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After years in the political wilderness, the left in British Columbia has begun to find its voice.
The debate on how to go about building a fairer world takes place on our own, expansive terms, and involves neoliberalism only insofar as it is necessary to grudgingly acknowledge the troglodyte politics of repression that is the purview of Harper, Campbell, Bush and their ilk.
The new, non-electoral-politics-oriented left in British Columbia (at least, at this point) recognizes history as a dynamic. We know in our hearts and minds that we will continue to move forward towards that day when all might participate as equals in a civil society defined by justice, caring and respect for the collective, and individual, needs of each and every one of us.
Left Turn online addresses the role of the leaderships of the NDP and BC Federation of Labour and “their fear of extra parliamentary struggle (that) is only surpassed by their contempt for workers’ democracy.” Left Turn rejects the ‘humane’ capitalism of the NDP and instead calls for a dialogue of change with activist groups in our communities who have been battling “in the trenches, whether involved in fighting welfare cuts, organizing for union democracy, struggling against the closure of women’s centres, combatting homophobia, or preserving the ecosphere.”
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Seven Oaks online magazine has positioned itself as the reasoned, thoughtful and non-didactic “publication which stands outside the realm of false consensus.” The editors write in their manifesto …
Through our weekly provision of analytical features, progressive opinions, cultural commentary, and more, we hope to provide another space where ideas, questions, stories, information, problems, and possible solutions can be shared, sounded out, celebrated, and debated in an open forum free of cumbersome, dogmatic ‘Party lines’, but all the while in unambiguous pursuit of progressive social change. We hope to be a part of that chorus of voices in this country giving the lie to the quiet, conservative fantasy that all is well here, and always has been.
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If Seven Oaks is British Columbia’s weekly magazine of the left, since last November The Tyee has emerged as the feisty new media online presence that, daily, addresses issues the reactionary forces of the CanWest conglomerate refuse to acknowledge even exist. More reportorial, and immediate, in its presentation and structure than Seven Oaks magazine, The Tyee is helmed by David Beers, once a senior editor at Mother Jones, and creator of the lamentably, now lost, cultural section of the Vancouver Sun, The Mix (simply the best weekly cultural magazine published inside any Canadian newspaper in the last 25 years). The Tyee remains a must read.
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And, finally, there’s Public Eye, an online weblog, edited by Sean Holman. Although Public Eye bills itself as “independent and irreverent … neither Liberal nor New Democrat”, make no mistake, this peripatetic online journal in covering the backrooms of provincial and federal politics in B.C. offers a progressive and necessary voice for change.
Welcome to the new digital democracy. The revolution is underway …
