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August 1-31, 2014
Volume 22 – Number 13 $1
Prolétaires de tous les pays, unissez-vous!
Otatoskewak ota kitaskinahk mamawestotan!
Workers of all lands, unite
1) STOP ISRAEL'S MASSACRE OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE!
2) OFL PRESIDENT SLAMS HARPER'S POLICY ON GAZA
3) ONTARIO VOTERS REJECT TORY AUSTERITY AND JOB CUTS
4) TFWP "REFORMS" LEAVE CHEAP LABOUR STRATEGY INTACT
5) THE FIRST CASUALTY OF WAR - Editorial
6) REVENUE CUTS CAUSE DEFICITS - Editorial
7) FIRST NATIONS LEADERS CALL FOR INQUIRY AND ACTION
8) KAPLAN LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN FOR RE-ELECTION TO TDSB
9) YOUNG COMMUNISTS HOLD SUCCESSFUL 26th CONVENTION
10) WEST RE-OPENS OLD SORES IN UKRAINE
11) WORLD PEACE COUNCIL CALLS GLOBAL DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST NATO
12) IS ISRAEL PLANNING GAZA'S "FINAL SOLUTION"?
13) MUSIC NOTES, By Wally Brooker
PEOPLE'S VOICE AUGUST 1-31, 2014 (pdf)
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1) STOP ISRAEL'S MASSACRE OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE!
Communist Party calls for immediate end to airstrikes, for Baird to resign
The Communist Party of Canada condemns the murderous bombardment of Palestine by the Israeli Air Force, and calls for this aggression to end immediately. Israel's attacks have already killed hundreds of people and left several thousand wounded and displaced. The Communist Party reiterates its support for the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation in their territories, and for their legitimate struggle for an independent Palestinian state.
Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird, has once again taken a shameful position in this crisis, stating support for Israel's attacks and criticizing the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights after she called for an immediate ceasefire and raised questions about the legality of Israel's airstrikes. These comments are part of the effort by Baird and the Harper government to reduce Canada's foreign policy to uncritical support for Israel, cloaking its aggressiveness in the language of "self-defense" and "anti-terrorism."
We also condemn Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apologetics for the flagrant war crimes being committed against civilians - especially women, children and elderly - by blaming the victims, saying that Hamas activists were using their families as "human shields". Harper's "we bomb your home, and if your family is killed in the process, it's your fault" represents unbelievable and offensive double-think that reflects his aggressive, imperialist foreign policy.
It is pitiful that the opposition parties, including the NDP, have adopted positions that ape the Conservatives and attempt to sideline the historical basis for this crisis. As the Communist Party noted in November 2012, "Those who seek to assign "equal blame" for the crisis ignore the decades-long Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in contravention of international law and many important resolutions of the United Nations." Israel's warning for all Palestinians to flee Gaza if they want to survive is tantamount to ethnic cleansing at the point of the gun. We call upon the opposition parties to demand that the Canadian government press Israel for an immediate ceasefire and to open genuine peace talks. Further, the Communist Party calls for John Baird to resign as Foreign Minister, on the basis that he is pursuing a foreign policy based on illegal positions.
The Communist Party supports the struggle of the Palestinian people for a viable independent state, within the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital. We demand the right of return for all Palestinian refugees, and the release of all Palestinian political prisoners from Israeli jails. We reiterate our support for the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation in their territories. We call for the wall of separation to be dismantled and condemn all efforts to divide the Palestinian people and territories.
The Communist Party supports the rapid mobilization of peace and solidarity movements in Canada and around the world, to oppose Israel's criminal bombardment and prevent escalation of the attacks. We encourage the labour and progressive movements in Canada to continue protests, and to build a mass mobilization to force the Canadian government to end its uncritical support for Israel and adopt a foreign policy of peace. Furthermore, the Communist Party encourages all individuals and organizations in Canada to actively support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign, as a concrete, powerful and effective way to apply pressure to end Israeli apartheid.
- Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, July 15, 2014
2) OFL PRESIDENT SLAMS HARPER'S POLICY ON GAZA
In a July 21 statement, the Ontario Federation of Labour says it "joins millions of Canadians who are shocked by the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has created a nightmare for tens of thousands of civilians who are caught in the crossfire."
"The Harper government's policy is unbalanced toward Israel, and is completely out of step with Canadians' views," said Sid Ryan, President of the OFL. "If this government has as strong a relationship with Israel as it claims, then Prime Minister Stephen Harper must use every ounce of his influence to convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop his military's indiscriminate bombing of Gaza."
The OFL says "the conflict affects both sides, but by far the worst is being endured by Palestinian women and children. According to the latest update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as of (July 20) the Palestinian death toll since the start of the emergency was at least 375, of whom 270 (72 percent) were believed to be civilians. The Palestinian Ministry of Health adds that over 3,000 Palestinians have been injured, including 904 children and 533 women."
The Federation also says "the indiscriminate firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups into Israel" is unacceptable. Two Israeli civilians have been killed from rocket and mortar fire since the start of hostilities.
But as the statement points out, "Parents in Gaza are fleeing their homes from Israel's attacks, which UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described as `atrocious'... Nearly half of Gaza's blockaded territory is affected by evacuation warnings or declaration of `no-go zones,' leaving 80,000 people crammed into schools operated by the United Nations, seeking shelter. The high proportion of civilian casualties, along with allegations by human rights organizations about the targeting of civilians and civilian locations by Israel, such as homes and a hospital, have rightly drawn international condemnation... Palestinian labour and civil society groups are crying out for help. An appeal signed by the Palestinian
General Federation of Trade Unions and the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (comprising 133 member organizations), which was received by the Ontario Federation of Labour, called for `immediate international protection of the civilians of Gaza.'"
"Every effort must be made immediately to protect civilians, especially women and children, in the short term," said Ryan. "I am also urging the Harper government to support a lasting peace, which will only come through international efforts to lift the blockade of Gaza and to end the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands."
3) ONTARIO VOTERS REJECT TORY AUSTERITY AND JOB CUTS
Commentary by the Executive Committee, CPC (Ontario) - abridged
The June 12th Ontario election was a victory for the Liberals who won a majority, rebounding from a series of scandals linked to privatization and vote-buying in 2011, and the massive attack on teachers and educational workers with Bill 115 in 2012. The Liberal win was also a resounding defeat for Tim Hudak and the Tories' anti-labour, austerity platform of public sector job cuts, privatization, and "right to work" laws.
This election was unwanted and opposed by the Ontario Federation of Labour, who had appealed to the NDP to support the government's budget. But the NDP pulled the plug on the Liberal minority, heedless of the OFL's well-founded fear of a Tory win and promise of right-to-work legislation.
The Liberals wanted the NDP to support the budget, but were also prepared to go to the voters, with a $130 billion, 10-year infrastructure plan, and an Ontario defined benefit pension plan stolen from the NDP's 2010 policy book. The Liberals designed the budget - which became their platform - to look very progressive, obscuring the regressive wage and privatization policies that were also in it. In the process the Liberals out-manoeuvred the NDP by offering what appeared to be a big and a progressive agenda, while the NDP offered up policies that were small, inadequate, and incremental.
The NDP had no intention of working with labour to extract concessions from the minority Liberals. Instead they planned to force an election, hoping to secure more seats at the expense of the Liberals. NDP leader Andrea Horwath wanted to duplicate the success of Jack Layton in the 2011 federal election when the Liberal vote collapsed and the NDP surged on the "orange wave" to become the Official Opposition. But it was the Tories that formed a majority government in 2011 - one Canadians have been in sharp struggle with ever since.
The "New Labour" politics of Tony Blair, Jack Layton, and Roy Romanow showed up in the NDP campaign, with Horwath's promise to link increases in the minimum wage to tax cuts for small business, and the promise to Big Business that any tax increase on corporations and the wealthy would be minimal and temporary. To those campaigning for "a $14 minimum wage now", Horwath said the NDP would offer $12 - but not until 2016.
The platform and the strategy bent so far to placate corporate interests that a sharply critical letter from 34 prominent NDPers was leaked to the media in mid-campaign, while Gerald Caplan wrote a similar scathing assessment in a Globe and Mail op-ed piece. Among other things, the 34 wondered if there was still a place for them in the NDP. The public agreed with the sentiment and the NDP lost three of its five Toronto seats. They won three seats in Sudbury, Oshawa and Windsor thanks mainly to the efforts of the local labour movement, ending up with the same 21 seat total - and no longer the balance of power.
OFL President Sid Ryan tweeted, "By triggering this election the NDP placed the Labour Movement in harm's way. There will be a serious and frank discussion with the party."
The Liberals meanwhile donned the mantle of defender of workers, jobs, and public services. They were ably assisted by the well-financed Working Families Coalition and its effective television and media attack ads. They appealed directly to NDP supporters to vote Liberal, as the only way to stop the Tories. In so doing, they completed the transformation of the Liberal image from corrupt, self-serving Big Business party, into a defender of democratic and social rights, and as the creator of jobs, growth, and economic and social security. And they did it virtually overnight.
The Tories: 1 million jobs and 100,000 job cuts
The Tories campaigned on a platform of creating a million jobs, after by-election results last spring showed that their pitch for "right to work" laws was a vote-loser, not a vote-getter. Tim Hudak declared the issue was off the agenda, but the public rightly didn't believe it, after the trade union movement had spent the last year mobilizing and educating workers and communities about "right to work for less" laws in the US, and the significant loss of wages and rights that followed.
The Tories also shot themselves in the foot with the proposal to start creating one million new jobs, by laying off 100,000 public sector workers. It made no sense, and it struck a chord of real fear in a province suffering one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Hudak made it even worse by releasing figures that didn't add up, exposing the plan's creators as rank amateurs. Economists from all sectors dismissed the figures as gibberish.
The result was 10 lost seats for the Tories (down to 27), the NDP holding at 21, and the Liberals up to 59 seats with a comfortable majority. Voter turnout was up, despite efforts to suppress the vote by the conservative right. This included complaints by the Liberals and NDP to Elections Ontario that Tory operatives in London and Ottawa had sent letters mis-directing voters to polls on election day. The complaints were similar to the robocall scandal in the federal election.
The Tories were soundly rejected across urban and suburban areas, and in northern Ontario, while they retained rural ridings in eastern and south-western Ontario. The Tories' one "beachhead" in Toronto (won in a spring by-election by former Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday, with the support of Rob Ford and the Harper Tories), was lost by more than 4,500 votes in Etobicoke. In Burlington (just outside Hamilton), the Tories were easily defeated despite having held the seat continuously since 1943.
The Green Party, which had polled up to 7% before the election, lost some support as votes polarized. As well as electoral reform and environmental issues, including sharp opposition to Line 9, the pipelines, and the tar sands, the Greens also campaigned for a merger of Catholic and public school systems which many voters understood to mean a single, secular system of education. This position now has majority support in Ontario.
But in fact the Green Party advocates confederated school boards in which both Catholic and public systems would co-exist, maintaining the status quo where Ontario continued to be the only province still funding a parallel religious school system. With the exception of some of its candidates, the Green party offered no substantial challenge to austerity policies.
Communist Party's support grows
The Communist Party more than doubled its vote, and interest was much greater than in previous elections. Only the Communist Party had a clear and consistent platform against austerity, projecting a way out of recession based on job creation, higher wages and living standards, expanded social programs and public services, real economic growth through public investment and the development of an industrial and manufacturing policy that puts people's needs before corporate greed.
The party proposed to double the corporate tax rate to 23%, restore the capital tax and capital gains taxes, collect deferred taxes and close tax loopholes, and introduce wealth and inheritance taxes on estates over $750,000. The party also proposes immediate tax relief for working people by eliminating the HST, removing education from the property tax, and eliminating user fees.
Rent controls and plant closure legislation with teeth are also high on the agenda to stop greedy landlords and run-away corporations, along with action and funds to protect healthcare from privatization in all its evolving forms. Anti-scab legislation and bankruptcy protection are also in the platform ,available at www.CommunistPartyOntario.ca.
In an election where mass unemployment, precarious employment, and declining wages and living standards were the main issue, the Communist Party stood out as the only party fighting for the rights and interests of the working class and youth, and advocating a people's agenda and a people's recovery.
Canvassing and distributions of the Party's platform had some remarkable results. Many people who took the platform on the streets, bus stations, or subways could be seen carefully reading it. Some returned to say they would vote for the candidate, and had been looking for policies like that. Others said they would vote Communist if there was a candidate in their riding. There were many requests for lawn signs, and it was easier for Communist candidates to get into all-candidates debates.
Throne Speech
Premier Wynne re-introduced the Liberal budget on July 14th. Reaction from international credit rating institutions was instantaneous. The budget was too rich, the debt and deficit would skyrocket; in fact the earth would open up and the sky would fall. The message was clear: stick to austerity and stay away from interventions in the economy that don't involve more corporate tax cuts, wage cuts, privatization, deregulation and free trade.
Provincial Treasurer (and former banker) Charles Sousa responded angrily that "the banks aren't freaking!". The Globe and Mail, on behalf of corporate Canada, responded "somebody's freaking." But Ontario still has a credit rating equivalent to an "A" on a report card according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
A Trojan Horse
In fact the budget contains some bombs which have to do with the funding for the ambitious plans in the budget, and the government's steely commitment to eliminate the $12.5 billion deficit by 2017-18 come hell or high water. After more than 30 years of tax cuts for the corporations and the very wealthy, revenue streams into the provincial treasury have been greatly reduced, generating decades of cuts and privatization by Liberal, Conservative and the NDP government in the early '90s.
The Premier flew trial balloons for road tolls, income tax increases, user fees; but all were found to be vote losers and were dropped prior to the election. Now a new think tank is urging resuscitation of these ideas. The budget proposed privatization of public assets, and expanding public private partnerships, meaning that services that are now public are likely to emerge as partly privatized services.
Extending Bill 115
The budget also includes 0% wage increases across the public sector in upcoming negotiations. This is what generated Bill 115 in 2012, and precipitated a crisis in education that ended with the suspension of free collective bargaining, the removal of $2 billion from the pockets of teachers and educational workers, and finally, the resignation of Premier Dalton McGuinty and the prorogation of the provincial parliament.
A similar struggle will unfold, pitting the government against every public sector worker at every level. It must be opposed by those in the Legislature who claim to represent "everyday people" and who, like the Premier, want to "build Ontario up". But this cannot be done on the backs of working people, youth, women, and the unemployed.
The labour movement has been very effective at linking the struggle for public sector jobs with the fight for quality public services. Efforts to privatize public services, healthcare, hospitals, schools, public transit, and more, must be met with stiff public resistance.
The Liberals can count on the support of the Tories who hate public services and assets as much as they hate organized labour and the unionized public sector.
What position will Andrea Horwath and the NDP caucus take? In 2012 the NDP caucus opposed the Bill 115 legislation, but they supported removing $2 million from teachers and education workers' pockets. They argued they could convince the unions to give up the money voluntarily. In 1993, NDP Premier Bob Rae introduced the social contract which opened up collective agreements to pick the pockets of public sector workers in Ontario.
The split in the NDP
The split in the NDP is likely to become wider. At the base is the question, which side are you on? That's what NDPers in the labour and social movements will have to decide, sooner rather than later.
What will be decisive is the role of the OFL and the Common Front to mobilize working people for a massive and escalating struggle against austerity, and for a People's Recovery. Despite the Liberal image make-over, there is a huge storm coming and no way around it for Ontario's working people. On this side will be the working class, the unemployed, youth, women, Aboriginals, racialized communities, migrants. On the other side are the corporations and their governments. This budget is the lull before the storm.
The change in leadership and the demand for a change in direction at the recent CLC convention is most welcome. So is the focus on independent labour political action being pursued by the OFL leadership, and by the Common Front with its nearly 100 affiliated community and democratic organizations and people's movements, including the CPC (Ontario). Unity and strength in escalating mass independent political action can repulse the coming attack, and move labour from the defensive onto the offensive. This strategy is needed rack up real victories for working people in the next four years, and to achieve a much different and better electoral outcome in 2018.
4) TFWP "REFORMS" LEAVE CHEAP LABOUR STRATEGY INTACT
Statement by the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, July 2014
After a series of revelations about abuses of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), the Harper Conservatives have announced so-called "sweeping changes". Their political aim is to prevent this scandal from becoming a major issue in the 2015 federal election, without reversing the cheap labour strategy demanded by big capital.
Canada needs policies to put people's needs ahead of corporate greed. Instead, the Harper government uses temporary foreign workers as part of the drive against job and income security for working people. This includes the expanding use of casualized, temporary, non-union workers, paid minimum wages and without benefits. The drive to reduce labour costs and attain a flexible work force is creating a brutal system of modern capitalist slavery, a system which generates, and feeds off, a huge pool of working poor.
The TFWP was introduced under the former Liberal government, as part of a wider corporate drive to channel cheap labour to employers. The Conservatives have gone further, erecting new obstacles against immigration for family-reunification and other humanitarian grounds, and reducing the number of successful refugee applicants. Visa requirements have been increased for certain nationalities, and foreign visitors suspected of potentially seeking asylum are being blocked at ports of entry, while others are being deported without the right to appeal. The racist Bill C-24, the so-called "Strengthening Citizenship Act", creates a new second-tier category of citizens with less rights. The Tories axed health benefits for refugees and refugee claimants, denying access to drugs, dental and vision care, and even wheelchairs, until this racist policy was overturned by the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program expanded, to funnel foreign workers into poorly-paid jobs without legal rights, protections or benefits. These super-exploited workers are at the mercy of employers, and then forced to leave Canada. The 2012 Conservative budget allowed companies to pay TFWP workers 15% less than the prevailing wage, a move which was later reversed after intense public pressure.
Like similar programs in other capitalist countries, the TWFP also gave right-wing forces an opportunity to divide the working class by promoting anti-immigrant racism.
But with growing protests over the mistreatment of TFWP workers, and the understanding that this program artificially inflates unemployment rates, it became necessary for the Conservatives to announce changes.
But the "reforms" announced by Minister Jason Kenney will save the low-skills TFW program. The estimate that some 12,000 employers rely on the TFWP leaves out primary agriculture, tourism and resorts relying on youth with open work permits. Some 830,000 employers with fewer than 10 workers are exempted from the cap on low-wage, temporary migrant workers.
Placing limits on the number of applications and charging higher fees will not stop employers who depend on cheap temporary labour, including big corporations like McDonalds and Tim Hortons.
We join with others in the labour and immigrant rights movements to say that the entire TFWP must be scrapped, not just "adjusted". We support the demands to grant immediate access to the immigration stream for all current temporary foreign workers, to shut down the low-wage categories, and to allow those who come to work in Canada the ability to settle as permanent residents, with the same rights and protections of all workers.
People's Voice Editorial
There is an old saying that "the first casualty when war comes is truth." This generalization reflects the tendency by imperialist powers to turn reality upside down to win public support for their crimes. Canadians remember that the tragic US-led occupation of Iraq, which has ultimately cost the lives of over half of million people, was "justified" by an outrageous campaign of lies orchestrated by the Bush White House. The U.S. shot down Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988, killing 300 civilian passengers, and Ukraine's military shot down a Siberia Airlines flight over the Black Sea in 2001. It now appears that a Ukrainian fighter jet was near Malaysian Air flight MH17 before it crashed on July 17.
There are many unanswered questions and widespread public cynicism around accusations by the NATO powers that Russia or eastern Ukrainian defence fighters caused that crash, based on "taped phone conversations" and speculation about the location of missile systems. Canada's Conservative politicians were quick to urge NATO action against Russia, which could further destabilize the entire region and potentially spark a wider war. Coming from Stephen Harper and John Baird (supporters of Israel's killings of Palestinian children) this irresponsible rhetoric is highly dangerous.
Instead of wild finger-pointing and threats, there is an urgent need for a calm and rational approach. Only an impartial international investigation can determine the truth behind the crash of flight MH17. That message should be sent to all the parties in Canada's Parliament, who shamefully continue to give full support for the fascist-backed regime in Kiev which is shelling and bombing civilians in southeast Ukraine.
6) REVENUE CUTS CAUSE DEFICITS
People's Voice Editorial
Now that Ontario voters have rejected the far right drive to slash public programs even further, the big corporations have stepped up the pressure to cut spending to the bone, and even to amputate. A set of briefing notes from the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions reveals that the problem with government finances is actually revenue slashing.
Ontario has both the lowest public spending and the lowest revenue of all the provinces on a per capita basis, even though most other provinces are relatively poorer. This is nothing new. Statistics Canada data for 2009 (the last year available) indicates that Ontario had the lowest per capita revenue at that time, by a large margin. The data also indicates that Ontario's "own source" revenue (excluding federal transfers) was 14.4% of Gross Domestic Product, far less than the average 17.9% of all the provinces.
The briefing notes calculate that if Ontario had taken in the same revenue as the rest of Canada, the treasury would have received an extra $19.5 billion in 2009, and similar amounts every succeeding year. But since the Wynne Liberal government is not likely to increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy, Ontario working people will be stuck with the real spending cuts which are on the way, especially if the government keeps to its plan to balance the budget by 2017/18. With inflation in Ontario running at 3% annually, workers in the public sector face years of pay increases at well below that level.
The picture is similar across Canada. In British Columbia, the massive tax cuts for the rich and the corporations granted by the Campbell government back in 2002 continue to cost the provincial treasury over $2 billion every year. The next time you hear politicians and corporate media call for austerity, remember that the economic elite are receiving the biggest handout in Canada's history - an endless "gravy train" for the rich.
7) FIRST NATIONS LEADERS CALL FOR INQUIRY AND ACTION
First Nation leaders, women's groups, elders and youth gathered in a Circle of Hope in Halifax on July 16, offering a special tribute to missing and murdered Indigenous women during the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) 35th Annual General Assembly which took place in Mi'kmaq territory.
The Circle of Hope, organized by the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), the Nova Scotia Native Women's Association (NSNWA), the Mi'kmaq Native Friendship Centre and the Host Committee for the Annual General Meeting of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), coincided with resolutions being considered by the AFN's membership.
According to statistics released by the RCMP there are 1,181 murdered and missing Aboriginal women in Canada. Aboriginal women accounted for 16% of female homicides and 11.3% of missing women.
Cheryl Maloney, President of NSNWA said, "Based on the proportion of Aboriginal women in Canada these numbers are three to four times higher than the number of non-Aboriginal women who were either murdered or missing." She added, "Unless and until we get to the reasons why, the number of Aboriginal women whose lives will be cut short or who will vanish without a trace will continue to grow and more First Nation families and communities will be devastated."
Michele Audette, President of NWAC said, "We are here in solidarity to say that each and every woman counted among the almost 1200 who were murdered or are missing deserves justice. We will continue to speak up for them and for their families until the Federal Government responds to our pleas and takes concrete action to end the violence against Indigenous women."
Audette said events like the Circle of Hope help to capture the public's attention. "We are grateful for the support we continue to receive from members of the non-Aboriginal community, but also recognize that too many Canadians are still unaware of the pain this is causing First Nations people. The goal of the Circle of Hope and similar events held throughout the country is to help educate and enlighten the public to this national travesty so that they join us in demanding justice for all."
Assembly of First Nations Alberta Regional Chief Cameron Alexis also spoke, continuing calls for a National Public Commission of Inquiry as well as for urgent and direct action to prevent violence against women and girls.
"We demand immediate action based on the fact that not one more woman or girl can be victimized and that no family member should spend another day without answers," said Chief Alexis. "Ending violence against Indigenous women is an urgent priority for First Nations across the country, and AFN continues the call for a coordinated National Action Plan, including a National Public Commission of Inquiry, as well as immediate direct investments in shelters and preventative support measures to keep the most vulnerable of our citizens safe and secure."
There was a special tribute to the families and to Marlene Bird who was recently a victim of violence in Saskatchewan. A blanket dance raised $4,508 for Marlene Bird's care and treatment.
The Assembly brought together more than 1,100 First Nation leaders, Elders and youth gathered from across the country to address priority issues and set direction and strategy for the coming weeks and months.
One of the key decisions was to set the location and timing for the next election for AFN National Chief, which will take place at a Special Chiefs Assembly in Winnipeg from December 9 to 11. AFN Quebec/Labrador Regional Chief Ghislain Picard will act as Interim National Chief until the December election.
The 302 Chiefs-in-Assembly taking part passed a number of resolutions in priority areas, including a commitment to fully review the way the AFN is structured and operates to ensure it evolves and adapts as First Nations rebuild their nations and assert their sovereignty and jurisdiction.
"I am honoured to take on the responsibility of interim National Chief and look forward to working together with the Executive Committee based on the clear direction of First Nations to ensure we take every opportunity to advance Aboriginal title, rights and Treaties in ways that will rebuild our nations and achieve safe and secure communities for all our peoples," said AFN Interim National Chief Ghislain Picard. "This has been an important Assembly for open and honest dialogue on our common priorities, our objectives and our organization. We must now move forward and take action based on this direction."
Other resolutions dealt with Treaty implementation; engaging on First Nations control of First Nations education respecting regional approaches, needs and diversity; funding for post-secondary education; appointment of a Chiefs Committee on hydraulic fracturing; and reconciliation and justice for survivors of residential schools, among others.
All resolutions will be available at www.afn.ca.
8) KAPLAN LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN FOR RE-ELECTION TO TDSB
Long-time advocate for universal quality public education, Howard Kaplan, has announced his campaign for re-election as Toronto District School Board trustee in Toronto's Ward 5, York Centre.
"Too many students are falling between the cracks while others are unable to reach their full potential because of inadequate government funding and short-sighted policies," said Kaplan. "It's time we put in place a funding formula that addresses students' real needs."
With the provincial budget released, Kaplan appeals to the Liberal government to keep its election promises and provide adequate funding for all day kindergarten and special education, especially for some of the needier Ward 5 schools in the TDSB. "We need increased capital funding to deal with the shortfalls, which lead to pressure to sell off school land and buildings," said Kaplan, who spent considerable time during these past four years as a trustee, working with parents opposed to selling off public spaces as a band-aid for manufactured budget failings.
"I also call on the Minister of Education to provide the funds we need to reach fair collective agreements with our teachers and support staff this upcoming year. We respect our staff and our contracts at the TDSB. Now is the time for the provincial government to show its commitment by dedicating new funding to education," Kaplan emphasized.
Kaplan's campaign manager is Elizabeth Hill, herself a veteran 18 year former trustee on the TDSB and York Board of Education. "Howard works tirelessly to ensure that our schools are safe and healthy. He really supports `Kids - not Cuts', and that's why I'm working to re-elect Howard," stressed Hill.
9) YOUNG COMMUNISTS HOLD SUCCESSFUL 26th CONVENTION
Special to People's Voice
From May 23 to 25, young Communists from across the country convened in Toronto for the Young Communist League of Canada-Ligue de la jeunesse comuniste du Canada's 26th Central Convention. The purpose of the Convention was to elaborate the YCL-LJC's policy on important questions, debate updates to the constitution, set an organizational plan of work, elect a renewed central leadership, and develop a united, militant and activist strategy for the youth fightback. The slogan of the Convention was "with militancy and unity we will build the youth and student fightback".
Towards a counter-offensive
The Political Report that was amended and adopted by the Convention outlined the collective analysis of the YCL-LJC. It expressed that "the most important new developments have been, on the one hand, the consolidation of the austerity `recovery' agenda by monopoly capitalism and, on the other hand, the uneven but dynamic uprisings and social explosions of protest". The Convention discussed many recent struggles such as the Occupy movement, the Quebec Student Strike, Idle No More and environmental struggles against pipelines and the Tar Sands. While recognizing that these examples have "enlivened and reclaimed our streets in protest", the Convention realized that much more is needed to be done: in order to reverse the attacks and shift to a counter-offensive it is necessary that these struggles develop further and move beyond spontaneous protest towards an even broader united, militant and organized extra-parliamentary fightback with the labour movement at its core.
Delegates discussed the capitalist economic crisis, imperialist intervention and war globally, environmental crisis and climate change, the intensification of the attack on organized labour, youth unemployment/underemployment and precarious work, poverty wages, ableism, xenophobia and racism, the ongoing genocidal attack on Indigenous peoples, sexism, transphobia and homophobia, and the struggle for free, accessible, quality public education at all-levels.
"The goal of the convention was to strengthen the collective of the YCL through analyzing all the different struggles the League, our clubs and members are involved in," said Marianne Breton Fontaine, leader of the LJC-Quebec. "Through this we can see that what connects these movements is their resistance to capital and capitalist governments across Canada."
Guests and allies
The Convention welcomed greetings from a range of allies who also strengthened the discussions. The Consul General of Cuba talked about some of the Cuban experiences with principles of Communist leadership; Communist Party of Canada leader Miguel Figueroa gave greetings; a representative of the Raise the Minimum Wage Campaign detailed creative and dynamic work being done in Ontario to lift workers out of poverty; and representatives from the Solidarity Committee with the Communities Affected by Chevron and McMaster's Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement gave presentations and received support from the Convention. A speaker from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers talked about the campaign to "Save Canada Post" and the Convention passed a special resolution in solidarity with CUPW and to take action as the YCL-LJC to actively support the campaign.
The Convention was attended by 27 delegates and 7 alternates from clubs across Canada, in addition to several observers. Delegates were elected by their clubs to attend the Convention in order to ensure equal representation of the League as a whole. The YCL-LJC has recruited and grown substantially, especially in British Columbia, and where clubs are most active in Ontario, which meant for many delegates this was their first Convention of the YCL-LJC. The 26th Convention was the largest since the re-founding of the YCL-LJC in 2007, representing new challenges and opportunities for the organization.
Toronto YCL member Zidane Mohamed called the convention an "inspiring experience": "we hosted communist youth from all over the country, all eager to make positive change in their communities, and united under a common banner to end all oppression and exploitation."
On Saturday night, almost 100 people gathered for a social event that saw author and activist Stephen Endicott talk about his time in the YCL in the 1950's. Progressive hip-hop artist Mohammad Ali ("Socialist Hip-Hop") and folk-singer and YCL member Zach Morgenstern performed at the event, which took place at the Steel Worker's Hall.
Challenges and renewed leadership
Procedural challenges and confusion lead to some serious time constraints, however all work put before the Convention was finished by Sunday evening as comrades met well into the evening. Other challenges included ensuring collective and democratic discussion on the leadership of the YCL-LJC. Delegates openly addressed these shortcomings on the floor of the Convention, and ultimately rejected side-line conversations in favour of striving for a culture of open criticism and self-criticism necessary to build a healthy, fighting YCL-LJC, capable of solving collective problems.
Gender-fraction meetings grappled with the reality of building a revolutionary youth organization in the midst of a patriarchal society, and the damaging effects that sexism has on our own organization.
These discussions and the task of building the YCL-LJC's work in the women's movement will continue in the second annual "Women's School" to be held later in 2014.
The 26th Convention elected a Central Committee of 13 committed young activists with a variety of links to working class and social movements in Canada, responding to the call from the Convention for the CC to become the "activist-core of the League".
The Central Committee elected a Central Executive Committee of five members. Drew Garvie, a longtime member of the YCL-LJC, a student activist for a number of years in Guelph, and member of the outgoing CEC, was assigned the position of General Secretary.
Marianne Breton Fontaine, also a longtime member of the YCL-LJC and the leader of the Ligue de la jeunesse comuniste du Quebec, will continue as the Central Treasurer. Comrade Zidane Mohamed, a leading member of the YCL Toronto was elected Central Organizer. Rozhin Emadi, the organizer of the YCL Vancouver club and a Cuba Solidarity activist was elected as an At-Large member of the Executive. Brent Jantzen, a young worker activist, and a leading member of the YCL Vancouver club was also elected as an At-Large member of the CEC.
This Convention also marked the aging-out of several leading members. The Convention recognized comrade Johan Boyden's integral contribution to rebuilding the YCL since 2004, and through his main assignment as General Secretary since 2007. Thanks were also sent to Mark Hamilton, a long-time member, postal worker and Central Committee member from Nova Scotia, Philip Ford, a longtime organizer and leader in the YCL Toronto, and Drew Bowering from Alberta, who had been a member of the Central Committee since 2007.
A step forward for the YCL-LJC
The 26th Convention, despite all the challenges of organizing a meeting of revolutionary youth in the context of capitalist reaction, marked a big step forward for the YCL-LJC. We have every indication that the biggest and most heroic struggles still to come.
As the Convention stated: "The current economic and political conditions have caused more and more young workers and students to look for alternatives to cut-backs, privatization and austerity. We have answers to the questions that are now being raised. The case against war, poverty, misery, environmental devastation, unemployment, exploitation and oppression is really the case for socialism!"
Conventions of the YCL-LJC aren't just a talkshop or a conference where socialist youth come together. The 26th Convention helped to reinforce the YCL-LJC in order to build the militancy and unity of the whole youth fightback. The real role of the YCL-LJC only comes to life in action, in this sense our latest Convention is still just the beginning!
10) WEST RE-OPENS OLD SORES IN UKRAINE
By Graham L. Wilson
July 2014 - As the cease fire ended, and the peace process falters further, Ukraine descends further into bloodshed. Reports say that fighters from Chechnya have joined the rebels in Eastern Ukraine, alongside Right Sector militants being brought in from Western Ukraine on the side of the Ukrainian military (as well as private American mercenaries) - worrying signs that the country will continue to be roiled by ethnic conflict.
The fears of a fractured society born from the February coup seem to be rapidly becoming realized. By deposing an elected president and forcing a polarizing, definite shift either to east or west, the nation's unity now seems irreconcilably broken. As fighters continue to pour in, the European continent is seeing violence unheard of since the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. As has happened in Iraq, Libya and Syria, the West seems to care little about the chaos that ensues in the aftermath of its attempts at regime change.
A drastic uptick in violence followed the May 25 presidential election, which the West had portrayed as the turning point towards stability, but was largely boycotted in the restive east. Clashes between rebels and security forces rose sharply, as the Ukrainian military turned to large scale bombardment against both rebels and populated civilian areas.
Hopes for peace are slipping even further away after President Poroshenko's "peace plan" proved to be cynically ineffective. To anyone with a long memory, this all seems too terribly familiar. The aftermath of the First World War, with the collapse of both the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires, left an environment that continued to be bloody long after 1918. Nationalist sentiments created new nations, as the remnants of the old guard struggled to reemerge.
The threat of a new war was never far from anyone's mind, which brings us to the geopolitical duel between Russia and the West. Even without a large scale confrontation, the renewal of ethnic and religious skirmishes and insurgencies is worrisome enough.
This all strikes a personal note when I consider my own family history. My ancestors on my maternal grandfather's side, ethnic Ukrainians on the eastern edge between Austria-Hungary and Russia, were stuck in the middle of the morass. My great baba was hauled off to work as a slave in a German dairy, while my great gido was sent to fight for the Hapsburgs. He eventually surrendered to the Russians, was held as a POW, escaped during the Revolution, and made the long trek on foot back to his home village, which was now within Poland. My great baba survived through secretly suckling the cows she tended, and eventually was allowed home.
My great-grandparents met, married and set out to have a family. My great baba, however, was a very astute woman. Sensing the coming of the next great war, she eventually convinced my great gido of the necessity to emigrate to the New World. His family, the Warchomikas, were comparatively well to do in the region, and it required some sizable persuasion from his wife, who came from the lower class Ference family.
This class difference was illustrated by two different experiences. One relative from the Warchomikas fought alongside the Nazis for the fascist Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, a group extolled by the far-right groups that frighteningly remain in key positions among the new Ukrainian authorities. Another from the Ferences fought against and successfully escaped twice from Nazi imprisonment, rejoining with the Red Army from Stalingrad to Berlin. But my immediate relatives had managed their escape in 1929, allowing their descendants to live in peace at last.
There is a common thread of immigration to Canada in order to escape never-ending war. This helps to show how hollow are the attempts by the Canadian government to depict Canada's sizable Ukrainian community as absolute in their support for the new Ukrainian authorities, even to the point of encouraging an increasingly brutal civil war.
Ukraine deserves the right to determine its destiny free from political domination from either east or west, and to reject either the economic control of Russia's corrupt oligarchs or the devastation of IMF imposed theft and austerity. Its diverse regions deserve fair representation within a decentralized federal system, but most of all, Ukraine deserves peace, dialogue and reconciliation, and the rejection of the fascist nationalism that has sparked violence in the west and east of the country. The alternative seems little more than the continuation of the centuries old cycle of violence. A grim prospect indeed.
11) WORLD PEACE COUNCIL CALLS GLOBAL DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST NATO
The year 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War. It was one of the deadliest imperialist conflicts in human history, a tragedy that killed 17 million people. It was described as "the war to end all wars," but today, a century later, the military potential to destroy lives and a livable environment is at a terrifying level and continues to rise.
Everyday, all over the world, people suffer from armed conflicts, military build-up, occupation, acts of intimidation and aggression, modernization and proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. The capitalist economic crisis is further aggravating peoples' life while profits of the war industries are growing. The ground for military aggressions and imperialist wars was never determined by accidental events or personal decisions.
The centenary of World War One should be a moment for reflection, for strengthening peace and for encouraging international friendship and solidarity on the basis of equality and respect for the sovereignty of the peoples. It must be directed toward ending economic domination of the monopolies and multinational corporations as well as towards aggressive military alliances.
Therefore, we should act against NATO, the number 1 war machine in the world. The World Peace Council, founded shortly after the end of the World War II under the slogan "No more War - No more Fascism", underlines the need to draw conclusions from the period which led to the Nazi invasion to Poland on 1st September 1939 and the beginning of the Second World War. The growing imperialist ambitions of Nazi Germany then met with the imperialist agenda of other forces, who did not oppose the German expansion to the East in the beginning. The glorious resistance of peoples against Fascism and Nazism in combination with the struggle and the tens of millions of victims of the USSR, led to the liberation of Europe from fascism and the victory of the peoples.
The post war international situation, the foundation of the UN and its charter created a new situation for the peoples and their strive for freedom and sovereignty. All this is being fiercely challenged and overthrown today, efforts to substitute often the UN by NATO are at place, neo-fascist forces are on the grow in many parts of Europe serving reactionary ideologies and plans against the peoples. The WPC opposes the growing militarization of international relations, the imperialist plans for the "Great Middle East", the "Pivot of USA to Asia", and the interference in the sovereign affairs of peoples and nations in Latin America.
NATO: 65 years of crimes against humanity
NATO is the largest, strongest and most aggressive military alliance in the world today. Firmly dominated by US imperialism, NATO is also a pillar of the European Union's defense strategy. NATO currently has 28 member states across North America and Europe. Another 22 countries are engaged in the so-called Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC). Next to this another 19 countries are engaged with NATO through programs such as the "Mediterranean Dialogue", the "Istanbul Cooperation Initiative" or the "Partnership for Peace" across the globe.
Since 1991, NATO has aggressively expanded its membership and theatre of operations. This fact alone reveals its fundamental purpose: to be a key tool of Western imperialist domination of the globe.
NATO is an enemy of peace. NATO is committed to the doctrines of first strike and pre-emptive strikes. As an offensive military alliance it stands ready to intervene before diplomacy has been given a proper chance, if such is in the interest of Western imperialism. NATO's expansion and provocations - as the current crisis in Ukraine demonstrates - are directly responsible for destabilization, unrest, violence and war.
NATO is an enemy of the peoples. When it intervenes, its members regularly use toxic weapons containing depleted uranium or white phosphor. Moreover, NATO considers nuclear weapons to be a fundamental part of its defense strategy. The alliance aggressively pursues and promotes military provocation and intervention all around the globe, and the results are always increased destruction, displacement, and death. The examples of the wars in the former Yugoslavia and the creation of the protectorate of Kosovo, in Afghanistan and Libya, as well as the aggression against Syria, all bear witness to the disastrous humanitarian impact of NATO's intervention. In Iraq, where NATO took on part of the reconstruction effort, it brought neither peace nor democracy.
NATO is an enemy of peace and of the peoples. Without any public debate, NATO's European member states are hosting U.S. nuclear weapons on their territory. In 2010 a secret agreement on the deployment of modernized versions of B61 warheads extended this presence by several decades, not leaving any space for democratic debate on the matter. Through its Article 5 as well, the NATO alliance imposes obligations on member states that are incompatible with the sovereign right of states to decide on peace and war.
The coming summit of NATO in Wales will adopt and further develop the Lisbon summit decisions (2010), will use old and new pretexts for its role as "world sheriff" securing markets, energy resources and spheres of influence, to the detriment of the peoples rights and needs. The dissolution of NATO must be a priority for those defending peace, social justice and progress, along with the right of every people to struggle for the disengagement from it.
We call upon all peace loving people and organizations to mark the August 30, as a Global Day of Protest Against NATO, demanding its dissolution!
To coincide with the WPC Global Day of Protest, the Canadian Peace Congress is encouraging actions across Canada on August 30. For more information, or to list an event, please contact the Canadian Peace Congress at info@canadianpeacecongress.ca.
12) IS ISRAEL PLANNING GAZA'S "FINAL SOLUTION"?
By Felicity Arbuthnot, July 11, 2014
Yet another massive assault on Palestine is underway, where, of course, according to the Balfour Declaration, the Jewish population are guests not occupiers since: " ... the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of (this) it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine ..."
Overnight (July 8-9) however, 160 targets were initially hit [at the time of going to press more than 1,000], including the European Gaza Hospital (a war crime without a war.) More than 120 people were killed at the time of writing and untold numbers wounded, adding to the unending onslaught on Palestine from the day the Zionist cuckoo took over the Palestinian nest, homes, gardens, history, culture, ancient sites, cemeteries, villages, valleys, olive and apricot groves on May 14 1948 ignoring, jack booting and bulldozing entirely the "civil and religious rights" of the population, accompanied by subsequent decades of mass murder and demolitions.
The current onslaught is apparently in response to the deaths of three youths from settler families, for whom no one has claimed responsibility and many questions remain. However, homes of two Palestinian "suspects" were arbitrarily destroyed by the Israeli military with no arrests, trial, recourse to law for the dispossessed victims of any kind.
Subsequently in an apparent revenge killing, Palestinian teenager Muhammad Abu Khudair was kidnapped and murdered, his body doused in gasoline, which was also reportedly poured down his throat before setting him alight. Muhammad's cousin Tariq Khudair, visiting from Florida, was apprehended and beaten so badly by the Israeli police that he seemingly: "woke up in hospital."
This all led to rockets being fired into Israel, though no injuries have been reported. Israel responded by targeting Gaza (Palestine of course, has no meaningful defence forces) with: "400 tonnes of bombs and missiles" with "440 targets being hit" and with: "The battle against Hamas (to) intensify over the coming days; it will exact a huge price." The tiny Gaza Strip is just 41 kilometres long and between six and 12 miles wide and home to 1,816,379 people. Nearly 45 percent of the population is under 14 years.
Israel is clearly planning another "turkey shoot" reminiscent of General Norman Schwartzkopf's infamous boast of his aerial slaughter on the Basra Road, of those seeking safety, with nowhere to hide, in the first Gulf war.
With the UN in the form of Ban Ki-moon flaccidly urging "restraint" and world leaders mute, as ever, on Israel's murdering misdemeanours and homicidal excesses, it must be noted that 2000-2014, Palestinian child fatalities "as a result of military and settler violence" to date are 1,407.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions is unequivocal: collective punishment is a war crime. "No person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation ... are prohibited ... Reprisals against persons and their property are prohibited."
It is a supreme irony that when unspeakable crimes were committed against the Jewish people, their rights, their property, the Nuremberg trials were meticulous in their findings, retribution and laying down of laws to attempt to guarantee "never again", against any race, group or society. In 65 years of unspeakable crimes by Israel against their fellow Semites, the Palestinians, international law has remained deaf mute.
Since US aid to Israel is US$3 billion annually, they too are partner in yet another Middle East crime against humanity.Will the insanity ever end? Maybe there is a glimmer of hope.
The coming week end there are demonstrations in cities around the world in numbers not seen since the proposed assault on Iraq in 2003, in outrage at the attack on Palestine and the Palestinian people. To read the extraordinarily comprehensive list of participating cities arranged in so brief a time should, in itself, be a wake up call for governments.
The US and UK, the closest of Israel's allies and leaders of world wide destruction, both have elections next year perhaps this might be the start of a mega warning message to both countries and to Israel: Enough.- www.londonprogressivejournal.com
13) MUSIC NOTES, By Wally Brooker
Québec musicians break with AFM
Québec musicians have voted to disaffiliate from the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) and its Toronto-based branch, the Canadian Federation of Musicians (CFM). In a June 2-8 referendum, members of the Guilde des Musiciens et Musiciennes du Québec (GMMQ) voted 53.3% in favour of the break. About 70% of the union's 3,000 members cast ballots. Guitarist Luc Fortin, President of GMMQ, declared that the results confirm "a majority of Québec musicians no longer have faith in the current model of affiliation with the AFM, and want a stronger association of Québec professional musicians that can represent them effectively and be fully empowered to negotiate working conditions adapted to Québec's reality". The AFM's response came from the International Executive Board (IEB) in New York, informing Fortin that a member of Montreal Local 406 has filed charges against him for abuse of power. Fortin replied that according to AFM rules, charges must be brought before Local 406's executive, not the IEB. Among the contentious issues is the matter of affiliation fees and subsidies, especially in light of the union's obligations under Québec's Status of the Artist Act. The transition could be challenging for the GMMQ. Many agreements with cultural institutions will have to be renegotiated. For more info: www.gmmq.com/en
Music teachers fired for joining union
Two music teachers at a non-profit community centre in Toronto's Jane-Finch area are taking their employer to the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Ruben "Beny" Esguerra and Omar Sanchez say they were fired for joining a union formed last October to represent the 20 workers of the non-profit San Romanoway Revitalization Association (SRRA). They allege that the April 30 shutdown of the SRRA-managed Palisades Media Arts Academy (PMAA), where they taught music and recording skills to Jane-Finch youth, was a consequence of the unionization of the parent organization. The SRRA argues that the money (a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation) ran out, but lawyers from CUPE, who represent Esguerra and Sanchez, point out that the Trillium grant was for three years, while the program only commenced two years ago. The OLRB hearings begin in September. Residents of the neighbourhood have launched a campaign to reopen the PMAA. The closing of the program, which provided free music and art classes to youth aged 14-29, leaves a void in the lives of many young people in this poor and stigmatized neighbourhood. For more info: www.savepmaa.wordpress.com.
Young's Tel Aviv Gig cancelled
After a world-wide campaign by cultural boycott supporters, large protests outside his concerts, and an impassioned open letter from musical peer Roger Waters, Neil Young ended up not playing his controversial July 17th concert in Tel Aviv. The Israeli promoter cancelled, blaming Hamas rockets. After the cancellation Young had an opportunity to condemn the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, but chose to remain silent. His only message came indirectly from a spokesperson who lamented that "tensions" had "rendered the event unsafe at this time". The statement, in effect, echoes the official Israeli position. It's hard to believe that Young, who garnered accolades for supporting First Nations struggles against tar sands development, and who took a stand against the Vietnam and Gulf wars, is unable to see the parallels between the struggles of North America's First Nations and the Palestinian people. One can easily imagine the pressure that the Israeli regime and its supporters apply to artists who might consider supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. But in his silence Neil Young is unfortunately complicit in the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.
Charlie Haden RIP
The great jazz bassist Charlie Haden died in Los Angeles on July 11 after a prolonged illness. He was 76. In the late fifties Haden was an member of the revolutionary Ornette Coleman Quartet. The group's music led a "free jazz" revolution that shook up the jazz world and exerted a lasting influence on subsequent generations of musicians. Haden went on to explore diverse musical paths that combined his ever-evolving aesthetic preoccupations with his progressive political and social beliefs. The latter were most definitively realized in the Liberation Music Orchestra, an intermittent project that was essentially a collaboration between Haden and pianist-arranger Carla Bley. In 36 years, the Liberation Music Orchestra released just four albums, but each one is a creative venture into a musical world where avant-garde jazz meets revolutionary people's music. They remain statements of and for their time, protesting the war in Vietnam, lamenting the death of Che Guevara, opposing U.S. intervention in Central America, and finally saying "Not In Our Name" to the post 9/11 wars of the Empire. Charlie Haden left a legacy of beautiful and relevant music for subsequent generations to discover.