06) BROAD UNITY CAN FORCE C-51 REPEAL

People’s Voice Editorial

    By early June, four months after it was introduced in the House of Commons, Bill C-51 was nearing adoption by the Conservative-dominated (and completely undemocratic) Senate. Support for this police state legislation plummeted dramatically, as millions of people became aware of its threat to our Charter rights to free speech, dissent, and privacy. Several major days of action, organized with very limited time, drew thousands to protests in dozens of cities and towns. A wide range of organizations spoke out strongly against C-51, representing Aboriginal peoples, unions, environmentalists, civil liberties groups, and even the editorial boards of corporate daily newspapers. Yet this opposition was brushed aside by the Tories, who made only a few minor amendments to the bill.

    But the fight to defend free speech will continue, into the federal election and beyond. After all, the War Measures Act, which was unleashed repeatedly against minority groups and radicals starting with the First World War, was repealed only in 1989 after decades of protests. The RCMP’s PROFUNC program, launched during the Cold War era to track tens of thousands of Communists and other so-called “subversives”, was finally scrapped under pressure of public opinion during the early 1980s. Bill C-51 will ultimately meet the same fate - if and when enough mass opposition can be mobilized to force Parliament to repeal this sweeping omnibus attack on democratic freedoms.

    The key phrase is “mass pressure.” Tactics based on “clicktivism,” legal challenges, or lobbying of politicians can be important, but the crucial test will be our collective ability to bring major people’s movements into action. This coalition-building strategy must include the main targets of the corporate austerity agenda, especially the trade unions, which represent millions of members. Broad popular unity has begun to emerge around the demand to repeal Bill C-51 - let’s build on this momentum!

(The above article is from the June 16-30, 2015, 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.)