop you will learn about the history and significance of land acknowledgements.
myseumoftoronto.com
Protest: Ontario’s long-term care crisis
When: Friday January 29th, 10amHorrific front-line stories of woefully inadequate care and safety in Ontario’s long-term care homes have thousands asking how you can help. You can make a difference:
The protest will be interactive and live streamed. Watch online speeches, post your comments and reactions live, join in online actions through the protest, receive “Save Our Seniors” window signs and post pictures, share your stories.
How to join: Go to the Ontario Health Coalition page on Facebook 10am – 12:30pm, Friday January 29th, www.facebook.com/ontariohealth to watch and join in!
Reckoning: BlackLivesMatter and the Democratic Necessity of Social Movements
When: Friday January 29th, 3pmSpeaker Dr. Deva Woodly is an Associate Professor of Politics at the New School, New York. This talk will discuss the ways that social movements re-politicize public life in times of political despair. After the talk there will be a Q&A period.
Moderated by: Dr. Bryan Evans, Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University.
eventbrite.ca
Dance, Dance for Status for All!
When: Saturday, January 30th, 2021Time: 12pm Vancouver; 1pm Edmonton; 2pm Winnipeg; 3pm Toronto; 4pm Halifax.
Join us in joy, in celebration, with love for our liberation. Let’s move together to ensure full and permanent immigration status for all.
Online Dance Party for Status for All!
~Performances~
~DJs~
~Dress up / Mask Up / Or Keep your Videos Off~
~Invite your friends~
~Dance in your living room~
zoom.us
Reaping the Whirlwind /w Ursula Huws
When: Sunday January 31st, 1:30pmFirst session of Socialist Register 2021: Beyond Digital Capitalism: New Ways of Living.
An introduction to this year’s book with Greg Albo and Stephen Maher (in memory of Leo Panitch).
Followed by “Reaping the Whirlwind: Digitalization, Restructuring, and Mobilization in the Covid Crisis.”
Ursula Huws’ essay addresses the changes sweeping through global labor markets during the coronavirus pandemic, looking in particular at the concentration of capital and expansion of market share by global corporations, bringing with it the digital management of supply chains and an exponential growth in algorithmic control and surveillance of workers.
marxedproject.org
Covid, Racism, and the Far Right
When: January 31st, 2:00pmPlease join Toronto East Anti-hate Mobilization (TEAM), for an online forum in which we will explore how racism and intolerance are currently being expressed during this challenging time.
Speakers will include Jewish and Black activist Rima Berns-McGown (MPP Beaches/ East York), Muslim Activist and Community Organizer Imam Irshad Osman, Elder Catherine Brooks, Nigel Bariffe, Kingsley Kwok and Evan Balgord.
Facebook event | zoom.us
CBTU – Black History in Canada
When: February 3rd, 7pmThe Coalition of Black Trade Unionists is celebrating Black History Month by holding a series of webinars in February and March – commemorating both Black History and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Throughout the series, we will look at the work being done to move towards racial and social justice and reconciliation.
The CBTU is proud to present the first webinar on Black History in Canada featuring journalist and anthropologist Emilie Nicolas.
zoom.us
ARTICLES
The Class Struggle Against the Pandemic
By Anti*Capitalist ResistanceKevin Courtney, joint General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), summed it up when he said, the best response to the Tory pandemic disaster is to join a union and join the Zero Covid campaign. Talking at a 400-strong online conference, he paid tribute to NEU and Unison members who had followed union advice and sent Section 44 letters to their heads saying they would not be going into schools because they were not safe. “It was not a victory,” Courtney stressed, “but it was the right thing to do.”
Source: The Bullet No. 2288
Israel at the Current Global Juncture
By Judith DeutschHow does Israel fit in with current global emergencies and unprecedented dangers, those being the worsening provision of food, water, shelter, and healthcare for the global population, the COVID-19 pandemic and warnings of worse to come, and climate-related calamities? Massive fatalities and immiseration are not inevitable, but the current human situation is shaped by forces lethal to people’s basic needs: militarization, neoliberalism, and neofascism.
Source: The Bullet No. 2289
Intensification of Contradictions in the Empire
In his last interview (streamed live on November 6th, 2020), Leo Panitch spoke with the International Relations and Marxism Network (RIMA), in partnership with Chutando a Escada Podcast and PUC-Rio, about the escalation of contradictions in the empire, the US elections and their impact on global capitalism.Source: LeftStreamed
Palestinian Striking Workers Triumph
By New UnionsAfter 19 days of an open-ended strike demanding their human and labour rights, Palestinian workers at Yamit have suspended their strike on January 20. The workers’ committee has reached this decision following an agreement with the company to meet their demands. The agreement, which still needs to go through legal procedures in Israeli courts.
Source: The Bullet No. 2290
Investigate Neoliberal Leaders Who Failed to Protect Us From COVID-19
By Noam Chomsky and Vijay PrashadWarnings that the oxygen supply was running out in the city of Manaus, Brazil, came to local and federal government officials a week before the calamity led to the deaths by asphyxiation of patients afflicted with COVID-19. No modern state – such as Brazil – should have to admit that it did nothing when these warnings came in and simply allowed its own citizens to die for no reason.
Source: The Bullet No. 2291
Ontario’s Care Crisis /w Natalie Mehra
In this episode we are joined by Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC). We discuss the ongoing crisis in Ontario’s private long term care system, the imminent need for paid sick days, and revisit the question of vaccine distribution. Unsurprisingly, we conclude that Doug Ford’s prioritization of business concerns are having disastrous impacts.Source: The Scarlet Standard Episode No. 8