What’s Left, Toronto?
Radical Alternatives for the City Election As the Doug Ford Conservatives unpack their agenda, towns and cities across Ontario are getting ready for the October municipal elections. In Toronto, much of … Watch video »
Radical Alternatives for the City Election
As the Doug Ford Conservatives unpack their agenda, towns and cities across Ontario are getting ready for the October municipal elections. In Toronto, much of the early public debate leading up to the elections has been narrow and dominated by the Tories’ Bill 5, which proposes to cut in half the number of wards for Council elections. Debates about specific City issues have been limited, pitting a few right-populist voices from the Conservative Party against liberal and progressive voices from the Liberal or New Democratic Party. Ford’s shadow looms over every discussion and risks constraining debate about the mildest reforms even further.
This public forum seeks to keep alive more expansive political horizons about possible futures for Toronto. Organizers from various social movements come together to discuss a range of issues – from migrant solidarity and economic justice to jobs, housing, transit, the environment, and the nature of electoral politics. They bring ambitious and radical perspectives that engage with but go beyond the policy planks gaining the most attention in the corporate media.
Moderated by Herman Rosenfeld. Presentation by:
- Dan Karasik, student organizer, Fight for $15 and Fairness
- Stefan Kipfer, York University, Free Transit Toronto
- Taraneh Zarin, Free Transit Toronto
- James Nugent, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo
- Mercedes Lee, No One Is Illegal – Toronto
- David Kidd, longtime community and labour activist
Recorded in Toronto, 19 September 2018.
Sponsors: Centre for Social Justice, Free Transit Toronto, Socialist Project.
