| | | Good morning, Passengers. Hope you enjoyed your weekend.
Today, we have the latest issue of Class Struggle, a summary of Vancouver’s municipal election plus some analysis of what happened, a look at how the oil industry played a role in the birth of the so-called Freedom Convoy and a short video debunking myths about privatized health care, which unfortunately may be increasingly relevant in the future.
Enjoy! | Like Passage Digest? Forward this issue to a friend so they can discover the best left opinion and analysis from around the world. Did someone forward you this? Subscribe today for free. Sign-up for free | | Adam D.K. King | Passage | October 14 | In the latest issue of Class Struggle, Adam looks at how recession in Canada is now almost inevitable (but with that being the case due to a political choice). Adam provides a detailed breakdown of why we’re headed to a recession, and offers some thoughts on how bad it will be and whom it will harm the most.
Adam writes, “The writing is on the wall: it’s all but certain we’re heading for a recession in the not-too-distant future as the Bank of Canada continues to hike interest rates to suppress demand and tame inflation. The Bank’s policy rate has hit 3.25 per cent, up from 0.25 when the ‘inflationary crisis’ began. There was nothing inevitable about this. It was a political choice, made in the context of a left unfortunately too weak to compel those in power to reverse course. Although there’s near consensus on the impending economic contraction, the depth and extent of the downturn is seemingly up for debate. Some bank economists not only believe a recession is highly likely and imminent, but that the Bank actually wants one. Despite the latter’s hawkish posturing about taming inflation, the Bank nevertheless still purports to believe that a recession is avoidable and a ‘soft landing’ that doesn’t sacrifice employment is possible. But almost no one else buys this.” (6 minute read) | | | Christopher Cheung, Jen St. Denis, Katie Hyslop, Zak Vescera and Kate Helmore | The Tyee | October 15 | On Saturday, Vancouver held their most recent round of municipal elections, and it turned out to be an absolute sweep. Ken Sim, who will be the city’s first racialized mayor, led a slate that won a majority on council, the school board and the park board. He has also promised to hire 100 new police officers, restore a program to put police in schools, reject road taxes and to ensure that political decisions in the province won’t be influenced by “lobbyists, activists or whatever’s trending on Twitter.” Leftists I know who live in Vancouver seem very concerned. The Tyee has put together a long article summarizing what happened in the election, and what it will mean for the province. You can read the entire thing, or just skim it, and you’ll still come away with a good base. (16 minute read) | | | Simon Enoch | Briarpatch | October 14 | Briarpatch has published an interesting piece of analysis looking at how the oil industry has been behind (through the form of bankrolling and offering a platform) some of the major supposedly populist protests in Canada in the past couple of decades, in part to try to revamp their image in a world increasingly concerned with climate change. But, according to writer Simon Enoch, their monster has now grown and is out of their control.
Enoch writes, “If on the surface the links between energy and the anti-lockdown politics of the Freedom Convoy seemed scant, below the surface they were extensive. The organization, tactics, networks, and funding for the Convoy didn’t spring from nowhere. In fact, they were nurtured and cultivated through past protests and campaigns centred on energy issues. In the wake of the Convoy and the attention on its organizers, we have learned that many of these organizers became radicalized and honed their strategies and tactics via the contentious energy politics and protests in western Canada. Indeed, Freedom Convoy organizers and advocates like Tamara Lich, Pat King, James Bauder, Glen Carritt, and Mark Friesen all cut their teeth in the anti-carbon tax and anti-immigration activism of the Yellow Vests movement that grew in 2018 and the closely aligned United We Roll convoy that would lead a pro-oil truck cavalcade to Ottawa in February of 2019. In fact, it may be more helpful to view the Yellow Vests, United We Roll, and the Freedom Convoy as a continuous and evolving right-wing movement rather than separate or unique events. [...]
Given the trajectory and growth of far-right activism in Canada over the last few years, understanding the genesis and advance of these earlier right-wing protest movements becomes all the more important to understanding how and why so many Canadians have been attracted to and radicalized by this movement. However, when one investigates the origins of these earlier manifestations of right-wing protest, one discovers that they have a very curious midwife: the Canadian oil industry.” (13 minute read) | | | The Breach | YouTube | October 14 | Private health care has long been a fear of those of us on the left in Canada, and in recent years it seems some of those on the right are more comfortable openly speaking about how they wish to see it become the standard in Canada. This would be a disaster. The Breach has put together a very short video trying to bust three main myths behind the idea that privatization would benefit us.
Here’s the video description: “As efforts to further privatize health care ramp up—particularly in Ontario—The Breach spoke to three doctors from Canadian Doctors for Medicare about some of the myths driving the growth of privatized care. Featuring: Dr. Melanie Bechard is a fellow in pediatric emergency medicine and Chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare. Dr. Amit Arya is a palliative care physician and board member of Canadian Doctors for Medicare. Dr. Danyaal Raza is a family doctor in Toronto and a board member of Canadian Doctors for Medicare. (3 minute watch) | | | | Previous Digest Editions - October 14 | The new premier, the horrors of capitalism, The Prince Of Darkness - Read here
- October 13 | Canada’s hockey obsession, the end of Greyhound, suppression of speech on Palestine in Canada - Read here
- October 12 | The wage-price spiral, an NDP mess, mapping Islamophobia - Read here
- October 11 | Danielle Smith, engineering recessions, lessons from revolutionary women - Read here
- October 7 | Doug Ford and the debt, recruiting for the Israeli army, His House - Read here
- October 6 | Ignoring murder, Mahsa Amini and Muslim women, the Quebec election - Read here
- October 5 | MPs and the housing crisis, Legault’s unearned majority, cancelled for criticizing Israel - Read here
- October 4 | Losing money to the ultra rich, nuclear war, the CAQ - Read here
- October 3 | Interspecies solidarity, undermining daycare, social solidarity for exclusion, a coup in Brazil? - Read here
- September 29 | Deleting Palestine, taking Canada to court, xenophobia and horror - Read here
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