Connexions Resource Centre
Focus on Canada

Recent & Selected Articles

  1. This is a small sampling of articles related to education and children in the Connexions Online Library. For more articles, books, films, and other resources, check the Connexions Library Subject Index, especially under topics such as Canada, children, youth, post-secondary education, film, and schools.
  1. The God that fails: C-51, review committees and the dangers of window dressing (February 17, 2016)
    Among the Harper era's most destructive legacies is a toxic stew of repressive "anti-terror" laws that, in building on similarly repressive measures brought in under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, extended major new powers to Canadian state security agencies Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS), Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the RCMP, among numerous others.
  2. What is Stephen Harper doing to Canada? How can we stop him? (September 13, 2015)
    The Harper regime has had a toxic effect on Canada. The wealthy are better off, but most Canadians are worse off, and rights and freedoms, democracy, access to information, and science have suffered. How can we stop him? Here is a factsheet which can be downloaded, printed, and distributed as a two-sided flyer.
  3. Tracking Harper's 9-year-long assault on unions (September 3, 2015)
    Stephen Harper has been Prime Minister of Canada for almost a decade. In that time, the system of protections that were put in place by decades of advocacy by labour organizations and unions has been partly dismantled. The attacks have been extremely strategic. Ground Zero for these attacks has been the House of Commons, where piece after piece of legislation has taken aim at unions and collective bargaining.
  4. Canada's prime minister wants to make it harder for people to vote against him (August 28, 2015)
    Stephen Harper, who won by an uncomfortably small margin in the last election, has passed laws designed to keep voters who oppose him from the polls.
  5. Canada considers preventive detention in wake of Ottawa attack (October 23, 2014)
    The Canadian government indicated on Thursday that it intends to speed up proposals to toughen the country’s anti-terror laws in the wake of the attack on Parliament in Ottawa, including a measure that would allow “preventative detention”.
  6. Voter Suppression in Canada (April 9, 2014)
    The Harper government seems intent on proving to its detractors that things can always get worse. They’ve one-upped themselves with the farce called the Fair Elections Act.
  7. Dismantling of Fishery Library 'Like a Book Burning,' Say Scientists (December 9, 2013)
    The Harper government has dismantled one of the world's top aquatic and fishery libraries as part of its agenda to reduce government as well as limit the role of environmental science in policy decision-making.
  8. Five years since Canada's constitutional coup (December 4, 2013)
    Five years ago today, Canada’s Conservative government used the arbitrary powers of the un-elected governor-general to shut down Canada’s parliament so as to prevent the opposition parties from defeating the government in a non-confidence vote.
  9. Canada facilitated NSA spying on 2010 G8 and G20 summits (December 3, 2013)
    Top secret US National Security Agency (NSA) briefing notes leaked by the former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden reveal that Canada’s Conservative government permitted the NSA to spy on the June 2010 G8 and G20 summits held in Huntsville, Ontario and Toronto.
  10. Austerity and Resistance: Lessons from the 2012 Quebec Student Strike (October 15, 2012)
    The student strike in Quebec has ended, in a rather clear victory. After a seven month-long struggle — the longest of its kind in Quebec history — students have won a cancellation of the proposed tuition hike, a pledge to repeal the infamous Law 78 that had criminalized demonstrations, and the ouster of Premier Jean Charest and his Liberal government.
  11. Memory as Resistance: Grassroots Archives and the Battle of Memory (October 14, 2012)
    CONNEXIONS and Beit Zatoun are spotlighting grassroots archives this November with an open house and networking event November 24, a talk and discussion November 27, and an exhibit (November 16-27). Grassroots archives play a valuable role in what has been called “the battle of memory”. Mainstream media and institutions of power consign inconvenient histories, struggles, and alternative visions to what George Orwell called “the memory hole.” People’s history projects such as grassroots archives preserve and share stories of resistance, hidden histories, and alternative visions. Their role is particularly important as official archives are forced to restrict acquisitions, limit access and discard materials as funding is slashed.
  12. Medicare Myths and Realities (May 1, 2012)
    Since medicare is an extremely popular social program, the media and right-wing politicians have learned that it is unwise to attack it directly. Instead, they propagate myths designed to undermine public support for, and confidence in, the health care system, with the goal of gradually undermining and dismantling it.
  13. Neo-liberalism and the ongoing economic assault on ordinary Canadians (January 30, 2012)
    Two recent stories out of Ottawa underline the ongoing political and economic assault on ordinary Canadians. More Canadians are now working for low wages than at any time in decades, continuing a trend that began in the early 1990s, and Stephen Harper has announced major changes to retirement benefits -- including delaying Old Age Security(OAS) eligibility to age 67. What kind of society beggars those of its citizens who worked all their lives and now want to retire in dignity while privileging the rich and super-rich?
  14. Taking liberties: When elite representatives define 'national security' (October 24, 2011)
    Most reporters assigned to the national security beat are not physically embedded within the RCMP and CSIS in the way those covering the occupation of Afghanistan seem to become stenographers for the Canadian military. But they tend to write as if they were, buying the assumptions created and sustained by those who benefit most from them while generally ignoring the fact that these agencies have a historical profile that reads "pathological liar."
  15. Connexions Archive Case Statement (September 24, 2011)
    Working together to secure a future for the past
  16. Funding for Non-profit Media or Public Interest Activities (February 15, 2010)
    A group that launches, or even refocuses, an independent news media project - or raises money for just about any public-interest activity - will probably have success in fundraising if it does the proper research and targets a unique audience. It will need to demonstrate that it offers an important public service, such as providing in-depth coverage of local political, economic, and social issues not covered adequately by other media.
  17. Independent media advocates must develop creative news sites (February 1, 2010)
    We should be able to come up with two or three practical models that can be used to set up sustainable news and information production and delivery systems.
  18. Could a 'mini-paper' nip at the heels of mainstream press? (January 21, 2010)
    A mini-paper would be incredibly inexpensive to publish. There would be no requirement for newsprint, a huge printing plant or large delivery system.
  19. Creation of Sustainable Free Media Would Be Huge Breakthrough (January 12, 2010)
    Independent media organizations would approach news differently compared to the coverage provided by corporate-owned media.
  20. Academics Urge Government Climate Action (December 17, 2009)
    More than 500 university faculty members from universities across Canada signed a letter to the Canadian Government calling for immediate drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The letter points out the time frame of reductions is critical.
  21. Canwest latest 'media giant' to exploit news operations (December 8, 2009)
    Media corporations claim to care about quality journalism, but they've deceived Canadians for decades -- censoring news to protect their profits, pandering to the interests of the corporate world, and neglecting to invest adequately in their news operations. For decades powerful media corporations have decided what news Canadians should read, hear, and see. By reading just about any Canadian daily newspaper it's not hard to see how the values of corporate-owned media are quite different from the values and interests of the majority of Canadians.
  22. Connexions Archive seeks a new home (November 18, 2009)
    The Connexions Archive, a Toronto-based library dedicated to preserving the history of grassroots movements for social change, needs a new home.
  23. Bloody Oil (November 1, 2009)
    The extraction of oil from tar sands is perhaps the most ecologically insane idea on the planet. Four First Nations representatives from Canada travelled to Britain to participate in the London climate camp and the country's biggest annual gathering of climate activists. Organized by the Indigenous Environmental Network and supported by the New Internationalist, the group's aim was to internationalize the campaign for a complete tar sands moratorium.
  24. Volunteer Translators Wanted - English to French (September 4, 2009)
    Connexions, an independent non-profit research organization and information clearinghouse based in Toronto, Canada, seeks volunteer translators to translate articles, and terms in our subject index, from English to French, and from English to other languages
  25. Inclusion or exclusion (August 10, 2008)
    People who advocate a vision of distinct communities that speak different languages, keep apart from each other, and communicate with the structures of the larger society only through interpreters, are doing more harm than good. What they are advocating is not diversity but entrenched division.
  26. Challenged Books List (2004)
    A partial list of books subjected to censorship attempts in Canada from the early 1980s to 2003.
  27. Abandoning the Public Interest (October 7, 2000)
    The neo-liberal drive to cut red tape is costing lives. Exposing the hidden costs of deregulation and privatization.
  28. Walkerton Water Tragedy -- Contamination: The Poisonous Legacy of Ontario's Environmental Cutbacks (2000)
    The story of how a right-way government which gutted health and environmental protection polices, leading to the Walkerton water disaster.
  29. Thinking About Self-Determination (1994)
    Does that familiar canon of the left, 'the right to self-determination', actually mean anything, or is it an empty slogan whose main utility is that it relieves us of the trouble of thinking critically?
  30. Let's Stop Kidding Ourselves About the NDP (1989)
    Canadian socialists are terribly reluctant to give up their illusions about the NDP.

Selected Websites and Organizations

  1. This is a small sampling of organizations and websites concerned with education and children in the Connexions Directory. For more organizations and websites, check the Connexions Directory Subject Index.
  • Radical Digressions
    Ulli Diemer's website/blog featuring comment from a radical left-libertarian Marxist perspective.
  • Sources Calendar
    Listings of events of interest to journalists, editors, researchers, publishers and others working in the media and in publishing, covering Canadian and international events, press conferences, meetings, festivals and holidays, as well as award deadlines.
  • Sources Select News
    RSS news feed featuring news releases, announcements, expert comment, views, and opinion from members of Sources, the resource for journalists, writers, editors, researchers, producers, and other media professionals in Canada and abroad.
  • Sources Subject Index - Comprehensive Topic Index for Experts and Spokespersons in Sources
    A comprehensive list of subject headings related to organizations listed in the Sources directory for the news media.

Other Links & Resources



Books, Films and Periodicals

  1. This is a small sampling of books related to education and children in the Connexions Online Library. For more books and other resources, check the Connexions Library Subject Index, especially under topics such as Canada, children, youth, post-secondary education, film, and schools.

  1. Aboriginal Ontario
    Historical Perspectives on the First Nations
    Author: Rogers, Edward S.; Smith, Donald B. (eds.)
    Essays on the history of Ontario's native people.
  2. Behind Closed Doors
    How The Rich Won Control of Canada's Tax System... And Ended Up Richer
    Author: McQuaig, Linda
    A stinging indictment of Canada's tax system and the people who shape it.
  3. Canada's 1960s
    The Ironies of Identity in a Rebellious Era
    Author: Palmer, Bryan D.
    A history of social movements of the 1960s, including student and anti-war movements, the rise of women's liberation, labour struggles, and Quebec nationalism.
  4. The Canadian Left
    A Critical Analysis
    Author: Penner, Norman
    The main focus of the book is the emergence and development of Canadian socialist thought. Penner examines the origins of the Communist Party of Canada and its ideological base and the beginings and development of the CCF-NDP.
  5. Class Warfare
    The Assault on Canada's School
    Author: Barlow, Maude; Robertson, Heather-Jane
    The authors show that the attack on schools has been mounted by representatives of big business who stand to make a fortune by privatizing education, aided by the religious right, who want to control what is taught -- and not taught -- in our schools.
  6. Corporate Power and Canadian Capitalism
    Author: Carroll, William K.
    Carroll looks at the accumulation of capital in Canada since the Second World War. Most of the book is devoted to tracing actual patterns of corporate ownership and intercorporate relationships.
  7. The Fight for Canada
    Four Centuries of Resistance to American Expansionism
    Author: Orchard, David
    In an effort to realize their grand dream of one nation from Panama to the Arctic, Americans have attempted to conquer Canada using war, trade sanctions, and political interventions of all kinds. "That fight for Canada continues to this day," says David Orchard.
  8. GreenTOpia
    Towards A Sustainable Toronto, uTOpia Volume Three
    Author: Wilcox, Alana; Palassio, Christina; Dovercourt, Jonny
    The third volume of the uTOpia series features a collection of essays that look at innovative and imaginative ways to promote sustainability in Toronto. Also included is a directory of resources, organizations, incentives and programs in and around the GTA.
  9. Halfbreed; A Proud and Bitter Canadian Legacy
    A Proud and Bitter Canadian Legacy
    Author: Campbell, Maria
  10. Historical Atlas of Canada - Volume I: From the Beginning to 1800
  11. Historical Atlas of Canada - Volume II: The Land Transformed 1800-1891
  12. Historical Atlas of Canada - Volume III: Addressing the Twentieth Century
  13. I Have Lived Here Since the World Began
    An Illustrated History of Canada's Native People
    Author: Ray, Arthur J.
    Ray shows that Native culture played an important -- and largely unrecognized -- part in Canada's economic development. Rather than being "civilized" by European explorers, the indigenous people were already accomplished traders, artisans, farmers and hunters.
  14. Land and Community
    Crisis in Canada's Countryside
    Author: Sim, R. Alex
    Sim's thesis is that rural society is overlooked due to urban dependence upon "great associations," economies of scale, and other socio-cultural institutions of unmanageable size.
  15. Letters to a Quebecois Friend
    Author: Resnick, Philip, with a reply by Daniel LaTouche
    Philip Resnick, a political scientist and long-time radical, formerly from Quebec, but now teaching at the University of British Columbia, wrote the "letters" in this volume to an imaginary Quebecois friend in the aftermath of the 1988 Free Trade election, when Quebec's votes gave the Mulroney government a majority of seats in the House of Commons even though a strong majority of Canadians voted against Free Trade and against the Conservatives.
  16. Long Way From Home
    The story of the Sixties generation in Canada
    Author: Kostash, Myrna
    An account of the upheavals and transformations experienced by those who came of age in the 1960s, a time when international currents of change intersected with specifically Canadian events and circumstances.
  17. The Missing News
    Filters and Blind Spots in Canada's Press
    Author: Hackett, Robert A.; Gruneau, Richard; with Donald Gutstein, Timothy A. Gibson and Newswatch Canada
    Asks a number of questions, including: How well do the news media filter reality, for what purposes, through what processes and in whose interests? How do newspapers and TV stations choose what news is printed or aired, which letters will be published, or who will be accorded credibility?
  18. People of Terra Nullius
    Betrayal and Rebirth in Aboriginal Canada
    Author: Richardson, Boyce
  19. Shooting the Hippo
    Death by Deficit and Other Canadian Myths
    Author: McQuaig, Linda
    An examination of how economic policies systematically favour the interests of the rich while pretending to be for the common good.
  20. Unequal Union
    Confederation and the Roots of Conflict in the Canadas, 1815 - 1873
    Author: Ryerson, Stanley B.
    Ryerson examines the connection between the social and the national in Canadian history.
  21. The Wealthy Banker's Wife
    The Assault on Equality in Canada
    Author: McQuaig, Linda
  22. Working Class Experience
    Rethinking the History of Canadian Labour, 1800-1991
    Author: Palmer, Bryan D.
    From nineteenth-century tavern life to late twentieth-century cinema, from rough canallers and the first stirrings of craft unionism to contemporary public-sector strikes, this books provides a sweeping interpretive study of the history of the Canadian working class since 1800.


Learning from our History

Coming soon





Resources for Activists

The Connexions Calendar - An event calendar for activists. Submit your events for free here.

Media Names & Numbers - A comprehensive directory of Canada’s print and broadcast media. .

Sources - A membership-based service that enables journalists to find spokespersons and story ideas, and which simultaneously enables organizations to raise their profile by reaching the media and the public with their message.

Organizing Resources Page - Change requires organizing. Power gives way only when it is challenged by a movement for change, and movements grow out of organizing. Organizing is qualitatively different from simple “activism”. Organizing means sustained long-term conscious effort to bring people together to work for common goals. This page features a selection of articles, books, and other resources related to organizing.

Publicity and Media Relations - A short introduction to media relations strategies.

Grassroots Media Relations - A media relations guide for activist groups.

Socialism gateway - A gateway to resources about socialism, socialist history, and socialist ideas.

Marxism gateway - A gateway to resources about Marxism.