ONTARIO ELEMENTARY TEACHERS HOLD STRIKE VOTE (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) PV Labour Observer YEARS AGO, during the dark ages of Ontario politics, something crawled up out of the river Styx that called itself the Harris Tories. Spawned from the womb of Thatcherite neo-liberalism and fertilized by Ronald Reagan, these offspring managed to mature and survive while maintaining an almost perfect balance between ignorance, criminal indifference, illegal expropriation, downright thugism and the use of the big lie.      After hoodwinking their way into government with the "common sense revolution," this gang of primitive capitalists proceeded to selectively plunder the economy and inhabitants of Canada's richest province. Nepotism, de-regulation, theft of public property, and conspiracy resulting in murder was the royal jelly that lubricated the Tory attack on working people, native people and the poor.      The education system in Ontario was and is an evolving human enterprise. While needing attention and improvement like any functioning apparatus, it ranked as one of the finest educational systems in the world, the result of generations of input and knowledge, the recipient of tender loving care from its teachers. Ontario schools were a constant source of well-educated personnel for one of the most technologically advanced scientific and industrial communities in the Americas.      This system was a target for the "missing link" Tory throwbacks from the getgo. Ignorance and knowledge, social programs and private plunder, oil and water... figure it out for yourself.      There was the added incentive of the opportunity to attack women, who comprise more than 75% of the teaching population. Everyone knows that women were the big movers on issues of equity and human rights in the 20th century. For the Tories, every vision of a century of human development and social advance was a nightmare, not a celebration of past accomplishment.      In order to launch the offensive, the Tory cabinet singled out one of its most successful businessmen, who had achieved the heady accomplishment of getting half-way through high school. His name was John Snobelen, and he wallowed briefly at the trough of public plunder, exuding homespun ignorance, gleefully whipping up the angst of a conglomeration of private school purse gougers, experts who had never seen the inside of a classroom, fundamentalist religious creationists and people who just plain hated teachers and kids.      Poor old John was having such a good time that he couldn't resist the egocentric impulse to capture his finest hour on videotape for future members of his incipient dynasty. Big mistake. The video laid out in detail a plan that would make any sophist tremble with envy. In short, "create a crisis" and then solve it.      After that, it was just a matter of time (too much time, admittedly), for public savvy to make Snobelen a detriment to the government. He never got from the "create crisis" part of the campaign to the heroic "solve crisis" part, and had to withdraw as just another rich has-been.      Enter Dave Johnson, who had honed his skills in other areas a disposer of people, a cutter of wages, a destroyer of programs and an anti-labour warrior. The dim light bulbs in the Tory backroom had conceived a plan to give a half billion dollars in tax cuts to their corporate backers, public money removed from the classrooms. Called Bill 160, this was presented as the "solve" part of the crisis.      Bill 160 had nothing to do with improving education, and everything to do with the removal of fundamental democratic rights of teachers, parents, principals and students, in gross violation of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Bill 160: - conferred enormous powers to the Minister of Education and the Cabinet and stripped control from locally elected school boards; - stripped elected trustees of power, with all funding controlled by Queen's Park; - allowed the provincial government to dismiss elected boards, depose elected trustees, and ban them from running for office; - banned parents, teachers, trustees or any other citizen from launching court challenges; - stripped principals and vice-principals of their contracts, removed them from the teachers unions, denied them the right to union membership at all; - permitted the province to levy different tax rates for businesses in different areas; - prevented teachers from bargaining with their true employer, the province, forcing them to negotiate with local boards left with no control over funding or working conditions.      The list goes on and on. There has been much water under the bridge since then, and some clawback from teachers and the public. One result of Bill 160 was the political strike by 126,000 teachers from all grades in the primary, mid and secondary schools in Ontario, in the Public, French and Catholic systems. That historic strike lasted two weeks, gaining public support as it developed. This was a significant achievement by teachers, who lost two weeks wages to defend the quality of education and the quality of life of the children and youth they represented, and their own hard won programs.      The legacy of Bill 160 is front and centre in the political issues propelling the next looming teacher's strike in Ontario.      The legacy of Bill 160 is a teaching environment where 30% of all new teachers now leave the profession in their first five years because of stress and workload. The legacy of Bill 160 means that all union contracts will expire at the same time during the same year. The legacy of Bill 160 is that all school boards and bargaining units will be in negotiations at the same time.      The legacy of Bill 160 is the funding quagmire that defies logic, designed to drive wedges between different levels of teaching, between teachers and local trustees and between the teachers and the public. Despite the media and the portrayal of teachers as grasping and self-serving, these wedges have had minimal effect. Public support for teachers and other education workers has been significant, and is a potential that hasn't been exploited to its fullest.      According to Bill 160, elementary teachers are supposed to have 200 minutes of prep time per week. This has never been achieved because the province only funds 137 minutes and expects local boards to do the rest. For some reason, the province funds secondary schools for 150 minutes a week. Local boards, with no ability to tax or raise funds, cannot do this except by cutting in other areas. This then rebounds into labour disputes with other staff as well as teachers, or further deprives students of much needed programs or teaching staff.      The disparity has become the focus for the elementary teachers around "Campaign 200." The demand for 200 minutes of preparation time has become the apex of the struggle to close the gap in working conditions by bringing elementary funding closer or equal to secondary funding. The province pays $811 more per student per year to secondary than elementary. All this and more is needed and certainly deserved by the secondary level, but the needs of the elementary level must be met, and not by cutting in secondary.      Elementary teachers are holding strike votes in January and February, to give the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario a mandate to take any and all action, including a full withdrawal of services strike to achieve their goals.      The present Education Minister, Gerard Kennedy, has told the public not to worry about a strike by elementary teachers. This is a dangerous tactic from someone who should know much better, from a man who considers himself a Liberal not comparable to the Snobelen mentality of the neanderthal Harris Tories.      On Feb. 3, the teachers in Toronto are voting on strike action, with other areas still to come. To date 19 other centres have voted, including Hamilton, Waterloo, Simcoe and other large boards. The average strike mandate so far is 94%.      Gerard Kennedy should take this show of militancy very seriously. He should remember John Snobelen and the dangers of viewing the political landscape in your own mirror. (Back) (Home)   WRIGHT COMMISSION JEOPARDIZES TEACHER BARGAINING RIGHTS (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) By Wilma McNabb YET ANOTHER ATTACK on teachers' bargaining rights is looming in British Columbia. Recommendations contained in a report by Don Wright, a commissioner appointed by the Liberal provincial government, would severely limit the vestiges of teacher bargaining rights in BC. According to the BC Teacher's Federation (BCTF) the report "threatens to restrict teacher bargaining rights more than at any time in since teachers formed associations."      While Wright makes a number of recommendations/proposals, perhaps the most detrimental to labour rights is the recommendation to remove teachers' right to strike altogether and to mandate final-offer-selection arbitration.      Final-offer-selection is a rarely seen form of arbitration, where the employer and union each put forward a final offer, and the mediator/arbitrator selects one to be the "Default Contract". While Wright cautions in his report that the Commissioner must carefully balance the interests of teacher, employers and the provincial government as the funder of the public education system, any seasoned observer of labour relations will see that this is a system heavily weighted in favour of the employer.      Early in their mandate, the Campbell government passed essential services legislation and unilaterally gutted teachers' contracts. Class size limits, minimum levels of support for special needs and ESL students, and other working/learning conditions were stripped from the collective agreement. The result, combined with serious underfunding, has been larger class sizes that also include a higher percentage of students with learning challenges, fewer resources, school closures (113), and deteriorating learning conditions for students across the province.      The government's decision to appoint the Wright Commission to Review Teacher Collective Bargaining, was initially met with a certain level of skepticism from all concerned parties. However, the open consultative process surprised participants (the BCTF, BC Trustees Association, and the BC Public Schools Employer's Association), and expectations were raised that it might produce a balanced document. Upon release of the final report last December, the BCTF expressed surprise and deep disappointment.       "Teachers participated in this process in good faith, hopeful that the report would represent the concerns of all parties and address the flaws in the existing bargaining structures," said BCTF President Jinny Sims. "Unfortunately, we have been bitterly disappointed. Instead of a balanced plan for improvements, we see a pre-election ploy from a government intent on undermining public education."      There are further recommendations that could limit scope of bargaining, and others which some education observers believe could lead to amalgamation of school boards on a regional basis. The report also includes a complex proposal for a regional process that would lead to a levelling of teacher salaries and benefits to some middle ground.      The provincial government has not yet announced any plans to act upon Wright's recommendations, but indications are that they support the commission report. Whether the Liberals will take any action so close to the May 17 provincial election date is questionable. It is not yet clear how the NDP opposition views the report.      Vancouver School Board trustee Jane Bouey points out that, "clearly stated public expressions of caution, concern, and opposition to the report's recommendations could have an impact on whether the report's recommendations are ever implemented."      Bouey reports that the VSB "is writing a letter to the provincial government outlining concerns that the report's one-sided, unbalanced approach to bargaining will impact negatively on teacher morale and subsequently potentially harm student learning within the district." The VSB letter will be circulated to other boards, and to political parties. (Back) (Home)   SALUTE TO FRENCH WORKERS - Editorial (The following editorial is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) People's Voice Editorial FOR OVER TWO centuries, war has been waged over the length of the working day. Since the dawn of capitalism, employers have used every means to impose longer and more intense hours on their workers. In response, workers have walked off the job, held mass protests, engaged in elections and petition campaigns, even smashed machinery.      The latest eruption of this war is in France, where up to half a million people rallied recently against the right-wing government's attempt to lengthen the 35-hour week won under the former Socialist-led coalition. French unions have organized major strikes in the public sector, challenging government claims that the shorter work week has raised labour costs and unemployment.      That argument has been used ever since the shackles of feudalism were broken. Back in the mid-1800's the bosses argued that all profit was made during the final hour of the workday, so any demand to reduce that day would eliminate profits and ruin the economy. This argument was demolished by life itself, but similar nonsense is used today to rail against any shortening of worktime.      What is true is that the shorter workday reduces the rate of exploitation. For the bosses, this is a tragedy. But for workers and their families, it means more time to be together, to pursue studies and physical activity, to participate in public life. Shorter hours also means more jobs, and lower unemployment rates, which increases the bargaining power of workers.      Not surprisingly, the French government talks about "freedom of choice" for employees to opt for longer hours. Under the proposed law, the number of overtime hours employees can work each year will be increased from a 180 to 220. While the law covers the private sector, trade unions call it the first step towards abolishing the 35-hour week for all workers. Polls show that almost 70% of the French public supports the protests.      We salute the French working class for their defiant struggle to defend their rights. This is a struggle which calls for powerful international solidarity, since any gain by workers in one country benefits our entire class worldwide. (Back) (Home) DEFEND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RIGHTS - Editorial (The following editorial is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) People's Voice Editorial UNDER PRESSURE from the courts and the inexorable shift of public opinion, the federal Liberals have finally tabled legislation to implement same-sex marriage rights. We urge readers to contact MPs in support of this bill.      Despite claims by some fundamentalist groups that they speak for all religious-minded Canadians, there is ample proof to the contrary. The editorial graphic on this page is based on a famous Bible passage, which many scholars cite as just one example of the long record of same-sex rites in the Judeo-Christian tradition, prior to the homophobic policies of the last few centuries. Elsewhere in this issue, we report on Muslim groups which support this equality legislation. Many faith groups are campaigning to back the law, which guarantees that religious bodies cannot be forced to conduct marriage ceremonies which violate their theological beliefs.      We also reject the argument that a referendum is needed on this issue. Almost by definition, human rights laws are necessary to protect the needs and interests of minority groups. There have been many cases in Canadian history where racist, sexist, and homophobic attitudes have allowed governments to refuse equality, but "majority support" does not justify such actions.      Finally, we reject the proposal by some for "civil unions." This is nothing more than a "separate but unequal" status.      Canada is rightly seen as a world leader in advancing the legal status of the LGBT community. The clock must not be turned back by the forces of hatred. Call your MP today! (Back) (Home)   "LONGSHORE WORKERS ARE NOT CRIMINALS" (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) On Feb. 3, nearly 1,000 people heard a panel forum on the topic of "The War on Democratic Rights," organized by http://www.StopWar.ca, the broad-based Vancouver anti-war coalition. One of the speakers was peace activist Terry Engler, President of Local 400, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents towboat operators along the BC coast. We reprint here Engler's speech, which focused on Ottawa's moves to "improve security" as part of the so-called "war on terror." The entire forum can be seen at the Working TV website, www.workingtv.com.      The trade union movement and its members have been significantly impacted by the war on democratic rights. One of the most famous early BC trade union activists was Ginger Goodwin. He had been deemed unfit for military service at his physical, but after his union activism became more prominent, he was reclassified as "fit" and subsequently shot and killed for refusing to join the military.      The so-called Cold War and the McCarthy era in the '50s and '60s was especially harmful to the trade union movement. The government and employers could use the Red scare to describe unions as traitorous due to their connections with the Communist Party of Canada and other left-wing groups. Many trade union officers and members agreed with the pro-worker positions taken by left-wing political groups. Many joined these parties because they believed in workers' rights and opposed capitalism. As the Cold War built up steam in Canada, activist unions were attacked for their belief in workers rights and labelled "commie" or "red" unions.      One of these was the Canadian Seamen's Union, which was the precursor to my union local. The CSU was a militant, democratic union that won the 8-hour day for seafarers and drastically improved the working and living conditions for Canadian seafarers. They also supported other workers in Canada and around the world, wherever their ships docked.      The CSU was destroyed by the activities of the government and employers with the collusion of the Seafarers International Union. The CSU leaders had their reputations destroyed and the members were blacklisted. Many CSU members had worked their entire lives as seafarers, but they were never allowed to sail again due to the blacklist developed and supported by the government and employers. There is an excellent documentary called Betrayed, by Elaine Briere, that tells this story very well.      The present struggles of trade unions, and especially transportation sector unions, is eerily similar to the Cold War era. The government has simply substituted the word "terrorist" for "communist," and they are attacking our rights again.      The Canadian government, through Transport Canada, has stated its intention to bring in the Marine Facilities Restricted Area Access Clearance Program, MFRAACP. This program goes far beyond the requirements of the International Labour Organization's ship and ports security code, which is the internationally agreed level for security. At this time Canada is the only nation, including the United States, that is pushing for this type of program, but we believe that other countries will follow if Canada implements this program.      MFRAACP requires that in order to continue to work, longshore workers must submit regular identification materials, as well as the following, to be issued transport security clearance and be allowed to continue to work. They require post-secondary school education, including names and address of institutions attended; residential history for five years preceding an application; employment history for five years preceding an application; travel outside Canada for personal or non-governmental business other than the USA or Mexico for five years preceding application; and information on the applicant's spouse, including common-law spouse, parents, and spouse's parents.      The application for Transport Security document will also include a signed consent by the applicant, permitting Transport Canada to do security checks; the taking and use of the applicant's fingerprints by electronic or other format for identification purposes; the taking and use of a facial image by electronic format for identification purposes; and the collection and disclosure of information developed as part of the investigative process, including credit card history, immigration records, and law enforcement and criminal records, as well as any and all information that will facilitate an assessment by CSIS under the CSIS Act.      The second step in this process is the background check stage, conducted to determine if a person may be a risk to marine transportation security. On receipt of a completed application, the following checks will be conducted for the purposes of granting a transport security clearance document: check of Canadian police information centre criminal records; a fingerprint-based criminal records check for convictions and other dispositions; a credit card bureau check; a CSIS indices check; and if necessary, a check of RCMP criminal intelligence databases for known criminal associations.      The third step in this process is the assessment and decision-making stage. The decision to grant, deny, suspend, or revoke a transportation security clearance document will be made on behalf of the Minister of Transport. Once an application is submitted to Transport Canada, and the required background checks are conducted, the information is assessed by departmental officials.      Where serious concerns surrounding the applicant's background are raised, notice in the form of a registered letter will be given to the applicant, but that will not state the reason why you were refused. The applicant will be allowed 15 days to make written submissions. Should the applicant for a transportation document be denied, the applicant has legal recourse to file for a judicial review via the Federal Court of Canada, and you are allowed 15 days to file written submissions.      Transport Canada's representatives told a Vancouver audience on September 20 that if interesting information turned up in the screening process, this information could and would be shared with foreign intelligence agencies. In the wake of the Maher Arar case, and others in which the government, RCMP or CSIS have been heavy-handed, economical with the truth, or simply failed to disseminate information correctly due to workload, inefficiencies or errors, we have grave concerns.      Information weighed without common sense and in the absence of a police presence on the ground, allowing the ability to give context or lend accuracy to that information, is at least useless, and in the extreme, dangerous. How will our parents, in-laws and families feel about being part of this database? How do we know what the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service will do with your extended family's information? What if you have a relative who is of questionable character?      Will you be denied your document? Will you lose your employment opportunities? Could one of your relatives get caught in an immigration snare in the United States or other country? Have you ever been declared bankrupt? Or do you live in a nice neighbourhood that CSIS thinks is beyond the means of a tugboat deckhand or dockworker? Could you have been bribed or do you pose a risk of being bribed?      What about the right to appeal an unfavourable decision? You can only appeal that the government has not followed their procedures. They do not have to give you a reason for their denial. Therefore you can't appeal on that basis. MFRAACP has nothing to do with security, and everything to do with scapegoating workers.      We have stated from the beginning of this process that the first step to improving security of our docks is to reinstate the Ports Police disbanded in 1997. We opposed that decision at the time, and the federal government still refuses to revisit that decision, even though the government's own Commissions have consistently called for Ports Police as the basis for security on the waterfront.      The policing situation on the waterfront in the Lower Mainland today is outrageous. There are five different municipal police forces in the Lower Mainland area covering our docks, and a number of private security forces. The revelations in the Air India trial show that the CSIS and the RCMP do not communicate with each other. How can we expect that five difference police organizations and CSIS will share information?      After proper policing, the next most important aspect of security comes from a well-paid and secure workforce, who will look after their worksites and protect them, just as well-served and secure communities will protect their communities. Information flows when people have ownership and security, and stops when people are attacked.      This program will also seriously harm our ability to protect foreign seafarers from being cheated and abused by foreign shipping companies. My local, and our longshore sisters and brothers, have worked hard for over 30 years to protect foreign seafarers, through the International Transport Workers Federation Inspectorate, the ITF. Up until recently, an ITF inspector had the right to board any foreign vessel and talk to the crew about wages, conditions, and the seaworthiness of their vessel. If there were any problems, we helped to resolve them. The ITF inspectorate in Vancouver has won hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages for seafarers in the past, and also chased away most, if not all, the substandard shipping from our coast.      Foreign seafarers know to wait to come to Vancouver to file a pay claim, or to point out deficiencies in their vessel, because the ITF inspector and the ILWU will protect them. MFRAACP could destroy all this, because under this program, the ITF inspector has to receive an invitation from the ship's captain or owner to visit the vessel. This is absurd, and will result in lowering the conditions for foreign seafarers, who are already amongst the most abused workers in the world economy. It will also result in sub-standard shipping returning to our shores, possibly resulting in environmental disaster.      Thousands of people were seriously impacted by the McCarthy-era witch-hunt. Many lost jobs or careers, and were forced to move. Some people committed suicide, and families were broken apart, because family members were pitted against each other. We cannot allow this to happen again.      For these reasons, ILWU is working with all other longshore and maritime unions in this country, and will do whatever is necessary to protect the rights of our members and other workers. We will not be used as pawns in a game to curry favour with the Bush Administration, and we will not be treated as criminals without a trial. (Back) (Home) UNION DENSITY, UNION NUMBERS AND CLASS STRUGGLE (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) By Sam Hammond THE CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS (CLC) 24th Constitutional convention will take place in June 2005 in Montreal. The left and democratic caucuses will be meeting through the spring to discuss priorities, constitutional matters, structure, organizing etc.      The debate has flowed and ebbed since the 23rd Convention in 2002, but questions of structure and organizing have, in official publications, been vague and cautious. This is not the case in the United States, where there is an ongoing debate ranging over a myriad of websites and publications from individuals and unions. Many of these, which concern the declining membership and sector density of the AFL-CIO affiliates, are very sharp and programmatic. There is a lot more to consider from them than appears in Canada.      Perhaps that is because the percentages in Canada are not as drastic as in the United States, and the alarm bells are not sounding as loudly. Since 1980 the percentage of the Canadian workforce in unions has dropped from about 40% to 30%. This should be alarming, even though it is less dismal than in the United States.      The situation is even more alarming when the national/cultural differences in Canada are taken into consideration. The labour percentages in the Francophone nation are traditionally higher than in English-speaking Canada; even though Quebec's figures have dropped the same ten percent since 1980, they started from almost 50% and are currently at about 40%. The higher density of organization in Quebec of course pulls the overall Canada-wide figures up, so the situation in English-speaking Canada is more acute when examined on its own.      Another major trend (identifiable since the early '60s) is the tremendous growth in public sector jobs. These are identified by researchers as workers who are employed directly by governments, or work at occupations that are funded by governments. The density of union membership in these areas is about 78% overall, and if management and some contract-self-employed are excluded, would be in the 90% range. This accounts for the tremendous influx of women workers into the labour movement and their increasing role in leadership and struggle.      The public sector figures have kept the percentages up, tending to hide the acute problems of structure and organization. Overall membership in the labour movement has increased but sector density, except in the public sector, has decreased alarmingly.      This brings us to the private sector. At the heart of the private sector is manufacturing, extraction, transportation, communications and newly expanding areas of high-tech engineering, which is transforming from management/supervisory to proletarianized wage workers. Also developing into a large part of the private sector in the last twenty years is a rapidly expanding service industry that ranges from the "McJobs" in fast food to the lower end maintenance and support jobs to service the scientific and technological revolution.      If the Marxist fundamental is true - that all human wealth comes from the application of labour to natural resources - then the private sector and the make-up of the private sector needs special analyses.      There is a study, available on the CLC website, called "SOLIDARITY FOREVER? - AN ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN UNION DENSITY," by Andrew Jackson (CLC Senior Economist) and Sylvain Schetagne (Research Officer, Public Service Alliance of Canada). This very detailed and useful study is complete with charts, strata analyses, new worker data and data on immigrant workers and minority groups in the workforce.      These invaluable studies provide us with important information. The problem is, how are they read? For what purpose are they done? The decline must be analysed historically within the context of the ideological struggle between reformism and revolution, and understood as part of the search for a remedy. So far, there is a much higher degree of this in the American debate than there is in Canada.      When we talk of revolutionary and reformist ideology, what each has produced is the result of history, and situates us as components of the class struggle within the working class and from what perspective we view and critique each other. This is the value of analyses that communists and other committed socialists can bring to the debate. Where we were and where we are the key to where we're going. That will inevitably spark heated debates between social democrats and Marxists. These debates should be welcomed as part of the renewal of working class organization and the prerequisite for labour unity.      The decline of union density in manufacturing should be viewed with serious alarm by all of organized labour and especially the left within labour. Imagine if we could achieve the density of organization within the industrial, transport, communications and service sectors that we have in the public sector. Imagine if we could have maintained the 10% level that we have lost in Canada. We would be able to bring millions of workers into the struggle for social justice, and this would have a self-perpetuating effect that could mushroom into real political change. Imagine if the public sector workers had the strength of an 80% density in the private sector to call upon when they are forced to protect themselves and the public.      This is exactly what this is all about. Not building corporate labour empires for Lear Jet executives who feed so well at the trough of junior partnership that they support corporate goals and talk about their ability to assist "their employers" in efficient production and competitiveness.      In the United States, polls show that two-thirds of workers would prefer to be in a union. These figures are higher amongst people of colour, immigrant workers and youth. With our traditions and culture, the figure would be at least as high in Canada. So what is the problem? Why aren't we organizing at a level to maintain our strength? Why aren't we organizing at a level to recruit a million more workers into the struggle?      The Communist Party has spent a considerable amount of time on this subject. We are currently working on a second draft of a "Labour Program." This will deal with the subject matter raised in this article, and will be debated until we are satisfied that it is ready for publication, coming soon.      This topic will probably spark a series of articles between now and the CLC Convention. I would be very pleased to hear the thinking of any People's Voice readers on this subject. My e-mail is sam.hammond@sympatico.ca. Don't hesitate to communicate.      (Sam Hammond is the chair of the Communist Party's Central Trade Union Commission.) (Back) (Home) AFTER THE JAN. 30 ELECTION: END THE OCCUPATION, BUILD SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE! (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Statement of the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, Feb. 4, 2005 THE JAN. 30 election in Iraq was an important event in the political life of Iraqis and in the struggle to end the occupation of the country. Early, partial results refect the massive opposition to this occupation. However, the election itself will not bring a quick end to the tragic events in Iraq. The Communist Party of Canada condemns the gross interference by the U.S. in Iraq's internal affairs seen in this election campaign, and renews our demand for an immediate end to the US/UK occupation as the best way to allow the Iraqi people to begin rebuilding their shattered homeland.      The overwhelming majority of Iraqis oppose the occupation, but the complex situation in the country led to different strategic and tactical approaches. Some forces called for a peaceful rejection of the vote; a small number tried to impose a boycott, using attacks on candidates and voters. Most took part in the campaign despite such intimidation, estimating that the election could deal a blow to the occupation. The Iraqi Communist Party campaigned for a broad slate of candidates around the issues of sovereignty, secularism, working class rights, and Kurdish autonomy, with the goal of electing candidates committed to using their position to help expand the  struggle for democracy and freedom.      In the view of the Communist Party of Canada, the Iraqi people themselves must ultimately judge the advantages or shortcomings of these tactical options. Of course, an occupied people has the legitimate right to strike back against foreign troops which have turned over Iraq's sovereignty to the imperialist powers and the big transnational corporations. The rising death toll among U.S. troops in Iraq is becoming a major factor in turning public opinion in the United States against this dirty war of aggression, which has already cost the lives of over 100,000 Iraqi civilians.      At the same time, many others have been killed in the struggles among contending sections of Iraqi society. We condemn the brutal killings of trade union activists and other progressives, including those who had returned home after long periods in exile from Saddam Hussein's dictatorial regime to help build a better future. Many such activists used the election process as an opportunity to campaign for equality, democracy and social progress.      Such decisions were made in full awareness of the deeply flawed nature of the election, ranging from the shocking intrusion of U.S.-based "non-governmental organizations," to the inability of the occupation forces and the interim government to protect candidates, and even the distribution of election materials by U.S. troops. Despite these realities, there was a large turnout in many areas for the Jan. 30 election. This does not prove, as the Bush Administration claims, that the Iraqi people support the occupiers' version of democracy, but rather that millions of Iraqis are determined to use any available method to try to regain some degree of sovereignty. We note that elections are also far from being "free and fair" here in our own country. Canada is dominated by transnational capital, both foreign and domestic, with one of the highest concentrations of corporate media control in the world, and an electoral system heavily biased in favour of the big capitalist parties.      For most of the last century and except for periods of direct colonial control, U.S. and British imperialism supported all of Iraq's Kings and dictators, including the government of Saddam Hussein. Imperialism has always tried to crush democratic and revolutionary movements in Iraq.      Faced with a massive popular resistance, imperialism is trying to retain its influence and the loot acquired from the most recent occupation. A truly sovereign Iraq will never tolerate such an imposition, and instead should receive from the U.S. and Britain reparations for countless deaths and destruction caused by many decades of occupation, colonialism and brutal sanctions.      The Communist Party of Canada continues to extend our full solidarity to all those in Iraq struggling to regain their country's sovereignty and to build a better future for working people. We will do everything possible to help achieve maximum participation in the March 19-21 demonstrations marking the second anniversary of the illegal war against Iraq, and to build a broader and more powerful anti-war movement across Canada. This struggle will achieve victory when the US and Britain are forced to withdraw from Iraq, and when imperialist aggression is rolled back by the united strength of the peoples of the world. (Back) (Home) CPC CONDEMNS ANTI-SEMITIC STATEMENT IN RUSSIA (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, Feb. 5, 2005 SHARP PROTESTS have been issued inside Russia and around the world after an anti-Jewish public statement signed by leading public figures and State Duma members was circulated in January. The statement included calls for an investigation into the activities of Jewish organizations in Russia, and even for legislation banning such groups. The statement was soon withdrawn, and some of those whose names were attached have denied signing the document. There are also indications that the Putin government may have had some role in creating this incident with the aim of weakening public protests against its social cutbacks.      In the view of the Communist Party of Canada, this case is a worrisome signal that anti-Semitism and xenophobia remain significant problems in Russia, fanned by the very forces which overthrew socialism and aim for the complete restoration of capitalism. We condemn this dangerous statement, and we particularly deplore the actions of a few Communist deputies who signed the document. Their dirty actions tarnish the heroic sacrifices of millions of Soviet people who gave their lives in the struggle to defeat Hitler fascism and its racist ideology.      This is not the first time that such ideas have been expressed by members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF). In 1998, our party sent a letter of protest to the KPRF over the racist and anti-Semitic comments of communist deputy Albert Makashov. We reiterate our position that anti-Jewish and xenophobic views have no place in the communist movement, which has always stood for the international unity of all workers.      While we do not wish to interfere in the internal affairs of other communist parties, this action has done considerable damage to the international communist movement. We call upon the KPRF leadership to clarify its position, by issuing an unequivocal condemnation of anti-Semitism as an ideology hostile to Marxism-Leninism, and to renounce all manifestations of anti-Semitism in its ranks.      Finally, we warn against any attempts to confuse this issue by claiming that anti-Jewish slanders are compatible with the struggle against the racist, expansionist, extreme nationalist ideology of Zionism. Such "blurring" gives cover to ultra-right and neo-Nazi forces which seek to divide the working class movement by scapegoating Jews, immigrants, and other minorities, diverting attention away from the real enemies of working people - transnational capital and imperialism. There can be no place in the Communist movement for anti-Semitism and other racist views. (Back) (Home) NDP DEMANDS END TO SECURITY CERTIFICATES (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) The Federal Council of the NDP, which has opposed many of the “security state” actions of the federal government, recently adopted the following resolution against “Security certificates” used to deport immigrants. WHEREAS the federal government has not laid a single charge against any detainee currently held in Canada under Security Certificates, for periods of up to four years; and WHEREAS Security Certificates apply only to Permanent Residents and Refugees; and WHEREAS denying non-citizens access to the judicial process violates our Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as Canada's international obligations and goes against the fundamental notion that human rights are inalienable and do not depend on legal status; and WHEREAS issuance of a Security Certificate by the Minister of Public Safety restricts the scope of a court's examination of the case to deciding on the possible viability of allegations – not necessarily evidence – on which the Minister has signed the security certificate; and WHEREAS neither the detainee nor their lawyer are informed of the precise allegations or given access to government information against the accused; and WHEREAS this process forces judges to base their decisions on one-sided arguments; and WHEREAS Security Certificates violate a basic tenet of the rule of law by denying detainees the right of appeal; and WHEREAS Canada is a signatory to the UN Convention against Torture; and WHEREAS detainees face deportation to their countries of origin, even if there is a substantial risk of torture or death; and WHEREAS the UN Committee against Torture felt bound to remind Canada in 2000 that it is a violation of the UN Convention against Torture to deport someone facing a substantial risk of torture, even if there may be some security concerns; and WHEREAS Security Certificates have been described by Amnesty International as “fundamentally flawed and unfair”; and THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP calls on the federal government to: Either lay charges and allow the accused to undergo a fair and transparent judicial trial or immediately release all individuals being held under Security Certificates Refuse to deport any detainees to a country where there is a substantial risk of torture and possibly death, in compliance with the UN Convention against torture; Immediately halt the use of Security Certificates and require the security provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to make them consistent with our Constitution and Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the UN Convention against Torture; Provide leadership in ending the attacks on civil liberties and racial profiling and targeting of Arab and Muslim individuals and communities and other ethnic and religious minorities occurring within federal jurisdiction, in partnership with other levels of government and civil society; and Develop a plan of action and provide adequate resources to defeat racial profiling and religious bigotry. (Back) (Home) PEOPLE'S VOICE FUND DRIVE STARTS MARCH 1 (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) After yet another eventful twelve months in the working class movement, the calendar has rolled around to Fund Drive time. The Editorial Board of PV hopes that readers and press clubs will organize events that celebrate the importance of the working class press, as well as making generous personal contributions. The 13th Annual People's Voice Fund Drive kicks off on March 1, with a target of $50,000. That sounds like a huge amount for a small newspaper to raise, but we are fortunate to have a readership strongly committed to the goals of peace, democracy and socialism. Our supporters know that a newspaper published with the aim of raising working class consciousness is a vital tool in the struggle against the bosses and their right-wing governments. People's Voice has played that role since our first issue came off the press back in March 1993. That newspaper was quickly mailed to potential readers, with hundreds of subscriptions coming back in response. It was also circulated at progressive events, ranging from the International Women's Day march in Vancouver a few days later, to a union rally at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto. Over the past twelve years, almost one million copies of People's Voice have gone out to subscribers, labour councils, picket lines, anti-war rallies, public forums, progressive bookstores, and many other venues. We've done it on a shoestring budget, with just one full-time editor, the occasional part-time worker, and the held of dozens of volunteers. During all that time, our subscription rates have gone up only once. Our delivery costs keep going up – Canada Post has just imposed yet another set of rate increases, and other shipping charges have skyrocketed – but we are holding the line on sub rates for this year. That makes it all the more important, however, to reach our $50,000 Fund Drive goal. An appeal from our Editorial Board will go out in late February to all readers. Please be as generous as you can, and don't forget to send us your constructive proposals and criticisms. This paper exists to serve the needs and interests of the working class, so let us know what you think! MAY DAY 2005 GREETING ADS To mark May Day 2005, People's Voice will print greetings from a wide range of labour and people's organizations in our May 1-16 issue, which will be distributed at events across Canada. The deadline for camera-ready ads is April 22; if PV is preparing the layout, the deadline is April 20. Please check with us about the format if your ad is being sent electronically. Ad rates (based on 5 column page): One column-inch ------------- $10 One column x 2 inches-------- $20 Two columns x 2 inches------- $35 Two columns x 3 inches------- $50 Two columns x 5 inches------- $75 Three columns x 4 inches----- $90 Two columns x 7 inches------$100 Three columns x 7 inches----$150 Send greetings to People's Voice at: 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, V5L 3J1 Fax (604)254-9803 E-mail: pvoice@telus.net (Back) (Home) PINK, WHITE AND GREEN: A LOOK AT NEWFOUNDLAND NATIONALISM (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.)  Debates... By Sean Burton It is becoming increasingly difficult not to feel some degree of nationalist sentiment in Newfoundland and Labrador. Even I, an internationalist, have not gone unaffected by this trend. In the efforts to rally support against Canadian involvement in US missile defense, I have come to wonder just what “Canada” is or is supposed to be. In the past, I have never looked at Newfoundland with any particular sense of pride, in spite of it being by homeland. But I have come to see things differently over the past few years. Even a brief look at the history of Newfoundland illustrates a trend of being ripped off by various other government. The results are plain enough for anyone to see. The economy has fallen to the point of virtual despair in many small towns. Tens of thousands of Newfoundlanders have left over the past few decades over the simple fact that there is little or no future here. The downward spiral continues, as does being ripped off. Conservative leader Danny Williams was elected in the hopes of resolving the grievances of Newfoundland. For months, he had large strikes to deal with, making it look as though he would not see another term. Then along came the Atlantic Accord issue. It is logical to me that Newfoundland should receive 100% revenues from offshore oil production, It is, after all, being produced by us. But, Ottawa has yet to commit to this, giving premier Williams the chance to use another tactic: nationalism. Yes indeed, the maple leaf was lowered from all public buildings in the province in protest. At this point one begins to wonder how far Newfoundland is from declaring independence. The bitter sentiment of constantly being sold out by Ottawa is beginning to make cracks. In my hometown of Corner Brook, many houses now fly the pink, white, and green tricolor of the Newfoundland Republic. Some businesses in St. John's have even withdrawn merchandise with Canadian symbols upon them. I have spoken to a number of people, and they support the idea of a Newfoundland republic. Others admit that Newfoundland would have been better off not joining Canada in the first place. The nationalist movement is not without its detractors. Many people from Labrador and other parts of the province were offended that the flag was lowered. There are still many people who believe that Canada is a great country and do not think it should be casually thrown out. But this is hardly casual. Canada has not given Newfoundland proper respect, and it does not help that our leaders have often backed down in the face of federal pressure. Even Danny Williams will have to back down. Already, the flags are flying once more. Perhaps he will keep up the fight, but that is not my position to say. Even if the Liberal or Conservative politicians back down, the people of Newfoundland will not. Each year, Rising Tide Theatre performs “Revue,” a comical look at the events of the previous year. In their most recent performance, Williams and Martin, and a host of other politicians were mocked to the amusement of the audience. The performance ended with the tricolor being flown over the stage while a pro-republic song was sung by one of the performers. This was no joke, but a clear presentation of growing discontent. Newfoundland and Labrador may not declare its independence yet, but if the trend continues, it is certainly not far off. (Back) (Home) POPULISM AND THE END OF REGIONAL INEQUALITY? (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) By Jim Sacouman The Premiers of Newfoundland and of Nova Scotia, Danny Millions and John Hamm-Handed, have studied well at the University of Populist Nonsolutions to Capitalist Contradictions. Like Ralph Klein in Have Alberta and hundreds of other misleaders of Have and Have-Not regions across the capitalist world, the two East Coast premiers have, so they say, “stood up to the evil, big and uncaring federal state on behalf of the people.” A deal has been struck with the feds to allow revenues from offshore oil and gas to remain in provincial coffers for the next generation or until either or both become Have provinces. Is this great “victory” of the margins over the centre real? Capitalism is necessarily uneven, both socially and geographically. Capitalist accumulation is necessarily more concentrated and centralized over time. Globally and statewide, capitalist development must be uneven if it is to be capitalist. Regional inequalities within states are a form of what Marx called the absolute General Law of Capital Accumulation, the increasing impoverishment of the many in favour of the few. Have-Not regions provide highly mobile, willing, and cheap labour for capitalists in the haves. Like systemic sexism and racism, regional inequalities are a key component of keeping the vast working class majority from uniting to end all forms of systematic inequity. Populist “solutions” do nothing to alter the above dynamics. They merely shuffle the deck to provide more freedom for capitalists to extract surplus value from labour power and to pay the lowest possible rates to rape natural resources that, under any rational system (i.e. Socialism), would properly belong to all of the Canadian people to be utilized in a sustainable manner to equalize socioeconomic conditions across the entire country. Like the Alberta deal, the recent deals on the East Coast merely ensure capitalist exploiters of oil and natural gas easier access to scarce non-renewable resources at much lower costs for those resources. Why does this gift to capitalists have some popular support? In a Have region such as Alberta, it allows provincials, many of whom are from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, to feel that the fortunate fact that they live in a region with (plentiful) resources makes them better/smarter than those who don't have. In Have-Not regions, it produces an honest hope that by becoming a Have region, maybe one's children will, like the children of many in the Have regions, finally have a real choice to stay or to go. Of course, even if this hope were to prove true, the other Have-Nots would remain in continuing and increasing dependence on inadequate transfers that are presented and perceived as paternalistic hand-outs as opposed to a basic right of Canadian citizenship. A solution that can actually solve the problem of regional inequality requires the common stewardship and ownership of all natural resources. It also requires a state whose medium-term goal is to end all forms of systematic exploitation, oppression and inequality in order to unite the entire working class as the conscious and self-conscious creator of its own liberation. (Back) (Home) MEDICAL BILLS DRIVE US WORKERS INTO BANKRUPTCY Working Class Economics (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Universal health care, in the form of the Medicare plan adopted in the 1960s, ranks with unemployment insurance and old age pensions as one of the key social gains won by the struggles of Canadian working people. Today, right-wing governments are chipping away at the principles of Medicare, allowing private clinics, building “P3” hospitals, imposing or increasing premiums, etc. Despite many short-comings, the system still stands as a defence for most working people against crippling health care costs. Things are very different in the United States. Researchers announced on Feb. 2 that half of all U.S. Bankruptcies are caused by soaring medical bills, and that most people sent into debt by illness are middle-class workers with health insurance. The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, estimated that medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americas every year, if both debtors and their dependents, including about 700,000 children, are counted. “Our study is frightening. Unless you're Bill Gates you're just one serious illness away from bankruptcy,” said Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard medical School who led the study. “Most of the medically bankrupt were average Americans who happened to get sick. Health insurance offered little protection.” The researchers got the permission of bankruptcy judges in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas to survey 931 people who filed for bankruptcy. “About half cited medical causes, which indicates that 1.9 to 2.2 million Americans (filers plus dependents) experienced medical bankruptcy,” they wrote. “Among those whose illnesses led to bankruptcy, out-of-pocket costs averaged $11,854 since the start of illness; 75.7 percent had insurance at the onset of illness.” The average bankrupt person surveyed had spent $13,460 on co-payments, deductibles and uncovered services if they had private insurance. People with no insurance spent an average of $10,893 for such out-of-pocket expenses. “Even middle-class insured families often fall prey to financial catastrophe when sick,” the researchers wrote. Bankruptcy specialists said the numbers seemed sound. “From 1982 to 1989, I reviewed every bankruptcy petition filed in South Carolina, and during that period I came to the conclusion that there were two major causes of bankruptcy: medical bills and divorce,” said George Cauthen, a lawyer at Columbia-based law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. Cauthen said that fewer than 1 percent of all bankruptcy filings were due to credit card debt. Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a Harvard associate professor and physician, said the study supported demands for health reform. “Covering the uninsured isn't enough. We must also upgrade and guarantee continuous coverage for those who have insurance,” Woolhandler said. She warns that many employers and politicians are pressing for what she called “stripped-down plans so riddled with co-payments, deductibles and exclusions that serious illness leads straight to bankruptcy.” Politicians like Alberta Premier Ralph Klein talk a lot about allowing personal spending “choices” on health care, just like buying a stereo or a new car. That kind of “choice” will have catastrophic consequences for Canadian workers. (Back) (Home) MUSLIMS ENDORSE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LAW (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) The Muslim Canadian Congress, a Toronto-based grassroots organization, has welcomed the legislation presented by Justice Minister Irvin Cotler that re-defines marriage to include same-sex partners, and has urged Muslims and other minority groups to stand in solidarity with gays and lesbians. Addressing a Feb. 1 press conference in Ottawa, Rizwana Jafri, president of the MDD said Muslim Canadians have experienced life as a marginalized minority and have relied on the Canadian Charter to fight for their right to be treated as equal citizens. “It is incumbent upon us, as a minority, to stand up in solidarity with Canada's gays and lesbians despite the fact that many in our community believe our religion does not condone homosexuality,” she said. “This legislation is not about religion; it is about fundamental and universal human rights that are a guarantee that all Canadians, irrespective of their religious or ethnic background, feel part of the same family. While, within this family, we may agree to disagree we must respect each other and treat others with dignity that is a hallmark of civil society,” Jafri added. Jafri appealed to social conservative Muslim organizations to stop being used by the Conservative Party who are using this controversy to score political points by spreading fear among racial minorities. She appealed to Prime Minister Paul Martin to make sure his caucus supports the legislation and are not allowed to wriggle out of their responsibility to respect human rights and the decisions of provincial courts. Jafri thanked the NDP leader Jack Layton for enforcing party discipline and not allowing dissent on this important matter. She called on Paul Martin to invite Layton and Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Québécois to tour the country to build support for this historic legislation and present a common front on human rights. Tarek Fatah, host of the CTSJ-TV show, The Muslim Chronicle, criticized the fear mongering started by some religious institutions against same-sex marriage. “The religious institutions who are spreading fear among their congregations are not being honest about this law. No mosque, church, temple, or synagogue will ever have to conduct a same-sex marriage if they don't wish to. The guarantee of the freedom of religion in our constitution and the legislation presented today ensure that every Canadian will continue to have the right to practice their religion as they deem fit. However, freedom of religion cannot come at the cost of limiting the rights of other groups in society.” He said that under thinly-veiled camouflage of cultural and religious practices, a message of hate and homophobia was being cultivated. “The hate mongering against gays and lesbians must be stopped. Places of worship should never be permitted to demean a section of the community who are a minority,” he added. Barrister Arif Raza told the press conference that he understood the concerns of some Muslims who are worried that allowing same-sex marriage will dilute the institution of marriage, but emphasized that the Notwithstanding Clause could also be used to compromise the rights of Muslims. “I urge Canada's Muslim community and other minority communities to show solidarity with Canada's gays and lesbians even if they have reservations about homosexuality. We don't have to agree with each other to stand up for the human rights of those with whom we disagree,” Raza added. (Back) (Home) COLOMBIAN ARMY MURDERS WORKERS LEADER (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Just after midday on January 29, some 500 members of the 17th Brigade of the Colombian Army entered the rural area of Jiguamuando. The soldiers spent some six hours terrorising the Afro-Colombian inhabitants of the area accusing them of being supporters of left wing FARC guerrillas. Homes were raided, local people beaten up and supplies and livestock were destroyed. During the incursion a group of soldiers near the community of Caño Seco shot and wounded the 50-year-old leader of the local peasant farmer union Pedro Murillo. Some minutes later the same soldiers walked over to Pedro, who was lying on the ground, and shot him three more times, killing him. The 17th Brigade later claimed that he was a guerrilla killed in combat. Residents of the area claim that among the soldiers were various well-known paramilitary death squad members, although those who killed Mr. Murillo were all regular soldiers. The Colombian Government has not made any statement in relation to the incident, and the Catholic human rights organisation Justicia y Paz has asked that messages of protest be sent to Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos. On the same day, a paramilitary death squad known as the Cacique Nutibara Block entered a community in the municipality of San Carlos in Antioquia department and massacred seven people, including two children. This is extremely concerning as the Colombian Government has claimed that the Cacique Curitiba Block has demobilised as part of the so-called “paramilitary peace process” and is no longer functioning. Please protest to Vice-President Santos by calling two mobile telephone numbers (he speaks fluent English): 0057-310-238-9120, or 0057-310-772-0130. If there is no answer, leave a message insisting that the soldiers responsible and their commanding officers be punished for this most recent killing. Protest letters can be sent to the following address: The Honorable Francisco Santos, Vice-President of Colombia, Palacio Narito, Carrera 8 #7-26, Bogotá, Colombia. (Source: Justice for Colombia, UK) (Back) (Home) GERMAN JOBLESS RATE HITS 70-YEAR HIGH (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Germany's unemployment has soared to its highest level since Hitler came to power in 1933, with figures showing that more than 5 million Germans are without a job. The federal labour office announced on Feb. 2 that unemployment had shot up in January to 5.073 million, an increase of 573,000 from the previous month The jobless rate now stands at 12.1%. However, Germany's economy and labour minister, Wolfgang Clement, shrugged off the rise and said it could largely be explained by his controversial labour market reforms that came in last month. Under the changes, known as Hartz IV, welfare recipients have been classified as unemployed for the first time. Speaking in Berlin, Clement admitted the figure was “alarming”. But he said there was no need for “hysterical talk” and predicted that unemployment would rise again in February but would drop in March and April, with a significant fall in the second half of the year. The 5 million total marks a post-second world war record for Germany, Europe's largest economy, and comes after three years of sluggish or near-zero growth. Growth this year is likely to be just 1.6%, the government believes. Against this background, there has been a political resurgence of the far right, with the neo-Nazi National party of Germany winning 9.2% of the vote in regional elections in Saxony. The government is now considering a ban on rightwing extremists. But Clement said it was “absurd” to compare present-day Germany to the early 1930s, when soaring unemployment contributed to Hitler's rise to power and the demise of the Weimar republic. “The job market is not in a good condition. But there is no point in having historical seminars,” he said. The previous postwar record was set in January 1998, in the last months of Chancellor Helmut Kohl's government, when 4.824 million million people were out of work. After winning the subsequent election, Germany's current chancellor, Social Democrat Gerhard Schroeder, has failed to keep his promise to reduce unemployment to 3.5 million. The latest figures confirm striking differences in jobless rates in different parts of Germany. Unemployment in the former communist east stands at 20.5%, more than twice that of the west, with 9.9%. Inevitably, this has led to growing frustration among east Germans who were promised “blooming landscapes” by Kohl. (Back) (Home) ANTI-JEWISH LETTER CIRCULATED IN RUSSIA (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) By Kimball Cariou An uproar broke out in Russia last month over a seven-page letter signed by some 500 public figures, including about 20 parliamentarians, seeking a ban on some Jewish organizations. There is speculation that the episode may have been engineered in part by forces within the administration of President Putin, in hopes of derailing mass protests against the government's attack on social and pension rights. But while a few of those listed as signers have denied giving their names, there has been no serious claim that the document is a fake. Nor is it simply a criticism of Zionism and the Israeli state's oppression of the Palestinian people. The document was published by the Rus Pravoslavnaya nationalist newspaper. Among the signers were deputies from Rodina (“Motherland”), a nationalist party which has been critical of the impact on Russians of the rapid shift to capitalism, and from the anti-immigrant, far-right Liberal Democratic party. Another five were from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), including Albert Makashov and Nikolai Kondratenko, who have made anti-Semitic statements in the past. “There us nothing antisemitic in our address, we only ask the Prosecutor General to give a judicial evaluation of the facts we have presented,” Alexander Krutov, a Rodina deputy and one of the signers of the letter, told Izvestia newspaper. Stanislav Belkovskii, director of the National Strategy Institute, believes the letter is a provocation organized by the Putin administration, the apn.ru news agency reported on January 26. The goal, he said, was to compromise the leadership of the Communist and Motherland parties, who are the main organizers of mass demonstrations against replacing free health care and other social benefits by a monetary payment. Belkovskii said the letter may also have aimed to alienate the Russian intelligentsia from the two parties, and to send a signal to Western Powers that the opponents of Putin's economic policies are dangerous extremist. Contrary to some reports in the western media, the Duma deputies were not introducing new legislation. Within a few days after the document was made public, the signers retracted their appeal to Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov demanding that Jewish organizations be investigated, and that those guilty of violating Russia's legislation against extremism should be shut down. The letter accused Jews of carrying out ritual killings, controlling Russian and international capital, inciting ethnic strife in Russia, and staging hate crimes against themselves. “The majority of antisemitic actions in the whole world are constantly carried out by Jews themselves with a goal of provocation,” the letter claimed. Along with outlawing Jewish organizations, the letter called for the prosecution of “individuals responsible for providing these groups with state and municipal property, privileges and state financing.” The Communist Party of Canada has condemned the public statement and called upon the KPRF leadership to take steps against anti-Semitism (see statement in another article). CPC leader Miguel Figueroa said, “The hope of Communists and other democratic forces around the world is to hear from the inheritors of the legacy of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin of their waging the necessary struggle against anti-Semitism, racism, national chauvinism and Islamophobia.” But it appears that this hope may not be fulfilled, at least in the short term. On Friday, Feb. 4, the Duma debated and approved a special resolution condemning anti-Semitism in Russia. But according to a New York Times report the next day, the KPRF called for the vote to be removed from the agenda, contending that “there is no anti-Semitism in Russia.” This incident comes not long after an openly anti-Jewish rally in Moscow. On Nov. 13, people gathered in central Moscow's Tverskaya Street to protest the arrest warrant out for Boris Mironov, former Press Minister and ultra-nationalist, who is wanted on charges of inciting inter-racial hatred. Media reports said that the rally was apparently organized by the National Power Party of Russia, which is banned by the Justice Ministry for inciting interracial hatred. On one poster held up at the rally, it identified itself as the party of “those who are ready to fight the Jewish yoke.” Reporters from the Ekho Moskvy radio station found only 200 demonstrators, and no anti-Semitic signs. But a MosNews correspondent estimated there were as many as 800 people gathered in Pushkin Square, with signs featuring accusations against the Jewish people, quoting historical figures such as Napoleon and Henry Ford. “Jews! Disgusting types. Get your stinking paws away from Boris Mironov!” one sign read. Another sign read that Jews were the “plague of society and its greatest foes.” photos of the signs at the rally can be seen at the MosNews website. The secretary of the Russian Journalists' Union, Mikhail Fedotov, told the media that the January document could have been an attempt to defend Boris Mironov. In that case, Fedotov said, “since these people address the public, they themselves risk violating the law on inciting inter-racial hatred.” (Back) (Home) A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE VIETNAM WAR (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) A People's History of the Vietnam War, by Jonathan Neale, New York: The New Press, ISBN 1-56584-807-1, 309 pages, $21.95 Canadian Reviewed by Steve Gilbert In his introduction to A People's History of the Vietnam War Jonathan Neale writes: “The most fascinating and important thing in history is the intersection between below and above: the struggles where the ordinary people and the powerful meet.” He describes the conflict between Vietnamese peasants and landlords; between GIs and generals; and between antiwar demonstrators and the US establishment. Unfortunately, he also adheres to the view that Vietnam (like other socialist countries past and present) are dictatorships,” and writes here about the “conflict” between Vietnamese guerrillas and “communist bureaucrats.” Neale begins with the class struggle in South Vietnam, which pitted wealthy landowners against a guerrilla army of landless peasants, many of who were members of the National Liberation Front ( the so-called “Viet Cong”). Most South Vietnamese distrusted the government of President Ngo Van Diem, which was notoriously corrupt and weak. As Defense Secretary Robert McNamara wrote in a 1965 memo to President Johnson: “By and large, the people in the rural areas believe that the government of South Vietnam will not stay, but the VC will; that cooperation with the government of South Vietnam will be punished by the VC; and that the government of South Vietnam is really indifferent to the people's welfare.” By 1965 the NLF had won the propaganda war, and on the ground they outnumbered American combat troops by about four to one. Neale argues that because the US generals could not win the war with troops on the ground, they tried to win it with bombs. In all, the US dropped over eight million tons of bombs on South and North Vietnam, including huge amounts of napalm and agent orange – more than three times the weight of all the bombs dropped by both sides during World War II. At first the official story was that only industrial and military sites were being targeted. US planes dropped enough bombs to destroy those targets many times over, but the North Vietnamese kept on fighting. They moved their industries out of the cities, dug elaborate systems of underground shelters, and received aid from the socialist countries to replace weapons and equipment. When bombing military and industrial targets did not end the war, US generals decided, according to Neale, to 'inflict such damage or punishment (by which they meant so many dead), that the people of North Vietnam would force their leaders to negotiate a peace.” By 1967 the US bombing campaign in the North had destroyed 391 schools, 95 hospitals, 80 churches and 30 Buddhist pagodas. The North Vietnamese kept on fighting and the bombs kept on falling. The continued resistance had a negative effect on the morale of US soldiers. In a chapter titled “The GI's Revolt”, Neale covers an important aspect of the war which was ignored by the establishment press: the conflict between US enlisted men and officers. Most soldiers who saw combat came from a working class background, whereas most officers came from the upper or middle class. As the war dragged on with no end in sight, discipline deteriorated and class conflict erupted. At first the GI revolt took the form of evasion of duty, threats against officers, and refusal to obey order. In 1968 the first episodes of fragging occurred. “Fragging” meant throwing a fragmentation bomb into an officer's tent. Neale reports that between 1970 and 1972 there were 363 court-martials for fragging. Many more fraggings went unpunished because the individuals responsible could not be identified. At the same time, anti-war demonstrations in the US contributed to low morale. By November 1970 opinion polls showed that over 70% of Americans thought the war was a mistake, and increasing numbers of those who received draft notices failed to report for duty. During the whole war, about 206,000 men refused to be drafted, and over 93,000 soldiers deserted. Neale draws parallels and notes differences between the war in Vietnam and the current conflicts in the Middle East. He argues that because of its dependence on Arab oil, defeat in the Middle East would be far worse for the US than defeat in Vietnam. He sees hope in the worldwide peace movement and in anti-globalization demonstrations, and he expresses faith in the ability of the masses to influence the course of events. He writes: “People are not stupid, and they learn from the experience of war.” Quoting a slogan often heard on marches today, he concludes by saying: “Another world is possible.” Has the US “learned from the experience of war”? Massive bombing campaigns failed in Korea, in Vietnam, and in Iraq. In all three wars the US was responsible for countless unnecessary deaths and sank in a quagmire of its own creation without achieving its goals. A People's History of the Vietnam War is the most recent volume in a New Press series modeled on Howard Zinn's classic People's History of the United States, and each book contains a preface by Zinn. Jonathan Neale is the author of eleven plays, three novels and four works of nonfiction. An activist in the anti-globalization movement, he is also a leading figure in the Socialist Workers Party in Britain. (Back) (Home) SANDINISTAS GAIN PRESIDENCY OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) From NicaNet After being shut out of Nicaragua's National Assembly leadership for the past year as a result of machinations by US Ambassador Barbara Moore, the FSLN (Sandinistas) have won the Assembly presidency and split the other leadership spots with the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC). The Presidency of the National Assembly went to the Sandinista Rene Nuñez Tellez, who was elected by a huge majority of votes. It is the first time in ten years that the position has been held by a Sandinista. The US strategy to unite the right wing without Aleman and to isolate the FSLN is now thoroughly in shambles with the virtual Sandinista sweep of municipal elections last November, their victory in National Assembly leadership elections, and their united FSLN-PLC stance toward the upcoming national dialogue. At this point the US is struggling just to preserve in office their Nicaraguan lap dog, President Enrique Bolanos. (Back) (Home) PORTO ALEGRE DECLARATION: RETURN ARISTIDE AND DEMOCRACY (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) The following international statement was launched at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, January 26-31, 2005 WHEREAS, Haiti became the first Black Republic in 1804 when its enslaved people defeated Napoleon's army, the most powerful of its day, and abolished slavery. Ever since, Haiti has stood for Black liberation and the liberation of oppressed people everywhere. Haiti offered Simon Bolivar refuge, guns and other supplies, and led the way for the abolition of slavery throughout the Americas. The colonial powers have punished Haiti ever since: among other things the U.S. led a 60-year political boycott, and France forced Haiti to pay the modern equivalent of $21 billion U.S. for its slaveowners' losses, which led to a crippling debt and the world's first structural adjustment policy. From 1915-1934, the U.S. Occupied Haiti, and an act of the U.S. Congress established the Haitian army; WHEREAS, in 1990 a massive grassroots effort broke Haiti's history of coups and corrupt U.S.-backed dictatorships. Lavalas means”flash flood” in Haitian Creole, and was the name given to the movement that swept Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the presidency, with the support of the 80% of Haitians who are poor. President Aristide, a former Catholic priest and liberation theologian, was reelected to tackle Haiti's grinding poverty and discrimination and to redistribute resources to Haiti's most neglected; WHEREAS, on September 30, 1991, eight months after his inauguration, President Aristide was overthrown by a CIA-backed coup. After pressure from the Haitian resistance and Black elected officials and others in the U.S., along with the arrival of huge numbers of Haitian refugees in the U.S., the U.S. “allowed” President Aristide to return to Haiti. But President Aristide's continued firm stand with Haiti's poor made him yet again an enemy of the U.S. And other colonial powers. North America and Europe imposed an embargo on financial assistance from international financial institutions to Haiti's elected governments while pouring money into NGOs that played a crucial role in the opposition to the movement led by President Aristide; WHEREAS, on February 29, 2004, U.S. soldiers forced President Aristide onto a plane and into exile. The elected Lavalas government was replaced with an unelected puppet regime. This unconstitutional regime, backed by the U.S., France and Canada, using members of Haiti's former army, has waged a war against the Lavalas movement: thousands have been killed in violence against protesters, organized workers and grassroots groups; at least 700 political prisoners sit in Haitian jails, and rape is routinely used against grassroots women and girls as a weapon of repression; WHEREAS, the Lavalas party had many successes in the fight against poverty and isolation during its two years of democratic governance. Among other things, Haiti tripled the number of elementary and secondary schools, many built for the first time in rural areas, made great advances in literacy, developed a new university and teaching hospital for students from poor families and a social housing program, welcomed Cuban doctors and teachers, successfully prosecuted many serious human rights cases, abolished the hated army, opened the doors of the presidential palace to children and the poor, and consistently ensured the grassroots movement a place at the decision-making table; WHEREAS, as the puppet regime gives tax breaks to the wealthy and pays former soldiers wages for attacking the resistance, while cutting education, health care and food programs for the poor, life for the Haitian people, already the poorest in the hemisphere, has reached a breaking point; and WHEREAS, the so-called UN stabilization mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), led by Brazil with large contingents from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, was requested and used by the U.S. What is not widely known is that rather than being the “peace-keepers” described by a biased corporate media, this UN force has been part of the repression of the Lavalas movement, with deadly raids on poor neighbourhoods, illegal arrests of political dissidents and support for illegal operations by the puppet government's police and the former soldiers. We the undersigned therefore make the following demands: Return President Aristide and the democratic process to Haiti. President Aristide must be allowed to complete his term after which free and fair elections would be held according to Haiti's Constitution. End the occupation of Haiti. Use the money and other resources now used in the war against Haiti's poor for the fight against poverty in Haiti. UN “stabilization forces” must cease all illegal arrests, indiscriminate raids on poor neighbourhoods and support for illegal activities by the puppet regime's police force and members of the former army. Political prisoners must be freed, politically-motivated persecution must end. Governments and intergovernmental organizations must refuse to recognize Haiti's illegitimate puppet regime, and must demand an investigation into the circumstances of President Aristide's removal from office. Refugees fleeing political persecution in Haiti must be given asylum, internally displaced refugees in Haiti must be given protection and financial assistance. US hands off Latin America and the Caribbean. We stand in solidarity with the government and people of Venezuela and Cuba, countries struggling against a process of destabilization not unlike the one that resulted in the overthrow of President Aristide. We invite people and organizations throughout the world to join us in this Declaration. (Signers are asked to contact petition@haitiaction.org; when the online petition is completed signers will be notified by e-mail.) (Back) (Home) PLAN PATRIOT" VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS (The following article is from the February 15-28/2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) In a Jan. 26 statement issued from the mountains of Colombia, the Central General Staff of the FARC-EP insurgent army analysed the so-called “Plan Colombia” promoted by the United States and the Uribe government. The plan is into its second phase, called “Plan Patriot.” As the FARC-EP leadership points out, “The United States has invested more than US$3.5 billion in the last three years and is hearing Uribe's pleas begging for more money. In fact, for 2005, another US$700 million are proceeding through the gringo Congress to be added to the US$11.8 billion approved for the war in the national budget of Columbia.” The plan is backfiring, says the communique, since the strategy of “removing the water from the fish” and attacking the civilian population is driving “new sectors into the torrent of insurrection.” By basing his actions on his personal hatreds, says the communique, President Alvaro Uribe is “sinking any attempt to improve the situation of the fundamental rights of all Colombians deeper into the quicksand of war.” The statement gives details of how the Colombian army has virtually become a mercenary force connected to the U.S. Army's Southern Command, treating the population as an enemy. One cabinet minister recently stated that more than 60,000 accusations have been raised against the State, mostly abuses committed by the armed forces. If upheld, these cases would generate more than $61 billion in payments for damages. “Fascism has always hidden its rabid and violent method of governance behind the disguise of security, violating Human Rights under whatever pretext, as did Hitler and Pinochet. Uribe Velez is no exception,” concludes the communique. (Back) (Home)

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