politics

Judy recently did a talk as part of the Social Science Speaker's Series at Fanshawe College. Her focus was the relevance of the struggles in Egypt and Wisconsin for social change in Canada . See the presentation in four parts below:

It is International Women’s Day 2010, forty years after the Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. A generation has passed, my generation. In some ways, there has been a revolution in the status of women since that time. 

Yesterday when I heard that Stephen Harper was suddenly taken with a desire to promote maternal health as the key issue for the G8, I have to admit to being perplexed.  I don't think I've ever heard Harper talk about women's issues. Behind the scenes his government, which of course means him, has not only cut funding to most women's groups and the most progressive NGOs like Alternatives and Kairos but have eliminated the word "equality" from their women's bureau.  Harper is no doubt that most anti-feminist PM we have ever had.

On Saturday,  January 23  at 1 pm in more than 60 cities and towns, Canadians will hit the street to demand a real democracy in this country.  What started as a protest against the prorogation of Parliament is starting to look like a democracy movement.

Voters in both the United States and Canada are reacting to a broken system.  In the US by voting down the Democratic candidate for Senate in the most Democratic state of Massachusetts and in Canada by this unprecendented uprising.

Today I was on The Current  to debate the proposed name change of the NDP. The name is the least of their problems is my view.  David Michael Lamb, the guest host, asked me why I wasn't going the NDP convention.  I answered, "I've kind of given up on the NDP."  Frankly, it didn't even occur to me to go.  I have been involved in efforts to change the NDP since the 1980's in Ontario and with a few exceptions (getting them to support the Morgentaler clinic), it has been almost impossible to get them to change.  Their response to opposition from the Waffle , a powerful youth opposition reflecting the new politics on the 1960's until now has been to crush it.

 By Sam Gindin

Public sector strikes are frustrating to both the public and the strikers. The public is upset with losing daily services they have come to depend on, while the strikers are upset with the apparent lack of respect for the work they do.

Below is an excellent commentary on the Toronto City Strike now almost settled

    Hi all. Judy is still away on vacation, so I’m still filling in as a guest-blogger here at Transforming Power. Judy will be back towards the end of the month, as energizied and invigorated as ever! In the meantime, here’s my latest post. Enjoy.
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