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| Theoretical and Discussion Bulletin of the
Communist Party of Canada |
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The Spark!
The
latest issue of The Spark! theoretical journal, is now on sale for $5 at Communist Party offices (see p. 8) or People’s Co-op Books, 1391 Commercial Drive, Vancouver.
Articles
include
- “Introduction to a General Theory of Culture” (Barry Lord);
- “Political & Economic Realities Behind Colombian Labour Relations” (Sacouman, Moore & Brittain);
- “Treaty Process & Indian Nationalism” (Ray Bobb);
- “Lenin: Heritage of the Socialist Market Economy” (C.J. Atkins);
- “Nature of the State Under Bush & Harper” (Stephen Von Sychowski);
- plus reviews, editorials, and more.
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check it out!
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(Contents)
(Home)
1) CANADA: TAX HAVEN
FOR BIG CAPITAL
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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
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People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark
Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)
PV Vancouver Bureau
For years, right-wing think tanks,
politicians and corporate media hacks have complained that business
taxes are "too high" in Canada, supposedly driving away investors and
jobs. But a recent study from the business sector prove the opposite:
Canada is the second lowest taxation country in the developed
capitalist world.
If corporate
income tax rates
were restored to the 2001 level (28%), an estimated $30 billion more
would flow into the federal treasury this year. That could provide
desperately needed funds to expand social programs, extend and improve
employment insurance, build low-income housing, protect the
environment, and tackle other critical issues.
Instead,
massive tax breaks for
the corporations and the rich are adding to the burden on working
families. Federal taxes on corporate profits are now at just 17%,
heading to 15% by 2010 under the Harper Tories.
Canada ranks
second to Mexico
and far ahead of the U.S. on a list of "tax-friendly countries for
business", according to a report released on May 12 by accounting firm
KPMG. Netherlands is ranked third, followed by Australia, United
Kingdom, USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, and France.
In general,
businesses in Mexico
pay 40.1 per cent less tax than those in the U.S. Taxes in Canada are
36.1 per cent lower, or more than one-third. At the other end of the
spectrum, corporate taxes are 81.4 per cent higher in France than the
U.S.
Canada's low
corporate taxes are
"a huge competitive advantage when companies decide where to set up
shop," according to Greg Wiebe of KPMG's Toronto office.
"Business
has the ability to set
up manufacturing, distribution plants, and offices anywhere in the
world depending on where it makes sense. Having a competitive corporate
tax rate hopefully allows you to attract more business and investment
into the country which creates jobs," Wiebe claimed. "We're a small
country and have a relatively small economy. We need to take advantage
of anything we can to attract business into this country."
Wiebe and
KPMG did not address the negative impact of declining tax revenues on
social spending in Canada.
The KPMG
report tallies up the
cost of income tax, capital, sales, and property taxes, as well as
miscellaneous local taxes and statutory labour costs, in 95 cities
across 10 countries. The U.S., the largest economy in the world, is
used as a baseline.
While
personal income taxes and
sales taxes are still higher in Canada, payroll taxes have been
reduced, capital taxes have been phased out, and corporate tax rates
have been falling in recent years. Canada's overall federal and
provincial corporate tax rates are approaching 25 per cent. The U.S.
federal tax rate for business starts at 35 per cent, and state tax
rates vary.
And the
breaks for the business
sector will keep coming with the so-called "harmonised sales tax" to be
implemented on July 1 in Ontario and British Columbia. The HST "is
likely to enhance Canada's standing in the coming years," Wiebe said.
"The HST is quite a business friendly way of applying a sales tax."
In fact, the
HST is not actually
a tax in the traditional sense. Consumers will pay the HST directly to
businesses; none of the HST will go towards government revenues,
despite considerable and deliberate misinformation spread by the
corporate media and right-wing politicians. One "theory" advanced by
these forces is that taxpayers will ultimately benefit from larger
taxes paid by the companies which benefit from the HST, but since
corporate tax rates are being slashed dramatically, even this
"trickle-down" effect is doubtful. What is certain is that the HST will
immediately transfer huge amounts - $1.9 billion annually in the case
of British Columbia - from consumers to businesses. Working people who
can least afford this shift will be hit the hardest.
Canadian
municipalities are also leaders in cutting corporate taxes at the local
level, according to the KPMG study.
Vancouver is
rated the
lowest-tax city on the list; its U.S. neighbour Seattle is ranked
number 18. Nor is that likely to change under the Vision majority on
Vancouver city council, which claims to be "pro-people." A huge shift
of Vancouver municipal taxes is underway, away from businesses and onto
homeowners.
Montreal and
Toronto are in the
top five for lowest corporate taxation, far ahead of eastern U.S.
cities such as Boston (13), Philadelphia (14) and New York (27).
Low
provincial taxes in British
Columbia helped boost Vancouver to the top of the list, according to
KPMG, which deems the city highly attractive "tax-wise" for
manufacturing and corporate and information technology companies.
For research
and development,
Montreal ranked as the top Canadian city, taking the No. 2 spot behind
Melbourne, Australia. Sydney (Australia), Vancouver, and Manchester
(U.K.) filled out the top five.
2) GLOBAL ECONOMIC
OUTLOOK REMAINS SHAKY
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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.)
Special to PV
The International Labour Organization
has released statistics which indicate that the global economic crisis
is far from over. The ILO's "Global Job Crisis Observatory report of
May 13 http://www.ilo.org/pls/apex/f?p=109:1:0
warns that "the Greek crisis
has morphed from a fiscal crisis in a single country to a regional
crisis for the euro zone and has sent shock waves through stock markets
worldwide."
The report
goes on to warn about
the consequences of downgrading of Greek, Portuguese and Spanish bonds
during April, "making the financing of their deficits more costly and
raising questions about possible future problems that may eventually
require bailouts or restructuring. The financial health of the banks
that are holding this debt - the bulk is held by European banks - has
now also deteriorated raising concerns for renewed troubles in the
banking sector, which has yet to fully recover from the global
financial crisis... Some observers have questioned the viability of the
European Monetary Union itself, amidst fears that some countries might
be forced to exit from the common currency. This has led to a loss of
confidence in the euro which has fallen against the dollar from $1.45
at the beginning of the year to below $1.30."
In Western
Europe, the recovery
is said to be "on track", but industrial production remains 15.9 per
cent below its peak of April 2008. Unemployment remained at 10 per cent
in March for the euro area, about 0.2 percentage points higher than
July 2009, showing that the "recovery" has not brought job creation.
Although
world trade continues
to pick up gradually, the trade recovery remains "subdued" in the
developed capitalist countries, where export volumes are still 14 per
cent lower than two years ago. A return of global trade to pre-crisis
levels "should not be expected any time soon despite the strong
recovery of developing country exports," says the ILO.
Meanwhile,
fears are mounting
about the economic situation in the largest capitalist economy, the
United States. Recent testimony before President Obama's "bi-partisan
commission" on the country's budget gap projects bigger deficits for
the forseeable future, leading mainstream economists to focus on this
as the number one priority.
But a more
immediate crisis is
the loss of 8 million jobs during the past two years. Fifteen million
people are officially unemployed in the U.S. while another 11 million
are involuntarily working part-time or have dropped out of the labor
force. Millions have been without a job for more than a year, with no
end in sight. Payroll jobs increased for a third straight month in
April, but the unemployment rate increased to 9.9% because the labor
force grew faster than employment.
More
ominously, the
International Monetary Fund is now pointing to the danger of a
sovereign debt crisis impacting all major economies. The IMF's recent
fiscal monitor projects that by 2015, the proportion of public debt to
GDP will reach 110% in the U.S., 250% in Japan and 91% in the UK, with
comparable figures for most other large economies in Europe. These
numbers do not even recognize unfunded contingent liabilities, which in
the United States would add another 400-600% to the debt to GDP ratio.
The
inescapable conclusion is
that the recent events in Greece, which are now impacting the entire
Eurozone economy, will inevitably hit the United States and Canada.
When that happens, the crisis which broke out in the fall of 2008 may
seem like small potatoes.
3) ANTI-HST DRIVE TO
PASS THRESHOLD
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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.)
By Kimball Cariou
After just six weeks of petitioning,
the British Columbia Fight HST campaign to force a referendum on the
"Harmonised Sales Tax" was on the verge of success. By May 16,
organizers reported that 500,000 signatures had been collected. The
final total could easily surpass the 600,000 mark, an astonishing
one-sixth of the province's adult population.
Adopted in
the early '90s under
the Harcourt NDP government, B.C.'s citizen initiative legislation was
crafted to make a successful petition drive nearly impossible. The
rules require the signature of a minimum of 10% of voters in every
riding across the province. By mid-May, that target had been reached in
72 of 85 ridings, with 51 actually exceeding 15%. The remaining 13
ridings, mainly in Vancouver and Burnaby, were expected to reach their
targets soon. The Fight HST campaign aims to hit the 15% level in every
riding by mid-June, to avoid any possibility of falling short when
signatures are counted by Elections BC.
The Campbell
Liberals will then
have to choose between conducting a province-wide referendum, or using
their majority to vote down the proposal to repeal the HST. They could
also try to challenge the petition in court. So far, the Liberals have
chosen to keep arguing (with little success) that the HST is needed to
improve the BC economy.
Each option
has negative
consequences for the Liberals. Backing down on implementation, which
will start on July 1, would anger the big business forces which are the
only supporters of the HST. But defying public opinion would drive down
support for the Liberals even further, boosting the NDP's fortunes and
opening the door for a new right-wing party to enter the scene. There
are growing rumbles within Liberal ranks about replacing Gordon
Campbell, but the premier's iron-fisted control has made it impossible
for any credible anti-HST alternative leader to emerge within his party.
Many British
Columbians are
increasingly angered at the flood of distortions and outright lies from
the Campbell regime. For example, the Liberals keep trying to hint that
the HST would bring in revenue for education and health care, which
were hit with traumatic budget cutbacks. But most voters understand
that the HST will simply transfer an estimated $1.9 billion annually
from the pockets of consumers to the business sector.
More voices
are now being raised
to question Campbell's tax cuts, the real source of the provincial
budget woes. The Liberals cut corporate income tax rates from 16.5 per
cent in 2001 to 10.5 per cent today, with another reduction to 10 per
cent by 2011. They have also eliminated capital taxes and cut property
taxes, especially for big companies.
These cuts
have so far cost the
provincial treasury at least $10 billion, without increasing investment
or job creation. Investment in B.C. has risen on average just 0.26 per
cent per year since 2001. The forest industry, one of the biggest HST
boosters, had already wiped out 23,700 jobs by 2008.
If the
Liberals reject a
referendum, the growing wave of public anger may lead to recall
campaigns against Liberal MLAs. That process would take at least 18
months, but it could drive the Liberals out of office well before the
next election set for May 2013. Unfortunately, the NDP shows no sign of
willingness to reverse Campbell's tax cuts for the corporations and
higher income tax brackets. That could leave most voters - except those
in ridings where Communist candidates are on the ballot - without a
progressive alternative if and when the Liberals are dumped.
4) LOOKING BACK AND AHEAD
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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.)
People's Voice
Editorial
June 2010 will be a special month for
the working class movement, as we look back to the heroic days of 1935,
and forward to the challenges of the 21st century.
This month
will see
commemorations of some critical episodes in Canadian labour history,
notably the On to Ottawa Trek and the Battle of Ballantyne Pier. These
and many other militant struggles laid the foundation for decades of
working class movements. The resulting advances were many: unemployment
insurance, pensions, organizing rights, equality gains, Medicare, and
much more.
But under
capitalism, the class
struggle never ceases, and the balance of forces is constantly
shifting. For nearly three decades, all these gains have been
relentlessly chipped away by big capital and its willing right-wing
political partners, even including social democratic governments at
times. Now, taking advantage of the economic crisis which broke out in
2008, the ruling class mantra of privatisation, contracting out, cuts
to wages and pensions, slashing of social programs and equality, is
taking an even more vicious character. Many of the leading actors in
this capitalist assault will be in Canada for the G8 and G20 meetings
this month.
The role of
the Canadian Labour
Congress in helping to mobilize people's opposition during the G8/G20
is timely and welcome. But such opposition cannot be allowed to
dissipate once the world leaders have returned home. We urge the CLC
and its allies to take their cooperation an important step further, by
convening a broad People's Summit to build the fightback around a
unifying set of demands which will benefit working people, not big
business. The lessons of 1935 are highly relevant for today: No
struggle, no progress! Workers will not pay for the crisis caused by
capitalism! United to demand a People's Recovery!
5) SHAMEFUL DECISION
BY PRIDE TORONTO
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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.)
People's Voice
Editorial
"They came
first for the
Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then
they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I
wasn't a trade unionist. Then they for me, but there was nobody left to
speak up."
These words
of Pastor Martin
Niemoller, spoken about the Nazis in Germany, are relevant to the
attempt to criminalize any criticism of the Israeli government's
anti-Palestinian policies.
Pride
parades, born out of the
Stonewall Rebellion and other forms of LGBT resistance against
oppression, have a long record in North America as celebrations of free
speech and human equality. So it is sad to hear that Pride Toronto's
board of directors has voted to ban the words "Israeli Apartheid" from
any Pride events, directly targeting the group Queers Against Israeli
Apartheid.
This
shocking decision follows
intense pressure from Toronto City Hall (one of Pride's main funders)
and pro-Israel lobbyists, who claim that criticisms of the Israeli
government amount to hate and discrimination. In fact, under the Harper
Tories, criticism of the Israeli government's oppression of the
Palestinian people is frequently labelled a hate crime. Pride Toronto
finally yielded to this campaign to criminalize dissent, setting
another extremely dangerous precedent to ban free expression and
silence the voices of Palestinians and human rights activists.
It is
distressing that this
decision was made by some representatives of a community which has
always had to struggle for its right to equality. Pride Toronto needs
to be reminded that the stridently anti-Palestinian Harper Tories are
also bitterly homophobic. Supporters of human rights and equality must
stand together, not surrender each other to bigots.
6) HARPER TORIES:
ACCOMPLICES IN THE DEATH OF WOMEN
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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.)
Statement from the
Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada
condemns the Harper Conservative government for its latest attack on
women's reproductive freedoms, which shows that the so-called
"pro-life" forces are accomplices in the deaths of women and children
around the world. The escalating offensive by the anti-choice movement
in Canada raises fears that women here may soon face legislation to
restrict reproductive rights, or even attempts to eliminate access to
abortion altogether.
Despite the
fact that most
Canadians support women's right to choose, the Harper Tories have
decided to exclude from Canada's G8 maternal/child health package any
funding for reproductive health care that includes safe abortion
services. This policy, based on undemocratically imposing the religious
views of a small minority, will have a deadly impact on women and
children around the world.
Until now,
Canada has acted
through the United Nations to help provide a full range of reproductive
health services, including safe abortion where legal, and has
consistently funded such services. For example, Canada was among the
179 governments at the 1994 International Conference on Population and
Development which committed to providing universal access to a full
range of safe and reliable family planning methods by 2015.
In
developing countries, up to
20 million women decide to resort to illegal abortions every year,
resulting in an estimated 70,000 deaths. Millions of these women never
receive medical treatment for the resulting complications. Over 200,000
children lose their mothers every year from unsafe abortion-related
deaths, and the lifespan of the surviving children in such families is
shortened. In countries where mass rape is used as a sexual weapon,
lack of access to safe abortion services compounds the trauma imposed
on women and girls, further reducing their chances to regain a normal
life.
Harper's new
policy means that to
receive funding from Canada, aid agencies and healthcare clinics in
developing countries will have to separate their programs, creating
costly administrative barriers. Groups which forfeit Canadian funding
may lose much of their ability to provide other basic healthcare. Far
from improving the health of women and children, the government's
policy shift will cost countless lives.
The
Communist Party of Canada
demands that as part of the G8 initiative to improve maternal/child
health, the Tories immediately pledge to fund the full range of
reproductive healthcare for women, including safe abortion where legal,
and quality post-abortion care for women injured from illegal, unsafe
abortion.
We also
condemn the growing
campaign to introduce legislation to restrict reproductive freedoms in
Canada. Women's right to choose is a fundamental human right, not
subject to any so-called "compromises".
This
campaign includes attempts
to silence pro-choice voices (such as Conservative Senator Nancy Ruth's
"advice" that pro-choice activists should "shut the f... up"), the
statement by Cardinal Marc Ouellet calling abortion a "moral crime"
even in cases of rape, and the bussing of students to inflate
attendance at anti-choice rallies. The most dangerous, fundamentalist
forces, which until now have largely been kept in the background, are
today increasingly visible and powerful within the Conservative Party.
If the
Tories win a majority in
the next election, these far-right forces would seize the opportunity
to press for a sweeping rollback of equality gains such as pay equity
and the right to abortion. There is an urgent and immediate need to
mobilize Canadians who oppose this "social conservative" agenda. We
urge full support for actions by pro-choice organizations, and also for
steps to begin rebuilding a cross-Canada women's movement which can
unite the big majority of women who support equality.
A Tory
majority would also
accelerate Harper's attack on a much broader range of human rights,
civil liberties and democratic freedoms. The full agenda of Harper and
his supporters is very clear: the forced imposition of bigoted,
fundamentalist social views, the corporate drive to privatize public
services and quash labour rights, and a widening campaign to
criminalize political dissent. The Communist Party of Canada pledges to
continue its efforts to help build a massive mobilization of Canadians
to drive the Tories out of office, and to decisively defeat the right
wing forces in the next election.
7) COMMUNISTS SLAM
McGUINTY BACKDOWN ON SEX EDUCATION
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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.)
The Communist Party of Canada
(Ontario) has sharply criticized the Liberal government of Dalton
McGuinty for failing to implement the sex education curriculum that was
to be launched in schools this fall.
"This
multi-year curriculum had
been developed over a long period, involving experts in the sexual
health field, in child and youth development, in education curricula,
and in consultations with parents, students, teachers, and the public,"
notes the CPC (Ontario).
"This
provincial curricula was
no surprise to anyone, let alone the Ministry of Education - it had
been a long time in the planning and preparation. What is a surprise is
the government's sudden decision to cancel months of work addressing a
clear need for age appropriate sex education across Ontario, because of
a backlash by fundamentalist religious groups and social conservatives
connected to the Tory party in Ontario.
"Clearly the
government is
afraid of the Tories' fundamentalist religious and social conservative
base, and is prepared to kowtow to it, rather than stand up for
scientific and secular education and curricula, in this pre-election
period.
"The
provincial Liberals are no
doubt aware of the federal government's decision not to fund abortion
in foreign aid spending - a concession to that party's right-wing,
religious and socially conservative base, and a concession to northward
creeping ultra-right-wing, religious fundamentalism in the US that has
so distorted healthcare and education curricula in the USA.
"If the
Premier is looking for a
winning election issue to fight on, the defence of quality secular
public education and healthcare is it. But this government wants some
of those conservative votes, because on the economic front the McGuinty
government is implementing a very right wing and conservative agenda
hinging on corporate tax cuts and a VAT tax that will shift a further
$4.5 billion off the corporations and onto working people through the
HST.
"This
government is also
launching a fundamental attack on free collective bargaining, with a
public sector wage `freeze' that will drive down wages of more than one
million public sector employees over the next five years, affecting
their wages throughout their working lives.
"Not least,
the McGuinty
government is about to privatize significant public assets, which it
knows will generate broad and deep public opposition.
"That's why
McGuinty is
pandering to the right, on the issue of sex education curricula. And
that's why the public must force the government to implement the
curricula and stand by secular education in Ontario's system of public
education.
"The CPC(O)
calls on the labour
and democratic movements, academics, teachers and educational workers,
health care workers, youth and students, women, and all those who value
quality, universal, secular public education and health care, as well
as equality rights, to speak up and demand the government implement the
curricula changes, and defend secular and scientific curricula and
health care in Ontario.
"This is yet
another example of
why religion and school should be separate, and why a single secular
and universal public school system is in the best interests of students
in Ontario."
8) REMEMBERING THE HEROES
OF 1935
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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.)
By Kimball Cariou
This month will see
activities in
Vancouver and other cities marking the 75th anniversary of a critical
period in the working class movement of Canada. The year 1935 is best
remembered for the "On to Ottawa Trek," crushed by the ruling class in
Regina to block a radical challenge to the established capitalist order.
Other
important events are also
being marked, especially the "Battle of Ballantyne Pier," one of the
key episodes in the struggle to organize the docks in Vancouver. Less
well known but also important in the shaping of working class militancy
was the brutal police attack in April 1935 against striking miners and
their wives in Corbin, BC. These three pivotal events erupted in one
province, reflecting the particularly bitter class struggle on the west
coast for decades leading up to 1935.
In our next
issue, we will look
at the story of Corbin and the Battle of Ballantyne Pier. (The latter
will be commemorated by the International Longshore Workers Union on
Saturday, June 19, starting with a march from the Maritime Labour
Centre at 9 am, a rally at New Brighton Park at 12 noon, and an evening
dinner and dance. For details call ILWU Canada, 604-254-8141.)
Maintaining
the memory of the
Trek has been the aim of the On to Ottawa Historical Society in recent
years. (See http://www.ontoottawa.ca.) The
Society is holding a public event
on Sunday, June 6, from 1 to 3 pm in east Vancouver's Crab Park. That
location, at the north foot of Main Street, is where hundreds of
Trekkers, led by the Relief Camp Workers Union, boarded CPR freight
trains on the morning of June 3, 1935. Their strategy was to take the
demand for "work and wages" directly to the Conservative government of
R.B. "Iron Heel" Bennett, notorious for opposing unemployment insurance
or any other social program to ease the mass suffering of the Great
Depression.
The June 6
event will be linked
to the contemporary struggle to force governments to build social and
low-income housing to alleviate the crisis of homelessness.
Representatives of the homeless and unemployed will be among a
delegation heading to Ottawa, with stops along the way. The delegation
will support Bill C-304, proposed legislation to implement a national
housing program.
Sadly,
the last of the original
Trekkers of 1935 has passed away. Many of the survivors of this
historic movement were first reunited 25 years ago, to mark the 50th
anniversary of the Trek in 1985.
Veterans of
the Trek also went
to Ottawa along with labour and unemployed activists. They succeeded in
winning a meeting with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, using the
opportunity to put forward demands for action to tackle unemployment
during the prolonged recession of the early 1980s.
For modern
day readers, the
Wikipedia article on the Trek provides a better than average short
sketch of this historic struggle. But this article ignores the key role
of the Communist Party until the very end, when it states that the
Party "was behind the organization of the Trek."
The Trek was
actually organized
by the Relief Camp Workers Union, one of the trade unions which emerged
during the Depression after the opportunist labour leadership of the
time utterly failed to lead struggles to defend jobs, wages and working
conditions. Workers turned to unions largely led by Communists, who
were not afraid to fight the bosses.
But the real
impetus for the
Trek was the situation in the relief camps scattered across western
Canada, where the men (only single males were allowed) were paid just
twenty cents per day for doing backbreaking labour. Forced together
under terrible conditions, the men naturally began to organize into the
RCWU. Some were veterans of the First World War, not easily terrified
by authority, but with a strong sense of discipline and training.
After
strikes and other actions
in the camps achieved little, the RCWU called a meeting in Kamloops in
the spring of 1935. That meeting was organized by 20-year-old Maurice
Rush, a Young Communist League member who later in life became the BC
leader of the Communist Party. The delegates called a walkout and
brought about 1600 camp workers to Vancouver for a two-month series of
protests in Vancouver. The story of that exciting spring is well told
in a book called Fighting Heritage, published in 1985 by the Pacific
Tribune, one of the predecessor newspapers prior to People's Voice.
One of the
leading figures in
the 1985 effort was Regina's Bill Gilbey, a longtime labour leader in
Manitoba and Saskatchewan. During the Dirty Thirties, Gilbey was one of
countless young unemployed who criss-crossed the country looking for
work until he was compelled to enter the "relief camps." His story
refutes the claim that the Communists "used" the unemployed for their
own ends.
Bill Gilbey
was assigned by the
RCWU to stay behind in Vancouver when the Trekkers hopped the freights.
Somebody had to keep the union office running, put out news releases,
and raise funds. By that time a Communist, Gilbey knew his task was
important, but for fifty years he regretted missing the Trek. He
eventually became the president of the Grain Services Union, and served
for several tumultuous years during the early 1960s as president of the
Saskatchewan Federation of Labour. When the time came to mark the 50th
anniversary, he put countless hours into the celebration and was among
those who challenged Brian Mulroney.
The famous
photo of the eight
Trekkers who went to Ottawa in mid-June of 1935 for talks with Bennett
includes other Communists, notably Arthur "Slim" Evans, a veteran
labour organizer, and young Bob ("Doc") Savage. These men and countless
others took great risks during a historic period when fascism was on
the rise and many revolutionaries paid the price with their lives.
The Trekkers
who came together
in 1985, Communists and other progressives, were genuine heroes. None
gained riches or high status for their efforts, which led to the defeat
of the Bennett government, the disbanding of the slave labour camps,
unemployment insurance, and many other victories. Some died fighting
fascism in Spain, others in the bitter war against Hitlerism. Some were
blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Most remained active in the
working class movement in various ways for the rest of their lives.
The
Wikipedia article concludes
that the On to Ottawa Trek helped "increase the notoriety" of the
Communist Party. It would be correct to say that the Communists became
known as the most determined fighters for the working class, willing to
make the greatest sacrifices. Such notoriety is a badge of honour which
Communists wear proudly to this day.
9) ECONOMIC RECOVERY
"HOLLOW" WITHOUT FULL-TIME JOBS
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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.)
The job numbers for April 2010 were
"welcome news" for an economy wearied by unemployment and a staggering
loss of family-supporting jobs, but the news isn't all good, warns the
Canadian Labour Congress.
"This is the
long-awaited boost
from economic stimulus spending, with full-time jobs coming in
construction and being taken up by the group hit hardest by the
recession - men over 25," said CLC president Ken Georgetti. "These jobs
are welcome and needed, but we shouldn't fool ourselves; these jobs are
also temporary. When the stimulus spending runs out, and interest rates
on mortgages go even higher, what's left?"
"We lost
20,600 manufacturing
jobs in April, and almost 100,000 of these jobs in the last twelve
months. Most of the new jobs created outside of the economic stimulus
bubble were in retail and were part-time, lower paying jobs than the
jobs lost since the recession started. Those who pushed (and pushed
hard) for an economic stimulus package should take credit for the
relief we're seeing, but we should all be deeply concerned about the
quality of jobs being created in the long?term," said Georgetti. "We
leased this jobs recovery with government spending. We needed to do it.
However we need to focus on what's next, and that's a plan to create
long-term, full-time, family-supporting jobs for Canadians. Without
that, economic recovery is a long way off," says
Georgetti. CLC
Senior Economist Sylvain Schetagne noted that "even if the number of
jobs created last month seems impressive, the quality of these jobs
remains problematic. The level of employment in manufacturing remains
dramatically low, and the long-term unemployment rate has reached a new
record level since the beginning of the crisis."
In April
2010, the number of
Canadians active in the labour market jumped by 92,000 and about 17,000
unemployed Canadians were able to find a job. In total the labour
market added 109,000 jobs, but most were part-time (64,800). Many new
jobs created last month were in retail and wholesale trade (+31,600), a
sector where low-wage and part-time work can be found.
The number
of jobs in
manufacturing, a sector where many good jobs are found, decreased by
another 20,600. Over the last year, more than 90,000 jobs have been
lost in this sector. Since its peak in November 2002, over 575,000
manufacturing jobs have disappeared.
In fact, April 2010 saw one of the
lowest levels of employment in Canada's manufacturing sector in 30
years.
The
unemployment rate in April
2010 was 8.1%, mainly because there were barely enough jobs created to
absorb new entrants into the labour market. There were 1,498,300 people
unemployed in April 2010, compared to 1,137,400 in October 2008. The
number of unemployed in April remained more than 31% above what it was
before the beginning of the jobs crisis in 2008.
Even more
problematic, the
percentage of Canadians unemployed for more than six months was at the
highest level since the jobs crisis began in 2008. In April, 22.5% of
unemployed Canadians, or close to one in four, had been unemployed for
more than six months. The "real" unemployment rate, a rate that
includes discouraged workers and involuntary part-time workers,
remained very high in April 2010, at 11.8%. In April 2008, the "real"
unemployment rate was 8.9%.
10) ROMANTICISING
THE CRIMINAL: PROFILE OF A KILLER
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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.)
In recent months the western media
has frequently reported on a so-called "Maoist uprising" against the
Left Front government of India's Bengal state, led by the Communist
Party of India (Marxist). This commentary from our correspondent in
India, B. Prasant, rips the lid off this anti-communist myth.
When things
become tough, the
"tough" is invented, demystified, made into a "romantic, tough-talking,
hero", one who kills of Communists with impractical ease. That was the
violently anti-Communist "cold war" of yore.
Remember the
film character
Rambo and the single-handed way he destroyed Soviet columns in
Afghanistan? Hark even further back, and recall that the Hitler-jugend
(the Nazi youth brigade) called their criminal leader "the God's way
out of hell", even when brave and battle-hardened Soviet troops were
pouring across the border, and the "leader" was quaking in primal fear
in an underground bunker.
Now look at
what is happening in
Bengal. The "Maoists" are patently losing their grip over people,
instilled through the gun culture, extortion, mines, booby traps, and
bloody killings.
Fear has a
hold that cannot last
long. Fear is a temporary phenomenon, especially when applied against
the mass of the people by the ruling classes and their political
outfits.
One recalls
Mao Ze Dong,
addressing a massive rally in 1949 in Guangdong province that, just as
the imperialist and exploiters sharpened their claws, the masses
whetted their unity. Mao's words were "let them sharpen their weaponry,
we shall hone ours."
What has
happened over the past
two months in the red clay zone of Bengal, called "captured terrain" by
the likes of Kishanji and the corporate media? The killings of CPI(M)
cadres and the rural poor are becoming comparatively rare. The
village-based committees keep a sharper and wider lookout. The
"Maoists" are on the backfoot. Developmental work is making a discrete,
peripheral, but definitive appearance. However, not all is lost for the
killers, as long as the forces of reaction with imperialist backing
find newer ways to harass the poor and the exploited.
The time has
come, the Patrika
newspaper has decided, to pose the unconquerable myth of a villain. In
writing the story of the Maoist "Kishanji", his life and love, his
penchant for alcohol ("revolutionary stuff", you understand), the
reporter may (or more probably, may not) have actually met the "Maoist"
leader, on a "moonlit night where the faint light slides off the
leaves". That is not important. What is important is the reporter's
corporate bosses have asked him to write a romantic tale on "Kishanji."
The entire
exercise is
nauseating when one recalls the same "Kishanji" using his own hands to
roughly sew together lips of CPI(M) workers before torturing them in
public, killing them by chopping off body parts, and finally leaving
them to die in a pool of blood. However, in doing all this, the ruling
classes, - and the "Maoists" are the tools of the Indian ruling classes
- create conditions that prove their undoing.
Answering a
question about the
necessity to kill poor villagers, "Kishanji" is supposed to have told
our brave reporter that "too many villagers were working for the
administration." What the "heroes" do not reveal is that more and more
of the rural poor are standing up for their rights under the Red banner
of the CPI(M), and protests are leading to resistance.
The story
has revealed the
contradiction, to the detriment of the task to project "Kishanji" as
the all-conquering popular, romantic hero. Thus, one should welcome
more such stories in the bourgeois media. Lies piled on lies ultimately
produce the burgeoning of class hatred, as the masses become
politically conscious of the tasks that lie ahead.
11) FEARS OF MORE
POLITICAL EXECUTIONS IN IRAN
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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.)
The British-based
Committee for
the Defence of the Iranian People's Rights (CODIR) has condemned the
May 9 execution of five political prisoners accused by Iran's
theocratic regime of actions against "national security" and "links
with counter-revolutionary groups". Neither the families or lawyers of
the five were aware of the executions in Tehran's Evin prison, and the
bodies had still not been released about two weeks later.
Opposition
forces say the
charges against the five victims were fabricated by the regime to
justify harsh treatment, including execution, of its political
opponents.
Farzad
Kamangar was arrested by
Ministry of Intelligence officials along with two other members of the
Kurdish minority, Ali Heydariyan and Farhad Vakili, in Tehran around
July 2006. The three were sentenced to death after being convicted of
"moharebeh" (enmity towards God), a charge levelled against those
accused of taking up arms against the state, in connection with their
alleged membership of the armed group, the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK). The trial took place in secret, lasting only minutes. The death
sentences of all three men were upheld by the Supreme Court. Also
executed were Mehdi Eslami and Shirin Alam Hooli.
All five
victims had repeatedly
rejected the allegations of being involved in terrorist
activities. In
the case of Farzad Kamangar, a teacher and journalist, his main "crime"
was that during a short visit to Tehran he had stayed in the house of
Heydaryan and Vakili, whom he knew. The authorities alleged that they
had discovered explosive materials from a car belonging to Heydaryan
and Vakili.
Shirin Alam
Hooli, a 28-year-old
Kurdish woman, was sentenced to death for her alleged support for PJAK,
a militant opposition group. Convicted of "enmity against God", she was
repeatedly subjected to torture and degrading treatment. She had no
access to legal representation, and her rights as an accused were never
observed.
Jamshid
Ahmadi, Assistant
General Secretary of CODIR, condemned the action of the Iranian regime
in executing these political detainees.
"Fearing the
eruption of a new
wave of popular protests on the first anniversary of the fraudulent
presidential election of 12 June 2009, the regime has attempted to
inculcate a climate of fear and terror in Iran," he said. "The regime's
rush to execute these prisoners, in the face of international concern
about the sharp deterioration in the human rights situation over the
past year, is a disgrace."
Iranians
inside and outside the
country and progressive forces all over the world have protested the
executions. There was a general strike in Iran's Kurdistan province on
May 13 to condemn these killings, as four of the victims were of
Kurdish background.
The
executions raise serious
concerns about the fate of other political prisoners in Iran. Jailed
labour activists and teachers include Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim
Madadi, leaders of the Tehran Bus Workers' Union (Vahed Syndicate), and
teachers like Abdolreza Ghanbari (who has been sentenced to death),
Seyed Hashem Khastar, Rasoul Bedaghi, Abdollah Momeni, Mahmoud Beheshti
Langeroudi, Ali Akbar Baghani, Mohammad Davari, Alireza Hashemi,
Hossein Baastaninejad, and Ghorban Ahmadi (according to the Iranian
Teachers' Trade Association). Hundreds of students, women's rights',
human rights' and political activists are in prisons across Iran.
Labour
organizations elsewhere
have also expressed their outrage, from Education International to the
International Metal Workers' Federation. In Canada, protests have been
sent by the Canadian Teachers' Federation, Canadian Union of Public
Employees, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and others.
12) WITH STRANGE BEDFELLOWS:
MOBILIZATION AGAINST PREVAL GAINS MOMENTUM
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010 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.)
By Kim Ives, Editor of
Haiti Liberté
Thousands of
demonstrators
marched through Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince on May 10 calling for
President René Preval's resignation and former President
Jean-Bertrand
Aristide's return from exile in South Africa. Parallel mobilizations
took place in towns throughout Haiti, including Miragoane, Cap Haitien,
Gonaives, and Jacmel.
The giant
march came as
Senators, mostly from the President's party, Unity, voted 16 against
two to amend Article 232 of Haiti's 1987 Constitution, extending
Preval's mandate from Feb. 7 until May 14, 2011. Deputies had approved
the change in a May 6 vote of 56 for, three against and three
abstentions.
On May 10,
the 48th Legislature also expired, with only one third of the Senate
remaining with a mandate.
Like the
drop that overflows the
glass, Preval's three month term extension seems to have finally
released a flood of anger against a host of policies, including last
week's sale of the state telephone company, the maintenance of a
Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) which excluded 14 parties
(including Haiti's largest, the Lavalas Family) from now postponed
elections, and the 18 month "state of emergency law" that puts a
foreign-led commission in charge of Haiti's post-earthquake
reconstruction.
Marchers
also reiterated
long-standing demands that include an end to the six-year-old United
Nations military occupation and stronger measures to resolve widespread
homelessness and hunger four months after the Jan. 12 earthquake that
devastated the capital and other nearby towns.
The
Port-au-Prince demonstration
was led by an emerging coalition called the Heads Together of Popular
Organizations (Tet Kole Oganizasyon
Popile yo), which is primarily
composed of Lavalas base organizations with a smattering of formerly
anti-Lavalas political personalities and alliances such as Evans Paul's
Alternative for Democracy and Progress, Serge Gilles' social democratic
Fusion, and Himmler Rebu's Platform of Haitian Patriots (PLAPH).
Dubbed
"Operation Take No
Breath" (Operasyon san pran souf),
Tet Kole's mobilization aims to
replace Preval with a provisional president and a Council of State
similar to that which brought President Aristide's predecessor, Ertha
Pascale-Trouillot, to power 20 years ago.
"Faced with
this situation of
terrible suffering in which society lives today, we, grassroots
organizations, civil society groups, and platforms of principled
political parties have decided in unity to reject the state of
emergency law, the widespread corruption, the Constitutional changes,
the maintenance of the exclusionary CEP, and the extension of the
presidential term," said Tet Kole's Paulette Joseph and Bateau Junior
in a message read at the Champ de Mars' Constitution Place. "We have
decided to launch a mobilization which will continue until the complete
satisfaction of our demands. We demand the immediate resignation of
President Preval for betraying the trust of the people, for violating
the Constitution, and for liquidating the country for foreigners. We
demand the formation of a provisional government to improve the living
conditions of people who were victim of the Jan. 12 disaster. We want
to lay the foundations for rebuilding a better Haiti. We demand the
annulment of the 18 month state of emergency law."
Most of the
demonstrators
marched to the crumpled National Palace from St. Jean Bosco, where
Father Aristide used to preach before the church was burned by
neo-Duvalierist thugs on Sept. 11, 1988. Feeder marches from the Belair
et Carrefour Feuilles slums also joined the masses in the Champ de Mars.
Near the
Palace, Haitian riot
police fired bullets and teargas at the demonstrators. Witnesses say
that policemen beat several demonstrators including Makenson Pierre and
Robenson Remy, two musicians with the "Easy Rara" street band whose
drums and horns motivated marchers. Haitian police and UN soldiers
arrested four demonstrators, and unconfirmed reports say several
protestors were wounded.
Meanwhile,
about 60 miles west
in Miragoane and north in Gonaives, hundreds of people, mostly Lavalas
partisans, also demonstrated with the same demands as the capital.
In Cap
Haitien, hundreds of
residents held an action of banging pots and pans to signal unhappiness
with Preval's food policies. In Jacmel, the Alternative Movement for
Haiti's Decentralization and Reconstruction (MADREH) held a sit-in with
hundreds in front of the central government's office to demand Preval's
resignation.
Many
eyebrows have been raised
at the sight of 2004 coup supporters like "student" leader Herve
Saintilus, perennial politician Turneb Delpe, and Democratic
Convergence leaders like Paul, Gilles and Rebu marching alongside
Lavalas partisans holding aloft posters of Aristide's smiling face.
"One of our
principal demands is
that the government provide former President Aristide with a passport
so he can return to his country," Delpe declared.
But many in
Haiti's democracy
movement fear that right-wing politicians are feigning support for
Lavalas demands and will try to hijack the mass mobilization to push
Preval from power and install an even more reactionary government.
"We are
organizing now to provide leadership to this mass movement which is
forming," Evans Paul said on Radio Tropical.
But Yves
Pierre-Louis, a leader
with the National Platform of Base Organizations and State Victims
(PLONBAVIL), one of Tet Kole's key components, says that Lavalas and
progressive militants are confident they will keep control of the
movement.
"We are very
aware of the
dangers posed by allowing former putschists into our alliance and
demonstrations, and we talk about it all the time," he said. "But right
now, Preval has gone too far in selling out the country and trampling
the Constitution. He must be stopped. This requires a broad coalition,
but we are not diluting our demands. Some politicians, who have been
our opponents, are embracing our demands, or at least pretending to.
Whatever the case, the unity and consciousness of the progressive
forces in this mobilization are strong, and we will prevail."
Preval
proposed Article 232's
amendment as it has become clear that presidential and parliamentary
elections are unlikely to be held by November, especially if he refuses
to reconstitute the CEP. "I cannot just leave while an unfinished
[electoral] process is underway," Preval said in a May 6 press
conference.
The new
Article 232 is worded so that Preval can leave office anytime between
Feb. 7 and May 14, 2011.
Due to
difficulties in
organizing elections after the Feb. 29, 2004 coup d'etat against
Aristide, Preval was not elected until Feb. 7, 2006, the date when a
new president should have been inaugurated according to the
Constitution. Preval began his five-year term on May 14, 2006.
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010, 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 and overseas readers - $50 per year. Send to:
People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark
Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)
VANCOUVER, BC
Communist
Party of Canada 89th anniversary, forum and celebration
- 7:30 pm, Thursday, May
27, 706 Clark Drive. Sponsor:
Vancouver East Club CPC,
604-255-2041.
Stop Harper’s War Now, antiwar rally -
1 pm, Sat., May 29, Vancouver Art Gallery, organized by StopWar peace
coalition, http://www.stopwar.ca.
Left
Film Night, Sunday - May 30, 7 pm, “From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks,” on ILWU leader Harry Bridges. Free admission, donations welcome, Centre for Socialist Education, 706 Clark Drive. For info, call 604-255-2041.
DUKOT, film on human rights in the
Philippines - June 3-4, UBC Robson Square, C-300 Theatre, 6:30
pm, $15.
18th Annual People’s Voice/Rebel
Youth Banquet - Sat., June 5, 6 pm,
Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Ave. Tickets $10 advance or at door, call
604-254-9836 or 255-2041 for details.
On-to-Ottawa Trek, historical plaque
ceremony and send-off for 2010
homelessness Trekkers - Sunday, June 6, 1-3 pm, Crab Park (N.
foot of
Main), check http://www.ontoottawa.ca.
StopWar Coalition AGM - Sat.,
June 12, 11-4, Maritime Labour Centre, 111 Victoria Drive.
75th Anniversary of Battle of
Ballantyne Pier, ILWU Canada events - Sat.,
June 19, march 9 am, from Maritime Labour Centre, 12 noon rally at New
Brighton Park, evening dinner & dance.
COPE Solstice BBQ - Monday,
June 21, at Vancouver Rowing Club. Support
COPE’s work at City Hall, Parks Board, and School Board. Tickets $60,
call 604-813-7627.
CALGARY, AB
On-To-Ottawa
Trek, 75th anniversary celebration - Wed., June 9, 7:30 pm,
ATU Union Hall, 5325-1A Street SW. An entertaining multi-media
celebration of history, labour and social conscience.
TORONTO, ON
Bazaar & White Elephant Sale -
Sat., May 29, 11-4, AUUC Cultural Centre, 1604 Bloor West (between
Dundas and Keele).
Arts & crafts, bake table, bingo, raffle, bargains galore, lunch
and refreshments. Tables for rent $15. For info, contact Patricia,
416-604-8724.
People’s Voice Street Sale - Sat.,
May 29, 8 am-2 pm, proceeds to Fund
Drive, 526 Main St. (2 blocks north of Main Subway). Hot dogs &
sausages, clothes, books, jewellery, plants, and more! Call Liz at
416-469-2481 for info.
Harper’s attacks on reproductive
rights at home and abroad, panel
discussion - Monday, June 21, 7 pm, 25 Cecil St., organized by
Ontario
Coalition for Abortion Clinics, 416-969-8463.
G8/G20 People First Forum, sponsored
by CLC - Sat., June 19, 10 am-4:30 pm. For details, see report
on page 10.
G8/G20
rally and march - Sat.,
June 26, 1 pm, from Queen’s Park, call 416-441-3710 for details.
FORT ERIE, ON
Canadian-Cuban Friendship
Association-Niagara - social event Sunday,
June 13, 2-6 pm, $5 for a taste of cuba, BBQ, Cuban music, 1760 Ridge
Road.
WINNIPEG,
MB
Defeat Veolia waste water contract, strategy meeting for supporters -
Tue., June 8, for time & place, call Labour Elections Committee,
792-3371.
On-To-Ottawa Trek, 75th anniversary
celebration - Wed., June 9, 7:30 pm,
ATU Union Hall, 5325-1A Street SW. An entertaining multi-media
celebration of history, labour and social conscience.
MONTREAL, QC
Parti Communiste du Québec and
Clarté Office launch - (new
date), 1 pm,
Sunday, May 30, at Association des Travailleurs Grecs Hall, 5359 Ave du
Parc. Live music, refreshments, political discussion on the Common
Front and the fightback.
Palestinians And Jews United, vigil against the occupation, every
Friday at noon, Sainte-Catherine and Union (near Metro McGill).
Solidarity with the
Greek workers!
Support the
PV 2010 Fund Drive!
14)
PV FUND DRIVE: $50,000
IN 2010
$30,711 raised: 61.4%
(The following
article is from the June 1-15, 2010, 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 and overseas readers - $50 per year. Send to:
People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark
Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)
Our Fund Drive for 2010 has now reached 61.4% of our target. By May 21, we have $30,711 towards our goal of $50,000. That means nearly another $6,000 has been raised since the previous issue - a welcome addition, but also a reminder that we need to step up the pace.
Several successful events were
held in recent days, especially the Burnaby Club’s annual Mother’s Day Pancake Breakfast, which drew a record crowd of about 60 readers and brought in $737. Great work!
Our Saskatchewan supporters are still in the lead, now with $745 raised on their $800 target, or 93.1%. With just $55 more, Saskatchewan will be first across the finish line! Ontario has jumped into second place, at 63.5%.
So far we have received
$13,712 from Ontario readers
towards their provincial target
of $21,600. Quebec is now in
third place, with $300 raised, or 60% of their $500 target. Next is Manitoba, with $1,345 turned in or 56%, followed by British Columbia readers, who have passed the halfway mark, raising $10,019 of their $20,000 goal. Alberta remains at 39.7%, with $1350 out of $3400 raised. Newfoundland has sent in 20% of their $400 goal, and we have $120 from the Maritimes, or 10% of their $1200 target. Another $900 has been raised by miscellaneous and overseas friends.
This issue looks at the past, present and future of the working class movement. June will be a month to remember the battles of 1935, and to build solidarity with our sisters and brothers on the front lines of the struggle against neoliberalism in Greece. The capitalist agenda will be in our backyard this month, when the G8 and G20 come to Ontario. The working class press today remains a vital weapon in the battle of ideas, just as it was at the time of the On to Ottawa Trek!
British Columbia readers are looking forward to the 18th annual People’s Voice/Rebel Youth Banquet, starting 6 pm, Saturday, June 5, at the Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Ave. Tickets are just $10; call Sam at 604-254-9836 for more details.
Our biggest fundraiser of the Drive is usually the annual Walk-A-Thon organized by the Lower Fraser Club. This year’s event will be on Sunday, August 1, at Bear Creek Park in Surrey. Watch our next issue for more information. ●
