Canada

As the postal workers’ strike stretched to four weeks, one argument against them has resounded loudly: that the post office is a quaint relic of a bygone era. Past its due due, no longer worth defending, it would be better supplanted by the digital giants or privatized entirely.

At least this is what the corporate class, right wing politicians, and the establishment media want you to think.

While the postal service is indeed threatened by a digital crisis, its purpose has in fact barely been realized.

Few people stop to think that there are actually twice as many post offices as Tim Hortons, making it a retail network unlike any other in the country. Working with this understanding, eight years ago the postal workers put forward Delivering Community Power, a comprehensive plan to transform Canada Post into a vibrant 21st century public service.

Though this plan has recently barely gotten any media coverage, it had enormous appeal: they proposed converting their fleet of cars to electric vehicles and setting up electric charging stations at post offices, introducing check-ins for seniors living at home and farm-to-table food delivery, and offering public banking services that could help low-income communities and bankroll renewable energy projects. (By way of disclosure, I helped launch this campaign, in my pre-Breach life.)

The plan’s environmental potential freaked out conservative pundits, one of whom was inspired to invoke a notorious anti-government quip. “Ronald Reagan often said the nine most terrifying words in the English language were ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’ Not even Reagan could have imagined,” William Watson wrote in the Financial Post, “that people would one day be saying ‘We’re from the post office and we’re going to save the climate.’”

As 2024 draws to a close, there are many good reasons for liberation-minded people to feel concern about the state of the world. But there are also many victories to celebrate—victories that were achieved by ordinary people joining together to fight for a better future.

With right-wing forces celebrating their recent electoral triumph in the United States and holding a solid lead in the polls with a federal election due in Canada in 2025, the world can feel even more grim than usual.

In moments like this, though, it is more important than ever that we remember that when we organize, we sometimes win.

Continuing an annual Breach tradition, here are 15 movement victories in 2024 to take heart from as we look ahead to the new year.

This was a nice read, after a bleak year and amid a mainstream news culture that increasingly vilifies grassroots organizations that hold power to account

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will bring forward a motion of non-confidence to bring down the Trudeau government in the next sitting of the House of Commons.

"The Liberals don't deserve another chance," Singh wrote in a letter on Friday. "That's why the NDP will vote to bring this government down."

For decades, forestry companies in B.C. have used chemical herbicides like glyphosate to kill off plants that might compete with trees destined for timber. Trembling aspen, named for its almost heart-shaped leaves that seem to quiver in the wind, is often on the hit list.

But after years of destructive wildfires that have wiped out whole neighbourhoods and sometimes whole towns, more and more people are questioning the wisdom of killing off this tree. Because when wildfires sweep across the landscape, aspen can help calm the flames.

In B.C. aspen is found sprinkled along the mighty rivers that wind through the southwest, in patches across the southern Interior and in groves that mark the transition from prairie to boreal forest. Wherever the trees grow, they’re important. Beavers prefer aspen trunks and twigs to build their dams. Birds nest in their cavities. Moose, deer and black bears eat their leaves.

And in the summer, when aspens are lush and green, they act like a sponge, holding moisture from the forest floor in their bark and leaves. Conifers, by contrast, are drier, and their needles are packed full of flammable resin. Where conifers spur on fire, aspens can slow it down.

Government documents, emails, internal reports — all will soon be harder to access in Alberta if Danielle Smith’s plan moves forward

Source: https://themeasureofaplan.com/canadian-fx-tracker/

Edit: IT'S OK GUYS HE'S FLOATING AGAIN! https://imgchest.com/p/n87we93kq7x

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Act_(Canada)

Usage

The caucus member ejection provisions were first used when the Conservative caucus voted to eject Derek Sloan on January 20, 2021.[9][10][11]

In February 2022, the leadership removal provisions were invoked for the first time by the Conservative caucus following the 2021 election, which used it to trigger a leadership review against, and remove, Erin O'Toole. During the review, 45 MPs voted to retain him against 73 who voted for his removal.[12] Deputy Leader Candice Bergen was selected as interim leader.[13][14] O'Toole's removal marked the first time since the Reform Act was passed into law seven years prior, that a party caucus formally challenged and dismissed its leader.[15]

I'm trying a thing where I email CEOs of price gouging companies who hurt people and ask them honestly what exactly is wrong with them that they're ok with this. No yelling, no insults, no rudeness, no threats, just a frank and honest question, and I want to email Galen but can't find it, as well as Per Bank, seems to be a highly guarded secret. I realize they have assistants who are emailing gatekeepers, but it's an interesting experiment nonetheless while I'm home sick in bed, and maybe it'll make some of them feel guilty. Can anyone find it?