People's Voice February 1-28, 2007

End the wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan

(The following article is from the February 1-28, 2007 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, c/o PV Business Manager, 173 West Ave. North, Hamilton, ON, L8L 5C7.)

Joint statement from the Canadian Peace Alliance and the Québec-based Collectif échec a la guerre, Jan. 17, 2007

     On the occasion of the 4th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, March 17th 2007: We demand the end of the wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan!

     On 10 January 2007, George W. Bush made the announcement that the US would send 21,500 more troops to Iraq. A few weeks earlier, Stephen Harper was insisting that members of NATO should provide more combat troops in Afghanistan. This is the same dead-end recipe to "win the hearts and minds" of the Iraqi and Afghan people! The Canadian Peace Alliance and Collectif échec a la guerre reject these war policies and call on the people of Quebec and Canada to participate in a Canada-wide day of action, on March 17th, against the wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Iraq

     In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11th 2001, while launching its "war on terror" and invading Afghanistan, the Bush administration was already intent on occupying Iraq. After twelve years of merciless sanctions which had killed more than one million people in Iraq, four years of occupation, false promises of democracy and reconstruction have only resulted in more deaths and devastation, and plunged the country into a civil war.

     In October 2006, the medical journal The Lancet estimated that 655,000 people had died in Iraq following the invasion. Oil production, electricity production, and the accessibility of drinkable water are all at lower levels presently as compared to four years ago, under sanctions! According to the estimates of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), out of a total population of 26 million, 2 million Iraqis have fled to neighbouring countries and an additional 1.7 million are internally displaced persons: While many of them were displaced before 2003, increasing numbers of Iraqis are now fleeing escalating sectarian, ethnic and generalised violence. In 2006 alone, UNHCR estimates that nearly 500,000 Iraqis fled to other areas inside the country and that 40,000 to 50,000 continue to flee their homes every month.

In Afghanistan

     In Afghanistan, a country which was already ravaged by 30 years of war, the situation is also very bleak after more than five years of "allied" military occupation. According to Human Rights Watch, more than half of the Members of Parliament elected in September 2005 are linked to armed groups, guilty of past human rights violations; the illegal growing and processing of poppies has again become the main economic activity of the country (Afghanistan provides more than 90% of world heroin). According to Amnesty International, thousands of Afghans have been tortured by the US army or armed Afghan groups under its control. According to the UNHCR, there are still more than 3,000,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran, and approximately 120,000 internally displaced in Afghanistan.

Finally, according to WOMANKIND Worldwide, after five years and contrary to media-fed illusions, it is imperative that the media, donor governments, international organisations and the Afghan government acknowledge the lack of progress in the domain of women's rights and immediately take action in key areas of education, the legal system, security services, healthcare, and livelihoods to transform paper rights to rights in practice.

Wars of conquest of the US Empire and its allies

     The Canadian Peace Alliance and Collectif échec a la guerre refuse to buy the deceitful message of the "war on terror" and so-called support of the Iraqi and Afghan peoples towards democracy and reconstruction in their countries. What we are dealing with is foreign control imposed by force led by the United States government and supported by Canadian economic and political elites to secure control of the resources of the Middle East and Central Asia. This is clearly indicated not only by the results achieved, but also by comparing the level of expenses committed by our countries. Thus, on 10 January 2007, while announcing a one billion dollar programme to sustain employment in Iraq, President Bush is about to request 100 billion dollars to pursue his wars in Iraq and Afghanistan!

     In Canada, the simultaneous announcements by ministers Peter McKay and Josée Verner of projects totalling about 20 million dollars in Afghanistan - 10 million to pay police salaries, 8.8 millions for landmine removal and 1.9 million to stimulate community development in Kandahar - are mere crumbs when one remembers that Canada wastes more than one billion dollars per year to continue its war in that country.

END the wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BRING Canadian and US troops home immediately.

REJECT the Canada-US military partnership.

(Contents)
(Home)

Women's groups force meeting with Bev Oda

(Contents)
(Home)

Housing out of reach for minimum wage earners

(Contents)
(Home)

Close Guantanamo North

(Contents)
(Home)

Greetings to CPC Convention - Editorial

(Contents)
(Home)

Legal rights restricted - Editorial

(Contents)
(Home)

New attacks on Canadian Wheat Board

(The following article is from theFebruary 1-28, 2007 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, c/o PV Business Manager, 173 West Ave. North, Hamilton, ON, L8L 5C7.)

(This article by agrologist Wendy Holm first appeared in Common Ground magazine, January 2007)

    A few days before Christmas, federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl fired highly respected Canadian Wheat Board CEO Adrian Measner, a 32-year veteran of the organization, and replaced him with a Harper "yes man."

     This is but the latest act in a litany of abuse that began back on July 27, 2006, when Strahl held a roundtable meeting in Saskatoon on the future of the Canadian Wheat Board to which only those who agreed with abolishing the single desk selling authority of the board were invited.

     That afternoon Strahl told journalists his government would not be bound by Section 47.1 of the Canadian Wheat Board Act, which prohibits any changes to the marketing of grain in Western Canada unless supported by a producer vote.

     Then there was the September 19 email from Regina-based Charleton Communications to Western Canada Wheat Growers and others claiming, "The other side is embarrassing us with their propaganda" and that "government, MPs and others" had suggested "we must get into the game with letters to the editor in weeklies, dailies and agriculture trade publications."

     Charleton Communications offered to write letters from farmers to be sent to local and regional papers - "at least five letters a week" - "backing government's position on the CWB ... this would get us into the propaganda game and save you people time." Who put Charleton up to this?

     There was Strahl's October 5 gag order prohibiting directors and staff of the Canadian Wheat Board from defending the CWB's role as the single-desk seller of Western Canadian wheat and barley.

     Then there was Strahl's removal this past fall of two CWB appointed directors (one fired for supporting the single desk authority of the CWB, one given a plum post for stepping down), replaced by two anti-CWB directors who are, in the words of former CWB director Art Macklin, "blatant, partisan patronage appointments."

     Next came Strahl's October 17 order, in the middle of the CWB election, to remove 36 percent of Western Canada grain growers - 16,269 farmers - from the list of eligible voters. This year, five directors were elected in a vote that ran from September 5 to December 1. Electoral districts had 25 to 48 percent of eligible voters cut from their lists; only farmers that had sold grain through the CWB in the past 15 months were eligible. This disenfranchised farmers who: had sold domestically during that period, were victims of flood, drought, or bad harvest weather, were in the middle of a crop rotation, or still had crops in the bin. And to make matters worse, Strahl actively campaigned for and endorsed the anti-CWB directors. What Strahl didn't count on was the public backlash his actions would evoke.

     On October 25, Bill C-300, a private member's bill tabled by Gerry Ritz, chair of the agriculture committee that would have removed the single desk authority of the CWB, went down to defeat (149-111) in the House. (To his great credit, Inky Mark, four-term MP for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette, was the sole Conservative to oppose Harper and vote against Bill C-300.) On November 1, the government also lost (155-121) an important vote on a motion put forward by the Opposition calling for a producer vote on any changes to the CWB.

     In the recent board election, farmers solidly supported the CWB, returning pro-CWB directors in four out of five districts. The only "pro-choice" director was elected in District 1, where about half of eligible farmers were stripped of their voting rights by Strahl in mid-election.

     Undaunted, Strahl forges ahead, saying what he can't do with legislation, he will do with regulation. By stacking the board with political appointments (government appoints 5 directors, farmers elect 10), Strahl has created an 8/7 split on the board. By replacing CEO Adrian Measner with another "yes man" Strahl has created a board at war with itself. Farmers are outraged. As is this agrologist. What could justify such an assault on good public policy? When in doubt, follow the money: If farmers lose power, who gains power? (Hint: eliminating the CWB has topped the US agricultural wish list since the mid 1980s).

     Obviously, concentrated transnational grain companies will have access to cheaper grain. In early December, the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool announced its bid to take over Agricore United. Archer Daniel Midland (ADM) would have control through options of over 21 percent of the new, merged entity, making it the largest single shareholder of the new company that would control 44 percent of the grain elevators in Western Canada and the lion's share of the grain handling facilities at ports.

     Posted on ADM's website is the Reuters story: Canada Minister Upbeat on Saskpool-Agricore Deal. In it, Strahl actually praises the merger - still to be reviewed by the Competition Bureau - as a "good thing" because it could "create a Canadian grain powerhouse."

Powerhouse indeed. Family farms will go under, replaced by mega-farms. Canadian grain will go south to bolster the export quality of inferior US grain and BC's port handling facilities for grain will all but shut down, and with them, jobs. What is Strahl thinking?

     For companies like Monsanto, getting rid of the Canadian Wheat Board would eliminate a strong and vocal farmer advocate that has become a thorn in its side frustrating expansion plans. CWB's intervention was largely responsible for preventing Canadian registration of Monsanto's copyrighted and monopolized transgenic Roundup-ready wheat.

     Then there is always cheap feedstock for ethanol. As large energy companies reposition themselves to compete in a non-fossil fuel market, rapid expansion in ethanol production is part of the forecast.

     Currently, there are over 1,000 retail locations selling ethanol-blended gasoline in Canada. Meeting a Natural Resources Canada-cited target of 35 percent of Canadian gasoline containing 10 percent ethanol by 2010 will require 1.4 billion litres of ethanol per year from 4.2 million tonnes of wheat grown on 3.5 million acres of land.

     This represents 18 percent of the tonnage and 14 percent of the land seeded to wheat in Western Canada in 2006. That production capacity is already well under way. Under its ethanol expansion program, Natural Resources Canada just funded $78 million in projects by Suncor, Husky and others to meet this target, adding 750 million litres of annual fuel ethanol capacity and quadrupling Canadian production to almost 1 billion litres. This capacity alone will require 3 million tonnes of feed grain from 2.5 million acres (13 percent of tonnage and 10 percent of land).

     On November 8, ADM announced it plans to dominate the global ethanol market. In any regulated sector, there are always a few dissidents who get a lot of print by insisting their freedoms have been curtailed. Supply management farmers are familiar with this. In the case of grains, the strategy has been to hang an important name around their neck and to hit the media running. Makes the public think even farmers are divided. In fact, with an estimated membership of fewer than 400, the Western Canada Wheat Growers Association represents less than one percent of grain farmers.   Make no mistake, Strahl's unprecedented and unacceptable attack on the rights of Western Canadian wheat and barley growers will destroy the CWB. Without central desk selling, the prairie farmers of Western Canada will be easy pickings for the highly concentrated transnational grain corporations.

     If government can wreak this policy abuse upon Canada's grain growers, no commodity sector is safe. Stand up for Canada's farmers. Tell Chuck Strahl that a politician that doesn't respect the rights of Canada's farmers does not have the support of his constituents.

Strahl is the MP for Chilliwack and the Fraser Canyon, 1-800-667-2808; send emails to:

riding@chuckstrahl.com ,
Strahl.C@parl.gc.ca , and
Harper.S@parl.gc.ca

(Wendy Holm is an award-winning agrologist, economist and journalist. A popular monthly columnist for the Western Producer, Holm was dismissed following her participation - at her own expense - in the July 27 pro-Wheat-Board farmer rally in Saskatoon. She attended Chuck Strahl's 6 pm media conference that day as a freelance columnist for the Western Producer, and asked if he was prepared to move without a grower plebiscite. The column she filed concerning the event never appeared in the newspaper. The Western Producer is wholly owned by Glacier Ventures, a VSE company initially formed to export bottled water. Glacier Ventures now owns the bulk of Western Canada's farm and community newspapers. Agricore United's CEO sits on the Glacier board. Agricore United stands to profit greatly from the demise of the Canadian Wheat Board. Archer Daniels Midland is Agricore United's major shareholder.)

(Contents)
(Home)

A view from Havana: The dissidents' gala

(The following article is from theFebruary 1-28, 2007 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, c/o PV Business Manager, 173 West Ave. North, Hamilton, ON, L8L 5C7.)

By Manuel E. Yepe, Havana, January 2007

    In the first half of December 2006, several events took place simultaneously in Havana, which highly impressed a married couple of Latin American friends visiting Cuba for the first time.

     They arrived in time to witness the military parade and the popular demonstration for the 50th Anniversary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, which were also the culmination of the celebration of Fidel Castro's 80th birthday, organized by the Guayasamin Foundation, from Ecuador.

     They went back to their country after the 28th New Latin American Film Festival ended on Dec. 15. Over 100 films were screened in this Festival, and a large number of cinema stars and filmmakers from Latin America participated. My friends felt happy to have chosen this time of the year to learn about the landscape and the soul of this nation, so vilified for such a long time by the media of their country.

     On the evening of Sunday, December 10, while we were talking about the activities of the day and about the presence in Cuba of the writer Gore Vidal with an outstanding group of intellectuals from the United States, as well as about a delegation of US congressmen from both parties which alternate power in that nation, they decided to check on the Internet to see if the press from their country was properly showing what was causing such a great impression on them.

     When they did so, they burst out in annoyance; on the first page of the main newspaper of their country was a very striking headline: "Dissidents Beaten in Cuba on the Day of Human Rights".

     The story from the Spanish news agency EFE reported that "groups linked to the Cuban government" had blocked a "peaceful march by dissidents in Havana" marking the International Day of Human Rights. "About a dozen persons" called by the National Patriotic Front had tried to march through a park in the Vedado neighbourhood, where about 200 people were participating in training on National Defense Day. The dissidents, said EFE, were "insulted and later attacked by revolutionary sympathizers shouting Long live the Revolution! and Long Live Fidel".

     "How is it possible that with so many really interesting news features taking place here, only such an irrelevant thing is published?" my friend asked.

     But his wife gave a view from another angle: "How is it possible that authorities here permit a dozen dissidents to bother a large group of citizens precisely when they are fulfilling the civic duty of training themselves to defend their threatened homeland?"

     I explained that this type of show is not unusual and that, with no more information about the incident, it was possible to decode the news in these terms:

     "On the Day of Human Rights, the US Interests Section, after summoning reporters and photographers from all the foreign and local media in Havana, instructed a group of regular `dissidents' to make an antigovernment demonstration, choosing the same place and timing where a centrally located neighbourhood would be holding their military training exercises, as part of preparations to fight a home-by-home battle by all the population in case of a foreign aggression. As always happens when such provocations take place, the neighbours themselves were the ones to answer and the police only intervened in case indignant people may cause physical damage to the `dissidents', who are always the same well known persons that have this as their means of subsistence."

     The greater part of the multimillion dollar budget that the US Administration yearly allocates "for the promotion of democracy in Cuba" stays in Miami, increasing the wealth of the leaders of the ultra right Cuban American organizations. But a small part of it gets through to the groups mobilized by the US Interests Section in Havana, in fact, the sole leader of the Cuban opposition.

     Governmental organizations such as USAID, and NGOs such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which are actually CIA covert organizations, as well as other subversion, intelligence and counterintelligence agencies, are being used to channel these funds in different ways.

     In Cuba, as in any other democratic country, all citizens have the right to disagree with government policies and decisions, based on the principle that the government responds to the will of the majority of the citizens, and not necessarily to all the citizens.

     Dissidents can use multiple means to express their disagreement in a peaceful way and in the framework established by law. The Cuban socio-political system, stemming from its participatory character, offers a large number of spaces and ways to convey suggestions and differences. These scenarios could be wider, but the hostile policies practised towards Cuba by different US administrations limit them.

     As all national legislations establish, Cuban laws require that actions opposing the national establishment must be absolutely independent from any alien government, as an elemental requisite of respect for national sovereignty, legal equity among states and non-intervention in national matters.

     In all countries, without exception, the attitude towards national citizens registered as agents of alien governments is completely different, because they do not have the rights that the dissidents have. National legislations restrict the spaces of the former, limiting their movements - they cannot go where they want or talk to whoever they decide.

     In cases where there is open hostility between the national government and the one whom the agents serve, they are put on permanent vigilance by the authorities to guarantee that they abide to the strict space to which their movements have been limited. There is also a call to the population to collaborate in this vigilance, as a form of expressing patriotism.

     Therefore, in order to understand the situation of the so called "Cuban dissidents" portrayed by the foreign media, mainly the ones controlled or influenced by the campaigns orchestrated by the US against the Revolution during the last fifty years, it is necessary to determine their true identity.

     Are they really dissidents or are they agents of an alien and hostile country?

     If they were actually honest citizens with points of view differing from the official ones, wanting to express their views and to contribute to rectifying some governmental policies or directives; if they were persons willing to peacefully meet with other citizens who also disagree with the course taken by the nation in order to solve the difficulties that the society is suffering; if they have no links of dependence with a foreign government; if they are not moved by material stimulus or promises to be accepted in other countries in response to their opposition activities, or if they were not instructed by alien sources, then they could be considered "dissidents". In that case, they would be respected as such category deserves, in spite of the fact that US policy towards Cuba has disparaged this term to an extent that is has been assimilated as "mercenary" in the feelings of Cubans.

     These "Cuban dissidents" are really nothing but agents of a clearly hostile government that has been fighting an undeclared war against the government of this nation and its citizens for more that 48 years. They have never been prosecuted for expressing ideas or thinking differently. In fact, the treatment they are granted is evidence of the very high grade of humanitarianism of the Cuban revolutionary project.

     It is not just any foreign government that these agents serve, but a superpower that has publicly declared its intention to overthrow the Cuban government, has made attempts against the life of its leaders, and presently has official plans to promote and finance the dismounting of the social order that Cubans have given themselves with great sacrifices. They serve a government that has no respect whatsoever for international law and considers itself above the United Nations, for whose decisions it has no respect.

     In practice, the dissidents' farce - the alleged opposition party leaders, independent journalists, independent librarians, and self-proclaimed human rights watchers - have absolutely no representativeness or support in any place except in Miami.

     When they exceed the limits of tolerance and engage in serious crimes, and are therefore sentenced to prison following every criminal and procedural warranty established by Cuban laws, the media serving the US campaign against Cuba calls them "prisoners of conscience".

     Ultimately, the individuals identified as "dissidents" by the media that constantly denigrates the Cuban revolution do not constitute a new category in Cuban history, because this country has suffered opportunist annexationism as an endemic evil since its first wars for independence. Those now existing are unprincipled persons that serve the enemies of their motherland and objectively obstruct the development of Cuban socialist democracy, constantly moving towards its improvement from 1959 until today.

     (Manuel Yepe is a lawyer, economist and social scientist. He is an Associate Professor at the Raul Roa Higher Institute of International Relations in Havana, and Secretary of the Cuban Peace Movement)

(Contents)
(Home)

February 7 - protest to get Canada out of Haiti!

(Contents)
(Home)

What's Left

NANAIMO, BC

The Crisis of Homelessness - panel forum, 7:30 pm, Monday, Feb. 26, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Hall, 4236 Departure Bay Road, with John Horn, Chair of Nanaimo Group on Homelessness; Jonnie Tunnell, Coordinator of Nanaimo Crisis Services; and Melanie Morton, Samaritan House Shelter.

VANCOUVER, BC

StopWar.ca - peace coalition meetings on 2nd & 4th Wednesdays, 5;30 pm, Maritime Labour Centre, 1880 Triumph St., see http://www.stopwar.ca for updates.

Canada's Foreign Policy and the influence of the Israel lobby - Wed., Feb. 14, 7:30 pm, Vancouver Public Library, 350 W. Georgia, Van Dusen Room, forum with Daniel Freeman-Maloy, York University Palestine solidarity activist, organized by Canpalnet, http://www.canpalnet.ca.

Lower Mainland Campus Anti-War Conference - organized by StopWar coalition, Sat., Feb. 17, at SFU Harbour Centre, for details see
http://www.stopwar.ca.

Robbie Burns Dinner - for Queen Alexandra school morning program, 6 pm, Friday, Jan. 26, Maritime Labour Centre, 1880 Triumph St. Tickets $40 from VDLC office 604-254-0703.

My Generation: A Festival of Power - celebrating the importance of our water, and the power and jobs it produces, Centre for Performing Arts, Sat., Feb. 17, doors 6:30, show 7:30, with Buffy Sainte-Marie, Final Fantasy, Jim Byrnes, Kinnie Starr, info at http://www.publicpowerbc.ca. Sponsored by Canadian Office and professional Employees Union (COPE 378.

Canadian Cuban
Friendship Association
commemorates
JOSÉ MARTÍ (1853-1895)
on his birthday January 28.
His ideals of sovereignty and
social justice helped shape and
continue to inspire the Cuban
Revolution.
For info on how to join CCFA or
the Che Guevara Volunteer
Work Brigade: 604-831-9821
ccfa_vancouver@yahoo.ca
www.ccfavancouver.ca

WINNIPEG, MB

Dance Down Tha Wall 3 - Sat., Feb. 3, Winnipeg Press Club, tickets $10. Info Canada-Palestine Support Network 942-1588 ext. 1.

Canada-Cuba Solidarity Ctee. monthly meeting - Tues., Feb. 13, 7:30 pm, 280 Smith St. Info 793-9380.

TORONTO, ON

Close Guantanamo rally - Sat., Jan. 27, 1 pm, assemble at US consulate, E. side of University Ave, S. of Dundas, more Info at http://www.noexceptions.ca OR http://www.amnesty.ca.

Communist Party Convention Social - evening of Friday, Feb. 2 - Friday, Feb. 2, Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil St., tickets $20/$10, (see details below).

Communist Party's 35th Convention - Toronto
Dinner and Cultural & Political Night
Friday, Feb. 2, 2007, 6 pm - Midnight
Steelworkers' Hall, 25 Cecil Street
Meet Canadian and International Guests
Hear progressive musicians and artists live
Delicious buffet dinner, 6 - 8:30
A Night To Remember!
Tickets $20 (unemployed $10) For information, call 416-469-2446

Guaranteed Annual Income Meeting - Sat. Feb. 3, 2-4 pm, 519 Church in the east room, for info call 416-363-9740.

Celebration of Janet McMurray's 90th year - Party member and activist for 70 years, 519 Church Street Community Centre, Sat., March 3, 1 pm to 3 pm, for information: 416-406-1684. No gifts, donations to People’s Voice welcome.

Annual Jose Marti Dinner and Dance - Canadian-Cuban Friendship Assoc., Sat., Feb. 3, 7 pm Dinner, 8:45 pm Cultural Program, at Bloor St. United, 300 Bloor St. W. Live Band "Pablo Terry & Sol De Cuba", door prize, raffle, cash bar. $25 advance ticket (includes dinner), $10 dance only (after 9 pm). Limited dinner places - sold out last year. Cheques to CCFA Toronto, PO 743, Stn F, Toronto, ON. M4Y 2N6, tel. 905-951-8499.

CROSS-CANADA: MARCH 17

March 17 Day of Action - against occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan marking 4th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Help is needed to mobilize powerful actions in every community. Find your local peace group through the Canadian Peace Alliance website, http://www.acp-cpa.ca or call 416-588-5555.

(Contents)
(Home)

British Columbians want higher minimum wage

(Contents)
(Home)

"Rumour of the Century" debunked

(Contents)
(Home)

A future worth fighting for!

Communists in the struggle

"The task of the left forces and particularly the Communists is to help build these mass
struggles and infuse them with revolutionary perspective and content, opening the door to the socialist alternative."

(from the Main Political resolution for the Communist Party of Canada's 35th Central Convention)

Excerpts from the Main Resolution for the 35th Central Convention of the Communist Party of Canada, which meets Feb. 1-4 in Toronto:

Our 35th Convention meets at a time of unprecedented dangers facing our class, our country and all humanity, arising from growing militarism and war, economic plunder, vicious attacks on the democratic and social rights of the peoples, and increasing environmental destruction.

Each of these crises has its specific features and content, but all emanate from the same source - the prevailing socio-economic system of capitalism at its present imperialist stage. This situation makes the fight for peace, to save our environment, to defend democratic rights, and for social advance an imperative task of our times. The struggle today for progressive reform is inextricably tied to the struggle for the revolutionary transformation from capitalism to socialism. The political, economic and social offensive of imperialism is generating stiff opposition. Mass resistance - to unemployment and poverty, to national, social and gender oppression, to environmental devastation, and to fascism and war - is growing in many parts of the world. These class, democratic and anti-imperialist struggles, while still largely defensive in character and often diverted into diverse directions, are nevertheless drawing millions upon millions into political organization and action. The task of the left forces and particularly the Communists is to help build these mass struggles and infuse them with revolutionary perspective and content, opening the door to the socialist alternative.

In Canada, hard-won gains achieved by the working class and its democratic allies are being systematically erased by right-wing governments on behalf of finance capital - both Canadian and foreign. The federal Conservative government under PM Stephen Harper is the main political force driving this anti-working class, anti-democratic and pro-war assault in our country. Public services and programs are being gutted. Labour and democratic rights are being stripped away. Real wages and income supports are being eroded, resulting in lower living standards for most workers and grinding poverty, homelessness and despair for the most underpaid and those on fixed incomes. The last vestiges of Canadian sovereignty are being shredded as our natural resources, industry and service sectors are sold off to the highest foreign bidder - primarily US-based capital - while state policy is brought into lockstep with those of US imperialism at home and abroad.

The most urgent challenge facing our Party today is to help mobilize and strengthen resistance on the broadest possible basis, and to work consistently and tirelessly to help forge it into a united, combative movement of labour and other mass democratic forces capable of confronting and defeating the current offensive of the ruling class
and its governments, beginning with the defeat of the Harper Conservative government in Ottawa.

...The 35th Central Convention of the Communist Party will coincide with the 85th anniversary of the first convention of the Workers’ Party of Canada, which met in February 1922 as the first legal convention of Communists in this country. That historic event openly proclaimed the revolutionary aims of the Communist movement. The Communists of that early period worked boldly in the trade unions, mining and lumber
camps, the farm movements, the immigrant communities and other sections of the working people, audaciously tackling a wide range of issues. Within a few years after 1922, the Communist Party of Canada had become the leading force in the movements for democracy and for radical social change, initiating the Workers’ Unity League, the Farmers’ Unity League, the Relief Camp Workers’ Union, the On to Ottawa Trek, the first campaigns for universal medical care, the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, and many of the struggles to build industrial unions.

Ours is still the proud party of Tim Buck, Becky Buhay, Annie Buller, Norman Bethune, Mathew Popowich, Jim Brady, Darshan Singh Canadian, Slim Evans, and many other working class heroes of that era. The delegates to our 35th Convention will carry forward the revolutionary traditions of our party in today’s conditions. The convention will project plans to help build a powerful movement to defeat the Harper Tories, to save Medicare and other social programs, and to pull Canada out of the imperialist US war machine. In the course of these struggles, we look forward to building a much larger and more effective Communist Party, and to the day when our party will play a vital role in achieving a People’s Coalition government which will begin the radical transformation of this country. Our goal is a socialist Canada in which exploitation, oppression, poverty, and inequality are but distant memories of the capitalist past, and a socialist world in which all live in peace and without fear of environmental catastrophe. This is a future worth fighting for, and we commit ourselves to make it a reality!

(Contents)
(Home)

Labour leader assassinated in Guatemala

(Contents)
(Home)

Chinese iPod workers organise

(Contents)
(Home)

Greek CP leader presses Palestinian issue

(Contents)
(Home)

Palestinian solidarity activist to speak in Vancouver

(Contents)

(Home)

Washington finally brings charges against Posada

(Contents)

(Home)

February 1-28, 2007 Volume 15 - Number 3 $1

February 1-28, 2007
Volume 15 - Number 3
$1