By Mike Ma, Jan. 16, 2024 Today, I had the opportunity to attend a demonstration organized by the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) in support of Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum. The event was held at 800 Hornby — the downtown courthouse — and was truly inspiring, featuring numerous speakers advocating for drug decriminalization, safe supply, and compassion clubs. Among the speakers was Pete Woodrow from the Surrey Union of Drug Users, an organization I’m proud to be a part of. Pete did an excellent job emphasizing the need for solidarity, activism, and compassion. Garth Mullins, the producer of ..read more

"What struck me about the event was the glaring absence of any politicians or leaders, despite thousands of ordinary people unified in demanding an end to the genocide in Palestine. The void left by those in power, who have a responsibility to represent the voices of the people, was shocking and disheartening." DB “The Toronto Rally was hosted by Palestinian youth who spoke and led protest cries for hours. It started as a sit in with a group of a few hundred. Pro-Palestinian convoys from across the GTA all convened in the area too. I don’t think anyone expected to march until the last m ..read more

October 19, 2023 Several hundreds of us gathered at the Vancouver City Hall for a vigil tonight to mark the thousands of lives lost in the current assault on Gaza by Israeli forces.We gathered together, without the thought of our differences, but in the unified understanding that humanity is at risk with every Palestinian who loses their life caught within an endless cycle of state-led madness. We gathered to confront our government and all of those other allies of Israel, who wish to turn away from the war crimes that are currently and have been continually perpetrated by Israel against Pale ..read more

By Mike Ma It is rather appalling that Surrey only has ONE safe consumption site. There are 6 or 7 overdose deaths each day in British Columbia, Canada, but only one safe consumption site in all of Surrey! https://www.surreynowleader.com/news/safepoint-safe-consumption-site-marks-five-years-of-truly-saving-lives-in-surrey-2989339 It is a mindboggling lack of service since the population of Surrey is almost the same size as Vancouver. And Vancouver has many many more services and safe consumption sites than Surrey. Surrey is in fact ready to surpass Vancouver in population by 2030: https://www ..read more

Posted by Mike Ma On September 16, 2023, a one-day workshop was held to mark the 50th anniversary of the military coup that overthrew Chile's Unidad Popular government led by Salvador Allende. This watershed event in 1973 unleashed a wave of brutal repression, destroyed a unique democratic socialist experiment involving popular power, and established a dictatorship that imposed a radical neoliberal agenda. Following mass student movements against marketization in the early 2010s, Chile witnessed a "social explosion" in 2019 against the legacy of inequality and violence stemming from the Pinoc ..read more

By Mike Ma, May 18, 2023 Last night I attended the book launch for Ricardo Tranjan’s new book: The Tenant Class. It was an exciting and super well attended book launch. In addition to the traditional author talk it also included a panel discussion with tenant activists that grounded the event in activism and community advocacy. In his presentation, Tranjan described how the crisis of housing is not a crisis at all, but rather, is a feature of a system that greatly favours landlords at the expense of tenants. That is, it is a deliberate and harmful transfer of wealth from the tenant class to th ..read more

By Jason Ramsey,  April 16, 2023 There are few things politicians and business leaders love more than the idea of ‘change,’ ‘innovation,’ or ‘Progress.’ Vancouver’s new mayor Ken Sim is no exception. Not only is he the first person of color to hold the office, but he and his ABC Party campaigned on shaking things up at City Hall. I suppose it paid off. Sim was carried to victory by the business community, real estate developers, and middle-class property owners increasingly concerned that “Vancouver is Dying”[1] from the effects of addiction and lawlessness. Even Vancouver’s Police Union ..read more

The Time is Now! Educators’ Call for the Regularisation of Undocumented Migrants, Status for All and “Education for All”  (Voir la version française ci-bas) Across the country, many undocumented youth are unable to attend school. But we have a historic opportunity right now. The federal government is in the midst of developing a regularization program, and it is essential that no one is excluded. We call on the federal government of Canada to regularize all undocumented people and ensure permanent resident status for all 1.7 million migrants. We further call on provincial governments ..read more

September 24, 2022 By Mike Ma Tonight I attended the BC Yukon Book Prizes Gala on behalf of Between the Lines Books. Catherine Nolin’s book, Testimonio, was nominated for the “Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes”. Her book, which was published by BTL Books, was competing against many great BC books that included Spíləx̣m, Dog Flowers, Peyakow, and Border and Rule. Border and Rule was written by the acclaimed activist writer Harsha Walia, and it was her book that won the prize! Congratulations to Harsha! Harsha gave a great acceptance speech that culminated in an invitation to the other co ..read more

September 18, 2022 By Mike Ma Today I attended the Migrant Rights gathering at Grandview Woodland Park (https://migrantrights.ca). It was a sunny day and there were lots of supporters with their kids and families. It was a great vibe. There were a number of speakers that included temporary migrant workers, live-in caregivers, refugees, and international students, among others. It was the international student speaker that made me pause. The student —who is a student from India— had someone else read their statement because they were afraid of the state and immigration services. It ma ..read more