News

On April 2nd, political economist and giant of the Canadian left, Mel Watkins, passed away.

Hello Everyone, 

Like many of you, I’m at home in self-isolation. My house is comfortable and my garden is coming to life through my window so it’s not so bad. All things considered, I’m pretty fortunate. But many others are having a very difficult time.

To slow the spread of COVID-19, our public health agencies are increasingly recommending social distancing and containment practices. These precautions are critical, and have implications for a growing number of workers, who may be forced out of a job due to workplace closures, shutdowns or layoffs. 

After much difficult deliberation, the Broadbent Institute has decided to postpone the 2020 Progress Summit due to public health concerns about mass gatherings arising from novel coronavirus (COVID – 19).

From increased class sizes, to cuts to teaching positions, to mandatory e-learning, the Ford Conservative government in Ontario has tried to take a wrecking ball to Ontario's world-class, publicly-delivered education system. As education workers continue to picket and say #NoCutsToEducation and #CutsHurtKids, we've taken stock of some of his government's cruelest and most incompetent cuts to date: 

Dear friends,

You and I live at an important historical moment.

Our world is full of highly divisive politics. In western Europe, the UK has been consumed by the Brexit debate for more than three years. Further east, in Poland and Hungary, authoritarian leaders are threatening their political opponents. There is turmoil and unrest in Central and South America. In the US, President Trump may well be impeached before the end of this year. In Canada, we have our own “Mini” Brexiteers led by Jason Kenney, who thinks nothing of consorting with extremists and playing footsie with separatists, all in a transparent ploy to distract from his regressive budget cuts.

Desmond Morton was a remarkable Canadian and a renowned historian, author and Professor at McGill University. He passed away on Wednesday, September 4th, 2019. 

Dear friends and supporters,

Earlier this year, we announced our 2019 Fight Back Campaign which is aimed at defending Canada against the rising tide of increasingly extreme, right-wing conservatism.

Jason Kenney has been Premier of Alberta for just four months and already his UCP government has taken an axe to many of the things that matter most to Albertans. Since being sworn in as Premier on April 30th, 2019, Kenney and his government have already cut Gay Straight Alliances in schools, taken $1,120 off of the paycheques of young workers, cut corporate tax rates ensuring that corporations are able to rake in $348 million in tax breaks in the first year of his mandate, and set up a government-funded "war room" to counter oil sands critics using $30 million in government funding. These are just some of his worst statistics since taking office in April: