Skip to content →

Tag: In memoriam

Mel Watkins

APRIL 5, 2020 – When Mel Watkins[1] warned of the dangers of a “staple trap” looming in Canada’s path, he announced himself as a key theoretician of what has been, without question, the dominant strand in Canadian political economy (CPE). In fact, for many, Watkins’ staple approach has been seen as synonymous with CPE. As well as making key contributions in political theory, Watkins was committed to political practice, being one of the leaders of the Waffle – the most important left-wing challenge to traditional social-democracy of his or any subsequent generation. Watkins’ theory and practice deeply influenced myself along…

Comments closed

James Laxer: 1941-2018

James Laxer: 1941-2018 MARCH 4, 2018 – The sudden and unexpected death of James Laxer has come as a shock to all whose political lives were shaped by the profound social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Laxer’s generation emerged in the shadow of issues which will be familiar to readers of the Canadian Journal of Development Studies – U.S. militarism, Vietnam, Quebec’s not-so-quiet revolution, and apartheid in South Africa – issues which radicalized thousands. Laxer was one of the most prominent representatives of that generation. His role as a professor and author of some two-dozen books is well known,…

Comments closed

Dudley Laws – 1934-2011

MARCH 30, 2011 – The passing of Dudley Laws is a blow to all supporters of justice and equality in Toronto. His life and accomplishments will be an ongoing inspiration to all those today, who seek to build a world without racism and oppression. I first encountered in Dudley in 1988 after the police shooting of Lester Donaldson, an African-Canadian suffering from depression, and partially paralyzed as the result of an earlier police shooting April 11 that year. August 9, in his Lauder Ave. home, he was killed by a bullet from the gun of Constable David Deviney. His wife…

Comments closed

Norman Penner – A life for the struggle

May 3, close to 200 people crowded into Glendon Hall in Toronto to pay tribute to the life and work of Norman Penner, who sadly passed away April 16 at the age of 88.[1] There could not have been a more appropriate month for such an event. May is after all, the month where every year we celebrate May 1, International Workers’ Day. It is also the month where the great Winnipeg General Strike began, 90 years ago, a strike that remains the defining moment of the Canadian working class movement, and a strike which was brought back to life…

Comments closed

George Habash – ‘These borders will fall’

The sad passing of George Habash January 26, is an opportunity to learn the lessons from his long life of struggle. In the 1970s at the peak of his influence, he embodied the hopes of thousands struggling to win Palestine freedom against the forces of imperialism, Israeli militarism and capitalism. Often known as “Al Hakim” (the doctor or wise man),[1] Habash was born in 1925 or 1926 in Lydda Palestine. Like many Palestinians, his hometown has “vanished” – what was Lydda, Palestine now being called Lod, Israel.[2] When only 22, he was “witness to the ethnic cleansing of his home…

Comments closed

Lois Dowson Bédard – a life for the struggle

Lois Bédard Dowson died December 14 2007, just shy of her 84th birthday. She was, for all her adult life, a committed revolutionary socialist in the tradition of Leon Trotsky. In the context of the Great Depression of her growing years, the rise of fascism and Stalinism in her teens, the horror of World War in her young adulthood – living a life as a revolutionary was not the easiest of choices. But Lois unlike many others, never wavered from her commitment to the left, to the working class, and to the women workers to whose future she was so…

Comments closed

Three hundred meet to remember Joe Flexer

AUGUST 7, 2000 – Saturday August 5, more than 300 people gathered in downtown Toronto at a memorial for well-known Toronto activist, Joe Flexer. Flexer, a long-time member of the Canadian Auto Workers, and a socialist for most of his adult life, died August 2 from heart failure. The gathering pulled together people from the 1960’s and 1970’s left, as well as unionists and activists from the current period. Speakers included Hassan Yussuf from the CAW, well known writer and activist Judy Rebick, Joe’s partner Mary McCarthy and his son Dani Flexer. Two workers from CAW Local 112 spoke about…

Comments closed