Part Four: The North-West revolution An inevitable clash While thousands of Métis fled west, there was no escaping capitalism. As Marx explained in the Communist Manifesto, “The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe.” Indigenous peoples, including the Métis who played a role […]

Part Three: Why the Red River revolution was defeated But how did this inspiring mass movement, which ejected the governor, stopped the transfer of land, defeated the attempts of the counter revolution and united the Métis, go down in defeat with Riel fleeing to the United States?  The question of class divisions in the Métis […]

Part Two: The Red River revolution While the rebellions of 1837-38 went down in defeat, the situation forced the British government to make concessions and reform from above. A process began which eventually led to the establishment of “responsible government” and Confederation in 1867. At first there were just four provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, […]

Official histories often portray Canada as a peaceful country where the path of compromise is preferred to the path of conflict. But this could not be further from the truth. In fact, revolutionary and counter-revolutionary events are at the heart of the foundation of Canada. And the struggle of the Métis, led by Louis Riel, […]

This month marks the 30th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The most powerful deformed workers’ state was collapsing into chaos as supposed communists were looting the state and its assets, cheered on by the imperialists of the west. Capitalism reared its ugly head, and the workers of the Soviet Union had to pay the price.

This year marks the 500th anniversary of the capture of Cuauhtémoc [the last Aztec ruler] on 13 August 1521 by the Spanish invaders, an event that marked the date of the fall of Mexico-Tenochtitlán. This fall represented a very important stage in the process of the ascent of capitalism and its worldwide rise to dominance. […]

The death of former Ontario premier Bill Davis was announced on Aug. 8. His death was met with a round of gushing praise from the political establishment across the board. Even many in the labour movement took the occasion to salute Davis’s “contributions.” We should, however, not be fooled: Bill Davis was no friend of […]

At the end of the First World War, Group of Seven founding member and official Canadian war artist Frederick Varley completed his painting For What? The evocative title of Varley’s work, which depicted gravediggers and a cart heaped with corpses amidst a war-ravaged wasteland, conveyed for many Canadians the pointlessness of that bloody imperialist war […]

The grisly discovery of mass graves at former residential schools is bringing home the brutal reality of the genocide of Indigenous people for many across the country. As a result, we are witnessing a broad debate and a significant change in views on Canada’s colonial past and present.

On May 6, the Newfoundland and Labrador Premier’s Economic Recovery Team (PERT) released a report and statement outlining an economic “Big Reset” for the province. The PERT report makes numerous recommendations to Liberal premier Andrew Furey. These recommendations are painted as a strategic plan to reduce the provincial debt—which has ballooned to $39 billion, the […]