Canadian left-wing magazine
Canadian Dimension (CD) is a Canadian left-wing magazine founded in 1963 by Cy Gonick and published in Winnipeg, Manitoba.[1] In 2019, CD transitioned to a digital publication "as a springboard to a lively role in the 21st century resurgence of radical socialist thinking and organizing."[2]
Canadian Dimension is a forum for left-wing political thought, opinion, and analysis that ranges from New Democratic Party–style social democracy to libertarian socialism.
History
The magazine was founded in 1963 by Cy Gonick, and a collective took over editorial responsibility in 1975. Over the course of its 56 years in print, the magazine was managed by an editorial collective of over 30 writers and activists from major cities across Canada, with Gonick acting as the coordinating editor and publisher. In 2019, Harrison Samphir, a writer and editor who previously served as the magazine's web editor and associate publisher, was appointed as CD's editor-in-chief.
CD provides a forum for debate on topics such as socialism versus social democracy and features in-depth analytical essays, opinion, and activist writing from across Canada and beyond, as well as critical reviews of books and films.
Canadian Dimension draws on a wide spectrum of writers on the left. Some of the earliest contributors included Charles Taylor, George Grant, Gad Horowitz, C. B. Macpherson, Kari Levitt, John Warnock, James Laxer, Leo Panitch and Reg Whitaker. More recently, frequent contributors have included the likes of Bryan Palmer, Sam Gindin, Jim Silver, Pam Palmater, Andrea Levy, Rinaldo Walcott, David Moscrop, Peter Kulchyski, Paul Robinson, Yves Engler, Joel Kovel, Boris Kagarlitsky, and Ian Angus.
Canadian Dimension has identified itself as a socialist publication throughout its history. In 1963, the publication did not cover issues related to feminism, environmentalism, human rights, gay and lesbian liberation, or the relationship between political beliefs and personal lifestyle choices. By the 1980s, however, CD had begun featuring articles on these topics with greater frequency.
An editorial written on the occasion of its 30th anniversary, "CD at 30" concluded that
Canadian Dimension's renewal is a reaffirmation of the philosophy that has guided us over the past 30 years. We cherish our pluralism because we think it is an integral part of the struggle to replace capitalism. We prize our independence because it gives us the freedom to maintain that pluralism, to question left orthodoxy, to challenge our allies and heap abuse on capitalist pigs everywhere. And we remain an alternative because those capitalist pigs hold sway almost everywhere, brutalizing the Earth and all of her creatures.
Over the past decade, the format of the magazine radically shifted, namely with dedicated sections of each issue focusing on different themes such as Cities, Indian Country, Arts and Politics, Food, Pensions in Peril, Queer, Remembering 1968, Immigration, the Criminal (Justice) System, precarious work, big media, Canada mines the South, the New Feminist Revolution, Our Winnipeg, Today's Student Activism, climate change, peak oil, and degrowth.
