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On the International Day of Labour, Courage Coalition stands in solidarity with farmers in India, who have been protesting three new agricultural laws since they were formally passed in September 2020. These new laws will effectively dismantle the guaranteed prices farmers receive through the government’s purchase of staple crops. Crucially, it will open up the farming sector to exploitation by large corporations. Tens of thousands of Indian farmers have braved police violence, state repression and a global pandemic to protest these laws, demanding that these reforms be rescinded.

These laws also mean that India’s food security is threatened, as the new laws will favour commodity production for trade rather than food production for the people. This spells a looming crisis for millions of daily wage labourers, farm workers and other poor and marginalized groups who rely on the price protections offered by the state. The neoliberalization of agriculture is intimately connected to food security, health justice, job security, and the well-being of millions of people in India.

As organizers, workers and unions in Canada, we recognize the fight of India’s farmers as an issue of global importance. While our situations may be different, our fights and demands for justice have much in common. We recognize the farmers’ movement as a workers’ movement against neoliberalism and corporate greed. We stand with the farmers in their demands to repeal these laws, to protect their livelihoods, and in their democratic right to protest.

This statement is published in collaboration with CERAS (Centre d’Étude et Ressources d’Asie Sud/Center for Study and Research in South Asia) and India Civil Watch-Montreal. Contact: cerasmontreal@gmail.com.

Initiated by Courage Montreal and allies

Justice in Palestine matters to the entire world and to our communities. Courage Coalition’s Montreal chapter asserts our support for the passing of the NDP motion that recognizes the injustice of the Israeli state’s occupation of Palestine and oppression of the Palestinian people. It is significant that this motion also speaks to the importance of taking action, calling for an end to trade with illegal settlements and calling for the Canadian government to institute an arms embargo on the Israeli state. Canada must not allow the continued export of military equipment and technology to be used by the Israeli state to enforce oppression against the Palestinian people who already suffer under a violent, brutal and illegal military occupation.

Justice means justice and Courage Montreal and our local allies express our support for this resolution. It is of critical importance that this resolution is being acted upon by NDP leadership, and vocalized by NDP leader Jagmeet Singh. 

The local organizing work we have done throughout the pandemic – expressing support for frontline workers and building connections with local community groups and organizations – is rooted in how the pandemic has clearly illustrated the interconnected nature of our society and world. An injustice to one is an injustice to all. It is within this context that we must stand with the Palestinian people and pull apart the economic and political infrastructures within the Canadian corporate and political scene that normalize and propell injustice against the Palestinian people. 

Today it is essential to stand with Palestine, today we stand with the Palestinian people. Also in the context of the recent resolution at the NDP convention, we feel it is important to express our support for the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as an organizing tool that can build support for the Palestinian struggle for freedom. Just as global solidarity helped free South Africa from Apartheid, so too can it help Palestinians attain liberty. Free Palestine.

Free Palestine.

Initiated and supported by Courage Montréal:

A statement with community support from: 

• Norma Rantisi, Academics for Palestine-Concordia
• Bianca Mugyenyi, Director, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute
• Yves Engler, Author
• Jessie Stein, Musician and PhD student, CUNY Graduate Center
• Kevin Gould, Academics for Palestine-Concordia
• Pierre-Alexandre Rochette, PhD, Courage Montréal

Electronic voting opens shortly on priority order of resolutions for convention. This is the first time in the NDP’s history that delegates will get to democratically vote on the order of resolutions, a change won by Courage members and allies in 2018. Delegates will have the choice to rank 10 resolutions per category. This is important change allows members to decide which resolutions will get discussed and voted on, and which will unfortunately have to wait for another convention. 

Convention delegates will be able to vote online for 24 hours on Wednesday, April 7th, from 12:01am to 11:59pm ET. 

Below is a suggested ranking of resolutions per category. We have prioritized resolutions based on their impact and urgency, and based on feedback from allies and frontline communities. 

We encourage delegates to prioritize resolutions in this order so that the NDP can offer the most bold and compelling vision of the world we not only want but need. 

Suggested resolution priority by category

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Section 1 – Innovating and Prospering in a New Energy Economy

1. 01-04 Creations of a publicly-owned telecom
2. 01-01 Abolish billionaires
3. 01-02 Re-establish Connaught Labs as a crown corporation for domestic pharmaceutical production
4. 01-63 Raise the minimum wage
5. 01-31 Repeal the Red Tape Reduction Act

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Section 2 – Building a Clean and Sustainable Canada

1. 02-01 Free transit for all
2. 02-25 Build out a national public transit network
3. 02-31 Stop carbon intensive energy projects
4. 02-29 For rapid conversion to renewable, green energy, no new pipelines
5. 02-14 Working towards energy independence

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Section 3 – Investing in a Canada where No One is Left Behind

1. 03-70 Directive on free tuition, debt, and youth consultation
2. 03-30 Decriminalization of sex work
3. 03-18 Providing income support for election candidates
4. 03-46 People first #COVIDzero
5. 03-56 Breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty
6. 03-47 Access to reproductive health measures
7. 03-21 Reproductive rights

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Section 4 – Redefining Canada’s Place in the World

1. 04-10 Justice and peace in Israel-Palestine
2. 04-11 Opposing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-semitism
3. 04-17 Protection for children of undocumented immigrants living in Canada
4. 04-21 Immigration status
5. 04-33 Hands off Venezuela

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Section 5 – Governing in an Inclusive and Fair Canada

1. 05-19 Acknowledging pre-confederate, numbered treaties and self-government agreements
2. 05-36 Supporting 1492 Land Back Lane
3. 05-11 Land Back
4. 05-01 Adoption and implementation of calls for justice from the Final Report of the national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
5. 05-13 Need for high-speed internet in rural, remote and Indigenous communities
6. 05-15 Acknowledging pre-confederate agreements with Indigenous Peoples

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Section 6 – Strengthening Human Rights and the Canadian Identity

1. 06-16 Defund the RCMP
2. 06-04 Clean water in Indigenous communities
3. 06-34 Gender affirming healthcare
4. 06-07 Conversion therapies
5. 06-33 Rights of non-binary people and women
6. 06-17 Record suspension program returning to the term ‘Pardons’ section 3.9

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Section 7 – Constitutional Amendments and Internal Party Affairs

1. 07-33 EDA autonomy
2. 07-19 EDA engagement
3. 07-05 Renaming of Aboriginal Commission
4. 07-02 Seats for Indigenous representatives on EDAs
5. 07-26 Democratizing the election platform
6. 07-12 Put socialism back into the federal NDP constitution

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JOIN OTHER DELEGATES FIGHTING FOR TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE AT CONVENTION

Courage will be active and digitally present at convention, offering a space for progressive delegates to connect and collaborate. If you would like to join other delegates fighting for transformative change, please sign up to join our NDP Convention Organizing List.