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Sunday, October 30, 2016

Adam Capay, the ONDP, the US Greens & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List: October 23-30

This week's list of articles and opinion pieces that I see as must reads if you are looking for a roundup that should be of interest to The Left Chapter readers. 

This list covers the week of October 23-October 30. It is in order of date of the article's  release. 



Globe & Mail Editorial Board

Learn the name of Adam Capay. He is the living symbol of everything that is wrong with Canada’s prisons, its justice system and its treatment of indigenous people.



Evan Johnston, Socialist.ca

The Ontario New Democratic Party (ONDP) has nominated former Hamilton Police Association president, Mike Thomas, to be their candidate for the Nov 17 by-election in Niagara West-Glanbrook.
 
Thomas, a retired police officer of 30 years and former President and CEO of the Hamilton Police Association (2010-2014), will be representing the ONDP in the the riding recently vacated by former Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak.



Danny Haiphong, Black Agenda Report

I consider myself a Marxist. However, the term "Marxist" is merely a label. Those who ascribe to the tenets of Marxist thought must place their political affiliations within the context of the current historical moment. Anti-communism and imperialist hegemony have set back the struggle for a classless society to the point where much of the US left is mired in confusion as to what political direction should be taken to confront the challenges before us. One of these challenges is the 2016 elections. The radical left should plan on voting Green this November and building a mass movement around the demands put forward by the Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka campaign.



Jonathan Kay, The Walrus

In 2014, Tasha Kheiriddin, a self-professed “life-long small-c conservative,” announced in a National Post column that she wouldn’t be voting for Tim Hudak’s Tories in the then-upcoming Ontario election. Her reason? The Tory platform would limit state-funded educational options for Zara, her four-year-old daughter, who’d been diagnosed with Asperger’s. The next day, Post editorial-board member Jesse Kline accused Kheiriddin of hypocrisy. “Too many people purport to espouse fiscal conservative values, but make an exception for the issues that affect them personally,” he wrote.



Scott Gilmore, Maclean's 

There is a young First Nations man in Thunder Bay who the province of Ontario has kept in a hole for 52 months. His name is Adam Capay. When he was 19 he was arrested on minor charges and sent to jail. There he got into a fight and another man died. We don’t know if Capay is guilty—he has been waiting an incredible four years for his trial.



Edward Keenan, Toronto Star

On Monday evening, Cedarbrae library near Markham and Lawrence in Scarborough was humming — or whatever the muted librarian-approved equivalent of humming is. It was packed, in any event: the Youth Hub was full of teenagers at the Homework Help table and crowded around the televisions playing video games. The Learning Centre’s rows of desks were filled with people working away on laptops. The study rooms were fully occupied, the work stations lined with people, the computer terminals virtually all in use, the kids book nook area being well put to use. Between the shelves towards the back of the upper floor, where the library houses book collections in 12 languages including Hindi, Tamil and Pashto, a group of high school-aged kids were lounging on the floor, reading, doing homework, chatting.



Ben Spurr, Toronto Star

Advocates for Toronto’s poor are criticizing the city for its lack of action on creating a discounted transit pass for low-income riders, saying that repeated delays to the project are undermining the anti-poverty plan championed by Mayor John Tory.



Rae Story, Morning Star

HOW DO we explain the phenomenon of prostitution? If we believe it to be a form of exploitation, is it better described as gendered or classed?

The feminist position on the sex industry, if not always well understood, is certainly well known to be critical, especially in its most traditional manifestations. But what about a socialist feminist perspective?

After all, the make-up of the sex industry can be most effectively described as the renting of working-class, migrant and poor women, by middle-class or otherwise materially comfortable men.



Nicola Davis, The Guardian

Scientists have managed to reconstruct the route by which HIV/Aids arrived in the US – exonerating once and for all the man long blamed for the ensuing pandemic in the west.



Shaun King, New York Daily News

I’m a huge NBA fan. Wednesday, if you didn’t know it, was the first game of the year for many teams and we are now in that short sports sweet spot with NFL and college football, playoff baseball, and the opening week of NBA action all happening at the same time.

On Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers asked a special guest, R&B singer Sevyn Streeter, to sing the “Star-Spangled Banner,” before the game. Not only was she ready, glammed up and well-rehearsed, she even spent time promoting the opening game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on social media. Then, just minutes before she was scheduled to go out onto the court to sing the national anthem, they yanked her because she had a stylish shirt on that simply said “We Matter.”



Arun Gupta, Raw Story

When the Raw Story visited the Bundy bunch inside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge they were calling for a revolution against the federal government. Rifle-toting supporters said, “ I’m here to fight for freedom and get our Constitution back,” and “I would support this to the death, literally.”

Now eight months after their occupation came to an end the government case has ended in a jury acquitting the two Bundy brothers and five other supporters on all charges but one, including the main one of conspiracy. The government failed to prove the Bundy Bunch “had engaged in an illegal conspiracy that kept federal workers — employees of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management — from doing their jobs.”



Saturday, October 29, 2016

Health Insurance Now! - A look back to before universal health care in Canada

Canadians by-and-large take access to universal public health insurance for granted.

While this access is more limited than is often widely believed (as many things, such as 'accessories' like fracture braces or crutches, are not actually covered by the public plans), and while we desperately need to expand public health insurance to include universal eye-care, dental care and pharmacare, we all can sleep easy at night knowing that if we awake sick or injured we will not face a financial burden or bankruptcy from seeking medical treatment.

There was, however, a time when this was not the case. Universal health care had to be fought for. In the 1950's, despite many years of promises by successive Liberal governments, a national plan had not been brought in.

The leaflet we are looking at today, which was published by the Committee for the Rights of Canadian Children --  public health care advocacy group -- in the mid-50s is a vivid reminder of what health care in Canada was like before the Canada Health Act and the emergence of full provincial plans nationwide.

It contains many disturbing facts -- such as the reality that over three times as many infants died from illnesses in Canada during WWII as did Canadians on the battlefield -- as well as the awful rationales for not bringing in national health insurance as when the first Paul Martin baldly stated that it could not be done due to military spending commitments in the Cold War!

The leaflet is important not just as a piece of Canadian history, but as a reminder as to why we must be vigilant and fight to preserve what unions, socialists and activists achieved -- however flawed it still may be -- in the face of constant attempts by governments and the right to chip away at and undermine the public system.

(Click on images to enlarge)









Wednesday, October 26, 2016

The CLC and the Liberals - Pandering to power

In what is one of several "let them eat cake" moments made by members of the governing Liberal caucus lately, this past Saturday Finance Minister Bill Morneau threw young Canadian workers under the proverbial bus when he said that they should get used to the 'reality' of precarious employment. 

At a meeting with Ontario Liberals he said the "job churn" was here to stay, that the next generation of Canadians should expect shittier pension benefits and that recognizing all of this will "soften that blow".

This is a rather astounding acknowledgement by Morneau that his government is part of a seeming generational willingness by those who had more secure jobs and better pensions to, due to their political decisions, shut the door to these things for young people, basically screwing their own kids out of the kind of future that they themselves took for granted.

Setting aside for the moment that this 'reality' exists only due the unwillingness of our governments (this one included) to take on the corporations and to enact legislation and take real steps to fight precarious employment and to preserve pensions -- reality, you know, is created by us, Bill, it does not just 'happen' -- it is clear that Morneau is no friend to young workers.

And yet, in the wake of these comments, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) actually continued with plans to invite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to address their Young Workers Summit in Ottawa a few days later.

Seriously.

Predictably, and entirely justly, Trudeau got something of a rough ride from many of the summit delegates. According to the CBC:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced off with a room of angry protesters today who were venting their frustrations over everything from pipelines to the failed federal payroll system.
Some of the participants turned their backs on Trudeau in protest during the "armchair discussion" event at the Canadian Labour Congress National Young Workers Summit in Ottawa.
"Honour your promises!" hollered some in the crowd, as event moderators tried to keep the peace.
"We don't have dialogue with liars!"
"Shame! Shame!"
In a moment of surreal elitism and condescension,  Trudeau proceeded to say that the protest "reflects poorly" on the delegates!

This is pretty rich given his Finance Minister's comments on the weekend. They reflected rather poorly on his government.

While his response was predictable, what is far harder to understand is the response to the protest made by the CLC itself in a statement they released later that day.

The statement acknowledges the protests but goes on to say of the delegates that "the majority applauded his willingness to take questions from the room." This is a rather snide jab at those who wanted to confront Trudeau's completely lackluster performance as PM when it comes to both youth and workers, and it implies that they did, indeed, reflect poorly on the others who 'applauded' Trudeau.

In fact, at the summit itself CLC president  Hassan Yussuff told the protesters that the labour movement is a "respectful movement" and called for "constructive dialogue".

It seems speaking truth to power when the direct opportunity arises is not as welcome as it once was in the CLC and this wing of the labour movement!

The CLC statement goes on to say:
Delegates pressed the prime minister about a statement by Finance Minister Bill Morneau asserting that young workers have to get used to the “job churn” – meaning a future without lifelong, stable careers.
“Moving from job to job to job creates a lot of instability and insecurity,” said Amy Huziak, the CLC’s national representative for young workers.
“What can we do together to ensure that young workers have decent jobs instead?” she asked the prime minister.
In the statement Yussuff answers on Trudeau's behalf by saying:
“Prime Minister Trudeau promised legislative support for workers stuck in precarious jobs and we intend to hold him to that commitment,” said CLC president Hassan Yussuff. “He’s already worked with labour to strengthen the Canada Pension Plan, and we look forward to doing the same for labour laws across the country.”
An interesting quote generally given that Morneau on Saturday had specifically said the changes to the CPP were "a recognition that people aren't going to have the same pension benefits" they did before.

All of this comes in the wake of the decision by Toronto's Labour Council to allow Trudeau's Labour Minister to march in Toronto's Labour Day parade.

So what are these labour leaders up to?

The reality seems to be that Yussuff and others think that they can wrest enough concessions for their existing membership to make collaboration with this government worthwhile despite the fact that doing so sidelines the workplace and economic issues confronting youth, workers not in unions, those fighting for higher minimum wages (Trudeau opposes the $15 Now movement), those living in poverty and many others for whom the Liberal government has really just been more of the same.

With a ludicrous rewriting of the history of the struggle to secure the basic rights of workers by the labour movement -- often in the face of vicious state violence -- to claim the movement is now "respectful" of representatives of what is and always has been an avowedly capitalist Bay St. party what Yussuff seems to be really seeking is to make the CLC and labour respectable to this Liberal government.

Protests and anger at a labour union summit by young workers towards a PM who has delivered them essentially nothing just won't do!

Sadly, it would appear that the Liberal government is not alone in its willingness to shut the door on the generation of workers coming next.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

A Program for Vancouver by Alderman Harry Rankin - 1960s

Today we are going to take a look at a remarkable piece of Vancouver political history.

The impact of Harry Rankin on the evolution of municipal politics in post-war Vancouver would be hard to overstate. Rankin served as an alderman from 1966 until 1993. He was involved in the formation of the Committee of Progressive Electors (COPE) and ran, unsuccessfully, for Mayor in 1986 losing to future right-wing British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell.

Rankin joined a Communist club when he was at university and, as a result, faced a challenge when he tried to become a lawyer in the 1950s. Due to anti-democratic McCarthyist laws, rules and blacklists that existed across North America at the time he was essentially put on trial before being allowed to join the bar in BC.

This leaflet was published as Rankin was running for re-election for the first time after having been elected to city council in 1966. When he had been elected he had broken a near monopoly that right-wingers held on council seats due an undemocratic voting system and to the Non Partisan Association which, as he notes in the leaflet "had dominated City Hall for over 30 years".

The leaflet is an amazing document. It is a veritable manifesto that touches on all aspects of civic policy from taxes to transit to tenants. He talks about Vancouver's 'housing crisis' (it had one then too), calls for Vancouver to establish public utilities, demands more public rapid transit with lower fares, and deals with an array of other issues, all while juxtaposing his people's agenda to the big business agenda that dominated civic politics.

He even has a fascinating section that asks "what will Vancouver be like in 1985"!

(Click on images to enlarge)























Monday, October 24, 2016

Yueh Tung -- Hakka & Chinese Cuisine by Toronto City Hall

Yueh Tung is a well-established restaurant just a stone's throw from Toronto's City Hall and Nathan Phillip's Square. For over twenty-five years they have been serving up classic Chinese dishes with the the addition of a variety of Hakka dishes throughout the menu as well.

For those unfamiliar with Hakka cuisine it is a style of cooking influenced by the flavours and techniques of both Chinese food and Indian food. It originated in southern China and northern India.



Yueh Tung delivers both with bold
The view of the back of City Hall from just outside!
flavours, nice presentation and excellent service. It's second floor dining room is large (though reservations for generally busy nights are recommended, especially for larger groups) and bright with modern decor. Service is excellent and very friendly.

Portion sizes are large and the prices very reasonable. This is great spot to go with family or friends after an event or afternoon spent downtown. It also could not possibly be more central!

There are a lot of great dishes on the large menu, but here is a look at a few favourites.

Hot & Sour Soup: Ranges from individual  serving at $3.95 to a large group bowl $14.95


The Hot & Sour soup here is a real standout. One of the best I have had in the city.
Tangy and spicy, it is full of shrimp, tofu and absolutely delicious BBQ pork.
Honestly, the Hot & Sour soup alone would be worth coming here for.

Hakka Wonton Yam Mein: $8.95


Hakka cuisine is noted for it noodle dishes and this is a great one.
The noodles are perfect with delicious pork & shrimp dumplings 
and more of that wonderful BBQ pork!

Chili Chicken: $9.95


Bold flavours and mildly spicy, a terrific chicken dish.

Calamari Fritters: $9.95


They have this in the appetizer section of the menu but it the size of a main!
Battered and crispy, they have a nice kick of heat. 

Crispy Beef: 10.95


This is one of my family's favourites.
Just as they say -- crispy battered beef strips in a terrific sauce that has a hint of sweetness.

Manchurian Fish: $13.95


'Manchurian' sauced dishes are Hakka staples with chicken, fish and other varieties.
The Manchurian fish at Yueh Tung is moist and bursting with spicy flavour.


A night view of bustling Dundas St. W. taken from Yueh Tung's window
by 11-year old Julia Laxer

The Manchurian Fish, Crispy Beef and Chili Chicken can all be had served on a sizzling plate for an additional dollar. This is always a fun and crowd-pleasing service.

There are so many dishes to try and keep you coming back from Shrimp or Chicken Pakora platters to sauced seafood platters with Vancouver Crab or East Coast Lobster.

They are licensed and serve beer and wine. The dining room also has a few tables that accommodate large groups. Unfortunately, however, it is a second floor restaurant that can only be accessed by a staircase so there are accessibility issues. It is very family friendly and the busy and bustling dining room is great for kids. They do also deliver within downtown Toronto.

You can see their full menu and read about the story of the restaurant and the Hakka style of cuisine at their website. 

Yueh Tung is located at 126 Elizabeth St., right behind and to the north of Toronto City Hall. 416-977-0933. They are open seven days a week with extended hours on Friday and Saturday. 



Sunday, October 23, 2016

Labyrinth Nawayee by the Healing Garden at Sam Smith Park

At the north end of South Etobicoke's huge and beautiful waterfront gem, Colonel Samuel Smith Park, a new place of contemplation was recently opened. 

Labyrinth Nawayee lies just to the south of the Healing Garden that sits by The Gatehouse. The Healing Garden is meant as a place of healing for victims of childhood trauma and sexual abuse.

At the time of the garden's opening in 2014, Brad Hutchinson, The Gatehouse's manager, said of the circular design:
“The circle has no beginning and no end. Healing comes through quiet, keeping still, meditation. We reach the eternal part of ourselves that has no beginning and no end.
“There is beauty and wisdom here. You can feel it if you come here, slow down and let go, whether for five, 15 or 30 minutes. It is a community garden for people to bring their positive energy and give it to people who need it.”
The labyrinth was added this past summer. Nawayee means "the centre" in Ojibwe. At the entrance is a small sign that tells us:

WELCOME TO THE LABYRINTH
PAUSE. ENTER.
PAUSE IN THE CENTRE.
RETURN IN PEACE.

The Labyrinth





The Healing Garden






Labyrinth Nawayee and the Healing Garden are found at the north end of Colonel Samuel Smith Park. They are just to the south of Lake Shore Blvd at Fourteenth St. The park is on the 501 Queen streetcar line. 


Saturday, October 22, 2016

Urgent solidarity appeal in support of the WE ARE PALENQUE universal healthcare rally in Chiapas, Mexico

via B. Ross Ashley 

I have been asked to write a note of support to the WE ARE PALENQUE rally in Chiapas, Mexico, called for Sunday. You may know that the universal healthcare system in Mexico is under attack by the Mexican federal government at the bidding of the IMF and the OECD.

Brother Alan Benjamin of the San Francisco Labor Council writes:

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Last June 22,  doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers across Mexico staged  marches, rallies and work stoppages to demand the repeal of the "Sistema  Universal de Salud" (Universal Healthcare System) -- a healthcare  privatization law enacted by the government of Enrique Peña Nieto at the  behest of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization  for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The  mass actions were organized mainly by the #Yosoymedico17 movement.  Workers from the Mexican national public healthcare institute (IMSS),  the public sector workers' healthcare system (ISSSTE), and medical  students at the BUAP and UPAEP were in the front ranks of the  mobilizations. In many states, entire local chapters of the National  Union of Healthcare Workers (SNTSSA) went out on strike to demand the  repeal of the privatization law, the proper supply of medicines and  medical supplies to hospitals, and a host of other demands pertaining to  the union contract.

In the town of Palenque, in the state of Chiapas, the local chapter of Section 50 of the SNTSSA had been out on strike since May 23 to press for their community's healthcare demands.

Four  months after the first national day of action, the #Yosoymedico17  movement and local and statewide chapters of SNTSSA are calling for a  Second National Day of Action Against the Healthcare "Counter-reform"  Law, to be held on October 23.  They have been joined in this call by the Mexican Electrical Workers  (SME), the Political Organization of the Workers and People (OPT), and  the Nueva Central Sindical (an organizing committee for a new trade  union federation), among others.

In  the state of Chiapas, the strike initiated by the Palenque workers has  now extended to five other regions across the state: Yajalon,  Villaflores, Tonala, San Cristobal and the capital city of Tuxtla  Gutierrez. The statewide action will be held in Tuxtla, at the  initiative of the fighting chapters of Section 50. (The leadership of  Section 50, like the national leadership of the SNTSSA, has supported  the Peña Nieto counter-reform law.)

Throughout Mexico's south-east region, the protest actions on October 23 will  be held under the banner of "Todos Somos Palenque" (We Are All  Palenque) in recognition of the courageous strike -- now in its 147th  day -- waged by the 350 healthcare workers in the town and its  surrounding area.

Mexican healthcare workers fighting to protect and improve their national public healthcare system need our support!

Please send your solidarity statements to the October 23 National  Day of Action to Russell Aguilar Brindis, one of the main organizers of  the march and rally in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas. His email is javepacuay@hotmail.com.  The Tuxtla rally organizers will read aloud all statements received,  and they will forward all messages to the rally organizers in Mexico  City, so that they, too, can be read to the crowd.  They are especially  anxious to receive solidarity statements from healthcare workers and  their unions and organizations.

Please send copies of your messages to theorganizer@earthlink.net.

Many thanks, in advance, for your continued support,

Alan Benjamin
U.S. Delegate to the Mumbai Conference

This is a sample solidarity letter:

TO THE RALLY “WE ARE PALENQUE”, SUNDAY, 23 OCTOBER, 2016

AS a health-care worker, a soldier in the service of the fight against disease and death and injury, I have always thought that those of us in the trenches were better managers of the system than our financially-oriented masters.

Since then NDP leader David Lewis forced Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau into passing the Canada Health Act in return for NDP support in the 1970s, we in Canada have had one of the strongest health and hospital care systems in North America, but we have always had to fight tooth and nail to keep it.

The fight for public healthcare here goes on, especially given the court case in British Columbia wherein a private clinic owner seeks to overturn the ban on two-tier pricing in the name of constitutional “freedom of choice” for their potential clientele of well-off patients who would be ushered to the front of the line and triaged by the size of their insurance policies and bank accounts rather than the severity of their conditions.

Our colleagues in Mexico are also fighting for the continuation of their current publicly-run health and hospitalization system. We Canadian health-care workers, physicians, nurses, service workers, stand with them.

WE, TOO, ARE PALENQUE.


B. R. Ashley, retired hospital worker, Toronto, Ontario

Again, please send them to javepacuay@hotmail.com and c.c. to theorganizer@earthlink.net.

Do you have a left-wing event or solidarity appeal you want to share? Send them to theleftchapter@outlook.com