Winter 2021-2022

Features

• 11

  Our Songs Are the Language of Our Forests

  Eriel Tchekwie Deranger

  I feel completely underwhelmed and concerned by the outcomes of COP26, knowing the deal struck is weak and full of loopholes for corporations to continue business as usual.

• 17

  FLAMES ON THE FRONTLINES

  JANET NICOL

  For six weeks there was no real daylight, says Joanne Hammond. “On the ground, Firekeepers were able to share their services and knowledge with the BC Wildfire Service firefighters.”

• 25

  INTO THE FIRE ZONE

  JANET NICOL

  “I remember the first time we jumped,” says smoke-jumper Ingrid Pond. “I thought ‘nope I’m not doing this today.’ But the training is impressive.”

• 29

  PUSHING FOR A JUST TRANSITION FOR WORKERS

  RICK CICCARELLI, KAREN LIOR AND STEVE SHALLHORN

  Looking at just transition and whether workers’ interests were taken into consideration when coal plants were phased out in Alberta, Ontario and Australia.

Departments

• 6

  UPFRONT

  Climate and Just Transition Forum • On Journalist Robert Devet’s Passing • British Columbia’s Untold Stories • 10 Paid Sick Days • A Letter to Our Times’ Webhead • The Tally Will Return

• 10 CLIMATE/JUSTICE

  LABOUR CONFRONTS THE CLIMATE CRISIS

  JAMES HUTT

  Hosted by the Ontario Federation of Labour, an online conference allowed trade unionists to explore the unique role unions can play in shaping climate action.

• 12 WEBWORK

  DAYANISMA & DISCOVERIES IN DUBLIN

  DEREK BLACKADDER

  Have a look at the websites of the major Brazilian unions. Are they unions or political parties? Or both?

• 14 POETRY

  5822 parked cars

  DENIS ROBILLARD
• 39 HAVE YOUR SAY

  A LETTER TO OUR LABOUR MOVEMENT ABOUT ADA’ITSX/FAIRY CREEK

  A COLLECTIVE OF UNION ACTIVISTS

  Forestry workers are played off against Indigenous and environmental activists by the very corporations that profit from their exploitation.

• 41 HAVE YOUR SAY

  TAKE THE MATH PROFICIENCY TEST OUT OF THE EQUATION

  E.R. ZAREVICH  

  Ontario’s math proficiency test for teachers imposes needless barriers. That’s just one reason why it’s got to go.

• 43 WORKING FOR A LIVING

  THE ART OF RUNNING AN EMPTY LIBRARY

  PASCALE DUGUAY

  Our tallest student had lots of fun teasing me by poking his head over the partition, reminding me of a mischievous giraffe.

• 45 REVIEW

  OUR CLIMATE, OUR STORIES

  SHERLYN ASSAM

  Full of climate anxiety, devotion to the Earth, hope for the future, and calls to action, Our Climate, Our Stories is a collection of young voices refusing apathy in the face of the climate crisis. Bea, whose story “It’s Our Blood” is excerpted in this issue, is one such voice.

• 48 COMMENTARY

  FACING 2022

  ARCHANA RAMPURE

  We will not see far-reaching and profound changes from this government unless we — the people of Canada — force them into climate action.