A collage of rabble columnists.
Let's review the best of rabble columns in 2023 together!

It’s the end of another year; and here at rabble.ca, we’re reviewing some of the biggest stories in Canadian news and international issues from 2023. 

Today, we’d like to share with you some of our columnists’ best work of the year – and there was no shortage of great content to look through. Let’s dive in! 

Cathy Crowe – Dear Justin Trudeau, housing is absolutely your responsibility

Earlier this year at a housing announcement in Hamilton, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the issue of affordable housing mostly falls on provincial governments, claiming “housing isn’t a primary federal responsibility.” 

In her August column, Cathy Crowe wrote the prime minister an open letter recounting the exact cause of Toronto’s current homelessness disaster and affordable housing crisis: the federal government’s cancellation of our national housing program in 1993. In the letter, Crowe appealed to him to create a war-time effort and funding stream for public housing, non-profit housing and co-op housing. 

Read the full column here. 

Charlotte Dalwood – It’s time for a national bus service

“Canada’s towns and cities are built for cars, not people. And nowhere is this truer than in the rural parts of Canada’s Western provinces. There, you need a car to do pretty much everything.” 

In part one of a series on building a post-car Canada, Dalwood outlines the individual and social costs of car culture for rural Canadians. The solution? A national bus service to connect Canada’s rural and urban centres. 

Read the full column here. 

Chuka Ejeckam – Why you should care about #StopCopCity 

On June 5 of this year, on what would have been the 30th birthday of both Breonna Taylor and Tyre Nichols – hundreds of Atlanta activists organized to make 11 hours of public comments at the Atlanta City Council vote regarding a proposed ‘Public Safety Training Center’ – informally known as ‘Cop City.’ At least 300 people were registered to speak that day, while hundreds more were turned away due to council-determined capacity limits.

Despite the record turnout, Atlanta City Council approved the funding for Cop City in an 11-4 vote. In his column, Chuka Ejeckam explains why it’s important to talk about the increase in police budgets since the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and how capitalism, police violence, and white supremacy are interconnected. Read his full column here. 

Evelyn Lazare – Private members’ bill could re-open abortion debate

In May, Evelyn Lazare criticized private member Bill C-311, introduced by Saskatchewan MP Cathay Wagantall, which asked judges to consider physical or emotional harm to a pregnant victim as an aggravating factor during sentencing. 

Lazare explained how this could be construed to include harm done to an unborn fetus during the course of a crime against a mother. The Criminal Code currently makes no mention of special considerations for a crime against a victim who is pregnant. Lazare goes on to point out that there is no legislation banning abortion in Canada. Neither is there a right to abortion. The procedure has been protected over the years by Supreme Court precedent and the Canada Health Act. The proposed bill would afford new rights to fetuses and muddy the legal precedents set by the Supreme Court.

The bill was defeated at second reading in the House of Commons on June 14. 

Read Lazare’s full column here. 

Erin Blondeau – We need a climate corps, not more military missions

In her first column for rabble.ca, Erin Blondeau explains why Canada should stop sending the military to respond to climate disasters, but instead should create a dedicated climate youth corps.

“In Canada, I have been advocating for a Youth Climate Corps alongside young people all across the country. The program we envision would be a two-year apprenticeship with paid education and placement in climate jobs like forest management, habitat restoration, community care work, and emergency response.” 

Read her full column here. 

Jodi Rai – Removing barriers for inclusion: The role of HR administration 

In June, rabble columnist Jodi Rai explained how HR administrators in workplaces can be crucial in creating a more equitable, inclusive and diverse work environment.

In the column, Rai breaks down some key barriers to inclusion and how an HR administration team can effectively remove them to cultivate an inclusive work culture. Barriers to inclusion may include unconscious biases and stereotypes; a lack of diversity in leadership; inadequate policies and procedures; limited access to resources and opportunities; communication and language barriers and more. 

Read Rai’s full analysis of this topic here. 

Judy Rebick — Not in my name

In her November column, Judy Rebick reflected on the ongoing conflict in besieged Gaza; and she explained how there is “no excuse for antisemitism no matter what Israel does.” 

“If we are to build a broad ceasefire movement, we must ensure there is no antisemitism, Islamophobia or any other form of racism expressed at rallies or other events and denounce any expressions of antisemitism in whatever form.” 

Read Rebick’s full column here. 

Lois Ross – Bread price-fixing is a small part of the problem 

A historic, years-long investigation into a price-fixing scheme on bread between Canada’s major bread supplier and grocery chains has led to a $50 million fine, but it won’t solve the real problems with Canada’s grocery industry. 

In her July column, Lois Ross provides details on more than 15 years of price-fixing, and how corporate concentration in the food industry is the real culprit. 

Read the full story here. 

Matthew Behrens – ‘Unnecessary’ Muslims: Ottawa appeals to prolong torture of Canadians detained in Syria

This column is a reminder of how the Canadian government picks and chooses which citizens it will advocate for – and who will be consigned to torture – based on racism and Islamophobia.

Read Behren’s full column here. 

Monia Mazigh – Islamophobia is a nationwide phenomenon that requires nationwide strategy

According to an Angus Reid report conducted in March of this year, 39 per cent of Canada (excluding Quebec) has an unfavourable view of Islam. For residents of Quebec, this figure rises to 52 per cent. 

In her March column, Monia Mazigh wrote that this proves the need for a robust anti-Islamophobia strategy in Canada. She wrote: “If we wish to seriously and effectively combat Islamophobia, we should work on multiple levels. Naming a Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia is important but shouldn’t be the end of the road.”

Read the full version of this piece here. 

Natasha Darling – Support for sex workers is growing on campuses 

Earlier this year, rabble columnist Natasha Darling was invited to speak at three different colleges in Ontario to speak about sex work. Questions from students ranged from utter dismay at the lack of labour protections to questions about how to practice better self care. 

She writes: “What I learned this past academic school year is that the kids are all right, and the adults are starting to catch on, too!” 

Read Darling’s full column here. 

Ole Hendrickson – Love, not fear, can save the world

In this personal op-ed, Ole Hendrickson outlines the horrors of seeing the forests he grew up next to being cleared away to build gas pipelines and fields and streams converted into suburban sprawl. Because of this, it’s easy for thoughts of climate doomism to sprout. Despite this, however, Hendrickson encourages his readers to remain hopeful – and in love with nature. 

“Get outdoors where flowers are blooming and birds are singing. You’re literally bathed in love. Mother Nature is everywhere. Take some time for gratitude and feel the love. If everyone does this, the world will be a much better place.” 

Read the full version of this piece here. 

Pro Bono – Gender and sexual health education: Exemptions to what end?

This year, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan premiers both implemented policies requiring that students receive a parent’s permission to change the pronouns by which they are addressed at school if they are under the age of 16. The changes sparked widespread controversy and a national conversation on what “parental rights” really mean. Also at stake was the teaching of sexual health education in schools. 

“To realize the objectives enshrined in human rights legislation, our education system must promote tolerance and inclusion, which includes teaching all students the sexual health curriculum,” the column reads. 

Read the full column by Safia J. Lakhani and Pro Bono here. 

Shreya Kalra – The hidden cost of being an immigrant 

“When we look at immigrants, we only fixate on their journey for that something better and we forget that they also leave many things behind—comfort, food, friends, parents, family, relatives, and most importantly, their roots.” 

In this personal op-ed, Shreya Kalra outlines her experience of losing her mother (in India) while she worked and lived in Canada. 

“Over the year and half that she was sick, nothing could alleviate the feeling of torn-ness my brother and I experienced—tethered to the building blocks we had established in our new home, and equally tethered to our pillars back home.”

Read her full column here. 

Tom Sandborn – Is ‘Don’t Mourn, Organize’ good advice? 

If we don’t find the time and space to mourn, we won’t find time to heal and learn, Tom Sandborn argues in his July column. 

He wrote: “Too often we let the natural and healing process of grief be undercut by macho posturing and that is not only psychologically damaging, but also damaging to our effectiveness as organizers. Our grief, faced frankly,  can clarify our minds and renew our energies, and help resolve the inevitable conflicts that emerge in our movements.

Read his column here. 

If you’d like to review more of the top stories of 2023, please check out our latest Off the Hill panel, read Nick Seebruch’s “Year in Review” or listen to ‘Best of rabble radio 2023′.