Welcome to the August edition of the Broadbent Bulletin! It’s been an eventful summer for Canadian progressives, and we’re here to keep you updated with all that’s new from the Broadbent Institute, PressProgress and beyond.
After chairing a debate on freedom, inequality and capitalism at the 2024 Progressive Governance Conference in Berlin, Germany, Broadbent Institute Executive Director Jen Hassum hosted a fireside chat with former Alberta premier Rachel Notley at UFCW’s annual National Defence Fund convention in July. You can read more about the convention here.
Progressive Political Economy
We shared two new episodes of Progressive Political Economy this July featuring bold solutions to inflation, the affordability crisis, and the rise of AI. Broadbent Policy Fellow Angella MacEwen discusses the corporate profiteering behind Canada’s affordability crisis, and proposes solutions like price caps and excess profits taxes to help ordinary Canadians. Kaylie Tiessen of Unifor builds on these ideas to highlight how unions and workers are responding to heightened inflation and a worsening affordability crisis through stronger collective agreements. You can catch up on all the latest episodes here.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Progressive Political Economy and follow us on X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates!
What’s new in Perspectives Journal
The Broadbent Institute continues to publish sharp analysis and engaging criticism in Perspectives: A Canadian Journal of Political Economy and Social Democracy. Broadbent fellow Dr. Danyaal Raza’s co-authored an explainer asking, “Private Equity and Health Care: Should Canadians be concerned?” Raza writes alongside Dr. Karen S. Palmer, encouraging Canadians to ask questions, “about why private equity investment firms are so interested in owning parts of our health-care system.” Read their full explainer here.
Earlier in July we also published a pair of book reviews, highlighting new texts with strong progressive ambitions. Western Law professor Manish Oza’s “A Coherent Alternative for a Just and Equal Society?” unpacks the social democratic potential of John Rawls’s political philosophy, as depicted in Daniel Chandler’s new book Free and Equal. We then published “Late-stage Scavengers,” a review of British socialist commentator Grace Blakeley’s latest book Vulture Capitalism, written by our digital communications assistant Jack McClelland.
We are also currently seeking submissions for Perspectives Journal no. 2, to be released in Fall 2024. This call invites proposals of no more than 200 words for long-form (1,500 - 5,000 words) research and analysis on political economy, theory, policy issues and historical narrative. We are seeking work that engages boldly left-wing ideas and inquiry into public debates and policy fora, based on the Broadbent Principles for Canadian Social Democracy. Articles may be accompanied by data visualizations and may also be followed by an audio podcast or video content published online.
Learn more about submitting to Perspectives at perspectivesjournal.ca/contribute and send proposals directly to [email protected].
The deadline to submit is Friday, August 30th.
We’re hiring a Development Coordinator!
The Broadbent Institute is seeking an experienced fundraising professional to join our team and assist with maintaining positive donor relations, coordinating individual donor campaigns, and helping to ensure our overall fundraising success.
Interested candidates are invited to submit a cover letter and resume to [email protected] by August 19, 2024 at 5 pm EST. To learn more about this position, visit broadbentinstitute.ca/jobs.
PressProgress has continued to break pivotal Canadian news stories this summer 2024, including breaking stories on business lobbyists and their efforts to sell off public goods, billionaire connections to the far-right, and labour struggles you don’t hear about in the mainstream news.
PressProgress is also fostering the next generation of progressive journalists through its labour reporting internship. In July PressProgress welcomed their second labour reporting intern of 2024, Nadia Khan! A fourth-year undergraduate student at Western University, Nadia will work alongside Senior Labour reporter Emily Leedham for the duration of the internship, producing original reporting and collaborating on Leedham’s award-winning Shift Work newsletter.
Here’s their latest original reporting from July:
- Take Back Alberta Leader Facing Contempt of Court, Cross-Examination by Elections Alberta
- Rise of Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric to Blame for Liberals’ Delay on Giving Undocumented Workers’ Status, Advocates Say
- ‘Massive Conflict of Interest’: Opposition Parties Say LCBO President Should Resign, Face Investigation Over Role With Big Business Lobby Group
- LCBO President Also Sits on Board of Big Business Group Lobbying Doug Ford to Privatize Alcohol Sales in Ontario
- Vancouver Hotel Workers Are Pushing Back Against Low Wages and High Costs of Living By Going on Strike
- 7 Times Alberta Premier Danielle Smith Embraced Extreme, Inflammatory or Dangerous Rhetoric
- Shopify Executive’s Right-Wing Media Website Rails Against Immigrants While Defending a Legally Designated Terrorist Group
- Sikh Groups Say Globe and Mail Reporting on 2021 Kabul Evacuation is Missing Context and Promotes Racist Tropes
- Doug Ford’s Alcohol Privatization Plan Will Cost Ontario Taxpayers Hundreds of Millions of Dollars. Now It’s Forcing LCBO Workers To Go On Strike.
- BC Teacher Files Human Rights Complaint Against Parent Over Transphobic Harassment Online
That’s all for this August edition Broadbent Bulletin. Thank you for following our work to advance a just and equitable world, and stay tuned for other updates and announcements from the Broadbent Institute. Consider supporting the Broadbent Institute, sharing this Bulletin with your friends and family, and subscribing if you haven’t done so already.
