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Rob Lyons

Rob Lyons joined the Canadian section of the USFI in 1971, after a stint as a journalist who covered the Prague Autumn of 1968, and as political organizer for the New Democratic Youth, the left wing youth group of the Canadian labour party based on the trade unions. Until recently, he was the International Coordinator for Socialist Action/Ligue pour lÁction Socialiste, a Canadian Trotskyist organization excluded from the EUSecFI, and in that capacity attended the founding conference of the Tendency for a Revolutionary International. He has been a wilderness and air ambulance pilot, a trade union organizer, and elected union leader, and for 10 years was an elected member of the Saskatchewan, Canada, provincial legislature representing a heavily unionized, working class constituency. He presently writes political commentary and organizes from a working class barrio in southern Costa Rica.

NATO’s War in Ukraine: Building the Anti-war Movement We Need Requires Clarity

As part of the ongoing debates among socialists on the war in Ukraine, we publish this guest polemic.

Rob Lyons

February 17, 2023

Canadians Rise Up Against the Country’s History of Genocide

In recent weeks, as the horrors perpetrated in the Canadian governments residential schools have been crystalized by the discovery of a series of mass graves of Indigenous children killed in the system, the country has erupted in a spate of Catholic churches burnt, church buildings covered by graffiti, and statues of those whose responsible for the murders toppled.

Rob Lyons

July 6, 2021

“Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win”: An Open Letter to the Comrades of AyR and L’Étincelle, and to the Members of the Tendency for a Revolutionary International (TRI)

A former member of the Canadian section of the USFI and former International Coordinator for Socialist Action/Ligue pour lÁction Socialiste offers a response to the attacks against the Revolutionary Communist Current in France by sectors within the New Anticapitalist Party. His reflections are part of an ongoing debate about the formation of an international revolutionary socialist organization in France, a critical discussion for socialists around the world.

Rob Lyons

June 4, 2021

Marxism, Revolutionary Waves, and the Theory of the Weakest Link

Some Comments on Albamonte’s “The Marxist Method and the Present Time of Crisis, Wars, and Revolutions.”

Rob Lyons

March 15, 2021

A Sledgehammer: Review of Judas and the Black Messiah

A revolutionary socialist and Left Voice correspondent who met Fred Hampton in 1969 reviews the new Fred Hampton biopic, Judas and the Black Messiah.

Rob Lyons

March 1, 2021

Mass Opposition Stops Alberta Coal Mining Expansion… For Now.

Mass opposition centered in the heart of the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains has forced Alberta’s right-wing government to reverse their decision lifting a government policy that outlawed strip, open face, and other forms of coal mining.

Rob Lyons

February 10, 2021

Mass Rebellion in Costa Rica Beats Back the Government and the International Monetary Fund

A mass rebellion reminiscent of the Yellow Vest movement in France has forced the government of Carlos Alvarado to back down from its plans for destructive tax increases, cuts to public services, and privatizations. The rebellion has changed the political dynamics in a country which was formerly seen as “the Switzerland of Central America.”

Rob Lyons

October 19, 2020

When Imperialism Lost: The United Army of Central America and the Defeat of the Filibusters

In 1856, the combined forces of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala beat back U.S.-backed filibuster William Walker’s attacks from Nicaragua.

Rob Lyons

August 11, 2018

Central America and the Permanent Revolution, Part 1: The Origins

This is the first article in a series that aims to analyze the perspectives of revolutionary processes in Central America using the concept of permanent revolution.

Rob Lyons

July 9, 2018

The “New” European Reformism and the Failure of the Broad Left Party Strategy

The capitulation of the SYRIZA government to the demands of European imperialism has sent shock waves across a wide section of the international Left for some very concrete and understandable reasons.

Rob Lyons

August 20, 2015

Hundreds of anti-poverty activists march for housing in Toronto

Toronto- Hundreds of anti-poverty activists answered the call of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) to march for social housing and to protest the estimated $2.2 Billion CAD spent on the Pan American Games.

Rob Lyons

July 21, 2015

The Toronto Climate Justice March

Toronto- Between 10,000 and 15,000 people marched for climate and social justice in Toronto Saturday, an event which organizers hoped to use to draw attention to the building popular support for radical action on global climate change.

Rob Lyons

July 7, 2015