The Spark!

 

1) G8/G20: Fight for a Real Alternative to the new Capitalist "Consensus"

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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.)

Issued by the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, June 2010

On the eve of the G8/G20 meetings, mass labour and democratic mobilizations are building in Southern Ontario and across Canada to protest this wasteful, security-obsessed extravaganza. The Communist Party of Canada salutes this resistance and takes its rightful place alongside workers, students, women, Aboriginal peoples and social activists in denouncing these summits which aim to hammer out a strategic line among the ruling imperialist states and international finance capital on how best to advance their shared interests, and then present their agenda as a fait accompli to the world's peoples.

     This set of G-summits is particularly important because global capitalism continues to be mired in a profound economic and structural crisis, notwithstanding the soothing media reports that the 'worst is behind us' and that recovery is well under way. Saving capitalism and restoring profit margins are the main concerns of these 'leaders', rather than solving the burning problems afflicting the world today. That is why issues like climate change, the world food crisis, ending wars of occupation and rampaging military spending, and the worsening problem of "under-development", especially in Africa, have all be swept off the agenda of the G8/G20 meetings.

     Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney admitted as much this June when he declared that the Summits must focus attention on the continuing crisis, especially in Europe, which has had a serious "impact on financial conditions ... [and] it's not over."  He then parroted the World Bank which earlier raised the possibility of a "second recession affecting most of the industrialized world if governments don't deal successfully with the unfolding European debt crisis."

     In fact, the leading imperialist countries, including Canada, want to use the Summits to showcase their determination to impose further social and economic austerity on all states and peoples, as the only viable solution to overcome the crisis. But this is a false 'international consensus" - one that serves the interests of finance capital, but which consigns the vast majority of the world's working class and oppressed peoples to even more hardship and suffering.

     In Europe, the Austerity agenda pushed by the European Union brass and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is already having a devastating effect, especially on public sector workers, youth, and pensioners. Minimum wages are being slashed, social programs cut, and the retirement age extended for workers.

     But this savage attack is being met by heroic resistance across the European continent, especially in Greece and Portugal where the left, Communist-led unions and popular movements are mounting escalating general strikes and other forms of mass resistance to fightback against this anti-social onslaught of Big Capital and its governments.

     In Canada, we need to replicate the kind of militancy building in Europe, Latin America and elsewhere around the world. The right-wing Harper government and their pro-corporate provincial counterparts (both Conservative and Liberal) are also moving to deepen the assault on workers' conditions, social programs, and democratic and equity rights. And they will succeed in pushing through these reactionary 'reforms', unless the labour and people's forces move quickly to mount a militant, coordinated, Canada-wide counter-attack.

     This is such a progressive alternative to this reactionary, pro-capitalist 'solution',, but it must go beyond, palliative demands to soften the impact. It must include sweeping measures which challenge the dominance of monopoly capital, such as the nationalization of the banks, the big energy monopolies, and other key sectors of our economy. These steps need to be combined with social measures like expanding access to healthcare, public and post-secondary education, raising the minimum wage to $16/hour, reducing the workweek with no loss in take-home pay, and improving public pensions. And with sweeping tax reform which would shift the burden from working people onto the corporations and the wealthy, and with an immediate withdrawal from the disastrous war of occupation in Afghanistan, along with a 50% cut in military spending which would save another $10 billion every year.

     As we state in our May Day 2010 statement, "the big monopolies and banks want to make working people pay for the economic recovery through lower wages, higher unemployment, and huge cuts in social spending. We say: those who reap billions in profits must pay! Unite and fight for a fundamentally new direction, placing the needs of working people and our environment before corporate greed, [and for policies] based on peace and disarmament!"

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2) CONSERVATIVES DENY FULL ACCESS TO AFGHAN DOCUMENTS

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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 Michael Oosting

     After years of persistent lobbying, the push to publicize documents pertaining to the role of Canadian forces in turning over Afghan detainees to face torture has been dealt another blow. The largest parties, the Conservatives, the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois, have signed an agreement to review the reports the Conservatives claim to be relevant to the issue - without the NDP.

     During the debate over an agreement to review the issue collectively, the NDP called for all documents to be made public, and to establish a public inquiry into the issue. This demand was widely supported by the anti-war movement and civil liberties groups.

     In response, the Conservatives stated that though they could share some of the papers, not all documents could be made public in the interest of "national security". Ignatieff's Liberals and Duceppe's Bloc jumped on this half-measure to maintain the farce that their respective parties were a leading force on the issue. The Liberals even called the NDP's concerns "horsefeathers".

     The current agreement between the Conservatives, the Liberals and the Bloc bars MPs from looking at confidential cabinet documents or papers protected for reasons of solicitor-client privilege. The six MPs represented on the committee are not permitted to record, copy, or take notes on the documents they view, nor share their contents in any way.

     This comes only months after Harper effectively suspended parliamentary hearings on the detainee issue, stating that "that's not on the top of the radar of most Canadians." Though the Speaker of the House of Commons, Peter Milliken, eventually ordered Harper to release the documents, the Conservatives waited until six weeks after the deadline set by Milliken to create the current agreement.

     The NDP accused the Conservatives of purposefully stalling and delaying negotiations, and called on Milliken to find that the agreement falls short of his April 27th ruling, which confirmed MPs' absolute right to unfettered access to all uncensored detainee documents. Milliken, however, has given his seal of approval to the deal.

     Little noticed in the final terms is a clause which suspends the agreement whenever PM Harper dissolves Parliament. Renewal of the deal would require the agreement of all three opposition leaders. In other words, if Harper decides to call an election before Parliament reconvenes, absolutely nothing will have been gained.

     Once again, the Harper Tories have ignored public opinion, plus a ruling by the Speaker, to protect their own partisan interests. The losers in this "agreement" are the people of Canada, who are kept in the dark on this vital matter, and the people of occupied Afghanistan.

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3) TAKE PRIDE IN SOLIDARITY!

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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.)

Pride 2010 statement from the Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League

This summer, millions of people from the LGBT communities and their allies across North America will fill the streets for Pride parades. On the 40th anniversary of the first gay pride celebrations, held in 1970 in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League send warmest greetings, and pledge our solidarity to the ongoing struggles for full equality.

     The controversy around this year's Pride Parade in Toronto highlights the true meaning of these struggles. By trying to ban reference to Israel's apartheid policies, the parade organizers have committed the tragic mistake of sacrificing the rights of one group of oppressed people for the alleged protection of another.

     We recall the words of Pastor Martin Niemoller regarding the rise of Hitler fascism: "First, they came for the communists, but I was not a communist, so I said nothing. Then, they came for the social democrats, but I was not a social democrat, so I said nothing. Then they came for the trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist, so I said nothing. Then they came for me, but there was nobody left to speak out."

     Fortunately, many are speaking out today, within the queer community and far beyond, in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in defense of free speech. These voices remind the world that Pride is about the right of individuals and peoples to live free from oppression, whether this takes the form of brutal homophobia or war crimes committed against the Palestinians.

     In fact, the dynamic response of the LGBT communities to the banning of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid has mobilized wider international solidarity with Palestine. Many leaders of the LGBT communities have returned their Pride Parade honours, calling on Pride Toronto to reverse this censorship, a demand which we whole-heartedly support.

     Forty years after the first Pride Parades, we welcome the expansion of more queer-positive environments in the public realm,  the growing numbers of trade unions with active Pride and LGBTQ caucuses, and the increase of gay-straight alliances, safe school spaces and "Pride proms" in our schools. These and other legal, political and cultural victories are the hard-won results of decades of efforts by the LGBTQ community and allies.

     But much more remains to be achieved. The burning issue today is not how to sweet-talk corporate donors or pro-Israeli politicians, or to raise the visibility of the military in Pride events. The issue is the ongoing violence and hatred directed against gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and trans people, and those perceived as such by homophobes and gay-bashers.

     Alarmingly, police-reported hate crimes are up sharply, according to a new Statistics Canada report. Hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation more than doubled from 2007 to 2008, a much greater increase than crimes based on religion or race/ethnicity. Hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation were also more violent, and took place most often in cities such as Vancouver, Hamilton, London and Guelph. This report confirms the anecdotal evidence of a rise in gay-bashings in recent years.

     We also know that same-sex marriage gains are threatened in the United States, and that the Harper Tories still hope to reverse queer rights if they win a majority government. Right-wing forces continue to scapegoat the LGBTQ community and racialised groups, to divide working class resistance against finance capital, corporate bailouts and global environmental plunder.

     Despite Canada's welcoming image, queer youth seeking asylum from persecution in other countries are still being extradited. Most LGBTQ students still report feeling unsafe at school, and prosecutors are often unwilling to prosecute vicious gay-bashings as hate crimes.

     Globally, violent expressions of homophobia are on the rise, sometimes in response to courageous attempts by gay-rights groups to hold public events like our Pride Parades. The struggle to end the criminalization of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression faces stubborn resistance in many countries. Working class queer people suffer vicious discrimination, along with women and racialized communities who bear the brunt of neoliberal economic and social policies.

     ILGA, the association of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersexed peoples, reports that 76 United Nations member states still criminalize consensual same-sex acts among adults. In seven countries, punishment for homosexuality still includes the death penalty.

     But progress for 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 from North America and Europe. We also note that Canada is one of only 15 countries which shamefully legislates a higher age of consent for homosexual activities.

     Despite the cultural and legal shift in favour of equality and diversity, homophobia and transphobia remain entrenched within the Canadian state.

     Stephen Harper voted against same-sex marriage, and has left his options open on abortion if he wins a majority. He snubbed the 2007 international AIDS conference in Toronto, and appoints anti-choice, anti-gay judges to the courts. "Focus on the Family" zealots are found among top Tory advisors, who promote the patriarchal family model.

     At a time when the so-called "war on terror" is used to remove civil liberties for racialized communities, we must always remember that "an injury to one is an injury to all." Just like racism, sexism, and national chauvinism, homophobia and transphobia are weapons to divide working people. Equality and human rights must be expanded to include full legal and political protections for sexual orientation and expression, and gender identity.

     This demand is not "divisive." It is a vital part of the wider movement to drive the Harper Tories out of power. Today the ruling class is using the economic meltdown to carry out a vicious assault on all hard-won social equality gains. A broad democratic and social resistance is needed to block and reverse this corporate agenda. Together, we must build a powerful coalition around a genuine people's alternative to this crisis - a common front of Aboriginal peoples, youth and students, women, seniors, immigrant and racialized communities, environmentalists, labour, peace activists, the LGBTQ community, farmers, and many other allies.

     Ultimately, this struggle in our communities and workplaces, and at the ballot box, will defeat the right and open the door to a people's coalition government. The goal of the Communist Party is to win fuller social freedom and genuine people's power in a socialist Canada, where our economy will be owned by all and democratically controlled. It will then become possible to eradicate the intersecting forms of exploitation and oppression which we face today, while defending our sovereignty and protecting our common environment.

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4) SCHOOL'S OUT, BUT B.C. LIBERALS STILL IN TROUBLE

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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

     Nearly a year after the devastating news of cuts to provincial funding for a wide range of public services in B.C., the first round of the fightback is drawing to a close. But the battle over British Columbia's fiscal and social priorities is entering a new stage with the implementation of the HST on July 1.

     The Campbell government is stepping up its defence of the "hated sales tax," but the Liberals are also facing new setbacks. Petitions containing the names of nearly 700,000 citizens will be turned in by the end of June, demanding that the government rescind the HST or hold a referendum on the controversial issue.

     The overwhelming public pressure finally got to Liberal MLA Blair Lekstrom, who resigned as Campbell's energy minister in June rather than continue defending the imposition of the HST. It remains to be seen if other Liberals will follow suit, but another half-dozen defections would deprive Campbell of his majority in the Legislature.

     The Premier is looking at two difficult political options: use his majority to reject the HST petition, or agree to hold a referendum. The first would solidify the Liberal image as dictatorial and arrogant, probably reducing their standing in the polls even further. The second would likely result in a big vote against the HST, blowing a hole in Campbell's third term pro-business agenda.

     Meanwhile, the government has bought some time to ponder another critical issue, but not much. The end of the school year may bring a temporary lull in the fierce debates over education underfunding across the province. The only school board which has not adopted a balanced budget is Vancouver, which is set to hold a final vote on June 23.

     In virtually every case, the "balanced" budgets have included major reductions in staff and programs, school closures, and other negative impacts on public education. The controversies will hit the front pages again when classes resume in September, and schools feel the full brunt of the cutbacks.

     Much of the media attention in this struggle has focused on Vancouver, home of "The Board that Roared," to quote a Globe and Mail headline. The Vision/COPE majority on the VSB has been the most vocal in B.C., rallying students, staff and parents to demand full funding for costs downloaded by the province. About 150 of the Vancouver district's 3,000 staff will be laid off as a result of the funding shortfalls.

     Earlier this spring, there was a lively discussion around the VSB's options, which included refusing to adopt a "compliance" budget. That option, however, was not favoured by groups which back the board's campaign on provincial funding. Among the teacher unions, Parent Advisory Committees, and groups which mobilize around inner city schools, Aboriginal education, and special needs students, an overwhelming consensus developed that the VSB trustees should not set themselves up to be fired by Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid. This view is based on a realization that as the fight for the future of public education in British Columbia continues to heat up, the most outspoken trustees in the province need to be in the thick of it next year.

     A new poll proves that west coast teachers are deeply concerned about the government's policies. Commissioned by the BC Teachers' Federation, the survey finds that 79% of teachers believe "the provincial government is on the wrong track when it comes to its education policies and funding decisions."

     Teachers identified underfunding and program cuts as their top concerns, followed closely by class size and support for children with special needs. The survey polled 1,000 teachers between April 26 and May 1. More than 70% of teachers say teaching and learning conditions have worsened since the government stripped their collective agreements several years ago, and 97% believe it is time to put class-size and class-composition language back into collective agreements.

     While the Premier and MacDiarmid tried to pit Vancouver trustees against the rest of the province, the hard facts from other school districts prove that Vancouver's problems are not an isolated case.

     Chak Au with the Richmond School District told a recent news conference that school boards province-wide are struggling with $250 million in shortfalls. "It cannot be the case that all 60 school boards in the province are lacking in capacity in managing their money," he pointed out.

     Parents in rural areas are making the same point. People in School District 10 (Arrow Lakes) are waging a letter writing campaign to criticise the government's inadequate funding.

     "It's time the government fully funded public education," says a sample letter from District 10. "Stop forcing Boards of Education to make cuts to programs and services to pay teacher wages and benefits (approximately 85%) out of the piece of pie (approx. 15%) allocated for books, paper, heat, light, bussing, field trips etc. etc... Why should the children of SD #10 have to worry each year that their community school may be closed, or the band program may be cut, or that they may have to take a provincially examinable course by correspondence because we just can't afford a teacher to teach the class? "

     In School District No. 46 (Powell River), the 2010/11 budget cuts $2 million in teacher, staff and administrator positions.

     "We continue to not be able to afford the kind of supports that I think we'd like to have in our schools," Powell River board chair Silas White said at the June 4 meeting which adopted the budget. Staffing cuts will amount to between four and six per cent reductions of staff.

     School's out for summer, but the Campbell government's headaches will not disappear.

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5) COMMUNITY SUPPORT STRONG FOR M.P. LIBBY DAVIES

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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.)

PV Vancouver Bureau

     In response to ferocious attacks by opponents of Palestinian rights, including within her own party, NDP MP Libby Davies is also receiving an outpouring of public support. Backing for Davies is especially strong in her riding of Vancouver East, where she was greeted warmly by voters at the annual "Car Free Day" festival, held June 20 along Commercial Drive.

     The hate campaign erupted after an interview was posted on YouTube, in which Davies dated the occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel from 1948. As Palestinian-Canadians and many others have noted, this date is accurate, since it refers to the Naqba, the terror campaign which saw the newly-formed state of Israel destroy dozens of Arab villages and drive hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of the region.

     However, the pro-Zionist forces which are pushing to criminalize any criticism of Israel jumped on the interview, making absurd claims that Davies is anti-Jewish. PM Stephen Harper joined in to demand the MP's resignation, and pro-Zionist politicians including NDP MP Thomas Mulcair called on Jack Layton to remove Davies as the party's deputy leader.

     Davies apologized for her reference to 1948, in a letter calling this "a serious and completely inadvertent error" and affirming her support for the NDP's two-state solution.

     "I reject the allegation that I hate Israel, and I reject the assertion that I said that Israel is illegitimate or an abomination. Neither are true," said Davies.

     The interview, staged by a supporter of Israel hoping to ambush Davies, took place at a rally in Vancouver against Israel's murderous May 31 attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Davies has been one of the few elected politicians in English-speaking Canada with the courage to attend public events in solidarity with the Palestinian people. She was one of three MPs who visited Gaza last December; that delegation reported on the humanitarian crisis created by the Israeli blockade and the war against Gaza waged by Israel in December 2008-January 2009.

     In the days following the interview, Davies has been the target of an astonishing volume of vile hate messages, often extremely personal in nature. She has been condemned by critics for supposedly being a corrupt or incompetent MP, for being a "dupe" of Hamas, and even for being "a Jew-hater". These absurd charges, mostly by unnamed people, are rejected by Vancouver East residents, who re-elected her in 2008 with 54% of the vote, three times as many as her closest challenger.

     Davies is recognized universally in this riding, where she began her activist life during the 1970s as an anti-poverty organizer. She was elected to Vancouver city council in 1982 as a 29-year-old candidate for the Committee of Progressive Electors, and again in 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1990. Her only defeat came in 1993, as COPE's candidate for mayor. She won election to Parliament in 1997, holding the seat for the NDP with increasing victory margins, reflecting her unwavering support for the poor and working people, solid constituency work, and her dedication to human rights. The idea that her support for the Palestinian people indicates "anti-semitism" is seen here as a shameless lie, considering her long and well-known political friendships with a wide range of Jewish progressives in Vancouver.

     These lies have also been rejected by a growing list of organizations, including Palestine solidarity groups based in the Jewish community itself. The Vancouver and District Labour Council overwhelmingly adopted a resolution backing Davies at its June 15 meeting, and COPE members gave Davies an emotional show of appreciation at the party's June 21 annual BBQ fundraiser.

     While Jack Layton has so far not caved in to demands that he fire Davies as deputy leader, many were appalled when the NDP leader grovelled by sending a formal apology for her statements to the Israeli ambassador to Canada. Layton's reluctance to challenge the pro-US and pro-Israel foreign policy of the Harper Tories is causing enormous unease within the NDP rank and file, the anti-war movements, and sections of NDP supporters across Canada.

     Rifts within the NDP are also showing over other issues, such as the Layton leadership's rejection of public ownership or higher corporate taxes as important tools to address the needs of the working class during the economic crisis.

     There are suspicions that Layton may engineer Davies' removal before the next election, using some other pretext. Such a move could further erode the NDP's electoral support among progressive movements. On the other hand, Layton's attempts to appease right-wing critics may open the door to higher votes for progressive candidates, especially for the Communist Party of Canada, whenever the next federal election takes place.

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6) CAR RENTAL WORKERS SAY "HERTZ HURTS!"

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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 Stephen Von Sychowski

     On February 2, unionized workers at Hertz Car Rentals in Vancouver and at YVR airport began a legal strike which is now over four months long. At issue are the attempts of the U.S.-based company to rob employees of job security, by reserving the right to lay off full time workers and return them to work as part timers, without the benefits they have fought for and won over the course of more than three decades.

     Claims by Hertz about the necessity to make changes out of financial necessity simply don't wash. Hertz is the largest car rental company in the world. They hold an extraordinarily lucrative contract with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia to provide vehicles to their customers, which include all drivers in BC. They recently tabled an offer to purchase competitor Dollar-Thrifty for the tidy sum of $1.17 billion. Furthermore their latest earnings were extremely positive - $1.7 billion revenue during the most recent financial quarter.

     No, this isn't about a company struggling to make a meager profit against greedy workers. Quite the opposite. Hertz workers, members of COPE Local 378, are merely fighting to keep the jobs they already have, in many cases for more than 20 years, with their current hours and benefits. Hertz has the dough, they just don't want to share it with the same hard working people who provided them with the very profits they now greedily horde. Hertz workers are picketing at YVR and at the company's downtown location, asking customers not to rent with Hertz until the dispute is resolved.

     A small group of just over 50 workers striking for their jobs and their livelihood may sound like small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps, but a lot more is at stake in this strike. That's because while Hertz has got away with their anti-worker campaign in non-union shops, they are now up against union workers in an airport of union-certified car rental agencies. The precedent set by this strike may affect the course of collective bargaining between the unions (COPE and the Teamsters) and employers (Avis, Dollar-Thrifty, National-Alamo, Budget) in the years to come.

     The nasty anti-union campaign launched by Hertz is indicative of a broader trend of employers, both organized and un-organized, to drive down wages and benefits in order to maximize profits and make working people pay for the current global capitalist economic crisis. Whether it's a car rental clerk, a paramedic, a grocery store teller, or a steelworker, we should not be fooled into thinking that what we are up against is fundamentally different, separate, or apart. Let's all support the fight for job security at Hertz, not just for them, but for us all.

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7) SOLIDARITY WITH JOSE FIGUEROA

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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

     New examples emerge regularly exposing the arbitrary, anti-human flaws in Canada's immigration and refugee system. Consider the case of José Figueroa, a father of three who lives in Langley, B.C. In May, the Immigration and Refugee Board ordered his deportation back to El Salvador, on the grounds that he had been involved with a "terrorist" organization in his youth.

     The organization is the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, which ultimately achieved a negotiated end to one of Central America's most bitter armed conflicts. The "terrorists" in El Salvador were the assassins of Archbishop Oscar Romero, and the death squads and government troops with the blood of some 70,000 victims on their hands. The Reagan administration was deeply involved in the genocidal crimes committed in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala during those terrible years.

     The FMLN, on the other hand, won wide support among the people, and its candidates were elected to many local government positions from the time of the first post-war elections. Today the country is led by President Mauricio Funes, the FMLN candidate elected in 2008.

     José Figueroa arrived in Canada in 1997 and applied for refugee status, openly stating his record as an FMLN supporter. Now, 13 years later, Immigration Review Board member Otto Nupponen wants him deported, even though the FMLN is not on any list of terrorist groups. Figueroa has filed for a judicial review of this appalling decision, and deserves full support.

     Leaving it up to the Canadian government or bureaucrats to decide which groups or individuals are "terrorists" is a recipe for disaster. Thousands of Salvadorans living peacefully in Canada could face serious consequences if this IRB member's bizarre beliefs become accepted as grounds for deportation. The federal government must be told: hands off José Figueroa!

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8) THE REAL STORY OF THE RCMP

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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

The harsh criticisms of the RCMP by Justice Thomas Braidwood in the taser killing of Robert Dziekanski are welcome to all those who oppose police brutality and abuse of power.

     But this case goes far deeper than the "shameful conduct of a few officers." The RCMP was formed to impose the domination of the emerging Canadian state on the Aboriginal peoples. In fact, the original North West Mounted Police was modelled on the Royal Irish Constabulary, which played a similar role during the centuries-long British occupation of Ireland.

     Over the past 137 years, the RCMP has been known for three key features, starting with its racist approach. Despite the mythology that the Mounties "saved the Indians" from U.S. whiskey traders, the RCMP has always enforced the ironclad rule of the Canadian state that Aboriginal peoples must be denied their inherent rights, a role which requires denial of their status as equals within Canada. Second, the RCMP has been a military instrument to protect scabs and break strikes, from the Winnipeg General Strike to the Regina Riot and hundreds of other labour disputes. Third, for over a century the RCMP has been a tool to attack the democratic and revolutionary forces in Canada (especially the Communist Party) through infiltration, spying, provocations, forgeries, theft, barn-burnings, and many other illegal actions.

     In short, the role of the RCMP has always been to impose the will of the ruling class against Aboriginal peoples, workers, radicals, and all those who could challenge the established capitalist order. The fact that RCMP officers often engage in violent acts against innocent people is not because a few stray from the rule book; it is because they enjoy virtually complete impunity for their actions. The solution is not "reform". The RCMP must be dissolved and replaced by a police organization which is under full civilian control and oversight.

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9) HARPER'S FIGHTER-JET PRICE TAG SKYROCKETS

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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

Rejecting the view of Canadians that the military budget should be reduced to tackle urgent domestic needs, the Harper Tory government now plans to spend $9 billion on 65 new fighter-jets, plus another $7 billion on "ancillary costs" such as future parts and maintenance. The total price tag has more than quadrupled since 2008, when the government first announced that it would purchase 80 "F-35 Joint Strike Fighters" from U.S. munitions giant Lockheed Martin for a total of $3.8 billion.

     This deal gives new meaning to the term "sticker shock." Just two years ago, the jets were priced at $47.4 million each. Now the price has jumped to $245 million at a time when the Harper Tories are slashing social program spending.

     And the waste doesn't end there. The original plan by the Conservatives was to replace the Canadian Forces' current fleet of CF-18 fighter jets. Since then, $2.6 billion has been spent to upgrade the CF-18s.

     A Commons committee will investigate the purchase of a new fighter aircraft fleet, including the price tag and whether Canada actually needs these weapons. But the hearings into the largest military procurement in Canadian history won't take place for months, and the Harper government plans to move quickly.

     Eyebrows have already been raised over the news that there will be no other bids for the contract. In another apparent controversy, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is a single-engine aircraft, which may be a problem for a jet which will be used to patrol the Canadian Arctic. The CF-18s have two engines, which many pilots consider an important safety feature.

     A survey conducted in early March by Leger Marketing asked "With Canada's military role ending in Afghanistan next year, what should the focus be on the government's military spending?"

     Almost 60% agreed with this answer: "Canada should take a peace dividend and cut back on military spending to focus on other more pressing social issues at home." Almost three-quarters of Quebec respondents backed this peace dividend option, compared to 44% of Albertans and 55% of those in Ontario.

     Across the country, 28% of people wanted to "sustain or increase spending on the military because security in a post-9/11 world is of the highest priority." Another 15% of respondents did not give an opinion.

     "The government has not done what most of Canada wants them to do, which is transfer that [military] funding to programs within our own borders," said Leger vice president Dave Scholz.

     According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Canada First Defence Strategy, unveiled by the Harper government in 2008, promises that military spending will grow by an average of 0.6% in real terms (adjusted for inflation) and an average of 2.7% in nominal terms (not adjusted for inflation) per year from FY 2007-08 to 2027-28. Canadian military spending would increase to about $21.3 billion in 2009 dollars, or about $31.3 billion in 2027 dollars, by FY 2027-28.

     As the CCPA notes, the incremental costs of operations such as the Afghanistan war, currently more than $1.5 billion per year, add to this baseline budget, meaning that final spending could be significantly higher.

     The total spending over the 20-year life of this plan would likely be in the $415-440 billion range (2009 dollars), or about $13,000 per Canadian, warns the CCPA, which published a study of the issue last December. The stunning increase in the F-35 deal alone will boost that figure even higher.

     If Canadian military budgets instead remained at the post-Cold War minimum level, the total spending over this period would be $271 billion in 2009 dollars, a difference of $145-170 billion.

     Imagine what could be done with such an amount over 20 years! To give just a few examples, the public transportation systems of Canadian cities could be provided with thousands of fuel-efficient new buses for just $5 billion. The cancelled national child-care program could receive $5 billion annually, totalling $100 billion. This would leave at least another $50 billion to build about 250,000 new low-income, social and co-operative housing units. These initiatives would cut create jobs, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce provincial government spending on health and policing linked to the costs of massive street homelessness.

     But Canada is governed today by a party which opposes these urgent priorities. The Harper Tories deny the environmental crisis, reject the concept of public child care, and refuse to fund social housing.

     In effect, Canada is ruled by a minority regime which places top priority on war-making, at the expense of the people. Canadians should send the message to all parties in Parliament that the shocking fighter-jet purchase plan is a scandal which must be scrapped immediately.

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10) SHAME ON US FOR KEEPING SILENT

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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.)

An Open Letter to Stephen Harper, by Kevin Neish, Farooq Burney and Rifat Audeh, June 14, 2010

     We are writing to express our outrage and indignation over our government's despicable silence on what took place in the Mediterranean Sea on May 31, 2010. We are referring, of course, to the piracy, murder and kidnappings by Israel against the Turkish humanitarian aid ship in general, and the actions against the Canadians on the ship in particular.

     In 2006, Israel launched a heinous war on Lebanon that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians. You, Mr. Harper, described Israel's action as a "measured response", and this implicit green light and tacit approval from Canada to Israel to continue the rampage of death and destruction killed eight Canadians within a couple of days.

     Following this, the cold-blooded Israeli murder of a Canadian peacekeeper and three of his colleagues at a UN station in Southern Lebanon resulted in your outrageous and absolutely despicable remark effectively blaming the victims and asking what they were doing there in the first place.

     On May 31st and in international waters, Israel attacked an unarmed humanitarian aid ship before the whole world, murdered nine civilians aboard and wounded dozens, and kidnapped the rest and detained them illegally. We were on that ship along with many other internationals.

     And this time around, what was the response of our government? Once again, Canada did not condemn Israel's barbaric actions and refused to demand our release, with Peter Kent incredibly stating "Canada doesn't believe a lot of noise is required in this instance."  It would be a gross understatement to say that we are appalled at the muted response of our government in general and with any politician who did not speak out against what took place.

     Canada and Canadians are loved throughout the world for many reasons, including their willingness to stand for what is right, peacekeeping efforts and compassion for global citizens in suffering. So why is it that the government has participated in an inhumane siege on 1.5 million people that we were trying to break with this flotilla? Hundreds of innocent men, women and children have died in the past few years as a result of this crippling blockade and lack of access to necessary medical care.  Further, why has the government not called Israel out on this piracy and blatant violation of international law? Why didn't Ottawa summon the Israeli ambassador to express its outrage, or at the very least demand an explanation? Why didn't you rebuke Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu when he was meeting with you since you knew full well that the attack took place in international waters?

     Finally, why, at the very least didn't the Canadian government demand our release and try to protect its citizens? Receiving a visit from embassy representatives falls far short of what we'd expect from our government. Is this the best that Canadians can hope for in the future? In cases such as this, silence equals complicity.

     Our government's action - or rather inaction - is a disgrace. In assisting with the slow genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza and falling silent before Israel's acts of piracy, murder and abduction, our government has not only tarnished the image of Canada and Canadians throughout the world, but has also shown its weakness and inability to stand up for those oppressed. Shame on us for keeping silent.

     (Kevin Neish, Farooq Burney and Rifat Audeh were the three Canadians aboard the Mavi Marmara ship when it was attacked by the Israeli navy in international waters.)

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11) MURDERS OF UNION ACTIVISTS UP 30% WORLD-WIDE

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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 ITUC's Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights has documented a shocking 30% increase in the number of trade unionists murdered in 2009 - 101 killings, up from 71 the previous year. The Survey, released on June 9, also reveals growing pressure on workers' rights as the impact of the global economic crisis on employment deepens.

     The largest number of murders - 48 - took place in Colombia, one of the countries favoured with increased trade links by the Harper Conservative government of Canada. Another 16 were killed in Guatemala, 12 in Honduras, six in Mexico, six in Bangladesh, four in Brazil, three in the Dominican Republic, three in the Philippines, one in India, one in Iraq and one in Nigeria.

     Twenty-two of the murdered Colombians were senior trade union leaders and five were women, as the onslaught of previous years continued. The rise in violence in Guatemala and Honduras also followed a trend developing in recent years.

     "Colombia was yet again the country where standing up for fundamental rights of workers is more likely than anywhere else to mean a death sentence, despite the Colombian government's public relations campaign to the contrary. The worsening situation in Guatemala, Honduras and several other countries is also cause for extreme concern," said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder.

     This year's report again records an extensive list of violations suffered by trade unionists struggling to defend workers' interests, this time in 140 countries. Many other violations remain unreported, as working women and men are deprived of the means to have their voices heard, or fear to speak out due to the consequences to their jobs or even to their physical safety.

     Along with the appalling list of killings, the Survey provides detailed documentation of harassment, intimidation and other forms of anti-union persecution. A further ten attempted murders and 35 serious death threats were recorded, again mostly in Colombia and Guatemala. Furthermore, many trade unionists remained in prison and were joined by around hundred newly imprisoned in 2009. Many others were arrested in Iran, Honduras, Pakistan, South Korea, Turkey and Zimbabwe in particular.

     The general trade union rights' situation has continued to deteriorate in a number of other countries, including Egypt, the Russian Federation, South Korea and Turkey.

     Anti-democratic forces continued to target union activity, aware that unions are often in the front line in the defence of democracy. This was evident in Honduras during the post-coup violence and in Guinea during a protest demonstration against the ruling junta which turned into a terrible massacre on Sept. 28, 2009.

     Numerous cases of strike-breaking and repression of striking workers were documented in each region. Thousands of workers demonstrating to claim wages, denounce harsh working conditions or the harmful effects of the global financial and economical crisis faced beatings, arrest and detention, including in Algeria, Argentina, Belarus, Burma, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Honduras, India, Iran, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan and Turkey.

     Dismissals of workers due to their trade union activities were reported in many countries. In Bangladesh, six garment workers on strike for a pay increase and settlement of outstanding wages died after a police intervention.

     Union busting and pressure continued to be widely used by employers. In several countries, companies threatened workers with closure or transfer of production sites if they organised or joined a trade union. Often employers simply refused to negotiate with legitimate workers' representatives while the authorities did nothing. Some labour codes were amended to permit more "flexibility" and to unravel social welfare systems, which often impacted the existing industrial relations systems and thus curtailed trade union rights.

     The undermining of internationally-recognised labour standards saw more and more workers facing insecurity and vulnerability in employment, with some 50% of the global workforce now in precarious jobs. This affected workers in export processing zones, especially in South East Asia and Central America, domestic workers, particularly in the Middle East and South East Asia, and migrants and agricultural workers. Many of the worst affected sectors have high concentrations of women workers. Furthermore, the growth of informal employment and the development of new "atypical" forms of employment were seen across both regions and industrial sectors. The difficulties faced by these workers to organise or exercise their trade union rights are directly related to their highly vulnerable position in the labour market.

     The Survey also highlights many cases where, while trade union rights are officially protected in legislation, restrictions on legal coverage and weak or non-existent enforcement added to the vulnerability of workers already struggling in the depths of the crisis. Severe restrictions or outright prohibition of strikes also exist in a large number of countries. Furthermore, complex procedural requirements, imposition of compulsory arbitration and the use of excessively broad definitions of "essential services" provisions often make the exercise of trade union rights impossible in practice, depriving workers of their legitimate rights to union representation and participation in industrial action.

     Last year was the 60th Anniversary of the ILO Convention 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, which has still not been ratified by countries representing about half of the world's economically active population, including Canada and the United States.

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12) BRITISH GOVERNMENT FINALLY APOLOGIZES FOR "BLOODY SUNDAY"

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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.)

For decades, "Bloody Sunday" has been remembered as the most violent day in the British occupation of Northern Ireland. On January 30, 1972, 27 protesters were shot in Derry by the British Army Parachute Regiment during a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march. Thirteen men, seven of them teenagers, died immediately, and another man four months later. Witnesses testified that all the victims were unarmed. Five of the wounded were shot in the back.

     The initial investigation held by the British Government, the Widgery Tribunal, largely cleared the soldiers and authorities of blame. But now, the Saville Inquiry, established in 1998 to look at the events again, finally made its report on June 15. The report could lead to criminal investigations for some soldiers involved in the killings.

     British Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged in the House of Commons that British troops had fired the first shot, then fired on fleeing civilians, and shot dead wounded civilians. Thirty-eight years after the slaughter, Cameron apologised on behalf of the British Government.

     The Report's key findings include the following:

- "Despite the contrary evidence given by soldiers, we have concluded that none of them fired in response to attacks or threatened attacks by nail or petrol bombers."

- The accounts of soldiers to the inquiry were rejected, with a number said to have "knowingly put forward false accounts".

- The soldiers went into the Bogside area due to an order which should not have been given, and the Commander of land forces in Northern Ireland, Major General Robert Ford, would have been aware that the Parachute Regiment had a reputation for using excessive force.

- No blame was placed on the organisers of the march, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.

- The Report says: "We have no doubt that there was significant Official IRA activity in the five sectors during Bloody Sunday, though in our view, this did not provide an explanation for why soldiers targeted and hit people who were not posing a threat of causing death or serious injury."

     Commenting from Derry, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said, "Today is a day for the families of those killed and those injured on Bloody Sunday. They have campaigned for 38 years for the truth and for justice. They have campaigned for the British government to end their policy of cover-up and concealment.

     "The facts of what happened on Bloody Sunday are clear - the British Paras came to Derry and murdered 14 civil rights marchers and injured 13 others. They were unarmed, they posed no threat and they were completely innocent.

     "Today Saville has put the lies of Widgery into the dustbin of history and with it the cover-up which was authorized of the highest levels within the British Establishment and lasted for almost four decades."

     Workers Party of Ireland General Secretary John Lowry also commented on the Saville Report:

     "Responsibility for what happened on that day clearly lies with British government. The decision to deploy the Parachute Regiment on the day clearly ranks of one most catastrophic decisions taken by the British government during the course of what is known as `the troubles' and clearly contributed to what occurred and towards the prolongation of the many years of violence that followed.

     "The demands of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association were entirely legitimate. Let's not forget that the march was in protest against internment without trial which was another catastrophic decision of the British government, which in itself contributed significantly to the suffering which the people of Northern Ireland then had to endure... The Civil Rights Association offered the best hope and way forward for all of the people of Northern Ireland. NICRA sought an end to militarisation and discrimination and demanded jobs and houses for those that needed them and a democratic political system."

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13) OIL: GREED AND PROFIT IN THE GULF

(The following article is from the July 1-31,  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 Rob Gowland, The Guardian (weekly paper of the Communist Party of Australia), June 16, 2010

On that curious show The View the other day the panel were venting their collective spleen on the CEO of BP, who had been appearing in TV commercials reassuring Americans that BP would fix the oil spill that was threatening to ruin the Gulf of Mexico and the people who lived there.

     Whoopi Goldberg and her fellow panellists clearly did not trust BP's boss one inch. "Slimy" was the word they used to describe him.

     BP obviously hopes its efforts to plug the oil leak and clean up the environmental damage, less than half-measures though they are, will be enough to prevent any significant action against it by US authorities. Meanwhile it goes on making money from its other US and US-linked enterprises.

     Despite BP executives' oft-repeated assertions before the media and Congressional committees that "we will pay all legitimate claims" (there's an important caveat if I ever saw one), the fact is that BP's liability for economic damages - loss of income by tourist businesses, damage to the    fishing industry, etc. - is presently capped at a trifling US$75 million.

     For the record: BP posted a first-quarter profit of US$6 billion just one week after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded. Horizon and BP between them have a long history of oil spills and other disasters. BP appears to operate on the well-known capitalist principle that it is cheaper to pay any fines than to spend money on safe working methods.

     According to the US group Public Citizen, BP has paid US$550 million in fines, including the two largest fines in the history of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration. As Prensa Latina notes, "BP seems to particularly enjoy violating the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts."

     And why not? As Prensa Latina also notes, MMS, the US Minerals Management Service, "the agency within the Interior Department that oversees offshore drilling, routinely accepted gifts from oil companies and even considered itself a part of the oil industry, rather than part of a governmental regulatory agency".

     With MMS inspectors being flown around in oil company executive jets, it is hardly surprising that Deepwater Horizon was given a regulatory exclusion by MMS, is it? Or that, of 27 new drilling sites, MMS has granted regulatory exemptions to 26? (Boy that 27th must have been a shocker to get knocked back - or perhaps they skimped on the bribe they were prepared to pay.)

     Meanwhile, BP is going around to survivors and others eligible for compensation and getting them to sign away their right to sue, presumably on promises of uncontested compensation from BP (and of course an oil company would never renege on a promise, now would it?).

     BP initially played down the scope of the disaster, claiming only a "few thousand" barrels of oil were spilling into the Gulf every day. In fact it was closer to sixty thousand barrels a day (that's more than 2.5 million gallons).

     It has been obvious for years that off-shore oil wells have tremendous potential for causing severe environmental damage. Hence the sense of shock on the part of some US legislators when they discovered that BP had no real clean-up plan.

     One of the things that so peeved the panellists on The View was the fact that BP's most noticeable response to the ramifications of the Deepwater Horizon disaster was to run a series of new TV commercials. For the oil company, the explosion and consequent oil leak was clearly a PR problem for which the answer was a TV commercial.

     But for most of the US Congress, much of the US media and also much of the US public, this is far more than a mere PR problem.

     Cuban journalist Elsy Fors Garzon reports that even after BP eventually caps the damaged oil well, "experts say the best cleanup scenario is to recover twenty percent of the spilled oil.

     "Millions of gallons of oil will remain in the ocean, ravaging the underwater ecosystem, and 100 miles of Louisiana coastline will never be the same." Not to mention the adverse environmental effects of the chemical "dispersants" that have been indiscriminately sprayed all over the oil-affected waters.

     "The explosion has released tremendous amounts of methane from deep in the ocean, and research shows that methane, when mixed with air, is the most powerful greenhouse gas - 26 times worse than carbon dioxide," writes Elsy Fors Garzon.

     "Here's the reality of the matter - for as long as off-shore drilling is legal, oil spills will happen. Coastlines will be decimated, oceans destroyed, economies ruined, lives lost.

     "Oil companies have little to no incentive to prevent such disasters from happening, and they use their money to buy government regulators' integrity."

     And it's no use appealing to the commonsense or humanity of oil company bosses. Like the corporate heads of all giant capitalist enterprises, if they had any humanity they would never rise to the top of such ruthless corporate entities in the first place.

     For your capitalist, the lure of profit is very strong. Oil companies, however, make huge profits, and they are an irresistible lure. As the rate of profit climbs, the capitalist is more and more willing to ignore or sacrifice moral principles, family, even the safety of the planet itself.

     And that is a fact that we should never forget.

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14) WHAT'S LEFT

(The following article is from the July 1-31, 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

Left Film Night - Sunday, June 27, 7 pm, “Plunder: The Crime of our Time,” on the U.S. financial crisis. Free, donations welcome, Centre for Socialist Education, 706 Clark Drive. For info, call 604-255-2041.

Birthday Celebration, for PV supporters Peter Marcus and Margaret Sutherland - Sat., July 31, Trout Lake park. Call Peter at 604-873-2924 for info.

Celebrate Moncada Day with the Canadian-Cuban Friendship Assoc. - afternoon of Sunday, July 25, Chilean Co-op, 3390 School Ave. (near Kingsway & Tyne). For info, call Ray, 604-254-1350.

NANAIMO, BC

Moncada Day Celebration - 1 pm, Sunday, July 25, 530 Wakesia, call Gilberto, 250-754-4277.

SURREY, BC

People’s Voice Walk-A-Thon - Sunday, August 1, Bear Creek Park (137 St. & 88 Ave.), walk starts 11 am, followed by food and cultural program at 1 pm. For details or to sponsor a walker, call Harjit Daudharia, 604-543-7179.

TORONTO, ON

G8/G20 rally and march - Sat., June 26, 1 pm, from Queen’s Park, call 416-441-3710 for details.

BBQ for People’s Voice - Sat., July 3, 2-5 pm (rain or shine), 58 Albany Ave. (one block east of  Bathurst, north of Bloor). $20 “all you can eat,” children under 12 free. Organized by Davenport Club, RSVP to 416-536-6771.

Moncada Day, cruise the Toronto Islands with live hot Cuban music. Meal, cash bar,  meet old and new friends! Sunday, July 25, Noon to 4 pm, check in 11:15 am. Limited  tickets, $40 prepaid in advance or $50 if paying at boat. For info & reservations, call Sharon 905.951.8499 or Ardis 416.534.5340. Mail cheque to: CCFA Toronto, PO Box 743
Station F, Toronto, M4Y 2N6.

MONTREAL, QC

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!

 

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15) PV FUND DRIVE: $50,000 IN 2010
$36,800 raised: 73.6%

(The following article is from the July 1-31, 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.)

PV business manager Sam Hammond is spending some well earned vacation time with his family in Hamilton as this issue goes to press, so our Fund Drive report will be brief. The Drive has now reached 73.6%, with $36,800 turned in towards our goal of $50,000. As reported last issue, Saskatchewan was the first province to meet its target. Ontario is not far behind, with $19,467 raised, or 90.1% of their target of $21,600. British Columbia has  moved into third place ($12,113, or 60.5% of their $20,000 goal), just head of Quebec’s 60% and Manitoba at 56%.

Some of our most important fundraisers are planned for this summer. Toronto-area readers should mark Saturday, July 3, 2-5 pm (rain or shine) on your calendars. That’s the annual People’s Voice BBQ hosted by the Davenport Club, at 58 Albany Ave. (one block east of Bathurst, north of Bloor). This feast is just $20 for “all you can eat”, and kids under 12 get in free. Please RSVP to let them know how many people to expect.  You can email to omayasim@sympatico.ca, or call 416-536-6771.

Our biggest fundraiser of the Drive will be the annual Walk-AThon organized by the Lower Fraser Club CPC. This year’s event will be on Sunday, August 1, at Bear Creek Park in Surrey. The Walk starts at 11 am, followed at 1 pm with a delicious South Asian  lunch and a cultural program. There will also be a literature display. Call Harjit Daudharia for details, at 604-543-7179.

As a mark of appreciation for your generosity, we are once again offering supporters  complimentary gifts. For each $100 in donations, you can choose one of these black and white portraits, mounted on card, matted and ready for framing: Che Guevara, Clara Zetkin, Augusto Cesar Sandino, Bhagat Singh, Gall (Sioux), Elizabeth Gurley Flynn,  Louis Riel, Jeanne Corbin, or Gladys Marin. Other choices include music CDs or a copy of our 2010 Women’s Socialist Calendar. ●

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