This list covers the week of July 2 - July 9. It is generally in order of the date of the article's release.
1) Fear of losing custody stops pregnant women from disclosing homelessness, Toronto numbers show
Ainslie Cruickshank, Toronto Star
Samantha was 18 and living in a shelter when she gave birth to her eldest daughter — just one of an estimated 300 babies born each year to homeless or underhoused women in Toronto.
Read the full article.
2) It’s time to shed the last vestiges of colonialism
Mandy Pipher, Toronto Star
Our economic, political, and cultural connections to Great Britain are so tenuous as to have little meaning. And its concern for us is non-existent.
Read the full article.
3) Small ads sex trafficking: the battle against Backpage
Annie Kelly, The Guardian
Backpage started out with small ads for household goods. So how did it grow into a major online market for child sex trafficking? Annie Kelly meets some of the survivors – and reveals how their fight for justice became a battleground for free speech on the internet.
Read the full article.
4) How Paul Robeson found his political voice in the Welsh valleys
Jeff Sparrow, The Guardian
African American star Robeson built his singing career in the teeth of racism in the early 1900s. But his radicalism was spurred on in Britain – by a chance meeting with a group of Welsh miners.
Read the full article.
5) Military "Proud Boys" Disrupt Mi'kmaw Memorial in Halifax
Anti-Racist Canada
On Canada day, while members of the Mi'kmaw Nation held a memorial remembering MMIWG in Halifax, a local contingent of "Proud Boys" arrived to disrupt the event, because the "Proud Boys" are classy that way.
Read the full article.
6) There’s Nothing ‘Feminist’ About Defending Pornography
Caitlin Roper, The Huffington Post
As sex trade survivor and activist Rachel Moran said, “There is not now, nor has there ever been, a feminist case for the commodification of females.”
Read the full article.
7) Indigenous woman hit by trailer hitch in Thunder Bay dies
Tanya Talaga, Toronto Star
Barbara Kentner was struck in the stomach by a metal trailer hitch thrown from a passing car last January.
Read the full article.
8) Minimum wage hike won’t bring ‘doom and gloom,’ economists say
Sara Mojtehedzadeh, Toronto Star
“Doom-and-gloom predictions” about the impact of minimum wage increases on job losses and inflation are not supported by evidence, according to a group of Canadian economists.
Read the full article.
9) Omar Khadr, Canada and the fragile rule of law
Globe and Mail Editorial Board
Reasonable people can debate many things about the apology and $10.5-million settlement that the government of Canada is giving Omar Khadr.
Read the full article.
10) Khadr apology, payout is an insult to all the Canadian vets who fought for our right to torture imprisoned children
The Beaverton
Today, I was outraged to hear that the Trudeau government has agreed to pay $10.5 million and issue an apology to admitted terrorist Omar Khadr. This decision is a slap in the face to all of our men and women in uniform who defend our proud Canadian values of depriving any human rights to a fifteen-year-old child soldier.
Read the full article.
11) AGO exhibition reframes the idea of Canada
I. Rattan, Now Magazine
Five artists reflect on how their Art Gallery of Ontario exhibits reclaim a piece of Canada’s history for Indigenous, immigrant and racialized voices.
Read the full article.
12) El Salvador teen rape victim sentenced to 30 years in prison after stillbirth
Nina Lakhani, The Guardian
A teenage rape victim in El Salvador has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder after having a stillbirth, the latest in a long line of failures of justice against pregnant women in the Central American country.
Read the full article.
13) What would it take for Thunder Bay to admit it’s in crisis?
Jon Thompson, TVO
In a tale of two hashtags, a city determined to portray itself in a positive light is at odds with Indigenous residents’ concerns about systemic racism.
Read the full article.
14) Canadian journalists slam CBC's 'shameful' coverage of violent 'alt-right fight club'
Press Progress
CBC News admits they "made mistakes" after the controversial leader of a group, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an "alt-right fight club" linked to riots and violent rallies, was given a platform on the public broadcaster to defend historical violence against Indigenous people and promote a website aimed at recruiting new members to his group.
Read the full article.
15) CBC Interview With 'Proud Boys' Founder Gavin McInnes Goes Off The Rails
Emma Paling, The Huffington Post
A CBC interview ended awkwardly on Wednesday after a controversial guest defended an 18th-century decree offering money for the dead bodies of Indigenous people.
Read the full article.
16) Five false things right-wing provocateur Gavin McInnes said in a CBC interview
Ashley Csanady, The National Post
The founder of an organization whose members interrupted an Indigenous ceremony used a CBC interview to spread misinformation about the history of the Mi'kmaq people.
Read the full article.
17) The alt-right’s jocular façade is an attempt to deny responsibility
Tabatha Southey, The Globe and Mail
On Canada Day, in downtown Halifax, a small ceremony attended by perhaps 50 people was interrupted by five men wearing matching black polo-style shirts with yellow trim who identified themselves as members the "Proud Boys, Maritime Chapter."
Read the full article.
18) People of Colour Know Police Won’t Protect Us from Racist Hate
Abdullah Shihipar, Vice
Last month, a woman named Nikki Samuels walked into a clinic in Mississauga, Ontario with her child and demanded to see a white doctor. She became belligerent and began shouting that she wanted to see someone who "speaks English" and "doesn't have brown teeth." As she continued to harass the staff in the waiting room, others began to confront the woman about her racist and erratic behaviour and of course, someone began to film the incident. The video went viral and was serious enough to garner reaction from the province's premier.
Read the full article.
19) Thomas Jefferson was a horrible man who owned 600 human beings, raped them, and literally worked them to death
Shaun King, New York Daily News
Earlier this week, a room connected to the Monticello home of Thomas Jefferson was discovered to have been the living quarters for Sally Hemings. As the news broke of the discovery, many headlines referred to Hemings as Jefferson's mistress. But she was not a mistress.
Mistress implies consent. Thomas Jefferson owned Sally Hemings. She was his legal property. Thomas and Martha Jefferson owned Sally from the time she was an infant. She could not leave. She was not free. Both Martha and Thomas Jefferson refused to free Sally Hemings their entire lives. Hemings remained enslaved at Monticello into her 50s.
Read the full article.
See also: Canada 150, Basic Income, the Western Wall & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List June 25 - July 2
See also: Grenfell, the LCBO, Québec Solidaire and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List June 18 - 25
