Socialist Alternative (Canada)

Socialist Alternative is a socialist group in Canada which describes itself as active in youth and student activities,[1] the unions, environmental movements, and other campaigns for economic and social justice [2] because capitalism is incapable of providing a society where the working class and its allies (in Canada and internationally) can have a good quality of life on a healthy planet.[3]

Socialist Alternative
LeaderCollective leadership
Founded1986 (as Labour Militant)
HeadquartersVancouver, BC
NewspaperSocialist Alternative
IdeologyMarxism
Revolutionary socialism
Trotskyism
Political positionFar-left
International affiliationInternational Socialist Alternative
ColoursRed
Website
http://socialistalternative.ca/

The group was founded as Labour Militant in 1986, a faction within the New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP). It withdrew from the NDP in 1996 and called instead for the creation of a new workers' party due to the drift of the NDP and other social democratic parties around the world towards liberal policies, particularly the Third Way and Blairism as inspired by then British Labour Party leader Tony Blair. Labour Militant changed its name to Socialist Resistance before adopting the name Socialist Alternative in 1999[4]

In British Columbia, Socialist Alternative has endorsed the BC Federation of Labour's "Fight for 15" campaign for a $15 minimum wage and works actively on this campaign.[5]

It works closely with Alternative Socialiste in Quebec and is affiliated internationally with the International Socialist Alternative,[6] an international socialist organization headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The ISA section in the United States, which has the same name, has attracted some attention with the election victory in Seattle of Socialist Alternative city councillor Kshama Sawant in 2013.[7][8]

Political views
For general information about Socialist Alternative's politics, see Committee for a Workers' International and Trotskyism.
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References
  1. http://undergraduateethnography.org/sites/default/files/papers/JUE%20Volume%202%20Issue%202%20%28whole%29.pdf#page=50
  2. http://www.socialhousingbc.com/our-demands/endorsers/
  3. http://socialistalternative.ca/who-we-are
  4. http://www.oocities.org/capitolhill/1884/e-ca-sa.htm
  5. "Campaign Endorsers". Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  6. https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/intl.htm
  7. Brunner, Jim. "Sawant ally takes on powerful Frank Chopp in Seattle race for Statehouse | Local News". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  8. "A Socialist Wins in Seattle". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
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