July 1-31, 2010
Volume 18 - Number 12
$1

Prolétaires de tous les pays, unissez-vous!
Otatoskewak ota kitaskinahk mamawestotan!
Workers of all lands, unite
Contents
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1)
15) WHAT'S LEFT
16) PV FUND DRIVE: $50,000 IN 2010
17) PODCAST OF PEOPLE'S VOICE ARTICLES
18) CLARTÉ (en français)
19) THE SPARK! (Theoretical and Discussion Bulletin of the Communist Party of Canada)
20) INTRODUCING MARX
21) REBEL YOUTH


PEOPLE'S VOICE JULY 1-31, 2010 (pdf)


WOMEN'S SOCIALIST CALENDAR 2010 (pdf)



The Spark!
Theoretical and Discussion Bulletin of the Communist Party of Canada

The Spark!

The latest issue of The Spark! theoretical journal, is now on sale for $5 at Communist Party offices (see p. 8) or People’s Co-op Books, 1391 Commercial Drive, Vancouver.

Articles include
  • “Introduction to a General Theory of Culture” (Barry Lord);
  • “Political & Economic Realities Behind Colombian Labour Relations” (Sacouman, Moore & Brittain); 
  • “Treaty Process & Indian Nationalism” (Ray Bobb);
  • “Lenin: Heritage of the Socialist Market Economy” (C.J. Atkins);
  • “Nature of the State Under Bush & Harper” (Stephen Von Sychowski);
  • plus reviews, editorials, and more.

People's Voice deadlines:
JULY 1-31
Thursday, June 17
AUGUST 1-31
Thursday, July 22
Send submissions to PV Editorial Office,
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People's Voice finds many "Global Class Struggle" reports at the "Labour Start" website, http://www.labourstart.org. We urge our readers to check it out!

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1) COMMUNIST PARTY DENOUNCES ISRAELI "PIRACY AND MURDER"

(The following article is from the June 16-30,  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 on June 1, 2010, by the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada

The Communist Party of Canada denounces the acts of piracy and murder committed by the Israeli government on May 31 against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters. This brazen military attack against unarmed civilians on the high seas - peace activists bringing humanitarian aid to the imprisoned people of Gaza - has rightly met with a storm of international condemnation.

     The courageous Freedom Flotilla activists were carrying baby food, clothing, medicines, building materials and other supplies desperately needed by the people of Gaza, who suffer under a vicious blockade intended to starve the Palestinians into submission. On board the Flotilla were members of Parliament, Nobel peace prize winners, and peace activists from all walks of life. Among them is Victoria resident Kevin Neish, well known to British Columbians as a long-time participant in many campaigns for peace, human rights and international solidarity.

     The overwhelming reaction by Canadians is to call the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla an act of war. Yet the Harper federal government, which was hosting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu when this attack took place, has responded by calling for "investigations" to allow the state of Israel to buy time to evade international criticism.  The position of the Harper government is utterly unacceptable. We join with others in demanding that Canada condemn this war crime, press for the immediate release of Canadian citizen Kevin Neish [NOTE: later information revealed that two other Canadians were also kidnapped.] and all imprisoned members of the Flotilla, and support the demand or an impartial international inquiry into this wanton action.

     Canada must end its role as an apologist for the criminal actions of the Israeli state and come out squarely in favour of support for a genuine political solution to the ongoing crisis, beginning with the demand for the immediate and unconditional lifting of the Israeli siege of Gaza. Such a new policy must be based on the implementation of all relevant U.N. resolutions, including Israel's complete withdrawal from all lands it has illegally occupied since the 1967 war; the dismantling of the Apartheid wall and removal of all Israeli settlements; the formation of a viable and genuinely independent Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital; the guaranteed right of Palestinians to return to their homelands; the certifiable de-nuclearization of Israel, and mutual security guarantees for all states in the region. Until such basic justice is achieved for the Palestinian people, the Communist Party will continue to support the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel.
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2) CUPE ONTARIO: INTERNAL DIVISIONS CONSUME CONVENTION

(The following article is from the June 16-30,  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 Helen Kennedy, Toronto

CUPE Ontario has emerged from its recent convention in Windsor with divisions in its leadership and budget cuts that could hamper its ability to act as one of Canada's leading social unions. The union that has been on the leading edge of many critical debates in the labour movement over the past decade has been hobbled by an accumulated deficit. And, instead of coming out strongly in defence of free collective bargaining in the face of a provincial government that is creating a wage-freeze environment, the leadership appears to be consumed by internal divisions.

     The CUPE Ontario officers, President Fred Hahn and Secretary-Treasurer, Candace Rennick, were elected by the Executive Board when previous president Sid Ryan moved on to become president of the Ontario Federation of Labour in November 2009. Ryan had led CUPE Ontario for 17 years and provided much of the impetus within CUPE for a strong fightback against privatization, for supports for coordinated bargaining and for being a staunch defender of Palestine.

     In Ontario, the March budget did nothing to stem the corporate tax cuts, which, according to Hugh Mackenzie at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, will cost an additional $2.5 billion by 2012-13. Savings of course will be taken by implementing a wage freeze for all provincially funded organizations (eg. front-line, low-paid social and community service organizations) and all provincial collective agreements that expire over the next two years. Transit funding to expand Toronto's sorely needed infrastructure was slashed and postponed. The poor will see fewer benefits with a miserly 1% increase in social assistance combined with the elimination of the "special diet program" that thousands have relied on to supplement their families' nutritional intake.

     However, from the onset of the Convention, the CUPE Ontario budget defined much of the debate. In her first report, Rennick revealed that CUPE Ontario had a deficit of just over $1 million and that CUPE Ontario was "insolvent." While the fiscal year deficit was close to $500,000, deficits from past years stood at over $500,000.

     The current year deficit was the result of a variety of factors. Several staff in the CUPE Ontario office have been on extended sick leaves and their positions were back-filled through book-offs. The budget overage in this category was almost $300,000. Other areas in which CUPE Ontario spent more than budgeted included $85,000 in strike support, over $100,000 in campaign costs that were disallowed by the National, over $100,000 in convention costs, and increased translation costs. Despite losing its largest affiliate (Local 79, inside municipal workers in Toronto), dues income exceeded revenue targets, due to the decision at the 2008 Convention to convert to a percentage system which results in automatic increases with wage settlements.

     Rennick's proposed solution to the financial "crisis" was that CUPE Ontario had requested CUPE National co-sign a loan to assist the Division in "offering relief and a path to financial stability." CUPE National's conditions? "A review of [CUPE Ontario's] finances and operations to better understand the seriousness of the situation and to help in identifying the most accurate amount of financing required." An auditing firm from Winnipeg was brought it to conduct the review. The result, published and distributed to the floor as the "Management Letter for Financial Structuring", outlined 103 recommendations, that if implemented would result in the National's signature on a loan agreement.

     Other recommendations include gapping and staff lay-offs, making it more difficult to book-off activists, especially those from smaller and more female-dominated locals, and establishing a "budgeting culture" at CUPE Ontario.

     The Action Caucus, which met at the convention, were alarmed with the strategy that would make CUPE Ontario more dependent on the National Union, given the latter's move to the right over the past seven years. The Caucus considered a suggestion from CUPE 3902 (University of Toronto) for locals to lend the Division the money needed to address the deficit - a plan that would allow CUPE Ontario to retain its fighting activism. As the convention ended, the Executive Board had met with those locals interested in pursing this possibility.

     Was there any good news coming from the convention? Aside from the very few resolutions being passed, the Convention did pass a 2010 Action Plan that outlines a progressive fightback. Priorities for CUPE Ontario include building resistance to the Liberal government's "Open Ontario" plan, reaffirming a commitment to "no-concession" bargaining, strengthening sectoral and pattern bargaining, fighting privatization, strengthening collaboration with social movements, defend defined-benefit pension plans and fight to win progressive candidates to City Councils and School Boards in the upcoming municipal elections.

     The newly elected Executive Board needs to play a lead role in moving CUPE Ontario forward by implementing the 2010 Action Plan, despite the gloomy internal budget picture. CUPE Ontario needs to be at the forefront of a massive fightback against the provincial government's attack on public services. Strengthening the Action Caucus within CUPE Ontario is also essential. It is also the best way to strengthen left-centre unity and shore up CUPE Ontario as one of Canada's leading social unions.
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3) SINKING LIBERALS LASH OUT AT TRUSTEES

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

Sinking fast in the polls, the B.C. Liberal government struck back this spring at a long-time target - public education. When Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid appointed B.C. Comptroller-General Cheryl Wenezinki-Yollande as a "Special Advisor" to report on the Vancouver School Board's budget crisis, she limited the terms of reference to get the political ammunition the Liberals so desperately need.

     On the surface, that goal was achieved on June 4, when the Advisor's report was released. Corporate media outlets seized on the report, with headlines blaming the VSB trustees for "financial mismanagement." According to the Advisor (who is not independent of the government, as some media reports claim), the trustees are largely to blame for the district's $16 million budget shortfall and the layoffs which will take effect in September.

     After a mysterious one-week delay, the 88-page report was finally released on a Friday afternoon, one day after the provincial legislature was adjourned by the Liberals until the spring of 2011. It was sent simultaneously to the media and the School Board, giving the VSB trustees no opportunity to study the document before reporters began calling with questions based on MacDiarmid's carefully prepared script. This follows the Minister's usual pattern; back in April, she appointed the Advisor (who is neither independent nor at arms-length from the government) without the courtesy of first informing the Board.

     But having played these cards to their best advantage, the Liberals still have a problem. The fact is that the Advisor's report, which cost some $200,000 to prepare, is loaded with mistakes, omissions, and unsubstantiated opinions. If the VSB trustees and supporters of public education can break through the initial media barrage, MacDiarmid and the Liberals could actually take another hit to their crumbling credibility.

     At PV press time, the School Board was meeting with the Minister (who could only spare one hour!), and preparing to issue a detailed response. But highly-respected public education activist Dawn Steele shredded the report within less than 48 hours.

     As Steele notes in a four-page response (found at http://stopeducationcuts.org) the report was suspicious from the beginning, since it singles out Vancouver at a time when virtually every school district faces similar shortfalls, some much larger in percentage terms. The terms of reference excluded consideration of provincial funding, the primary cause of the budget challenges.

     "Nowhere does the report examine the impacts on students and their educational achievement of Vancouver's planned $16 million in cuts for next year," Steele points out. "Instead of advice on averting those cuts, it assumes most should proceed and suggests further `savings' via new fees and more cuts. Vancouver is not alone. Most BC boards face the same challenges, but the report offers them no help, except to close more schools, charge more fees, or demand union `concessions'...."

     The report proposes some potential savings, but far less than the cuts planned for next year. Interestingly, despite repeated claims by MacDiarmid and Premier Campbell that the VSB is in a surplus position, the report confirms that a deficit exists, but argues it would have been less if VSB had cut more and raised fees earlier.

     Astonishingly, most of the report's "solutions" are based on initiatives already in place or being implemented.

     This recycled advice includes "attract international students" (Vancouver already recruits more than most districts); "close schools" (Vancouver just updated its school closure policy. As Steele points out, Prince George, after closing 10 schools for an expected loss of 200 students next year, then had to cut $6.2 million from its budget); and "raise rental fees" (Vancouver earns more fees than most districts, and increases may force daycares to close).

     From there, the report calls for new cuts to adult and continuing education programs, and to pre-kindergarten for inner city students. Both proposals would significantly increase public expenditures in future.

     The Advisor proposes to reduce VSB advisory committees and the time spent listening to stakeholders. The advisory committees cost $160,000, only 0.03% of the total VSB budget, but this item has been widely (and even deliberately) misunderstood. VSB committees (student services, facilities, employee relations, anti-racism, etc.) are composed of trustees who are the voting members, and non-voting community, staff and student representatives. Claims by Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer and others, that these non-voting members have a "veto" over committee proposals, are simply absurd. This misconception appears to stem from the Advisory team's failure to understand the structure of the VSB, and especially the long-established procedures to consult with stakeholder groups.

     The key targets of this attack are unions in the public education sector, who argue that "good teaching conditions are good learning conditions." Although collective bargaining is done on a province-wide basis, the Advisor calls on the VSB to seek union concessions adding up to $2 million, a union-bashing idea which is neither feasible nor responsible.

     The Advisor is sharply critical of trustees who advocate for the interests of students, as though this is wildly expensive or an abdication of their responsibilities. In fact, the district allocates a mere $16,000 per year for advocacy efforts.

     In the end, the report says that Vancouver faces only $11 million in cuts, not $16 million. If so, the VSB projections are far more accurate than the Campbell Liberal government's recent whopping budget errors.

     One of the puzzling claims is that the Vancouver trustees "lack professional competency." Given that the nine trustees have a collective total of nearly 70 years on the Board, and many decades of additional collective experience within the school system, this is bizarre, to say the least. The "proof" appears to be that trustees engage in "advocacy", rather than making the budget balance. Yet the VSB has balanced its budget every year for decades, despite a long-term trend of declining provincial funding.

     The Advisor calls for a "competency matrix", something which applies to no other elected officials in Canada. Such tools are used to assess professional bureaucrats and appointees who run government agencies and crown corporations. But under the elected school board governance system, professional competency rests with staff, and the report finds that Vancouver staff "competently managed financial affairs and administration..."

     Steele's conclusions are important. As she emphasizes, "Vancouver now faces the loss of programs already on the chopping block for 2010-11, including elementary band, special education, supports for Aboriginal, immigrant and ESL students, and programs that support the achievement of at-risk and inner city kids. The report could pressure the VSB to inflict even deeper cuts. It does not avert any cuts and will make it even harder to attract and retain enrolment so that Vancouver's public schools can run cost effectively (and) compete with private schools."

     This direction completely contradicts the report's call to "attract more students." It's a vicious cycle, with for-profit private schools as the only winners.

     This agenda has been the subject of wide speculation. The Campbell Liberals, including the Education Minister, have long been on a drive to privatize public assets and services. Prior to becoming a politician, MacDiarmid was a physician, and an avid supporter of Dr. Brian Day's campaign against universal public medicare in Canada.

     Right-wing Vancouver NPA trustee Ken Denike may have let the cat out of the bag when he said the report opens the door for the Minister to implement broad changes to the entire education system. That could start with firing the VSB (as the Socreds did in 1985) or appointing a bureaucrat to push through budget cuts resisted by the trustees. It could mean merging school boards in British Columbia along the lines of the hated "health authority" model, or even eliminating boards altogether. U.S.-style "charter schools" are also rumoured to be a possibility.

     Such drastic and anti-democratic changes might be difficult for an unpopular government crippled by the anti-HST campaign, when the Legislature has just been adjourned for nearly a year. On the other hand, the Liberals might see this as a useful tactic to turn public attention away from their HST fiasco. Much will depend on the ability of public education supporters, school trustees, unions, parent groups and students to expose the real agenda behind the provincial report in the coming days and weeks.
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4) ONTARIO NATIVES READY TO PROTEST HST

(The following article is from the June 16-30,  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 new Harmonised Sales Tax, which takes effect in Ontario and British Columbia on July 1, was at the top of the agenda for aboriginal chiefs gathered at the Oneida First Nation near London for the annual meeting of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI).

     Under the existing provincial sales tax, Ontario First Nations with Indian status cards get a point-of-sale tax exemption on purchases on and off-reserve. Status holders are exempt from the GST only for goods purchased on or delivered to native reserves. The HST will be administered solely by the federal government. There is no provision to extend the exemption for provincial portion of the new tax.

     Randall Phillips, chief of the Oneida First Nation, said the HST was passed too quickly and without First Nations consultation. He said if the exemption isn't added, his community is ready to take action.

     "We've talked about possible slowdowns of the major highways like the 401, and blocking the big international bridges and railway lines," said Phillips.

     Officially, Ontario supports a continuation of the exemption. On May 3, the province and the Chiefs of Ontario signed a memorandum of agreement that "commits the parties to work together to realize the continuation of the First Nation point of sale tax exemption."

     Phillips acknowledged the exemption was a "tough sell" with Canadians. He said there's a misconception that reserves are `tax havens' for status Indians. But he said most reserves lack all but basic commercial amenities and residents are forced to shop off-reserve for most essentials. That means under the HST they will pay full tax on most purchases. That will add an estimated $85-million to $121-million tax burden to Ontario First Nations.

     Provincial and federal representatives met June 7 to discuss the matter again, but a June 2 e-mail from the Finance Department stated policy plainly. It read, "Status Indians will continue to be exempt from the GST/HST on purchases made on reserve, and on purchases made off reserve if the property is delivered to a reserve by the vendor or the vendor's agent. This approach is fully consistent with the Indian Act, which exempts from tax the personal property of an Indian or band situated on a reserve and their interests in reserve or designated lands."

     Speaking at the AIAI. meeting, chief Dean Sayers of the Batchewana First Nation near Sault Ste. Marie, said Canada's position amounts to an attack on sovereignty. He said the treaties negotiated by his people were between sovereign nations and none of the treaties ever specified Canada could subject First Nations to taxation.

     "It's like France trying to tax Mexico," he said, warning that his community was prepared to protest the HST with blockades of railway line throught their territory.

     In a May 11 Sault Star article, Chief Sayers wrote, "The spirit and intent of our relationship needs to be worked towards on the part of the Crown, and we don't see an agenda, we don't see a

meaningful table that's being set, so we have to compel the Crown. Unfortunately, it's going to cause some inconvenience, but we have to. It's getting worse. It's a constant, never-stopping erosion of our rights."

     Sayers said the blockade will go up June 21 and, unless a three-way deal is signed between the province, the federal government, and First Nations, the stoppage would continue, "probably for the summer, maybe longer."

     Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee has commended the HST protest efforts by Batchewana First Nation.

     "I applaud the efforts by Batchewana to protect our rights,ö says Madahbee. "This initiative will show the government that we have drawn our line in the sand on this HST issue."
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5) WAR CRIMES REDUX

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

Yet again, the country which claims to "lead the war on terror" has been exposed as a regime of war criminals. This time, a new investigation of the CIA's "enhanced interrogation program" ("mass torture" would be more accurate) has been released. Physicians For Human Rights (PHR) has uncovered evidence that doctors took part in human experimentation and research on detainees in CIA custody, acts which are utterly illegal and highly unethical. PHR says the experiments "appear to have been performed to provide legal cover for torture, as well as to help justify and shape future procedures and policies governing the use of the "enhanced" interrogation techniques."

     Descriptions of this "research" are shocking. The physicians measured various "techniques" to help answer "important" questions: how much torture can prisoners endure before it kills them? How much water can be ingested before prisoners go into a coma? How long can prisoners be deprived of sleep before they lose their minds? What combinations of torture techniques yield the best results?

     Similar "research" was conducted by the Nazis and Japanese fascists during World War Two. Sixty years later, U.S. health professionals are engaged in violations of the Geneva Conventions, The Common Rule, the Nuremberg Code and other prohibitions against illegal human subject research and experimentation. These are war crimes, not minor transgressions.

     A Canadian government which believed in international law would immediately break its ties both with the U.S. war machine, and with the genocidal Israeli government. Instead, we are saddled with a minority Harper Tory government which calls these regimes its closest allies. To end this shameful situation, Canadians must press for a quick defeat for the Tories in Parliament, and then in the electoral arena, after an election campaign in which Canada's alliances with war criminals is made a prominent issue.
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6) NATIONAL ABORIGINAL DAY

(The following article is from the June 16-30,  2010 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

People's Voice Editorial

June 21 is National Aboriginal Day, a date to celebrate the struggles of Aboriginal peoples  for social and economic equality, and for their national rights. This year, we salute the principled opposition by Ontario First Nations against the so-called "Harmonised Sales Tax," which threatens historic treaty rights. An important victory has been achieved with the news that the federal government will restore $4 million in funding to the First Nations University in Regina.

     But the challenges facing Aboriginal peoples under the racist oppression of the Canadian state remain enormous. For example, legislation tabled in Parliament will not meet the objective of ensuring that First Nations have access to safe drinking water. To Canada's shame, 114 Aboriginal communities remain under Drinking Water Advisories and 49 water systems are still classified as high risk. "Every family in this country should have access to clean, safe drinking water and First Nations should not be an exception," says Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, but the Harper Tory government, like its predecessors, continues to drag its feet.

     Other facts to consider: life expectancies for Aboriginal peoples are 5-7 years below the rest of the population; infant mortality rates are 1.5 times higher than the average; the suicide rate of First Nations youth is six times higher than the Canadian average, and the tuberculosis rate - a reliable yardstick for poverty - is 8 to 10 times higher. And the federal government still refuses to sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

     But despite Harper's feeble protests that the government faces difficult fiscal problems, the Tories are about to purchase 65 U.S. fighter jets from Lockheed-Martin, at a cost of $9 billion. Apparently the ability to kill people in other countries is an urgent priority, but improving the lives of Aboriginal people is not.

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7) THE THEOCRATS IN OUR MIDST

(The following article is from the June 16-30,  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 Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, by Marci McDonald, 2010, Random House Canada. Review by Wayne Madden

People are well aware of the power and influence of the "religious right" in the United States. However, Canadians often believe they cannot have the same influence in Canada. For example, many people believe Steven Harper deliberately moved away from the strong religious ties and messages of the old Reform Party.

     In The Armageddon Factor, Marci McDonald carefully shows how the religious right influences the Harper government. Evangelical leaders such as Charles McVety, David Mainse, and Faytene Kryskow; and organizations such as Canada Christian College, Crossroads Christian Communications, Focus on the Family (with various spin-off organizations), Equipping Christians for the Public Square Centre and REAL Women Canada have many allies in the government ready to implement their agenda. These include MPs and cabinet minister such as Stockwell Day, Pierre Poilievre, Jim Flaherty, Cheryl Gallant, Garry Goodyear and Vic Toews.

     Chapter by chapter, McDonald outlines how the religious right influences government policy on science (supporting creationism or so-called "intelligent design"), social services (to move health and human care from government to faith-based organizations), foreign policy (uncompromising and unquestioning support for Israel over the Palestinian people), human rights (against protection for LGBT persons), and health care (restricting access to abortion). She shows how they effectively use radio and television both to publicize their agenda and raise money, sometimes by very questionable means. There are also chapters on how they reach out to influence youth both through evangelism and private religious schools and universities.

     McDonald's book is not just based on information gathered from the media. She attended events put on by religious organizations, interviewed key players and read their publications. Facts are checked for accuracy. Her coverage is fair and she records facts favourable to evangelicals. But the message is clear. The religious right is determined to move Canada toward a theocratic style of government. They support government run exclusively by "evangelical" Christians on what they believe to be "Biblical values".

     The weakness of her book is that she does not suggest an effective response to the threat. This is important. As a Christian, I know that while believers may be a majority in society, Christians are a minority. Fundamentalists - or "evangelicals" as they prefer to be called - are a minority within the Christian community, but with a lot of power and influence. Almost all politicians, not just Conservatives and U.S. Republicans, will listen to and accommodate them. Questioning fundraising practices and activities of evangelicals is simply not politically correct. For example, charitable tax status is not given to political action and lobby groups, yet many religious organizations with charitable tax status do engage in political action and lobbying.

     This book is essential reading to anyone interested in protecting democracy. Throughout history, theocratic governments from the ancient Pagan Roman Empire to the Papal States and other medieval kingdoms to modern day Islamist States such as Iran and Saudi Arabia have proven to be either corrupt or tyrannical or both. We must defend religious freedom but allowing religious agendae to determine government policies is a threat to democratic rights and freedoms.  We do not need to be afraid, but we must be informed and prepared to confront theocrats in our midst.
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8) POLAND'S ANTI-COMMUNIST LAW TURNS HISTORY ON ITS HEAD

(The following article is from the June 16-30,  2010 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

Statement by the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada

"Democracy" in the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe will take another body blow on June 8, when a new law takes effect in Poland, banning the depiction of anything considered a "communist symbol." In an outrageous twist, the law equates such symbols with the swastika and other Nazi insignia. The Communist Party of Canada condemns this legislation, which proves once again that democratic rights and civil liberties are being increasingly trampled across the European Union.

     The legislation in Poland is an amendment to the penal code, criminalizing the dissemination of "communist symbolism." Signed into law last fall by the late president Lech Kaczynski, the measure was adopted by a nearly unanimous vote in the country's Parliament. The law includes a penalty of up to two years in prison for anyone who "produces, perpetuates, or imports, stores, possesses, presents, carries or sends a printout, a recording or other object" carrying "fascist, communist or other totalitarian symbolism" for other than "artistic" or "research" purposes.

     In response, the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) correctly stated: "We strongly oppose efforts to equate fascism - which, based on racism, led to the bloodiest war in history thanks to the implementation of a plan to exterminate millions of people - with communism, which is built on the principles of social justice, and which defeated the genocidal fascists thanks to the utter dedication to struggle and sacrifice of countless millions of men, women and children. Despite even the most brutal repression we will not stop in our struggle for the victory of socialism, nor turn from the road to a victorious communist destiny!"

     The free speech ban in Poland is just the latest such action taken by governments in Eastern Europe. Hungary imposed a ban on communist symbols in 1993; one of the leaders of the Hungarian Workers Party was given a prison sentence in 2004 for the "crime" of wearing a red star.

     That sentence was overturned four years later by the European Court of Human Rights. Yet a similar law was adopted by Lithuania in 2009, and bans are also being considered in Estonia, Latvia and other countries.

     In 2007, the Czech government outlawed the Communist Youth Union because it called for public ownership of the means of production. After a huge international outcry, that ban was finally overturned a few months ago by the Czech courts. But right-wing Czech parties are now demanding steps to outlaw the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, the third-largest parliamentary party in the country.

     This anti-communist campaign is also taking place on a continental level. The European Parliament last year proclaimed August 23 as a "Europe-wide Remembrance Day for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes." The anti-communist measures in Poland and elsewhere serve broader objectives against the workers' movement. They aim to suppress the activity and contain the influence of the Communists, and to block discussion of the socialist perspective, especially in the conditions of the present capitalist crisis. As George Toussas of the Communist Party of Greece warned in a December 3, 2009 statement in the European Parliament, the Polish ban is "an act of provocation aimed at prosecuting anyone who offers resistance and fights for a better future."

     Nor is this campaign limited to Europe. Here in Canada, anti-communist reactionaries with close ties to the Harper Tories are preparing to build a so-called "monument to the victims of totalitarianism" in the National Capital Region of Ottawa. The real purpose of this "monument" is to serve as a rallying point for those who seek to restrict and ultimately ban the activity of the Communists in Canada.

     In the face of this anti-communist escalation, communists in other countries are joining with the Polish Communists to express their opposition to the legislation. A number of Communist and Workers' Parties in Europe are sending MPs, MEPs, or other delegations to Warsaw to express their solidarity. Many parties will take part in a common day of action on June 8, 2010 with statements, news conferences, demonstrations, protests, and representations to Polish Embassies and EU offices, calling for the abolition of the anti-communist clauses and laws, and demanding the free, unhindered action of communists in all countries.
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9) "THE LOWER DECK WAS COVERED WITH BODIES"

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

Kevin Neish, one of the Canadian activists on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla who were kidnapped by Israeli troops on May 31, was interviewed by Mark Forsythe on CBC's radio show B.C. Almanac, on June 3. The following excerpts are from a transcript by People's Voice editor Kimball Cariou.

CBC: What happened and when did you realise that Israeli commandos were coming aboard the ship?

Kevin Neish: There's two stairwells going between the two decks at either end of the ship. I was in the forward stairwell. Actually I did see the fighting. The Israelis were sticking guns in the first deck doorway and firing into the hallway.

CBC: To your knowledge, how many people were killed on board that vessel that you were on?

Neish: All the deaths happened on our vessel [the Mavi Marmara - Ed.] ...I saw two dead for sure when they took over the bridge and the captain announced, "stop fighting, the bridge has been taken over." The lower deck lobby area, when I went down at the end, was covered with bodies. They were all writhing, people were jumping on chests trying to keep them alive. There was blood everywhere, bodies everywhere. I had blood on my pants.

CBC: There are allegations that IHH, the group behind putting this flotilla together, is an extremist group that has ties to Hamas and al-Qaeda.

Neish: I don't know anything about that. What I saw was a ship full of humanitarian workers, a ship full of aid, a ship full of women. There was a whole deck of women. Old men. They had the patriarch, an 89 year old man, he was arrested and beat up. What I know is that I was threatened by the Israelis a number of times. When I was chained up they wouldn't let me go to the bathroom for 15 hours. You had to beg to go to the bathroom. It was quite disgusting and filthy.

CBC: This is when you were in custody with the Israelis?

Neish: They had me tied up with plastic handcuffs for about 25 hours on the ship. I was one of the last ones to be released off the ship. That's why the embassy thought I was dead... Then I was jailed in Beersheba for a couple of days as well.

CBC: Do you have any worries at all that you were co-opted by a group that had ulterior motives?

Neish: No. (Laughs). No question in my mind. If they wanted to defend that ship they would have brought weapons on board. Immediately before the Israelis attacked, the crew and the aid workers were running around the ship finding things to defend themselves with. They didn't bring anything with them. When I came on board they searched my bag. I had a pocket knife in my bag. They threw it away because they wouldn't allow any weapons on board... When it was obvious the Israelis were going to attack, I could hear grinders going. They were grinding the chains off the fencing around the ship so they had something to use. If they were planning on attacking the Israelis with weapons, they would have brought weapons with them...

     I can tell you that I was treated very poorly by the Israelis. Like I say, I was 15 hours without being allowed to go to the washroom, and 24 hours without really being allowed to stand. I had guns put in my face, I had a revolver put right into my face. I had people aim guns at me steady. Any time I tried to rise up and stretch, I had a gun on me. I had a dog snapping at me. You try and sit in one spot for 25 hours, with your hands trussed in front of you, and if you ask for the bathroom too many times, a soldier would walk over, take the tie wrap and yank on it and cinch it up so tight, the back of my right hand is still numb.

     The whole night in the prison, both nights, they'd walk around every two hours and yell in the doors, "who's in here, what country?" ... This kept us awake all night. That was after two nights of no sleep, with the fighting and everything else. It was calculated, it was cruel, and it was demeaning.

     ....As far as being co-opted by anybody, I'm not an idiot. I've done this all my life. I've been in Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, and Palestine earlier. Nobody co-opts me. If anybody says I'm co-opted, come and tell me to my face. I wasn't born yesterday.
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10) CALL FOR ACTION: PALESTINIAN BOYCOTT, DISINVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS

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

Occupied Palestine, 1 June 2010 - The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) strongly condemns last night's fatal attack by the Israeli navy on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip. The BNC conveys Palestinian civil society's condolences to the families and friends of those killed by the Israeli assault and warmly salutes the principled solidarity and moral commitment of all those involved in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

     In response, the BNC calls on international civil society to mobilize for an emergency Global BDS Day of Action on Saturday, June 5, 2010, the 43rd anniversary of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; and to pressure governments to start implementing trade sanctions and arms embargoes.

     We call specifically on transport and dock workers and unions around the globe to refuse to load/offload Israeli ships and airplanes, following the historic example set by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) in Durban in February 2009 and endorsed by the Maritime Union of Australia (Western Australia).

     The Flotilla, which was attacked in international waters in violation of international law, was carrying relief supplies that Israel has persistently prevented from entering Gaza, including medical supplies, cement and food. Israel's siege is considered a form of collective punishment, a war crime under Article 33 of the Geneva Convention. All of the relief workers and activists on board the Gaza Flotilla ships were unarmed.

     In legal terms, Israel's military assault against the Flotilla is an act of aggression against the countries whose flags the ships were carrying; politically, it is an assault against human decency and all people of conscience around the world who support freedom and justice.

     Israel's impunity is the direct result of the international community's failure to hold it accountable for its ongoing occupation, colonization and apartheid against the Palestinian people. Israel's most recent war crimes committed in Gaza and documented in the Goldstone Report as well as crimes committed in 2006 against the Lebanese people did not trigger any UN or official sanctions, entrenching Israel's feeling of being above the law. In fact, Israel's grave violation of international law was recently rewarded when the OECD voted unanimously to accept its membership.

     The BNC urges international civil society to end this deep and fatal complicity.The BNC also welcomes and affirms the call of the UN expert on human rights Prof. Richard Falk who stated, "It is time to insist on the end of the blockade of Gaza. The worldwide campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel is now a moral and political imperative, and needs to be supported and strengthened everywhere."

     The UN Security Council has, unsurprisingly, failed to hold Israel accountable for its aggression against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

     The BNC calls upon the UN General Assembly, the European Union, the Arab League and their member states to undertake practical measures which will end Israel's impunity for its massive and systematic violation of international law, including by:

- Immediately ending all collusion with Israel's unlawful blockade of the Gaza Strip and pressuring Israel's to guarantee unrestricted humanitarian access and freedom of movement of people and products into and out of the Gaza Strip.

- Bringing to justice all Israeli officials and military personnel who took the decision and/or implemented this latest massacre as well as earlier war crimes.

- Pressuring your government to immediately suspend arms trade with Israel, and to implement trade sanctions and arms embargos against Israel.

- In particular, we call on the EU to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the Mercosur to suspend the FTA, India to reverse the decision to hold negotiations around an India-Israel FTA and to stop arms deals with Israel, and Turkey to impose an arms embargo on Israel.

     The BNC also calls on people of conscience and citizen groups all over the world to intensify BDS campaigns against Israel as the most effective means of holding it accountable to international law and ending its fatal impunity.
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11) CHEONAN INCIDENT: QUESTIONS AND CONTRADICTIONS
(The following article is from the June 16-30,  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 Sean Burton, PV correspondent in South Korea

For almost two months, the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan was marked with confusion, but it became very apparent within a short period of time who South Korea's leaders wanted to blame: their neighbour to the north.

     On May 20, Seoul announced the results of the investigation into the sinking, charging the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DRPK/North Korea) with responsibility. More specifically, Seoul claims that a small North Korean submarine fired a torpedo which caused an explosion that split the warship in two, taking the lives of 46 of the 104 crew members.

     Seoul claims that its case is unshakable, but important questions remain. Seoul's evidence hinges on torpedo fragments which appear to have been rusting under the water for several months, and whose markings appear handwritten rather than inscribed, and using a different word than usual. The investigation team was entirely made up of states ideologically opposed to the DPRK and keen to tighten their economic strangulation of that country.

     Beyond the torpedo itself are the questionable circumstances of the sinking. We are expected to believe that a small task-force of North Korean vessels made its way towards the South in secret, sunk the Cheonan and returned to base without being found by other patrol ships and helicopters.

     This sequence of events is contradictory to earlier information. Until recently, it was maintained by the South Korean and US military that no unusual North Korean naval activity had been detected during the days surrounding the sinking. On April 2, Seoul announced that two North Korean submarines were said to have been in the area, but unconnected to the sinking. In any case, the official results specified that a different class of submarine was involved. Furthermore, a joint US-South Korean exercise was underway at the time, and the Cheonan itself specialized in countering submarines.

     As the Hankyoreh reported: "...if things transpired as the investigation team announced, then a North Korean submarine penetrated the South Korean-U.S. surveillance net, waited precisely where the Cheonan would be approaching, sank the Cheonan in one shot, and then leisurely disappeared after completely avoiding a naval anti-submarine net..." (May 21, 2010)

     Additionally, there were a number of statements from intelligence and military officials, including intelligence chief Won See-hoon and defence minister Kim Tae-young. Both men stated late in March and in early April that there was no indication of any North Korean movement, and that North Korean involvement was unlikely. It would seem that in the subsequent month, these opinions had been suppressed.

     There are also conflicting reports about whether or not a torpedo or its explosion were detected, and that given the location of the sinking, whether it was likely that the ship had run aground. An admiral representing the inquiry had stated that there was no sign of North Korean infiltration, but has since reversed that position. A soldier on a nearby island witnessed a pillar of water consistent with a torpedo explosion.

     Given the complications, the incident may have been manufactured into a North Korean attack by the right-wing Lee Myung-bak administration.

     The DPRK has strongly denied any involvement. A statement from the DPRK's Central News Agency (KCNA) in early April said the South Korean navy had only itself to blame for the loss of its ship. Since the results of the investigation were released, the DPRK accused Seoul of fabricating the evidence. Most importantly, Pyongyang has offered to send representatives of its National Defence Commission to the South to verify the evidence. The South clearly has no interest in accepting the offer, which could perhaps spark a new investigation.

     Lee Myung-bak made his position clear late in May by ignoring the offer and stating unequivocally that North Korea deliberately attacked the South. He has ordered that all trade between the two countries cease, prohibited North Korean merchant traffic from Southern waters, and ordered the military to step up its preparedness. There is even a plan to restart psychological warfare on the DMZ.

     The US unsurprisingly backs its staunchly anti-communist ally. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Seoul on May 26 to condemn North Korea and discuss further sanctions with the South. A large-scale joint anti-submarine exercise has also begun. The North has responded by announcing that it will fire directly at any loudspeakers and displays used for psychological warfare, and may well seize remaining South Korean property in joint economic zones.

     Even if one were to accept that the DPRK sank the Cheonan, the fact remains that the hostile state of affairs was inevitable due to the belligerent stance of South Korea since Lee Myung-bak became president. Not only have tensions increased, but there was a naval clash last year in which a North Korean vessel was heavily damaged with unknown casualties.

     There have also been increasing restrictions on travel and trade which led the DPRK to seize South Korean property in a popular tourist area. The DPRK has announced that it will no longer abide by a series of protocols agreed to in 2004 to avoid accidental border clashes, particularly at sea.

     Furthermore, the results of the investigation have yet to be totally accepted by a number of countries, most notably China and Russia. Russia is sending its own team to inspect the evidence, while China announced it desires a joint investigation between itself, the UN Command in Korea, and the Korean People's Army.

     While meeting with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, President Lee continued to press for support regarding sanctions, and the South Korean government is not keen to give the North a chance to defend itself. The situation continues to develop, and a peaceful resolution is not yet out of the question. Nevertheless, relations between the two countries will not improve until Seoul accepts some responsibility for increasing tensions, instead of pretending to be an innocent victim at every opportunity.
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12) NO WAR WITH KOREA!

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

Central Executive Committee, Young Communist League of Canada

Canadian youth and students should be quick to reject and denounce the warmongering stance taken by the Harper Conservative government with regards to the crisis forming between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea since the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan naval vessel.

     In a statement released on May 24th, Harper announced the government's intention to impose harsh sanctions, to support South Korea in a "decisive response," which did not rule out military action. The statement also condemned the DPRK for "egregious violation of international law," and "blatant disregard for international law," statements are darkly ironic coming from a Prime Minister and a government implicated in war crimes and torture in Afghanistan.

     Harper's hypocrisy becomes further evident when considering the attack by apartheid Israel against the Freedom Flotilla which left several dead and dozens more wounded. The attack on the Flotilla, a group of unarmed boats bringing desperately needed humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, has incited no condemnation from the Conservative government. While quick to condemn supposed attacks and violations of international law by the DPRK, Harper is unwilling to criticize violations by Israel against the Palestinian people or their supporters.

     Little evidence exists to implicate the DPRK in the sinking of the Cheonan. In fact South Korean sources, including the Defense Ministry, have made statements that no North Korean vessels in the area at the time of the attack. Despite this, the South Korean regime, backed by Washington, have presented the case as open and shut with the DPRK implicated in the crime.

     The current Korean crisis is part and parcel of the cold war waged by US imperialism, South Korean ruling class, and their allies against the DPRK since the armistice which "ended" the Korean War in 1953. The demonization of the DPRK as part of an "Axis of Evil," and as a "threat," is ludicrous when placed beside the reality of the DPRK, a poor country struggling for survival against hostility and economic sabotage by the US and its allies. The goal of this campaign is to achieve the total collapse of the socio-economic system in place in the DPRK and the reunification of Korean on a capitalist basis under US hegemony. It is also interesting to note that fortunes are to be made in arms contracts by keeping tensions high in the region, and that these tensions provide the only excuse for the presence of thousands of US troops in the region including in South Korea and Japan.

     Harper's slavish parroting of Washington's warmongering threatens to entangle Canada in a new military conflagration on the Korean peninsula. Such a conflagration would be an imperialist war for the benefit of multinational corporations and arms dealers which could cost innumerable lives.

     The Canadian working class, youth and students, must categorically reject Canadian involvement in aggression towards the DPRK as they rejected Canadian involvement in the invasion of Iraq. What is needed is an independent and made-in-Canada foreign policy based on peace, disarmament, friendship, and sovereignty. It's time to run the war mongering Harper Tories out of office and to fight for a new future for youth which is not based on imperialist war and plunder.
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13) 15,000 COMMUNIST AND PEACE ACTIVISTS MARCH IN TEL AVIV

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

15,000 communist and peace activists marched in Tel Aviv on June 5, to mark 43 years of Palestinian and Arab territories occupation, and to slam the IDF murder raids on Gaza-bound ships.

     Dozens of fascist counter-protesters attempted to disrupt the demonstration, and at one point a smoke grenade was hurled at the protestors outside the Tel Aviv Museum. No injuries were reported in the incident. Later, right-wing protesters tried to attack veteran peace activist Uri Avneri, snatching signs he was carrying.

     The demonstration, which was held under the slogan "The government is drowning us all," was originally planned by the Communist Party of Israel (CPI) and Hadash (the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) solely to protest the occupation, but following the deadly Israeli raid on a Turkish vessel trying to run the Gaza blockade, the rally also addressed the criminal government's policies in regard to the Gaza Strip and the military operation that left nine foreigners dead.

     "The government is drowning us all" read a large sign in the rally. Dov Khenin, a legislator for Hadash and leading communist militant, charged that "Barak has refused to move on the path of peace and leads [us to] a dangerous deterioration. The same people who sent the soldiers to take over the flotilla in the middle of the night are liable to send Israel to a new and terrible war". Hadash chair Mohamed Barakeh declared, "We will not let the crazy right wing push aside the left and the Arab sector into political isolation."

     A spokesman for the organizers of the rally told journalists it "was an even bigger success than he expected" and that he believes the past week's events had led to an increase in the number of participants. It showed that "people are opposed to this government that is driving us toward international isolation and a new war."

     The communist and pacifist protestors, who walked from Rabin Square to the Tel Aviv Museum, held up signs reading "The government is sinking all of us - we must aspire for peace" and "Israel, Palestine, two states for two people". The rally has been organized by a communist and peace coalition that includes Hadash, CPI and Meretz parties, the Young Communist Guard (Banki-Shabiba), Peace Now, Gush Shalom, Yesh Gvul, Physicians for Human Rights, and other organizations. The march was led by CPI chair Muhammad Nafah, Knesset Members Muhammad Barakeh, Dov Khenin, Afo Agbarie and Hanna Sweid (from Hadash) and Knesset Members Haim Oron and Nitzan Horowitz (from Meretz).
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14) REMEMBERING 1935: BALLANTYNE AND CORBIN

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

Seventy-five years after a bloody police attack crushed an attempt to organize the Vancouver docks, the event will be marked this month by the labour movement. On Saturday, June 19, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union-Canada will host a march from the Maritime Labour Centre, a picnic at New Brighton Park, and an evening dinner and dance.

     The events commemorate the "Battle of Ballantyne Pier," a clash between striking longshore workers and heavily armed police. But the bigger picture shows that 1935 was full of labour battles in British Columbia. A total of 140,760 working days were lost to strikes and lockouts, nearly double the figure from 1934. As the "Great Depression" continued, desperate workers increasingly turned to unions and strikes to fight back.

     Early in 1935, the Corbin Miners Association, a local of the militant Mine Workers' Union of Canada, launched a particularly bitter strike at U.S.-owned Corbin Collieries, near the BC-Alberta border. About 300 miners walked out on January 20, to protest the firing of their union secretary. Demands included better transportation down into the mine, and urgent repairs to company housing. In general, the miners at Corbin and elsewhere were fighting a constant struggle against company demands for wage cuts and layoffs.

     The strike came to a head in mid-April, when the company decided to hire scab labour. A special force of over 60 police was rounded up to help the bosses carry out this plan. On the morning of April 17, hundreds of miners and their wives confronted the cops on a narrow mountain ledge leading to the mine.

     The women courageously stepped forward, forming a line in front of the picketers. Suddenly, a bulldozer roared ahead from the police ranks. Supposedly brought in to clear snow along the ledge, the dozer lurched directly at the women. The legs of several women were crushed, and one woman was dragged 300 feet by the bulldozer. Another had to be hospitalized after the machine's blade tore the flesh from her legs. A pregnant woman lost her unborn child after being clubbed across the shoulders and her abdomen.

     The miners fought back, throwing rocks to halt the bulldozer. Over 50 people were injured in the battle, including 14 police. Seventeen strikers were arrested and held for three days, in a two-person jail cell. But the mine did not open.

     The Corbin struggle dragged on for months, on the picket line, in the courts, and in the arena of public opinion, where the brutality of the company, the police and the government were widely exposed. Ultimately the CPR tore up the railway tracks into the town, which was abandoned.

     But the strike was not in vain. The miners were part of a much wider fight which eventually compelled employers and governments to allow wider organizing rights. Just as important, the Corbin miners and other members of the Communist-led Workers Unity League took their radical outlook into the mainstream of the labour movement, laying the basis for the powerful working class struggle which achieved major victories in the following years.

     The longshore dispute erupted on June 4, exactly one day after hundreds of members of the Relief Camp Workers' Union boarded freight cars to take their demands to Prime Minister R.B. Bennett. As the On to Ottawa trekkers wound their way through the mountains, the Shipping Federation was locking out thousands of longshore workers.

     Most waterfront workers in this period were unorganized and faced a corrupt hiring process. Their exhausting work required brute strength to move heavy boxes, sacks, and bundles. Accidents, occupational diseases, manual lifting, and irregular wages guaranteed few workers lived to a comfortable old age.

     As with the Relief Camp Workers and the Mine Workers Union, there were Communist Party members and other left-wingers among the leadership and rank and file of the waterfront strikers. During this period, company-dominated unions "represented" workers at ports along the west coast. The key shift took place in San Francisco in 1934, when radical labour leader Harry Bridges led a successful struggle which completely changed the balance of forces in the industry, including the emergence of the ILWU.

     In Vancouver, after a company union signed an agreement considered unacceptable by its members, the workers elected Ivan Emery, a communist, to head the Vancouver District Waterfront Workers' Association; ironically, the VDWWA was originally an employer-controlled group which had been taken over by radical-minded workers.

     The immediate issue behind the 1935 showdown was the loading of "hot" cargo by unorganized workers in Powell River. Workers at the Vancouver docks refused to unload the cargo, and strikes followed at all B.C. ports. Militant workers were soon fired, and hundreds of scabs were hired.

     The workers were also demanding wage increases, union recognition, and a Fair Dispatch System. Of course, the strikers were also trying to rid the waterfront of scab labour.

     Allied against them were the stevedoring and shipping employers, and other local bosses, politicians and pro-business media, in an anti-union "Citizens' League" that blamed the strike on the "Bolshevik menace."

     On June 18, strikers marched down Heatley Avenue towards Ballantyne pier with the intention of closing down the docks. With them were thousands of supporters, from sailors and lumberworkers, to students and members of the Longshore Women's Auxiliary. Leading the way was Mickey O'Rourke, carrying a Union Jack flag and displaying his Victoria Cross from the First World War.

     Squads of police on foot and on horseback lined the streets along the railway tracks. As the strikers crossed Alexander Street, they were attacked with tear gas and clubs. Scores of men, including a number of police officers, were hurt in the battle, described as an "orgy of sadism" by the BC Workers' News. The police trampled protesters with their horses, clubbed them with sticks and fired tear gas through the windows of the nearby union hall. Homes were raided and more tear gas shot into tenement buildings.

     "Vancouver will no longer tolerate Communist agitators who incite to riot," declared Mayor Gerry McGeer, ordering the arrest of Ivan Emery. In total 24 union members were arrested.

     The strike and the display of labour solidarity continued for months, starting with a massive "unity conference" of 30 unions at the Orange Hall in Vancouver. Unfortunately, the union movement was outgunned by the city's powerful employer-media gang-up and the increased use of scabs. The final blow came from Justice H. Davis, appointed by the federal department of labour, who filed a blatantly pro-employer report into the strike in October 1935. Davis did not mention the police violence at Ballantyne, blamed the unions for "breach of contract," and claimed that the employer lockout had never happened.

     The strike was officially declared over by the union on December 6. The only condition was recognition of the union of each worker's choice, which allowed divisions to proliferate in the waterfront workforce.

     But in the long run, the seeds planted by the struggles of 1935 bore fruit. It took until the late 1950s to unite all B.C. longshore workers in one union, but this was achieved, largely thanks to the efforts of visionary leaders like the late Craig Pritchett. Today, waterfront workers are among the best paid on the west coast, and the ILWU carries on many of the progressive traditions of Harry Bridges, Craig Pritchett and other militant trade unionists. The 75th anniversary of the Battle of Ballantyne Pier will be a fitting occasion to pay tribute to their memory.
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15) WHAT'S LEFT

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

75th Anniversary of Battle of Ballantyne Pier, ILWU Canada events - Sat., June 19, march 9 am, from Maritime Labour Centre, 12 noon rally at New Brighton Park, evening dinner & dance.

COPE Solstice BBQ - Monday, June 21, at Vancouver Rowing Club. Support COPE’s work at City Hall, Parks Board, and School Board. Tickets $60, call 604-813-7627.

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.

TORONTO, ON

Harper’s attacks on reproductive rights at home and abroad, panel discussion - Monday, June 21, 7 pm, 25 Cecil St., organized by Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics, 416-969-8463.

G8/G20 People First Forum, sponsored by CLC - Sat., June 19, 9 am-6 pm, Room 2158, Medical Sciences Building, University of Toronto, 1 King’s College Circle. Pre-registration: CLC Ontario Regional Office, 416-441-3710.

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.

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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16) PV FUND DRIVE: $50,000 IN 2010
$30,711 raised: 61.4%

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

We’re getting closer to the finish line, but we still need a big push to go over the top! Our Fund Drive for 2010 has now reached 70% of our target. By June 7, we have received $35,009 towards our goal of $50,000. Recent successful fundraisers included the 18th Annual People’s Voice/Rebel Youth Banquet at the Russian Hall in Vancouver. Thanks to the Shelton family which provided most of the delicious dinner, and to all the other volunteers who made it a great evening.

Congratulations to our Saskatchewan supporters, who are now officially the first province to meet the target, with exactly 100% of their $800 goal turned in.

Ontario is not far behind, at 85.2%, with $18,397 of their $21,600 raised so far. Quebec is still in third place, with $300 raised, or 60% of their $500 target. British Columbia has moved into fourth, with $11,467 of their $20,000 target, or 57%. Next is Manitoba, with $1,345 turned in (56%), followed by Alberta at 39.7%, with $1350 out of $3400 raised. Newfoundland has sent in 20% of their $400 goal, and we have $170 from the Maritimes, or 14.2% of their $1200 target.  Another $1100 has been raised by miscellaneous and overseas friends.

This issue looks at the class struggles of 1935, in particular the Corbin miners’ strike and the “Battle of Ballantyne Pier.” Also, the tragic assault by Israeli commandos against the Gaza  Freedom Flotilla, and the heroic response by the peace activists and the peoples of Palestine  and the world, occupies a prominent place in our pages. International solidarity has been a hallmark of the working class press in Canada from the very first issue of The Worker, back in 1922. Please send your donations to help us carry on this proud tradition!

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 olatif@sympatico.ca, or call 416-536-6671.

Our biggest fundraiser of the Drive is usually the annual Walk-A-Thon organized by the Lower  Fraser Club CPC. This year’s event will be on Sunday, August 1, at Bear Creek Park in Surrey. Call Harjit 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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