Social Democracy without Borders and the Good Society
To be humane, societies must be democratic — and, to be democratic, every person must be afforded the economic and social rights necessary for their individual flourishing.
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Editorial — Autumn 2024
The ghosts that Perspectives Journal tries to exorcize are the spirits of neoliberal capitalism that continue to haunt Canadian social democrats. This particular stage of capitalism, long after its heyday, still pervades our political economy and applies a heavy weight to today’s progressive movements that fight for justice and equality.
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Counting the Dead: The Urgent Need for Coroners’ Data on Trans Deaths in Canada
There is a glaring lack of data on trans deaths and systemic data collection is required to address inequities through policy. Research shows that training death investigators to identify trans people post-mortem is feasible, making this a simple policy change that could be a critical step toward fulfilling the promise of equality.
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Spillover Effects: Making Minimum Wage Increases a Popular Policy Choice
Minimum wage policy appears to impact three times as many workers as typically assumed, rendering it much more powerful than considerations of minimum-wage earners alone would suggest.
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Possibilities of Power: A Retrospective of the Ontario New Democratic Government, 1990 to 1995
Reflecting on the ONDP government led by Bob Rae from 1990 to 1995, it is clear that the success of today’s ONDP depends on its ability to deliver on substantive reforms that materially benefit Ontario’s diverse working-class.
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Pharmacare and Access to Medicines in Canada: Is Bill C-64 a Step in the Right Direction?
After years of change and advancement in healthcare for Canadian citizens, Bill C-64 still might fall short of adequately and fairly providing pharmacare in Canada.
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The Alt-Right’s Co-Optation of Wellness Subculture at the Intersection of Health, Purity, and Ideology
The wellness to alt-right pipeline continues to draw more and more who fall outside of the shrinking net of collective care into movements that threaten democratic institutions and community wellbeing. Governments need to stop the erosion of institutions of community care.
Reviews
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Escaping the Consulting Trap
Chris Hurl and Leah Werner reveal the consulting industry’s hand in hollowed-out public services and draw an escape plan for Western democracies hoping to emerge from consultants’ nebulous grasp.
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Profit, not price, is why we keep burning fossil fuels
Brett Christophers’ book, ‘The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet,’ argues why the energy transition can’t be left to the market.
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Late-Stage Scavengers
In her new book, ‘Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom,’ Grace Blakeley retraces neoliberalism’s short- and long-history, moving beyond conventional analysis to track this peculiar variant of capitalism back centuries rather than decades.
Podcasts
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Correcting the Record on Trans Deaths with Dylana Thompson
There is a glaring lack of systemic data collection on trans deaths in Canada. It’s time that policymakers correct the course.
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The Continuing Battle for Universal Pharmacare with Marc-André Gagnon
Bill C-64 promises to bring pharmacare to Canadians, but gaps within the legislation may prevent it from fulfilling true universal pharmacare for all.
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Activists Make History: Organizing the First Walmart Warehouse Union in Canada with Angela Drew Kimelman
The Mississauga warehouse union drive has shown to be a catalyst for labour organizing in warehouses across the country, with momentum swinging towards the working-class.
Video
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A Progressive Toolkit to Solve Canada’s Housing Crisis
Housing expert Carolyn Whitzman chronicles the shifts in government housing policy over recent decades and shows what needs to be done to make housing accessible for all Canadians.
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A New Economic Turning Point with Armine Yalnizyan
Leading economist Armine Yalnizyan discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and the lessons to be learned.
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Challenging Corporate Power to fix Affordability with Jim Stanford
Jim Stanford talks through the shortcomings of Canadian federal policies in easing the cost of living crisis and shows how organized labour is supporting the working-class.
