People's Voice June 1-15, 2007

Takeovers and job losses pile up

(The following article is from theJune 1-15, 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,133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

By Kimball Cariou

Buried in the business pages of your daily paper, you can find staggering figures on the explosive growth of profits and mergers.

     Statistics Canada reports that Canadian corporate profits for the first quarter of 2007 broke all-time records, hitting $63.8 billion, up 2.9% over the previous three month period. By comparison, quarterly profits have averaged about $50 billion in recent years. StatsCan says that "about half of the overall profit gain can be attributed to rising commodity prices."

     The same time period saw another economic record: 483 mergers and acquisitions involving Canadian firms worth $66 billion, the highest-ever such figure for a first quarter period.

     Most mainstream economists dismiss fears that this trend is eroding Canadian sovereignty, arguing that Canadian capital is buying firms outside this country faster than takeovers by foreign corporations are happening here. At first glance, the numbers seem to support such an argument. There were 143 cases of Canadian-based companies buying foreign firms in the first quarter of 2007, with a value of $22 billion, compared to 46 foreign acquisitions of Canadian companies, totalling $15 billion.

     But there are problems with this analysis. As a related story on this page shows, higher export prices for energy and other commodities mean bigger profits for some Canadian companies to invest overseas. But they also lead to a higher Canadian dollar, and growing job losses in the manufacturing sector. The historical tendency to transform Canada into a "hewer of wood and drawer of water" in the service of U.S. imperialism continues, with the happy involvement of Canadian capitalists in search of a fast buck. For working people, higher-paid, unionized manufacturing jobs are increasingly being replaced by low-paid, non-union service sector employment.

     Looking at the bigger picture, what we see is a global trend as capital moves from traditional domestic bases, gobbling up competitors and profitable targets with little regard for national boundaries. Canadian corporations are full participants in this process, such as Barrick Gold and GoldCorp, "our" mining companies which exploit labour and resources in many Third World countries.

     The net outcome is a loss of popular sovereignty and democracy everywhere, including Canada. Transnational corporations are increasing their penetration of the entire globe, with outstanding exceptions such as Venezuela and Bolivia, where public ownership of resources is expanding. But working people are losing their ability to control, regulate and tax these operations. Just because Canadian mining firms reap huge profits in Central America or Indonesia, that does not give Canadians more power over the U.S.-based energy giants active in our country, for example.

     In reality, the "hollowing out" of the Canadian economy is accelerating, without a word of protest from the federal government. For example, the recently announced $33 billion (U.S.) hostile takeover bid by New York-based Alcoa Inc. for Alcan Inc. of Montreal would mean that Canada's three largest mining companies, employing 91,000 Canadians, will be controlled by foreign interests.

     Falconbridge and Inco, formerly the second- and third-largest Canadian mining firms, were sold last year. Switzerland-based Xstrata PLC bought Falconbridge, with its historic Sudbury nickel operation and the Noranda and Kidd Creek base-metals deposits. Inco, which pioneered nickel production at Sudbury and in Manitoba, was snapped up by Brazil's state-owned Companhia Vale do Rio Doce.

     Alcan is the world's number two producer of aluminum, a strategic metal in the aerospace and military industries which are critical to U.S. imperialism's war machine. Alcan is Canada's eighth-largest company, and the fifth-largest Canadian-controlled firm, with 64,700 employees, annual revenues of $24 billion and assets of close to $30 billion.

     Interestingly, there are a few voices of sanity in the corporate towers. "It's a disaster for Canada," Doug Davis, money manager at Davis-Rea Ltd. in Toronto told Bloomberg News, responding to the Alcoa announcement. "Anything and everything is for sale. We'll run out of companies to invest in."

     There is also speculation that Quebec Premier Jean Charest will raise objections to the Alcoa takeover, which would be highly unpopular in Quebec.

     However, Canada has the least restrictions on foreign takeovers among the G-7 nations. As some financial analysts have noted, this is a factor in the recent spate of takeovers. Since the beginning of 2006, there have been about 600 foreign takeovers of Canadian firms, worth more than $150 billion (U.S.), including Dofasco, Hudson's Bay, and Abitibi-Consolidated.

     Dominic D'Alessandro, the CEO of Manulife Financial Corp., told shareholders at the company's annual meeting in May that "I sometimes worry that we may all wake up one day and find that as a nation, we have lost control of our affairs." He called for ownership restrictions for "sensitive" sectors of the economy similar to those in financial services, media and telecommunications.

     But the Harper Conservatives see no problem. Federal Public Works Minister Michael Fortier (who was appointed a Senator and placed in the Harper cabinet on the same day that Vancouver Kingsway Liberal MP David Emerson jumped ship to join the Tories) told the Canadian Press that Alcoa "is proposing in its offer to maintain most of the jobs in Quebec and, actually, elsewhere in Canada. So, we'll have to see."

     Yes, just like the Emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

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Labour sounds alarm on manufacturing crisis

(The following article is from theJune 1-15, 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,133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)By a People's Voice reader

On May 11th I attended a forum called "Manufacturing Jobs Matter," part of a Canadian Labour Congress campaign organized locally by the Toronto and York Region Labour Council. Over two hundred workers packed into City Hall for a presentation on the crisis facing Canadian manufacturing. The facts discussed by the main panelists, economists with the CAW, Steelworkers and CEP, were shocking.

     Today's news headlines talk about record corporate profits and a "robust job picture," but our manufacturing sector, an engine of the economy, is vanishing fast.

     Last year, 18,000 jobs were lost in one month, including 13,000 in Ontario. Many of the losses were in Toronto, the largest manufacturing region in Canada, home to 400,000 workers.

     Since 2002 an amazing 104,600 jobs have been eliminated in Ontario manufacturing. This has had a big economic hit, costing $22 billion in consumer spending and $1 billion in lost taxes. Across Canada, 250,000 manufacturing jobs have been killed in under five years, for an average of 150 jobs every day!

     The CAW reports that 2000 plastic and rubber manufacturing jobs, and 8000 aerospace jobs, were killed in the past five years. Canada's metal manufacturing industry lost 20,000 jobs. Wood and paper also lost nearly 20,000 jobs. Since August 2002, over 60,000 jobs have been lost in textiles and clothing. Behind every job loss is a family, and there were many impassioned examples by laid-off workers.

     In the late '80s, close to 17% of the workforce was in manufacturing. Today, it's less than 12%. "There is an inertia behind this trend that's getting harder to turn around," one speaker said, adding "Whose economy is doing well?"

     Another economist discussed the impact of the rising Canadian dollar on manufacturing. This section was very interesting, because it gave the opposite picture of what I expected.

     Recently, the value of the loonie in comparison to the US dollar has increased 44%. That's 44% less in the sales revenue of exports. The reason? The increasing value of our oil and gas exports. The Canadian dollar is now seen more as a petro dollar. We were told a graph of the price of oil and gas closely matches the increase in currency.

     With the tar sands, it's getting worse. Canada is exporting natural gas to the US at the same time as we are running out of natural gas domestically. Before the Mulroney Tories eliminated mandatory reserves, Canada stockpiled 25 years of natural gas reserves. Today, the stockpile is only seven years.

     Although oil and gas is booming, of the 120 new petrochemical refining plants being built in the world, none are in Canada. The industry has lost 3,000 jobs since 2002. Secondary processing plants in Fort Saskatchewan and Sarnia have closed for lack of feedstock.

     CEP hired an analyst to calculate how many jobs will be lost by the new Keystone pipeline, which would send 430,000 barrels a day of crude to Uncle Sam. Not refining this oil in Canada could cost 18,400 jobs, including 4,000 outside Alberta, mostly in Ontario (where the refinery equipment is made). The billions of barrels of crude going to the US from the Alberta tar sands actually kill jobs by pushing up the loonie's price.

     About half of Canada's energy industry is under foreign control. Millions go to tax breaks in that industry, where there are no restrictions on the level of foreign ownership.

     Another speaker drew the connection between a healthy environment and a healthy workplace. He said Harper wants to scare us into thinking we'll suffer big job losses due to Kyoto, but never talks about the real manufacturing jobs crisis facing our economy.

     The connections clearly expose imperialism's strategy of deep integration into the U.S., and the fuelling of Fortress America.

     The meeting closed with CLC vice-president Hassan Yusuf, who said there would be a major campaign soon. While no action plan was proposed, a rally in Ottawa on May 30th was announced.

     "We've got to find a way to get our act together and fight as a family," Yusuf said, emphasizing unity. "That is the only option we have, to fight," he added to strong applause.

     There is no doubt a serious crisis is facing Canada's manufacturing industry. Will such a powerful campaign develop, or just more highly controlled public events? Leadership would seem to be a decisive factor. What is clear is that the future of our country, and our class, is at stake.

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Quebec budget hits students and public sector

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Québec Solidaire condemns budget

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The secret sellout Tory agenda - Editorial

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Support June 29 protests!

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"Stand with us on June 29th"

(The following article is from theJune 1-15, 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,133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)
"Assembly of First Nations Call on all Canadians to stand with us on June 29th, issued at Gatineau, Quebec, May 23, 2007"

The Assembly of First Nations calls on First Nations, Canadian citizens and corporations, to stand together to insist that the Government of Canada respond to the crisis in First Nations communities.

     Since Confederation in 1867, First Nations have been subject to repeated attempts by the Government of Canada to forcibly assimilate us and erase our identities. Still, we survive today as distinct peoples.

     It is time for action.

     First Nations have put forward a reasonable plan that provides for reconciliation and begins to close the gaps between First Nations and Canadians. Working in collaboration, this plan will contribute to a more productive, prosperous and harmonious Canada.

     First Nations call on the Parliament of Canada to adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to respect the decision by the UN Human Rights Council that the Declaration establishes the essential standards for respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

     First Nations call on the Government of Canada to respond in a manner that respects First Nations jurisdiction and responsibility over our lands and our peoples, and our right to govern ourselves as Nations, including:

1. Reconciliation of First Nations rights with the Federal Crown through the recognition and implementation of First Nations governments;

2. Investment in the development and implementation of First Nation governments by removing the current cap on core funding, allocation of funds as agreed to at the First Ministers Meeting on Aboriginal Issues (2005), and to establish a new formula for sustainable funding transfers based on population and inflation; and,

3. Implementation of structural changes including policy renewal to expedite resolution of First Nations land rights and Treaty implementation.

     First Nations are the original inhabitants of this land, who helped the newcomers survive and build the country called Canada.

     Since before 1867, the engines of assimilation have included federal policies, programs, laws and legislation. The most painful manifestation is the residential schools era, which plagues us to this day through its lasting and devastating cultural, social and economic impacts.

     First Nations poverty is the single greatest social injustice facing Canada. Canada is one of the wealthiest nations, all because of the generosity and land of our ancestors. Yet First Nations endure poverty and third world conditions in their own homeland.

     This injustice is met with silence. The unacceptable is accepted.

     The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs admits it knows that First Nations face serious funding shortfalls because of a decade-long cap that has frozen funding growth at only two percent a year. This is causing serious health and safety risks to our families and children. Yet the Government of Canada fails to fix this fiscal discrimination.

     First Nations poverty is creating crisis and conflict. First Nations are denied basic rights like access to safe drinking water. First Nations suffer from chronic housing shortages and overcrowding, see their children apprehended and placed in child welfare at alarming rates, and grieve as their youth kill themselves in epidemic proportions. These statistics are well-known, yet the Government fails to respond decisively with a real plan for action.

     Instead, the Government of Canada fuels frustration by taking a unilateral, piecemeal and scattered approach which lacks vision and ignores fundamental issues. The Government is not engaging meaningfully with First Nations, is not listening to its own recommendations and solutions as agreed to by First Nations and the Government in documents like the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996), the agreement reached at the First Ministers Meeting on Aboriginal Issues and the AFN-Crown Political Accord for the Recognition and Implementation of First Nation Governments(2005).

     The Government of Canada opposes Aboriginal rights internationally and domestically. The Government is working to defeat passage of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which affirms Indigenous peoples' collective right to self determination. The Government is undermining collective rights in Canada by trying to force First Nations to adopt legislation that prioritizes individual rights at the expense of collective rights. The Government is actively denying First Nations the processes, resources and timelines required to foster First Nations solutions.

     First Nations assert the right to full and effective enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms - both collective and individual - including the right to self-determination, without hindrance or adverse discrimination, as recognized in international law and in section 35 of Canada's own Constitution Act, 1982. First Nations assert their right to land, life and justice.

     The Government of Canada is morally and legally obligated to undertake processes of reconciliation and to properly resource the rebuilding of our sacred languages, culture and history. This includes atonement for past wrongs and collaborative work to navigate the way forward.

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Railway workers hit the bricks again

(The following article is from theJune 1-15, 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,133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

Special to PV

For the second time this year, workers at one of Canada's historic major rail companies are walking the picket line. This time it's 3200 members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Maintenance of Way Employees Division (TCRC-MWED), out on strike against the CPR since May 16.

     The union members inspect, maintain and build the track, bridges and structures on CP Rail. Their current collective agreement expired last December 31, and bargaining has carried on since July 2006.

     Echoing the CN strike earlier this year, wages, benefits, seniority, work rules, safety, and quality of life are the key issues in this dispute.

     As the union says, the recent rash of train accidents and derailments, some involving dangerous commodities and loss of life, reflects the reality of running trains over poorly maintained track.

     "Everyday a trained and qualified TCRC MWED member finds a defect that has the potential for disaster," says union president William Brehl. "We fix or protect these defects to insure that the right-of-way is safe. All of us are extremely worried about unskilled, unqualified and inexperienced personnel out trying to perform these dangerous and necessary tasks."

     To qualify as a track inspector requires one year minimum of working on the track itself. The TCRC-MWED represents over 1200 licensed track inspectors at CP Rail.

     The company's replacement workers will include around 150 from the ranks of front line supervisors. Other replacement workers will be taken from management desk or sedentary jobs, who have never worked on the track previously.

     "We are asking for a 4% wage increase for 2007. The company is standing firm at 3%," says Brehl, pointing out that the Canada-wide average for wage increases in contracts settled in 2007 is at 3.4% and rising. CP Rail is making enormous profits, while offering below average wage increases, and demanding "massive concessions in seniority, work rules and our health and welfare benefits," says Brehl.

     Even for employees with considerable seniority, work at CP Rail increasingly involves night and weekend shifts. Railway workers are more and more often facing work demands that clash with family time and rest breaks, as layoffs increase the burden on the remaining employees.

     Last year saw record profits of $2.1 billion at CN and $796 million at the CPR. But while investors reap these rewards, railway industry employment across Canada fell from over 54,000 in 1994 to 35,400 in 2005, a drop of 35 percent. While wages outpaced inflation during that period, the workload increased dramatically, and now the railways are fighting to block real wage hikes.

     The CN strike by 2,800 conductors and yard staff earlier this year was sparked in part by the company's drive to become a "precision railroad," boss-speak for squeezing every possible minute of work from each employee. The CPR calls it "execution excellence," a somewhat morbid term given the death toll on the rails in recent years.

     As one Globe and Mail reporter noted, "the corporate slogans refer to management's focus on forming daily schedules for rail cars, setting targets for departures and arrivals." In essence the goal is to maximize profits by transporting more freight in less time.

     As imports of Asian goods and exports of valuable commodities rise, railway companies are using technological changes such as containerized shipping to speed up the transfer of goods between rail and ships. But another corporate strategy is to dramatically increase the length of freight trains, putting even more pressure on track inspectors and train crews. Governments have been reluctant to impose proper limits on train lengths, which are widely seen as a critical factor in derailments.

     This seems unlikely to change anytime soon. Industry analysts say that as older railway workers retire over the next decade, the railways will cut labour costs even more through "natural attrition."

     In other words, the current struggle between railway workers and bosses at the CPR will be repeated in coming years, with right-wing federal governments coming to the aid of the employers every time.

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Students and service groups hit by Tory cuts

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Labour demands investigation of temporary foreign workers program

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B.C. Liberals reject move to block homophobia

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Manitoba NDP wins third majority

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Posada Affair reveals "sham" war on terror

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New extradition rules may affect Graham case

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The new fascist threat

(The following article is from theJune 1-15, 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,133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)
Commentary from the Young Communist League of Canada

It's not unusual in this day and age to hear the term "fascist" thrown around, sometimes with relevance, sometimes as a cynical jab. But what is the meaning of the word in today's context and is fascism a thing of the past or a threat in the present?

     Since September 11th there has been a marked increase in the use of anti-democratic, authoritarian, fascist methods and practices in the United States. The so-called "Patriot Act" and various other legislation has created a situation in which spying, arrests and illegal detentions and suppression are common place. Racism against Muslims, peoples of Middle Eastern origin and immigrants has been whipped up. War mongering and "regime change" have continued to be the norm in foreign policy. These realities have become well known internationally as more and more information is revealed about the attacks on democracy and freedom in the United States, the horrors of their torture camps at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and in Eastern Europe, and their brutal wars around the globe.

     What is less well known is the fact that the tendency towards increasingly fascist policies is an international phenomenon amongst imperialist countries. This comes as a reaction to growing resistance against imperialism globally in the form of revolutionary and progressive struggles on the one hand, and militant Islamic Fundamentalism on the other. Fascism, as in the past, continues to be the tactic of the capitalist ruling class desperately grappling to hold onto the status quo and history marches forward, leaving it behind for the dustbin of history. It means the unbridled rule of capital by open force and violence as opposed to under the guise of parliamentary democracy.

     In Europe, the failed Anti-Communist Motion of the European Parliament, the ban on the Czech Communist Youth Union (KSM), attacks against communists in Hungary, Ukraine, Georgia and other countries are examples of fascist, anti-communist tendencies which are proving extremely dangerous to the peoples struggles.

     Recently in Toronto 17 Muslim men and youth were arrested in an "anti-terrorism sweep". It has now been uncovered that they were trained and reported to the police by a paid police informant in a blatant entrapment operation. It would appear that the Harper regime is attempting to manufacture real or perceived terrorist activity so that they can inject fear into the minds of the Canadian people, making them more likely to complacently stand by while their rights are attacked by the reactionaries in parliament and abused by the police. At the same time Harper and company achieve the appearance of being on the "front lines" of combating terrorism, thereby further cozying up to the worlds #1 terrorist leader, George W. Bush.

     Our country has historically faced the threat of fascism and today, under the Harper Conservatives, the threat continues to be a real one. Here in Canada, we have seen the influence of the policies of Bush and his ultra-reactionary gang as the rulers of our own country take advantage of the terrorism scare to tighten their own grips. We have seen our own "Patriot Act", the "Anti-Terrorism Bill". The Harper government's reactionary social policies, the highly publicized Arar case, the growth of police state mentality and the placement of cameras on city streets in some major cities are other disturbing indicators of the direction our society is heading in.

     It may be over-dramatic and presumptuous to announce that Canada is on its way to fascism. Nonetheless, dangerous tendencies which point generally in that direction currently threaten democratic rights and freedoms, privacy and so forth are real and must be recognized and defeated. It means winning Canada's sovereignty and distancing Canada from the reactionary policies of Emperor Bush and his pack of murderers in the White House and Pentagon. This requires the defeat of the treacherous Harper government, which is deepening the process of selling Canada out to U.S. imperialism. It requires rolling back reactionary measures already in place. The YCL has always been at the forefront of young people's struggles against fascism, war and capitalism and for peace, democracy and socialism in Canada. Young people, join the struggle! Your future is worth fighting for!

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New COPE executive to seek Anti-NPA Unity

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What's Left

CROSS-CANADA

Boycott Chapters/Indigo - pickets across Canada on Saturday, June 9, see story on page 9, or contact Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, http://www.caiaweb.org.

CUMBERLAND, BC

Miners Memorial Day - June 22-24 weekend, "Songs of the workers" on Friday evening, pancake breakfast, Ginger Goodwin graveside memorial (1 pm Sat.), pub crawl, and other events. For info, call Cumberland Historical Society, 250-336-2445.

PEACHLAND, BC

People's Voice Fundraiser, with PV editor Kimball Cariou - 3 pm, Sat., June 2, at the Stewarts, 5851 Somerset, call Mark at 250-860-6810 for details.

VANCOUVER, BC

PV Victory Banquet - Sat., PV Victory Banquet, Sat., June 9, 6 pm, Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Ave., call 604-255-2041 for tickets and info.

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

Barbecue Dinner & Concert - 1:30-4 pm, Sunday, June 3, Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Ave., admission free, tickets for individual food items $4-8, for details call Federation of Russian Canadians, 604-298-1513.

Forty Years of Occupation and the Prospects for Peace - Wed. June 6, forum at Public Library Central Branch with renowned Palestinian intellectual Dr. Naseer Aruri. For info contact CanPalNet, 604-298-9638.

Fundraiser for children in Guatemala - Sat., June 23, 7 pm, dinner and dance at Peretz Centre, 6184 Ash St., Guatemalan food and Latin music, $20/plate, proceeds for rural school supplies. Info and tickets at 604-596-1904.

U.N. Day in Support of Victims of Torture - protest Canada's complicity in torture in Afghanistan, Tuesday, June 26, street theatre actions start 12 noon from Central Public Library (Homer & Georgia), rally 5:30 pm at same location, organized by StopWar.ca.

SURREY, BC

People's Voice Walk-A-Thon - Sunday, July 8, walk starts 11 am at Bear Creek Park picnic area (by parking lot off 140 St.), potluck lunch 12 noon, followed by program. Organized by Lower Fraser Club CPC, for info call Krishna (604-940-0420) or Harjit (604-543-7179).

EDMONTON, AB

Salud/Health - documentary film on the global struggle for better health, Friday, June 8, 7 pm, at the Unitarian Church, 10804-119 St., donation $10 or PWYC. Co-sponsored by Unitarian Church Social Justice Committee, email njtedmonton@gmail.com.

WINNIPEG, MB

Annual Walk for Peace - Saturday, June 16, leaves the Legislature at 12:30 pm, ending at Memorial Park, organized by Peace Alliance Winnipeg.

TORONTO, ON

Fair Vote Canada Annual Conference and AGM - June 1-2, Ryerson University, for info email info@fairvote.ca.

People's Voice deadlines:
JUNE 16-30 issue:
Thursday, June 7
JULY 1-31 issue:
Thursday June 21
Send submissions to PV Editorial Office, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, V5L 3J1, pvoice@telus.net

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People's Voice: News for people, not for profit!
PV Fund Drive hits the 62% level

Why is People’s Voice so vital for the progressive movement? One reason is that the working class press presents facts and analysis to penetrate the cloak of misinformation spread by the corporate media. For example, the ruling class claims that the present “economic boom” benefits “all Canadians” and that unemployment is at record lows.
But as the articles on page 6 of this issue show, capitalism in Canada remains a system marked by sharp contradictions. The boom related to high commodity prices temporarily benefits some workers, but the rapid decline in manufacturing employment compels any others to shift to part-time, temporary, low-paid service sector “McJobs.” The real scope of unemployment is hidden by statistical definitions which leave out hundreds of thousands of workers; even at the height of the present upturn, about a million Canadians are out of work.

As the labour movement rallies against the decline in manufacturing jobs, People’s Voice will keep hammering away at the lies of the ruling class media on this topic.
And there’s more to come - our next issue will focus on building support for the June 29 National Day of Action organized by aboriginal people’s movements.

Your contributions in our annual Fund Drive make it possible for us to help build the working class and democratic movements - if you haven’t sent your donation, please do it today!

We have now achieved 62.5% of our annual PV Fund Drive, with $31,265 reached owards our goal of $50,000. Alberta is the first province to meet its target, turning in $1970 on its $1700 goal. Ontario has raised $15,221, or 76% of their $20,000 target. British Columbia, which has three major fundraisers in the next few weeks, has raised $12,244 (56% of their $22,000 target), and $1655 has come in from other areas.

Since our last issue, clubs in Burnaby and East Toronto held successful fundraisers, and more events are coming up. Our Central Okanagan Club supporters will hear from our Editor Kimball Cariou as well as musical entertainment, on Saturday, June 2, starting 3 pm at the home of Dora and Bill Stewart, 5851 Somerset in Peachland, just south of Kelowna.

The 15th Annual People’s Voice Victory Banquet will take place at the Russian Hall (600 Campbell Ave.) in Vancouver on Saturday, June 9, doors opening at 6 pm. Our guest speaker this year will be Brigid Kemp, President of the South Okanagan Boundary Labour Council, bringing a message of labour militancy in the struggle for peace, jobs, democracy, and social justice.

One of our biggest annual fundraisers, the People’s Voice Walk-A-Thon, takes place on Sunday, July 8, at Bear Creek Park in Surrey. Gather at the picnic area near the 140th Street entrance parking lot for the start of the walk at 11 am, followed by a fabulous international potluck lunch at noon, and a cultural program, organized by the Lower Fraser Club CPC. For details, call Krishna (604-940- 0420) or Harjit (604-543-7179).

Here’s another reminder about our “People’s Voice Shopping Bag” special Fund Drive promotion. As the ad on this page shows, we have several items to offer for your contributions, ranging from music to clothing to great reading.

PV Business Office moves

The People’s Voice Business Office recently moved to new premises. Our business and circulation manager Sam Hammond is now located at
133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON,
L8P 2H3.
The phone (905-529-4103) and email address pvadministration@cogeco.ca remain the same.

Articles, letters, photos, and other submissions should still be sent to the People’s Voice editorial office,
706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1,
tel. 604-255-2041, email pvoice@telus.net.

People’s Voice
SHOPPING BAG

BOOK

Not One More Death, essays condemning the US war against Iraq, by John le Carré, Richard Dawkins, Brian Eno, Michel Faber, Harold Pinter, and Haifa Zangana

CALENDAR

People’s Voice 2007 antiwar calendar

SUBSCRIPTION

a 12 month complimentary subscription to People’s Voice (keep it or give it to a friend)

Che T-Shirt
Surprise Music CD

Send your phone number with your donation, and we will contact you about your choice of music CD, or your T-shirt size before shipping

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For a donation of $1000 or more, take the whole bag and we will provide a lifetime subscription for you or a friend of your choice.

All subs renewed in the first four months of 2007 will be credited for 13 months at the price of 12 months ($25). Offer expires April 30.

Send all requests and donations to PV Business Office:
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June 1-15, 2007
Volume 15 - Number 10
$1

REDS ON THE WEB

June 1-15, 2007 Volume 15 - Number 10 $1

REDS ON THE WEB

June 1-15, 2007
Volume 15 - Number 10
$1