Welcome to rabble.ca’s weekly blog roundup! In Canada, this week saw the CBC’s loss of NHL rights, more ominous documents released on Senate expenses, and the grand orgy of consumption known as American Thanksgiving. Our bloggers covered these topics and more this week — read on to find out about our new editorial blog and the case for a living wage in two provincial contexts. Enjoy!
Happy Black Friday, a.k.a. the American day Canadian retailers annually co-opt even though it has nothing to do with a Canadian holiday. You might have considered the virtues of Buy Nothing Day, but Meghan Murphy suggests we think about boycotting another massively sexist, consumer-driven franchise. Meanwhile, Eve-Lyn Coutourier covers the myriad forms of damage wrought by Black Friday.
This week rabble also inaugurated a new editorial blog, The Views Expressed, which, as Meagan Perry writes, will showcase pieces by opinionated people across the country!
Geoff Stevens discusses the latest news from the upper chamber and Harper’s (im)plausible deniability, and speculates on popular opinion and the PM’s re-electability. Eastward, Stephen Kimber covers the annual Halifax International Security Forum, a multi-million dollar event that has proven to be both a taxpayer-funded MacKay family reunion and “an echo chamber for conventional western wisdom about global security.”
Âpihtawikosisân pushes for use of Indigenous nationhood as a verb, deconstructing the common (though unstated) settler view that First Nations are incapable of self-governance and situating resistance in tradition.
On Behind the Numbers, Kaylie Tiessen discusses how Walmart manages to offload the true cost of its low wages onto its workers…twice. This isn’t confined to laughable Thanksgiving donation bins in Walmart staffrooms, however, Tiessen shows us how precarious full-time minimum-wage employment is in Ontario and what can be done about it. Over at Policyfix, Lynne Fernandez explains the need for a living wage in Manitoba and breaks down the (very convincing) numbers.
And, last but not least, the CBC’s 61-year relationship with Canadian hockey came to a whimpering end yesterday. In the wake of the NHL’s $5.2-billion deal with Rogers, Michael Stewart reflects on why The CBC’s reliance on Don Cherry’s NHL cost them dearly.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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