Auditor general hides $786-billion COVID bailout to corporations 

The auditor general report on government pandemic spending has fueled a frenzy against Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) recipients. The National Post wailed, “Canada may have just experienced the greatest fraud in its entire history”. In actuality, the real fraud is the fact that this audit makes no mention of $686 billion gifted to corporations.

Children’s hospitals in crisis as respiratory illnesses surge: Workers need paid sick leave now!

Hospitals across Canada, already in crisis from underfunding and staffing challenges, are buckling under the weight of a surge in respiratory infections among children. More kids require intensive care than there are beds available. Yet governments have refused to adopt the most basic public-health measures, such as mask mandates and paid sick days for workers.

‘Working class people were left to die’: Interview with palliative care physician Amit Arya

After two and a half years of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of people have died as a result of the virus and government mismanagement, with more than 41,000 deaths and 3.9 million cases across Canada so far. As the subvariants of Omicron now begin to take hold across the globe, working class people, exhausted and […]

Reckless removal of COVID measures by provinces will cost lives of workers

As we continue to endure the ravages of COVID-19 worldwide, several provincial governments in Canada have decided to pretend that the pandemic no longer exists. In recent weeks, we have seen announcements that nearly all restrictions will be lifted. The justification for this is that we must now “live with COVID”. In reality, the lifting […]

Eyewitness report from Calgary counter-demo against anti-vax, anti-mask protesters

Every week in Calgary up to 2,000 anti-vaccination and anti-mask protesters assemble across the street from a health centre before marching through the Beltline community. The protesters have harassed health-care workers, residents, and even children for wearing masks. A vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), a union which contains many health-care workers, […]

‘Learn to live with COVID’ is a death sentence for disabled people

Across Canada, COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted. Despite the recent devastation caused by the Omicron wave, which is not completely over, provinces including Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Manitoba have announced that they are scrapping measures including capacity limits, mask mandates, and vaccine passports. In order to justify these decisions, governments are changing their tunes. From official […]

Edmonton students stage walkout and rally against lifting of mask mandate

On Feb. 14, 2022, a student-led group, Students Against Kenney, led a walkout and subsequent rally at the Alberta Legislature.  Over 150 students, teachers, MLAs, and workers joined to protest the UCP’s irresponsible and scientifically unsupported decision to lift mask mandates in schools which took effect on Feb. 14. Not only did Jason Kenney throw […]

Ottawa residents take matters into their own hands

Working class residents of Ottawa have begun to take matters into their own hands. On Saturday, Feb. 12 there was a march attended by almost 4,000. This was followed by a spontaneous blockade stopping trucks trying to join the convoy on Sunday. This fantastic development shows how to defeat the far right. After the politicians […]

Nursing shortage: Raise wages and make schooling free

In the midst of unprecedented COVID-19 cases, hospitals across Canada face shortages of beds, supplies, administrative staff, doctors, and especially nurses to handle the surge in patients. Hospitals were already overburdened before the COVID-19 pandemic and throughout the first four waves, but the record-setting spread of the Omicron variant has pushed Canada’s health-care system to […]

Eyewitness reports from Convoy counter-protests: Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto

With the “Freedom Convoy” occupation of Ottawa into its second week, Feb. 5 saw sympathy convoys hit several other cities across Canada. At the same time, opposition to the right-wing thuggery seen at the convoys is building up, and working class Canadians are starting to push back with counter-demonstrations.  Fightback was present at three of […]