The Council of Canadians

10/09/2026

On October 20, join Canada’s NDP / Le NPD du Canada Leader Avi Lewis in conversation with economist Isabella Weber on a democratic socialist vision for Canada's economy.

TICKETS: eventbrite.ca/e/anti-fascist-economics-avi-lewis-in-conversation-with-isabella-weber-tickets-2003205932870

Isabella Weber is a German economist and Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst whose research focuses on inflation, price stabilization, international trade, and the history and development of economic thought. Her new book, 'Anti-Fascist Economics: In Defense of Affordability, Dignity, and Democracy' (Penguin Random House Canada, 2026), argues that stopping the rise of the far-right will require putting affordability, dignity, essential needs, and democratic control over corporate power at the centre of economic policy.

Avi Lewis, the leader of Canada’s NDP, echoes these calls in the Canadian context, proposing affordability and economic security for working people as the central political offer that Canadians deserve as we move towards an economy of the future.

In a fireside chat, Avi will engage Isabella on her ideas, policy proposals, their application to the Canadian economy, and how we can build the collective economic future that brings power back to working people across the world.

Isabella Weber is the recipient of the Broadbent Institute’s 2024 Ellen Meiksins Wood Prize and delivered her lecture on Profits, Inflation and Survival in an Age of Emergencies at Toronto Metropolitan University on May 30, 2024. Since then, Weber’s research on price caps, buffer stocks, and windfall profits has helped to inform Canadian campaign policy platforms and public debate on how to fight inflation. Her work on anti-fascist economics has been used by the federal governments of Germany and Mexico, as well as Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for Mayor of New York City.

The event takes place at a location to be announced in Ottawa, on Tuesday, October 20th starting at 7pm (doors open 6:30pm).

10/05/2026

Will N.L. see a provincial-federal agreement on pharmacare? Right now, only 1-in-5 Canadians is benefitting from pharmacare as it currently stands. Yvonne Earle of the Avalon Chapter of the Council of Canadians was recently interviewed by CBC News to talk about the stalled rollout and why it's crucial it be rolled out across the entire country.

See more at www. cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7365980

09/25/2026

Read the full article at the National Observer.

The Responsible and Sustainable Digital Technology (Numérique responsable et soutenable, or NRS) collective and research and development centre COlab have taken stock of existing and planned data centres in Quebec, as well as estimating their electricity needs.

Experts from the two organizations identified and mapped 72 data centres currently operating in Quebec. Most are concentrated around Montreal and Quebec City. They are data centres that make their computing and storage capacity available to private companies and Quebec Crown corporations, said Alexandre Theve, a research project manager with the NRS collective. Those data centres accounted for 3.1% of electricity sales in Quebec in 2025.

More specifically, all of those data centres, including cryptocurrency-mining facilities, have signed contracts with Hydro-Québec totalling nearly 1,488 megawatts (MW), referred to as their “total installed capacity.” In other words, those data centres have asked Hydro-Québec to make approximately 1,500 MW of power available to them, roughly equivalent to the output of the Manic-5 generating station. Their actual consumption is in the range of 500 to 600 MW, or an average of about 30 per cent of that capacity over the course of a year, said Theve.

US interests
The experts also sought to determine who owns those data centres. They found that only about one-third of the installed electrical capacity — in other words, about one-third of the computing capacity — is owned by Canadian interests: 572 MW out of 1,488 MW. Among the shareholders that are not Canadian, most are American, while a few are European (from the United Kingdom, Poland, France and the Netherlands).

“This figure gives us an idea of the computing capacity we have on our territory that is at least partly under Canadian sovereignty. It allows us to raise questions about control over those digital infrastructures, such as: what would be the risks and resilience capabilities if geopolitical tensions were to escalate with countries that own those infrastructures?” said the engineer specializing in energy and computing.

09/23/2026

“Canada is not for sale!” “The people, united, will never be defeated!” “Billionaires not welcome!”

Thousands filled the streets of Toronto on Monday, chanting and marching in opposition to the CEO summit convened by Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The street mobilization was the culmination of a weekend-long counter-summit, organized by the Council of Canadians at OCAD University, in collaboration with 8th Fire Rising, World Beyond War and over 50 other groups.

The “Many vs. the Money” summit opened with a sold-out keynote talk by journalist and author Naomi Klein and U.S. scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, followed by a full day of workshops, skillshares and panel discussions. Attendance exceeded expectations, with over 800 people registering for the movement-building two-day event.

This was not an investment summit but a privatization summit - with airports at the top of the list. Carney’s plan is to sell off public infrastructure we need to help fund private infrastructure we don’t—climate-killing pipelines and LNG terminals, AI data centres, mines on unceded Indigenous lands. Public money will cover the risk, while investors make off with the profits.

09/23/2026

Beverly, a member of Seniors' Climate Witness who joined the climate caravan to Ottawa from British Columbia, was arrested today - Sept. 22, 2026 - after she and 10 other seniors refused to leave without delivering climate-impact photos to MPs inside the House of Commons. Credit: Nina Newington

09/23/2026

The Bingo For Better wrap party is today! visit the market to enter and get $5 market bucks to spend, as well as an entry into the grand prize draw for a Patagonia backpack.

09/23/2026

09/16/2026

Council's own Nikolas Barry-Shaw bringing the 🔥 to the billionaire class at The Many vs. The Money protest in Toronto

09/15/2026

Nik Barry-Shaw, trade and privatization campaigner for the Council: "I've been looking around the table that Carney has set for this summer and I don't see any of us at the table," he said. "Does that mean we're on the menu?"

Incredible turnout in the streets of Toronto yesterday to push back against Carney's privatization sell-off. More and more people are saying NO to Carney's "rip it and ship it" approach. The Many are out against the Money.