Labour, Art, and the Canadian Aporia: The NFBC and the Digital Mediation of Working-Class Struggles

John Bessai

This paper explores the role of the National Film Board of Canada (NFBC) in shaping labour  discourse through its unique model of art as a public service, particularly in the context of the  Canadian aporetic condition—the unresolved contradictions of national identity,  multiculturalism, and colonial histories. Labour history and labour studies have long been central  to understanding the intersection of economic, social, and political struggles. However, in the  digital age, where corporate media conglomerates dominate public narratives, the NFBC remains  a crucial counterpublic institution, fostering an alternative mode of storytelling that engages with  working-class struggles in ways that traditional labour histories often overlook.

This paper examines key NFBC projects illuminating the precarity of labour in historical and  contemporary contexts, analyzing their role in expanding public engagement and democratizing  access to working-class narratives. Case studies such as HIGHRISE (Kat Cizek), which  documents global urban inequality and the lived realities of high-rise dwellers, and Supreme Law (Kat Cizek), which explores the evolution of constitutional labour rights in Canada, illustrate the  NFBC’s commitment to presenting labour struggles through innovative, participatory  storytelling. Additionally, interactive digital projects such as Do Not Track (Brett Gaylor)  critically examine labour exploitation in the digital economy, exposing the hidden dimensions of  surveillance capitalism and precarious gig work.

By framing these NFBC projects within the broader trajectory of Canadian labour history, this  paper highlights the shifting role of publicly funded cultural institutions in labour discourse. How  does the NFBC, as an entity operating within state structures yet resisting neoliberal media  trends, provide a sustainable model for digital public storytelling? What does its non commercialized approach reveal about the intersections of labour, media, and democracy in  Canada? Drawing on the Canadian aporetic condition framework, this paper argues that the  NFBC’s projects not only document working-class struggles but actively shape a digital  counterpublic sphere where labour histories are preserved, interrogated, and reimagined for  future generations.

Fifteen People at Bob Carlin’s Funeral: Reflections on the Legacy and Fate of Working-Class Heroes

Peter Campbell

In May 1840 Thomas Carlyle gave a series of six lectures that led to the publication of his book On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History in 1841.  In subsequent years, many leftists, from Marx and Engels to members of the Socialist Party of Canada, had a go at Carlyle, the Great Man Theory of history, and the cult of the individual.  This critique notwithstanding, the left has produced a pantheon of heroes, from Lenin to Che Guevara, Rosa Luxemburg to Madeleine Parent, Eugene Debs to E.T. Kingsley.  The cult of the individual that arose around Stalin notwithstanding, the left has alternatively respected, praised, mourned, and yes, worshipped working-class heroes.  What have we learned from the history of working-class heroes? Is it really true, as John Lennon tells us, that a working-class hero is something to be? Are leaders who become working-class heroes an aid, or an impediment, to the realization of a socialist future?

The Moving Past - A Collection of Archival Films

David Sobel

The Moving Past: A Collection of Archival films, streams century-old films about work and industry for education and research. The CCLH generously provided a grant to support this project. The presentation would discuss how this grant was used, while explaining how the films bridge public and labour history.

These government-sponsored films are sources for labour history. They reinforce existing interpretations and raise new issues for research. New audiences are attracted to the content, the films raise questions about technological change, health and safety, gender and work organization, issues that continue to challenge unions today.