The P.E.I. election is "a huge protest vote" with the NDP and the Greens taking 22 per cent of the popular vote, notes Charlottetown-based social justice activist Marian White.
On May 2 in Toronto, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of Toronto Police Headquarters, chanting "Black lives matter" as part of the action From Toronto to Baltimore, Black Lives Matter to show solidarity with Baltimore, draw attention to the practice of carding and demand their narratives be respected.
The outcome of the P.E.I election on May 4 has been hard to predict considering a scandal involving the current governing Liberals is fresh in voters' minds and the rookie leadership of all political parties. None of the four political party leaders vying to become the Island's next premier have won a seat in provincial government.
P.E.I. has only once elected a member to their Legislative Assembly from outside the two dominant political parties -- the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives. Popular Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker may double that number on Monday night. The dentist, writer, musician and public speaker is polling first in his riding of Kellys Cross/Cumberland.
I don't want to chide you for reading rabble.ca but this is International Workers Day, so you should really be in the streets, doing some rabble rousing there. Oh wait, you're on your phone reading? Well, keep on marching, then!
Since the 1880s May 1 has been a day to celebrate the rites of spring and the spirit of revolution. So read about what the labour movement has been up to this week and then go take part in the revolution, please.
In Canada, May Day has always been the rebel workers holiday.
First celebrated in the 1880s, International Workers Day has its roots in the historic struggle for workers rights and collective action.
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the era known as the Gilded Age, the rise of industrialism and unregulated capitalism led to unprecedented inequality in North America. At the same time, however, political radicalism and trade unionism were on the rise among working people.
These groups found common front in their demand for a shorter work week. And on May 1, 1886, workers took to the streets in the thousands to demand an eight-hour work day.
Many unions large and small in Quebec are encouraging members to mobilize on May Day, Friday May 1, as part of the province-wide opposition to austerity.
Traditionally, May Day is celebrated by many on the left in Canada, with Quebec putting on some of the largest showings. In recent years, hundreds have been detained and ticketed by police during anti-capitalist May Day protests in Montreal.
Calgary's got a bit of a housing problem. Well that's a major understatement.
Between April 2013 and April 2014, Calgary's population grew by almost 40,000 people. Finding a place to live is at the top of a newcomer's list, but finding an affordable place -- ideally spending around 30 per cent of your gross income on payments -- isn't quite as easy. That problem's only exacerbated if you're living under the poverty line.
Both Swedish and Canadian foreign policy approaches were recently criticized for their stance on selling arms to Saudi Arabia, with the Canadian government defending its decision to supply Light Armored Vehicles (LAVs) to a country with one of the worst human rights records in the world, at the same time as Sweden decided to cancel its arms deal with the gulf state.
Last Thursday William Cerqueira fell to his death while working on a construction site in downtown Toronto. He fell from the 17th floor of a building on busy Adelaide Street, just west of Bay Street, while trying to strip a piece of plywood.
This tragedy will be repeated more than 1,000 times this year.
On April 28, the Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job, workers across the country will mourn for William Cerquiera and thousands of other workers that have been killed or injured on the job.