OUR BIG THINK

THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED, OR BROKEN.

Either way 99% of us are fucked.
We all know this.

Our planet is burning up while oil companies make billions. Young and old are worried about how to just to get by, never mind get ahead. We all know this.

The politicians and political parties are next to useless. They just nibble at the edge of problems, endlessly fighting old battles about who owns what, or who is owed what.

This has got to change. We all know this.

The future depends on it. Our future depends on it.
We all know this.

The question is: How will it change?

The answer is obvious and simple: stop hoping and start demanding. Stop hoping to get what we want and start demanding what we need.

Stop letting political parties limit the election menu to what they want.

Start demanding what we need—right here, right now, today!

DEMAND WHAT WE NEED.

We need to stop letting others make choices for us.

We need to stop hoping something magic will happen; that what has never happened before will happen this time; that by some fluke all the fancy plans and programs that get floated in every election—the ones that always turn to shit as soon as the election is over—will magically give us what we need. They won’t. Never have. Never will.

We need to break free from all that magical thinking. We need to simply stand up and in a loud, clear voice demand what we need.

Environment

WE DEMAND that governments and industries change course immediately from making money to making our lives better.

That starts with making clean air and water for everyone in Canada a priority.

It also means taking subsidies away from any industry that pollutes our air, land or water and shifting those subsidies to green, clean energy.

Today.

Not in a transition period. Today!

Housing

WE DEMAND affordable rental housing for all Canadians, based on their ability to pay.

Give subsidies to builders who will help build the millions of new units that seniors, students and families need right now.

We don’t need more subdivisions for the very few who can afford a house. We need a home for everybody.

Health care

WE DEMAND that no Canadian should have to go without glasses or prescription drugs or dental care.

We don’t care who provides it at what level of government.

Make it all part of our public health care system and charge everyone taxes to pay for it.

People places

WE DEMAND communities that are designed for humans and not businesses or shopping malls or consumers or shoppers.

Why are we letting developers decide how and where we can live?

We want public parks and beaches and bike paths and walking trails and wild spaces—and all the other things that create a world fit for human beings.

WE DEMAND community ownership of all basic community resources like schools and hospitals, and of public utilities extending to and including the internet and wifi access.

Make every vote count

WE DEMAND an end to our pretend democracy. We want a real, functioning democracy. To achieve that we demand immediate legislative changes to insure that in every election every vote counts—every single vote.

Indigenous peoples

WE DEMAND that Canada unconditionally accept the demand of our Indigenous peoples that Canada fully and meaningfully implement the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Fairness for all workers

WE DEMAND all workers receive a minimum wage of $25 an hour for all work, all the time.

If people can’t work they should receive an adequate support income and free training and retraining for any occupation they choose, at any age.

WE DEMAND that the rights guaranteed all workers under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms become the automatic, regular and undisputed law of the land, beginning with the demolition of any and all barriers or hindrances to workers freely joining unions, bargaining collectively and using their right to strike to protect their union and their contracts.

LET'S NOT GET HUNG UP on how we pay for all of this, or on all the fine details of how to do it all. That’s what we elect politicians, and pay armies of bureaucrats, to do.

There’s more than enough money and brains in Canada to save our planet and ensure that we can live well today and that our children and grandchildren can do the same.

The super rich and the banks and the big corporations have all the money. We demand that they help us enjoy this great economy that we have worked so hard to create.

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