04) CHILLING CRITICS INTO SILENCE

People's Voice Editorial

            Virtually every day, disturbing new evidence emerges regarding the vast scale of government/corporate/police surveillance into the lives of Canadians. In one sense, this phenomenon is nothing new; in the late 1940s, the RCMP was tasked with compiling an enormous database of Communist leaders. "PROFUNC", as the operation was called, expanded to 50,000 names over the next three decades, including almost anybody who came into contact with the Communist Party or other progressive movements.

            PROFUNC was finally cancelled, but its roots were never eradicated. Speaking to a gathering of far-right organizers in Toronto on May 30, PM Stephen Harper dug up the Cold War to rail against Communists and "terrorists", a term which seems to cover nearly anyone opposed to the corporate destruction of Canada. His chilling speech coincided with revelations that the government and police forces aim to gather reports about every single demonstration which takes place in this country. In other words, whether you rally against the tar sands pipelines or in solidarity with striking workers, expect to be photographed and catalogued as a potential threat to national security.

            Some supposed "threats" are already feeling the impact of this brutal attack on civil rights and democratic liberties. Here's just one case. On June 3, 16 cops raided a house in East Vancouver, under the pretext of investigating the "crime" of people spraying anti-pipeline graffiti during 2013. The four residents, and a guest, were removed one by one at gunpoint. While the state is targetting "radicals" (such as indigenous activists), the real intention of such tactics is to terrify any voices of resistance into silence and submission. We condemn every such action as an escalation of the capitalist state's psychological and political war against the people of Canada. Freedom and democracy must be defended against this attack - before it's too late!

(The above article is from the June 16-30, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist 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.)