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) LABOUR ON THE ROAD TO A BETTER WORLD

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

A message to Canadian Labour Congress delegates from the Communist Party of Canada

The 2008 Canadian Labour Congress Convention takes place in an environment of a prolonged and expanding assault on Canadian sovereignty, a struggle over control of our resources, the destruction of our manufacturing base and almost complete foreign control of transportation.

     When does a state stop being a sovereign body? When does government become an administrative tool for foreign capital and at war with the majority of the population it is supposed to represent and protect? These phenomena exist in degrees, but we are getting very close to the absolute, a political and economic meltdown. The instruments of our antagonists are encapsulated into capital letter abbreviations: NAFTA, TILMA, ATLANTICA. Their intent is more wordy: deep integration into the USA: integrated policing, integrated continental military and defence.

     The Canadian steel industry is now foreign owned, and that includes control of iron ore and other related resources. We will now produce ingots for manufacturing and refinement elsewhere, the export of jobs. Almost 500,000 jobs have been lost in manufacturing alone since the inception of NAFTA, with 14,900 in April alone bringing the twelve month total to 111,500. 29,000 of these lost jobs were in British Columbia, 13,000 in Quebec, and even Alberta lost 11,000. More than 30,000 woodland and related jobs and gone. The entire auto industry is hanging by a thread that could be cut at any time if the extortionists of Wall Street cannot extract concessions and government handouts. The two-faced champions of the so-called "Free Market System" hypocritically demand access to the public purse to finance and retool their places of exploitation. The governments cough up and starve our own social programs.

     The left, including the Communist Party, most NDPers and labour, predicted this situation almost exactly in the fight against free trade. Unfortunately Ed Broadbent, in the fateful 1988 election where Mulroney was selling free trade, put it as number 13 on his list of priorities; the militant and spirited labour campaign did not have an electoral expression, except for the Communist Party which they did not support.

     Since then, Labour has not found a way to effectively campaign for the repeal of NAFTA and the creation of protective measures for our jobs and future. In fact the Canadian Labour Congress and the Ontario Federation of Labour, where the biggest haemorrhage has taken place, seem to almost be in a state of blissful slumber throughout the carnage.

     The Labour movement is in a tough environment for negotiating, and the pressures are very intense. However, the dangerous experiments in concession bargaining, contracting out, contracting in, permanent part-time without pensions or benefits, and multi-tiered wage structures, could introduce terrible dangers to the existence of the  movement.

     Contracting in workers who are not "core" or "production" who are excluded from union membership effectively puts an end to the closed shop that was fought for, suffered for by generations. Giving up union jobs to purchase a collective agreement or a vague promise of job security creates a jobs trust mentality that divides workers and takes the "collective" out of collective bargaining. It also abandons the youth who are vital to the replenishment of membership, vitality and leadership.

     But what is the alternative? What is to be done? How do you bargain in an environment of job loss and plant closures, of rapacious employers and hostile government? If that's all there is, you don't.

     But that is not all there is. This is why unity with the social justice movements, extra-parliamentary political action, winning of public support, and ultimately a parliamentary expression of what has been created at ground zero, are absolutely necessary. This will take time and effort, but the process itself creates an atmosphere where labour will grow both ideologically and in numbers, and a social movement conducive to organizing like the 1930's and 1940's.

     At the 2005 CLC Convention, Carol Wall ran for the presidency, calling for strategic leadership on building new solid relationships with the social justice and anti-poverty movements. Opposed by virtually every major union leadership, she won 38% of the votes from delegates who were ready for a change, for resistance and fight back. The message was clear but apparently fell on deaf ears.

     The CLC, the CNTU, the QFL, provincial bodies and local labour councils, have the potential to become catalysts for the resentment of social activists who are looking down a dark hallway, trying to fight local skirmishes against privatization and super-exploitation, trying to defend what we have created over the generations. Labour must be the catalyst and throw resources, leadership and experience into the struggle to save our country and its resources. Labour can unite the nations within Canada and all their democratic institutions, and it must.

     Labour itself is the main target of our exploiters, because they know how dangerous labour can be to their junior partner existence of selling us out to the neo-liberal agenda of global capital. For Labour to survive it must kick up the ante. Collective bargaining, the closed shop, better labour laws conducive to organizing and expansion can be won on the very streets where they were won before. The example of the International Longshore and Warehousing Union in their magnificent stand against the Iraq war and their solidarity with Iraqi workers demonstrates what labour can do. The militancy and spirit of Canadian workers has never been broken. It may get bent occasionally but we are resilient.

     There is a better world possible. The road that goes there is the labour and peoples movements. It is a road of innovative method and militant application, and there is no other road.

     People in Cuba are on that road, and so are the Venezuelans, but they are not alone. All over Latin America, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, the skirmishes are being fought out and the movements inspired. There must be a better world. A world where we listen to the First Nations and protect Mother Earth, a world where all our children are fed from our wealth of food, where smiles replace tears, where the horrible and barbarous weapons of war are outlawed. A world where we fight the disease of poverty with good food, fresh safe water and universal healthcare. We think that is a world of socialism, but the discussion can take place along the road.

     Good luck and solidarity with the CLC delegates as they struggle with these vital matters!

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2) NDP SUPPORT FOR BACK TO WORK LAW DELIVERS FOR CORPORATIONS

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

By Liz Rowley, leader of the CPC (Ontario)

The unanimous vote in the Ontario Legislature to pass back to work legislation against striking members of Local 113 of the Amalgamated Transit Union exposed the core essence of the Liberal government, as anti-labour and neo-liberal.

     It also exposed the NDP, confirming for many working people that in fact there really isn't much difference between the bourgeois parties, who really are all the same in the clutch, at least when it comes to labour's essential right to strike.

     We have it on good authority that only two NDP MPPs argued in caucus against supporting the back to work legislation; the rest supported it from the outset. Not surprising perhaps, since the majority of this caucus were members of the Rae government in 1990, and Howard Hampton was a member of Rae's cabinet. These were the people who brought in Rae Days, the social contract that forcibly rolled back wages for public sector workers across the province.

     The two MPPs who opposed the back to work bill are said to be Peter Kormos from Welland and newly elected Paul Miller, a Local 1005 steelworker from Hamilton. Both represent constituencies where workers have been hard hit by layoffs, closures, takeovers and take-backs by multi-national corporations. It would have been important for their constituents, for workers across Ontario, and for striking ATU members if they had spoken out in the Legislature, and voted against the Bill.

     For swift passage, the Bill had to have unanimous support. The NDP could have delayed its passage by several days, giving the ATU time to negotiate. This would have put pressure on the TTC, the Mayor and the City of Toronto to make a deal. Most important, it would have denied Big Business the slam dunk they demanded - and received - to eliminate the right to strike for municipal transit workers.

     Premier McGuinty and NDP Mayor David Miller are now calling for legislation to declare municipal transit an essential service. The NDP caucus has made no statements opposing the proposed legislation expected this fall, nor have they opposed the campaign of demonization against Local 113 and transit workers who have been attacked in the media and assaulted on buses and streetcars.

     The NDP has abandoned these workers who were exercising their legal right to strike after a tentative agreement was rejected in a ratification vote by a margin of 60%. The union stayed on the job for weeks past its strike deadline to continue bargaining with an employer that had put concessions and two-tier wages on the table. The strike was just two days old and on a weekend when the Legislature was convened to pass back to work legislation. 

     It's no surprise that workers don't support the NDP and don't vote for them in elections.

     The NDP caucus voted with the Tories and Liberals to attack city transit workers, and attacked workers' right to strike across Ontario. Like the Social Contract, this was a litmus test for the NDP. It won't be forgotten. 

     Kormos and Miller are fighting an uphill battle, in a party that doesn't agree with them on a fundamental and central question.

     With huge job losses and deep recession on the way, this question is only going to get bigger. The left and progressive forces in Ontario need to step up the fight in defence of labour and democratic rights, jobs and living standards, social programs and services. Broad unity, solidarity and a mass struggle to push back the neo-liberal agenda is needed now. 

     The Communist Party (Ontario) will fight for this kind of unity in action around policies that put people's needs ahead of corporate profits and that defend and expand labour, democratic and civil rights. We will continue to fight to enshrine workers' rights to strike, picket and organize in a Bill of Rights for Labour as an urgent priority. 

     The coming CLC convention can take the initiative to launch a counter-offensive against the neo-liberal corporate agenda, and the Big Business parties in Ottawa and Toronto that speak for them.  Working people's rights, jobs, living standards, and future depend on it.

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3) STATSCAN CONFIRMS INCOME GAP GROWING QUICKLY

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

By Kimball Cariou

During the so-called lengthy period of "economic growth" before the present downturn, most working people in Canada were losing ground, and the gap between rich and poor continued to widen. That's the conclusion of Statistics Canada figures just released from the 2006 census.

     According to Armine Yalnizyan, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, "Canadians have been pedalling as fast as they can and they are not getting much further than they were when there were fewer of them working and they were working fewer hours and they were less educated."

     Statistics Canada reports that the median earnings of all Canadians who work full time rose a miniscule 0.1 per cent to $41,401 in 2005 from $41,348 in 1980 (a gain of one loonie a week in inflation-adjusted 2005 dollars).

     Meanwhile, the top 20 per cent of earners saw their incomes skyrocket 16.4 per cent, including a 6.2% gain since 2000. The proportion of Canadians earning over $100,000 jumped from 3.4% in 1980 to 6.5% in 2005. The poorest 20 per cent saw their incomes shrink 20.6% since 1980.

     One out of nine Canadians (11.4 per cent of the population, or 3.5 million people, including almost 900,000 under the age of 18) qualified as low-income in 2005, as defined by spending at least one-fifth more of their income than the average family on the necessities of food, shelter and clothing.

     Poverty rates are highest among children and young people. In 2005, 14.5 per cent of children aged 5 and under were part of a low-income family, as were 13 per cent of children aged 6 to 14.

     Some mainstream economists expressed surprise that incomes fell for many Canadians while the economy grew 2.4 per cent between 2000 and 2005.

     Informetrica president Mike McCracken, for example, said "You would expect an economy that has been performing better to be helping to raise the bottom end as part of the old saw that `a rising tide lifts all ships.' Of course, the cynics say, `it just lifts all yachts,' and we're seeing that."

     The StatsCan report also found the following:

* The median income for lone-parent mothers in 2005 was $36,765, higher than in 1980 but still the lowest of all the major economic family types.

* Immigrants have lost much ground compared to their Canadian counterparts. In 1980, recent immigrants with some employment income earned 85 cents for each dollar received by Canadian-born employees. By 2005, the ratio had dropped to 63 cents for men, and just 56 cents for women. (StatsCan suggests that many newcomers arrived with IT degrees at a time when the information and technology sector is in decline; this explanation seems inadequate at best given the catastrophic widening of this pay gap.)

* The wage gap between young male and female workers has stalled after narrowing for years. The wage gender gap, unchanged from the last census, leaves women earning on average 85 cents for every dollar earned by a man.

     The CCPA's latest report on this issue ("A Quarter Century of Economic Inequality in Canada") includes fascinating data on the longer-term trends raised by the StatsCan figures.

     For example, a detailed analysis of employee compensation reveals that the total value of pay packages was about 51% of the total Gross Domestic Product back in 1961. That proportion rose to 54% by the mid-1970s, when the Trudeau Liberal government introduced "wage and price controls," a tool to limit rising wages and begin shifting more wealth towards the rich and the corporate sector. After some ups and downs, employee compensation took a big hit starting in the late 1980s, dropping to just under 50% of GDP by 2005. This trend is a critical factor in the widening income gap reported by StatsCan.

     Another important piece of information from the CCPA is a graph showing the history of wages in Canada. Expressed in 2006 dollars, real average hourly wages were about $5 during the First World War. Over the next several decades, reflecting the upsurge of working class struggles and growing unionization rates, the average hourly wage climbed to about $23 in 1975. Under the impact of "neoliberal" attacks on the working class, and then the deep recession of the early 1980s, hourly rates declined, then rose slightly again by the late 1990s. During this period, of course, corporate profits began their climb to today's dizzy heights.

     Finally for now, the CCPA's findings on the net worth of Canadian families is also significant. The poorest one-fifth of families accounted for -0.5% of the total net wealth of all families in 1977, a figure which changed only slightly to -0.6% in 2005. These families owe more in debts than the total value of their assets.

     Meanwhile, the wealthiest ten percent of families saw a sharp increase in their share, rising from 50.6% in 1977 to 58.2% in 2005.

     Between these extremes, the remaining 70% of families saw their total share fall from 50% in 1977 to about 43% in 2005, with the biggest decline since 1999.

     The class struggle is a daily fact of life under capitalism. For the past thirty years, the Canadian ruling class has waged a determined struggle to wrest back income and wealth gained by the working class in previous decades. Reversing this attack will require a powerful and all-sided mobilization by the labour movement and its allies, not only in collective bargaining, but in the wider arena of extra-parliamentary, political and ideological battles.

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4) CRACKDOWN ON DISSENT HITS U OF T

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

By Johan Boyden

In our last issue, People's Voice reported on recent student protests at the University of Toronto. Since then, the activists who mobilized against fee increases have been subjected to a campaign of intimidation by U of T Administration and Toronto Police. Fourteen students and organizers have been charged with alleged criminal offences, and face strict bail conditions prohibiting them from associating with one another outside of court and class. PV spoke with Deena Dadachanji, who helped organize a solidarity meeting of several hundred students and supporters at the Steelworkers Hall in Toronto.

PV: What do you think is going on here?

Deena Dadachanji: The main issue is academic freedom. The fact that the students are even facing charges shows the response of the university to dissent against its policies of tuition fee increases across the board. Rising tuition is making education highly inaccessible. More and more, poor, immigrant, working class, and a whole range of people just can't afford education any more.

What charges and restrictions do the activists face?

     There is a range. Fourteen students are involved, with charges from forcible confinement to mischief. There is also a fourth change for some others, threatening police. They are not allowed to protest on campus, many people have also been banned from the U of T. Staff members are confined to their space of their work. They can't speak to colleagues. The students are only allowed on campus to go to class. They can't even go to library, for example. There are also non-association charges clearly aimed at breaking down mobilization and hindering organizing on campus.

     As far as we are concerned, these changes are all false. They are intimidation tactics from the University of Toronto against dissent on campus. The people who have been arrested are from key student groups, including OPIRG, University of Toronto Students Union, CUPE, and a range of other leaders, staff, students. Some are also first years.

What are the implications for their academic careers?

     Well, we are hoping to keep those minimal! But U of T wants to try everything they can, including expulsion. The students are also charged against the university's Student Code of Conduct. These are additional rules that the U of T has set up, a non-academic code of contact that the university has written relatively recently. The Student Code of Conduct has never been used before in this way. In fact, the U of T has seen many actions in the President's office, including sit-ins where protestors stayed much longer.
How are the students reacting?

     Well, the people who have been charged are definitely worried, but they know that they are fighting the right struggle, and that there is huge support, for which are truly thankful... The University of Toronto Student's Union president, the Canadian Federation of Students, and faculty are all onboard, not just at U of T but also at York University. There have also been letters from international organizations - even a student union in Austria! And there has also been a lot of community support, from labour, such as CUPE Ontario. What this really shows is that the administration's actions have just worked to mobilize more people.

Lets talk about the broader implications of these arrests.

     We have to keep in mind the larger atmosphere of corporatization on campus. The University has a plan - it is online - for the future of U of T. The campus will become much more corporatized, including increased funding, which has an effect on the academic freedom of instructors. Take the case of Dr. Nancy Olivieri [who was sacked and sued over five years, after publicly criticizing a pharmaceutical company funding research on campus, then exonerated both as a physician and a researcher]. I think we have to be very wary of this agenda. It is an agenda much larger than (President) Naylor, and involves the corporate power behind the President. It also aims to deregulate tuition fees.

What is next?

     We encourage everyone to visit our website, http://www.fightfees.ca, send letters to the president. We want to build a huge rally for June 3, and are calling for support.

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5) MAY 29 DAY OF ACTION: RALLY AGAINST ABORIGINAL POVERTY

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

People's Voice Editorial, May 16-31, 2008

As preparations gear up for the Aboriginal National Day of Action on May 29, the advocacy group Campaign 2000 says that First Nations children suffer the greatest levels of poverty of all children in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, one in four Aboriginal children lives in poverty, but the actual figure would undoubtedly be much higher using a more inclusive definition.

     Campaign 2000 also reports that one aboriginal child in eight is disabled, double the rate of all children in Canada. Among First Nations children, 43 per cent lack basic dental care. Overcrowding among Aboriginal families is double the rate of that for all Canadian families, and mould contaminates almost half of all First Nations households. Almost half of Aboriginal children under 15 years old residing in urban areas live with a single parent. Close to 100 First Nations communities must boil their water. Of all off-reserve aboriginal children, 40 per cent live in poverty. The highest Aboriginal child poverty rates occur in B.C. (23.5 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (23.1 per cent).

     Decade after decade, these appalling numbers rarely shift. But instead of taking decisive measures to improve living conditions, the Harper government scrapped even the Kelowna Accord's limited fiscal supports, and rejected the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Instead, the Tories and their police agencies are criminalizing Aboriginal youth, claiming that opposition to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver is driven by "Native terrorists." In Ontario, the KI Six remain in jail for the "crime" of opposing corporate exploitation of their traditional territories.

     Those who refuse to accept injustice and oppression are not "terrorists" or "criminals." The real criminals are the corporations and governments which profit by the theft of Aboriginal lands while children live in desperate poverty.

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6) QUEBEC WORKERS SHOW THE WAY

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

People's Voice Editorial, May 16-31, 2008

The ongoing barrage of government and corporate attacks against working people calls for an urgent response - not just "getting out the t-shirts," but pulling out all the stops to mobilize the labour movement into action.

     Exactly that happened in Montreal for May Day, when the major Québec trade union centrals organized a massive rally to defend workers rights and public, universal health care. An estimated 50,000 demonstrators gathered for the march, many arriving in bus convoys. Countless union banners and placards were present, as well as all the colourful extras that make such an event memorable, from stilt-walkers to Liberal Premier Jean Charest and his cabinet, represented in giant cartoon heads, bobbing and bouncing down the street. Doctors pushed a small fleet of "patients" on stretchers. There were hundreds of red flags, and masses of people, stretching almost a mile, from Rue Rachel, down St-Denis, and onto Sherbrooke.

     Medicare in Quebec has been under increasing attack, especially since the Castonguay report openly called for dismantling the public system earlier this year. But as Lina Bonamie, Quebec Nurses Federation president, warned Health Minister Philippe Couillard and company: "Health care in Quebec is a right. We'll stand up to protect our rights. We'll block you at every turn if you want to turn health into a commodity."

     Other marchers included the locked out workers at Domtar, the Journal du Québec, and the PetroCanada refinery in Montreal's east end. It was a genuine festival of the working class, perhaps not surprising since May Day rallies have been held in Montreal for decades. It's a tradition of class struggle that should be taken up by the trade union movement and its allies right across Canada.

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7) SASKATCHEWAN MAY DAY RALLIES HIT BILLS 5 & 6

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

About 1,000 demonstrators took part in a May Day protest in Regina, and hundreds more in Saskatoon, against the new Saskatchewan Party government's anti-labour legislation. The Sask Party (formed after the discredited provincial Conservatives disbanded), introduced Bills 5 and 6 shortly last December, less than a month after being elected on a platform which did not mention these proposals.

     Claiming to establish a "fair and balanced" labour environment, Bill 5 (The Public Service Essential Services Act) and Bill 6 (An Act to Amend the Trade Union Act) are strongly biased in favour of employers. The provincial trade union movement says that the two pieces of legislation are "the most aggressive assault on the rights of working people this province has ever seen."

     Bill 5 is the most far-reaching in the country. In essence, it guts the collective bargaining rights of employees of the provincial government, Crown corporations, regional health authorities, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, universities, SIAST, municipalities, police boards and "any other person, agency or body, or class of persons, agencies or bodies, that is prescribed" by the provincial government.

     By abolishing automatic certification, Bill 6 essentially require employees to vote twice to form a union: once with the signing of a card, and again with the secret ballot. It will also give the employer more time to discourage employees from forming a

union. The minimum percentage of signed cards needed to trigger a representation vote in Saskatchewan will increase from 25%, the lowest in the country, to 45%, the highest threshold in Canada (tied with BC). Bill 6 would give even more power to bosses, by allowing them to communicate "facts and its opinions" to employees, weakening the restrictions that limit employer interference in union organizing drives. The bill will also reduce the time limit for signing up union members during organizing drives from six months to 90 days prior to the application.

     The Bills are expected to be voted on in the legislature this spring.

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8) CUPW DELEGATES VOTE TO SUPPORT PALESTINIAN WORKERS

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

Delegates at the April national convention of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers voted to adopt composite resolution 338/339, calling for a boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. CUPW is the first national union in North America to take this stance.

     Resolution 338/339 reads as follows:

"CUPW will: Continue to demand that Israel immediately end all military assaults and abide completely by the most recent and unanimous Security Council resolution calling on them to do so.

     Call for and actively work towards an end to the suicide bombings, military assaults and other acts of violence that take the lives of innocent people and demand that the Israeli-West Bank barrier be immediately torn down.

     Demand that the Israeli Government immediately withdraw from the occupied territories and abide by UN resolution 242.

     Call on the Canadian government to increase humanitarian aid to Palestinians that have been affected by the ongoing conflict.

     Support the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self- determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law including the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.

     With Palestine solidarity and human rights organizations, develop an education campaign about the apartheid nature of the Israel state and the political and economic support of Canada for these practices.

     Commit to research into Canadian involvement in the occupation and call on other Canadian unions to join us in lobbying against the apartheid like practices of the Israel state and call for immediate dismantling of the wall.

     We want to do this for these reasons:

     BECAUSE no lasting peace can be created unless there is implementation of international law, United Nations resolutions and respect for the human rights of both Palestinians and Jewish-Israelis equally.

     BECAUSE 35 years ago, the United Nations Security Council unanimously called for Israel to withdraw from territories it invaded in 1967 (West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem) in resolution 242.

     BECAUSE Israel has refused to implement resolution 242 for 40 years and, moreover, has illegally established Jewish-only settlements in these areas in further violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

     BECAUSE the Israeli Apartheid Wall has been condemned and determined illegal under international law.

     BECAUSE over 170 Palestinian political parties, unions and other organizations including the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions issued a call in July 2005 for a global campaign of boycotts and divestment against Israel similar to those imposed against South African Apartheid;

     BECAUSE the barrier severely restricts the movement of and work possibilities for Palestinians, violates international law, is partially built on land confiscated from Palestinians and is not a way to create lasting peace and security.

     BECAUSE CUPW has a constitutional policy in favour of peace and disarmament and has consistently worked within the Canadian labour movement to pressure the Canadian government to promote peaceful solutions in the face of war."

     In a bulletin addressing the issue, newly-elected CUPW National President Denis Lemelin notes that "There are around 235 Israeli settlements in the West Bank in violation of international law and in defiance of UN resolutions. Checkpoints, roadblocks, military bases, and by-pass roads that connect illegal settlements are found throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In 2003, the Israeli government began building a 700 km long and six-metre-high Separation Wall inside the West Bank. More than 10% of Palestinian land will lie behind the wall. The International Court of Justice, the world's highest court, ruled the wall illegal in 2004.

     "The Israeli occupation of Palestine has had a serious impact on workers. Unemployment has risen from 5% before 1993 to around 50% in 2006, leaving approximately 350,000 workers unemployed. Approximately 50% of families in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are living under the poverty line of $2 per day."

     Other unions which have adopted resolutions endorsing the boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign include Unison, the British Public Sector Union; Irish Congress of Trade Unions; Norwegian Electrician and IT Workers Union; British University and College Union; and CUPE Ontario Division.

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9) CP (Ontario) CALLS FOR "JUST SETTLEMENT," NOT OPP ATTACKS

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

In the early morning hours of Saturday, April 26, Communist Party (Ontario) leader Elizabeth Rowley sent an urgent message to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty condemning preparations for an OPP attack on Mohawks at Deseronto.

     Rowley demanded that the Premier "act immediately to withdraw the police and military who at this moment are attacking unarmed Mohawks at Tyendinaga. This appears to be a repeat of the events that lead to the murder of Dudley George in Ipperwash, following the OPP attack on unarmed First Nations people of Stoney and Kettle Point, also in the middle of the night.

     "Mr. Premier, you have the power and authority to act immediately to save lives by stopping this attack. What is needed is a political solution, based on just settlement of Aboriginal land claims, and an end to resource exploration and all development on lands claimed by First Nations pending settlement of the claims.

     "Your government will be remembered for what you do - or don't do - tonight. Don't repeat the crimes of the Harris government at Ipperwash. Stop the OPP and military now."

     A powerful mobilization of public opinion across the country on April 26 compelled the OPP to back down, but more police attacks are widely expected over the coming months.

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10) MANITOBA NDP BUDGET DISAPPOINTS

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

PV Manitoba Bureau

More tax breaks for manufacturing corporations, an end to the tuition freeze, no increase in social assistance rates, more police positions. These are some of the highlights in another Manitoba NDP budget that received only the mildest criticisms from the opposition parties, business groups and the corporate media.

     In a country where inequality is growing rapidly despite localized resource "booms" such as Alberta's tar sands, Manitoba remains a low-wage province. First Nations signed treaties with the Crown to share the land and resources, but the federal government gave control of natural resources to the provinces in the 1930s. Corporations have taken advantage of this Balkanization, which benefits only a handful of provinces.

     The massive number of unemployed Aboriginal people in Manitoba also acts as a giant anchor, weighing down the wages of all workers. Until the provincial budget addresses these concerns, there will be no real change.

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11) G-7 FIDDLES AS GLOBAL HUNGER CRISIS MOUNTS

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

By Darrell Rankin

Acting like a bright spotlight on the utter inhumanity of the capitalist system, the ever-growing global food crisis can be added officially to the list of the world's economic and environmental woes, plunging hundreds of millions of people into misery, unemployment or death.

     Yet after meeting on April 11, the G7 countries which account for two-thirds of the world economy - the U.S., Japan, Germany, Italy, France, UK and Canada - issued a four page statement that fails to mention the food crisis, saying only that "high oil and commodity prices" pose a risk to the world economy.

     George Bush and his imperialist associates are more willing and prepared to launch a new war than to resolve a single crisis. The G7 countries are engaging in a huge cover-up, while simultaneously imposing the full cost of the crises on the working class at home and abroad. They can still afford to "buy off" their working class with a food supply that costs roughly 20 per cent of wages. But for how long?

     Food price hikes are a far more serious matter for the vast majority who live in the neo-colonial countries. Close to half the world's population lives on $2 a day or less, and 60 to 80 per cent of their income is spent on food.

     Food riots are being reported across the globe, according to Sir John Holmes, the United Nation's emergency relief coordinator and top humanitarian official. The list includes Haiti, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and Bangladesh.

     Holmes says that skyrocketing food prices and shortages over the last year are threatening the "political stability" of many countries, especially in Africa's immense urban areas. The World Bank says that 33 countries face "social unrest" because of the growing catastrophe.

     Global food prices increased 83 per cent in the last three years. The price of wheat has increased 108 per cent in the last year; corn has increased 66 per cent. Rice more than doubled in price since the end of 2007, based on the "Thai medium quality" benchmark variety.

     The United Nations is calling for an immediate $500 billion (US) in extra food aid, but only half has been committed. To quell the panic caused by rising prices, hoarding is also being practised. Some big grain exporters such as Kazakhstan and Indonesia have banned global trading.

     Ministers representing 185 countries also considered the crisis at meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in early April. Saying that soaring food prices threaten global calamity, they promised to co-operate to save the world's poorest people from starvation.

     Unable to influence the actual economic levers of the WB and the IMF, the ministers issued no specific plan. But a broad outline of what must be done is emerging in scientific and political statements.

     One of the most important measures is to stop converting edible grains into "biofuels." This practice - driven by the large oil companies with lavish government subsidies - is a "crime against humanity," according to some of the ministers attending the IMF and WB meetings.

     On April 15, a report endorsed by sixty countries says that the world has ample resources to feed everyone. But it called for radical changes in world farming to avert food shortages, escalating prices and growing environmental problems.

     Backed also by the World Bank and most UN agencies, the report noted that continuing current trends would mean deeper divisions between the haves and have-nots, and leaving a world no one would want to inhabit.

     The 2,500-page International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology of Development is the result of three years of work by 400 experts. The report urges investment in agricultural science, ending biofuels from crops, managing climate change, and ending the massive subsidies for farmers, especially in the wealthy countries.

     The report exposes the failures of large-scale industrial farming and the devastating effects of dismantled marketing boards and neo-liberal trade agreements on small farmers.

     The report points to the need to promote farming that reduces fossil fuel consumption and that favours local production and sustainable, natural practices such as crop rotation, low-tillage and organic fertilizers. The report does not endorse genetically modified crops.

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12) MIGRANT FARM WORKERS: VULNERABLE AND EXPLOITED

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

By Rangel Ramos Zapata and Carolyn Fish

While farm workers are amongst the most at-risk workers in Ontario, some are even more vulnerable. Migrant agricultural workers in this province do not have the right to unionize. 

     In 1966, workers came to Canada from Jamaica in order to fill the need for labour through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP). SAWP was expanded, and in 1967 an agreement was made with Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados; in 1974 a Memorandum of Understanding was made with Mexico, and in 1976 the Western section of the Caribbean was included. Today, approximately 18,000 workers (400 of them women) come from six weeks to eight months each year. The majority work in Ontario.

     On the Service Canada website, it states that the SAWP program was created "to provide a supplementary source of reliable and qualified seasonal labour in order to improve Canada's prosperity... These measures help to maintain the livelihoods of Canadian and permanent resident workers in the agricultural industry as well as in other industries that directly or indirectly participate in and benefit from a strong and vital agricultural industry. In Ontario this program has responded to a critical shortage of available workers suitable for seasonal agricultural work."

     How is "reliable, qualified" and "suitable for agricultural work" defined, and why is there a "critical shortage"?

     The capitalist ideal of maximizing profits and minimizing expenses requires a vulnerable workforce. It is difficult to find enough Canadians who will agree to perform long hours of hard labour in dangerous working conditions for low pay, yet there are people living in poverty in Mexico and the Caribbean with few other options. Canadians like to think that they are "helping" poor people from the South by providing opportunities to work. The reality is that migrant agricultural workers are helping us, while we exploit their disadvantaged position in the global economy. Migrant agricultural workers don't have other viable options, so they do the work that Canadians won't. 

     Migrant workers are victims of numerous violations of their fundamental human rights. They are subjected to different rules than Canadian workers: lower salaries, abuses in the workplace, excessively long work days, unsafe work conditions, poor living conditions, and poisoning from pesticides. Government inspections of work and housing conditions are not completed frequently, and employers are often given advance notice before inspections.

     Most employers prefer for sick or injured workers to return to their country of origin, and don't always assist in seeking medical attention. This situation generates fear in workers who prefer to hide some illnesses or injuries in order to avoid quick repatriation. Sick days or time off to see a doctor are not guaranteed, nor paid.  A sick or injured worker is not "profitable" to employers. Workers live with the fear that they could be sent home at any time, for any reason. They know the reality: there are people at home waiting to take their place.

     Migrant agricultural workers pay into EI, CPP and income tax. But they do not qualify for EI when their contracts end, and are not informed that they can claim their pension at age 65. They pay taxes, yet are not eligible for healthcare or other services available to Canadian residents.

     Workers are not eligible at any time to apply for Canadian citizenship. Most who come to Canada have families; none are permitted to bring family with them. It is beneficial for Canada to use workers who have a reason to return home; it helps to maintain the system of exploitation of non-Canadians.

     Before travelling to Canada, workers receive warnings from authorities in their countries that any difficulties must be reported to their employer and/or their respective Consulate. They are prohibited from seeking assistance from a third party, or they will face exclusion from the program. Workers do not feel protected by their Consulates, which are seen as agents of the employers. The Consulates attempt to please farmers and the Canadian government in order to promote recruitment of workers. Remittances have become an important part of the global economy, and poor countries are in competition to have workers come to Canada. The agreements between Canada and the different governments are considered understandings, not obligations, and can be cancelled independently by any party though a notification of six months. 

     As a result of the vulnerability of migrant agricultural workers, volunteer organizations and advocacy groups have been created. The UFCW operates seven Migrant Worker Support Centers across Canada. As of June 30, 2006 agricultural workers are covered under Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act, thanks to a successful legal challenge led by the UFCW. The UFCW is also continuing its Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenge against the province of Ontario for denying agricultural workers the right to join a union and collective bargaining.

     Migrant agricultural workers are vulnerable because of Canada's decision to take advantage of their position within the global economy. Canadian employers will continue to benefit at the expense of `suitable' (perhaps `exploitable' is more appropriate) migrant agricultural workers as long as their fundamental human rights are denied. And while Canadian workers enjoy the benefit of cheaper agricultural produce at the expense of migrant workers, they should keep in mind that the greater exploitation and oppression of migrants brings with it downward pressure on their own wage levels and working conditions.

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13) KKE CELEBRATES 90th BIRTHDAY WITH IN TORONTO & MONTREAL

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

PV Ontario Bureau

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) is celebrating its 90th anniversary this month, with a visit to Canada by KKE Political Bureau member Spyros Chalvatzis, who is also Parliamentary House Leader since Greek electors doubled the Party's representation in Parliament in this spring's elections.

     Speaking at a May 10 dinner in Toronto organized by the Friends of the KKE, Greek Canadian Democratic Organization, Veterans of the Greek Resistance, and Belogiannis Club of the Communist Party of Canada, Chalvatzis spoke about the struggle against fascism and reaction led by the KKE during and after World War II, and against the Greek generals' junta, 1967-74. Thousands of Communists, youth and patriots gave their lives in these prolonged and epic struggles for democracy.

     Today, Chalvatzis said, the KKE continues to struggle for democracy and sovereignty, for peace and socialism, in a world where US imperialism seeks to eliminate all traces of the communist parties, and to overturn socialist Cuba "which has inspired a huge anti-imperialist movement across the Latin American continent, despite the embargo."

     Imperialism, he said, has no solutions to the problems facing the world's peoples; that is why they are scared of socialism and socialist ideas - "the spectre that is haunting all continents" today.

     "This shows that imperialism, and especially US imperialism, is not unbeatable. They are really afraid of the theory and the action of the Marxist-Leninist parties", Chalvatzis said. He noted the strengthened electoral positions of the Communist parties which have remained theoretically consistent, and the historic losses in France, Italy, Spain and elsewhere "for the parties that have abandoned and slandered those principles, that implemented policies to manage capitalism, actually benefitting big capital (leading) to catastrophic results for workers, the anti-war and the popular movements generally."

     Anti-communism has been developed into a basic element of the ideological fight, to which the social democrats, the opportunists, and the so-called "transformed" communists have all contributed, he said, noting this goes hand in hand with their support for reactionary government policies. This is also the case with the European party of the Left in the European Parliament, which is increasingly divorced from the European working class.

     Regarding Greece, both PASOK and Synaspismos (the party of the "transformed" communists), support the governing New Democracy party on the main issues, Chalvatzis said. This includes strengthening the country's ties to the imperialist powers, their interests and organizations in the region, including gas and oil pipelines, and continuing imperialist interventions in the Balkans "that come as a continuation of the barbarous NATO, US and EU attacks against Yugoslavia."

     "The independence of Kosovo - that is, the creation of one more protectorate - is a US, NATO and EU criminal `project' against the peoples of the region," he warned.

     Stressing that the situation has been "shaped", the KKE has called on the government not to recognize the new government in Kosovo. "We stress that the borders are set with blood and that the coming developments will affect our country. This example will be used as a case model, with future consequences yet to be faced."

     The government has rejected this call, responding that the KKE should be "realistic."

     "But there are two kinds of realism", Chalvatzis rejoined, "the realism of suppression, and the realism of struggle and confrontation."

     The KKE will continue to fight for a political solution in the Balkans, free of US and imperialist interference, and developed by the states and peoples in the region.

     The Communist Party of Greece calls for the creation of a broad-based democratic, anti-imperialist, anti-monopoly coalition at the national and international level, that can move the struggle from a defensive to an offensive struggle for peace, democracy and fundamental economic and social change, opening the door to socialism.

     Chalvatzis said the KKE relies on the working class, the youth and the popular people's movements. The party strengthens itself by fighting on every issue of concern to working people, defending their interests, and building the labour and democratic movements. This increases their capacity as components of the anti-monopoly, anti-imperialist front, fighting for working class power, for a socialist alternative to capitalist exploitation, repression and war.

     He pointed to the failure of the Annan Plan for Cyprus (and AKEL's victory in the recent election), the defeat of the reactionary European Constitution, the setbacks for the US and Israel in Lebanon, the quagmire in Afghanistan and Iraq, the regeneration of class-struggle trade union organization and growing influence of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and the rebirth this spring of the World Peace Congress as encouraging signs of the strengthening of the anti-imperialist, anti-monopoly struggle globally. Combined with the advances in Latin America, these are very important developments, he said.

     "The KKE is committed to reassembling, empowering, coordination and to common action of all the communist and workers' parties," he said, and the KKE will continue to play a central role in hosting annual international meetings and facilitating common action at the regional and international level. At the same time, the KKE would like to see the communist parties shape an ideological pole internationally to effectively combat imperialism on the theoretical front.

     Communist Party of Canada leader Miguel Figueroa congratulated the KKE on nine decades of principled and militant leadership of the struggle of the Greek working class and people for democracy, peace, social progress and socialism. Noting the close fraternal relationship that has existed for many years between the KKE and the CPC, based on Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, Figueroa saluted the contribution of Greek-Canadian Communists to the Belogiannis and other clubs of the CPC in English-speaking Canada and Quebec, and to the labour, progressive and democratic movements in Canada.

     Speaking about the vicious neo-liberal, pro-war agenda of the Harper government, Figueroa called on those present to help defeat the Tories in the coming election. He urged the defeat of their amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Act, currently before Parliament, which will slash immigration and replace it with huge pools of temporary foreign workers forced to work without any significant rights or protections, and for the lowest wages in the worst conditions. Labelling C-50 a piece of the global capitalist agenda, Figueroa called for united action to defeat this agenda.

     Spyros Chalvatzis spent about a week in Quebec and Ontario before returning to Greece. 

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14) CPI(M) TACKLES SPIRALLING FOOD PRICES

By B. Prasant, PV correspondent in India

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

Meeting in Kolkata on April 29, the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) focused on three main issues: the movement against rising prices, Panchayat (rural assembly) elections in Bengal, and organisational decisions. 

     Speaking later to People's Voice, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat was "flabbergasted" over the failure of the Manmohan Singh central government in Delhi to curb runaway prices of essential articles of common consumption. The vast majority of the people of India, he pointed out, suffer from the government's disinterest in bringing prices down.

     Prakash expressed "deep dissatisfaction" at the government's refusal to tackle the sorry state of the economy, allowing prices of essential articles to spin out of control. The government will not replace the "targeted" public distribution system (PDS) with a universal PDS, and keeps backing the scions of big business as they indulge in futures and forward trading in foodstuffs.

     The CPI(M) leader noted that the Food Corporation of India is deliberately failing in its duty of procuring enough food crops from farmers of Bengal at subsidised prices. The Congress-run central government, he stated, was fuelling the efforts of big business, indigenous or otherwise, and helping these concerns to gather foodstuff for futures trading and forward trading. The matter of endangered food security, he said, was one of the issues the Left has taken up with the central government, and would continue to do to in the days to come.

     The liberalisation process indulged in by the Congress-led UPA government encourages hoarding and racketeering, especially since the former BJP-run NDA government left the Essential Commodities Act devoid of any teeth. Food security or lack thereof was never an issue that concerned India's state governments. The issue has been the responsibility of the central government in every account. The Bengal government's target for food procurement of 1.5 million metric tonnes was being affected by the fact that Bengal had to send 400,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh after that country was hit by a storm. Bengal, Prakash pointed out, had also sent rice to some north-eastern states in distress.

     Describing the Congress-run United Progressive Alliance outfit as "callous," Prakash stressed that the neo-liberal economic policies followed by the government fuel rather than curb (as claimed) inflation. The mass of the people, he declared, would not quietly accept such harsh developments, and the Left would not rest until the "central government is brought to its heels."

     The CPI(M) is organizing a massive nationwide, day-long picketing of the offices of the central government on May 15. Millions of people will participate, led by hundreds of thousands of CPI(M) volunteers. The states of Bengal, where local Panchayat polls are being held, and Karnataka, where Assembly elections are due shortly, will be kept outside the purview of this India-wide anti-price rise action.

     The May 15 picketing will be organised around five demands:

1. Strengthen the Public Distribution System by universalizing it.

2. Curb the procurement of foodgrains from farmers by private companies and traders.

3. Ban futures trading in 25 agricultural commodities as proposed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

4. Cut customs and excise duties on oil, and reduce retail prices of petrol and diesel.

5. Take stringent action against hoarding of essential commodities and strengthen the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act.

     Prakash said the Polit Bureau heard a detailed report on the run up to the Panchayat polls in Bengal from the state CPI(M) secretary, Biman Basu. As in the past, all non-Communist, non-Left, and non-Marxist forces have banded together as an opposition "grand alliance." This so-called mahajot includes not only the mainstream bourgeois parties, but also sectarian fringe outfits on the right and the left, including religious fundamentalists.

     As the rural polls draw nearer, CPI(M) workers and organisers have been killed brutally by hirelings of the opposition, especially by self-proclaimed "Maoists" and the separatist "Jharkhandis." Since March 2006, no less than 32 CPI(M) workers have been murdered. The people are with the Bengal CPI(M), said Prakash, predicting a victory of the CPI(M) and the left Front on a scale bigger than that of the 2003 Panchayat general elections.

     Prakash did not deign to respond to the calumny that Congress president Sonia Gandhi has recently spread against the Bengal government and the CPI(M) on vague non-issues like "malpractice in governance" and "Marxist terrorism." He said that Sonia Gandhi remained, as before, out of touch with the reality evolving in Bengal, as perhaps elsewhere.

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17)WHAT'S LEFT

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

VANCOUVER, BC

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.

Concert and Zakusky Buffet - Sunday, May 25, 2 pm, entertainment and camaraderie, tasty  Belorussian and Russian appetizers to follow concert, Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Ave.

Left Film Night, “Cocalero”, documentary on Bolivian president Evo Morales - Sunday, May 25, 7 pm, Centre for Socialist Education, 706 Clark Drive, call 604-255-2041 for details.

Women’s Housing March against Poverty - 2 pm, Sat., June 14, organized by Power of Women Group, starts at Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre.

Malalai Joya Support Rally, one year after her suspension from the Afghan parliament -  Wed., May 21, 5 pm, Art Gallery, organized by StopWar.ca.

People’s Voice Victory Banquet - 6 pm, Sat., June 7, Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Ave.,  tickets  $15, call 604-255-2041.

WINNIPEG, MN

Che Guevara Brigade Fundraiser - Thur., May 15 at Mondragon Restaurant and  Bookstore, 91 Albert St. For details, call 783-9380.

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

Exploitation Is Bad Business - Sun., May 18, 7 pm, presentation on the impact of mining on  Aboriginal Peoples in Canada and abroad. Kateri Church Basement, Ellice Ave. @ Home St.

Colonization And The Left - Mon., May 19, 7 pm, workshop on challenges faced by Aboriginal  workers, facilitated by Leslie Spillett. Sponsored by Grassroots Women Manitoba Kani  Kanichihk, 455 McDermot Ave.

Zuken Foundation Citizen Award Evening - Wed., May 21, 7 pm, with speaker Prof. Elizabeth Comack on “Whose Law and What Order?” Cosponsored by Joe Zuken Memorial Foundation and Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Manitoba at Union Centre, 275 Broadway Ave.

Labour Songs & May Days - Sat., May 24, 8 pm, illustrated talk by Myron Shatulsky with  Winnipeg Labour Choir and What’s Left folk singing group. Ukrainian Labour Temple, 591 Pritchard Ave., tickets $10, 488-1008.

Day of Remembrance for Mike Sokolowski and Steve Skezerbanovicz, fallen heroes of Winnipeg General Strike - Sun., May 25, 1 pm, Brookside Cemetery, 3001 Notre Dame Ave. Everyone welcome.

The Triple Truth - Fri., May 30, 8 pm, by the acclaimed Turtle Gals Performance Ensemble, the  history of Aboriginal people at work through story, song and movement. Circle of Life  Thunderbird House, info/reservations at 989-2400.

SASKATOON

Political discussion & beer, all welcome to join Saskatoon CPC members- 5:30 pm, Monday,  May 20, and the third Monday each month, in the tv room at Amigo’s Cantina, 632 10th St. East. 

EDMONTON, AB

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

TORONTO, ON

Seeing Red - The Future of Toronto, People’s Voice forum on Mayor Miller’s Fiscal Review  Panel - 7:30 pm, Thur., May 22, 290 Danforth Ave. Speaker: Rob Fairley, past president of CUPE Local One. For info, call 416-469-2481.

CCFA annual meeting - Thursday, May 29, 7 pm refreshments, 7:30 pm program (annual report, finances, elections), guest speaker Lauriano Cardoso, Cuban Consul General, and the documentary One Man’s Story, Cuba and the CIA, interview of Philip Agee.

Housing Not War Fundraiser Concert, organized by Toronto Disasater Relief Committee - 9 pm, Sat., May 31, Cecil Street Community Centre, 58 Cecil St., tickets $10 advance/$15 at the door, call 416-599-8372.

The November Elections and the Struggle for Change in the US, People’s Voice forum with Communist Party USA leader Sam Webb - 7:30 pm, Tue., June 3, GCDO Hall, 290 Danforth Ave., call 416-469-2446 for details.

Second Annual Cuban Film Festival - June 6-10 at the GCDO Hall, 290 Danforth Ave., see story page eleven for details.

Celebration of Life for Bill Stewart - Sunday, June 8, 2 pm, at the GCDO Hall, 290 Danforth Ave. For information, call the Communist Party at 416-469-2446.

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$50,000 FUND DRIVE
READY FOR HOME STRETCH

(The following articles are from the May 16-31, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

We’re over the hump in our 2008 PV Fund Drive, but we need to pick up the pace as we head into the home stretch. By Mother’s Day, May 11, we have raised $27,591, or just over 55% of our $50,000 target.

Since our previous report, Alberta has gained the lead, with $1855 turned in, or 93% of their  provincial target. Ontario continues to forge ahead, reaching the 70% mark with $14,010 raised so far. The Maritimes and Newfoundland are up to 55% ($665 raised), followed by British Columbia at 51% ($10,276).

This issue of People’s Voice will be distributed to delegates at the 25th Canadian Labour Congress convention, which opens May 26 in Toronto. We take pride in our historic role, going back to the days of The Worker, as Canada’s leading revolutionary working class newspaper, focused on the issues and struggles faced by workers across the country, both organized and unorganized. No other newspaper in Canada has such a tradition, and we aim to keep building on our record with your continued support!

The west coast part of the Fund Drive will pick up steam in the weeks ahead with two of our biggest annual fundraisers. Tickets are now on sale ($15) for our 16th Annual Victory Banquet at Vancouver’s Russian Hall (600 Campbell Avenue) on Saturday, June 7, doors opening at 6 pm. Our guest speaker will be Stephen Von Sychowski, a leading member of the Vancouver & District Labour Council Young Workers Committee and a YCL organizer.

Also, mark your calendars for the annual PV Walk-A-Thon, organized by the Lower Fraser Club CPC, on Sunday, July 20, at Surrey's beautiful Bear Creek Park. Watch for full details in our next issue.

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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