Author: Harry Glasbeek
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Recent Subsidies: The Deification of Capitalism and the assault on all that Matters
On 6 July, 2023, Canadians watching the news were regaled with pictures of beaming federal and provincial politicians, flanked by some rich people who looked sober and content. The viewers … Keep reading »
Ford, CUPE, Class Struggle and the Charter: A Primer
Why do workers strike? In Canada, our fundamental political economic premise is that, if all individuals decide for themselves how to deploy their resources and talents, the best use will … Keep reading »
Striking Down Farm Workers – It Is the Law’s Way
These days we hear and read a lot about essential workers. It is not always clear whether workers ought to be characterized as essential ones, but there can be little … Keep reading »
Canada’s Eviscerated Democracy: Minority Government and Representative Democracy as Symptoms
On 20 September, 2021, Canadians voted to hold the line. While forty seats changed hands, the number of seats won by each of the parties was so close to the … Keep reading »
GameStop and Share Markets: Between the Bad and the Ugly, There is No Good
The recent GameStop story coming out of the US pushed arcane financial dealings into a prominence they rarely enjoy. The public was introduced to weird concepts such as “short selling … Keep reading »
Sick and Tired of Virus Banalities
Everyone has seen those cheesy T-shirts which say, “My grandmother went to Tahiti and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” One of our friends went to Venice and brought … Keep reading »
Boeing: A New Report, An Old Story
Item 1. A major tobacco company had to deal with regulators in the Czech Republic. The regulators were demanding that rather alarming health hazard signs be put on cigarette packs. … Keep reading »
Meng, Huawei and Canadian Law: Soap, Rinse and Dry-Laundered
Prologue One of the graver risks for big-time criminals is that investigators will be able to identify them and their deeds by ‘following the money’. The criminals have to hide … Keep reading »
‘Open the Economy’? The Pandemic, Costs, Benefits, Capitalism
It is mid-June 2020. Everywhere there is a push to ‘open the economy’. What is meant, of course, is to bring back, as soon as possible, the profit-seeking activities of … Keep reading »
The Anti-Union Virus Inside the Emergency Powers: Lessons for Workers
While the Covid virus weakens immune systems, it fortifies the anti-union animus of right-wing governments. When it was clear that there was no way the coronavirus was going to exempt … Keep reading »
Trudeau and SNC-Lavalin: Of Hosts and Parasites
Every now and again the sophisticated web of myths and fantasies that hides the brutality and ugliness of capitalism is ripped away by sleazy and rapacious actors. 1. Trudeau We are … Keep reading »
Oshawa and Postal Workers: Big and Small Lies We Accept
In 1979, Canada’s postal union (CUPW) bargained and bargained with the employer. Eventually, having exhausted all possibilities, it made the decision, supported by a huge majority of its voting members, … Keep reading »