A calendar for the year 2008, dedicated to the struggles of the international working class for peace and socialism. Featuring notable dates, short biographical sketches, plus poetry, speeches, and writings by Che Guevara, Clara Zetkin, Norman Bethune, James Connolly, Emiliano Zapata, Nikos Beloyannis, Dolores Ibarruri, V.I. Lenin, Pablo Neruda, Gladys Marin, Tim Buck, Nazim Hikmet, Ho Chi Minh, and Salvador Allende. Available for $10 plus $2 postage from People's Voice, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.

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1) HOW LONG CAN ORGANIZED LABOUR LIVE WITH THIS?

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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.)

Labour commentary by Sam Hammond

     World class quality + world class productivity = our jobs to Mexico. Thanks, G.M.!

     This slogan was the message on a large banner carried at the head of a 5000-strong protest parade and rally on June 12 outside the General Motors Truck Assembly Plant in Oshawa, Ontario. Although the crowd was mostly CAW members, it was significant that there were also banners from CUPE, Ironworkers, Steelworkers, Teachers, Office & Professional Workers, Building Trades and others.

     There was a mood of rebellion and defiance. Expressions like betrayal, back‑stabbing, arrogance and corporate liars filled the air. Just three weeks earlier, General Motors pulled off a corporate class double‑cross of the CAW negotiating team, which had gone into early contract-opening concession bargaining to secure in writing, in a legal contract, the protection of jobs and investment until 2011.

     General Motors obviously knew quite well what they were going to do even as they led the negotiators, captained by Buzz Hargrove, down the primrose path. Why did they do this? Why not just announce the plant closure without this cruel charade?

     But more importantly, how is it that some of the most experienced trade unionists in Canada could be led so easily down this road of false trust and betrayal? Did they panic, or are they under some kind of illusion that the company respects workers?

     When the CAW leadership opened up the contracts without membership input before their own policy and negotiating conference, and went into bargaining without the strike weapon (their only weapon), they showed the corporations a weakness that General Motors could not resist exploiting.

     General Motors has sent a message to the CAW membership, and to all Canadian working people. The message is that they can do any damn thing they want, and they have the politicians, the courts and the police to assist them. The evidence is on display already in the form of a court injunction against the CAW blockade of GM's Canadian corporate headquarters.

     That blockade was ordered lifted on Monday, June 16, and the union obeyed. Local union spokespersons called it a victory because the judge criticized General Motors - a slap on the wrist while effectively delivering the goods.

     Thousands of people can be angry and unite to protect themselves (and our economy, too), but one little judge in one little courtroom can bring the entire apparatus of the capitalist state behind the corporation and guarantee loss for the workers and victory for the corporation. This is democracy capitalist style, the rule of the minority, the exploitation of the majority.

     In the background sit Ford and Chrysler. Now that GM has opened the road, any other corporation in this troubled land can walk down it any day they wish. How long can the organized working class live with this? Can we really have a trade union movement that amounts to anything when every slight resistance can be crushed and neutralized by one man in a courtroom issuing an injunction?

     What can be done about this? To defy the courts means criminal charges and perhaps jail - just ask the Aboriginal peoples.

     But the answer has already been supplied, the method has already been established - just ask the British Columbia Teachers. Courage and solidarity, winning the public and independent political campaigning. There is no other way. It is hard rations, but it is the reality of working class life. Until this issue is taken up, any individual judge in this country has more strength than the millions of members of the CLC and the CNTU, of the entire working class. The use of injunctions in labour disputes or to prevent massive protest is a violation of the right to assemble and the right of free association. It is a violation of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights. It cannot be allowed to stand.

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2) BC'S FOREST JOBS CRISIS

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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

How catastrophic is the downturn in the west coast forest industry? It's so bad that B.C. forests minister Rich Coleman can't keep track of the dozens of mill closures and over 11,000 jobs lost during the past year.

     Demands keep mounting for the resignation of Coleman, an ex-RCMP officer who clings desperately to his free market ideology as forest-based communities sink into crisis.

     One of the minister's worst days came in early May, during question period in the provincial legislature. Taunted by NDP MLAs about the industry's woes, Coleman was reduced to babbling that perhaps the opposition members "don't like" the employees of Western Forest Products, the province's biggest forest company. After all, he said, despite heavy criticism from workers and environmentalists alike, WFP had "seven mills operating, three re‑man (wood re-manufacturing) mills and 17 logging operations going on Vancouver Island right now."

     On that same day, the company laid off almost 1000 loggers and contractors. No less than six of the 17 operations cited by Coleman faced closure before question period began the next day.

     Coleman's response? "On Vancouver Island there are seven sawmills and three re-man plants run by Western Forest Products." This bluster came just two weeks after WFP's decision to close its Ladysmith sawmill indefinitely, blaming a drastic drop in U.S. housing construction and the recent surge in the value of the Canadian dollar. Then on June 19 came news of further WFP layoffs in anticipation of falling cedar sales.

     At the heart of this bust is the economic turmoil south of the border, where the sub-prime mortgage crisis is one of the factors devastating the U.S. housing industry. Despite bland reassurances from the Harper Tories that the U.S. recession won't affect Canada, the impact is already a reality here, and things will probably get worse. Lumber prices, which collapsed in late 2006, are expected to remain depressed for at least another year.

     For the moment, official unemployment rates still seem relatively low for British Columbia, with a jobless rate of about six percent. But Canada's jobless numbers are skewed by statistical sleight of hand, such as not counting those who have given up looking for work.

     The nature of work is also changing. Jobs in west coast primary and secondary industries such as wood and forestry are disappearing fast. There is a breathtaking shift from higher-paying employment in smaller towns (the "heartland", in Premier Gordon Campbell's election terminology), to poverty-level jobs in the Vancouver region. The process has been accelerated by the latest cyclical crisis in the forest industry, leaving many communities in chaos and despair.

     There was a time when logging and related industries were called "green gold," the solid foundation of B.C.'s rapidly-growing economy, based on the exploitation of unceded Aboriginal territories. Mining and fishing were also major contributors to the provincial gross domestic product, but forestry stood supreme.

     Times have changed. Looking at 2007 figures, B.C.'s gross domestic product was $150 billion. Forestry and logging accounted for just over $3 billion of that amount, or 2%, down from 2.9% in 1997. Over those ten years, employment in this sector fell from 32,200 to 24,300.

     Wood, pulp and paper, and related sectors saw a smaller decline in relative importance. The total GDP for these industries was about $6 billion in 1997 (5.5% of the provincial total), rising to $7.2 billion in 2007 (but just 4.8% of GDP). Employment in wood products fluctuated around 44,000 during that decade, while paper manufacturing jobs fell from 23,100 to 15,200.

     In this context, 11,000 layoffs amount to one in every eight forestry-related jobs. Some of the layoffs are temporary, but the negative spinoff is also huge. The forest sector still accounts for over one-third of B.C.'s export earnings, and an estimated 250,000 jobs depend on the industry.

     Some workers are fighting back. On May 23, over 1,000 people held a "Save Our Community" rally in Mackenzie. Every major mill in this town of 4200 people north of Prince George has now been closed, putting unemployment at about 80%. The rally passed resolutions demanding an extension of EI benefits to towns hit by catastrophic job losses, and the preservation of provincial spending on infrastructure such as schools and health care facilities.

     On a wider scale, the United Steelworkers (which represents most loggers and many other forestry workers since absorbing the IWA several years ago) and other unions and environmental groups have been campaigning for drastic changes in provincial policies over the industry.

     As Steelworkers Western Canada director Steve Hunt said back in January, "Since Gordon Campbell took power in May 2001, there have been over 20,000 industry jobs lost in the mills and woods, including the permanent closures of at least 43 wood‑processing facilities... The unwritten future legacy of the Campbell government promises to be the hollowing out and destruction of the BC forest industry."

     Other sources of the crisis are varied, including the mountain pine beetle devastation. But Hunt notes that since the Liberals took office, 30 million cubic meters of raw logs have been exported from BC, benefitting competitors in the U.S. and other countries. The union estimates that six percent of the total provincial harvest is now shipped out as raw logs, "enough to run ten good-sized sawmills." Workers and their families watch in dismay as an unending stream of logging trucks exports their jobs. Years of demonstrations and political pressures have failed to move the Liberals, who face falling voter support in many "heartland" ridings.

     Liberal "solutions" include giving forest companies a competitive edge by reducing the time between rotations, which inevitably results in lower‑value fibre that is only useful for pulp. Shorter rotations affect the long‑term sustainability of the forest sector, and the continued logging of old growth forests is also unsustainable.

     Another Liberal policy has been to loosen restrictions on tree farm licenses, allowing corporations to turn forests into real estate developments. The outpouring of public anger may yet limit the extent of this change, which rips up the historic deal requiring companies to provide jobs by processing Crown timber locally in return for TFLs. One of the biggest offenders is Western Forest Products, which wants to make huge profits by selling off TFL lands while it closes mills.

     Then there was the shadowy agreement reached several years ago between the Liberals and the forestry companies, to relax safety regulations and enforcement. In a move to reduce labour costs, loggers and other workers became "independent contractors", compelled to work harder and longer to earn a living. Fatalities in the industry jumped from 16 in 2004 to 43 in 2005, the worst year on record. Union and community outrage over this slaughter forced some improvements, but it was clear that the Liberals were in power to serve the corporations, not the workers.

     That point was hammered home during the six-week strike in 2007 by woodworkers, an attempt to reverse concessions forced upon them in a 2003 strike. This time around, the union and the industry appealed for an emergency assistance plan from the province, and Coleman promised one would be released a week after the strike was settled. The plan took much longer to issue, and it falls far short of what both sides wanted.

     Maurita Prato of the Dogwood Initiative, a group sharply critical of the government, pointed out recently that "predictable, cyclical, downturns in the forest industry happen about every 10 years. Ultimately, the current downturn may work out just fine for large corporate entities that have enough cash to weather the storm and wait for those less fortunate to fall. Downturns create the opportunity for forest companies to demand larger government concessions, exacerbating, not alleviating the boom and bust cycle. If government doesn't step in and make changes, we will likely see further corporate consolidation in the forest industry, before the crisis is over. That means more control of B.C.'s forests to fewer corporate entities whose bottom line is competing on the global market and making money as fast as possible for shareholders."

     Prato hit the nail on the head. Throughout B.C. history, small, independent sawmills and even larger companies have been swallowed up by bigger corporations with cash reserves. During the latest crisis, some have already gone under, such as Pope & Talbot, which operated four sawmills and two pulp mills in British Columbia. Interfor has bought two of these sawmills, and Weyerhaeuser's Kamloops forest licenses have been bought up by Interfor and West Fraser Timber.

     The Campbell Liberals are widely seen as willing tools of the big forestry corporations. In a May 6 editorial titled "B.C.'s forestry crisis is rooted in ideology," the Nanaimo Daily News came to the following conclusion: "Their (the government's) eyes remained firmly closed to the complete mismanagement of a resource that was once the envy of the world. The raw logs continued to flow out of the province and the economic focus turned to enriching shareholders instead of investing in new technologies necessary to compete on the world market.... The government has created an atmosphere in which owners are not accountable for the mess they have created in this industry, and the government itself ‑ to protect such a policy ‑ has had to pretend nothing has gone wrong."

     The editorial also said that "good business practices" can cushion the effect of downturns. This argument misses the reality that capitalism is a system which compels corporations to place immediate profits ahead of long-term public or environmental benefits. Yet immediate reforms are needed, starting with a ban on log exports.

     One set of changes is being promoted by the Coalition for Sustainable Forest Solutions, which unites a wide range of First Nations, unions, and environmental groups.

     The Coalition is circulating a "Citizens' Declaration on Forest Solutions," based on the following principles: reconcile Aboriginal and Crown title; create, implement, and enforce forest management standards that promote the long‑term health of BC's forest ecosystems; enhance public control and oversight of our forest resources, including rebuilding the public service; redistribute a majority of tenure at the lowest taxpayer cost in order to create a new social contract in BC's forests and to provide greater opportunities for First Nations, communities and local jobs; ensure the public gets full value for forest resources through transparent log markets and related timber pricing reforms; ensure broad access to the timber supply and strengthen raw log export restrictions for the development of a strong, diverse value‑added industry.

     Legislation to implement these goals would reverse the Campbell government's disastrous policies, restoring hope that the industry can be salvaged. In the long run, to escape the "boom-bust" cycle and the dangers of monopoly control, ownership of the west coast forests must be taken by the First Nations and the people of British Columbia. Without progress towards these short and long term goals, the future of this province is in grave doubt.

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3) BOMBS NOT JOBS - HARPER'S WAR PLAN

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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 Darrell Rankin, Manitoba leader of the Communist Party of Canada and former member of the Canadian Peace Alliance executive

The first problem with the Conservative government's Canada First Defence Strategy released on June 19 is the title.

     A government whose Prime Minister cannot separate his lips from George Bush's behind will never stand up for Canada. So much for "Canada First"!

     The vast increase of military spending and support for military doctrines and views in the paper displays a strong ambition to put Canada in the top rank of imperialist countries. But really it signifies a total subservience to U.S. imperialism's global military hegemony.

     If you ask manufacturing workers, Aboriginal people, women and youth, you'd know that Prime Minster Stephen Harper is not standing up for people in Canada either. You cannot separate Harper's foreign and domestic policy.

     Harper wishes Canada would have helped the U.S. invade Iraq. If the Conservatives had a majority government, Harper would involve Canada with every U.S. imperialist aggression and weapon, such as missile defence.

     For months, the Harper government announced one billion dollar purchase after another. Arctic patrol ships, Hercules and Globemaster aircraft to carry troops around the world, helicopters and so on. As if to justify the purchases, the Conservatives posted the 22‑page policy paper on the National Defence website, unannounced late at night. What a way to spend half a trillion dollars over the next twenty years!

     Fearful of public debate and scrutiny, the Harper government issued the document as quietly as it could. What a contrast to recent federal governments that held hearings and invited comments on military policy.

     Imagine if the Harper regime lasts twenty years. Canada's military will be one of the largest in the world; perhaps the seventh largest if other countries stay the same. Close to Germany, Russia and Japan; about half the size of France, Britain and China.

     For a smaller country like Canada to have such a huge military would be a criminal waste. Hundreds of thousands of people will never start good‑paying jobs. Homes, schools and hospitals won't be built.

     Harper's plan can be explained by his hopeless situation in Afghanistan. But more broadly, crisis after crisis is making capitalism less acceptable to millions of people. These crises are sparking imperialism's neo‑con drive to militarism and reaction. Harper is following orders from Bush to spend more on the military or else be rejected as a loyal ally of U.S. imperialism.

     The section of big business that Harper represents is fearful of its U.S. masters in Washington, more fearful of Canadian resistance, and too timid to keep any resource from draining South to feed the U.S. war machine. (These financiers have a lot of influence over the Liberals and the lone NDP government in Manitoba, too.)

     The Harper government could pour twice or triple the money into the military than it contemplates but it won't crush resistance in Afghanistan. It will never crush the growing resistance around the world to capitalist domination. But the cost of failing to oppose Harper's war agenda will be enormous, at home and abroad.

     The peace movement's focus on getting Canada out of Afghanistan is still necessary, but increased military spending must be opposed as a growing danger.

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4) TORY LAW-BREAKERS CAUGHT AGAIN

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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.)

People's Voice Editorial, July 1-31, 2008

Yet again, the Harper Tories have been exposed as law-breakers. A June 19 Federal Court ruling in favour of the Canadian Wheat Board found that the gag order imposed by the government on the CWB two years ago was unconstitutional and illegal. This is the third such ruling in the past twelve months.

     Judge Roger Hughes found that the government's intent was to silence the farmer-run CWB on the single desk issue. In effect, the Wheat Board was not allowed to present its case to continue the longstanding system of single-desk sales of wheat and barley, by a Tory government intent on turning over sales to the transnational grain monopolies.

     Every time farmers challenge the Harper government in court, the Tories are found to be breaking laws. In July 2007, a Federal Court ruled against the government's attempt to remove barley from the CWB single desk system through a Cabinet Decree, clearly bypassing laws which call for a producer vote and parliamentary approval of such a change. The government lost its appeal of that case in February of this year.

     Not only have the Tories wasted millions of taxpayer dollars, their illegal actions have also cost farmers millions of dollars in legal fees by forcing them into expensive legal battles for basic democratic rights and the right to free speech. Farmers even had to pay, through the Wheat Board, for the severance package of Adrian Measner, the former CWB CEO who was fired without cause by Harper against the wishes of the farmer‑elected CWB Board of Directors.

     This is just one of many examples of the arrogant attitude of the Harper government. Even without a majority in Parliament, and with the support of only one in three voters, these bullies casually dismiss any criticism of their policies. It's time for the opposition parties to bring down this government and let the voters toss the Harper gang into the trash where they belong.

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5) THE $50 BILLION ENERGY WINDFALL

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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.)

People's Voice Editorial, July 1-31, 2008

Rarely mentioned in media coverage of skyrocketing fuel prices is the even steeper climb in energy profits. A recent industry magazine report found that fourteen of Canada's top oil and gas firms racked up $6.4 billion in profits for the first quarter of this year. Privatized Petro-Canada was the big winner, with $1.1 billion profits. Putting it in perspective, that's about $200 profit per Canadian during the first three months of 2008 alone. In percentage terms, profits for these companies are up more than 33% over the same period of 2007.

     Since then, oil prices have soared past $135/barrel, and drivers are paying nearly $1.50 per liter. Total annual profits for the entire energy industry in Canada could easily top $50 billion for the year 2008, or $1,500 per capita. Every time oil prices go up at the expense of working people, the Toronto stock exchange rises, so the rich get richer while the rest of us get poorer.

     No wonder the majority of Canadians support public ownership of energy resources. Think what such staggering profits could provide: enough low-income housing to end homelessness, universal, free child care, a huge increase in health care workers, and much more.

     Not least, public ownership would allow the peoples of Canada to make crucial decisions about the nature of the industry, which is pumping out vast quantities of greenhouse gases and fuelling the the deadly U.S. war machine. Exploitation of the tar sands in northern Alberta is killing workers and destroying vast swathes of the province, with particularly devastating effects on the Aboriginal peoples whose territories are being gobbled up.

     It's time to follow the example of Venezuela, Bolivia and other countries, where energy resources are seen as vital to conserve and to help improve the lives of working people, not as a source of mind-boggling windfall profits for the ultra-rich.

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6) HARPER OUT... OF OTTAWA!

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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.)

Pride 2008 statement issued by the Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League.

It's time for Queer Canadians to out Harper. To be clear: we really need to get Stephen Harper and his crowd out of Ottawa!!

     Says who?

     Today's communists are allies and activist members in Canada's queer communities. The Communist Party of Canada stands proud and in solidarity with many millions of LGBTiQ allies and activists marking Pride 2008.

     At 08 Pride events this summer lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, inter‑sex, questioning and two‑spirited communists celebrate and renew our struggles for equity and justice.

     Good news as Pride08 begins:

* California's same‑sex marriage ruling, made possible in part by equality gains in Canada.

* Saskatchewan Tory MP Tom Lukiwski compelled to apologize for his bigoted "humour" after public outrage.

* More queer‑positive environments in the public realm.

* A growing number of high schools with gay‑straight alliances, safe space schools for queer teens, "Pride proms".

* Increasing numbers of trade unions now have active Pride and LGBT caucuses. These legal, political and cultural victories are the hard‑won results of decades of efforts by the queer community and allies.

     This picture ain't all positive:

* Harper's Tories actually hope to reverse queer rights if they win a majority government.

* To divide working class resistance against imperialism and neo‑liberal policies, right‑wing forces constantly scapegoat the LGBT community and racialised groups.

* Pride events have been skewed by corporate sponsorship; and compromised by homophobic "Murder Music".

     Despite Canada 's welcoming image:

* Queer youth in Toronto and Montreal seeking asylum from persecution in other countries are being extradited.

* HIV‑positive men still face barriers to travel across the Canada‑US border.

* Completely unjustified homophobic bans on blood and organ donations by gay men remain in place.

* Sex‑reassignment surgery is no longer covered under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.

* LGBTQ secondary students, (over two-thirds in a recent survey) report feeling unsafe at school, (compared to 1 in 5 straight students).

     Globally,

* The struggle for full gender and sexual equality faces enormous challenges.

* Working class queer people who suffer especially vicious discrimination and as women and racialized communities bear the severe brunt of neoliberal economic and social policies.

* ILGA, the International Lesbian and Gay Association, reports that 86 United Nations member states still criminalize consensual same‑sex acts among adults.

* In seven countries, legal punishment for homosexuality still includes the death penalty, and fearful queers must be invisible, says ILGA's Rosanna Flamer-Caldera.

     Significantly, important progress for LGBTiQ equality is being achieved in countries such as Cuba, South Africa and Nicaragua. The myth that queer rights can only be won in wealthy capitalist countries is shattered by these advances, and by the reality that homophobic and racist concepts are exported by fundamentalist groups in North America and Europe.

     Here in Canada, despite the cultural and legal shift in favour of equality and diversity, homophobia and transphobia remain powerful within the Canadian state.

* Big business argues that the Conservatives need a majority "to make Parliament work."

* Corporate media wants us to believe that Harper and his cohorts have "mellowed" their reactionary attitudes. It's true that to improve his electoral chances, Harper tries to keep a lid on his MPs.

* But the election of more fundamentalist, anti‑equality Tories would only strengthen the minority who want to impose the patriarchal nuclear family as the only "acceptable" model.

* Behind his mask, Stephen Harper is anti‑equality: he has voted against same‑sex marriage, pledged to avoid the abortion issue during his first term, leaving his options open if re‑elected, snubbed the 07 international AIDS conference in Toronto.

     More danger signals:

* The appointment of anti‑choice, anti‑gay judges to provincial courts.

* The "Focus on the Family" zealots among top Tory advisors.

* The idea of a so‑called "Defence Of Religion Act" to allow wider promotion of hatred.

* Tax changes to promote the patriarchal family model.

* Moves to gut Status Of Women Canada and bar the use of government funding to promote equality.

* Legislation to criminalize youth by raising the age of consent to 16 and limit young people's access to condoms and abortions.

* Police and prosecutors are still reluctant to demand longer sentences for homophobic hate crimes.

* Canada Customs still seizes literature ordered by bookstores which serve the LGBTiQ community

* Conscious appeal to immigrant and religious communities by hate‑mongers.

     At a time when the so-called "war on terror" is used to remove civil liberties for racialized communities, we need to remind each other that "an injury to one is an injury to all." Our democratic freedoms can only be protected by standing together, united in our diversity against racialized hatred, homophobia and war‑making. Now is the time to defeat:

* those who would turn back the clock,

* those hoping to seize control of Parliament and the courts in the name of "traditional family values",

* those backed by corporate interests which aim to destroy democratic rights,

* those who would gut social programs, privatize public assets, and splinter the public school system, in their drive for higher profits.

* those who label dissenters as "terrorists," and integrate Canada into the US war machine.

     Communists believe that like racism, sexism, and national chauvinism, homophobia and transphobia are weapons used by Canada's ruling class to divide working people.

     Most Canadians support equity. Most defend the rights of racialized and Aboriginal people. Now is the time for:

* full legal and political protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.

* community organizing to unify queer rights activism in our unions, aboriginal peoples, racialized communities and immigrants, youth and students, women, seniors, environmentalists, peace activists, the LGBTiQ community, farmers, and many others.

* uniting all forces opposed to the neo‑liberal agenda in a People's Coalition around a People's Alternative agenda, leading to wider struggles for fundamental change.

     To expand and guarantee equality gains requires full social emancipation and genuine people's power in a socialist Canada, where our economy will be socially owned and democratically controlled.

     In such a society it will become possible to eliminate all forms of exploitation and oppression, while defending our sovereignty and protecting our environment. In this process, hatred and bigotry must become relics of the past. Together we will create a future in which, as Karl Marx wrote, "the free development of each is the condition for the development of all."

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7) McMASTER SESSIONALS WIN NEW CONTRACT

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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 Sean Burton, Hamilton

CUPE 3906, representing academic workers at McMaster University in Hamilton, has been in conflict with the university's administration since January of this year. The union's Unit 2, representing sessional instructors and music instructors, has sought to secure further benefits such as wage parity with other instructors, reducing the number of students they have to teach, and a host of other plans such as professional development funding, maternity leave, and drug and dental packages.

     McMaster's administration has not been receptive to these proposals. Bargaining took place between February 29 and April 11, and concluded with the university announcing that it would not speak to any demands beyond wages. On April 17, the union attempted to discuss job security and benefits, but the administration ceased negotiations, and their chief negotiator went on vacation. Little progress was made in May and early June.

     In a strike vote held from June 3 to 5, the union had strong support. CUPE 3906 led a vigorous campaign to spread the message of an impending strike. Union members picketed McMaster's convocation ceremonies at Hamilton Place for four days from June 9 to 12, and the campus was plastered with posters. The bargaining team and administration entered mediation on the 10th. Evidently, the knowledge of an imminent strike, which would have been legal as of June 15, got through to the employer, leading to a tentative agreement on the 13th.

     Union members have ratified the new contract, which expires in 2010, including many key gains. The contract represents a step forward in creating an equal and stable working environment. Sessional instructors are now officially sessional faculty, and have the right to first consideration appointments, allowing them to automatically be offered to teach a course that they have already taught two consecutive times with no limit on the number of courses. There are a host of new benefits, including maternity leave for the first time, and slightly reduced class sizes. Wage rates are also going up.

     The union was unable to win all of its demands, and some of the gains, such as the maternity leave, are not as comprehensive as they should be. Among other things, there remains no drug, dental or vision plan, no pension plan, no equal participation on faculty councils, and no guarantee of having a teaching assistant.

     Still, union officials told People's Voice that the agreement is a step towards a "real" contract, and towards making it possible for sessional faculty to make a career of their work. Some sessionals are never able to advance in their fields in the existing framework, as they are not traditional faculty members and are thus expendable. Meanwhile the number of tenured positions continues to decrease. There is still a lot to fight for, and if the university was afraid of a strike lasting even one day, there is hope that more gains will be made when the next contract comes along.

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8) WALK FOR JUSTICE HEADS TO OTTAWA

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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.)

PV Vancouver Bureau

A "walk for justice" to demand action on the cases of an estimated 3,000 missing Aboriginal and other women has left from the west coast, aiming to reach Ottawa in mid-September.

     Early on the morning of National Aboriginal Day, June 21, a crowd gathered for breakfast at Vancouver's Trout Lake Park to honour the walkers heading east into the Fraser Valley. Speakers from a number of Aboriginal and labour groups pledged support for the walk, which will be done in relay fashion across the country this summer.

     Among the speakers was Gladys Radek, from the Gitxsan Wet- suwit'en territory in northern British Columbia. She first conceived of the idea in September 2007, while walking down Highway 16 (the "Highway of Tears") to honour her missing niece, Tamara Lynn Chipman, who disappeared outside of Prince Rupert two years earlier.

     As Radek said in an earlier statement announcing the walk, "After Tamara's disappearance I began research and contacted many family members who have also lost their loved ones on this treacherous highway. Families are suffering because there has been no justice, closure, equality or accountability over the past four decades from our authorities. Our data‑base has increased to over 3000 women and children still missing or categorized as unsolved murderers across the country; there are over 200 in two areas of BC alone. This is not including those women who have died through acts of domestic violence or those who are still disappearing at an average of about three a week. Many of these 3000 women are Aboriginal...

     "In January 2008 I told a few people about my vision and we have been working non‑stop to take initiatives to address this continual violence against our women to the top leaders of this country, Prime Minister Steven Harper and INAC Minister Chuck Strahl. We began a petition online to be presented on Parliament Hill on September 15, 2008. At that time we will demand a public inquiry into these untimely deaths...

     "There needs to be a restructuring of the outdated judicial system, law enforcement and all levels of government and leadership so we may move forward into a society free of systemic neglect and discrimination. We need to address the racism, poverty, homelessness and domestic violence epidemics in this country. Women are targeted nationwide and we need it to stop. We are the life‑givers and caretakers of society. You all need us."

     More information on the Walk is on the web at http://www.walk4justice.piczo.com/?cr=6. The petition can be found at http://www.petitiononline.com/glradek/petition.html.

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9) REPRESSION AND YOUTH RESISTANCE IN ONTARIO

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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.)

PV Youth Fightback Column

This resolution was passed unanimously at the June 21-22 convention of the Communist Party of Canada (Ontario). We present here an slightly abridged version.

      Youth and students are under increasing attack by the neo‑liberal agenda in Ontario. Youth unemployment and underemployment, debt, and impoverishment are all rising ‑ spiked by the manufacturing job crisis. It is particularly acute among youth of colour, especially black youth. The vast majority of young workers are entering non‑unionized jobs, many double‑exploited by temporary agencies. Job security, benefits and even existing labour code laws are often denied to them, forcing them into working at poverty minimum wages or low wages.

     High school students continue to face the repercussions of the flawed funding formula which short changes schools. This is reflected in the high drop‑out rates and racialized school violence. The School Safety Act continues to criminalize youth, disproportionately expelling students of colour, aboriginal students, queer students and students with disabilities. Police  target teenagers and use racial profiling.

     Post‑secondary education continues to face an aggressive campaign to hike‑up and eventually deregulate tuition fees, shifting the financial burden from public funding onto the hard‑earned wages and savings of students and their families. Barriers to access particularly exclude working class and youth from oppressed communities from college, university and the trades. Perhaps the most excluded are aboriginal youth. Ontario is a province where no Aboriginal‑run university exists. Trade schools are churning out more and more students with promises of jobs that simply may not be there.

     Especially on university campuses, there has been an increasingly aggressive clamp‑down on student dissent, with attacks on free speech and restrictions on academic freedom.  The scope of corporate and military involvement on campus continues to widen ‑ ranging from military recruitment and research to the binding of scholars and students to the interests of big business funders. At many schools, the struggle for solidarity with the Palestinian peoples has been met with a heavy‑handed response, including the expulsion of students and the banning of the slogan "Israeli Apartheid." This has been coupled with anti‑Islamic racism, and student codes of conduct are now in place that restrict students' rights, chief among them the ability to organize without interference from the administration.

     In contrast with the overall approach of youth in support of peace and environmental sustainability, the government is actively stepping‑up American‑style military recruitment with paid co‑op programmes at high schools (essentially training child soldiers) as well as mass advertising and campus recruitment supposedly offering free education. This is the solution to youth who cannot afford education, or even good housing, public transit or their own car. This is the message when children are being shot in high schools and volumes of hot air and paper are spent on addressing "gang violence."

     There are, however, growing signs of resistance as students begin to stand up and fight back against these attacks. This is a front‑line and often fluid, spontaneous and sometimes contradictory struggle, not always coordinated across the province except where organizations such as the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario get involved. It is expressed by students organizing queer proms and gay‑straight alliances despite harassment; in the songs of young hip hop artists, who are forming networks that are broadly progressive and often anti‑capitalist and anti‑imperialist; by the militancy of campaigns like No One Is Illegal, whose ranks are largely youth; by the discontent coming from trade union youth at conventions; by the new Committee for Just Education (fourteen of the CJE's members have been arrested because of a peaceful sit‑in at the President's Office for reduced fees, and we express our solidarity with these activists, who face strict bail conditions banning them from campus and from protest); by the announcement by the CFS that it will step‑up a broad drop‑fees campaign in the fall; and by the challenges to Codes of Conducts across Ontario campuses.

     And it is expressed by the recent growth of the YCL and our Party among youth, including the success of the $2 PV subscriptions, as well as Rebel Youth.

     Therefore, be it resolved that this convention recognizes the youth movement as a dynamic force in the movement for a better future, a struggle the CPC Ontario both identifies with and is part of, and salutes the youth who refuse to accept the ruling class agenda!

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10) FOOD CRISIS SHOWS FAILURE OF CAPITALIST MODEL

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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 Anna Pha, The Guardian, newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia

     "It is the biggest demonstration of the historic failure of the capitalist model", Gladys France Duran Urbaneja told the World Food Security: The Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy conference held in Rome, June 3-5. Speaking on the last day of the conference, the Venezuelan representative said that what she had heard at the conference confirms that the food crisis is not a technical problem, it is social and political.

     The conference was originally scheduled as a technical meeting of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Taking place at a time of global food crisis, it took on far larger proportions and significance. More than 40 heads of state or government and 100 high‑level ministers from 183 countries took part. Sixty non‑governmental organisations, other UN agencies and big business were also present. Over 5,159 people attended, including 1298 journalists.

     The Venezuelan representative pointed out that 25,000 people die of starvation every day - 18,000 of them children.

     "The crux of the problem is producing enough in a sustainable manner and ensuring its equitable distribution", said Sharad Pawar, India's Minister for Agriculture, emphasising the need for "affirmative action to ensure that food is available to all at affordable prices and that farmers also get remunerative returns on their investments".

Distorted priorities

    Director General of the FAO Jacques Diouf pointed to the many contradictions in spending priorities, such as the massive US$1,200 billion spent on arms purchases in 2002 alone. Yet it was not possible to find US$30 billion a year to enable the 862 million people who suffer starvation and malnourishment to enjoy the right to food.

     In 2008, the production of bio‑fuels will consume around 35 million tonnes of oil‑producing grains, 250 million tonnes of cane sugar (about 20 percent of world production), and over 92 million tonnes of maize (six times the maize consumption of Mexico, the largest maize consumer in the world), the Venezuelan representative noted.

     The International Monetary Fund (IMF) representative said, "it is not a global food shortage. In fact, there is enough food to feed the world". Unfortunately, he failed to address the causes of the crisis and why this food is not reaching the people who need it. Instead, he offered more of the same failed policies and stressed the need to stop the food crisis "from turning into a general inflation or balance of payments problem"!

     True to form, the Director‑General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pascal Lamy, focused on the need to finalise the Doha round of negotiations, open up markets, reduce trade barriers and let demand dictate prices, claiming that would bring them down.

     The contributions from the US, Australia and a number of other wealthy countries tended to focus on "free market" solutions and finalising the WTO Doha round of negotiations.

     Speakers from developing countries concentrated on the causes of the crisis, immediate action to feed their people, and longer term measures to achieve food security and sovereignty and sustainable economic development.

     They pointed to a multitude of causes: poverty; climate change (water shortages, desertification, floods, etc); steep oil prices; high cost of transportation; financial institutions speculating in food stock; distribution based on wealth, not needs; displacement of peasants by agro‑industrial and agribusiness; monopoly practices of multinational corporations (patents; seed and fertiliser prices; etc); government subsidies and tariffs; abandonment of agriculture and traditional practices; lack of rural infrastructure and research; replacement of food crops by bio‑fuel crops; free trade agreements; World Bank and International Monetary Fund policies; and priority of profits over people's needs.

     "Speculators looking for assets with rising prices may well have sensed the strains in the world food markets and re‑oriented their portfolios to buy food commodities. This would go a long way to explaining why the FAO food price index rose by 54% over the past 12 months... It is simply obscene to let greed and speculation cause massive starvation", the representative of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said.

     "But the crisis also has much more deep‑seated, longer‑term causes. One such cause is the decline in agriculture in many developing countries ... a decline brought about by distorted international markets, lack of investment, and absence of institutional support. Declining investment has in turn resulted in low, and even decreasing, agricultural productivity. UNCTAD research has shown that in the LDCs [least developed countries] in particular ... the sector was more productive 50 years ago than it is today."

     The UNCTAD contribution points to a number of reasons for this. One is the dwindling availability of arable land due to climate change.

     "In some countries, however, the decline of the agricultural sector was reinforced by policies that abolished or weakened the role of key institutional support measures, including state-supported extension services, marketing boards, and state subsidies for agricultural inputs (such as seeds, pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers). And there has been little investment in the infrastructure needed to distribute agricultural products."

     The UNCTAD address diplomatically stops short of attributing blame for such "free‑market" policies, often forced on less wealthy countries by such bodies as the World Bank, IMF or through the WTO. Nor does it mention the role of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its policies which have been imposed on the people of these nations.

     UNCTAD refers to a new emphasis on "social‑sector and emergency aid". This has created ongoing dependency rather than longer‑term self‑sufficiency or sustainable development. It can, however, be very profitable for the private sector which western governments contract to provide the aid.

     UNCTAD also highlights the impact of heavily subsidised exports from industrialised countries to developing countries. "Recent analysis by the FAO and UNCTAD has shown that agricultural subsidies in developed countries have been associated with rapidly increasing food imports in developing countries, alongside a decline in agricultural production. Indeed, a number of developing countries that have traditionally been food exporters - many of them LDCs - have become net food importers over the past 20 years. Sadly, these are the countries that are hit the hardest by the current crisis, a crisis made even worse for them by mounting oil prices."

Market forces bring starvation

    These points made by UNCTAD were taken up in a number of other contributions from developing countries. Sri Lanka was one of these:

   "Before the economy of our country was opened to the play of global market forces, the focus of social and economic development was the rural sector. Rural incomes, rural well being, rural infrastructure, rural transport, rural health, rural education and other rural services constituted the main goals and objectives of social development. Development was focused on enhancing the productivity, well being and dignity of the peasant and small farmer who produced the food for our people", Sri Lanka's Agriculture Minister said.

     "With the advent of the open economy, the focus of the development activity shifted from the village to the town. It shifted from the largest part of the country where rural people toiled to produce food for us all, to the urban centres of commerce and industry where food and services are produced largely for export to high income countries.

     "The country progressively dismantled its buffer stocks of rice and wheat flour - a then abiding feature of our food security - which cushioned the food supply from the shocks and uncertainties of crop failure on the one side and price fluctuations on the other. As the State for all practical purposes started reneging its responsibility for providing food to the people at an affordable price, the supply and price of food became more or less a market responsibility."

Climate change & bio‑fuels

    In Bangladesh previous gains in reducing poverty are being eroded and the capacity to produce its own food is threatened, Dr. C S Karim told the conference. "The rank of the poor may be swelling again... How do we, for example, raise domestic production when fertiliser prices are rising fast and extremely high price of oil makes irrigated agriculture much costlier...

     "Ensuring availability will not automatically ensure food security. People must have purchasing power backed by income or transfers to access food. Examples of high availability and low access leading to famines are not rare in history," Karim said.

     "It is a multifaceted problem caused by interlinked factors, ranging from skyrocketing oil prices to rigid protectionism in the international trading system; from the crushing impact of climate change on productivity to a massive shift from food crops to bio‑fuel production", the contributions from Indonesia said.

     "We have to take into account not only the need of economies for fuel but also the need of the poor for nourishment. The developed countries have to increase their efficiency in the use of energy so that demand for bio‑fuels will not interfere with the stability of food supply. Hence international cooperation in research and development on bio‑fuels is essential."

     Indonesia also warned of "the possibility of new armed conflicts breaking out and the prospects of a dangerous instability throughout the world."

     "As long as globalisation fails to reduce hunger, no one can claim that it engenders development. This is why we at UNCTAD believe that the current food crisis is ultimately a development crisis. In a world of such relative economic prosperity as ours there is simply no excuse for hunger."

     UNCTAD poses the question: "What is to be done?" This question will be covered in part 2 of this report in a future issue of The Guardian.

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11) CHAVEZ AND MORALES CHALLENGE EU RACIST DIRECTIVE

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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.)

     On June 20, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez issued a blunt challenge to the European Union's new anti‑immigrant Return Directive. He promised that no Venezuelan oil would be sent to any European country that applies the directive, and that if any Latin American is locked up or deported under this directive, Venezuela would study what investments that country has in Venezuela and apply its own "return directive."

     Sitting next to Fernando Lugo, the progressive president‑elect of Paraguay who was visiting Caracas, he called on all Latin American governments, whether left or right, to take joint action against this shameful European regulation.

     Bolivia's Evo Morales had already raised the option of reciprocal action, and several other Latin American governments have expressed opposition.

     On June 18, the European Parliament voted by a large majority to adopt the "Return Directive" which was opposed by a broad range of progressive opinion in Europe. The text, previously adopted by EU Interior Ministers, includes an administrative detention period for "irregular" migrants of up to 18 months. This effectively criminalizes these migrants, who will be deprived of their freedom without having committed any crime.

     The directive foresees the possibility to detain and expel unaccompanied minors, to return migrants to transit countries, different from their home countries, plus the possibility of enforcing a re‑entry ban valid for the whole of Europe for up to 5 years. Many procedural guarantees and legal benefits for migrants wishing to appeal against a return decision have disappeared from the final text.

     The most penetrating critique of the Directive was issued several days earlier by Evo Morales:

     "Up until the end of the World War II, Europe was an emigrant continent. Tens of thousands of Europeans departed for the Americas to colonize, to escape hunger, the financial crisis, the wars or European totalitarianisms and the persecution of ethnic minorities...

     "Europeans arrived en masse to Latin and North America, without visas or conditions imposed on them by the authorities. They were simply welcomed, and continue to be, in our American continent, which absorbed at that time the European economic misery and political crisis. They came to our continent to exploit the natural wealth and to transfer it to Europe, with a high cost for the original populations in America. As is the case of our Cerro Rico de Potosi and its fabulous silver mines that gave monetary mass to the European continent from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The people, the wealth and the rights of the migrant Europeans were always respected.

     "Today, the European Union is the main destiny for immigrants around the world which is a consequence of its positive image of space and prosperity and public freedoms. The great majority of immigrants go to the EU to contribute to this prosperity, not to take advantage of it. They are employed in public works, construction, and in services to people in hospitals, which the Europeans cannot do or do not want. They contribute to the demographic dynamics of the European continent, maintaining the relationship between the employed and the retired which provides for the generous social security system and helps the dynamics of internal markets and social cohesion. The migrant offers a solution to demographic and financial problems in the EU.

     "For us, our emigrants represent help in development that Europeans do not give us - since few countries really reach the minimum objective of 0.7% of its GDP in development assistance. Latin America received, in 2006, remittance (monies sent back) totalling 68 billion dollars, or more than the total foreign investment in our countries. On the worldwide level it reached $300 billion, which is more than the $104 billion authorized for development assistance. My own country, Bolivia, received more than 10% of the GDP in remittance ($1.1 billion) or a third of our annual Exports of natural gas.

     "Unfortunately, the Return Directive project is an enormous complication to this reality. If we can conceive that each State or group of States can define their migratory policies in every sovereignty, we cannot accept that the fundamental rights of the people be denied to our compatriots and brother Latin‑Americans. The Return Directive foresees the possibility of jailing undocumented immigrants for up to 18 months before their expulsion - or "distancing", according to the terms of the directive. 18 months! Without a judgment or justice! As it stands today the project text of the directive clearly violates articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.

     In particular, Article 13 of the Declaration states: 1) All persons have a right to move freely and to choose their residence in the territory of a State. 2) All persons have the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.

     And, the worst of all, the possibility exists for the mothers of families with minor children to be arrested ‑ without regards to the family and school situation ‑ in these internment centers where we know that depression, hunger strikes, and suicide happens. How can we accept without reacting that our compatriots and Latin American brothers without documents, of which the great majority have been working and integrating for years, are concentrated in camps. On what side is the duty of humanitarian action? Where is the `freedom of movement,' protection against arbitrary imprisonment?

     "On a parallel, the European Union is trying to convince the Andean Community nations (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) to sign an `Association Agreement' that includes the third pillar of the Free Trade Agreement, of the same nature and content as that imposed by the United States. We are under intense pressure from the European Commission to accept conditions of great liberalization of our trade, financial services, intellectual property rights and our public works. In addition under so called `judicial protection' we are being pressured about the nationalization of the water, gas and telecommunications that were done on the Worldwide Workers' Day. I ask, in that case, where is the `judicial protection' for our women, adolescents, children and workers who look for better horizons in Europe?

     "Under these conditions, if the Return Directive is passed, we will be ethically unable to deepen the negotiations with the European Union, and we reserve the right to legislate such that the European Citizens have the same obligations for visas that they impose on the Bolivians from the first of April 2007, according to the diplomatic principal of reciprocity. We have not exercised it up until now, precisely because we were awaiting good signs from the EU.

     "The world, its continents, its oceans and its poles know important global difficulties: global warming, contamination, the slow but sure disappearance of the energy resources and biodiversity while hunger and poverty increase in every country, debilitating our societies. To make migrants, whether they have documents or not, the scapegoats of these global problems, is not the solution. It does not meet any reality. The social cohesion problems that Europe is suffering from are not the fault of the migrants, rather the result of the model of development imposed by the North, which destroys the planet and dismembers human societies.

     "In the name of the people of Bolivia, of all of my brothers on the continent and regions of the world like the Maghreb and the countries of Africa, I appeal to the conscience of the European leaders and deputies, of the peoples, citizens and activists of Europe, for them not to approve the text of the Return Directive. As it is today, it is a directive of vengeance. I also call on the European Union to elaborate, over the next months, a migration policy that is respectful of human rights, which allows us to maintain this dynamics that is helpful to both continents and that repairs once and for all the tremendous historic debt, both economic and ecological that the European countries owe to a large part of the Third World, and to close once and for all the open veins of Latin America. They cannot fail today in their `policies of integration' as they have failed with their supposed `civilizing mission' from colonial times.

     "Receive all of you, authorities, Euro parliamentarians, brothers and sisters, fraternal greetings from Bolivia. And in particular our solidarity to all of the clandestinos."

     Evo Morales Ayma, President of the Republic of Bolivia

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12) INDIA'S LEFT PARTIES CHALLENGE SINGH

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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 B. Prasant, PV correspondent in India

Two critical issues - the unpopular agreement for India-US nuclear cooperation, and the crisis of rising prices - may compel India's Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) central government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to hold elections earlier than previously expected.

     The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the largest left party, has warned PM Singh that the government must fight rising double‑digit inflation. Singh and his fellow World Bank trained finance minister P. Chidambaram have backed drastic increases in the prices of petrol diesel, and even for the humble cooking gas.

     The profits enjoyed by private oil companies in the country have increased along with oil prices. Due to the selective policy of the Government, private sector companies, both in upstream and downstream, are enjoying windfall profits not due to extra business acumen, but due to the high global crude price.

     With crude oil now exceeding $130 per barrel, the CPI(M) wants windfall gains to be recovered from all the private and joint venture companies like M/s Cairns, Reliance, Essar and others extracting oil and gas in India. When these contractors participated in the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), none envisaged crude oil prices beyond $30 per barrel. Now, upstream contractors gain an additional $70‑$80 per barrel without any extra work. Many other countries have re‑negotiated such contracts with a threat of imposing windfall profit taxes, but not yet the government of India.

     Similarly, private sector refineries have been allowed to keep margins for refining cost exceeding $15 per barrel, while public sector companies struggle to meet their financial requirements. For a private refinery like Reliance, which exports a major portion of its products, the profit has increased by 26 per cent during the quarter October‑December 2007 and 35 per cent during January‑March 2008 over the same period of the previous year.

     The government has dragged down the public sector companies while private sector companies have been allowed to flourish, since private refineries do not contribute to meet the oil subsidy bill.

     In 1980 in the United States, federal legislation levied a windfall profits tax on oil companies as a result of the sharp increase in oil prices. The tax was ended in 1988 by President Reagan, and has not been re‑enacted. However, with oil prices reaching record levels there is renewed pressure to bring back the tax. On May 7, a Democratic Senator introduced "The Consumer‑First Energy Act of 2008", which would create a "windfall profits tax" on the major oil companies.

     But in India, the UPA government allows the private oil companies to make windfall profits, at the same time increasing the prices of petrol and diesel, burdening the people who already suffer from a steep price rise of essential commodities.

     A windfall profits tax, along with the reduction of customs duty on crude oil and reduction in excise duty of petroleum products without any ad valorem content, should help to meet the situation arising out of the steep rise in world oil prices and providing relief to the oil marketing companies.

     The CPI(M) and the Left parties have also called for stepping up the ongoing nationwide mass agitation against both the threatened nuclear deal, and uncontrolled inflation. CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat recently commented that if the Left demands were ignored, they would have to consider a break with the federal government.

     One constituent of the United Progressive Alliance, the Bahujan Samaj Party that represents the dalits and is in office in the largest of India's provinces, Uttar Pradesh, has already withdrawn support from the UPA. Other UPA partners might well follow suit, as the Congress party considers bringing the next parliamentary elections forward by five months, to November 2008.

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13) PEACE CONGRESS SLAMS "CANADA FIRST DEFENCE STRATEGY"

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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.)

     The new Canada First Defence Strategy (CFDS) is in fact "the foreign policy doctrine of the minority Conservative Government," says the Canadian Peace Congress in a June 24 statement, calling CFDS "the manifesto of the most aggressive, chauvinistic and reactionary circles of Canadian finance capital seeking with a bigger military budget to strengthen its influence at the imperialist round tables in Washington and Brussels.

     "Prime Minister Harper flaunts military power as the sine qua non of Canadian diplomacy in international affairs. CFDS promotes the growth, modernization and combat readiness of the Canadian military and its interoperability with US military forces for one main reason, to commit Canada to current and future US‑NATO wars, interventions and occupations as the first principle of Canadian government foreign policy. CFDS boasts of the experience gained by Canadian forces in Afghanistan as a `military that can operate far from home on a sustained basis'. According to Prime Minister Harper the ability to wage war is the path that will return Canada to the international stage as a `credible and influential country.

     "CFDS elevates commitments to NATO, NORAD, NORTHCOM, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) and the Civil Assistance Plan, the latter permitting US troops on Canadian soil in the event of a `civil emergency', above all other Canadian international obligations and treaties. As such CFDS actually weakens Canadian sovereignty by subordinating Canadian defense policy to the global military strategy of the US imperialism and its principal NATO allies.

     "Fear mongering about alleged threats to Canadian security is the method used by the Harper Conservatives to justify massive transfers of public finances, without Parliamentary approval, to foreign and domestic defense contractors to stimulate a speculative expansion of the economy. This is what is meant by the `military partnership with Canadian industry.'

     "CFDS is profoundly undemocratic and has been implemented without seeking Parliamentary approval and commits $492 billion over 20 years on top of the $5.3 billion allocated in budget 2006 approaching 2.2% of GDP all to guarantee the profits of defense contractors and investors. The Harper policy of the rapid militarization of the economy is the only job creation project the Government has to offer the youth, the unemployed and the underemployed. CFDS cannot be implemented without sacrificing the needs of public health care, pensions, child care, seniors' needs, low cost housing and the peaceful development of the country.

     "CFDS is devoid of any pretense to even consider the deep desire of the majority of Canadian people for foreign policy free of the domination of US imperialism. In spite of years of right‑wing indoctrination, Canadians continue to reject the tenets of the Bush `war on terrorism' and uphold the belief in the potential of Canada for promoting an independent Canadian foreign policy of peace and disarmament.

     "Prime Minister Harper, brought to power to serve a powerful cabal of energy investors, militarists and speculative financiers scorns the belief of ordinary Canadians in the capacity of our country to contribute to the reduction of international tensions through negotiations based on the principles of non‑interference and respect for the sovereignty of nations, the United Nations Charter, international disarmament treaties, or international law.

     "CFDS is an invitation to the Canadian people to abandon the struggle for all alternatives to war and the militarization of the economy and to voluntarily cede our vast natural resources, our social wealth, democracy our independence and sovereignty and peace itself to militarism. The appropriate response of Canadians to the declarations of CFDS is the resounding defeat of the Harper Conservatives in the next federal election."

     Visit the Congress website at http://www.www.CanadianPeaceCongress.ca.

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14) HAROLD & KUMAR SUBVERT THE GENRE

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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.)

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, movie review by Asad Ali

The "road trip" genre is about heterosexual Anglo men going on a carefree odyssey, filled with cheap‑shot jokes that perpetuate prejudice and white male supremacy, ending with the heroes better prepared for their subservient role in capitalism.

     Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, released in 2004, subverted this theme with two men, one Korean and one South Asian, as the heroes. The jokes were still toilet‑humour, but with a twist, because at least some of them ridiculed racism, white supremacy, male chauvinism, and petty‑bourgeois illusions. The ending was a feel‑good moment for a much wider audience to relieve their anxieties, and for a change, the privileged (if not the powerful) were at the mercy of the film's messages to power.

     Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is the subversion of the road trip genre coming out of its cocoon. The movie isn't restricted to road‑trip tropes, exploring Camp X‑Ray in Guantanamo Bay, interrogations at the Homeland Security Department, and George Bush's private lair. The jokes change direction pretty rapidly and aren't ideologically consistent, where this movie falls short of its betters such as Dr. Strangelove or A Fish Called Wanda. But in the end the movie has successfully ridiculed the complex ideas of homophobia, sexism, the many forms of racism, ruling class hypocrisy, the unreliability of the bourgeoisie as allies, drug war paranoia, non‑sequitor right-wing demagoguery, the prison concentration camp system, and even attempts to explain anti-imperialist resistance.

     Some left‑wing critics think the latest Harold & Kumar is insufficiently serious and makes light of dark issues like Guantanamo Bay. They forget that this series is subverting a traditionally white male supremacist genre, to attack the ideas this genre perpetuates. The humour formula makes this the wrong place to explore the semi‑secret concentration camps around the world run by the US government, or the resistance of the inmates and targeted peoples of the wars on terror and drugs.

     At the same time, the humour formula exacts a price. There are definitely moments where you will freeze uncomfortably as the movie turns to blatant sexism, anti‑Semitism, and other chauvinisms for shock value, just when it was establishing its progressive credentials. I hope the next episode in the series has more completely changed this genre.

     The movie does hit at some truths. As someone who has been forcibly interrogated thrice by the U.S. Homeland Security Department, I can share with you that the combination of illiteracy and white supremacist impulses of the interrogators can be just as perplexing and worrying in real life as on the screen. A catharsis like this is over‑due.

     A co‑worker of mine whose experience was even worse (he was physically tortured in the United States) read a draft of this review and then went to see the movie. He agreed that his interrogation experiences were similar to those of Harold and Kumar, and this was his first real chance to laugh at it. Both he and I hadn't laughed like that in a long time.

     The movie briefly explores one important idea which stands above all jokes - the necessity of working class whites to initiate opposition to racism to build the trust that can overthrow the irrational capitalist system. Pay attention near the end when one of the privileged characters rebels to help Harold and Kumar.

     There are still elements from White Castle, where the primary plot device is marijuana, and yes, there is still Doogie Howser ex machina. If you're looking for a good laugh, don't mind exposed genitals or the remnants of genre‑related shock sexism and racism the film is trying to shake off, and if you can get past the grave topic the movie deals with, go and see Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. And keep watching past the credits for a surprise at the end.

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15)WHAT'S LEFT

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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.)

SURREY, BC

People’s Voice Walk-A-Thon - Sunday, July 20, meet at Bear Creek Park picnic area, near  parking lot by 140 St. & 88 Avenue. Walk around the park at 11 am, international potluck lunch at 12 noon, speakers & entertainment 1 pm. For info, call Harjit, 604-543-7179.

VANCOUVER, BC

Who Benefits from War?, forum with Dr. Younes Parsa Benab (Political Science, Strayer University, Washington, DC) and an editor of Iran Bulletin - 7 pm, Thursday, July 3, SFU Harbour Centre, Room 1700, by donation. Organized by the Iranian Centre for Peace, Freedom and  Social Justice, sponsored by StopWar.ca.

Left Film Night, “638 Ways to Kill Castro,” British documentary on CIA assassination plots -  Friday, July 25, 7 pm, Centre for Socialist Education, 706 Clark Drive, call 604-255-2041 for details. Left Film Night returns to Sunday evenings at the end of August.

Moncada Day Celebration - Sunday, July 27, 2 pm, at the Chilean Housing Co-op, 3390 School Ave., organized by Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association, for info call Ray, 604-254-1350.

An Evening with Lydia Cacho, Mexican journalist, feminist and human rights defender - Monday, June 30, 6:30 pm, Public Library Peter Kaye Room, 350 West Georgia St., organized by Latin America Connexions and La Surda.

Under the Volcano - Sunday, Aug. 10, 12 til late, annual progressive music and culture festival in Cates Park, North Vancouver. To volunteer for People’s Voice display, call 604-255-2041.

WINNIPEG, MN

Young Communist League-UW campus club  meets 1st & 4th Wednesday each month, 5:30 pm, U of W buffeteria (4th floor top of escalators). E-mail us at ycl_manitoba@ycl-ljc.ca

Use It Or Lose It Family Fun Day - Sat., July 5, Noon to 4 pm, to oppose reduced hours and  closures of Winnipeg pools, at Magnus Eliason Recreation Centre, 430 Langside. Info: Winnipeg Is Not For Sale, 947-9334

SASKATOON

Political discussion & beer, all welcome to join Saskatoon CPC members, 5:30 pm, Monday, July 21, and the third Monday of every month, in the tv room at Amigo’s, 632-10th St. East.

EDMONTON, AB

Edmonton Young Communist League - meets regularly at Remedy Cafe, 8631-109 St., 5 pm on the second Friday each month. Discussion topics and suggested readings on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=3559215104.

TORONTO, ON

CCFA Toronto Island Cruise - Sunday, July 27, Noon-4 pm, lunch included, live band, to reserve tickets ($35) call CCFA Toronto 416-410-8254 or Sharon 905-951-8499.

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$50,000 FUND DRIVE
ONTARIO NEARS TARGET

(The following articles are from the July 1-31, 2008, 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.)
 
The 2008 People’s Voice Fund Drive is moving closer to completion this issue, thanks to a solid gain by our Ontario supporters.  Ontario has now turned in $18,248, or 91% of their provincial target of $20,000. That’s not enough for top spot, since Alberta remains number one; with $1985 raised, our Wildrose province supporters are at 99%, a mere $15 short of their $2000 goal.

British Columbia is now up to $13,905, or 69% of the $20,000 goal for the west coast, with the  province’s biggest annual fundraiser coming up in July. The Maritimes and Newfoundland are  still at 55% ($665 raised), Manitoba has turned in $575 to date, and Saskatchewan has sent in  $150. Another $260 has arrived from friends and supporters outside Canada.

In total, we have raised $35,868, or 70.5% of our $50,000 target. Once again, we urge clubs to check our subscriber lists and call supporters who are still waiting to send in a contribution!

As most readers know, our People’s Voice Walk-A-Thon always brings in several thousand dollars for the B.C. drive. This year it takes place on Sunday, July 20, at Surrey’s Bear Creek Park, in the picnic area near 140 St. and 88 Ave. The Walk sets off at 11 am, followed by the famous international lunch at noon (featuring some amazing south Asian food!), and a cultural/ political program at 1 pm. To sponsor a walker, or for more details, call Harjit at 604-543-7179, or Krishna at 604-940-0420. Rides for readers in the Vancouver area can be arranged by calling the PV office at 604-255-2041. 

Remember that this year’s “PV Shopping Bag” includes the following:

•  “The Gruesome Acts of Capitalism,” a 112-page booklet by David Lester, full of astounding facts and figures about the exploitative system which threatens our planet;
•  a 12-month complimentary PV sub (keep it or give it to a friend);
•  People’s Voice 2008 Calendar;
•  People’s Voice “Karl Marx” Tshirt (tell us what size);
•  a surprise music CD - pick classical, oldies, or folk.
  

For a $100 donation, you get your choice of one of these items. For each additional $100, choose another item from our Shopping Bag. For a donation of $1000 or more, take the entire Shopping Bag, and receive a lifetime subscription for yourself or a friend.

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