The Convoy that took over Ottawa for a month last year just met outside Winnipeg this past weekend. While the right to protest is an essential part of our democracy, it is important to look critically at this movement that has harboured white supremacist, libertarian and in some cases even fascist beliefs. These ideas have originated most recently in the USA, but have a long and odious history elsewhere in the world.
Media, media analysis
Disinformation, when practiced at scale, can fracture societies. It’s up to us to stop it.
Disinformation has been on journalists’ and experts’ minds a lot since around 2016, a watershed year that saw the passing of the Brexit referendum in the UK and the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States—both driven in large part by disinformation networks on social media. Those concerns exploded with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Issue highlights:
"Canada is no stranger to dynastic ownership of its media companies," writes Robin Shaban in her feature article in this issue of the Monitor. "Thomson, Atkinson, Black, Irving: each family name is synonymous with the control of major press operations, either nationally or regionally. Governments have been aware of this issue for decades, but they’ve done little to address it." For years, Canada has had more concentrated media ownership than our American counterparts.
VANCOUVER — The 150th anniversary of British Columbia joining Canada arrives at a time when people and institutions are being asked to reckon with the foundational impacts of racism in our society. Challenging Racist British Columbia: 150 Years and Counting, is a new publication examining the long history of racist policies that have impacted Indigenous, Black and racialized communities in the province over those 150 years, tying those histories to present day anti-racist movements.
In this issue:
Illustration by Remie Geoffroi
Even before the ravages of a global pandemic, America’s body politic looked dangerously ill. On this sentiment, at least, there is probably still widespread agreement. But, as with any diagnosis, the devil is in the details.
Donald Trump makes people sick, himself and his entourage included. Given the U.S. president's shameful, almost criminally negligent record on COVID-19, it will be surprising if he is re-elected on November 3. A sizeable expat community aside, most Canadians will not have a say in that race but its outcome will be felt globally.
Photo by duncan c, Flickr Creative Commons
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