black cat ★ red cat

Great news from the Left in Toronto!

Today, January 16 2010, the Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly convened at the United Steelworkers' Hall at Cecil street and achieved a big push forward for the unity, realignment and revitalization of the Left in the city. This was the second Assembly to take place, the first one having convened at the beginning of October.

Attendance was at the two hundreds range and the mood was fantastic, everyone coming forward to support the creation of a radical, non-sectarian organization to be an instrument for the unity of the Left in the city. While the organization that we ended up forming is based on membership of individual people, it is at the same time non-exclusionary and includes people from a tremendous variety of organizations. A quick non-exhaustive listing of such organizations would include:

• No one is illegal
• Coalition against Israeli Apartheid
• Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
• New Socialist Group
• Socialist Project
• International Socialists
• Communist Party of Canada
• Basics
• Common Cause
• Industrial Workers of the World
• Venezuela We Are With You Coalition
• and many others

Moreover, there were many trade union organizers from various CUPE locals, from CAW, USW and others. And of course many independent activists and leftists. The fact that people coming from such a huge variety of backgrounds, from anarchists to socialists of all hues and colours and from trade unionists to social justice activists, convened together and formed this organization is a trully tremendous achievement!

The Assembly established itself as an organization and voted on a vision statement, a membership concept, a coordinating committee and a sub-committee structure.

On the whole, things in the Left in Toronto are in motion. With various campaigns going on at the moment and with organizing for the upcoming anti-G8/G20 mobilization in June in full swing, the formation of the Assembly as a unifying organization for the Left can open up great possibilities for a real fighting comeback for radical politics in the city!!