08) STOPPING HARPER'S STEAMROLLER

People's Voice Editorial

     The post-election warnings of Stephen Harper's agenda are coming true in spades, from the Tory assault on collective bargaining rights, to the signals of an "austerity package" aimed at gutting social programs. The Canadian Wheat Board is being destroyed (illegally!), and the Tories are preparing a formal review of foreign policy, with the goal of further undermining Canadian sovereignty and promoting global capitalist integration. Canadian military bases are being established in several countries, and the NATO occupation of Libya has begun with the fervent support of the Harper government.

     One of the most frightening steps by the new Tory majority is the Omnibus Crime Bill. Among other things, this legislation will impose mandatory minimum sentences, end pardons for serious crimes, expand the capacity of the state to conduct surveillance and access private information, and reinstate so-called "anti‑terrorism" provisions that expired back in 2007, including three‑day detentions without cause, known as "preventative arrests."

     Aimed at criminalizing youth and Aboriginal peoples, this legislation has a distinct racist edge. Civil liberties groups condemn these serious violations of constitutional rights and freedoms, and Budget watchdog Kevin Page estimates that the measures will increase the Corrections Canada budget by one billion dollars a year, adding thousands of new inmates to the federal prison system.

     In short, this government is hell-bent on removing civil liberties and democratic freedoms, despite the fact that they won less than 40% of votes in the recent federal election. This steamroller won't be stopped by speeches in the House of Commons; only a massive, Canada-wide fightback in our streets, communities, workplaces and campuses can block the Tories. The leadership of the labour movement must assume its responsibility help launch such a fightback... before it's too late.

(The above article is from the October 1-15, 2011, 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.)