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) DEATH IN THE WORKPLACE: A GLOBAL EPIDEMIC

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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).

Special to PV

Is your job worth your life, or a serious disease or injury? That's a question many workers have to ask every day. The International Labour Organization reports that 2.2 million workers were killed in 2005 by occupational accidents and work-related diseases. Another 270 million suffered non-fatal accidents, and 160 million were hit with occupational diseases.

     Deaths and injuries take a particularly heavy toll in developing countries, where large numbers of workers are concentrated in the most hazardous industries - primary and extractive activities such as agriculture, logging, fishing and mining. Fatality rates in some European countries are twice as high as in some others, and in parts of the Middle East and Asia fatality rates soar to four-fold those in the industrialized countries. Certain hazardous jobs can be from 10 to 100 times riskier. Only 10 per cent or less of the workforce in many developing countries enjoy any sort of coverage against occupational injury and illness, and even in some OPEC countries coverage may extend to only half the workforce.

     Since 1984, April 28 has been marked in Canada as the Day of Mourning for Workers killed on the job. The annual event is now officially recognized in dozens of other countries, but the world-wide death toll continues.

     There are about one million workplace injuries a year in Canada, one every seven seconds of each working day. Over a thousand Canadian workers die on the job every year. Sadly, many work-related deaths do not appear in the official statistics, because they were not accepted as such by Workers Compensation Boards, or resulted from occupational diseases not yet recognized as having roots in the workplace.

     According to the Centre for the Study of Living Standards, in 2005 there were 1097 workplace deaths in Canada, up from 744 in 1984. The most dangerous area was the Northwest Territories, which recorded 27.4 deaths per 100,000 workers. Newfoundland and Labrador was second, at 11.7 deaths per 100,000 workers, followed by B.C. (8.9), Alberta (8.0), and Ontario (6.5).

     In Canada, men are 30 times more likely to die on the job than women. In 2005, the incidence was 12.4 deaths per 100,000 male workers, versus 0.4 deaths per 100,000 women. Contrary to common belief, older workers are more likely to die on the job. In 2005, the work-related fatality rate was 1.8 deaths per 100,000 workers for the 15-19 age group, but 18.1 deaths per 100,000 aged 60-64.

     The story is similar south of the border, where on average, 16 workers were fatally injured and more than 12,000 workers were injured or made ill each day of 2005. Again, these U.S. statistics do not include deaths from occupational diseases, which claim the lives of an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 workers each year.

     According to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, there were 5,734 workplace deaths due to traumatic injuries in 2005, a slight decrease from 2004. The rate of fatal injuries was 4.0 per 100,000 workers. Wyoming led the United States with the highest fatality rate (16.8 per 100,000), followed by Montana (10.3), Mississippi (8.9), Alaska (8.2), South Dakota (7.5) and South Carolina (6.7).

     The U.S. construction sector had the largest number of fatal work injuries (1,192) in 2005, followed by transportation and warehousing (885). Industry sectors with the highest fatality rates were agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (32.5 per 100,000), mining (25.6) and transportation and warehousing (17.7).

     There is also a racist edge to the U.S. statistics. The rate of fatal injuries to Hispanic or Latino workers was 4.9 per 100,000 in 2005, or 23 percent higher than the fatal injury rate for all U.S. workers. Groups experiencing an increase in fatalities in 2005 included African-Americans and Native Americans.

     The International Labour Organization Workplace Fatality database shows that in 2003 Canada had the fifth highest incidence of workplace fatalities out of 29 OECD countries. Only Korea, Mexico, Portugal, and Turkey had workplace fatality higher rates.

     Unfortunately, definitions of workplace fatalities differ from country to country, and the ILO makes no attempt to standardize the data. Some countries exclude deaths from traffic accidents while on the job and deaths from occupational diseases in their estimates, so the ILO statistics should be used with caution. For example, unlike Canada, the U.S. definition excludes fatalities from occupational diseases.

     In fact, the ILO's 17th World Congress on Safety and Health at Work concluded that the organization's estimate of 2.2 million fatalities may be vastly under-estimated due to poor reporting and coverage systems in many countries.

     The most recent statistics available to the ILO state that India reports about 220 fatal accidents annually, while the Czech Republic, which has a working population of about 1 per cent of India, reports 231. The ILO estimates the true number of fatal accidents in India at about 40,000 per year.

     "Occupational safety and health is vital to the dignity of work", said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. "Still, every day, on average, some 5,000 or more women and men around the world lose their lives because of work-related accidents and illness. Decent work must be safe work, and we are a long way from achieving that goal."

     The ILO report Decent Work - Safe Work, presented at the Congress, warned that work-related malaria and other communicable diseases as well as cancers caused by hazardous substances are taking a huge toll, mostly in the developing world.

     While men are more at risk of dying at working age (below 65), women suffer more from work-related communicable diseases, psycho-social factors and long-term musculo-skeletal disorders.

     Hazardous substances are perhaps the most troubling factor world-wide, causing an estimated 440,000 deaths each year. Of these, asbestos alone kills some 100,000 workers. In Britain, 3,500 workers die from the effects of asbestos every year, more than ten times the number of workers killed in accidents.

     The report noted that emerging problems such as psychosocial factors, violence, the effects of alcohol and drugs, stress, smoking and HIV/AIDS are rapidly leading to increased fatalities worldwide. Smoking, which affects mostly workers in the restaurant, entertainment and service sectors, is estimated to cause 14 per cent of all work-related deaths caused by disease, or close to 200,000 fatalities. The ILO also estimated that the cumulative loss of labour force participants due to HIV/AIDS since the start of the epidemic had reached 28 million worldwide by 2005.

     These statistics are often accompanied by recommendations to improve workplace safety, such as better monitoring by governments, closer cooperation between unions and employers, higher training requirements, and so on.

     But these well-meaning proposals avoid the root of the problem: each such reform impedes the "right" of corporations to extract maximum profits from their workers. A key part of the neoliberal policy agenda imposed by capital, with the enthusiastic support of right-wing governments (and even social democratic parties in office) has been to remove such restrictions. In many jurisdictions, the monitoring of labour and safety standards has been drastically cut back, or even replaced by "voluntary" industry compliance.

     Part of this trend is the "decline" in job-related injuries reported by Workers Compensation boards with little explanation. This reflects moves by employers to opt out of compensation coverage in favour of private insurers, which are usually more restrictive in granting claims.

     Another factor in the rise of work-related fatalities may be the increase in work hours and resulting stress and fatigue. Canada now ranks fourth in the world in the number of hours worked per capita per year; over one-quarter of Canadians report working over 50 hours per week, up from one-tenth in 1991.

     The bottom line is that over 1,000 Canadian workers are dying and one million are wounded every year, at a time when total corporate profits are well over $200 billion. Those profits are created by our labour. The bosses who reap the benefits should be forced to dramatically improve workplace health and safety - and that means raising taxes on corporate profits to pay for such changes, the sooner the better.

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2) STEELWORKERS AT DOFASCO... A LEARNING EXPERIENCE

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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 Sam Hammond

On the United Steel Workers Canada web page there is a reflective article by Wayne Fraser, Director of District Six, titled "Magna - The Wrong Deal at the Wrong Time". Brother Fraser outlines his thoughts on the "Framework of Fairness Agreement" between the CAW and Magna Corporation, and his very real concerns about trading off the right to strike and union workplace democracy for more members. He is right, but he has run into a rather large problem of his own. The unfortunate and very serious rebuttal of the USW by Arcelor-Mittal Dofasco workers also needs some serious reflection and analysis.

     Announced on the eve of its implementation, the "Neutrality Agreement" worked out between the union and Arcelor-Mittal, based on its relations in the United States with the USW, was a surprise not only to Dofasco workers but also to USW Local 1005, the largest steel local in Canada, with 5000 members working right next door.

     The deal had some positive potential, but it was literally eviscerated by its flaws. It was done over the heads of the rank and file workers, both Steel members and those non-members who were the target. On the positive side, it froze benefit programs, wages and incentives until the process of presentation, negotiating and ratification were over. This alone gave Dofasco workers a set of security parameters that would have cost nothing nor required any commitment, during a process where they could have taken their own sweet time to ponder acceptance or alternative. The culture of their non-union environment blinded them to this freebee which any unionized worker initiated in tactics would have seen.

     The Steel Workers Union walked into a non-union environment, not by any means passive, with blinders on. Those blinders were made out of a company letter sent to all 6,000 workers, urging a strongly positive response to the Steel staffers who were allowed into the departments to sell the union.

     It must be understood that there has been a corporate sponsored and spawned anti-labour culture in Dofasco for a hundred years, encouraged by purges of anyone even dreaming out loud of anything collective. But it is equally true that since the purchase of the family-owned Dofasco, there is a real fear amongst the workers that this global Eurasian conglomerate has the ultimate power to do anything it wants to them or with them. They are feeling very lonely, and many think it's time to organize.

     If you strip away the anti-union rednecks and wannabe corporate slaves-in-waiting, not even approaching a significant population, the reasons for such a brick wall negative response can be found in the statements of reasonable workers and observers.

     First of all is the ingrained suspicion that the company and the union had conspired behind their backs to tell them what to do.  This is being expressed in letters to the editor and across bars and tables in most pubs in Hamilton. with the expression "we smelled a rat".

     Even though they are unorganized, these are still Hamilton workers, and their attitude to corporate union deals has been forged as much by mingling with Local 1005 members as it has by their basic class instinct. The international reps haven't always been trusted in Hamilton. The fact that District Six kept Local 1005 out of the equation, when they had the knowledge and gut instinct to make this work, is an indication of inner problems that Dofasco workers know well.

     What the Steel reps ran into, and retreated quickly from, was just as much a rejection of the corporation as it was the union. "If I join a union I will decide when it is and who it is", is heard over and over. The union went in too fast. They did not prepare comprehensive and up-to-date info packages that could be distributed for future discussion. They did not include the workers' peers from next door at the old Stelco Hilton Works. They did not educate themselves with conditions and programs within Dofasco.

     In fact the Dofasco workers I talked to said the reps were ill-informed and thought they had a done deal. I do not spend a lot of time with anti-union people, so these worker contacts of mine wanted the union to succeed, as did I.

     This was not a carbon copy of the CAW-Magna deal. It differed insofar as it made the workers the only choosers of their representatives, and it did not give up the right-to-strike or the adversarial role. But, like CAW-Magna, it was done over the heads of the workers and presented to them de facto. This was a big mistake and borders on contempt.

     The USW went in too fast and they left too fast. Both the entry and departure will make the next attempt harder, but the Steelworkers must not give up. Non-union workers are not necessarily anti-union workers. Dofasco can be organized, but it will require the resources and involvement of Hamilton's most experienced steelworkers, especially Local 1005. It will also require the involvement of the Hamilton & District Labour Council, the Building Trades Council and the Port Council. Hopefully Wayne Fraser and District Six will reflect, regroup and try again, this time with as many allies as they can find, including pro-union Dofasco workers.

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3) WHAT WILL WE EAT WHEN THE SOIL IS GONE?

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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

More than one environmental crisis threatens our planet. While most of our collective attention is focused on global warming and climate change, the topsoil which sustains life is quickly eroding.

     On average, the Earth's land surface is covered with about one meter of topsoil - the nutrient-rich matter which humans use to grow most of our food. But scientists estimate that we are now losing about 1 percent of this topsoil every year to erosion, mostly because of agriculture.

     In effect, modern capitalist agricultural practices are outstripping the Earth's natural rate of creating topsoil. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has determined that cropland is being eroded at least 10 times faster than the time it takes for lost soil to be replaced.

     University of Washington professor David Montgomery's popular book, Dirt, calls public attention to this potential environmental disaster. Montgomery describes modern agricultural practices as "soil mining."

     Healthy topsoil cannot be created quickly. It is a biologically diverse complex of organisms: microbes, fungi, nutrients and earthworms whose digestive tracts transform the fine grains of sterile rock and plant detritus. Topsoil grows back at a rate of an inch or two over hundreds of years.

     A growing number of farmers and agricultural scientists are urging "no-till" methods, which involve not tilling the land between plantings, leaving crop stubble to reduce erosion and planting new seeds between the stubble rows. Erosion rates in some areas of North America have improved recently because of better conservation farming practices, but this simply slows the net loss. Meanwhile, the conversion of farmland to urban use continues to exacerbate the problem.

     And while no-till farming can reduce topsoil erosion, the switch requires heavy upfront investment and learning new techniques. It also tends to depend more on herbicides because weeds can't be controlled by plowing them into the soil.

     Organic farming methods also can reduce soil loss. Agricultural researchers have found increases in soil health, water retention and regrowth when organic methods replace traditional practices. But the global scale of the problem far outstrips progress made by recent shifts towards organic farming.

     The world's worst soil loss trouble spot is sub-Saharan Africa, which faces a combination of some of the world's worst soils, rapid population-growth rates, and widespread soil erosion and desertification. Per-capita grain production peaked in Africa in 1967, and has declined one percent annually ever since, contributing to the rapidly increasing number of malnourished people.

     Other regions are also showing problem signs. The southern portion of the former USSR has been seriously damaged by many centuries of erosion, and half of Russia's arable land is now unsuitable for farming.

     In Canada's prairie region, wind erosion accounts for twice as much soil loss as water erosion, reflecting attempts to expand cropland into arid lands such as the Palliser Triangle which should never have been farmed intensively. The loss of about half the organic matter from Canada's prairie croplands over the past seventy years points to a future of decreasing productivity and increased soil erosion.

     In the US, problems include a history of major dams, many of which have captured huge erosion sediments, and the cotton monocultures of the southern states, which eventually forced croplands into pulpwood plantations. Under the Reagan administration, policies to support soil conservation were abandoned in favour of allowing erosion down to the depth of root zones (about six inches), when farmers would feel compelled, on their own, to conserve soil. That disastrous policy shift was later reversed, but soil loss remains very serious.

     Looking at the issue from a wider capitalist perspective, it is clear that the economic pressures to generate export earnings are directly linked to soil erosion. The process has not been reversed; in fact, the boom in crops for biofuels has been compared to burning off the last few inches of mid-Western topsoil to keep private vehicles moving.

     Advocates for biofuels claim that using agricultural "waste" to make fuel can help solve energy shortages and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They also argue that byproducts of this process can be used to regenerate topsoil.

     But this approach has its own problems. Making fuel from unused portions of plants that are normally plowed under increases the need for nitrogen fertilizers, which release the most potent greenhouse gas of all; nitrous oxide. Much of the residual crop biomass must be returned to the soil to maintain topsoil integrity, otherwise the rate of topsoil erosion will increase dramatically. In effect, biofuels are mining our topsoil for energy, and the recycling of byproducts does nothing to reverse the overall danger.    Using wood chips to make ethanol initially sounds like a good way to cut down on the soil erosion problem. But remember that this material is already used to make paper, particle board, pellet fuel for stoves, and many other products. Every part of the trees we cut down for lumber can be used for something, including the bark which is used for garden mulch. The huge amounts of wood waste created by current corporate profiteering practices in the forest industry could be used to produce fuel, but in reality, North American forests are already overused producing lumber, let alone liquid biofuels. This strategy has very limited possibilities to reduce the topsoil erosion crisis.

     Another long-standing capitalist approach is to develop new technologies to expand food resources without requiring more land for cultivation. During the second half of the last century, sharp increases in agricultural productivity were called the "green revolution". Increased yields were gained by planting monocultures of hybrid crop varieties and by the application of large amounts of inorganic fertilizer, irrigation water, and pesticides.

     This resulted in dramatic increases in crop yields, first in more developed capitalist countries, and later to the global south, involving the cultivation of new high yield, fast-growing dwarf varieties of rice and wheat, specially bred for tropical and subtropical climates. However, achieving high yields with these new crops required much larger inputs of fertilizers, water and pesticides.

     Today, it now takes about 1.2 barrels of oil to produce a single ton of grain in more developed countries - seven times greater than in 1950! Capitalist industrial agriculture has become addicted to oil, using about 8% of world oil output.

     As soil fertility declines and the world appears to near the limits of industrial food production, rising prices and hunger are becoming more prevalent. Anger over high food and fuel costs have sparked violent protests in many countries, from "tortilla riots" in Mexico, to clashes between villagers and police in India, and the arrest of 300 people in landlocked Burkina Faso. The UN World Food Programme says staple food prices in some parts of Africa have risen by 40 percent or more in six months.

     The scope of the impending soil and food catastrophe raises a critical question: is there an alternative?

     One answer comes from socialist Cuba, which was forced to radically overhaul its agricultural system after the demise of the Soviet Union, its main trading partner. Factories closed, food supplies plummeted, and the average daily caloric intake of Cubans dropped by a third.

     Suddenly without fertilizer, pesticides, fuel and machinery parts, Cuba turned to organic methods, oxen, and urban gardens. In 1992, the country's urban agriculture was virtually zero. By the end of the decade millions of tons of food were being grown with cities, making use of every empty space: vacant lots, school playgrounds, patios and back yards.

     Cuba created the largest program in sustainable agriculture ever undertaken. By 1999 agricultural production had recovered and in some cases reached historic levels.

     Today, Cuba is recognized worldwide as the first country to combine environmental sustainability with social justice. It remains to be seen exactly how Cuban agriculture will continue to develop, but its experience shows that a country can feed its population and begin to restore its soil without depending on traditional capitalist policies.

     Here in North America, if the topsoil crisis continues, we may be compelled to consider a similar radical shift sooner than anyone can imagine. In fact, it may be the only way to save the global environment from collapse.

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4) MIRACLE FUELS OR ENVIRONMENTAL DEAD END?

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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

It seems that every spring, another crop of enviro-fakers emerges, just in time for Earth Day. This trend has recently become almost year-round, as politicians vie for recognition as "greens." Last December, George W. Bush signed legislation mandating a six-fold increase in ethanol fuel to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022, calling the requirement key to weaning the U.S. from imported oil.

     Of course, any politician who supports the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is implicated in the resulting environmental destruction. The carbon emissions footprint caused by sending 200,000-plus troops from the U.S. and other NATO countries to central Asia, and then to supply, maintain and extend this occupation indefinitely, is simply enormous. Millions of people took part in "Earth Hour" on March 29, a welcome contribution to the struggle against global warming. But this effort was dwarfed by the consequences of the imperialist drive to seize control of resources - oil in particular - for the profits of transnational corporations.

     So when the Bush administration or the Harper Tory minority government pay lip service to the environment, keep in mind that these warmongers do more to destroy the planet every single day than we could repair by turning off our lights for an entire year.

     The "biofuel miracle" is a more subtle form of environmental fakery. For years, the U.S. Republicans and Canada's Conservatives simply denied that human economic activity and carbon emissions had any environmental impact. Now, these political forces are gung-ho for biofuels.

     The website of Natural Resources Canada calls ethanol the "road to a greener future ... helping Canada to meet its climate change objectives." A mix of grain-produced ethanol and straight gasoline "can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3 to 4 percent," says the NRC.

     The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, a "non-profit" industry group, argues that biofuels are necessary to "break OPEC's grip." The CRFA dismisses fears that turning food into gasoline will worsen global hunger; their argument is that the biofuel industry pushes up domestic grain prices, effectively reducing exports of North American grain, thereby helping farmers in the global south by increasing grain prices in their countries. This argument raises questions: how are poor consumers in the Third World supposed to pay these higher prices? How can using agricultural land to grow fuel increase overall food supplies?

     In fact, a prominent United Nations activist against famine has demanded a five-year moratorium on biofuels. The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, calls it a "crime against humanity" to convert food crops to fuel, driving up food prices when over 850 million people are hungry, and while a child under 10 dies from hunger or disease related to malnutrition every five seconds.

     Ziegler's view is backed by many other independent experts, for a wide range of reasons.

     For example, the biofuels industry demands more water than we have to spare. Ethanol uses 4.3 gallons of water in the fermentation and cooling stages of production for every gallon produced. In Minnesota alone, 16 current ethanol facilities and five more under construction will raise production to over one billion gallons, consuming more than 4.3 billion gallons of water. That could suck regional sources of groundwater dry. The spectre of declining irrigation sources has led some officials in the Midwest to delay or deny approval of permits for ethanol plants.

     There are other downsides. Many of the biofuel "miracle plants" have the potential to wreak ecological devastation. The Invasive Species Council reports that two of the most "promising" such plants, jatropha and spartina, are on an international list of the 30 worst invasive plants, known for overtaking native vegetation and reducing habitats for native animals, ultimately causing a loss of biodiversity.

     A study published by the National Academy of Sciences found that neither ethanol nor bio-diesel (which is soy-produced) can replace petroleum without having an impact on food supplies. But such criticism was shrugged off at the First Biofuels Congress of the Americas. Investors paid $500 to attend the event, held last May in Argentina; media outlets not allied to the biofuel industry were barred from entering.

     Juan Carlos Iturregui, president of the Foundation for InterAmerican Development, told investors that "Biofuels can propel development. They bring a very important factor which is the ability to compete and develop. This has already been proven, let's not get tied up with supposed theories and false debates. There can be food for everyone. There can be biofuels for everyone."

     Really? Argentina is the third-largest soybean producer in the world after the United States and Brazil. Topsoil erosion and pollution caused from pesticides and fertilizers are among the side effects of soybean plantations which are expanding at a rate of 10 percent annually.

     Soy production has already led to the violent evictions of small farmers and indigenous people to allow land clearances for mono-crop plantations in Argentina's northern provinces. Seven farmers were recently arrested for resisting eviction from their lands in the province of Santiago del Estero. The provincial government, which ordered the arrests, co-sponsored the First Biofuels Congress of the Americas, which paid Al Gore $170,000 for a presentation derived from his award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth.

     Local environmental groups and farmers held a parallel event to shed light on the dangers of biofuels, especially the effects on food production and prices. They also protested outside the hotel where the Biofuels Congress was held, chanting "Food sovereignty, Yes! Biofuels, No!"

     Protest leader Soledad Ogoliano said that multi-nationals like Monsanto and Repsol YPF, a Spanish-Argentine petroleum company, reap large profits while putting Argentina's food production at risk. "The immediate effect of this kind of production is the massive deforestation like we are seeing now in the forests in Chaco, the Amazon, and other areas that are large sources of biodiversity that are destroyed for mono-crops, only one agricultural crop, generally transgenetic like soy.... We are talking about production that is highly concentrated because it requires large amounts of capital and investments in technology. It is no longer agricultural food production in the hands of local communities, but simply large scale production of commodities."

     Exports of plant-based fuels are soaring from Argentina, where food inflation is over 15% annually and 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

     Growing numbers of small farmers in Brazil and Paraguay have also been pushed off lands cleared for soy production, and in Mexico, tortilla prices have soared partly due to the nation's increase in ethanol production.

     The promotion of biofuels also is raising questions in Africa. Some 300 experts from across the continent and other regions gathered last year in Burkina Faso to debate the pros and cons of biofuel generation.

     "No matter what we say, today biofuels represent a pragmatic solution" to energy problems and soaring oil prices, said Paul Ginies, director of the Ouagadougou-based International Institute for Water and Environment Engineering. Ginies argued that biofuels can help reduce expenditure on energy in rural areas by 30 to 40 percent, and that biofuel byproducts could serve as livestock feed or fertiliser for food crops.

     But Moussa Hassane, managing director of the National Institute of Agronomy Research in Niger, insisted that Africa should be wary.

     "Why the particular interest in biofuel production now in Africa? Africa has always been a leading raw material reserve tank for the West," he said. "Africa constitutes the ideal site for the production of biofuels. But of what benefit is that to the continent? Could that be done without posing a danger to food production?"

     Other speakers warned that the growing demand for biofuels coupled with rising prices of fossil fuel will have a negative impact on millions of poor Africans. Escalating food prices have sparked violent protests in some of the continent's most poverty-stricken countries.

     Further "Biofuels Congresses" are already planned for Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. It appears that farmers and popular movements face a tough struggle against transnationals which promote biofuel production to meet North American energy demands at the expense of food sovereignty and biodiversity.

     One reason behind the push for biofuels is government support. US taxpayer subsidies to the big corporate interests behind biofuels have been enormous, including over $10 billion to Archer-Daniels-Midland since 1980.

     But it remains unproven whether ethanol fuel actually results in a net energy gain or loss. Some studies suggest that the energy derived from corn-derived ethanol in the US is 1.34 times greater than the energy invested in the form of natural gas based fertilizers, farm equipment, transformation from raw materials, and transportation.

     However, other researchers have found that if all inputs are considered, the production of ethanol consumes more energy than it yields. It has also been estimated that if every bushel of U.S. corn, wheat, rice and soybean were used to produce ethanol, it would only cover about 4% of U.S. energy needs.

     The widespread use of ethanol from corn could actually result in nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the gasoline it replaces, according to a February 2008 report in Science magazine. "Other studies missed a key factor that everyone agrees should have been included, the land use changes that actually are going to increase greenhouse gas emissions," said Tim Searchinger, a scholar at Princeton University and lead author of the study.

     After taking into account expected worldwide land-use changes, corn-based ethanol, instead of reducing greenhouse gases by 20 percent, will increase it by 93 percent compared to using gasoline over a 30-year period. Using switchgrass (a cellulose-heavy prairie grass) to produce biofuels is often presented as a better alternative. But the study found that this option would also mean replacing croplands and other carbon-absorbing lands, and would result in 50 percent more greenhouse gas emissions.

     "Using good cropland to expand biofuels will probably exacerbate global warming," warns the study. The researchers said that farmers under economic pressure to produce biofuels will increasingly "plow up more forest or grasslands," releasing much of the carbon formerly stored in plants and soils through decomposition or fires. Globally, more grasslands and forests will be converted to growing the crops to replace the loss of grains as U.S. farmers convert land to biofuels.

     "We should be focusing on our use of biofuels from waste products" such as garbage, which would not result in changes in agricultural land use, Searchinger said in an interview. "And you have to be careful how much you require. Use the right biofuels, but don't require too much too fast. Right now we're making almost exclusively the wrong biofuels."

     The bottom line is that the global warming crisis cannot be solved relying on the tools of the global capitalist market. The "biofuel miracle" is enormously profitable for a few big landowners and a tiny minority of wealthy shareholders. But the net ecological and energy impact of this option is extremely negative for most of the world's population. Just as bad, it postpones real action to reduce wasteful energy consumption in the imperialist countries which are most responsible for humanity's economic footprint on the global environment.

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5) ONTARIO LIBERALS DELIVER FOR CORPORATIONS

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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 Liz Rowley

The Ontario Liberals delivered their budget March 25, taking to heart Federal Finance Minister Flaherty's dire warnings that corporations need more tax cuts. The budget delivered $750 million more in corporate tax cuts, on top of $1.1 billion promised last year.  

     The breaks include a retroactive Capital Tax cut for manufacturers and the resource sector back to January 1, 2007; increased capital cost allowances on machinery and equipment; a 4 year rate cut to the Business Education Tax in northern Ontario (capped at 1.6%). Forestry companies got a reduction in stumpage rates. Mining companies got some help with mapping, exploration and development for their new "gold rush" in Ontario's north.

     But Aboriginal Peoples got nothing in terms of resolving outstanding land claims. Many of their current struggles are against mining and logging companies which the government is supporting with tax cuts and its Ontario Mineral Development Strategy. No funds are in the budget to address the shocking poverty and misery on reserves or in Ontario cities, although there is a new casino revenue sharing agreement.

     Instead the government is trumpeting "new investments" in health, education and job training. But the social spending is pitiful, one-time only drops in the bucket in almost every area. In most areas of social spending, the situation will actually be worse after this budget is implemented than in 2003 when the Liberals defeated the Harris Tories.

     For example, the measures to combat poverty include a 2% increase in the ODSP and social assistance rates; a increase in the minimum wage to $8.75; funds for child care spaces; funds for retraining the unemployed and for new apprenticeships; funds for school nutrition and dental-care for the poor.  

     Sounds good until you pull it apart. The 2% increase in ODSP and welfare is less than inflation, and follows a 40% cut in a recipient's purchasing power since the Harris cuts of 22% twelve years ago. In other words, recipients are worse off every year. Similarly, the new $8.75 minimum wage actually buys less than the $3 minimum wage in 1970.

     The funds for child care spaces were committed years ago in the cancelled national child care plan. There is no new provincial money for desperately needed spaces. Not a single nickel is budgeted to pay out $78 million owing for 2006-07, and $467.9 million owing for 2008-11, to 100,000 Ontario women in pay equity settlements. Many of these women are child care workers.

     Retraining funds will send 20,000 laid-off workers to school, ignoring 180,000 others laid-off since the Liberals took office. What about their families and their futures? Some of the 20,000 lucky ones will get part of the funds for training - but not skilled trades' apprenticeships. For the McGuinty government, apprenticeships mean cheap labour in a service sector economy, including call centres and fast food restaurants.

     On long-term health care, 2500 personal support care workers will be hired, but the need is ten times that number. Soiled diapers will remain a staple of long-term care facilities in the province.

     The $100 million for social housing renovation is also a drop in the bucket. The City of Toronto alone has a maintenance backlog in excess of $300 million.

     Funding for hospitals has not increased; the 75 hospitals currently running operating deficits will rise to 104 by 2009. Ontario's balanced budget legislation will ensure deep cuts delivered by local hospital authorities, not the province directly.

     The Liberal failure to bring in a new education funding formula leaves school boards in the same position as hospital boards, obliged to balance budgets with deeper and broader cuts. Deregulating tuition will encourage universities and colleges to solve their financial shortfalls by increasing student fees.

     This will be a year of big public sector negotiations, but there are no funds for bargaining - only the codicil that public sector unions must respect the public purse.

     Funds budgeted for roads and provincial infrastructure will all go to "public private partnerships" which the Liberals promised to dissolve in 2003. This government has stepped up the privatization of social services, child care, senior care, health care, and public and post-secondary education - both the "bricks and mortar" and the delivery of service.

     The budget was delivered with all the smoke and mirrors available to the provincial Liberals, who are desperate to convince electors that "all is well." They know the coming recession will be unlike anything since the 1930s. TD Bank economist Don Drummond says the recession will hit Ontario so hard this year that it will push the whole country into recession by 2009.

     A lot of people are going to lose their jobs, their homes, and their security because of neoliberal policies and budgets like this one, which allow the corporations to plunder the province while workers and the unemployed see their future go up in smoke.

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6) TRUTH EMERGES IN FRANK PAUL DEATH

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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

Almost ten years after Frank Paul was left to die of exposure in a Vancouver alley, the full truth about his death has finally begun to emerge. The reality tells much about the systemic racism which marks everyday life for Aboriginal people in British Columbia.

     Frank Paul, a Miq'maq man originally from New Brunswick, spent years homeless on the streets of east Vancouver. On a cold December night in 1998, he was kicked out of a detox centre, despite being visibly intoxicated. Instead, Sgt. Russell Sanderson ordered rookie constable David Instant to dump Paul at an intersection in the Kitsilano neighbourhood. Instant drove to a different location, where Paul's lifeless body was found several hours later.

     The cover-up began immediately. Frank Paul's relatives back home in New Brunswick were told that he had been killed in a hit-and-run accident. Coroners and police officials refused to launch investigations, apparently confident that nobody would care about yet another death of a homeless Aboriginal man.

     But one person refused to go along, and on April 2, he had his day at the Davies commission which is finally probing the case.

     Back in 1999, Dana Urban, a former B.C. Police Complaint Commission counsel and prosecutor, saw the damning jailhouse photos and video of the police treatment of Frank Paul on that fateful night. Deeply disturbed by the images, Urban told Paul's relatives that it was not a hit-and-run death, and began to press for a full inquiry.

     Now living in Sri Lanka, Urban flew to Vancouver to state that the Vancouver police story did not fit the facts and forensic evidence. Urban testified that in his expert opinion, Paul's death deserved charges of "criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessities of life." He said the case met the "two-pronged" charge-approval standard of having a strong likelihood of conviction and also of being in the public interest to prosecute and punish those responsible for his death.

     Instead, Sanderson was suspended for two days in 2000 and Instant for one day. Neither has faced criminal charges.

     Urban recommended that independent pathologist Dr. Rex Ferris evaluate Paul's death, and arranged for police complaint commissioner Don Morrison to view the evidence. According to Urban, Morrison walked out "disrespectfully" on Ferris, and went into his office to play computer solitaire. When Urban challenged Morrison to call an inquiry, the response was simply, "What do you want me to do, wreck a young officer's career?"

     Urban said the state of Paul's clothing showed that he had been dragged into the alley and dumped. But neither Sanderson nor Instant were ever questioned by a homicide investigator, nor were other jail or detox witnesses even located or interviewed.

     "My view was that the forensics and actual evidence didn't add up to what the officers were saying, more so as it related to officer Instant," Urban testified.

     At a rally outside the inquiry, Paul's cousin Peggy Clement, a Miq'maq from Elsibogtog, N.B., said Urban was "the first person to tell us the truth, that Frank was not killed in a hit-and-run accident. I came all the way from New Brunswick to hear Dana Urban today because he has fought for a decade to get the truth out about how Frank died."

     Inquiry commissioner William Davies said his final report will be delayed by a B.C. Supreme Court hearing into the B.C. criminal justice branch's refusal to let two ex-Crown prosecutors, now judges, testify why they refused to lay criminal charges in connection with Paul's death.

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7) ANTI-POVERTY GROUPS CONDEMN FOOD BANK CLOSURE

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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

In February, the only food bank in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, the most poverty-stricken urban neighbourhood in Canada, was closed. A community meeting of organizations struggling for economic human rights was held in response on April 5, to demand that the food bank be re-opened, along with higher welfare rates, homes for all, and cancellation of the 2010 Winter Olympics hosted by Vancouver.

     A statement from the meeting organizers (including the Anti-Poverty Committee) said, "The right to eat with justice and dignity must be fought for and won. Hunger is a crime of capitalism. In this country, a million people are forced to subsist from food banks. In Vancouver, food bank visitors number

25,000 weekly. In a society of such extreme wealth, hunger is one of the most vulgar contradictions.

     "Food banks are meant to prevent starvation. Most food banks are not government-funded - rather, they are controlled by organizations that function very much like the State they serve under. Although fundamentally flawed, food banks distribute much-needed necessities to individuals and families abandoned by their government. Donations include not only staple foods but diapers, tampons and other over-priced essentials as well.

     "We struggle for the day when our communities will be sustainable and healthy. Community gardens will flourish where once stood jails. We know that in our capitalist society food is wasted while people are hungry. Our government's economic policies directly dictate the amount of food that is allowed into the `free market' and how much is destroyed as surplus. These actions are crimes against humanity...

     "The fight for the food bank to be re-opened is a struggle against systematic racism and the oppression of poor people. For a movement of poor people to organize to defeat this government it must be strong and healthy. Although food banks are only crumbs, they are a necessity in this starvation economy. And until this economy is overthrown the right to eat with peace is an economic human right that must be won at all costs."

     The closure was also condemned by the Vancouver East Club of the Communist Party of Canada, which works in the same area. A statement from the Vancouver East Club backed the call to re-open the food bank as a necessary emergency measure.

     The statement also demanded a series of urgent reforms to address the crisis of hunger and homelessness in Vancouver, including a $15/hour minimum wage, an immediate 50% increase in social assistance rates, a crash program to build thousands of low-income and social housing units, and free public transit.

     "Vancouver today is living proof that capitalism concentrates wealth in fewer private hands and impoverishes working people," said the Vancouver East Club. "The food bank closure is a criminal act against working people, whose labour for generations has built this city and generated huge profits. Yet those in government and corporate boardrooms who are ultimately responsible for this crime remain free to continue plundering British Columbia. We demand that the wealth created by working people be used to address our urgent economic and social needs, not wasted on tax breaks for the rich and Olympic celebrations."

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8) FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS!

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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, April 16-30, 2008

University administrations and police on several campuses have launched a wave of injunctions and arrests to stifle student protests.

     The latest incident saw mass arrests of protesters at the University of British Columbia following an April 4 rally and concert, KnollAid 2.0, against plans for an underground bus loop and the commercialization of the centre of campus. The UBC administration has long ignored any opposition to its massive development schemes, but this police assault on non-violent student protesters took the university's actions to a shocking new level.

     Last fall In Québec, college and university students conducted a huge struggle against tuition fee increases, facing unprecedented police repression. More than 100 students who peacefully barricaded themselves inside CEGEP Vieux-Montréal to protest tuition hikes were arrested by police using pepper spray and Tasers, sparking wider protests. And in March, the administration of UQAM (l'Université du Québec à Montréal) banned political actions aimed at its plans for fee increases. A UQAM injunction approved by Québec Superior Court barred 14,000 striking students from demonstrating on campus, with threats of $50,000 fines.

     Meanwhile, officials at McMaster University in Hamilton recently tried to ban the use of the words "Israeli apartheid," in a transparent attempt to derail Israeli Apartheid Week events planned by student clubs.

     These are not incidents isolated from the rest of society. Ordering students to "sit down and shut up" reflects a rising militarization of our society, including threats by Harper's Tories and top military officers that Canadians who do not support their policies are "unpatriotic." We urge full solidarity with students by the labour and all democratic movements. Unity can help defeat these dangerous attacks on campus free speech!

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9) WYNN THREATENS TDSB - AGAIN

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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, April 16-30, 2008

In early April, Ontario Minister of Education Kathleen Wynn said that unless the Toronto District School Board agrees by the end of May to restructure, the Ministry will impose its own model. The reason, according to Wynn, is that the Board is too big and doesn't have public support.

     In fact, the truth may be just the opposite. With 300,000 students, the Board is the biggest in Canada and one of the most diverse in the world. It is also one of the most innovative and publicly responsive Boards in the country. In 2000, the TDSB was taken over by the Harris Tories after refusing to cut more programs and staff. More recently, Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty attacked the Board for deciding to establish a Black focused Alternative School, for which the Black community has campaigned and finally won in January.

     This Board's clout comes from the community, from parents, students, staff and supporters of public education who have had it with cutbacks and layoffs. If the Premier and the Minister think they can dismantle opposition to their policies by dismantling the Board, they're dead wrong. Strong-arming didn't work for the Tories, and it won't work for the Liberals either.

     There may be some merit to examining the Board's structure, but that's up to the Board in its own time, in conjunction with broad community discussion and input. But first, there must be action by the province to introduce a new needs-based funding formula, and to massively invest in public education and public schools across Ontario. In no way should the province intervene to curtail the rights of School Boards to local autonomy and democracy, now or in the future.

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10) 19th CPI(M) CONGRESS CALLS FOR "THIRD ALTERNATIVE"

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called for building a third political alternative to both the religious fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the centre-right Congress, both of which are also keen to make India serve the global interests of imperialism.

     The 19th CPI(M) Congress documents and the six days of discussions by delegates (March 29 to April 3 at Coimbatore), took note of the sustained efforts of the Communists and the Left to compel the Congress-run United Progressive Alliance federal government to adopt pro-people, especially pro-poor measures. These include the federal guarantee to offer the rural poor at least 100 days worth of work, and a move away from wholesale privatisation of the core sector of the economy and foreign direct investment in the retail trade.

     However, Congress has stubbornly stuck to its stand on a nuclear deal with the USA, and even allowed to US and its NATO allies to dictate terms to India on foreign policy matters. This has hardened the attitude of the CPI(M) and the Left to the point where the Left-Congress coordination committee meetings are no longer held.

     The agrarian crisis, inflation, unemployment, and rising inequalities have all led to popular discontent. The UPA government's failure to tackle these and other burning problems reflect its economic policies, which favour liberalization and privatisation and promote the interests of international finance capital.

     During the last three years, the CPI(M) and the Left have been taking up these issues. The nationwide agitation campaign led by the CPI(M) from August 16 to 30 in 2007 proved a great success in keeping the Congress under pressure. State units of the CPI(M) focused demands on curbing price rises, a rationing system for all, tackling the problems of farmers, prevention of foreign capital in retail trade, curbing unemployment, the women's reservation Bill in Parliament, the fight against communalism, and total opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal and other cooperation with the forces of imperialism.

     The successful struggle to block the nuclear deal should help the CPI(M) and the Left to rally other anti-imperialist forces to prevent a strategic alliance with the United States.

     There were two general strikes by the working class in the recent period, in September 2005 and December 2006. Both strikes took up the issues of privatization, disinvestment, and measures to defend the interests of workers, and both evoked a wide response among different sections of the working class. The general strikes were also marked by solidarity actions by organizations of peasants, youth, and students.

     The CPI(M) has been engaged in countering the reactionary, communal politics of the BJP-RSS combine in the political, ideological, and organisational spheres. This struggle cannot be won in the way the Congress party deals with the matter, by vacillations and electoral tactics and manoeuvres, the way it fought the Gujarat assembly elections. This underlines the necessity for the CPI(M) and the Left parties to fight consistently against all forms of religious fundamentalism, and to rally all other secular and democratic forces to defend the secular principle.

     The coordination between the four Left parties at the national level (CPI-M, Communist Party of India, Forward Bloc, RSP) increased substantially during the last three years, with meetings held regularly averaging once a month, and more frequently at certain periods. The necessity to adopt a common approach on the UPA government's policies and to take a common stand in the UPA-Left Coordination Committee was the basis of this coordination. Largely, the Left parties were able to formulate common positions on economic policies, foreign policy and on other political matters.

     On some policy matters, there were divergences, for instance on the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The Left parties suggested amendments in the legislation, but later the RSP and the Forward Bloc stated that they were totally opposed to the SEZs being set up. The CPI has taken a position demanding changes in the law but also opposing the SEZs. On rising prices, the joint naval exercises and other issues, the Left parties gave joint calls and conducted joint actions.

     At its 17th and 18th Congress, the CPI(M) had clarified the concept of a Third Alternative, based on a common platform of policies that would emerge through the Left, democratic and secular forces working together in joint campaigns and struggles.

     The Third Alternative cannot be reduced to merely an electoral alliance. Bringing together political parties, regional and national, who are against both the BJP's religious fundamentalism and Congress party's mis-rule and pro-US stand, has resulted in the beginning of a process of political crystallisation of a Third Alternative at the national level. The CPI(M) believes that the future of Indian politics lies with the full-fledged emergence of a left-democratic alternative to both the Congress and the BJP.

     The 19th CPI(M) Congress called on the Party to take the lead in identifying with the aspirations and assertions of all socially and economically oppressed sections. Specifically the resolution mentioned:

* The cause of the dalits (the lowest rung of the caste system. including the untouchables), against caste oppression, making their demand for social justice a part of the common democratic platform;

* The rising consciousness and movement of women for equality and gender justice, viewing the women's question as not only a gender issue but a class issue;

* The struggle of the adivasis (tribal people) for land, access to forests, an end to the inhuman capitalist and feudal exploitation, and protecting their identity, cultural and linguistic rights; and

* All social causes, which help to fight obscurantism, socially regressive customs, and patriarchal and feudal practices.

     The 19th Congress discussed in detail the role of the CPI(M) in the Left-led governments in the states of Bengal, Kerala, and Tripura. The entire Party has to understand the role played by these governments, and the constraints they face. Failure to do so leads to unrealistic and exaggerated expectations.

     In a situation where these three states are advanced outposts and where the Party and the Left have been unable to advance further, it is unrealistic to expect the Left-led governments to initiate any basic changes. With the neo-liberal framework and offensive, the Left-led governments have been defensively responding to protect gains and to bring about some development and provide relief to the people. While running state governments, the policies and steps taken must be viewed in the light of the all-India tactical line and policies that the CPI(M) advocates.

     Organisationally, the CPI(M) has made steady progress. The Party's intervention in political and policy matters has been enhanced, and extensive all-India political campaigns have been organised. There has been a growth in membership of the Party and its mass organisations, and more attention has been paid to education. Circulation of People's Democracy has increased to the highest ever level with new editions being brought out from Chennai, Agartala, and Kochi. More agit-prop pamphlets and booklets been produced. More efforts have been made to take up issues concerning the dalits and tribal and minority sections.

     The 19th Congress urged strengthened efforts to build a powerful Communist Party, based on the principles of Marxism-Leninism, all over the country, taking appropriate organisational steps to solve the problem of unevenness in growth.

     The Congress, which concluded with a vast mass rally, re-elected Prakash Karat as the general secretary, along with a 16-member Political Bureau (where veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu is now an invitee member), a five-member Control Commission, and an 86-member Central Committee where former general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet is an invitee member.

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11) LOOKING BEHIND THE "TIBET MYTH"

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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.)

(As anti-China protests continue leading up to the Beijing Olympics, People's Voice suggests readers study the background of the Tibet issue. We reprint here parts of author Michael Parenti's article "Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth," (fully documented with footnotes), available online at http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html.)

Many Buddhists maintain that, before the Chinese crackdown in 1959, old Tibet was a spiritually oriented kingdom free from the egotistical lifestyles, empty materialism, and corrupting vices that beset modern industrialized society. Western news media, travel books, novels, and Hollywood films have portrayed the Tibetan theocracy as a veritable Shangri-La...

     A reading of Tibet's history suggests a somewhat different picture. "Religious conflict was commonplace in old Tibet," writes one western Buddhist practitioner. "History belies the Shangri-La image of Tibetan lamas and their followers living together in mutual tolerance and nonviolent goodwill. Indeed, the situation was quite different. Old Tibet was much more like Europe during the religious wars of the Counterreformation." ... This grim history remains largely unvisited by present-day followers of Tibetan Buddhism in the West.

      Religions have had a close relationship not only with violence but with economic exploitation. Indeed, it is often the economic exploitation that necessitates the violence. Such was the case with the Tibetan theocracy. Until 1959, when the Dalai Lama last presided over Tibet, most of the arable land was still organized into manorial estates worked by serfs. These estates were owned by two social groups: the rich secular landlords and the rich theocratic lamas. Even a writer sympathetic to the old order allows that "a great deal of real estate belonged to the monasteries, and most of them amassed great riches." Much of the wealth was accumulated "through active participation in trade, commerce, and money lending."

     Drepung monastery was one of the biggest landowners in the world, with its 185 manors, 25,000 serfs, 300 great pastures, and 16,000 herdsmen. The wealth of the monasteries rested in the hands of small numbers of high-ranking lamas. Most ordinary monks lived modestly and had no direct access to great wealth. The Dalai Lama himself "lived richly in the 1000-room, 14-story Potala Palace."

     ... Old Tibet has been misrepresented by some Western admirers as "a nation that required no police force because its people voluntarily observed the laws of karma." In fact, it had a professional army, albeit a small one, that served mainly as a gendarmerie for the landlords to keep order, protect their property, and hunt down runaway serfs. Young Tibetan boys were regularly taken from their peasant families and brought into the monasteries to be trained as monks. Once there, they were bonded for life. It was common for peasant children to be sexually mistreated in the monasteries (or) conscripted for lifelong servitude as domestics, dance performers, and soldiers.

     In old Tibet there were small numbers of farmers who subsisted as a kind of free peasantry, and perhaps an additional 10,000 people who composed the "middle-class" families of merchants, shopkeepers, and small traders. Thousands of others were beggars. There also were slaves, usually domestic servants, who owned nothing. Their offspring were born into slavery.

     The majority of the rural population were serfs. Treated little better than slaves, the serfs went without schooling or medical care, They were under a lifetime bond to work the lord's land - or the monastery's land - without pay, to repair the lord's houses, transport his crops, and collect his firewood. They were also expected to provide carrying animals and transportation on demand.

     Their masters told them what crops to grow and what animals to raise. They could not get married without the consent of their lord or lama. And they might easily be separated from their families should their owners lease them out to work in a distant location. As in a free labor system and unlike slavery, the overlords had no responsibility for the serf's maintenance and no direct interest in his or her survival as an expensive piece of property. The serfs had to support themselves. Yet as in a slave system, they were bound to their masters, guaranteeing a fixed and permanent workforce that could neither organize nor strike nor freely depart as might laborers in a market context. The overlords had the best of both worlds...

     What happened to Tibet after the Chinese Communists moved into the country in 1951? The treaty of that year provided for ostensible self-governance under the Dalai Lama's rule but gave China military control and exclusive right to conduct foreign relations. The Chinese were also granted a direct role in internal administration "to promote social reforms." Among the earliest changes they wrought was to reduce usurious interest rates, and build a few hospitals and roads. At first, they moved slowly, relying mostly on persuasion in an attempt to effect reconstruction. No aristocratic or monastic property was confiscated, and feudal lords continued to reign over their hereditarily bound peasants.

     ...What upset the Tibetan lords and lamas in the early 1950s was that these latest Chinese were Communists. It would be only a matter of time, they feared, before the Communists started imposing their collectivist egalitarian schemes upon Tibet.

     The issue was joined in 1956-57, when armed Tibetan bands ambushed convoys of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army. The uprising received extensive assistance from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), including military training, support camps in Nepal, and numerous airlifts. Meanwhile in the United States, the American Society for a Free Asia, a CIA-financed front, energetically publicized the cause of Tibetan resistance, with the Dalai Lama's eldest brother, Thubtan Norbu, playing an active role in that organization. The Dalai Lama's second-eldest brother, Gyalo Thondup, established an intelligence operation with the CIA as early as 1951. He later upgraded it into a CIA-trained guerrilla unit whose recruits parachuted back into Tibet.

     Many Tibetan commandos and agents whom the CIA dropped into the country were chiefs of aristocratic clans or the sons of chiefs. Ninety percent of them were never heard from again, according to a report from the CIA itself, meaning they were most likely captured and killed. "Many lamas and lay members of the elite and much of the Tibetan army joined the uprising, but in the main the populace did not, assuring its failure," writes Hugh Deane. In their book on Tibet, Ginsburg and Mathos reach a similar conclusion: "As far as can be ascertained, the great bulk of the common people of Lhasa and of the adjoining countryside failed to join in the fighting against the Chinese both when it first began and as it progressed." Eventually the resistance crumbled...

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12) "IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE THE RAID"

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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.)

(Our regular "Youth Fightback" contributor, Johan Boyden, is on holiday. This issue, he turns his column over to another writer. This anonymous account of the arrest of a member of the Toronto 18 is a shortened version of an article originally published in the Toronto Star.)

It's been nearly two years since the raid on our house, since the day they took my brother and another relative. Since that day, my family and I have lived in silence. It's an emotional topic for me and talking about it means reliving that pain all over again. But I feel obliged to let Canadians know about our experience and what we continue to experience each and every single day.

     It was June 2, 2006 - around 11 p.m. That night was a nightmare for me and my family. Earlier that day, a relative was arrested while coming home after grocery shopping. We sat at home, in shock, wondering what had just happened. None of us shed a tear, I guess out of sheer disbelief. It was getting late, and my other brother wasn't home yet.

     He'd been out with his friends. So my mother and I went out looking for him. We were just around the corner of our house when a pack of cars stopped at the end of the street and the SWAT team came running towards our house pointing guns at us. As soon as we got inside, they broke in, all the while yelling at us, asking us all to come down to the front door.

     One by one they called us out of the house to be searched. My dad was the first to go. He had been in such a shock that after he'd heard about our relative's arrest, he'd gone back to his room and started working on his business files. And when he came down, he'd brought his papers and pen with him to the door. One of the officers glanced at the papers and pen in his hands and yelled at him: "DROP YOUR WEAPONS! DROP YOUR WEAPONS RIGHT NOW!" They pulled my dad by his collar and he tripped. I asked them to go easy on my father because he was already in a state of shock. Their reply made me feel sick to my stomach. They said: "We know that already, that's what we have the ambulance for."

     Then they handcuffed him and took him for questioning, and we didn't see him for the next couple of hours. They searched us all and then had us wait outside in the rain with babies in our arms. They waited for my brother to come home, and when he did they put him in a car and took him. We didn't know where he was taken and what had happened to him. They finally told us that they had actually arrested him. We spent the night at our neighbours'.

     My brother shared with me his anguish on his first night. He said:

     "When I got out of the car I was surrounded by police dogs, SWAT team, and the bright camera flashes and the reporters screaming. I went inside and I was strip-searched. For the first time in my life I felt so humiliated. Then I was put in a cell for about five hours or so till it was early morning and the whole night I couldn't sleep because of the cold concrete bench, and there was no water so I was really thirsty. But when I'd ask for water or my sweater back so that at least I could sleep or something, they'd just say, `Its not a f---n' hotel.'"

     He was kept in solitary confinement for almost three months until he was released on bail under strict conditions. The authorities ruined my brother's future, his reputation and abused him physically and psychologically - all for, according to them, absolutely no reason.

     My other relative continues to suffer in solitary confinement along with two of the other accused. According to a study by the Correctional Services of Canada, those who went through enforced segregation for 60 days suffered from "poorer mental health and psychological functioning." The three detainees at the Don Jail have now spent more than 600 days in solitary confinement. These men deserve the same rights as every other inmate. They deserve the right to be presumed innocent. 

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WHAT'S LEFT

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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.)

MAYWORKS

See next issue for MayWorks events across Canada. Check websites for highlights:
Toronto - http://www.mayworks.ca
Winnipeg - http://www.mayworks.org
Edmonton - http://www.mayweek.ab.ca
Ottawa - http://www.mayworksottawa.ca

VANCOUVER, BC

Left Film Night, Sunday - April 27, 7 pm, Centre for Socialist Education, 706 Clark  Drive. “Harlan County USA,” documentary on Kentucky coal miners’s strike by Academy  Award-winning director Barbara Kopple. Free (donations welcome), call 604-255-2041.

May Day Rally - Thursday, May 1, gather 5:30 pm at Clark Park (14th & Commercial), for 6 pm march to Grandview Park.

Frank Paul Rally: stop the violence - Thursday, May 8, 5 pm, Detox Centre, 377 E. Hastings, organized by Indigenous Action Movement.

FMLN Fundraiser, with Luis Enrique Majia Godoy and guests Son Rebelde - Thursday, May 15, 7 pm, Peretz Centre, 6184 Ash St. Tickets $25 at People’s Co-op Books (1391 Commercial) or call 604-876-6749.

BURNABY, BC

Mother’s Day Pancake Breakfast - proceeds to People’s Voice, Sunday, May 11, 10 am  (last call for pancakes 12 noon), 5435 Kincaid St. Admission $10 (or $5 under 12), call Anna, 604-294-6775.

WINNIPEG, MN

Manitoba-Cuba Solidarity Committee, monthly meeting - Mon., Apr. 14, 7 pm, Workers  Organizing Resource Centre, 280 Smith St.

Rally against the Security and Prosperity Partnership - Sat., Apr. 19, meet 12:30 at the Forks for a march to the Legislature. Info 947-2220.

May Day Committee planning meeting for International Workers’ Day - Sunday, Apr. 20, 12 Noon, 280 Smith St. Info 479-7026

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

YCL movie nights on U of W campus - to get on the notice list for time, room, and films, just e-mail us at yclmovienight@hotmail.com.

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

Glassware sale, fundraiser for People’s Voice - Sat., April 19, 10 am-2 pm, 290 Danforth Ave. Sparkling new Mikassa glass and dishware sets , huge bargains, come early for best selection. Auspices: East Toronto CPC.

Ontario: Crisis Ahead - Which Way Out?, People’s Voice Forum - Thursday, April 24, 7:30 pm, GCDO Hall, 290 Danforth Ave. (Chester subway), speaker CPC (Ontario) leader Liz Rowley on the developing economic crisis in Ontario.

May Day in Toronto! Celebrate May Day with People’s Voice - Thursday, May 1, 7:30 pm, GCDO Hall, 290 Danforth Ave. Music, speakers, food, refreshments. Don’t miss it! Labour Council delegates welcome!

March for Immigrant Rights - Sat., May 3, Noon-6 pm, Christie Pitts Park, 750 Bloor St. West., demand justice and dignity for all immigrants and refugees. Organized by No One Is Illegal & others.

Kenny Prize Lecture - Thursday, May 8, 4 pm, Fischer Rare Books Library, 2nd Floor, 120 St. George St. Lecture by Kenny prize winner Andrée Lévesque, author of Red Travellers.

ST. CATHARINES, ON

People’s Voice Social - Thur., April 24, 7 pm, at 8 1/2 Allan Drive, (off Hillpark Lane),  hosted by Eric Blair Club, with guest speaker Sam Hammond, People’s Voice business manager and CPC-Ontario St. Catharines candidate in 2007 provincial election. For directions/info call 905-646-7274.

MONTREAL, QC

May Day rally to defend public health care against privatization, organized by Quebec trade union centrals - Sat., May 3, 12 noon, at Parc Lafontaine (Sherbrooke Metro, corner of Sherbrooke & Parc-Lafontaine).

Vigil against occupation of Palestine - Fridays, noon to 1 pm, at Israeli Consulate, corner of Peel and Rene Levesque. For info: Palestinians And Jews United, 961-3928.

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People's Voice deadlines: MAY 1-15 Thursday, April 17 MAY 16-31 Thursday, May 8 Send submissions to PV Editorial Office, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, V5L 3J1, pvoice@telus.net

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$50,000 FUND DRIVE
PV Fund Drive Passes $18,500

(The following article is from the April 16-30, 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.)

British Columbia has taken the lead in the 2008 People’s Voice Fund Drive, passing 44% of their regional target by turning in $8851 as of April 5. The Maritimes and Newfoundland are now in second place, with $475 raised, or 40% of their $1200 target. Ontario is starting to make a move, with $8057 raised, or 40% of their goal. In total, we are at $18,543, or 37%.

This issue of PV will be distributed at a wide range of events across the country, marking two important dates: Earth Day (April 22) and the Day of Mourning for workers killed on the job (April 28). We’ll be there to make the point that the pro-capitalist policies of the Harper Tories and other right wing governments are killing workers, and sacrificing the planet we live on for the sake of higher profits.

This is the point in the Fund Drive when most fundraising events start to kick in. Please do your part to help us keep publishing, by attending one and bringing a friend!

The Toronto East Club has a unique activity coming up: a glassware sale. Last winter they went to the Mikassa Warehouse Sale to score a huge variety of items in “delicious new spring colours,” from wine glasses to goblets, and much more. It’s happening on Saturday, April 19, 10 am-2 pm, at the GCDO Hall, 290 Danforth Ave., Toronto (Chester subway station).

Our Niagara Peninsula supporters are holding a social with PV labour columnist Sam Hammond. You can meet Sam in St. Catharines on Thursday, April 24, 7 pm, at 8 1/2 Allan Drive (off Hillpark Lane, which is off Vine St. between Scott and Carleton). For information, call 905-646-7274.

Not far away, at 3 pm on Sunday, May 4, Hamilton readers will host Sam Hammond at a special screening of labour film classic Salt of the Earth, plus dinner for a bargain price of just $12. It takes place at Solidarity House, 779 Barton St. East, but seating is limited. Advance tickets only, call 905-529-1461 or email solidarityhouse@cogeco.ca.

The annual PV Mother’s Day Pancake Breakfast will be at 5435 Kincaid St. in Burnaby, Sunday, May 11, starting 10 am. For just $10 (or $5 for those under 12) get all you can eat - pancakes, sausages, and much more - plus the company of old and new friends and supporters. Don’t be late: last call for pancakes will be 12 noon.

The annual PV Mother’s Day Pancake Breakfast will be at 5435 Kincaid St. in Burnaby, Sunday, May 11, starting 10 am. For just $10 (or $5 for those under 12) get all you can eat -  pancakes, sausages, and much more - plus the company of old and new friends and supporters. Don’t be late: last call for pancakes will be 12 noon. 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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