Author: John Clarke
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Pandemic Worsens, Resistance Will Follow
World leaders like Trump and Johnson trying to get back to business as usual while the virus continues to spread are deliberately sacrificing public health. Keep reading »
Struggles in the Shadow of the Pandemic
It is a principle of historical materialism that social consciousness reflects social being and it is, therefore, inevitable that the former will tend to lag behind the latter. At a time like the present, human societies are being buffeted by rapid and deeply disturbing changes and the thinking of hundreds of millions of people is … Keep reading »
Indigenous Resistance Shakes the Canadian State
Indigenous groups resisting a destructive gas pipeline have blockaded one of Canada’s busiest rail lines bringing business as usual to a grinding halt, reports John Clarke. Keep reading »
Disabled People Under Attack
In December, Ontario’s Auditor-General, Bonnie Lysyk, issued a report that offers the province’s right wing Tory government an opportunity to attack disabled people living in poverty. Her report paints a picture of an Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) that is handing out money hand over fist to the questionably disabled, without any realistic checks and … Keep reading »
If Housing is a Right We Should Take It
In Toronto and across Canada, homelessness has reached proportions that no rational and just society would tolerate and it constitutes an emergency situation. The Trump Administration, seeing levels of destitution in California that are producing social dislocation, is preparing for a brutal crackdown on the homeless. We would do well to understand how close we … Keep reading »
Holding Pens for the Homeless
Homelessness is spinning out of control in many places, not least right here in Toronto. However, in California, the situation is now generating an acute political crisis. So great is the problem of mass destitution in that state that whole urban areas are facing a threat to public health and a level of social dislocation … Keep reading »
A Nightmare of Homelessness: A Knapsack Full of Dreams
Cathy Crowe’s book A Knapsack Full of Dreams: Memoirs of a Street Nurse comes out of decades of witnessing and challenging a growing blight of destitution and poverty in Toronto that has developed with the advance of the neoliberal agenda. In writing this review, I should make clear that I have known Cathy for a … Keep reading »
Canada Joins Campaign to Stifle Criticism of Israel
Canada becomes the next major player in the international drive to weaponize false allegations of antisemitism to protect Israel, writes John Clarke. Keep reading »
Muslims Under Attack: Solidarity or ‘Left Secularism’
Western governments and the xenophobic far right are engaged in a veritable war on Muslims. One way in which this attack unfolds is an ongoing effort to force Muslims to embrace dominant ‘values’ and change their forms of dress or abandon religious observances. Keep reading »
Conservative ‘Blue Wave’ Sweeps Across Canada
The provincial level of government is now dominated by the Conservatives and other hard right political parties. The only viable resistance to Canada’s creeping blue wave will come from a united working class, writes John Clarke. Keep reading »
‘Progressive’ Trudeau Government Attacks Venezuela
With neoliberalism’s sights set on Venezuela, John Clarke examines the imperialism of a superficially progressive Canada. Keep reading »
A Tale of Two Austerities
The UK’s brutal austerity regime is acting as a template for similar programmes across the Atlantic in Canada, reports John Clarke. Keep reading »