Profits, Inflation and Survival in an Age of Emergencies: Why We Need a New Paradigm – 2024 Ellen Meiksins Wood Lecture
The 2024 Ellen Meiksins Wood Lecture was delivered by economist Isabella Weber, demonstrating how economic shocks and corporate profits have affected our affordability crisis. From gas to groceries, this lecture provides valuable context and a policy toolkit for helping ordinary Canadians through economic crisis.
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Why the Program Cuts at York University Are Bad for Democracy
Recent cuts sent a chill through Ontario’s academic community, and signalled a deeply disturbing devaluation of higher education and scholarship.
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The Digital Oligarchy: Surveillance, Tech Giants, and the Future of Human Rights
Canadians are right to be concerned about corporate control of data, algorithmically worsening inequality, and the role of tech companies in disempowering workers.
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How Mis/Disinformation is Driving Alberta to the Right, Part 1: Understanding the Origins
Misinformation and disinformation are polarizing Alberta politics, stoking division and a reactionary shift to the right.
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“For All Mankind”: Address to the 1978 Socialist International Congress
As modern socialists we accept with pride and determination our historic and continuing struggle for liberty and equality, not simply for ourselves but for all mankind.
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From Marketing to Movement-Building: Ground Game and Community Organizing in Party Politics
It’s been said that “the ground game can only take you so far”. But what if the right kind of ground game can count for more than we realize?
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The Socialist Challenge and Beyond
“Our socialist challenge is to tackle what I have called the economic question. This fundamental question is about economic power, and who will wield it. It is about our national priorities, and who will decide them.”
Issue No. 3 – Spring 2025
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Editorial — Spring 2025
Amid this nationalist fervour is a desire to protect Canadian institutions such as public healthcare – a profoundly distinct and equalizing system that has insulated the Canadian working-class from the affordability experiences of Americans.
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The Monopoly Problem at the Heart of Canada’s Food System
While the ongoing cost-of-living crisis facing Canadians has been provoked by recent global events, the consolidation of the Canadian food system has been a long-running and strenuous process.
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Institutional Design of Price Controls in Canada
Market concentration in key sectors, including groceries, transportation, and commodity production renders Canada particularly vulnerable to the threat of sellers’ inflation. As a result, Canada should seize the opportunity before the next major supply shock to implement a Weber-inspired policy playbook.
Reviews
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Kevin Lambert’s Real Estate Realism
‘May Our Joy Endure’ is a timely cultural intervention — a scathing yet beautifully crafted critique of Québec’s elite and the forces of gentrification.
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The Scandalous Grip of Neoliberalism
Two important books from Lorimer Press highlight the insidious impact of neoliberalism on Canada’s political, social, and economic landscape, detailing its roots, devastating results, and the urgent need for democratic renewal and progressive reform.
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Home Truths: A Practical Policy Toolkit for Fixing the Housing Crisis
In ‘Home Truths: Fixing Canada’s Housing Crisis’ Carolyn Whitzman finds opportunities for hope in outlining a path towards housing for all across Canada.
Perspectives Journal Podcast
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Class & Climate: Union Power with Brandon Dyck – IBEW
The energy transition runs on union power. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is one of the labour unions that will generate the electricity needed to seize the potential and jobs of a just transition.
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Class & Climate: Building a Green Workforce with Lindsay Amundsen
Lindsay Amundsen of Canada’s Building Trades Unions explains what a just transition really means for workers—and how union-led training programs are preparing the workforce for the green economy.
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Class & Climate: Green Industrial Policy with Jim Stanford and Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood
Jim Stanford and Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood define what green industrial policy is and explain why it’s having a renaissance in the middle of the Trump trade war.
Video
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What Makes a Good Society? With Jen Hassum
The Broadbent Institute’s Executive Director Jen Hassum explains how Ed Broadbent’s vision of the ‘Good Society’ offers a roadmap for building a more equal, inclusive and progressive Canada.
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Organizing to Win the Movement — not the Moment with LaToia Jones
LaToia Jones stays true to progressive values and organizes beyond the win or the loss to build resilient movements.
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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.
