The Atlantic Regional Communists return to Blueprints to talk about their growth as political organization, and share some of the methodology that unpins their work. They obviously take some of their cues from Marx, but also from the Black Panthers.

One of the things they think sets them apart from other political groups, is the work they do in their communities, and how that work continuously shapes their own organization.

A large part of what they do is also centred around building knowledge. To that end, Comrades M and E give us a quick study on how fascism presents itself here in Canada.

They cover class collaboration, the labour aristocracy and the different phases of fascism that co-exist with our so-called democratic state.

Seeing our typical relationship with the state as being one of "fascist minutemen" - helping to legitimize its domination - their take on 'reforming' the federal NDP, and electoral politics in general, is to be expected.

It also builds on our first discussion with ARC, where they went into more about how they've structured themselves, and why.

Hosted by: Jessa McLean. Produced by: Santiago Helou Quintero

Related Episodes:

• Reimagining Politics and Demystifying Communism (Jan 2025) Our first discussion with the Atlantic Regional Communists;
• Canada's Colonialist Imagination (Oct 2023) Professor Tyler Shipley talks about the mindset that aided genocide in Canada and continues to shape politics here.

More Resources:

• Fascism: A Scientific Definition - Atlantic Regional Communists
• Guest Suggested Reading: “A Rethinking of Everything Altogether” – The Red Clarion

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Israeli Occupation Forces are attempting to annex Southern Lebanon. They are erasing towns from the map, blowing up bridges and roads, and telling the world they're about to redraw their borders...again.

Previous guest, Mohamad, returns to the studio to talks about the current situation in Lebanon, what it was like being back home during the latest escalation of violence, and how it felt to leave family behind.

Hosted by: Jessa McLean

Related Episodes:

• Lebanon, Palestine and Resisting Colonialism (Jan 2024) Mohamad's first appearance - just before the 'ceasefire'.
• Right to Resist (Oct 2024) Journalist and human rights lawyer, Dimitri Lascaris on Lebanon, the resistance and bringing down an apartheid state.

More Resources:

• Israel Attacked Lebanon 10000 Times During Ceasefire - New Arab.com
• BBC: Israel intensifies Lebanon attacks and hits areas not in Hezbollah's control
• IG: What "How are you?" Costs the Diaspora (video)
• Al Jazeera - Lebanon daily updates

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CUPE Ontario, is at a crossroads. Their next convention is just months away, and for the first time in 12 years, Fred Hahn won’t be on the ballot for President. In February, after two and a half years of intensified attacks, he announced this would be his last term leading the union.

What does this mean for the Province’s largest public sector union? Is this a blow for leftists in CUPE Ontario, or an opportunity? Maybe it can be both.

Katherine Grzejszczak and Krista Laing, two candidates for the next CUPE Ontario Executive join Blueprints to talk about where things are at right now, and their visions for their union’s future. They talk about the impact Fred has had, but also what they might do differently.

Despite public sector unions being under attack, both guests share hopeful signs that workers are becoming bolder and more eager to engage politically. They emphasize the need for a more member driven approach, spending fewer resources on electoral politics, and more ways to realize the power of 290,000 union members.

Hosted by: Jessa McLean

Related Episodes:

• Stolen Wages - Featuring the Naujawan Support Network
• Nationalism and the Working Class

More Resources:

• Israel’s supporters attack Ontario trade-union leader | Counterfire
• CUPE Ontario Convention 2026 - CUPE Ontario

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Ontario's Premier, Doug Ford has had post-secondary students, and their unions, in his sights since he took office, but a new round of cuts to OSAP has taken them over the edge.

On March 14th, 2026, students mobilized at Queen's Park to demonstrate, only to be met by violence at the hands of the Toronto Police Services. This did not deter them.

Organizers with the Canadian Federation of Students talk about how we got to this point, and what work needs to be done in order for students to be the force of change they're meant to be - including what it will take for a student strike to actually be effective.

Hosted by: Jessa McLean, and produced by Santiago Helou-Quintero

Call to Action: Sign the No to OSAP Cuts Petition and Attend Day of ACTION MARCH 24th

Related Episodes:

1. Lessons from Student Encampments

More Resources:

• Hands Off Our Education! Ne touchez pas à notre système d'éducation!
• CBC: OSAP Cuts - What you Need to Know

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Although using a new URL, activists behind the boycott of Canada's largest bookstore still say that 'Indigo Kills Kids'.

A representative for the campaign talks about their choice of language, tactics and targets - most notably the CEO of Indigo Books, Heather Reisman. You'll hear how this Canadian oligarch has proudly poured millions into the HESEG foundation, which actively recruits soldiers for the Occupation Forces, and rewards them for their violence.

This connection to the genocide is important, not only in justifying the boycott, but to refute claims Reisman is being targeted for being Jewish.

The IKK campaign also respond to critics from the Left side of the political spectrum, and reflects on the work that still needs to be done.

Hosted by Jessa McLean and Produced by Santiago Helou Quintero

Calls to Action: Take the Pledge to Boycott Indigo and Demand CRA Revoke HESEG's Charitable Status

Related Episodes:

1. Machinery of Suppression: Bill C9 and the weaponization of antisemitism (jan 2026) Jews Say NO to Genocide break down the latest suppressive legislation from Carney and challenge the narratives being used to pass it.
2. Answering the Call: Labour for Palestine (jan 2024) L4P representative Anna Lippman on the call from Palestinian workers to disarm Israel and Free Palestine.

More Resources:

• Rabble: Boycott Israel campaign hits Chapters and Mountain Equipment Co-op
• Assaulted for questioning ‘charitable’ donations by billionaire - Yves Engler
• CJPME: More on Indigo
• Just Peace Advocates: Billionaire couple continues to support genocidal army
• The Maple: Indigo’s Copyright Victory Opens A New Front In BDS Struggle
• Indigo Kills Kids Website

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Sisters in film, Rawan Ramini and Jada-Gabrielle Pape were brought together for the film, From Salish Sea to Palestine. They joined Blueprints to talk about their use of the medium to make connections between movements, and tell the 'true stories' of their people.

Ultimately though, it is a discussion on what really builds solidarity.

The most obvious connections between Palestinians and Indigenous Peoples' in so-called Canada are that of colonialism and occupation. Rawan highlights so many of the shared tactics of land displacement, ethnic cleansing and of course, genocide that tie their fights together.

Despite shared mechanisms of oppression, Rawan and Jada's work serves as a reminder this ultimately, not what should define them and their people.

More on our guests:

1. Rawan Hassan, Palestinian filmmaker and mother of two. She Directed, wrote and co-produced the Documentary Series: Ana Falastini
2. Jada-Gabrielle Pape, wu’Was’welam, is Xwelmuxw Mestuyuxw: Saanich and Snuneymuxw Nations. She is the Director of From the Salish Sea to Palestine, and the co-founder of Drawing Wisdom. She also Drawing Wisdom Video Podcast, and is part of the Team at Courage Consulting.

Hosted by: Jessa McLean

Produced by: Santiago Helou Quintero

Call to Action: Help Fundraise for a Full Length Feature Film

Related Episodes:

1. Filmmaking Resistance (April 2024) Pier-Philippe Chevigny, writer-director of 'Richelieu', discusses how he uses his skills in filmmaking to shed light on social issues
2. Canada's Colonial Imagination (October 2023) Tyler Shipley on the ways our view of the genocide of Indigenous peoples here STILL shapes how Canada interacts with the world.

More Resources:

• More on the Film 'From the Salish Sea to Palestine'
• Ana Falastini Trailer (VIDEO)
• Ana Falastini Canada Wide Tour

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Despite court rulings saying they could stay, the Region of Waterloo has spent considerable effort trying to remove people living at the 100 Victoria Street encampment in Kitchener.

Aaron, from Fightback KW! talks about the conflicts the Region, the Police and even social workers instigate to try to push residents out. From the denial of services, a carceral approach and continued court battles, activists have had their hands full organizing to defend the rights of their unhoused neighbours.

The discussion is about the community that exists at the encampment, and the deliberate choices 'authorities' are making to punish anyone surviving in ways that defy the capitalist model.

Hosted by: Jessa McLean

Produced by: Santiago Helou Quintero

Call to Action:

• Donate to Fightback KW via e-transfer fightback.kw(at)gmail(dot)com, or
• Drop off donations onsite or at Coven in Kitchener

Related Episodes:

1. Rabble Rant: Housing Half Measures (Sept 2023) On Waterloo Outdoor Shelter 'Community'
2. Resisting Toronto's Tactics Against the Unhoused (Sept 2024) Organizers with Voices for Unhoused Liberation share what they're doing to fight encampment evictions and against the war on the poor.
3. Voices for Unhoused Liberation (May 2024) On strategy building, the limitations of advocacy work and the need for escalated direct actions.

More Resources:

• The Regional Municipality of Waterloo v. Persons Unknown and to be Ascertained – 2025 Litigation – Waterloo Region Community Legal Services
• Region ordered not to evict people from homeless encampment
• Bay Observer: Waterloo Shelter Formula
• Statement: FightBack @ 100Vic Full Time

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Two Toronto based Legal Observers from the Orange Hats return to give us details on the tactics Toronto Police are using to try to bring down the Palestinian Solidarity Movement.

Tasked with keeping an eye on cops during protests and other actions, Gisela and Leon have lots of stories to tell. Together the group recently issued a 2025 Year-In-Review on Toronto Police Services conduct at protests. The report includes statistics on injuries and arrests; it warns of trends in policing; and it points to a clear strategy to suppress the activities of activists - and legal observers.

Its not all bad news. Thanks to their experience, the Orange Hats are a great source of advice for organizers and activists - or anyone coming into contact with Police.

Hosted by: Santiago Helou Quintero and Jessa McLean

Produced by: Santiago Helou Quintero

Call to Action: Support Legal Observers - Donate to the Orange Hats

REGISTER FOR ONLINE COURSE: Documenting Protests - Feb. 25 @6pm ET

Related Episodes:

1. Watching Cops: Advice for Activists (Feb 2025) The Orange Hats share how to stay safe at protests, and the tactics Toronto police use to harass, intimidate and brutalize activists
2. Exposing Toronto Police Tactics (Sep 2025) Activist and journalist Benjamin Nolan on the Toronto Police Services' violent responses to peaceful protests and their use of the knee-on-neck technique.

More Resources:

• Inside the ‘shocking’ police operation targeting pro-Palestine activists in Toronto - The Breach
• Police Chief Plays Loose with the Truth on Radio Call-in Show - The Grind Magazine
• What is Strategic Incapacitation – Orange Hats

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Guest Jamie Kneen, of Mining Watch Canada gives an overview of the Canadian mining industry, while making the case its a continued colonial enterprise our politicians are more than happy to enable.

How is it that an industry so big, with so many established cases of human rights abuses, continue to operate with such impunity, and under the radar?

Jamie answers this, and talks about the work Mining Watch Canada does to support local efforts to resist resource extraction, share knowledge and in turn, influence policy here in Canada.

What is clear is the impacts of mining are devastating, and Canadian politicians are complicit.

Hosted by: Santiago Helou Quinter and Jessa McLean

Produced by: Santiago Helou Quintero

Related Episodes:

1. Canadian Mining Imperialism: Guatemala's 13 Brave Giants, Grahame Russell of Rights Action on a landmark legal case that exposed HudBay for horrific human rights abuses;
2. Canada's Colonial Imagination, Professor and author Tyler Shipley on the ideology used to justify the genocide of Indigenous peoples and shape foreign policy today.

More Resources:

• Mining in Canada: Latest News and Updates | The Narwhal
• Arbritral Award — Gold Reserve Ltd
• Letter to the Minister of International Trade: Canada’s commitment to a strong Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) | Mining Watch Canada

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Aliya Pabani, Organizer and Producer, joins us to help unpack the clear paradigm shift taking place in Canadian politics.

The episode examines the deterioration of Canadian media, with their obvious vitriol towards leftist politics. It also takes a look at Carney's now-famous Davos speech, and what that means for the neoliberal project, and for us.

What is our role now, as the façades of liberalism falls away? Pabani makes the point there are a lot of Liberals trying to navigate this disruption of their world view, and this could be a unique moment to reshape it.

Hosted by: Santiago Helou Quintero and Jessa McLean.

Call to Action:

Related Episodes:

More Resources:

• CFMM; Study on BBC Gaza/Israel Double Standards
• Gilmore: Toronto Suns Ottawa Bureau Chief Tweet
• I resigned from Canada’s largest broadcasting corporation over its complicity in Israel’s genocide – Mondoweiss

📺YOU CAN CATCH US LIVE EVERY FRIDAY AT 12pm E.T. on our YouTube Channel.

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