Defying Expectations: The Case of UFCW Local 401 By Jason Foster Athabasca University Press, $34.95 Defying Expectations: The Case of UFCW Local 401 is a book about success. In it, Edmonton’s Jason Foster, an associate professor of human resources and labour relations at Athabasca University and former director of policy analysis at the Alberta Federation […] More »

Have you ever been called “sister” in a union meeting? Did you feel erased or were you misgendered? The labour movement practice of calling one another “sister” or“brother” clashes with a growing consciousness about the perils of classifying people into a strict gender binary, and many union activists are demanding change.  “We’re erased in many […] More »

This Magazine is 50 years old. To celebrate, This editors embarked on an ambitious project: they featured 50 ideas from “Canada’s brightest, boldest, and most rebellious thinkers, doers, and creators” to “share their best big ideas.” I was struck not by what was there, but what was missing: Of the 50 ideas, there wasn’t one […] More »

  The meat counter at the Cambie Street Whole Foods in Vancouver is thirty feet long, filled with choice cuts of beef, lamb, chicken, pork, and at least 20 different kinds of sausages. Two clerks, dressed in white smocks, black aprons, and Whole Foods caps, hustle around behind the counter, making sure everything looks just […] More »

In Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, even Italy, citizens are rising up, risking their lives to protest their corrupt governments. Egyptians, in a historical event, have proven they can be successful in overthrowing years of dictatorial leadership. Canadians were mostly cheering along (though our government wasn’t), but’s hard to put ourselves in their place—Canada, flawed though it […] More »

In which the author finds his lefty credentials sorely tested by one malodorous cat It’s hard enough to be a socially progressive, left-leaning, anti-globalization, conscientious sort in this world, but to be a socially progressive, left-leaning, anti-globalization, conscientious sort and be mildly inconvenienced? It’s too much to bear. As I write this, Toronto is several […] More »

[Disclosure: CUPE is a This Magazine advertiser] Toronto is now about half a day into a municipal workers’ strike, and the usual braying chorus has sprung up on radio, television, and the op-ed pages, alternately condemning or defending the strike action. Generally, there are three viewpoints expressed: This is inconvenient, but overall I support the […] More »

Score another win for Wal-Mart in its battle against the United Food and Commercial Workers. More »