A hard-fought victory for Canadian Media Guild (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 MORE THAN seven weeks ago, on August 14, Lise Lareau, president of the Canadian Media Guild, issued a statement to her members titled "So It's Come To This". In her own words, "CBC's managers are shutting the doors and locking us out of the places where we have devoted so many hours working, reporting, producing, shooting, hosting and creating CBC programming. It seems unthinkable, unnecessary, wasteful."      This was her reaction to the lockout of 5,500 Guild members at CBC who had already been trying to negotiate for almost a year into an expired contract. The lockout was the result of CBC president Robert Rabinovitch giving approval of a plan by  Human Resources VP George Smith to force extreme concessions from the Guild in the areas of hiring more contract employees, temporaries and fixed term employees. Does this sound familiar?      The Media Guild represents three distinct groups of workers at CBC. Programming and Production are about 2300 reporters, editors, TV anchors, hosts and producers. The 2500 member Technical & Trades are camera people, satellite truck crews, video editors, audio, graphics and other technicians. The 700 member General Administrative Unit contains TV workers, commercial sales, finance and info technology specialists. (The Guild does not represent their counterparts in Quebec or in Moncton, New Brunswick). These are obviously very specialized workers. It seems strange that any operation would risk their disenchantment or undermining their job confidence if there were not other motives than a labour contract renewal.      What could those other motives be? The CBC is governed by a 12 member Board of Directors, all appointed by Ottawa, who are overseen by the Heritage Committee. Rabinovitch supposedly answers to this board. However this board has been without a Chairperson since the departure of Carole Taylor in March 2005. The board also contains eight new members, most of whom do not have any previous experience in broadcasting or CBC culture. At the time of the lockout, the board hadn't met for some time.      So here is the situation. The President of CBC approves a lockout arbitrarily without consulting his Board of Directors who are lacking a chairperson and haven't met for some time. The Canadian public are deprived of one of our most informative and culturally important services and 5500 workers are locked out. The Canadian government, and Paul Martin in particular, makes no move to intervene but continues to forward public money just like there was no lockout and everything is normal. If there are no hidden motives this ship is really out of control. If there are hidden motives or a hidden agenda, the workers are being used cynically as pawns in a larger game.      Experts lined up around the issue have identified the main problem as the fixed budget of the CBC. Parliament sets budgets. Budgets can be lavish (just ask the Gomery Commission), or they can be meagre like those assigned to childcare. All they really do is identify the direction of government. To feed or starve a project is a political decision that serves a political agenda.      Since Rabinovitch has been President there have been, including this latest fiasco, three lockouts and five work stoppages. The Guild members seem to be under siege, scapegoats in a larger game. However these scapegoats are well organized and ready to defend themselves and their colleagues. Their motives and agenda are refreshingly clear and their interests parallel the interests and needs of the Canadian public: to maintain their public broadcaster as an intrinsic part of Canadian life, serving the needs of our culture, our vast country and our nations in a way that no private enterprise ever would or could. The suspect motive, the lurking agenda is always there. It is privatization. It is the same attack that all our social programs are currently defending against.      The Board finally met and endorsed Rabinovitch's actions. This did not help Rabinovitch but rather brought more pressure on the government from opposition and Liberal backbenchers who were feeling the pressure from the public. On Sept. 29, the Guild rejected an insulting offer that was worse than the original back in August. That offer was given to the press before it was given to the Union, after $250,000 was spent on misleading newspaper ads, and after federal mediators had failed to bring the sides to agreement. Labour Minister Joe Fontana ordered the parties to stay in Ottawa and resume talks. He also imposed a "cone of silence" for 48 hours to prevent communication with the media. This was later extended and by Oct. 3 there was a tentative agreement.      It looks like the Guild has won a victory. There is an agreement that was forced by building pressure from the public on opposition MPs and Liberal backbenchers. The language has to be worked out and the members have to ratify the agreement, but the negotiators are recommending member approval and talking victory. Apparently there is a cap on contract workers, but it is not apparent how this spins out in real life, because it is a percentage ratio of permanent to contract. These figures will be known to the Guild members, of course.      There will be more info on the finer points of the deal after the ratification process which should be completed by Oct. 9. It takes a hard fight to win labour victories in our political environment; sometimes holding the line and defending positions  are victories. Whatever this agreement contains, it is the result of membership solidarity and determination, and public appreciation of the CBC and the people who make it work, the members of the Canadian Media Guild. (Contents) (Home) The CBC lockout - a view from the line (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 a CBC striker (Editor's note: this first-hand account of the CBC lockout was written shortly before the end of dispute.)      Picket duty for the week is done. I'm sitting at home. The television is on and the volume low. I'm switching back and forth between CNBC's "Squawk Box," and "American Morning" on CNN. Normally, I'd be watching Newsworld, CBC's 24‑hour news network. That's where my colleagues would be working, presenting stories that help Canadians to understand how events are unfolding and why it matters. But we're into the seventh week of a lockout. More than five thousand CBC employees are out of work across the country.      As one of the rookie journalists at the CBC, the dispute has been eye opening. I've never really given much thought about what it means to belong to a union. When I first joined CBC, efforts to combine various unions into a single unit was well on the way. Even then, though, I paid scant attention to the goings on. Then what seemed unthinkable happened. Management locked the doors and there was no work to go to. That productive, creative, inquiring part of my everyday life became muted.      I wasn't sure I'd take part in any picketing but I rode my bike down to the broadcast centre in Toronto to have a look. When I arrived on the line I was astounded by the amount of people crawling around the building. I decided to stay; I signed in and grabbed a thin, white cardboard sign with red lettering. It simply read: "locked out by the CBC." A simple phrase that would become the theme of my life for several weeks, now possibly months.      For many of us, the picket line became more than a circuit to earn our meager lockout pay. It helped us to maintain a connection with our professional lives, however limited. Volunteers taped up newspaper clippings and copies of online articles on sandwich boards. People huddled around, jamming in close together to find news about the negotiations and what people thought about the dispute. Some of the support was uplifting but some information caused unease.      The answer to one polling question sticks in my mind. It asked whether people were inconvenienced by the lack of original programming on CBC after the lockout. The high percentage of people who said "no" surprised me. I've always felt driven by the mandate of the CBC, to connect the country, to tell our stories, to reflect and nurture a distinctive point of view.      But maybe there was a bigger story here ‑ the subtlety of which couldn't be captured by a one‑off telephone survey. Like myself, perhaps, many of us take important institutions for granted. Sometimes we don't even understand the role they play in our lives. The CBC itself plays a part in this. Reporting about government agencies and officials often focus on mismanagement, malfeasance and corruption. There's no doubt that we have a responsibility to do this reporting but it would be absurd to deny that it also makes people disenchanted with government.      As the weeks dragged on, sentiments on the picket lines began to splinter. I remember one colleague confronting a union negotiator. She told him she just wanted to get back to work and that it was time for the union to reach a settlement. His answer reflected what was at the back of everyone's minds, 'at what cost?'      A philosophical issue is at play in the dispute between CBC and its employees. How are workers to be treated? Is it fair to have a person work for years on short term contracts? Most Canadians would agree that a government agency has the responsibility to treat people fairly. Management says it requires the flexibility to deal with the pressures of an extremely competitive industry. There's no doubt Canada's media industry is amongst the most competitive in the world. Our population is small, geographically dispersed and culturally diverse. Our proximity to the U.S. allows easy access to American culture. And then there's the openness Canadians have to things from the outside ‑ food, music, and fashion from everywhere are part of the cultural fabric of this huge country.      While management has pegged flexibility as the make or break issue, it hasn't made a convincing argument that flexibility is the most critical challenge facing the organization. After all, it's a firmly held belief even in the corporate world that treating people fairly helps to boost productivity and improves performance. The union has decided it's important to confront management on how workers are hired and retained (or not). After walking the line for more than a month and getting the chance to observe the mood and listen to what people have to say, it appears most CBCers share the union's concern.      But as with so many social and political struggles, the outcome often hinges on which side can maintain its resolve the longest. As I walk the line there are signs of weariness everywhere. Picket organizers look more tired. Tables are filling up with dog‑eared magazines and crumpled newspapers to help people get through the day. New bulletin boards have sprung up, listing short term jobs ‑ painters, cooks and bartenders. Now there's a new fear. Not so much about the importance of what's taking place, but about a possible breaking point. Like that moment in a tug‑o‑war game when you feel your grip loosening and you go tumbling across a threshold you've been resisting.  But the resolve of CBCers is strong. It's girded by a belief and confidence in our mission. And the desire to maintain a Canadian voice. (Contents) (Home)   Teachers' strike wins public support (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 October 11 - As this issue of People's Voice went to press, British Columbia teachers continued to resist the Campbell Liberal government's Bill 12. With the support of parents, students, and other unions, BCTF members kept up their picket lines on Tuesday, Oct. 11, despite a BC Supreme Court ruling that their walkout was illegal.      The BCTF has vowed to struggle for a negotiated agreement even if massive fines and jail sentences are imposed by the provincial Supreme Court on Oct. 13. The mood of rank and file teachers and their leaders remains determined, as expressed in the 90.5% vote to defy Bill 12. The BCTF constitution gives the union's members the final say on accepting a collective agreement. That change was made last spring by BCTF convention delegates in response to the 2004 Hospital Employees' Union strike, which saw wage cuts imposed in a deal accepted by the union's divided executive.      If they do succeed in forcing the teachers back, the Liberals will certainly take a popularity hit. Despite the efforts of Premier Campbell and the corporate media to demonize the teachers, the public response to the strike has been very supportive. Spirits were lifted on picket lines across the province as drivers honked support. In many schools, students and parents are walking the lines, and some administrators even baked cookies for picketers.      The teachers' demand for a negotiated collective agreement has also won the backing of many school trustees. Although school boards are represented at the bargaining table by the B.C. Public School Employers' Association, there is growing resentment among trustees at the stubborn refusal of BCPSEA and the Liberal government to address the concerns of teachers.      One typical statement came from School District No. 5, Southeast Kootenay: "We believe that a negotiated settlement would serve the public education system best, not a legislated one. It has always been our position that the 0% net mandate of the government is wrong and we encourage other School Boards to join us in that opinion. This government has handcuffed the School Boards who are the employers of the teachers in not allowing our representative, BCPSEA, to negotiate a fair and reasonable collective agreement... If the system is truly broken only one party is to blame and that is the government for not allowing the School Boards' representative any flexibility in achieving a fair and reasonable collective agreement."      At least six other boards have adopted positions critical of the government: Nicola Similkameen; Vancouver Island North; Vancouver, Surrey, Revelstoke, and Cowichan Valley.      Another measure of public opinion can be seen in the media. A solid majority of Letters to the Editor columns in most dailies have backed the teachers. In the Oct. 6 edition of the right-wing Province in Vancouver, 61.9% of poll respondents supported the teachers' job action.      Even the editorials in many local papers have lambasted the Liberals. For example, the Vernon Morning Star editorial on Oct. 5 wrote, "Once again the Liberal government in Victoria is acting like a school yard bully ‑ throwing its weight around and changing the rules half way through the game. Of course none of us should have been surprised with how Victoria dealt with the dispute between B.C. teachers and their employer. Time and time again, the Liberals have shown absolutely no respect for the collective bargaining process. Contracts have been ripped up and the legislative hammer has been dropped to bring an end to disputes..."      A recent editorial in the Prince George Citizen noted that "Education Minister Shirley Bond should acknowledge that teachers had no wage increase in the late 1990s. Instead of an increase, teachers bargained with the government for learning and working condition improvements. The B.C. Liberals stripped these provisions from the contract and passed legislation saying they are illegal. The UN says otherwise. Given inflation and the previous lack of a salary increase, teachers have suffered a net loss of income and declining learning conditions for their students." (Contents) (Home) Toronto's business climate: raining on the people (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 Johan Boyden NEWS FLASH! Downtown Toronto is about to become a ghost town. North America's third largest financial services centre, HQ for Canada's five biggest banks, six largest accounting companies and ten largest law firms, is in a crisis.      The only way to fix this problem? Shift corporate taxes - big time - over to home owners and renters and lower the education tax for business.      This nasty proposal is being pushed forward by Toronto business with the help of some city bureaucrats. "Enhancing Toronto's Business Climate, It's Everybody's Business" is a 34‑page discussion document calling to "improve the city's competitiveness." It is currently up for public scrutiny before going to City Hall.      Media attention about this report, released on July 4th, has been limited. And there have been very few - if any - advertisements of public consultation sessions in Toronto's ethnic newspapers, cutting tens of thousands out of the process.          The scope of tax‑shift plan, however, demands public debate and criticism. It is something that all homeowners, renters, community groups, and the Toronto and York Region Labour Council should be concerned about. "These proposals are hardly revenue neutral" commented Dominic Bellissimo, one of a handful of people at a sparsely attended session on Sept. 15. Consultations quietly began during the late summer and are continuing into September.      "These proposals are for a massive transfer of over $310 million dollars of tax burden - all to be put on the shoulders of seniors and workers," Bellissimo added, who presented on behalf of the Communist Party of Canada, Toronto Committee. "We're having a hard enough time dealing with the consequences of provincial downloading and the Current Value Assessment."      "Enhancing Toronto's Business Climate," is part of a broader right‑wing attempt to lower the taxes of big monopolies. At the same time, the right is campaigning to snatch away tax money, a collective wealth of working people, for schemes like hospital privatization. In Ontario, the latest chapter of the saga was started in the late '90s by the Harris‑Eves Tories, and the McGuinty Liberals haven't stopped. But the saga goes back further.      In 1970 the Ontario government cooked up "Market Value Assessment" (MVA) as a common way for municipalities to figure out property taxes. The official reason: the assessment process was out of date and inconsistent. It had to be re‑done. MVA meant that the market‑minded appraisers determined the price of your house. It also meant that homeowners began to pay for services that were not directly connected to their property, like hospitals and education.     Whether or not municipalities actually used MVA was up to them; implementation was voluntary. Then, in the 1980s, business stepped up its persuading and pushing of municipalities to use MVA.  Across Ontario, municipalities moved to this model, but labour and community stood up in Ottawa and Toronto, and these two cities held out of the MVA system.      Then, in 1997, the Tories brought in the scandalous Fair Municipal Finance Act. A year later they began a process called "Current Value Assessment" or CVA. What was CVA? Basically MVA with a bit of camouflage. The result: chaos and craftiness.      First, CVA had big problems. Even with extra teams of university students, the task of re‑assessing every single property in Ontario didn't get done. Mistakes were everywhere. Four years later, appeals from those with the time and knowledge to complain were still being heard.      But the big scandal was the shift in the tax burden. Before 1998, residents held 35% of the assessment base, and paid about 33% of the municipal property taxes. After re‑assessment in 1998, residents held over 70% of the total assessment base. Shuffle-shuffle with taxes. As of 2005, residents now pay 40% of municipal property taxes.      Housing is a basic human right. Owning your own home is something every Canadian should be able to do. Corporations, not the people whose work makes their profits, should pay the taxes. Working people paying 33% of the municipal tax base is too high. Paying 40% is an outrage.      The goal of the merchant‑landlord‑developer agenda today is to slyly make that level higher.      The trouble with their argument is that it doesn't add up, and it could be squashed with a strong community and labour council-based resistance. The Canadian people aren't suffering from high business taxes. In fact, Toronto city hall documents hint at the real problem: globalization, the latest poisonous recipe from the cook‑book of imperialism.      "By the late 1980s," the city hall report states (page 6), "downtown office user were demanding, and were absorbing, the equivalent of one new Scotia Plaza every year. The Free Trade Agreement and technology changed everything. In a few short years Toronto shed 200,000 jobs as industry restructured."      Maybe City Hall should busy itself putting forward proposals to get out of NAFTA, instead of these unfair tax schemes!      The pain of Free Trade fell on the working people, however, not the corporations. Again, quoting from the report (page 5): "Toronto has lower business costs than most of the European, North American and Asian cities studied [by KPMG]." In fact, Toronto is the least costly of the thirty large industrial cities studied. "Even when smaller cities were added to the analysis, Toronto has lower costs than 99% of all US cities studied."      Okay, so what is the real problem? Competition from other centres in the GTA? That's what the report goes on to state. But the big businesses in the downtown core around Bay Street aren't about to run off to Mississauga or Brampton anytime soon. In fact, Cadillac Fairview has just announced that it will build Toronto's "first major office tower in more than a decade, as the city's downtown core experiences an economic rebirth from an unprecedented building boom." (Toronto Star, "Tower Boosts City Core" Sept. 27, 2005). There is actually a shortage of office space downtown.      This report, however, isn't about making sense. It's about making a buck, as business demands an even better deal than they've got already. The submissions to the 2004 consultation process that hatched this sly plan did not include anyone from Labour. Only three community groups were there: the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations, Ontario Tenants, and Tax Income Not Housing, as well as a couple of historical associations. Who were the others? Businesses. The "Real Estate Assessment HBC." The "Westin Prince Hotel." Plus there were twenty businesses and industry networks, associations, boards and committees taking part, representing their class.      And then there is one group City Hall loves to quote, "Toronto Office Coalition." It appears they are the driving force behind this proposal. The sneakily‑named outfit was formed solely to lobby for this particular tax grab. The "coalition" are Toronto's 20 big downtown property owners, including the Bank of Nova Scotia, Manulife Financial, Standard Life, and Cadillac Fairview.       Their chair, John W. Campbell, is President and CEO of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation and a director of a string of other corporate groups, including the Toronto Board of Trade. He is also chair of the Office Technology Consortium: eleven North American developers who control over 400 million sq. ft. of commercial space. The Office Coalition's mailing address is c/o the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. This is no movement of the people. It is the mouth of Corporate Power.      "The last time I checked," Bellissimo told the committee, "companies can take advantage of tax shelters, tax appeals, deferred taxes, tax credits and incentives for commercial businesses, etc. Working people can make use of family and friends to rely on, or borrow money in order to pay their taxes or use up their savings. This hardly seems like a fair shift to me." (Contents) (Home) Communists campaign to save Medicare (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 Vancouver Bureau With a federal election just around the corner, the struggle to defend Canada's Medicare system has become a key issue. This election could determine whether Canada will preserve and build upon the principles of universally accessible, free medical care for all, or else move decisively towards a U.S.-style "two-tier" health care system.      This fall, the Communist Party of Canada is campaigning across the country for emergency action to defend Medicare. The CPC is holding a series of public forums and circulating a special leaflet detailing the history and significance of the struggle for public health care. Members and friends of the Party are taking part in the broad coalitions to stop the shift to privatised health care. A recent Central Committee meeting of the CPC condemned the June 9 Supreme Court decision which struck down a Quebec law banning private insurance for services covered under Medicare. This ruling, said the CPC, threatens grave consequences for working people, who remain strongly supportive of single-tier health care, with service based on need rather than ability to pay.      It is not "fear-mongering" to warn that the shift to a two-tier system will reduce real access to health care for millions of people. Private health care will inevitably draw many talented doctors and health care workers into servicing the wealthy minority, while working people and the poor are left with an understaffed, underfunded and overcrowded system.      Medicare is under fire from many sides. Insured services such as chiropractors and opticians are being delisted and for‑profit clinics and hospitals are springing up across the country. Some funding has recently been put back into health care, but the federal and provincial governments cut $250 billion in health spending over the period of 1996-2003, while waiting lists grew longer and shortages of physicians and nurses persisted. The federal government blames the provinces for this situation, but refuses to use its powers to punish provinces which allow the rapid expansion of the private system.      Supporters of privatizing health care talk about "individual freedom" to spend money on surgery, just like a new car or a trip to Disneyland. But freedom is not simply an abstract notion, despite June 9 ruling that the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows a private medical care system. The reality is that allowing the wealthy minority to purchase tickets to the front of the line has a negative impact on the health care of millions of other Canadians. In other words, more "freedom" for a few means depriving the majority of our rights.      Until now, the Canada Health Act and the principles of Medicare have placed certain limits on privatizers. Profiteering in health care has been mainly restricted to areas such as lucrative contracts to build new P3 hospitals, or the contracting-out of laundry and food services. Tax dollars are boosting private profits, while the wages of health workers are driven down.      The biggest sphere of health profiteering has been the pharmaceutical industry. On one side of this parallel private system, big pharma-corporations and drug lobbyists are reaping enormous profits, while those without coverage face skyrocketing prescription costs.      Now, this Supreme Court decision takes the whole process much further, despite the findings of lower courts and numerous studies which have found that private health care is ultimately more expensive and inefficient than the public system.      The Communist Party of Canada calls for a comprehensive set of policies to save Medicare and improve the health and living conditions of working people, including: * Strengthen and enforce the Canada Health Act and laws that prohibit a private parallel system. * Begin to switch from the current fee-for-service system to a system of salaries for doctors. * Use the "notwithstanding clause" to overturn the Chaoulli decision, and compel governments to respect the Charter of Rights by ensuring prompt medical treatment. * Impose heavy penalties on provincial governments which allow private clinics and services. * Force governments to act quickly to reduce surgery waiting times; faster recognition of the credentials of foreign-trained doctors, nurses and other health professionals, and expand the number of medical school positions. * Scrap the Drug Patent Act (which guarantees mega-profits for the big pharmaceuticals, and high costs for health care), and nationalize the pharmaceutical industry under democratic control. * Introduce universal eye-, pharma- and denti-care. * Substantially increase and re-establish tied funding to provinces for health, education, social housing and welfare, and enhance all-Canada standards, while ensuring that Quebec retains control and administration of its own programs. * End P3s and all other forms of privatization and contracting-out of health, education and other public services.      Despite the Supreme Court ruling, the corporate drive to turn health care into a commodity faces strong resistance. Last year, the public voted Tommy Douglas the greatest Canadian of all time. Also on the list was Dr. Norman Bethune, the Communist who led Canada's first public campaign for free, universal health care. This fall, residents of several southern Ontario cities are organizing campaigns to keep their hospitals in public hands, and health care workers in British Columbia are fighting corporate bosses for decent wages and working conditions.      The battle for Medicare is far from over. The Communist Party urges all Canadians to stand up for our rights and force governments to preserve and improve the public health care system! (Contents) (Home) Keep NPA out of Vancouver City Hall! (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 THE CANDIDATES are in place, and now comes the tough part in Vancouver's civic election: campaigning in the autumn rain. For the Coalition of Progressive Electors, this is the first campaign as a governing party, and it won't be easy.      COPE's major advantage is a group of incumbents with deep roots in the community, a keen grasp of the issues, and name recognition. Added to this is a policy platform with strong appeal to working class and low-income voters, the party's electoral base.   In contrast, the right-wing NPA has nominated Sam Sullivan for mayor to head a slate of lesser known candidates, most with little experience around City Hall and School Board. Vision, the breakaway group formed by Mayor (now Senator) Larry Campbell and three councillors elected in the COPE sweep of 2002, is running five council candidates and Jim Green for mayor.      On the downside, labour's traditional support for COPE since it was formed in 1968 is now divided. A number of unions which want jobs for their members on controversial projects such as casinos and the RAV transit line are contributing to Vision. With a much smaller budget than three years ago, COPE's campaign will instead resemble the 1999 election, which resulted in the party's return to city council and came close to a majority on school board. The emphasis will be on street-level campaigning, not expensive advertising. To reduce the electoral impact of the Vision split, COPE members decided not to nominate a mayoralty candidate.      On one level, the Nov. 19 vote will be a referendum on Vancouver's bold experiment in civic government by a broad left coalition.      In February 2003, a PV commentary on COPE's first two months in office posed some hard questions: "How will longstanding COPE policy be implemented under difficult political and financial circumstances? Are elected COPE candidates responsible to the organization, to all voters, or both? Is the mayor simply the most visible member of a city council which sets collective priorities, or does he have powers to set the agenda on his own?"      Some supporters underestimated the thorny obstacles faced by the new COPE majority, including an entrenched bureaucracy at City Hall and the Greater Vancouver Regional District, the very limited range of taxation and revenue options for Canadian municipalities, and the fierce opposition of developers, real estate interests and the corporate media. Add to this the reality that the 2002 election was as much a rejection of NPA arrogance as it was a vote for COPE's platform, and then the split in COPE's council caucus, and you have the recipe for a wild term in office.      Given these circumstances, progressive Vancouverites can take great pride in the accomplishments of the city's first labour-backed council and parks board, and the impressive record of the School Board. While some on the left focus only on shortcomings, the truth is that the COPE experience is a valuable lesson in how working people can build and elect progressive coalitions, as one part of the process of creating conditions for fundamental change at all levels of society.      Perhaps more than any single policy decision, COPE can take credit for changing the city's culture of top-down decision making. At City Council, School Board and Parks Board, COPE elected officials have emphasized public consultation and openness, in stark contrast to the NPA "bar the doors" attitude.      For example, the COPE school trustees stunned parent advisory committees and staff unions by incorporating many proposals from such groups in the annual budget process. Previously these recommendations were ignored, and the NPA trustees simply adopted budgets drawn up by senior management.      The story has been similar at City Hall, where COPE councillors have encouraged a wide range of community organizations to raise their issues. For the first time, groups representing the city's working class and poor people got a respectful hearing and on many occasions, real action on their demands.      That action has taken many forms. In early 2003, the new city council  was the first in Canada to oppose the war against Iraq, and the city is actively promoting next June's World Peace Forum. Despite the COPE/Vision split, city council has taken important action on homelessness, such as removing barriers to suite rentals, and including more social housing in the Woodwards project. Vancouver's safe injection site is an important part of a new approach by governments to the addiction crisis. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental programs (known as "Cool Vancouver") are being fully integrated into civic policies and planning. City council was not able to completely stop the influx of "big box" retailers, but it did block Wal-Mart and some other negative developments.      That list could go on and on. Unfortunately, the split on council opened the door for some defeats, notably on casino expansion and the RAV line, which will suck badly-needed dollars out of the regional transit system.      At the School Board level, COPE trustees can point to greatly improved relations with staff unions as a huge accomplishment. Despite provincial funding shortfalls, the VSB now cooperates with unions to minimise the impact of cutbacks in the classroom, and to find ways to improve working conditions for teachers. The COPE trustees actually began to reverse the shift towards contracting out, bringing some privatised services back under the Board's operation. Putting the needs of students first, the trustees have fought to keep down class sizes, and to make schools safer for queer and questioning youth and staff.      In a recent statement, the Vancouver Civic Caucus of the Communist Party said, "As one of the political forces which worked to found COPE, and to help lead this coalition through much of the last 35 years, we in the Communist Party feel a responsibility to speak out at this difficult moment." The statement urged broad unity of left and centre forces (including Vision) to block an NPA victory, which "would be a tragic and unnecessary reversal of the last election, and could lead to dismantling many of the gains of the last three years."      To those who claim there is "no difference" between Vision and the NPA, the statement said, "This is a dangerous exaggeration, to say the least. The NPA has dominated our city for almost seventy years, and for a very good reason: they are the preferred vehicle of the big developers and the wealthy elite... The present alignment of forces on Council would change dramatically for the worse under an NPA majority. On the other hand, a majority of COPE and Vision councillors could be pressed to take account of the demands of the labour and people's movements on key issues... Our common goal must be to keep the NPA out of City Hall."      There is no reason for people on the left to sit on the sidelines in the Nov. 19 campaign, or to support "radical" independents who can only help the NPA by dividing the progressive vote. This is a time to help re-elect all five COPE city councillors, and to win another majority for COPE at School Board and Parks Board. The official opening of the COPE campaign office, at 1001 West Broadway (Oak St.), takes place at 1 pm, Sunday, October 16. Drop by or call 604-255-0400 to find out how you can help! (Contents) (Home) Hands off voters' lists  (The following editorial is from the October 16-31/2005 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 OVER THE YEARS, the Communist Party of Canada has taken part in many all-party meetings convened by Elections Canada to discuss various aspects of the federal electoral system. After a somewhat rocky start during the 1993 party deregistration debacle triggered by Parliament's wildly undemocratic changes to the Elections Act, the CPC has come to respect the work of Chief Electoral Officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley. The electoral proposals he presents to Parliament are often fair to the smaller parties which usually get the sharp end of the stick during elections.      But we have a major problem with Mr. Kingsley's revelation that he would consider sharing the confidential federal voters list with agencies such as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, even doing so illegally "if it could save lives."      Mr. Kingsley points to situations such as natural disasters, when many people are displaced. But the catch is that CSIS is more concerned with conducting the so-called "war on terror" than with saving lives. If CSIS wants to catch terrorists, its operatives have repeatedly missed the big one. Imagine the rejoicing around the world if CSIS collared George W. Bush, the man who launched the illegal war of aggression against Iraq!      Instead, CSIS and the Canadian state are engaged in a sleazy, racist, campaign against members of the Arab and Muslim communities. For example, "security certificates" are used to jail "suspects" who are not allowed to see the "evidence" against them. Turning over voters' lists and other private information to spy agencies whose true loyalty seems to lie with US imperialism will do nothing to make anyone safer. This is an idea which should never have been raised, and we urge Parliament to reject it completely. (Contents) (Home) Support needed for Amparo Torres (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 Committee to Support Amparo Torres' Rights has issued the following appeal letter: Dear friends,      We are writing with an urgent request for your support in defending the right of Amparo Torres, a Colombian social activist and permanent Canadian resident, to remain in this country.      Amparo, a single mother, came to Canada in December 1996 as a refugee from Colombia. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees had determined that Amparo's life was in danger in Colombia, and on that basis she was admitted and granted permanent resident status in this country.      An active trade unionist and political leader in her native country, Amparo has continued to speak out in Canada against the gross human rights violations, poverty and inequality which persist in Colombia, and to advocate for a peaceful, negotiated solution to Colombia's decades‑long civil war.      The Canadian government is now claiming however that Amparo is "inadmissible" to Canada, falsely accusing her under the anti-terrorism provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of being a supporter and/or member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC‑EP), a Colombian insurgent guerrilla organization which was added to the list of "terrorist organizations" in April 2003.      This situation only came to light when officials from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) challenged Amparo's application for Canadian citizenship, presenting "evidence" that she is a security problem for the state, based on their accusation that she is "associated with FARC."      These allegations against Amparo are groundless.      Amparo Torres worked for 23 years at the Santiago de Cali University and became active in the trade union representing university workers, eventually became a member of the Board of Directors of Colombia's national trade union organization, the CUT (Central Unitaria de Trabajadores). In 1985, Torres was a founding member of the Patriotic Union Movement (Movimiento de la Union Patriotica), an umbrella organization for left political parties. Both are legal organizations in Colombia. Nevertheless both have been subjected to the physical annihilation of their members since the beginning. Amparo experienced grave death‑threats in her country.      With respect to the social and political as well as military conflict, Amparo has always expressed the urgent need for negotiated solution. She has never presented herself as the voice or representative of any Colombian organization.      And yet this accusation puts Amparo under threat of deportation. It is yet another dangerous and anti‑democratic application of Bill C‑36, which annuls many civil rights such as the right to an adequate defence and the freedom of expression.      This is a clear case of political and ideological persecution - the consequence of a misguided policy undertaken by the Canadian government at the behest of Washington's so‑called "war on terror". It is not unlike the political persecution being applied to social movements in Colombia, which has led to a horrible humanitarian tragedy and massive human rights violations.      The Charter of Rights is the essence of this country, empowering us to think, to act politically and philosophically, and to respect fundamental human rights. It is a precious treasure worth defending and maintaining in Canada.      We are therefore urgently requesting your support in defending Amparo's rights to remain in Canada. An "admissibility" court hearing is now scheduled for November 3, 2005, and we need to have as much support as possible leading up to this crucial hearing date.      At this point, since we still are in a pre‑hearing phase, therefore we would appreciate letters of support being sent only to Amparo's lawyer.      You can help in any number of ways: * by sending a letter of support directly to Amparo's lawyer: Raoul Boulakia, Lawyer, 45 Saint Nicolas St., Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1W6. Fax 416‑925‑8122 and a copy to our Committee, committee‑chair@supportamparosrights.org. * by passing a resolution in your local union, labour council, community or cultural association or group; and * by making a financial contribution to Amparo's legal defence fund, by sending a donation directly to: "Raoul Boulakia - in trust Amparo Torres," 45 Saint Nicolas St., Toronto, ON, M4Y 1W6. (Contents) (Home) Huge strikes rock French government (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 Combined sources TWO DAYS after massive strikes shook the country, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said that he had taken note of the "discontent", the "concern", the "discouragement" and "scepticism" expressed by demonstrators on October 4.      "I want to respond to our compatriots, and I want at the same time to propose to the social partners frank and quick discussions," he said, promising to start talks "over the coming weeks".      However, he warned that the main cause of the protests was "here to stay." The right-wing government recently decreed a new "labour contract," allowing companies with fewer than 20 staff to fire workers in their first two years of employment, rather than the six-month period allowed until now. Villepin's government claims the move is necessary to help reduce unemployment (currently over ten percent), but French working people find it hard to believe that making it easier for bosses to fire them will somehow result in more jobs.      The country's biggest unions which organised the demonstrations said more than a million people turned out to condemn the decree. The protests were also aimed at de Villepin's plans for privatisations, and to demand pay raises.        De Villepin told France2 television that a worker would normally have "several jobs" over his or her career nowadays, and that discussions with unions should focus on securing workers' overall career paths, rather than particular jobs, by providing training and help in getting jobs.      The unions, who have promised more protests unless their demands are met, were unimpressed with Villepin's comments.      In a show of unity, the unions were backed by parties which had been sharply divided over the European Union constitution referendum last May, including the Socialists, who had called for a "yes" vote, and the Communists and other parties which led the successful campaign to reject the constitution.      "This mobilization is entirely justified by the liberal and repressive offensive organized by the government," the main left parties said in a joint statement on Oct. 1. "We demand the abolition of the new work contracts." The Socialist Party, the Communist Party, the Communist Revolutionary League and the Green Party, called on workers to back the strike and "make the government back down."      The one-day strike disrupted trains, buses, airlines, phone services, schools and hospitals across the country. About 150,000 people participated in a protest march in Paris, said Carmen Rubia, a spokeswoman for the Confederation Generale du Travail, which is linked with the French Communist Party.      "When all unions join together to bring a consistent message, there is a response and support from the population," said Bernard Thibault, the head of the CGT, on France2 television.      This was the second country-wide general strike this year, and the first against de Villepin, who was appointed on May 31.      Seventy‑two percent of French people called the strike "justifiable," while just 25 percent were against it, according to a poll of 1004 people published in Les Echos newspaper. Sixty‑two percent said that the government's economic policy is "bad," according to the poll.      The high level of social solidarity has led to speculation about another "winter of 1995," when millions of people took to the streets against a plan by then Prime Minister Alain Juppe to weaken the pension system.      The Oct. 4 strike came as de Villepin faced a crisis over the National Corsica Mediterranean Company (SNCM) which operates ferries between Corsica and north Africa and ports on the Mediterranean coast. Plans to sell off SNCM sparked days of protests in Corsica, a near‑blockade of the island, and the shutdown of France's largest port of Marseille. (Contents) (Home) What's Left (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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.) VANCOUVER, BC COPE Campaign Office Opening -  Sunday, Oct. 16, 1-6 pm, at 1001 W. Broadway. Meet the candidates for Council, School Board, and Park Board! Refreshments served, for info see http://www.cope.bc.ca. StopWar.ca Film Night -  at Pacific Cinematheque, 1131 Howe St., 7 pm, Thursday Oct. 18, for details call 604-688-3456 or see http://www.StopWar.ca. Left Film Night -  Sunday, Oct. 23, 7 pm, at the Dogwood Centre, 706 Clark Drive. "Haiti: The Untold Story," (2005, 53 min.) by filmmaker Kevin Pina. Donations collected for Haiti solidarity work, sponsored by Van East Club CPC, YCL-BC, Centre for Socialist Education, call 604-876-4123 for info. Stop the Next War Now -  People's Co-op Books 60th anniversary event with co-founders of Code Pink peace group, 7:30 pm, Thursday, Oct. 20, Unitarian Church, 49th & Oak, call 604-253-6442 for information. Media Democracy Day -  Sat., Oct. 22, 11 am to 5 pm, Independent Media Fair (including People's Voice table), Vancouver Public Library (Central Branch). For info, see http://presscampaign.org. Cafe Rebelde - evening of solidarity with Haitian people, at the Dogwood Centre, 706 Clark Dr. Friday Oct. 28, dinner 6:30 pm, film "Aristide and the Endless Revolution" at 7:30, followed by question period with author & solidarity activist Anthony Fenton. For info, contact Haiti Solidarity BC, 604-338-7450. Public Health Care: A Basic Human Right - public forum with CPC leader Miguel Figueroa, 7:30 pm, Wed., November 2, Dogwood Centre, 706 Clark Drive. All welcome, for info call BC Committee CPC, 604-254-9836. October Revolution Banquet -  Sat., Nov. 5, 6 pm, Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Ave. For details and tickets, call BC Committee CPC, 604-254-9835. SASKATOON People's Voice Discussion - Monday, Oct. 17, Saskatoon & District CPC Club invite People's Voice readers to an evening at "Amigos" (10th & Dufferin) to discuss recent articles in the paper, 6-7:30 pm, over supper in the back room. 2005 Saskatoon Peace Conference - Oct. 28-30. Call 306-244-5267 or visit http://www.makingpeace.tk for billet or registration info. WINNIPEG MB My Life, My Union -  evening with Jean-Claude Parrot, Fri., Oct. 21, Ukrainian Labour Temple, 591 Pritchard Ave., 6 pm cash bar, 6:30 pm dinner. Tickets $25 or $15 fixed income. Tickets or info: 927-3200. TORONTO, ON Celebration of Lee Lorch -  dinner and cultural presentation honouring his 90th year and his exemplary contributions to the world. Guest performer Faith Nolan. Doors open 7 pm, Sat., Oct. 15, Bloor Street United Church (300 Bloor St. West), tickets $30 (on Lee's request, proceeds go to People's Voice). For info, call Elizabeth at 417-654-7105. 60th Anniversary of Canada-Cuba Diplomatic Relations -  7 pm, Sat. Oct. 22, dinner, speakers, cultural program, at Fountain Dining Room, Queen Elizabeth Bldg., Exhibition Place. Auspices: Embassy of Cuba in Ottawa, Cuban Consulate in Toronto, Canadian Cuban Friendship Association, Free the Cuban Five Committee and Worker to Worker. Tickets: 416-410-8254, 905-951-8499(Sharon) or 416-534-5340 (Ardis) or info@ccfatoronto.ca. Public Health Care: A Basic Human Right -  public forum with Communist Party leader Miguel Figueroa, 7:30 pm, Thursday, Oct. 27, 290A Danforth Ave. All welcome, for info call 406-469-2446. Mission Against Terror -  Fri., Oct. 28, 8 pm, at 10 Springhurst Ave. Join the Parkdale Club CPC for this film on the history of US terrorism against Cuba and the story of the Cuban 5. Free, donations welcome, snacks and refreshments. For info, call 416-533-6630. CCFA Café Cuba Musica - Tue., Nov. 8, 7:30 pm, fundraiser at Ellington's, 805 St. Clair West. Three talented artists: Honey Novick (award winning soloist, composer and poet), Charles Roach (lawyer and artist), and "Hurricane Harold" Hosein (writes calypso lyrics and motivates through song). Donations only, quality coffee, light sandwiches, cakes and cookies. Sponsored by Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association-Toronto, 416-410-8254. Rally Against Occupation of Palestine -  every Friday, 5-6 pm, picket at the Israeli Consulate at Avenue Road/Bloor West. Organized by Jewish Women Against the Occupation and Coalition for Just Peace in Palestine. OTTAWA, ON Canadian Peace Alliance Annual Conference - "Challenging Canada's Role in Empire," West Block and Wellington Building, Nov. 11-13, with workshops on movement strategies, and info sessions on war, militarization, imperialism and civil liberties. Registration $75 for three days ($40 unwaged/students), subsidy & childcare available. Contact Canadian Peace Alliance, cpa@web.ca, 416-588-5555, http://www.acp-cpa.ca. MONTREAL, QC Vigil Against Occupation of Palestine - every Friday, noon to 1 pm, at Israeli Consulate, corner of Peel and Rene Levesque. For info: Palestinians and Jews United, 961-3928. REDS ON THE WEB http://www.communist-party.ca (Contents) (Home) The madness of war - Editorial (The following editorial is from the October 16-31/2005 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 year of tragedies persisted this month with the terrible earthquake in Pakistan, killing over 20,000 people and leaving huge numbers homeless. From the tsunami last December to the devastation of the U.S. Gulf Coast and Central America by hurricanes, natural disasters are afflicting millions of the world's poorest people. At the same time, a human-made tragedy continues in Iraq, where the US/British occupation has left over a hundred thousand civilians dead  and much of the country in ruins. The peoples of the world see clearly that our planet's wealth and resources must be focused on saving lives, not building a bigger imperialist killing machine. But instead, global military spending keeps mounting, up into the numbing level of a trillion dollars per year. The United States is spending $6 billion per month to keep its boot on the necks of the Iraqi people, while 43 million Americans lack health care coverage. Here at home, politicians rave about doubling Canada's annual military spending to the $23 billion range, so that we can shoulder our "share" of the Yankee burden in countries like Haiti and Afghanistan, even while millions of Canadians live in dire poverty. Militarism and war are hugely profitable for a handful of death-dealing transnational corporations. For the rest of humanity, they are a fatal obstacle to any realistic attempt to save our future. To paraphrase Dr. Helen Caldicott, if we love this planet, we must isolate and destroy the carriers of military madness, before it's too late! (Contents) (Home) Che Guevara Brigade back from Cuba (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 Nino Pagliccia The Canadian Che Guevara Brigade is back from Cuba after doing volunteer work, mostly in Trinidad, province of Sancti Spiritus. Twenty-five Canadians spent three weeks in August getting to know Cuba and helping rebuild a school damaged by the recent Hurricane Dennis. The hurricane was particularly devastating in this area and we could see many houses damaged and trees torn down. The volunteer Brigadistas worked in two teams, one dedicated to fix the roof of the school, and the other giving a fresh coat of paint. The Brigadistas worked alongside Cuban workers. The work was hard but it was done in the spirit of solidarity with the Cuban people. The principal rewarded the Canadian volunteers with kind words of appreciation for helping to fix the school in time for the new school year. She also mentioned that the economic value of the work was quite considerable. All Brigadistas were quite pleased by the recognition, and also shared with the Cuban workers their deep feelings of appreciation for being so welcoming and generous, and for their unbreakable commitment to a free education. There was a nice performance by Cuban children and our end of work ceremony concluded with the planting of a tree at the school to replace an old and large tree that was felled by the hurricane. In Trinidad we stayed at Casa de la Amistad, a new residence for visitors managed by the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples, ICAP. On "Canadian Night" we hosted our Cuban friends with a meal and a sample of Canadian culture. Three of the brigadistas were accomplished musicians and performed for our guests. The Brigade also visited the Che Guevara Mausoleum in Santa Clara to pay homage to the revolutionary hero. After spending three days at a resort in Matanzas, with a mandatory visit to the beaches of Varadero, the Brigadistas spent their last days visiting Havana and absorbing more from Cuban society. Aside from volunteer work, Brigadistas attended talks about Cuba-Canada and Cuba-US relations, and the Cuban economy and health care system, as well as going to museums and meetings with mass organizations - the Federation of Cuban Women, Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and Cuban veterans of various struggles. At all meetings the Brigadistas were able to ask many questions clarifying issues and doubts about Cuba. The Brigade had a very moving meeting with relatives of the Cuban Five unjustly imprisoned in the U.S., where the sister of Antonio Guerrero spoke. We all celebrated the appeal court ruling that the Cuban Five must have a new trial. At the same time we also recognized that the struggle will not be over until they are free and able to return to Cuba. At this occasion the Che Guevara Brigade presented a statement to be delivered to the Cuban Five, together with five brigade T-shirts and posters. The Statement calls for the immediate release of the Cuban prisoners as well as the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela. The Cuban media gave full coverage to this expression of Canadian solidarity. All Brigadistas returned to Canada transformed by this unique experience that connects people to people in friendship and allows direct sharing of ideas. The most damaging aspect of the US blockade against Cuba is the blockade of information, hindering people outside Cuba from knowing the accomplishments of the Cuban Revolution. This was the 13th year in a row that the Che Guevara Brigade has travelled to Cuba in solidarity. It will continue doing so to give Canadians the opportunity to see the achievements of the Cuban revolution for themselves. We are grateful to ICAP for being an amazing host, organizing an exciting program and providing all logistic support. Among the Canadian brigadistas we had two professional filmmakers whose work was to record the Brigade on video. You can expect to see a full video documentary of the Brigade soon. We strongly encourage others to join for the 2006 Che Guevara Brigade. (Nino Pagliccia is the coordinator of the Che Guevara Brigade.) (Contents) (Home) Farmworkers stage work stoppage (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 group of 40 Mexican migrant farm workers staged a work stoppage on Sept. 30 at Purewal Blueberry Farms in the Vancouver-area suburb of Pitt Meadows when their demands for improved pay and housing conditions to bosses were not met. For three months, the workers had been living under completely inadequate living conditions, and they have seen virtually no improvement. Many had to cook in the open air, exposed to the cold and rain, as well as take cold showers and air dry their clothes, even though they were being charged rent. On the same day, Mexican President Vicente Fox was in town speaking about the virtues of NAFTA to Canadian and Mexican business and government officials, including Paul Martin and Gordon Campbell. President Fox was in Canada to expand the very program that has conditions which led to the work stoppage. One of the negative impacts of NAFTA has been its devastating effects on communities of farmers and workers, who must migrate North to the US and Canada to seek jobs. The Mexican government is relieving itself of its responsibility to offer support for rural and urban development by exporting its population through such programs as the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). Mexican migrant workers are employed under the auspices of SAWP, an agreement between the Mexican and Canadian governments. Each worker has a contract with their employer, and is here on a temporary work visa. Workers face a number of violations to their contract, including extremely low pay, earning about $20-24 a day, when their contract stipulates that they must earn $8.30 an hour for a minimum of 40 hours a week. Workers at Purewal said that what pushed them to make the decision to return to Mexico was that they "no longer believed the boss nor the representative of the Mexican Consulate" who kept making promises that were not fulfilled. (With files from Justicia for Migrant Workers [J4MW], a human rights organization that advocates for improved labour and living standards for migrant agricultural workers in Canada. For further information, see http://www.justicia4migrantworkers.org). (Contents) (Home) Scrap Bill 12; support B.C. teachers! (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 from the BC Committee of the Communist Party of Canada, Oct. 6, 2005 The BC Liberal Government is again treating teachers in this province as second class citizens without the same rights as most other workers. For the second time, they have tabled legislation (Bill 12) removing the democratic rights of teachers to free collective bargaining, unilaterally extending their present contract to June 20, 2006. While the contract imposed in January 2002 provided a wage increase, teachers' incomes have lost ground to inflation, and pay rates in B.C. are lower than in other major provinces. The 2002 increase was not fully funded by the province, forcing school boards across B.C. to close schools, lay off hundreds of teachers, increase class sizes, and cut important services for students. The Campbell Liberals talk about the importance of education, but their actions go in the opposite direction. By once again placing their narrow, anti-union political agenda ahead of the needs of students, the government has given another slap in the face to the women and men entrusted with the future of our children. In 2002 the government claimed lack of funding as its flimsy pretense to impose a settlement. This time, there are funds available to provide a decent wage increase and better classroom conditions, since the government has been loudly trumpeting the growing surplus in provincial coffers, due mainly to the windfall profit grab by the energy sector. Even more damning was the "fact-finding" report presented last week by Deputy Minister of Education Emery Dosdall, who stated that he felt there was no way that the negotiations between the BC Public School Employers Association and the BCTF could succeed. By imposing the "zero compensation" formula and preventing the BCPSEA from bargaining over working conditions with financial implications, the Campbell Liberals clearly never had any intention of allowing a negotiated collective agreement. The teachers of British Columbia have been demonized by this government for far too long. Former Education Minister Christy Clark tried to deprive teachers of any democratic control over their professional organization, the BC Teachers' College. Just a few months ago, Premier Campbell attacked the teachers in a sleazy tactic to scare voters in a close election campaign. his government has given increased support to private schools, while undermining the public education system which is a cornerstone of our society. BCTF members are highly trained, hard-working professionals who do excellent work while facing the challenges of larger class sizes and growing numbers of special needs and ESL students. Parents, students and school trustees are demanding better wages and working conditions for teachers as essential to improving the education system. There is increasing recognition that the Campbell government is playing games with the education of our students, by leaving the teachers no option other than strike action. The Communist Party of Canada (BC Provincial Committee) agrees with this view, and declares our full support for teachers in this labour dispute. We call on all workers to mobilize in support of our sisters and brothers in the BCTF, who are not only fighting to save their union, but are also on the front lines of the struggle for a decent learning environment for our children. (Contents) (Home) Forestry union may shut down industry (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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.) B.C. forestry workers are considering shutting down the entire forest industry for a day of mourning every time a logger is killed at work, to focus attention on the industry's high fatality rate. Twenty-seven workers have died in the British Columbia forest industry this year, according to Darrell Wong, president of Local 2171 of the Steelworkers Union, which recently passed a resolution calling for such a shutdown. Prior to last year's merger with the Steelworkers, Local 2171 was part of the Industrial, Wood and Allied workers, representing coastal loggers. "If the whole industry were to shut down every time somebody was killed, then safety would suddenly become a very high profile issue," said Wong. He called the high number of fatalities a "dirty little secret" that is not being addressed as long as each death goes unmarked. The resolution also calls for large public funerals every time a worker dies in the woods. Wong contrasted forestry deaths with occasions when a Mountie is killed at work, when "the whole world pays attention so things get changed. And quite frankly I don't think things are changing fast enough in the forest industry to deal with the hazards." (Victoria Times Colonist) (Contents) (Home) Betrayal on Iran: the costs of India-US partnership  (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 Prakash Karat, General Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist) India has voted with the US and the European sponsors of the resolution to arraign Iran in the Board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This paves the way for its nuclear issue being referred to the UN Security Council. India did not abstain on the resolution, as other developing and non-aligned countries did, such as Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Nigeria and Algeria. Even its South Asian neighbours, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, refused to line up with the US. The Manmohan Singh government has been thoroughly shown up in this episode. Till the eve of the vote in the IAEA, India proclaimed that Iran should adhere to international obligations while affirming its right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. During Foreign Affairs Minister Natwar Singh's visit to Teheran three weeks ago, it was declared that the Iran nuclear issue should be resolved within the framework of the IAEA, on the basis of consensus. All this has been proved to be just empty posturing. Just a few days of sustained American pressure has led the Manmohan Singh government to cave in. Condoleeza Rice's demand that India, China and Russia rally to the US position has been acceded to, at least by India. The trend towards capitulation was helped along by the raucous denunciation of India's position in the US Congressional hearings. The final act of surrender took place during Manmohan Singh's visit to New York and in the run-up to his meeting with President Bush. Iran has been asked to stop enrichment of uranium and to halt construction of a research reactor using heavy water. This puts paid to India's original stand that Iran as a signatory of NPT has the right to develop nuclear technology under safeguards. There is no doubt that the Manmohan Singh government gave up its stand in order to appease the United States. The sustained barrage that India cannot expect to be a beneficiary of the nuclear agreement unless it meets the US concerns about Iran has borne results. The underlying theme of the Joint Statement signed in Washington in July is now being played out. India is expected to conform to its role as a strategic ally; it cannot balk at US plans to target countries like Iran, Syria or DPRK. The Manmohan Singh government seems to have calculated that this vote will send a message that India is a reliable ally and a responsible nuclear power. It has deliberately ignored the immoral and illegal position of the US and the Western powers. These same powers allow Israel to have nuclear weapons and have helped its nuclear development despite the fact that it is not a NPT signatory. On the other hand, they will do everything to prevent any other country in the Middle East from acquiring nuclear technology which will make them capable of producing nuclear weapons. The Indian government seems to follow the "railway compartment analogy" of the BJP leader Jaswant Singh. When you are trying to get into a crowded railway compartment, you have one view; having gained entry into the compartment, you join the rest of the inmates to keep others from entering. Being a responsible "nuclear power" means not only keeping others out, but accepting the terms for entry set out be the nuclear haves. The logic of the Pokharan blasts is now playing out. For keeping the mess of nuclear pottage, India has to accede to the rules of the game that the US and its allies have set out, to gain de facto nuclear weapons power status. Is is the height of hypocrisy, to tell the US privately that India does not want another nuclear weapon state in the region, while India has maintained that it has the right to conduct nuclear tests and go for weaponisation. Unlike India, Iran is a signatory of the NPT and there is nothing substantial in the charges of violation and concealment levelled against it as revealed in the reports submitted by the IAEA inspections. This has been lucidly brought out in the three part series published in The Hindu by Siddharth Varadarajan. What happened when the false case of "weapons of mass destruction" was built up against Iraq is now being repeated with Iran. By voting with the US, India is becoming party to another infamous exercise in intimidation and coercion against a country with which it has friendly relations and vital energy stakes... The stark truth is that India, in an unconscionable step, has ranged itself with the US and the Western powers and broken ranks with the non-aligned countries. That is why Nicholas Burns, US Under Secretary of State and the man who negotiated the deal with India, especially thanked India. India's vote, he said, had foiled Iran's attempt to pose it as an issue between the developed countries and developing countries. It is pathetic that the government seeks to justify its stand by citing that it is in the company of countries like Singapore, Ghana, Ecuador and Peru who have shown no sign of any independence in their foreign policy. The major non-aligned countries on the Board of the IAEA, South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, Algeria and so on, refused to line up with the US. They adhered to what the Malaysian representative and Chair of the NAM, Ryma Jama Hussein, stated after a meeting of the NAM countries that "all countries have the basic and inalienable right to develop atomic energy for peaceful purposes." India has amended this stand to mean that all countries have the right subject to US approval. The defection of India from the NAM stand has damaged India's image among the non-aligned countries. Countries like Brazil and South Africa which are partners in the G-20 group in the    WTO, can legitimately wonder at India's reliability. The obvious course was to coordinate with Russia and China and adopt a common approach. What is the explanation for this about turn? The India-US joint statement signed in July during the prime minister's visit and the India-US Defence Agreement, preceding it, were a turning point. The Manmohan Singh government has entered into a compact with the US which makes it a strategic ally. The nuclear cooperation pact is part of the overall agreement which has political and strategic aspects. The United States was quick to demand that India, as a strategic partner, take on board the United States' concerns about Iran. Failure to do so would not only imperil the nuclear cooperation agreement but also affect the US attitude to India. By acceding to the American pressure, despite protestations to the contrary, the India-Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project is also endangered. The government has taken a major step which adversely affects India's independent foreign policy and its status in the non-alignment movement. The prime minister is directly responsible for this state of affairs. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Left parties cannot countenance this new direction of foreign policy. By the next Board meeting of the IAEA in November, the Indian government will have to undo the damage done. India should state clearly that the Iranian nuclear issue is not a fit case for referring to the UN Security Council. Iran has the right to develop its nuclear technology within the framework of the NPT and IAEA safeguards. To make the Indian government adopt such a position, it is necessary for all the Left and democratic forces to mobilise the people in defence of an independent foreign policy. (Contents) (Home) Important victory for European communists (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 The Guardian, weekly of the Communist Party of Australia The Communist Parties in Europe have won an important victory, striking a report titled "On the Need for International Condemnation of Communism" off the agenda of the next Council of Europe Parliamentary assembly (PACE) meeting. The report called for Communism to be equated with Nazism and condemned equally. The report was initiated by the governments of the Baltic countries, backed by right-wing conservative parties across Europe, and the agenda item was initially proposed at a meeting of the Council's Political Commission. A memorandum accompanying the report stated: "The communist ideology, wherever and whenever implemented, be it in Europe or elsewhere, has always resulted in massive terror, crimes and large scale violation of human rights. When analyzing the consequences of the implementation of this ideology, one cannot ignore the similarities with the consequences of the implementation of another ideology of the 20th century, namely nazism. Although mutually hostile, these two regimes shared a number of common features. "However, whereas the criminal and condemnable character of the Nazi ideology and regime has been uncontroversial, at least for half a century, and its leaders and many perpetrators were held accountable, the communist ideology and regimes have not encountered a comparable reaction. The crimes have rarely been subject to legal prosecution, and many of the perpetrators have never been brought to justice. Communist parties are still active in some countries, and they have not even distanced themselves from the past when they supported and collaborated with the criminal communist regimes. "Communist symbols are openly used, and public awareness of communist crimes is very poor. This is particularly obvious when compared to public knowledge of nazism crimes." In leading the campaign against the report, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) said that the real intention of the report was "to turn the PACE session into a show trial to brand the communist ideology, to accuse the communist parties of various crimes not only in Russia, but in all the countries where communists continue to be active in fighting for the rights of the broad popular masses, and for genuine democracy." The CPRF also warned that the report would set a dangerous precedent whereby European countries than felt they had "the right to interfere in the internal affairs of Vietnam, China, the DPRK [North Korea], Cuba, Laos and other countries." Within the Political Commission the fight against the report was championed by Gennady Zyuganov, Chair of the Central Committee CPRF, on behalf of the Communist Parties of the Commonwealth of Independent States (a confederation consisting of 11 former Soviet Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan). In a fiery speech at the Commission, Zyuganov spelt out the underlying agenda: "This is not just about a simple 'condemnation' of alleged 'crimes of communism,' but a global anti-communist campaign on a European and even world scale - whose end result may be total destabilisation of the world community." The CPRF position was backed by numerous parties across Europe. After a stormy and at times acrimonious discussion within the Political Commission the agenda item was defeated by 20 against 5. (Contents) (Home) A courageous report from the front lines (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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.) Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War, by Anthony Shadid, Henry Holt & Co., New York, ISBN 13:978-0-8050-7602-8, $34.95 Can., 424 pages. Review by Steve Gilbert Anthony Shadid is Islamic affairs correspondent for the Washington Post. Fluent in Arabic and a veteran observer of the Middle East, Shadid was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 2004. During the war, Shadid did not travel as an embedded journalist protected by U.S. troops. Instead, accompanied by an Iraqi guide and consultant, he roamed the dangerous streets of Baghdad and outlying towns, interviewing Iraqis of all religious and political persuasions. In Night Draws Near Shadid weaves a panoramic view of the changing faces of war and its unforeseen consequences. Shadid also interviewed many American soldiers who were cynical and eager to go home. One of the most outspoken was Sergeant Charles Pollard, a 43 year old reservist from Pittsburgh. "U.S. officials need to get our asses out of here," he said. "We have no business being here. Baghdad is so corrupt. All we are here is potential people to be killed like sitting ducks." Many soldiers in Pollard's unit agreed with him. Their tours of duty had been extended indefinitely and they were, according to Shadid, "homesick, frustrated and miserable." Soon afterwards, Shadid wrote an article for the Washington Post, quoting Pollard and describing low morale among the troops. As a result, Pollard was disciplined and demoted, and the U.S. military decreed that interviews with its soldiers would have to be approved by a public affairs officer. The Iraqi perception of the U.S. military presence, reports Shadid, was characterized by ambivalence and anger. Some Iraqis welcomed U.S. troops in the hope that they would prevent looting and restore order, but most Iraqis were cynical and hostile. In May 2003, shortly after the beginning of the occupation, Shadid accompanied a patrol of soldiers from Bravo Company of the First Armored Division as they marched through Baghdad. Permission to accompany this patrol was a rare opportunity for Shadid, who walked behind the Americans and spoke to Iraqi residents as they witnessed a foreign army invade their streets. The Americans, writes Shadid, "considered themselves a welcome presence in a friendly land. They were there to help the Iraqis they had liberated, then head home." But few Iraqis waved at the Americans. When Shadid questioned a resident observing the patrol, Mohammed Ibrahim responded passionately: "Despicable," he said. "We're against the occupation. We refuse the occupation - not one hundred percent but one thousand percent. They're walking over my heart. I feel like they're crushing my heart." When the Bravo Company patrol entered a school, Shadid spoke to a group of young Iraqi men standing outside. They said they were outraged at the fact that foreign men were entering a school. They suspected that the soldiers were having sex with the female teachers, and outdid each (other) in attempts to devise outrageous scenarios. Such rumours were widely believed. House-to-house searches were a major cause of humiliation and anger for the Iraqis. Many told Shadid that American soldiers who entered their homes pretended to search for guns but were really there to rape the women and steal the money. Iraqi police who accompanied American soldiers on house-to-house searches were considered traitors. Iraqi police, according to Shadid, were "scared, disheartened and confused." Compared with U.S. troops, they were ill-equipped and poorly trained. Police interviewed by Shadid complained that they were forced to augment their low incomes by taking bribes. Some recruits were criminals, and many police sympathized with and supported the insurgents. As the occupation dragged on, anger was turning to despair. "It's a very sad situation in Iraq, really," said one of Shadid's informants. "A lot of people are thinking the country is doomed. That there's no solution. They think what is coming is going to be worse." Shadid's conclusion is pessimistic. Neither side, he says, can win in military terms. The insurgents cannot make the Americans leave, and the Americans cannot defeat the insurgents. He writes: "Bloodshed in itself was the ambition... It was theater, and people kept dying to create those indelible scenes, a portrait of a debacle designed for world consumption... The country was neither liberated, as Americans would have it, nor occupied, as the rest ot the Arab world saw it. Iraq was subsumed in the logic of violence, ruled by men with guns. Those men, playing by no rules, would soon inherit Iraq." Anthony Shadid's courage in visiting dangerous areas and speaking informally to individual Iraqis has enabled him to portray the tragic effects of war as seen through Iraqi eyes. In the words of Seymour Hersh: "This is a reporter's book - a superb reporter's book - that tells more than anyone needs to know about George Bush's war in Iraq. It is careful, objective, intimate, and above all, honest." (Contents) (Home) Iraqi unions issue appeal for rights (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 The Guardian, weekly newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia On August 7, the Iraqi Council of Ministers stated that the government would be "taking control of all monies belonging to the trade unions to prevent them from dispensing any such monies". The Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) is asking unions and individuals to send protest messages demanding that this decree be revoked and that the Iraqi government respect the democratic right of workers to control their own unions without interference from governments and corporations. The decree revokes decisions taken on union rights by Iraq's provisional government and permits the control and confiscation of trade union monies by the current authorities. It also states that the right to carry out union activities is to be reviewed. Since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime, an active union movement of over 700,000 strong has been built in Iraq. "This attack on Iraqi unions is an attempt to stop their activities for justice, democracy, and their challenge to foreign ownership of Iraqi oil and privatisation", said the IFTU in an appeal sent to trade unions around the world. "We are seeking your union's urgent help to stop a vicious attack on the rights of Iraqi unions." "A message by your union condemning this anti-union decree issued by the Iraqi government would be of enormous assistance." The Australian Congress of Trade Unions has responded by sending a letter to the Iraqi Ambassador. In that letter it states: "Our concern is that by taking control of the finances of existing unions, the Iraqi government is effectively closing down their operations and therefore removing the right to freedom of association with no indication of how long this suspension will last. This is a prima facie breach of the ILO core convention on Freedom of Association and a deeply worrying attack on human rights in Iraq. "If the intention of the Government of Iraq is to revise the arrangements under which trade unions operate, that should be done by discussion with the trade unions themselves, rather than closing them down." Support the campaign by sending a message to the Iraqi Ambassador in Canada: His Excellency Howar M. Ziad, Embassy of the Republic of Iraq, 215 McLeod Street, Ottawa, ON K2P 0Z8, tel. 613-236-9177, fax 613-236-9641, (Contents) (Home) CLC demands action on oil and gas prices (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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.) As evidence of price gouging mounts, the Canadian Labour Congress has called again on the federal government to introduce a temporary excess profits tax on the oil and gas industry for one year. Even before the impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were felt, energy prices for consumers were already up 9  % in July 2004 compared to the same month a year earlier. Since mid-2002, operating profits in the energy sector have almost doubled to about $12 billion per year. The CLC points out that "According to a well-documented analysis published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Canadian oil industry has been taking advantage of public fears and charging more than was justified by the increase in raw material costs. In the study What's Behind High Gas Prices?, economist Hugh Mackenzie calculated that recent increases in the world price of crude oil would explain an average 7 to 9 cents per-litre increase at the pump for gasoline. But 15 cents was already profiteering, and an increase of 40 cents per litre as is now the case across Canada is just plain gouging. "The federal government must side with Canadian working families who need protection against the oil and gas corporations," says Ken Georgetti, president of the CLC. "A temporary excess profits tax on the oil and gas industry would have a beneficial restraining effect on the greed of the oil companies." The Congress proposes that a one-year, temporary excess profits tax on the oil and gas industry, with proceeds directed to a cut in federal taxes on consumer energy purchases, should be accompanied with an increase in GST credits for low-income families; and higher investment in public transit and renewable energy programs. (Contents) (Home) Health Action Assembly to meet Oct. 29 in Toronto (The following article is from the October 16-31/2005 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 Ontario Health Coalition is organizing two important events this month, to set priorities and strategies for winning improvements to our public medicare system. On Saturday, Oct. 29, at Toronto's Metro Hall (55 John Street, at King), the Health Action Assembly will discuss a wide range of urgent topics, including updates on the P3 hospitals, and the Coalition's response to the new wave of restructuring under the LHINs. Other topics will include:  the Supreme Court's Chaolli decision and its impact on the health policy landscape; improving conditions for people needing and working in homecare after the Caplan Report; challenges in long-term care, primary healthcare and other health services; improving mental health services; and ways to stop delisting and to improve OHIP coverage. Registration starts at 9 am, with the assembly running from 10 am until 4 pm. The registration fee is on a pay-what-you-can basis, from $0 to $35 per person. On the following day (Sunday, Oct. 30, 9 am), the OHC is holding a conference on hospital reform, at the University of Toronto's Bahen Centre, 40 St. George Street. "From Good to Better: Revisioning Hospitals As a Vital Part of the Public Health System," will look at several vital issues: the nature of progressive reform in hospitals; analysis of hospital spending and revenue; public labs; democracy in the health care system; controlling the costs of drugs, medical equipment, supplies and technology; stopping privatization; public finance of infrastructure; alternatives to P3s; wait times and innovations; and progressive work organization.  For this event, the registration fee is $60 per person (lunch included). For more information, contact the Ontario Health Coalition, 15 Gervais Drive, Suite 305, Toronto, M3C 1Y8, email ohc@sympatico.ca, tel. 416-441-2502. (Contents) (Home)

sitemap