I have been working many years with the volumes of the Marx-Engels MEGA2 and have tried to pay great attention, in my work, to the recent philological discoveries related to the writings of Marx already known but previously edited in an incorrect way, as well as to the previously unpublished materials, like the preparatory drafts of Capital or Marx's notebooks of excerpts that appeared in the last few years.

As the Peruvian immigrant community in Kitchener-Waterloo -- and families at home in Peru -- mourn the loss of 11 of their own in a deadly highway crash in rural Ontario on February 6, at least one Toronto daily newspaper two days later prioritized instead the highway death a single girl (a white, 19-year-old aspiring model), pushing the 11 Peruvian lives to page eight.

TORONTO—Toronto residents are breathing slightly easier after a long-awaited City Council vote on large cuts to core city services took place earlier tonight. The cuts, proposed as part of the 2012 city budget, have been looming ever since Mayor Rob Ford manufactured a budget crisis upon taking office.

In a major blow to Mayor Rob Ford's austerity agenda, many of the most significant cuts were reversed, in large part thanks to a surprising move from the council's centre, led by Josh Colle. An omnibus motion, which used some financial sleight-of-hand to make increases to the budget in the sectors threatened by the proposed cuts, was passed by a vote of 23 to 21. Colle defended his position in an interview after the vote. “We made tough decisions...it's not reckless spending. We settled on a prudent budget that was fiscally responsible and addressed some of the concerns that people had brought up.”

Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday tried to play down the defeat, noting the narrow margin by which the votes on several of the most crucial cuts were defeated. “It's far from the end of the world,” he said.

Approximately two hundred people were in chambers for the vote; almost ten times that number remained outside, prevented from entering by a line of police officers mixed with City Hall security. Attempts to enter the building for the vote were met with violence, as a number of individuals were hit and pepper-sprayed. A small horse-mounted riot squad moved on the crowd. Several arrests were made, people were beaten and choked and an elderly man was thrown to the ground. At least one person was taken to St. Michael's hospital.

Aiden Hennings from Stop the Cuts described the scene:

“I was at the front, trying to get into City Hall. [The police] started grabbing people outside the barricades. I was grabbed by my hair and they tried to drag me through their lines, but other people took me back. About five minutes later I was pepper-sprayed from a foot away—the officer smiled while he did it, and my two little sisters were punched in the face by police as well.”

“I didn't expect it to be one of 'those kinds of rallies'” said Ryan of Occupy Toronto. “[The police] threw a lot of people around. They should have just let us in; they said they wouldn't because it was such a big group.” There was, however, room in council chambers for more people, with a large standing area behind the 250-seat gallery sparsely populated.

During the session, several observers shouted about the police repression outside, while others chanted “stop the cuts, save good jobs” in response to the results of a vote on the privatization of custodial services. They were forcibly ejected from council. “This is just a bunch of elites who claim to represent us, but they don't bother to consult us,” said one, to applause from many in the observation area. She later told the Media Coop: “Security and Toronto Police brought us down the elevator to the first floor. Elise [Thornburn, of Stop the Cuts] started to move toward the main exit, instead of the side exit that the police were taking us to. Police grabbed her, and she went limp. They dragged her down the hall to the door.”

Council Chair Frances Nunziata, who directed security to remove the protestors, had a low threshold for any perceived disruptions from the floor, threatening to clear chambers after a few boos were heard from the gallery.

As the motions wrapped up, City Hall's head of security announced that councillors would have to exit from the side and rear doors of the building, as the Toronto Police were “currently dealing” with the protest. An Occupy Toronto contingent was also present outside, setting up several tents in the middle of the square, which were later moved to the boundary of city and provincial land to “avoid a trespass bylaw.”

Hennings was upset about the police response to the rally: “We wanted to have our voices heard at city hall. We wanted them to hear that Toronto is against the cuts.”

Later, a small contingent of demonstrators marched to 52 Division, where several arrestees were being held. One of the men being held, Derek Soberal, appeared for a bail hearing at Old City Hall on January 18. The remainder of those arrested were released from the station.

Many activists are wondering whether tonight's events constitute a victory or a defeat. Although the feared cuts to libraries, social services and other core services were averted, the loss of jobs within city ranks and privatization measures still culled millions from the city budget.

The cancellation of some of the cuts is testament to months of mobilization by community groups, labour and many ad-hoc committees across the city who came together to save specific city services in their communities. Colle acknowledged the impact of these efforts, saying the budget had generated "more discussion amongst the public and councillors" than he'd ever seen before.

The fight against Ford's austerity agenda will likely continue, with a near-certain lockout of CUPE 416 coming in February, as the union refuses to accept their jobs being farmed out to private contractors.

—with files from Megan Kinch

Justin Saunders is an information technologist and journalist based in Toronto.

The article was originally published by the Toronto Media Co-op.

For the first time, the New Democratic Party (NDP) is holding a leadership race that involves picking the leader of the Official Opposition and someone that can, with some credibility, claim a decent shot at becoming the next Prime Minister of Canada.

There is not just a crisis of development today, but also a crisis of ideas for emancipatory forms of development. What is needed from progressives is a rigorous theory that must acknowledge what is present (class exploitation, imperialism, etc...) but also what is absent (collective democratic control over our lives, our planet, our bodies, our destiny, our culture).

(Audio interview begins aprox four seconds after you click play)

Toronto Media Co-op spoke with James McDowell, Second Vice-President of the Brampton Mississauga Labour Council over the phone as McDowell and ten others are occupying Conservative MP Bal Gosal's office 8500 Torbran Road, Unit 44, Brampton.  According to McDowell "this is happening across the province; I am aware of at least 20 offices being occupied around the province."

The Ontario Federation of Labour press release states: "At 1:00 pm today, outraged pensioners, soon-to-be pensioners and supporters have resorted to constituency office occupations to demand that Conservative Members of Parliament abandon plans to push back the OAS eligibility age from 65 to 67, or make any reductions to benefits. Instead, they are calling for the Harper government to introduce modest increases to Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions that would double benefits for all retirees and seniors."

According to McDowell, "if they continue the attacks to the working people of this country in the next four years they are going to be taken to task on it."

When asked what their plans are, McDowell replied "this office is publically funded, so we will be here until we get some kind of proper attention to this problem." When asked if they will leave the building once it closes for the evening, McDowell said that the occupiers will "have to make that decision when it happens."

The Ontario Federation of Labour has provided contact list for occupations that are currently taking place at the following Conservative MP constituency offices:

MP OFFICE

OFFICE ADDRESS

LEAD OCCUPIER

TEL #

Hon. Jim Flaherty

701 Rossland Road East, Unit 204, Whitby

Jim Freeman

905-431-5607

Hon Bal Gosal

8500 Torbram Road, Unit 44, Brampton

James McDowell

416-587-8809

Kyle Seeback

160 Main Street South, Unit 29, Brampton

Phil McColeman

3-108 St. George Street, Brantford

Gary MacDonald

519-751-9371

Hon. Gary Goodyear

1425 Bishop St North Unit 3, Cambridge

Mike Devine

Guy Lauzon

621 Pitt Street, Cornwall

Elaine MacDonald

613-330-3117

Hon. Michael Chong

5-200 St. Patrick Street E, Fergus

Janice Folk-Dawson

519-766-8376

Peter Braid

22 King St. South, Waterloo

Sandi Ellis

Harold Albrecht

153 Country Hill Dr, Unit 2A, Kitchener

Len Carter

519-239-7692

Stephen Woodworth

12-300 Victoria Street North, Kitchener

Orville Thacker

519-893-3974

Barry Devolin

68 McLaughlin Rd Unit 1, Lindsay

James Mulhern

705-344-0287

Susan Truppe

546 King Street, Main Office, London

Len Elliott

519-671-9320

Ed Holder

200-390 Commissioners Rd West, London

Jim Kennedy

519-697-0360

Hon. Rob Nicholson

2895 St. Paul Ave, Unit 11, Niagara Falls

Heather Kelley

905-993-2078

MP OFFICE

OFFICE ADDRESS

LEAD OCCUPIER

TEL #

Jay Aspin

100-133 Main Street West, North Bay

Henri Giroux

705-471-7746

David Tilson

229 Broadway, Unit 2, Orangeville

Primrose Short

519-938-6030

Dean Del Mastro

1875 Lansdowne St W, Peterborough

Doug McDonald

705-740-3489

Gary Schellenberger

544 Huron Street, Stratford

Dave Jasper

519-801-5409

No Tory MP in Thunder Bay

Service Canada, 975 Alloy Drive, Thunder Bay

Melanie Kelso

807-620-0396

Jeff Watson

186 Talbot Street South, Essex

Dino Chiodo

519-995-3603

Check back to Toronto Media Co-op for more updates and interviews as they become available.  If you have photos or video of any of the events you can upload them by creating a Media Co-op account for free or I can post them for you if you e-mail zruiter@gmail.com

• Media Co-op Updates

From 1944 through 2007 Saskatchewan politics was dominated by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and its successor the New Democratic Party (NDP). But then it was soundly defeated by the Saskatchewan Party in 2007 and routed in 2011.

This short documentary studies the contrast between the sedate Toronto of the turn of the century and the thriving, expanding metropolis of 1951. Aerial views give evidence of the conversion of the old Toronto into the new--the city with towering skyscrapers, teeming traffic arteries, vast industrial developments and far-reaching residential areas housing over a million people.

by Mike Constable

The City of Toronto went to court to ask a judge to order the occupiers of St. James Park to remove their tents and other structures that enabled them to maintain a highly visible and much-publicized presence in the park for 24 hours every day.

TORONTO – Dear Occupy Toronto, we need to talk. Since the beginning of the St. James occupation, and in the period since eviction, there have been many instances of overt sexism and racism, harassment, threats, intimidation, belligerence and even violence within the movement. Attempts to deal with, or even point out, these behaviours were often deemed “exclusionary,” or “unsubstantiated personal attacks.” It should be self-evident that such responses often serve to exclude a far greater number of people from social movements in favour of perpetrators. Women, especially, have left Occupy Toronto in droves, as safety and inclusion issues remain a low priority and perpetrators of intolerable behaviours are largely unnamed and unknown outside a small circle.

The Toronto Star's recent coverage of Antonin Mongeau, an infamous member of Occupy Toronto, illustrates this fact. The article focused largely on Mongeau's use of a pseudonym and his class background - Mongeau/Smith, it turns out, comes 'from the 1 percent'. Use of pseudonyms is quite common among activists, and those at Occupy Toronto were no exception. Antonin 'Smith' was an obvious pseudonym, and at no time did Mongeau try to distance himself from his activities at the University of Toronto (where he went by his full name). In delving into Mongeau's past, The Star virtually ignored the relevant issues.

Over the course of our Occupy coverage, we witnessed the internal workings of the local branch of this movement. We also became deeply familiar with Antonin Mongeau; the Toronto Media Co-op broadsheet on Occupy Toronto was sponsored in part by the Food Team for much of the occupation, and the TMC featured extensive coverage of Mongeau's organizing work.

Back in December, a General Assembly (GA) in Nathan Phillips Square dragged on late into the night, as it struggled to make a painful decision to expel Mongeau - who has been accused of physical assaults, verbal threats, sexual harassment and the misappropriation of a large sum of Occupy Toronto funds. A long list of complaints was read aloud at the Assembly, followed by a lengthy discussion on a proposal to create a safe space consistent with the principles of anti-oppression. The following decision was eventually passed with 100% consensus (three abstentions out of roughly 30 individuals present):

“We agree that Antonin Smith is not welcome in our general assemblies, working groups, or committees unless he demonstrates a willingness to address the issues as perceived by the people who have been victimized by him.”

Only 24 hours later, that decision was reversed after Mongeau showed up at a General Assembly, and was allowed to facilitate his own re-admittance. A subsequent Assembly was informed (by members of the facilitation team) that a committee would be struck in order to develop a 'mediation process.' A ban on Mongeau has since been inconsistently applied at officially sanctioned Occupy Toronto events. This pseudo-successful attempt at expelling someone is, to date, the most serious effort by Occupy Toronto to hold one person accountable for their actions. Although 'Occupy' has undoubtedly inspired and challenged people both within and outside of existing movements for social change, the decision-making process of Occupy Toronto was built on some rather shaky common principles - and it shows.

Concerted efforts to create an accountable way to deal with security issues were often thwarted by the General Assembly, which is usually unable to reach decisions if even one person disagrees. The real decision-making fell to various committees; the marshal team, for example, formed a core of dedicated people to help with safety and had its own internal accountability process. Yet they were continually hampered by an inconsistent mandate in creating actually safe spaces; on the night that one General Assembly temporarily (and apparently, accidentally) disbanded the marshal committee, fights broke out all over St. James park.

The lack of security in the park created a situation in which certain people, including Mongeau, filled a security need by essentially acting as vigilantes. Another key figure from the Logistics team ran his own fiefdom, and has since been accused of financial improprieties amounting to a few thousand dollars. About halfway through the occupation, a member of the Toronto Media Co-op was attacked by a man with a reputation for aggression. It took sustained interventions from the marshal team and action committee to allow the TMC member to remain present in the park during the weeks following. (Mongeau also intervened in this case, actually helping to prevent a further attack immediately after the incident). The assaulter set himself up as vigilante as well, sometimes violently attacking people in the name of non-violence, and declaring those he didn't like to be undercover police officers.

Since the eviction from St. James Park robbed Occupy Toronto of a physical focal point, General Assemblies and various events have been largely responsible for the group's cohesion. However, governance has not improved in the past few months. While the post-occupation assemblies have been able to form some new parameters for meetings, including the implementation of a quorum, successful decision making is a rare, not routine, event. It took several months of debate in outdoor, cold, dark meetings with poor attendance before occupiers could agree to decrease the frequency of assemblies from every night to four times per week.

In other post-eviction cities, Occupy has re-emerged in a variety of different forms. In Toronto, the most productive event since the eviction was a weekend-long Activist Assembly, which brought together occupiers, community organizers and new people wanting to plug in (however, attempts made during one weekend event to talk about racism and inclusivity were actually booed). Although some new tactics have taken root - Occupy the TTC had Assemblies on buses and streetcars, an airport worker/community assembly outside the Pearson airport brought the assembly model to workers, and Occupy was a strong presence along with Stop the Cuts in the battle of the budget outside City Hall on Jan 17th - it remains to be seen whether Occupiers will be able to re-organize themselves in a way which allows for real inclusivity and horizontal organizing.

The unwillingness of Occupy Toronto's membership to develop and enforce standards of behaviour consistent with the values of social justice exemplifies a deeply flawed process. These problems are not unique to the Occupy movement; they have been present in many organizations, including our own. Yet they are particularly egregious in this movement. It is important to note that many people have left, or refused to be a part of, Occupy Toronto because of the ongoing and severe safety issues. Without proper accountability mechanisms, Occupy Toronto is setting itself up for failure. If it is to flourish as a movement, and fulfil the potential it obviously has, it will need to find ways to consistently challenge the inequity that exists within itself.

• Occupy

11m: Sam Gindin interviewed on the European debt crisis and austerity agendas of governments everywhere 21m: Carlo Fanelli analyses what was accomplished at Toronto City Hall to limit the regressive measures introduced by Mayor Rob Ford and the shape of the battles still to come.