The Kamloops chapter of the Council of Canadians was pleased to host special guest Linda McQuaig at their Philosopher’s Café series on Tuesday, March 28th, 2023.
Linda spoke on the rise of the right and the attack on public programs. One of the greatest achievements of modern democracy is universal public programs – notably public healthcare and education – which form a “public commons,” giving us all the chance to develop to our fullest human potential. The business elite and other right-wingers push relentlessly to reduce spending on these programs and, in recent years, governments have largely complied. As we redesign our post-pandemic economy, what we need is not smaller government but stronger, expanding public programs – with ample new funding coming from a wealth tax.
Linda is an author, journalist, activist, supporter of workers, oppressed people, and animals imprisoned on factory farms, denigrator of Trump, Ford, Kenney, and all others who pose as populists while advancing corporate interests.
By taking on the establishment, Linda McQuaig has won a wide audience for her books, which make the case for a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and power. The National Post has described her as “Canada’s Michael Moore.” In 2017, her book Shooting the Hippo was selected by the Literary Review of Canada as one of the 25 most influential Canadian books of the past 25 years. Perhaps not surprisingly, she has enraged many on the right, including Conrad Black, who called for her to be “horsewhipped.”
