NDP Spikes, Bloc Surges, May and Scheer Stall -- The Left Chapter Canadian Election Round-up Week Five

This is the fifth of our weekly Friday election round-ups of developments -- as well as the inane, bizarre, humorous and unusually facile -- in the great show that is mainstream bourgeois politics during the election of 2019.


The fourth was: Scheer's Very Bad Week, PPC At It Again and more -- The Left Chapter Canadian Election Round-up Week Four

Debates, campaigns stop NDP's fall see Bloc surge

As always after such events there was almost as much debate as to who won the last English and French leader debates as there was in the debates themselves! There seems to be a consensus that NDP leader Jagmeet Singh had a good night at the English debate while the French one was stronger for Trudeau and Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet.

In truth, while Singh likely had the best lines at the English debate the format was terrible with far too many moderators and a set-up that ensured much of the time was wasted with leaders talking all over each other. The French debate went better in terms of format but was not a good night for either Singh or Elizabeth May, the leader of the Greens. Most of its most interesting moments were in exchanges between Justin Trudeau, Andrew Scheer and Blanchet.

The importance of debates are often overstated by partisans of the parties who are far more interested in them than most of the public is. They do often serve to reinforce existing trends though and this seems to have happened here as well.

This is bad news for both May and Scheer.

The Greens came into the election really surging but have run a very poor campaign as these things go, with much of the wind coming out of their sails. May was not great in either debate and the threat the Greens posed to displace the NDP as Canada's third party and as the "progressive" left flank of the Liberal party seems to have faded.

Blanchet and the Bloc, meanwhile, are offering Quebec voters a nationalist and Quebec focused alternative to the federalist options. A solid campaign and debate performances have revived their fortunes largely at the expense of the Conservatives and, to a lesser degree, the NDP. Scheer helped this along by making it very clear he had something to hide on the abortion issue in the first debate, making it much easier for small 'c' conservative voters in Quebec who are not socially conservative to begin to view Blanchet as a natural fit.

Unfortunately for New Democrat partisans who heralded Singh's performance and the party's small bump in the polls as the beginning of a Layton style surge, the conditions are very different from those in 2011. Layton benefited from the collapse of the Liberal vote due to the horrible campaign of Michael Ignatieff and from voter fatigue with the Bloc in Quebec.

The Liberal vote is not collapsing this time -- at least so far and there is not much time to go -- and the Bloc is surging. What Singh's good campaign and debates has done, it seems, is to bring the NDP back from the brink of annihilation largely at the expense of some of the Liberal left vote and what was Green momentum going in. The NDP still stands to lose almost all or all of its seats in Quebec though it may now hold or even gain a bit elsewhere.

Singh's finest moment?

"Why is it that we ask the question about whether or not Indigenous people should have clean drinking water?"


After pointing out the billions the government squandered on tax cuts and pipelines NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has what is likely his finest moment when he turns the tables on a stupid media question.


Of course, Singh has his own hypocritical problems when it comes to Indigenous rights. His unwillingness to take a clear stance on the LNG project being pushed by the NDP government in BC is just one example of this. 

Related: Jagmeet Singh commits to funding clean drinking water in Indigenous communities

 Judy Sgro said what?!?

Liberal candidate for Humber River-Black Creek Judy Sgro set a new standard for liberal white cluelessness with her comments about the Trudeau brownface scandal to a Toronto radio station interviewer.

Sgro actually tried to claim that her Black constituents were sending him more "love" for what he had done! Seriously:

But let me tell you that in knocking on doors and being in the plazas and talking to people to make sure that I’m as sensitive as I need to be, if I missed something … and those in the Black community have told me how much more love they have for the prime minister, that he wanted to have a black face — he took great pride in that too and that it’s the media that have blown this into something that it shouldn’t be, and that they are very supportive and they’re actually looking for finding more ways that they can show how much they support and love the prime minister.

She has apologized for this astonishing and grotesque comment and remains a Liberal candidate despite it.

Liberals show, yet again, that their commitment to "reconciliation" is rhetorical

Shamefully, though predictably, the Trudeau government took a timeout from electioneering to challenge "a landmark human rights ruling to compensate apprehended First Nations children harmed by the on-reserve child welfare system and under-funded child and family services."

This move "could block billions in compensation to Indigenous children" that is long overdue.

As outgoing NDP MP Romeo Saganash says, "I never want to hear one single Liberal pronounce the word Reconciliation, ever again!”

Unfortunately he is unlikely to get his wish.

Other readings on this issue:

By fighting a compensation ruling, the government denies First Nations children justice — again

A Brief History of Canada’s Failure to Fund Indigenous Kids Equitably

Taking on Canada's "Minister of War"

As Ontario Communist Party leader Drew Garvie noted in an excellent recent article about Canada's odious imperialist Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland:

The hypocrisy of Canadian foreign policy under Freeland and the Trudeau Liberals cannot be explained by a love of human rights or humanitarianism. Their policies can only be explained by Canadian business interests, especially mining and arms deals, and their ever-closer alliance with an increasingly belligerent US government.
The world cannot afford another four years of Chrystia Freeland and neither can Canada. The Trudeau government’s pledge to raise military spending by 73% over the next eight years, prompted by Trump’s request to NATO countries to pay up, will result in deeper austerity and suffering at home and more war abroad. Freeland represents the worst the Liberal Party has in the way of war mongers and she must be defeated as a step towards winning an independent foreign policy of peace and disarmament.

You can watch Garvie, who is running against her federally, take her on at a local debate in the video below:



Other notable articles:

What a shock...a disgusting party of racists and bigots turns out to be a disgusting party of racists and bigots: People's Party won't take action against N.S. candidate who called Islam 'pure evil'

LOL! The knives are already out: Conservatives Reportedly Might Already Be Shopping For A Scheer Replacement

Rumours Of A Suppressed Globe Story About Justin Trudeau Are Bullshit

Green Party drops anti-abortion candidate in Ontario riding

Andrew Scheer's claim about foreign aid deemed false

Tossed Tory candidate ‘changes everything,’ with two-way fight shaping up in Burnaby North-Seymour

Singh lays out the NDP’s priorities for next Parliament

WHERE HAS LABOUR BEEN DURING THIS FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN?

Ottawa-Vanier Communist Party candidate looks to fight poverty, tax the rich

Scheer's Very Bad Week, PPC At It Again and more -- The Left Chapter Canadian Election Round-up Week Four

This is the fourth of our weekly Friday election round-ups of developments -- as well as the inane, bizarre, humorous and unusually facile -- in the great show that is mainstream bourgeois politics during the election of 2019.



The third was:  PPC Goes Ever Lower, Climate Fails, Brownface Aftermath and more -- The Left Chapter Canadian Election Round-up Week Three

Scheer's very bad week

Andrew Scheer spent the last week doing his best to make sure that any residual fallout from the Trudeau brownface scandal would fade away with one self-inflicted wound after another.

First there is the bizarre and somewhat humorous revelation that he trumped up his credentials as an insurance broker. Of all the many things one could fudge about on a "resume" for public office this has to be one of the most flatline and boring bourgeois options to pick.

Then came the French language TV debate where it was hard to pick a winner amidst the deadening boredom, but very easy to pick a loser that being Scheer. He performed poorly and was unusually wooden even by his standards and seemed terribly evasive on the issue of abortion rights. While during the debate itself he refused to state his personal views on abortion -- even though they are widely known -- he did tell everyone what they already know the next day. Really makes his "personally pro-life but will not reopen the debate if elected PM" line sound even less trustworthy.

This was only compounded by his apparent inability to name for a reporter "a single policy in your platform that you believe shows that you do support women’s rights?”.

Finally comes the revelation that Scheer holds American citizenship. This in-and-of-itself would really be no big deal -- not sure why anyone would have a problem with someone having dual citizenship -- were it not for the fact that he appeared to take issue with the former Governor General  Michaelle Jean holding it in 2005. 

Meanwhile Scheer tried to guard his right flank against the People's Party of Canada (PPC) with an appallingly reactionary pledge to cut foreign aid spending by 25 per cent. 

 For a laugh also see: The Conservatives Say Scheer Won The French Debate & Quebecers Are Ripping Apart The Post.

PPC on an ignorant roll

Last week we saw a number of examples of PPC bigotry and racism at work. Apparently the good folks in the party felt they did not want to let this momentum slip away!

Thus we learned that two PPC candidates tweeted a far right cartoon "of Jagmeet Singh wearing [a] turban with [a] bomb on it". Despite this being clearly racist -- and despite Singh having been the target of racism on a public street related to his turban in Montreal this week -- neither one has been dropped by Bernier.

Just to make sure everyone knows which side he is on, Bernier also retweeted this fake poster approvingly:

 Thanks Max. There might have been a few folks left who were under the illusion you were against fascism.

See also: Violent clashes break out at Maxime Bernier event in Hamilton

Not to be outdone...

Of course, the BQ would not want the PPC to hog the nativist spotlight in Quebec now would they?

Yes, the tweet actually calls for people to choose women and men who "are like them" and then ends by saying "Tomorrow belongs to you"!!!

Now, presumably they were hearkening back to the old PQ slogan of "Demain nous appartient", but given the rest of the statement it reminded a lot of people more of this:





When a party says it is not on the left...I take them at their word:

Not satire...honest.

One headline captures why when it comes to climate change, despite all the progressive rhetoric, the Liberals are a joke. 

Other notable stories:

NDP commits $10B for 500,000 new child-care spaces across Canada

NDP would allow new parents to receive full EI benefit over shortened leave, Singh says

Green party proposes a 'robot tax' when companies replace workers with machines

LOL!: He thought he was a candidate for the Marijuana Party. He was wrong

Communist candidate on the ballot in Nanaimo-Ladysmith

Communist Party leader says Canada is ‘ripe for socialism’

'Willing to be honest': Central Nova Communist candidate Chris Frazer says party will seek to address real needs

We Asked Candidates in Climate-Exposed Ridings for Their Emergency Plans

NEO-NAZI PARTY ACTIVE IN SCARBOROUGH

Manning Centre a main financial backer for network of ‘Proud’ Facebook pages

See also: PPC Goes Ever Lower, Climate Fails, Brownface Aftermath and more -- The Left Chapter Canadian Election Round-up Week Three

"The problem is capitalism. The solution is socialism." -- Communist Party campaign launches in Toronto

The Communist Party of Canada launched its Toronto area federal election campaign on the Danforth Saturday night with a lively event at which leader Liz Rowley and several candidates spoke.

All the candidates touched on important themes for both the country and the communities they are running in.

Ivan Byard (Toronto Danforth) talked about housing issues while noting that the party's ultimate aim was "working class political power". Bronwyn Cragg, who is up against Finance Minister Bill Morneau in Toronto Centre, framed himself as the millennial taking on the billionaire. He noted that wealthy Morneau's riding had the fourth highest child poverty rate of any in the country clearly indicating that the Trudeau government's priorities are the wrong ones.

Ontario party leader Drew Garvie, running against Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland in University Rosedale focused on her terrible foreign policy record in Venezuela, Ukraine and generally. He stated that alone of all the parties, the Communists are confronting western imperialist narratives head on.

Parkdale-High Park candidate Alykhan Pabani spoke powerfully of how landlords in his community are engaging in the "violence of displacement" by driving out tenants using nefarious and frequently illegal methods. To the Liberal plan to tackle the housing crisis by making it easier to buy $800,000 houses he responded "are you serious" and likened it to someone taking the backpack off of a person dangling from the edge of a cliff so as to "lighten their load".

Harinderpal Hundal for Brampton West and Juanita Burnett for Guelph were also in attendance and spoke to how they are organizing in their constituencies to get the Communist message out to people.

Hitting on issues related to all of the three major pillars of the party's campaign -- the economy, climate change and foreign policy -- leader Elizabeth Rowley, who is running in Davenport, spoke at length as to why if Communists got elected "parliament would be an entirely different place."

On the economy she noted that a poll showed half of those who responded were $200 away from disaster at the end of every month. "Working people are living on the edge" due to decades of cutbacks, privatization and neo-liberalism. Communists would counter this in part with programs like genuine, universal pharmacare, free childcare and free education including post-secondary education. She stated that the only thing that should matter when it comes to getting into a university is marks.

Noting that a $15 an hour minimum wage no longer cuts it in many communities, the Communists are calling for $20 an hour. She said the party favours lowering the retirement age to 60 as well as shortening the work week with no loss in pay. Both measures, in addition to making the lives of people better, would help boost employment.

She also called out Canada's trade deals as little more than "economic constitutions" for corporations that need to be repealed. The Communists would prevent the danger of corporations moving factories to other countries via plant closure legislation.

Ultimately, Rowley said, "The problem is capitalism. The solution is socialism."

With regard to climate change, Rowley began by framing carbon taxes as an empty "solution" that does nothing more than turn emissions into a commodity. It is capping and reversing the emissions themselves that are the only way to confront the critical emergency facing Canada, with the Communist goal being to end them by 2050.

Key to the Communist climate strategy is to seize the ownership of natural resources out of the hands of multinationals and place them under public and democratic control. This would allow the government to take important steps like guaranteeing the jobs of tar sands workers during the transition to a green economy. 

Rowley rousingly went further to demand that the banks, insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations also be democratized and nationalized.

The Communist Party is the only party campaigning for "peace and disarmament" and Rowley stated the importance of this in today's international context where the danger of nuclear war remains very real. She also asserted the party's unequivocal opposition to interference in the affairs of sovereign countries and the ongoing attempts at imperialist regime change in Venezuela and elsewhere.

She ended with an analysis of how the danger from the far right in Canada is rising and how the Conservatives have direct and clear ties to it. Maxime Bernier and his People's Party, after all, only came in the wake of him losing the Conservative leadership to Scheer by a tiny margin. A progressive bloc is needed to stop this and Communists are essential to ensuring that this bloc pursues a people's agenda.

To those who worry that a vote for the Communists is a wasted vote, Rowley countered that it sends a message to the ruling classes and bourgeois parties as they know that for everyone who voted communist "100 were thinking about it and 1,000 were wondering." It is a ballot cast for "someone that is worth voting for".

The Communist Party is running 31 candidates across Canada. A list can be found here. Their full platform can be found here.

Planes, Rhinos, Lackluster Debates and more -- The Left Chapter Canadian Election Round-up Week One

This is the first of what will be our weekly Friday election round-ups of developments -- as well as the inane, bizarre, humorous and unusually facile -- in the great show that is mainstream bourgeois politics during the election of 2019.



May "wins" first lackluster debate

Justin Trudeau was a no-show for the first televised federal election debate leaving the other three major party leaders to duke it out Thursday night in Toronto. It was a lackluster affair that was notable for little other than its terrible moderating by Paul Wells and its truly awful commentary panel.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May likely won the debate insofar as anyone did. She seemed more polished and sharp in her sparring and kept on message while for the most part rebuffing or blunting the attacks of the others. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh did well, especially in his attacks on Scheer, though May did seem to get in more zingers.

There was (predictably) very little that separated May and Singh in both policy and performance. They occupy a virtually identical space which really reminds yet again what a joke the vicious and nonsensical virulent antagonism between many of their partisans is.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was actually quite bad and wooden. The only saving grace for him came from his rather fortuitous positioning so that he could look directly into the camera and deliver clearly well rehearsed lines as if it was a commercial.

May was at her strongest in the final part of the debate that was centered around foreign affairs. She blasted Scheer repeatedly and on point calling him Trump's "dummy" (as in a ventriloquist dummy with Scheer's mouth opening to do the President's bidding), stating that fighting climate change and other social issues are more important to the Greens than increasing military spending and denouncing the Conservative pledge to move the Canadian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. She spoke of the illegal occupation for what it was, called out the Netanyahu government for its actions and pointedly noted the hypocrisy of so many in the west when saying "So it is not ok when Russia occupies Crimea but it is ok for Israel to occupy Palestine".

Meanwhile, when it comes to the terrible LNG project backed by fellow NDP Premier John Horgan in B.C., Singh was quite evasive for a supposed "Green New Deal" backer. He simply refused to state whether or not he supported it. It was a serious low moment.

You can watch the full debate here.

More vetting  a la Orwell for the NDP

The Left Chapter has been following the disgraceful debacle of the NDP's candidate selection process for weeks now from the appalling nomination meeting in Parkdale, to the farce with Sid Ryan, to the Kafkaesque shambles with Janet-Lynne Durnford, to the shameful rejection of Robbie Mahood.

This has been a travesty that is a combination of heavy-handed authoritarianism and utter incompetence.

On Tuesday another truly grotesque example came to light in the case of Christeen Elizabeth who posted publicly about her case on Facebook:

The day after her post -- and on the first day of the election -- the party dumped Thompson-Nicola-Cariboo NDP Candidate Dock Currie for past social media comments.

(It should also be noted that the NDP quite rightly asked a candidate accused of domestic abuse to step aside and the Greens dispensed with one as well when a disgusting anti-Muslim social media post surfaced.)

“Wow, just like the jets my parents flew when my sister and I were growing up middle class like you did!”

While it is normal for major campaigns to book such things for their leader tour the optics of tweeting out a picture of your private jet on Day One when you have been droning on-and-on-and-on about how "middle class"  you are are not good. But that is exactly what Andrew Scheer did of course.

Reactions were less than positive. 

Activist John Clarke summed it up quite nicely:

Rhinos pin the tail on an ass 

The magnificent folks at the Rhinoceros Party have trolled People's Party leader Maxime Bernier in a glorious fashion. They will be running under the slogan "Don't take a chance, vote for both!".

I guess Nickelback was unavailable

Canadian singer Bryan Adams has made many millions off of terribly mediocre hit radio fare co-written back in the day with Jim Vallance.

Vallance, it seems, is now a staunch Conservative.

Putting his tremendous lyrical talents to work for their cause he has penned a rockin' ode with lyrics like:

A brand-new day,
a better way.
It’s time for you
to get ahead!
It’s your choice,
let’s hear your voice.
It’s time for you
to get ahead!

Apparently a video is coming. Great.

 Here is a video that the Conservatives probably wanted to keep under wraps:




Speaking of abortion...

For some unknown reason Elizabeth May started the week by saying that she would not whip the votes of Green MPs if they tried to reopen the abortion debate in Parliament. This despite the fact that the party insists that no one who was anti-abortion rights would be allowed to run in the first place.

While Green partisans tried to blow this off as a total non-issue one has to ask, if no one who is anti-abortion rights would be allowed to run why is May musing about how she would be unwilling to force these non-existent MPs to vote according to supposed party policy?

This is either a really stupid "own-goal" on the part of May or maybe they were not as careful in making sure all candidates were on board with the big issues as they would like us to believe.

Sign of things to come?

A media bus hitting the wing of your campaign plane on Day One cannot be a good omen.

Other notable stories:

 Elizabeth May has ludicrously been excluded from an upcoming French language debate.

"Liberal Party bars wife from vying to replace MP husband embroiled in dispute with ex-girlfriend"

Scheer seems to be talking bullshit when it comes to the "RCMP investigating people in the PMO over SNC-Lavalin"

Looks like the Liberals are having a hard time finding sacrificial lambs in southern Alberta. 

"Green Party RA President steps down citing "racism", demands Green leadership apologize to Jagmeet Singh"

Boris Johnson, the "Manosphere", Amazon & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos August 25 - September 1

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

This list covers the week of August 25 - September 1.



1) Canada occupies unique space in 'manosphere' of extremist violence

Caroline Orr, National Observer 

Recent acts of mass violence in the U.S. have shone a spotlight on the link between misogyny and extremism across the world. And Canada has its own unique problems with misogyny and extremism that have surfaced in recent years in a bout of attacks.

2) ‘We’re going to court’: B.C. First Nation to proceed with Site C dam ‘megatrial’

Sarah Cox, The Narwhal 

In a six-month trial, the provincial NDP government will have to fight against the treaty rights of Indigenous peoples whose traditional territory and burial grounds will be destroyed by a hydro project — one that now could be cancelled at the eleventh hour.

3) Public Transport Can Be Free

Wojciech Keblowski, Socialist Project Bullet 

If we are to believe transport experts and practitioners, abolishing fares for all passengers is the last thing public transport operators should be doing. For Alan Flausch, an ex-CEO of the Brussels public transport authority and current Secretary General of International Association of Public Transport, “in terms of mobility, free public transport is absurd.”

4) Italy crisis: PD and Five Star agree coalition deal after talks

BBC News

The leaders of Italy's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and populist Five Star Movement have agreed to form a coalition government.

5) New Poll Shows 58 Percent of Canadians See Socialism Positively

Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams

A new poll out released in August finds that 58 percent of Canadians have a positive view of socialism, and 18 percent have a very positive view of it.

6) The Misogyny of Climate Deniers

Martin Gelin, The New Republic

Why do right-wing men hate Greta Thunberg and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez so much? Researchers have some troubling answers to that question.

7) Minority Faction of FARC Leadership Take Up Arms

Telesur

In a blow to Colombia’s peace process, a minority of senior leaders of the FARC have announced that they are splitting from the main organization and will be taking up arms again. The FARC have officially condemned the split, defending the principles of the 2016 peace agreements.

8) Massive March in Argentina to Protest Macri, IMF Policies

Telesur 

Dozens of social movements and trade unions mobilized more than 250,000 people across  Argentina, striking Wednesday under the "emergency to confront hunger" slogan. The protesters marched to demand the implementation of a food emergency bill, an extension of the social emergency bill, and an increase in the complementary social wage, among other basic social demands.

9) The devastation of Manitoba: An autopsy of Pallister’s austerity regime

James Wilt, Canadian Dimension 

This article serves as a repository of many of these changes, roughly subdivided by issue. Following the priorities of the government, much of the focus will be on the impacts to healthcare. As many Dimension readers are aware, the litany of cuts to public funding initiated by the Pallister government will be felt for many years to come. This article, exclusive to CD, is the first attempt to analyze the full breadth of the Conservatives’ austerity regime in the province.

10) FROM PHILADELPHIA TO OREGON, THE INSURGENCY IS MAKING WAVES IN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Akela Lacy, The Intercept 

ON MONDAY, PHILADELPHIA City Council Member Helen Gym, a Democrat, endorsed Kendra Brooks, who is backed by the progressive Working Families Party in her campaign for City Council. The local Democratic Party was incensed by the endorsement, which Bob Brady, chair of the Democratic City Committee, said was “stupid,” reasoning that it would hurt Democrats by taking votes away from their slate of candidates. 

11) Bangladeshi campaigners fight mining giant for justice

Helen Pattison, East London Socialist Party

Shouts of "GCM, shame on you, Gary Lye [Chief Officer], shame on you" rang out around the square outside the London Stock Exchange on 22 August.

12) HOW OHIO’S CHAMBER OF COMMERCE KILLED AN ANTI-POLLUTION BILL OF RIGHTS

H. Claire Brown, The Intercept 

EARLIER THIS SUMMER, environmental activists in Ohio were alarmed by the passage of a mysterious state budget amendment that would close a new avenue for residents to sue polluters. The provision invalidated a landmark anti-pollution initiative passed by Toledo voters just a few months before. Now, emails obtained in a public records request reveal that the Ohio Chamber of Commerce secured the cooperation of a key Republican lawmaker in a successful effort to slip the amendment into an appropriations bill at the eleventh hour.

13) Puerto Rican “people’s assemblies” begin to challenge U.S. colonialism

Carol Widom, People's World

Peoples Assemblies that by their very nature challenge some of the worst aspects of U.S. colonialism are flourishing on the island and among the Puerto Rican diaspora on the U.S. mainland. Puerto Ricans from every walk of life on the island and on the U.S. mainland are involved in an unprecedented mobilization to create the conditions that will never allow political corruption, whether it comes from a president like Trump or from criminally negligent leaders on their island, to hamper their ability to handle what nature throws at them. They are winning support for their quest from the labor movement and many of its allies.

14) Mass protest in Myanmar calling for enforced labour law

IndustriALL 

Thousands of workers from 50 factories demonstrated in the morning of 29 August, demanding that the newly revised law on settlement of labour disputes be implemented.

15) German Neo-Nazis Are Doxxing Journalists on 'Enemy' Lists: 'We Will Get You All'

Tim Hume, Vice News

Journalists who appear on the lists say police aren't taking the threats against them seriously enough.

16) Abrogation of Article 370: Tyranny of the majority, says Yechury

T.K. Rajalakshmi, Frontline 

On August 7, five Left parties took out a joint protest to Parliament House in defence of Article 370. In an interview to Frontline, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury spoke about the manner in which the Indian Constitution was subverted and democracy and federalism were undermined.

17) Celebrating 100: The Communist Party USA and the new era of socialism

John Bachtell, People's World

The 2007 global financial crisis and the Great Recession decimated families and communities, exposing the greed, ugliness, and brutality of the capitalist system. In the economic earthquake and political aftershocks that followed, some responded with cynicism and despair, and many turned to the extreme right.

18) Amazon’s Next-Day Delivery System Has Brought Chaos And Carnage To America’s Streets — But The World’s Biggest Retailer Has A System To Escape The Blame

Caroline O'Donovan & Ken Bensinger, BuzzFeed

Valdimar Gray was delivering packages for Amazon at the height of the pre-Christmas rush when his three-ton van barreled into an 84-year-old grandmother, crushing her diaphragm, shattering several ribs, and fracturing her skull.

19) The White People’s Party of Canada


Christopher Oldcorn, Medium 

The People’s Party of Canada (PPC) is a White Nationalist political party. Maxime Bernier cannot deny being a white nationalist. There is conclusive proof!

20) In Secretive Court Hearing, NYPD Cops Who Raped Brooklyn Teen in Custody Get No Jail Time

Natasha Lennard, The Intercept 

THE YOUNG WOMAN who goes by Anna Chambers on social media had just a few short words for the public on Thursday evening. “Fuck the criminal justice system,” she tweeted. Earlier that day, through a call from her lawyer, Chambers learned that the two former New York Police Department officers who had raped her while on duty would serve no jail time.

21) Amazon Crisis: Mass Protests Erupt Across Brazil

Telesur 

Demonstrations against the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and in defense of the Amazon rainforests lasted until late Friday night in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and dozens of cities throughout Brazil. The Brazilian security forces did not even try to prevent the mobilization of thousands who took to the streets.

22) Brazil: Rio’s governor celebrates more Black deaths

Tony Rosenberg, Green Left Weekly 

Rio de Janeiro’s population watched in shock on August 20 as the state’s governor, Wilson Witzel celebrated the shooting by a sniper of a 20-year-old Black man who held 37 people hostage on a bus. The perpetrator had mental health problems, had never been in trouble with the police and had a plastic gun.

23) The biggest attack on democracy since before universal suffrage

 Chris Nineham, Counterfire

The Government’s attempt to suspend parliament for six weeks represents the biggest attack on democracy since before universal suffrage was won in 1928. 

24) Boris Johnson proroguing Parliament is a Tory coup

 Lindsey German, Counterfire

Predictable but terrible news about Johnson proroguing Parliament. As I wrote in my briefing the last person who did this lost his head. That was back in the 1640s. This move is almost unprecedented, especially from a minority government with a prime minister who has not put himself to the electorate.

25) Britain: Thousands protest Boris Johnson's plan to shut down parliament

Susan Price, Green Left Weekly

With only a few hours’ notice, thousands of people filled London’s Parliament Square on August 28 to protest against British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to shut down parliament for several weeks ahead of the Brexit deadline on October 31.

26) If There’s Such a Thing as a Murderous Culture, Then It Exists in Israel

Gideon Levy, Haaretz 

This is what the editor of Haaretz’s Culture and Literature supplement, Benny Ziffer, wrote on his Facebook page upon returning from paying a condolence call in the settlement of Ofra: “En route I looked at the Palestinian villages alongside the Jewish communities, and I thought of how for the Palestinians murder is a type of sport or enjoyment, perhaps a substitute for erotica. From that perspective we will never have anything culturally in common with them.”

27) When Ilhan Omar Is Accused of Anti-Semitism, It’s News. When a Republican Smears Muslims, There’s Silence.

Mehdi Hasan, The Intercept 

As I pointed out last week, anti-Muslim bigotry has been normalized in liberal and Democratic Party circles. Meanwhile, anti-Semitism has been weaponized by Republicans eager to smear their Democratic opponents (while simultaneously turning a blind eye to the anti-Semites and white nationalists in their own ranks).

See also: Amazon Burns, David Koch, Trump & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos August 18 - 25

Christchurch, International Student Climate Strikes, Venezuela & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos March 10 - 17

New Zealand Vigil for Victims of Christchurch Terrorist Attack

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

This list covers the week of March 10 - 17.




In addition to a general overview of news and opinion this week's installment begins with a section of articles and videos devoted to the white supremacist terrorist attack in Christchurch, the international student climate strikes, and to Venezuela.

1) We told you the threat is white supremacy. You ignored us

Randa Abdel-Fattah, The New Arab

We told you the threat is white supremacy and you fueled it, gained from it, enabled and permitted it.

2) A horrifying pattern of white supremacist attacks

SPLC

Our government – particularly policymakers and law enforcement – must begin to view what we call “domestic terrorism” through a global lens and recognize the growing white supremacist movement for what it is: a clear and present danger around the entire world.

3) The massacre in Christchurch: individual terrorism was nurtured by state terrorism

Redline 

Redline stands in solidarity with the bereaved family and friends of the victims.  And we stand in solidarity with the peoples of the Third World who are on the receiving end of the bombs and bullets delivered by order of people like Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern.

"Heartbroken. On the left is 3 year old Muca Ibrahim, the youngest of all of the victims murdered by the white supremacist terrorist in New Zealand. Here he is with his older brother Abdi." - Shaun King on Facebook

4) White Nationalism Is an International Threat

Patrick Strickland, The New Republic 

The Christchurch attacks point to a disturbing web reaching from the United States, to the United Kingdom, to Greece, and beyond.

Halfway through the New Zealand shooting, as dozens around him lay dead, a single unarmed worshipper rushed the shooter, doing whatever he could to make him stop.
Some people will publicize the villain. 
Let's remember the heroes instead.
This is Naeem Rashid.
Even as his son Talha was shot and people around him lay bleeding in the mosque, he rushed the gunman, with no weapon, just his bare hands.
Both he and his son lost their lives.
#NewZealandTerroristAttack#christchurch
(Words from @muhammadlila) - Shaun King on Facebook 

5) 'Hello brother,' first New Zealand mosque victim said to shooter

Diana Pereira, CITY TV News 

The hashtag #HelloBrother is gaining traction on Twitter following the massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand.

6) SCHEER’S TWEET ABOUT THE NEW ZEALAND WHITE SUPREMACIST TERRORIST ATTACK IS A DISGRACE

Geoff Sharpe, The Cable

Canada’s Conservative leader Andrew Scheer issued two tweets denouncing the attack on “freedom”. Glaringly missing was any mention of Muslims, denunciation of white nationalists, or characterization of the killings as a terrorist attack.

7) New Zealand PM vows to toughen gun control laws after Christchurch attack

Jon Swaine, The Guardian 

New Zealand’s gun control laws will be strengthened following the massacre of 49 people in Christchurch mosques, the country’s prime minister has said.

8) White Supremacist Kills 49 Muslim Worshipers in New Zealand as Islamophobic Hate Crimes Rise Globally

Democracy Now

In New Zealand, a white right-wing extremist killed 49 people in an attack on two mosques in the city of Christchurch during Friday prayers. It is the deadliest shooting in New Zealand’s history. Police have arrested and charged a 28-year-old Australian man named Brenton Tarrant with the attack. The gunman live-streamed the attack and published a manifesto in which he praised President Donald Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.” We speak with human rights activist and lawyer Qasim Rashid, who recently launched a campaign to run for a seat in the Virginia state Senate. And we speak with Farid Hafez, a lecturer and researcher at the University of Salzburg, senior research fellow at The Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University and expert on Islamophobia.

9) MARCH 21: #UNITEAGAINSTRACISM | CROSS-CANADA DAY OF ACTION

Migrants Rights Network 

Now, more than ever, we must bring together people across the country from all walks of life around an anti-racist, migrant justice vision. Let us #UniteAgainstRacism and demand #MigrantJusticeNow!

Newcastle #YouthStrike4Climate demo



10) Arctic now locked into devastating temperature rise, UN report says

Walter Strong · CBC News

The Arctic is now locked into a destructive degree of climate change regardless of what measures are taken to halt global greenhouse gas emissions.

11) Spanish youths start getting organized against climate change

Miguel Bayod, El Pais 

As worldwide protests get underway on March 15, youngsters in Spain are using social media to create groups aimed at pressuring politicians and civil society leaders.

On 15 March over one million students walked out of school to protest climate destruction in 2000 places across the globe. The youth are showing the way forward!



12) Australian School Students Have Gone On Strike For Climate Change

Hannah Ryan & Lane Sainty, BuzzFeed News 

Tens of thousands of Australian students skipped school on Friday to demand politicians take action on climate change.

Photo: Australian Climate Change Strike via Green Left Weekly on Facebook

13) YOUNG PEOPLE FEEL BETRAYED BY ADULTS OVER THE CLIMATE CRISIS. TODAY, THEY’RE GOING ON STRIKE.

Sharon Lerner, The Intercept

“They think threatening us with arrest and suspension will stop us, but it won’t,” said Tierney. “The climate crisis is way more frightening than that.”

14) NYT’s Exposé on the Lies About Burning Aid Trucks in Venezuela Shows How U.S. Government and Media Spread Pro-War Propaganda

Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept 

EVERY MAJOR U.S. WAR of the last several decades has begun the same way: the U.S. government fabricates an inflammatory, emotionally provocative lie which large U.S. media outlets uncritically treat as truth while refusing at air questioning or dissent, thus inflaming primal anger against the country the U.S. wants to attack. That’s how we got the Vietnam War (North Vietnam attacks U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin); the Gulf War (Saddam ripped babies from incubators); and, of course, the war in Iraq (Saddam had WMDs and formed an alliance with Al Qaeda).

15) US Regime Change Blueprint Proposed Venezuelan Electricity Blackouts as ‘Watershed Event’ for ‘Galvanizing Public Unrest’

Max Blumenthal, The Gray Zone


The US-funded CANVAS organization that trained Juan Guaido and his allies produced a 2010 memo on exploiting electricity outages and urged the opposition “to take advantage of the situation…towards their needs”

16) Venezuela: 100% of Electricity is Back On

Telesur

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered the creation of a commission to investigate the events, which he considers an act of terrorism against the Venezuelan people. It will also request the support of international experts for research.

17) Cuba: Electric Sabotage Against Venezuela is Terrorism

Telesur 

The government of Cuba has rejected and described as a terrorist act the attack on Venezuela's electricity system which occurred last Thursday.

(Related: Puerto Rico puts the lie to America's supposed "humanitarian" concern for Venezuela's blackout) 

18) Pompeo: US To Withdraw All Personnel From Venezuela This Week

Telesur 

In a Monday night tweet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says his office will send home the last remaining diplomatic officials in Venezuela.

19) Trump Admin Wants $500M to Fund Its Intervention in Venezuela

Telesur 

U.S. President Donald Trump asked Monday Congress to cut aid to Latin America but allow the U.S. Department of State to use US$500 million to fund its interventionist policies against the government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela which the Trump administration refers to as "democratic transition".

20) Guaidó Claims He Can Authorize Foreign Military Intervention in Venezuela

The Real News Network 

Temir Porras, Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs under Hugo Chavez, says Guaidó’s assertion on Fox News is a violation of the Venezuelan constitution; Porras says the only way to avoid a blood bath is a negotiated political solution

21) Trudeau’s position on Honduras reveals hypocrisy about Venezuela

Yves Engler 

The hypocrisy is head spinning. As Justin Trudeau lectures audiences on the need to uphold Venezuela’s constitution the Liberals have recognized a completely illegitimate president in Honduras. What’s more, they’ve formally allied with that government in demanding Venezuela’s president follow their  (incorrect) reading of that country’s constitution.

22) Ricardo Hausmann’s 'Morning After' for Venezuela: The Neoliberal Brain Behind Juan Guaido’s Economic Agenda

Anya Parampil, Venezuela Analysis 

If you’ve followed Venezuela-related news on social media, you’ve undoubtedly stumbled across a video released by comedian Joanna Hausmann in which she promises to tell you, “What’s Happening in Venezuela: Just the Facts.” Despite a title designed to instill confidence in the uninformed viewer, upon closer examination the “facts” presented in Hausman’s video hardly stand the test of reality.

23) Veterans Call on U.S. Troops to Resist Illegal Orders to Invade Venezuela

Veterans For Peace

Refuse to be used in an illegal war. Follow your conscience and be on the right side of history.

24) Democrats and Death Squads in Venezuela

Lucas Koerner, Venezuela Analysis 

The 1980s appear to be back in vogue these days, and Elliott Abrams is not the only wretched corpse recently exhumed and returned to national political life.

25) SP Zambia joins ‘Hands Off Venezuela’ solidarity campaign

Oliver Chisenga, The Mast

The fight against Venezuela is a fight against humanity and we cannot fail,” he said. “So we hereby joining our comrades all over the world in shouting; Hands Off Venezuela.”

26) Prostitution is central to women’s oppression – so why do many on the left defend it?

Thain Parnell, The Morning Star 

Support on the left for the exploitative sex trade must stop if we are to claim we stand in solidarity with the oppressed, which rightly should include the class of prostituted women.

27) PARTY GUESTS SUING OVER MASS ARREST FOR LESS THAN AN OUNCE OF MARIJUANA

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, The Appeal

Attorneys representing the arrestees in Cartersville, Georgia, say they were mistreated in jail, lost jobs, and endured public humiliation.

28) A GOP BILL IN GEORGIA WOULD JAIL DOCTORS WHO PERFORM ABORTIONS IN A POST-ROE AMERICA

Rachel Cohen, The Intercept

WHEN BRETT KAVANAUGH was named a Supreme Court justice last fall, a world in which access to abortions would be significantly limited, if not downright illegal, became more likely. Late last month, Georgia joined a handful of Republican-led states positioning themselves to lead the charge if Roe v. Wade, the seminal Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, were to be overturned.

29) Kentucky Just Banned Abortion

 Brigitte Amiri, ACLU

The Kentucky Legislature passed two bills on this week, and unless a court blocks them, abortion will effectively be banned in the state.

30) Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East? Netanyahu’s comments have shattered that illusion

Ben White, The Independent

His comments that the country belongs to ‘Jewish people alone’ strike to the heart of the nature of Israel.

31) We need roses too: Student voices in revolutionary Cuba

Aretha Green, Education for Tomorrow 

IN OCTOBER 2018, I was privileged to take part in a six-day National Education Union delegation to Cuba. This short article is a reflection on some of what I experienced there and the lessons for our own education system.

32) Dozens killed and injured by new attacks in western Yemen, UN coordinator condemns ‘outrageous’ toll

UN News

Reports from Yemen’s Hajjah Governorate indicate that scores of civilians have been killed following attacks on residential areas over the past two days. Medical sources suggest that at least 22 have died, with more than 30 injured during the bombardment.

33) Brazil: 2 Former Police Arrested in Marielle Franco Murder

Telesur

Two former policemen were captured Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro as suspects in the murder of Marielle Franco, a councilwoman and human rights activist who was shot on Mar. 14, 2018.

34) Study Finds Racial Gap Between Who Causes Air Pollution And Who Breathes It

Jonathan Lambert, NPR

Pollution, much like wealth, is not distributed equally in the United States.

35) Emergency workers summoned to Amazon warehouses 189 times over suicide concerns, breakdowns: report

Emily Birnbaum, The Hill

“It’s this isolating colony of hell where people having breakdowns is a regular occurrence,” Jace Crouch, a former warehouse employee from Florida, told The Daily Beast, adding that it is “mentally taxing to do the same task super fast for 10-hour shifts, four or five days a week.”

36) Social Democratic Party of Kenya changes name to Communist Party of Kenya

Brian Ukaya, Standard Digital 

The Social Democratic Party of Kenya (SDP) has changed its name to Communist Party of Kenya (CPK).

37) Meritocracy is a myth invented by the rich

Nathan Robinson, The Guardian 

The elite college admissions scandal in the US is a reminder that wealth, not talent, is what determines the opportunities you have in life.

38) Gov. Gavin Newsom to block California death row executions, close San Quentin execution chamber

Phil Willon, LA Times

Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign an executive order on Wednesday to impose a moratorium on the death penalty in California, vowing that no prisoner in the state will be executed while he is in office because of a belief that capital punishment is discriminatory, unjust and “inconsistent with our bedrock values.”

39) ‘HOW TO SPOT A JEW’: POLISH NEWSPAPER FRONT PAGE GIVES READERS ANTI-SEMITIC ADVICE

David Brennan, Newsweek 

A right-wing national weekly newspaper in Poland has published an article on its front page that explains to its readers “how to recognize a Jew.”

40) Puerto Rico’s demand for independence more alive than ever

Nuria Barbosa León, Granma 

Puerto Rico’s demand for independence was reaffirmed by the patriot Oscar López Rivera recently, insisting that this is the inalterable demand of the island’s people.

41) Activists Demand Cancellation of Puerto Rico’s $72 Billion Public Debt

Democracy Now

And in New York City, activists rallied outside federal court in Manhattan Wednesday, where a judge is overseeing Puerto Rico’s municipal bankruptcy proceedings—the largest such case in U.S. history. The protesters are demanding Judge Laura Taylor Swain cancel Puerto Rico’s $72 billion debt. This is activist Nicole Torres-Bruno.

42) Sanand Ford India workers protest against meager wages

IndustriALL

For the past 27 days, workers at the Ford India plant in Sanand, Gujarat, have been boycotting food provided by the company in protest against management’s refusal to increase wages in collective bargaining negotiations.

43) Australia Aboriginals win right to sue for colonial land loss

Bill Code Al Jazeera 

The ruling in favour of the Ngaliwurru and Nungali groups paves the way for billions of dollars in compensation.

44) 'Racist and fascist' - Spanish right attacked over baby offer

James Badcock, News Europe

Spain's conservative Popular Party (PP) has pledged that pregnant illegal immigrants will be able to avoid deportation by giving their baby up for adoption, if the party wins April's general election.

45) Four Left parties to contest together in Jharkhand

The New India Express

The leaders of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Marxist Coordination Committee and Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist decided to go for an alliance.

46) Les 10 propositions du PCF pour la France

PCF

Face au mouvement des Gilets jaunes, aux mobilisations populaires, le président de la République a du ouvrir un grand débat national. Celles et ceux qui se sont exprimés y ont porté un message clair. Ils disent vouloir vivre dignement et être respectés. Ils disent que le travail doit payer. Ils disent que les injustices sociales et fiscales sont une honte. Ils disent, à l’échelle de leurs quartiers, de leurs lieux de travail, qu’ils veulent pouvoir décider. Ils disent que la fin du mois ne doit pas être opposé à la fin du monde. Ils attendent des réponses fortes et ambitieuses.

47) The Profound Emptiness of Beto O’Rourke

Alex Shephard, The New Republic 

After months spent teasing his supporters and the political media, Beto O’Rourke surprised absolutely no one Thursday when he officially announced his candidacy for president. “We are truly now more than ever the last great hope of Earth,” he said in a video posted on social media, channeling The Lord of the Rings. “At this moment of maximum peril, and maximum potential, let’s show ourselves and those who will succeed us in this great country just who we are and what we can do.”

48) The German Revolution’s Bloody End

Ralf Hoffrogge, Jacobin 

The decisive battles of the German Revolution ended in March 1919 with the bloody crushing of the workers’ uprising. Why did it meet such a fate?

49) Brazil Moves to Open Indigenous Lands to Mining

Sue Branford and Maurício Torres, EcoWatch 

For many years, international and Brazilian mining companies have dreamed of getting access to the mineral wealth lying beneath indigenous lands. And finally, the government of Jair Bolsonaro seems determined to give them that opportunity. On March 4, while Brazilians were distracted by Carnival celebrations, the new Minister of Mines and Energy Admiral Bento Albuquerque announced plans to permit mining on indigenous land.

See also: Ilhan Omar, IWD, Venezuela & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos March 3 - 10