Canadian governments will have to maximize industrial job creation here in Canada, and they will have to perhaps stand strong in the face of WTO or European protests in order to do so.
We must come to terms with the crisis before the crisis— the steady rise in very insecure and low paid work which leaves far too many individuals and families one pay cheque away from disaster.
Green New Deal architects need to bring together the political coalition they need to be the change they want.
Canadians—and people of all nations—must ask themselves at what point does the concentration of economic power threaten, not just a couple thousand jobs in Oshawa, but the very basis of our sovereignty and democracy?
Aivalis’ argument that Pierre Trudeau was a “Constant Liberal” is subtle, and acknowledges that organized labour and the NDP were not always consistently advocating policies well to the left of the Liberals.
Development of a new trade agenda should certainly be on the agenda of labour and the left.
For workers, trade unions and social democrats, the answer to achieving greater social justice is in imagining a closer relationship between social democracy, trade unions and the state.
What we need is higher productivity in low wage industries, and a higher minimum wage floor will help to do the job.
Viewing the TPP as a trade agreement masks its significance as a tool that will, like NAFTA, be used to challenge government regulation in the public interest. Investors from across the TPP will be able to appeal regulatory decisions before secret tribunals, giving them rights that do not exist for domestic companies under Canadian law.
