Throughout the federal election, trans issues were rarely mentioned. Despite one party running with an explicit commitment to repeal Canada’s trans rights legislation and another party leader who voted against trans rights, trans issues were not part of the debate—nor was there a real conversation about doing better by, for…
Read more
My paternal grandmother has a great saying that she likes to remind me of. Drawing from a well of old Jamaican wisdom, she says: “Don’t watch the noise in the market, just watch your correct change.” On September 18, Time magazine released a photo showing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in…
Read more
As leaders debate the federal track record on Indigenous issues, there are several key issues that cannot, and should not be ignored. View the story Federal election primer: What we can't ignore when it comes to reconciliation By Alyssa O'Dell “The structures and processes of colonization, which are often relegated…
Read more
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is one of Canada’s largest law enforcement agencies, employing 12,000 officers who enforce customs and immigration rules. These workers monitored the over 85 million people who travelled in and out of Canada in 2017-18. They screen travellers at land crossings and at airports for…
Read more
Anti-immigrant racism underpins much of the conversation about immigration policy in this country. We must be able to identify the obvious and subtle ways in which it is being mobilized to divide and distract us. Three interconnected ideas circulating in the media have underlying racist motivations that even us progressives…
Read more
“I used to have unfettered access to public spaces, something most people would take for granted, but when I began visibly violating gender norms, I became subject to verbal and physical abuse while in public on a fairly regular basis and have little recourse except to avoid public spaces.” –…
Read more
Two reports came out in early May that should have received a lot more attention than they did. The Standing Committee on the Status of Women released its latest study, Surviving Abuse and Building Resilience, on Canada’s systems of shelters and transition houses serving women and children fleeing violence. And…
Read more
I was recently invited to give a presentation at a two-day event discussing the overdose crisis and First Nations, with a focus on southern Alberta. My presentation (slide deck available here) focused on homelessness, substance use, harm reduction and Housing First. With this in mind, here are 10 things to know: Indigenous peoples…
Read more
May 17th, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia draws attention to the realities of violence and discrimination experienced by LGBTQ2+ people in Canada and around the world. It is an opportunity to advocate and organize for LGBTQ2+ inclusion—to emphasize our continued failure to do justice to LGBTQ2+ communities,…
Read more
Of the limited changes made to the renegotiated NAFTA agreement—also known as the USMCA—perhaps the most significant relates to the system of investor protections that permits foreign firms to challenge government policies, laws and court decisions through private arbitration. Under the USMCA, this investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system will no…
Read more