"We won't allow our future to become a budget cut" - Photos from the student walkout strike in Toronto

"We won't allow our future to become a budget cut" -- Lakeshore Collegiate Institute Student Council President Nathaniel Laxer.

Tens of thousands of students from hundreds of schools across Ontario walked out on Thursday, April 4 to protest the vicious cuts to education being made by the government of silver spoon tool of the corporate class Doug Ford and his minions. 

One of these student strikes occurred in South Etobicoke, Toronto and saw hundreds walkout from Lakeshore Collegiate Institute (LCI) and Father Redmond Catholic High School. They marched along Kipling, Lake Shore Blvd. and ended by protesting at the Police College on Birmingham.

These amazing pictures were taken by LCI student and striker Randy Mena Leon (who can be followed on Instagram @randall.is.my.handle). 

"Never forget and never forgive a government that would do this" Laxer said and its true.

We cannot forget this. The cruelty and attack on our province's young people that these cuts represent can never be forgiven. 

A huge rally is planned at Queen's Park in Toronto this Saturday, April 6. 

Bernie Sanders, the Ghomeshi Verdict, the Calgary Police & more - February and March on The Left Chapter in review

The months of February and March saw 40 total posts of various kinds on The Left Chapter and very strong numbers from our readership!

The posts were very diverse, ranging from Toronto writer A.M.'s  powerful "Open Letter" to American Democrats to 14 year old Nathaniel Laxer's revisiting of the Communist flags of the game Victoria 2, from a trip back to the Mimico of the turn of the last century to a look at some stunningly evocative photos of Soviet era Moscow in the 1950s.

Without any further ado, here are the top six posts, in terms of hits, for the months of February and March.

1) It's Not Over -- Bernie Sanders releases campaign ad unlike any you have ever seen

Yesterday, the Bernie Sanders campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination released a campaign ad unlike any you have ever seen.

There has never been a political ad for the candidate of a mainstream party like this in either the United States or Canada ever. Period.

Read More!

2) Jian Ghomeshi's acquittal and the systemic misogyny of the justice system

As many have suspected would happen, Jian Ghomeshi was acquitted today.

The verdict, sadly, is not much of a surprise and is grotesquely indicative of how in sexual assault trials it is still really the victims who are on trial. In this case, the treatment of the three complainants shows this very clearly.

Read More!

3) Introducing the Calgary Police Service's "Diversity Unit" -- led by four middle-aged white guys!

Fun fact everyone -- The Calgary Police Service has a diversity unit!

Read More!

4) Toronto budget prioritizes policing -- Yet again

When it comes to the passage of John Tory's second "austerity-without-the Ford spectacle" budget of his term, there is a least the small silver lining that -- unlike in the farce of last year's near budget unanimity -- this time 9 Councillors voted against it.

33, however, voted for it.

Read More! 

5) Soviet Storm -- An epic Russian TV documentary account of WWII in the East

In 2011, Russian television produced an epic documentary look at World War II in the East -- known to the Russians as the Great Patriotic War -- called Soviet Storm.

Consisting of 18 parts, Soviet Storm follows the titanic and brutal struggle between Hitler's genocidal Nazi invaders and the Red Army and people of the USSR. It details the disastrous start to the war, through to the siege of Leningrad and battle for Moscow, to the turning of the tide at Stalingrad and Kursk, to the drive to victory in Berlin. It even has episodes dealing specifically with the partisan struggle, the air war, naval war (yes, there was one), espionage and battles and fronts you have likely not heard of.

Read More!

6) In praise of the "social justice warrior"

Have you heard lately about some "social justice warrior" hysterically standing up against sexism, racism or some other oppression that a wide variety of people seem to think we should all be more polite and demure about opposing if we can be bothered to at all?

Well, of course you have. The term social justice warrior is the new version of the old "politically correct" canard. It has become pervasive.

Read More!

The top food post for the period was "12-Hour Slow Cooked Caribbean-Style Oxtail"

Do you have a left point-of-view or opinion, a recipe or a story you want to share?

Send them to The Left Chapter via theleftchapter@outlook.com!

See also: Racist refugee myths, NDP delusions, Tom Mulcair & more -- December and January on The Left Chapter in review

See also: Racist Memes, Andrew Coyne, the NDP's Disaster & more! -- The Top Ten Posts and the year on The Left Chapter in review

Victoria 2's Communist Flags Revisited!

Submitted by Nathaniel Laxer

Victoria 2 is a grand strategy game created by Paradox Interactive where players can take the reigns of a nation or territory in the Victorian era and lead it to greatness or wherever the player's goals lie.

In a previous post I looked at some of Victoria 2's communist flags ,but I missed other interesting ones so without any further ado... more communist flags!!!

You can get these or any ideological flags in Victoria 2 by transitioning your government to the specific ideology. This is done by either letting rebels from the ideological group take control of your capital and install a government, or by electing a government of the ideology of your choosing and reforming the government into that ideology's form of government (i.e: electing a Communist government and changing election rules in order to transition to a proletarian dictatorship.)

In a future post we will be looking at a Victoria 2 mod -- one that allows you to create 50 American Communist states, each with their own flag!

Nathaniel Laxer is a 14 year old gamer who lives in Toronto. 

See also: Victoria 2's Communist Flags

April: "Fred Checkers", Elizabeth May, Vintage Toronto & more -- The month on The Left Chapter in review

From "Fred Checkers and the state of democracy in the NDP"

April was a busy month with 33 posts of various kinds on The Left Chapter.

Here are the top five posts, in terms of hits, for the month of April:





1) Fred Checkers and the state of democracy in the NDP

It has long been apparent (as I have written about at some length before) that the drift away from any meaningful internal democracy within the NDP is a very pronounced one. The party is highly centralized, member resolutions are only symbolic and are totally ignored by the leadership and its clique come election time (frankly, it is not even clear to me why they bother with resolutions at their conventions at all anymore), the party will disregard its own constitution at will and invalidate internal elections or nominations it does not like (or seemingly stack them as the ONDP seems to have in the case of the disgraceful Adam Giambrone nomination) and the NDP will sometimes prevent members from even running for a nomination in the first place!

Read More!

2) Elizabeth May needs to be at the federal leader's debate 

In 1997 the leader of a seemingly failing party, that had received only 6.88% of the vote in 1993, as well as the leader of a decimated party that had been reduced to simply 2 seats, squared off in nationally televised debates against not only the Prime Minister of the day and his Reform Party opposition opponent, but also the leader of a Quebec based nationalist party that could not, and had no intention of trying to take, power within Canada.

Read More!

3) 10 Vintage Toronto Postcard Streetscapes (and one bonus one of Port Credit!)

I am very fond of both vintage postcards and streetscape photography generally so I was thrilled to stumble upon a collection of Toronto postcards in a South Etobicoke antique store (called Treasure Hunt and located just east of Islington and Lake Shore) that were both.

Read More! 

4) Sorry NDP "Field Director" James Pratt...but Tom Mulcair is NOT the only leader "opposing" Bill C-51

Progressive politics in Canada appears to be heading to a new low.

Recently the NDP released a campaign video, narrated and presented by their "Field Director" James Pratt, in which he actually claims that Tom Mulcair is the "only leader who is sticking to his principles and working to expose Bill C-51".

But that is simply not true. It is ludicrously false in fact.

Read More! 

5) Is Harper's Last Day Coming?

There is a website selling buttons that celebrate, in advance of course, "Harper's Last Day" which they claim will be coming October 19, 2015. The buttons are available in "ironic blue" or in the colours of the three mainstream progressive parties, the Greens, Liberals and the NDP.

While to most on the left they express a no doubt deeply desired outcome, they also embody the contradictions that face Canadian "progressives" in the upcoming election.

Read More!

I also wanted to take a proud dad moment to congratulate my 13 year old son, Nathaniel, for his first blog post, which actually was sixth overall and was virtually tied with the number five above! It looks at one of his favourite strategy games and you can read it here: Victoria 2's Communist Flags

As none of the food or Leftist Throwback Thursday blogs made the top five (though these two came very close), we also include links to the top two of those:

1968's Japanese Cooking Cookery Cards with Sushi, Tempura, & more: Vintage Cookbook TBT

Nixon Drinks Canada Dry (with a special appearance by Phil Ochs!) - Leftist Throwback Thursday

Do you have a left point-of-view or opinion, a recipe or a story you want to share?

Send them to The Left Chapter via theleftchapter@outlook.com!

Check out our review for the month of March!: March: Mulcair, Tory, Bill C-51 & more - The month on The Left Chapter in review

Victoria 2's Communist Flags

The Communist flags of Canada, Quebec, the Metis Confederacy
& Newfoundland 

Submitted by Nathaniel Laxer

Victoria 2 is a grand strategy game created by Paradox Interactive where players can take the reigns of a nation or territory in the Victorian era and try to lead it to greatness or wherever the player's goals lie.

One interesting aspect to the game is its political and demographic simulations that portray  the rise of ideology, including socialism, liberalism, communism and fascism.

What is notable is that every single possible nation represented in the game has five dynamic flags that can change due to ideology.

Here we look at some of the more interesting flags for communist or worker's republics or nations, including all of the communist flags for any possible political formation within what we call Canada!

Nathaniel Laxer is a 13 year old gamer who lives in Toronto. 

Note the cool Manhattan Commune flag from the book The Difference Engine!

See also: Victoria 2's Communist Flags Revisited!