06) DEFEAT BILL C-60!
Central Committee, Communist Party of Canada, June 1‑2, 2013
The Harper government has once again attempted to hide legislation in its omnibus budget bill that would profoundly undermine Canadian sovereignty, democracy, culture, and labour rights if it becomes law.
Bill C‑60 requires that the Prime Minister and Cabinet approve salaries, working conditions and collective bargaining positions for CBC unionized employees, giving the Treasury Board the same powers over salaries and working conditions of non‑unionized employees, thereby eliminating the arms length relationship between the government and Canada's public broadcaster that has existed since the CBC was created.
As a result, the CBC will no longer be able to fulfill its mandated role of providing wide‑ranging and objective news and information about events and developments in Canada and globally, on which Canadians depend to form their opinions and views.
The CBC is also mandated to reflect, popularize and help develop Canadian culture, and to strengthen Canadian sovereignty and democracy. Because Bill C‑60 also extends these new Cabinet and Treasury Board powers over three other vital cultural and scientific agencies ‑ the Canada Council for the Arts, the International Development Research Centre, and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa ‑ it is clear that this Bill also intends to attack vibrant Canadian culture.
The government's intent with this Bill, as with the previous years of deep budget cuts, is to turn the CBC into a mouthpiece for its anti‑democratic, neo‑liberal policies of war, austerity, corruption and corporate greed. But C‑60 is also intended to set up the CBC for privatization to commercial interests whose only mandate is to make profits for shareholders.
Since the Tories came into government seven years ago, the entire CBC Board of Directors has been turned over, and stacked with Tory patronage appointments. All but one have made large financial contributions to the Tories, with the current Chair donating the maximum allowed last year. Clearly the Board is tasked with overseeing the destruction of Canada's public broadcaster, setting it up for privatization to the highest bidder.
If Bill C‑60 passes, Canadians will lose an important instrument of democracy, sovereignty and Canadian culture and independence. Further, Bill C‑60 is a direct threat to free collective bargaining in the federal public service and to public sector workers across Canada. It is another page in the Tory government's effort to smash free collective bargaining.
The Communist Party demands that the government immediately withdraw the Bill. We call on the labour and democratic movements, and all those who value Canadian sovereignty, democracy, culture, and an independent Canadian broadcaster, to mobilize to defeat Bill C‑60 and the government at the earliest date possible.
Our Party also salutes the Friends of Public Broadcasting for its efforts to alert Canadians to the threat that Bill C‑60 poses. For our part, we will do everything we can to defeat this Bill by supporting the petition campaign, and by mobilizing Canadians to stop the Bill before the Tories are able to pass it into law.
(The above article is from the June 16-30, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)