Blogs

rabble blogs are the personal pages of some of Canada's most insightful progressive activists and commentators. All opinions belong to the writer; however, writers are expected to adhere to our guidelines. We welcome new bloggers -- contact us for details.
Blog - January 26
Drawings of Azzeddine Soufiane, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Ibrahima Barry and Abdelkrim Hassane. Image: Melisse Watson and Syrus Marcus Ware
Rest in power: commemorating Muslim lives lost last January 29
Rachel Small | #RememberJan29 was created as a forum to support people in building a web of common experience, connecting the public to the moment of the attack and to each other.
Blog - Alberta Diary January 25
Methane flare in oil field. Photo: WildEarth Guardians/flickr
Albertans lose money while energy companies continue to let escaping methane make climate change worse
David J. Climenhaga | "Wasted methane represents lost value to oil and gas operators due to lost sales volumes of natural gas, and lost value to the government through lost royalty collection," says the Pembina Institute.
Blog - The Activist Toolkit Blog January 25
Image by Abdul Malik, used with permission
Who marched and why? The Women's March 2018
Maya Bhullar | The 2018 Women's March brought people back out into the street. How were some of the critiques levelled at the Women's March a year ago addressed?
Blog - Open Media's blog January 24
Image: OpenMedia
Your voices helped shape the new TPP
Marie Aspiazu | In a big win for the Internet, the new version of the TPP suspends many of the controversial provisions included in previous versions.
Blog - On The Other Hand January 24
Women's March: Image: Penney Kome
#MeToo on the march
Penney Kome | The Women's March roars back in 2018.
Blog - Alberta Diary January 24
Rachel Notley and Jason Kenney. Photo: Premier of Alberta/flickr and michael_swan/flickr
Rachel Notley and Jason Kenney sing from same hymnbook, sort of, on plan to prop up Keystone XL
David J. Climenhaga | Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has adopted conservative positions on pipelines. Is Opposition Leader Kenney coming around to a policy traditionally associated with the NDP?
Blog - The Views Expressed January 24
Picture taken from a Sûreté du Québec helicopter of Lac-Mégantic, the day of the derailment, July 6, 2013. Photo: Sûreté du Québec/Wikimedia Commons
As the Lac-Mégantic criminal trial ends, government action must begin
Bruce Campbell | The Quebec town's citizens were not protected from unsafe transportation conditions which remain in place today. They deserve justice.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada January 24
Hassan Diab with his family at Ottawa airport on his return to Canada in January. Photo courtesy of Hassan Diab Support Committee.
After 10 years, Hassan Diab is finally free
Judy Haiven | A celebration of the release and return home of Canadian professor Hassan Diab after three years of imprisonment in France, and a condemnation of Canada's role in his mistreatment.
Blog - David Suzuki January 23
Jose Angel Gurria. Image: Jose Angel Gurria/Wikimedia Commons
On climate, OECD head embraces environmentalism
David Suzuki | In Gurria we have one of the world's most influential economists urging dramatic climate action, including a higher, and rising, price on carbon.
Blog - Alberta Diary January 23
Brad Wall, Saskatchewan's premier (Photo: Saskatchewan Party/ Facebook).
Brad Wall hoist with own petard as Saskatchewan climbs down from embarrassing licence plate war
David J. Climenhaga | The New West Partnership is not without its good points, as it turns out. At least it managed to silence Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall for a few minutes ahead of his departure Saturday.
Blog - Reflections January 22
Message of support in French and English to the muslim community on the front door of Centre islamique de Verdun (4538, rue de Verdun, Montréal), in the Verdun borough of Montreal on 20 February 2017, in the aftermath of the Quebec City mosque shooting. Image: Fredisonfire/flickr
Only the people can make January 29 a National Day Against Islamophobia
Ehab Lotayef | If civil rights movements wait for the politicians, nothing will change.
Blog - Council of Canadians' blog January 22
Photo caption: Activists in Toronto protest the murder of 16 year old anti-mining organizer Topacio Reynoso Pacheco. She led youth in her community in opposing Canadian company Tahoe Resource's silver mine in Guatemala. Image: Allan Lissner
New human rights watchdog announced, but will it have teeth?
Rachel Small | We must hold the government accountable to ensure the new ombudsperson is effective.
Blog - Cathy Crowe's blog January 21
Inhumane emergency shelter conditions.
Toronto's shelter catastrophe was decades in the making
Cathy Crowe | A perfect storm created the conditions for the chronic shortage of shelter beds in Toronto, which can no longer be ignored.
Blog - rabble.ca's staff blog January 19
Photo: Bradley Weber
A classic way to live, by Cicero
Ed Finn | Old age need not be dreaded if it is the culmination of a well-spent life
Blog - January 18
U.S. Secretary of State Tillerson meets with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland at the Global Affairs in Ottawa, Canada, on December 19, 2017. Photo: State Department Photo/Public Domain/Flickr
Trump's poison pill NAFTA demands still on table as Canadian position waffles
Brent Patterson | What's going on with the NAFTA talks? Has Canada changed its position? Brent Patterson breaks it down here.
Blog - KAIROS Witness January 18
KAIROS Canada's wish list for 2018
Cheryl McNamara | Always striving for extraordinary change, KAIROS expects bold new provincial and federal policies this year that will advance human and ecological rights.
Blog - Alberta Diary January 18
Unifor President Jerry Dias (Photo: Unifor Local 591-G)
Canadian labour movement abuzz in wake of Unifor decision to quit Canadian Labour Congress
David J. Climenhaga | In the background of Unifor's decision to pull out of the CLC is a long and bitter dispute about the practice of "raiding," and of the role of U.S.-based international unions.
Blog - On The Other Hand January 18
Hurricane Sandy from New Jersey Pier. Image: Wikimedia Commons
Oil is becoming the new tobacco
Penney Kome | Like Norway, NYC divests from oil stock and also sues five oil companies for damages.
Blog - David Suzuki January 16
Site C Dam Construction Site. Image: Jeffrey Wynne/Wikimedia Commons
Large dams fail on climate change and Indigenous rights
David Suzuki | In Canada, large-scale projects such as Site C in B.C. and Muskrat Falls in Labrador run counter to our commitments to combat climate change and respect Indigenous Peoples' rights.
Blog - Alberta Diary January 16
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Image: Kremlin.ru/Wikimedia Commons
What if two NATO states start shooting at each other? It could happen
David J. Climenhaga | "Don't get in between us and terrorist organizations, or we will not be responsible for the unwanted consequences." – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the United States.
Blog - Alberta Diary January 15
Stephen Mandel & Jim Prentice in 2011. Image: David J. Climenhaga
Alberta conservatives embrace messiah strategy
David J. Climenhaga | Alberta's conservatives clearly have a Messiah Strategy for returning to power. It's been tried before, and it's not clear that it works all that well.
Blog - A change is gonna come January 15
Love Does Gala. Image: The Women's Centre of Halton
At The Women's Centre of Halton 'Love Does' amazing things
Doreen Nicoll | On February 10, The Women's Centre will host its second annual Gala to raise money to transform the lives of women and their children because that's what 'Love Does.'
Blog - Alberta Diary January 15
Calgary, Alberta
Alberta's UCP may be a different party, but policy document shows it's peddling the same old stuff
David J. Climenhaga | The UCP policy document's goals depend on the same old elephant in the room that looms over all discussions of Alberta fiscal policy: it requires higher oil prices.
Blog - Dr. Dawg's Blawg January 12
Carleton University in Ottawa, where Hassan Diab taught before his arrest.
Canadian man accused in synagogue bombing freed after case tossed out
J. Baglow | Hassan Diab, a Canadian citizen, has been held without trial or charge in a French maximum-security prison for a bombing that took place in 1980. This week, he was set free.
Blog - Alberta Diary January 10
The Calgary skyline in 2016 (Photo: Kevin Cappis, Wikimedia Commons).
'Blockbuster' job creation in Alberta leaves UCP in search of new talking points about 'job killing' carbon levy
David J. Climenhaga | You can probably count on the nattering nabobs of neoliberal negativity at the UCP to come up with a new reason that is clearly the NDP's fault to explain why the sky is falling.
Blog - David Suzuki January 10
Shopping cart facing the aisle of a grocery store. Photo: Brian Talbot/flickr
Consumer society no longer serves our needs
David Suzuki | How did "throw-away," "disposable" and "planned obsolescence" become part of product design and marketing? It was deliberate.
Blog - Pulpit and Politics January 9
Many retail food sector jobs pay only minimum wage. Image: Dennis Gruending
Business lobby alarmist on Ontario minimum wage
Dennis Gruending | The business lobby is using alarmist tactics to oppose a minimum wage hike in Ontario.
Blog - Alberta Diary January 9
Kathleen Wynne (Photo: David Climenhaga)
Tim Hortons brew-haha shows fast-food industry doesn't get PR, economics, or what Canadians think
David J. Climenhaga | Never mind the spin. The actual Bank of Canada note concluded that the benefits of increased minimum wages outweigh any depressant effect they may have on job creation.
Blog - The Activist Toolkit Blog January 8
Tim Hortons. Image: Wladyslaw/Wikimedia Commons
To boycott or not to boycott?
Maya Bhullar | Four ways support workers continue to fight for $15
Blog - David Bush's blog January 6
Workers are under attack: Where is the ONDP?
David Bush | Kathleen Wynne has been defending workers' rights during the recent backlash against minimum wage increases. By contrast, Andrea Horwath's NDP have only meekly supported the issue.

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