This coming Thursday, Sept. 30th, is Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Although it is a statutory holiday for all federally regulated employees, it is unfortunately not a statutory holiday for provincially regulated employees. As the overwhelming majority of workers are employed in sectors that are provincially regulated, relatively very…
Don Davies has my vote!
I am devoting my blog this week to Don Davies, member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway. Don has long been my very favourite MP. I first came to know him before he was elected to Parliament in 2008. Before he was an MP, he would always very graciously support COPE fundraisers I was organizing. At…
Why the Canada Disability Benefit should be a priority for everyone this election
The time is now for a Canada Disability Benefit. My good friend Al Etmanski has been hard at work for many years to reduce/eliminate the poverty experienced by 1.4 million disabled Canadians. We should never count our chickens before they hatch, but victory may be just around the corner. Most parties in the current federal…
Cuban solidarity is an example to the world
Last Monday, on a beautiful summer evening my partner Penny and I had the great honour of hosting Cuban Embassy officials David Aldama Pando, Third Secretary, and Areadna Quitana Castañeda, Press Attaché, as guests in our home. It was two hours of informative, intellectually stimulating discussion about a wide range of topics. The main topic…
The uncertain future of False Creek South
In the early 1970s, Vancouver’s Non-Partisan Association (NPA) lost its control of City Council. A new party led by Mayor Art Phillips, The Electors Action Movement (TEAM) came to power. My mentor Harry Rankin, who was on City Council at that time, described TEAM as simply a fresher, slicker, younger version of the NPA. While…
The real reason Cubans are taking to the streets
For the seventh day in a row, thousands of Cubans have taken to their streets to demonstrate. The Western media was very quick to frame their actions as demonstrations against socialism. These media portrayals could not be further from the truth. For example, on July 14 the New York Times published an opinion piece by…
Subconscious socialism
As many of you may know, I have long been committed to the ideals of socialism and consider myself a socialist. It has been said that the essence of socialism is the same as that of many great religions – a commitment to putting others ahead of one’s own self interest. At one point in…