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In 2015, our columnists delivered progressive commentary on issues in Canada and around the world, covering the federal election, climate justice, Indigenous rights, labour struggles, civil liberties, and much, much more. From voter suppression to new climate movements to the fight against Bill C-51, rabble.ca columnists examined the issues that mattered to you. Here, we review the year in columns and highlight some of our favourites, in eight key areas. For a complete selection of our columns year-round, check out our columns section.
1. Federal election
Stephen Harper’s re-election strategy depended on a lot of you not voting. And if you messed with his plan by showing up at the polling station on Election Day, he was prepared for that, too.
- A single-issue election: The anti-Harper vote — Marc Zwelling
Pollsters and pundits tried to isolate the issues in election 2015. Was the economy top of mind? Health care? But there was really only one ballot-box question: Do you want four more years of Stephen Harper or not?
- Millions of Canadians denied the right to vote in 2015 federal election — Priya Sarin (Pro Bono)
This year, two courts ruled on separate Charter challenges to legislation affecting the rights of certain groups of Canadians to vote in the October 2015 election. Their decisions were surprising.
- Are you voting for policies that hurt you? Neoliberal polices and your paycheque — Ellen Russell, Mathieu Dufour
Promises always sound good, especially in election season. But after the election is over and politicians start implementing those promises, do they really work out the way we had hoped?
- ‘Trust me, I’m lying’: The dark side of election 2015 — Duncan Cameron
Tom Mulcair and the NDP caucus did a great job in undermining the credibility of the Harper government; then Justin Trudeau reaped the rewards by sowing doubts about “Tom Mulcair’s NDP.”
2. Canadian politics
- A number is never just a number: Political divides — Hennessy’s Index
Canadians who identify as right or left on the political spectrum are more likely to be interested in politics, according to a recent survey. Here’s how those political divisions stack up.
- Taking back our country from the scourge of Harperism — Ralph Surette
A sinister culture of fear and control has been created that runs through the vital organs of Canadian public life. To overcome it, we need a cleansing of the scourge of a corrosive ideology.
- This is your prime minister on drugs — Julie Devaney
It may appear that harm reduction and safe-injection sites are peripherally related to the campaign for a national pharmacare plan, but the Harper government’s drug policies inextricably link them.
- The worst: Canada’s economy under the Harper government — Jim Stanford
These numbers are going to shock you: there is no other time in Canada’s post-war economic history in which Canada’s economy has performed worse than it did under the Harper government.
3. Indigenous rights
In advance of this year’s 25th Women’s Memorial March, Harsha Walia hosted a roundtable with four Indigenous women leaders who have been taking action against colonial gendered violence for decades.
The precedents for declaring what’s culturally barbaric are pretty scary, as the exhaustive and heart-rending work of the TRC on residential schools sadly shows.
4. Labour struggles
- Women face gender inequality at every stage of working life — Sonja Alton (Retiree Matters)
Gender inequality doesn’t just extend to wages and workplace discrimination: it also impacts on a woman’s pension and benefits at work and as she transitions from the workplace to retirement.
A coalition of groups came together in Toronto on July 5 for a march for jobs, justice, and climate action. What you’re seeing are the first steps towards a new kind of climate movement.
5. Civil liberties
- Troubled times ahead with new anti-terror legislation — Matthew Behrens
Bill C-51 grants new powers to already hyperactive state security agencies, and baits as “soft on terror” anyone who questions the bill’s necessity. Here is a primer on key provisions in the bill.
- Bill C-51: Stephen Harper, Anonymous and the Joker’s gambit — Wayne MacPhail
What can popular culture tell us about Bill C-51 and the world another Harper government would usher in? The number 1 lesson is that we can’t give in to fear.
- What will it take to address Canada’s privacy deficit? — Steve Anderson, David Christopher (Digital Freedom Update)
A perfect storm of spy agency surveillance, privacy-undermining legislation, and lax privacy safeguards at government departments sparked concern from citizens right across the political spectrum.
6. Global affairs
After the deadly attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo, many reduced the event to a confrontation between an armed jihadist and a pen. A simple representation, yet it is powerful and misleading.
- NATO’s wars in the Middle East hit home in France — Jooneed Khan
“We are at war,” declared French President François Hollande after the bloody terrorist attacks in Paris. In reality, the war hit home, big time.
7. Movements for change
- Marking a century of women’s peace-building — Amy Goodman
One hundred years ago, more than 1,000 women gathered in The Hague during the First World War, demanding peace. A century later, in these very violent times, nearly 1,000 women gathered again.
- The backwater of P.E.I. abortion politics — Joyce Arthur
How is it possible that in the year 2015, some Canadians still can’t access abortion in their own province and are being forced to risk their health and safety? It’s anti-choice politics all the way.
- The World Social Forum: Building alternative forms of globalization — Thomas Ponniah
The World Social Forum represents the development of a new left and a new global civilization, grounded by a desire for participatory, radical democracy.
8. Climate justice
The Canadian documentary Defenders of the Dawn examines the fight in the Maritimes for environmental rights, situated within the perspective of the world stage.
- Canada and the great Arctic melt — Ole Hendrickson
While the recent G7 commitment to “decarbonization” by 2100 is a positive step, accelerated melting of the Arctic suggests a need to step up the transition to a sustainable energy future.
A new salmon farm in Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island was dismantled and hauled away after being occupied by members of Ahousaht First Nation and local supporters from Tofino.
Photo: Fabrice Florin/flickr
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