Where Have We Seen This Before

When I look at Canada today I see many disturbing issues,among them I see high unemployment, massive income inequity,increasing poverty,hunger and homelessness. I also see higher education being priced out of the range of most.

We have seen these conditions in Canada before most notably in the early twentieth century.Each time we have been presented with this combination of issues our governments have to varying degrees reacted the same way. One way they have consistency reacted is by bringing in austerity measures which only served to exacerbate the problem.Perhaps more troubling they have reacted by becoming draconian in nature.

Violently putting down citizen protest,criminalizing decent,increasing detentions,demonizing immigrants,War mongering,ramping up deportations,manufacturing an enemy (Commies Muslims Jews Gays) are some of the tools they use to maintain the status quo so favoured by those who profit from these conditions.

However there is another constant and that is invariably the people of this nation reach a point where they've had enough and rise up in protest. In 1918 and 1919 we saw this manifested in the Vancouver and Winnipeg general strikes and in the On To Ottawa Trek of 1935. ( Know Your Roots Video) While each of these events ended in seeming defeat, they each served to galvanized the general public into action,creating the conditions for improvement in the lives of Canadians.

Each of these movements grew out of the labour movement,hence the Conservative government's current all out assault on not just organized labour but all workers. There is nothing they fear more than the organizing power of Unions and labour in general for they have learned history's lessons well.