Canadian Dimension

Canadian Dimension is Canada's longest standing magazine of the left wing. For 50 years CD has provided a forum for debate, where red meets green, feminists take on socialists, socialists take on social democrats, whites hear from aboriginals, activists report from all corners of Canada, trade unionists report from the front lines, campaigns make connections, and the latest books, films, websites, CDs, and videos are radically reviewed. Canadian Dimension draws on a very 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, Andrea Levy, Peter Kulchyski, Yves Engler, Joel Kovel, Ian Angus.

The magazine was founded in 1963 by Cy Gonick, and a collective took over editorial responsibility in 1975. It is a diverse group of over 30 writers and activists who reside in major cities across Canada. Gonick acts as coordinating editor and publisher.

Canadian Dimension has always regarded itself as a socialist publication though the scope of its socialism has evolved very considerably. In 1963 it didn't write about feminism, the environment, human rights, gay and lesbian liberation, and the connection between the politics that's espoused and the way its proponents live their lives. By the 1980s these became standard fare.

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 changed radically with part of every issue being focused on a different theme – 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, degrowth.

• Official website