Canada

On 28 March, a decision was made at a Special General Members Meeting of CUPE 3903 (TAs and sessional lecturers at York University) to ban Fightback from picket lines and all spaces associated with CUPE 3903. We are shocked by this decision which was based on misinformation and innuendo. We publish here, Fightback's response to this decision.

The Montreal Marxist Winter School has become the biggest Marxist meeting in Canada, but this year's event was something special. There was record attendance at the school, with close to 230 people participating. People were present from Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, Mexico, France, Britain and Switzerland. Two hundred years after Karl Marx’s birth, the 2018 Marxist Winter School has shown that Marxist ideas are advancing across the board.

Recent independence movements, most notably those in Scotland and Catalonia, have caused many people to draw parallels between them and Quebec. This, combined with the identitarian turn that the mainstream Québécois nationalist parties have taken recently, forces us to return to the basics and re-evaluate the Marxist approach to this question.

We publish here a collected series of articles on the 1837-1838 Rebellions of Upper and Lower Canada (original available at Fightback). It is important that Marxists understand the place of these important events in the history of the class struggle in Canada and Quebec.

Join the International Marxist Tendency for the 8th annual Montreal Marxist Winter School. 2018 will be the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth, therefore this year we will be focusing on Marx's revolutionary ideas.

On Friday 23rd June, the Canadian Marxist Journal Fightback’s, editorial board sat down to discuss with 2017 NDP leadership candidate Niki Ashton. The transcript of that interview can be found here. Based upon that interview, and Ashton’s statements since the start of the campaign, Fightback has decided to support Ashton’s candidacy and encourage all socialists to do the same. A victory for Ashton would represent a victory for the left in Canada and opens up the possibility of the development of a movement analogous to those sparked by Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders.

Il y a 45 ans avait lieu le plus grand mouvement de grève de l’histoire du Québec. Lors de cet épisode historique, les travailleur-euses de la province ont investi massivement la scène politique pour lutter contre la classe bourgeoise. Au paroxysme du mouvement, les travailleur-euses occupèrent les usines et les mines et la grève générale paralysa l’économie de la province. Aujourd’hui, les événements du printemps 1972 demeurent dans l’angle mort de l’histoire québécoise officielle, laquelle retient généralement la crise d’octobre 1970 comme moment phare des turbulences politiques et sociales de cette période. À l’heure où la crise du capitalisme s’éternise, la lutte des classes refait

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Forty-five years ago, the largest and most important strike movement in the history of Quebec took place. During this historic episode, the workers of the province stormed onto the political arena to fight against the bourgeoisie. At its peak, workers occupied the factories and mines, and the general strike movement brought the economy of the province to a halt.

When Justin Trudeau stated that, “Canada is back,” it could have been interpreted as just another one of those hollow phrases which he is so good at. With the unveiling of Canada’s new defence policy on June 7th, we now understand better what he meant.

L’atmosphère au pays commence à changer, et sous la surface, elle a effectivement changé au cours de la dernière période. Au Québec et en Alberta, la situation politique se caractérise déjà par un antagonisme tranché et des tournants rapides vers la gauche et la droite. Les premiers contours d’une polarisation politique peuvent être décelés au sein des courses à la chefferie des partis fédéraux conservateur et néo-démocrate. Parallèlement, la popularité dont Trudeau jouissait après les élections commence à s’estomper.

Over 110 revolutionaries gathered in Toronto May 20-22 for the 17th congress of Fightback and La Riposte Socialiste, the supporters of the International Marxist Tendency in Canada. The three-day congress brought attendees from Montreal, Waterloo, Hamilton, Ottawa, Oshawa and Edmonton, plus international guests from Sweden and Britain. The level of enthusiasm was incredibly high as the congress marked significant advances for the Marxist movement in Canada and Quebec.

An update on the Economic and Political Situation in Canada 2017

Relative calm and stability have seemed to define Canadian politics in a world marked by crisis, instability, abrupt shocks and sharp polarization. International commentators have highlighted the strength of the political “centre” in Canada. The Economist even ran an article titled “Canada: The last Liberals” after the victory of Donald Trump in the American elections last fall. Will Canada continue to be an “island of stability” surrounded by a storm affecting world politics, economy and international relations?