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May 16-31, 2011
Volume 19 - Number 10
$1
Prolétaires
de tous les pays, unissez-vous!
Otatoskewak ota kitaskinahk mamawestotan!
Workers of all lands, unite
1) AFTER THE ELECTION: STRUGGLE SHIFTS OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT
2) CUPW HOLDS DAY OF ACTION FOR FAIR CONTRACT
3) ANTI-HARPER DEMO CAPS CAMPAIGN IN NEWFOUNDLAND
4) UNITY PROPOSED FOR VANCOUVER CIVIC ELECTION
5) ELECTORAL REFORM: MORE THAN EVER - Editorial
6) CONGRATULATIONS TO B.C. TEACHERS - Editorial
7) THE ELECTION - A VIEW FROM QUEBEC
8) MARKHAM COUNCIL BANS CRITICISM OF ISRAELI APARTHEID
9) WHY AREN'T PEOPLE VOTING?
10) CANADA NEEDS A NATIONAL FOOD POLICY
11) CANADIAN BOAT TAHRIR TO JOIN GAZA FLOTILLA
12) SANDINISTAS: WHERE DO THEY STAND TODAY?
13) MILLIONS MARCH ON MAY DAY 2011
14) THE ASSASSINATION OF OSAMA BIN LADEN
15) BUILDING SOLIDARITY FROM SOUTH AFRICA TO PALESTINE
16) WHAT’S LEFT
17)
CLARTÉ (en français)
18)
THE SPARK! (Theoretical and Discussion Bulletin of the Communist Party of
190) INTRODUCING MARX
PEOPLE'S VOICE MAY
16-31, 2011 (pdf)
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The Spark!
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, Articles include
plus reviews, editorials, and more.
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Theoretical
and Discussion Bulletin of the Communist Party of |
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People's Voice deadlines: June 1-15 June 16-31 Send submissions to PV Editorial Office,
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REDS ON
THE WEB |
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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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(The following articles are from the
May 16-31, 2011, issue of People's
1) AFTER THE ELECTION: STRUGGLE SHIFTS
OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT
Commentary by the Central Executive Committee, Communist
Party of
The May 2nd federal election gave Stephen
Harper and his Conservative Party an absolute majority in the new Parliament.
But to do it they had to hide their real agenda, and spend millions in payoffs
and promises they may never deliver. They haven't convinced a majority of
Canadians to privatize medicare and social programs, and they haven't sold
Canadians on their sky‑high military spending, the wars in
In fact, the Conservatives garnered less than
40% of votes cast, and only 24.3% support among all registered voters. There
was no seismic shift to the Conservatives; rather, the Tory majority came about
primarily due to vote‑splitting between the Liberals and the social
democratic NDP in key ridings, especially in Southern Ontario and
This election revealed yet again the archaic,
undemocratic nature of the "first‑past‑the‑post"
electoral system, which always distorts electoral outcomes and in this case
negated the anti‑Tory sentiments of the majority of the Canadian people.
The struggle for democratic electoral reform, beginning with some form of
proportional representation, has become more urgent than ever.
While support for the Harper Conservatives
rose just 2%, there were substantial shifts in voting patterns for the other
large established parties. Most significant was the growth in both popular
support (30.6%) and seats (102 out of 308) for the New Democrats, earning the
NDP the status of "official opposition" for the first time. These
gains came particularly at the expense of the pro‑sovereigntist Bloc
Québécois, and the Liberal Party in English-speaking
The collapse of the BQ was dramatic, with its
popular vote in Québec sliding to 23.4% (from 38.1% in 2008) and its seats
reduced from 49 to only 4, with a corresponding massive increase in support for
the NDP. A certain fatigue with the sovereignty debate among Québec voters
helped caused the Bloc vote to collapse, in favour of the anti‑Harper
alternative presented by the NDP. It would be wrong to conclude however that
this signifies a marked drop in support for the sovereignty option, considering
Layton's public commitment to respect the results of a future referendum vote
on separation, and the Québec NDP's shift to support "asymmetrical
federalism."
The increased vote for the NDP, and its
enlarged caucus which includes many young first‑time members, is a
welcome development, reflecting a growing trend among working people to break
away from the grasp of the old‑line parties of big business. Clearly, a
larger proportion of electors, especially among youth and students, were
attracted by NDP leader Jack Layton's call for "change". Québec is
now the NDP's main base, which may push them to take stronger positions on the
national question, on war and militarism, and on protection of medicare and
social programs. It must be said however that although many identified the NDP
as a left‑progressive alternative, the party under
Also noteworthy and welcome was the
breakthrough election of
Both the Liberals and the BQ emerged from the
election badly mauled, and their respective leaders (Ignatieff and Duceppe) have
resigned. The post‑election crisis in both these camps could take the
form of further political realignments in the future.
Not surprisingly given the continued media
blackout, votes for the Communist Party of
The most immediate outcome is the catastrophic
reality of a Harper Tory majority in
The Harper Conservatives' full‑blown
program will quickly come to the fore: their "law and order" agenda
(starting with the "omnibus" crime bill), the further imperialist
drive to militarization and war, and a sharpened assault on labour, democratic
and social rights and services, not unlike the vicious "austerity"
policies being imposed by right‑wing governments across Europe, and by
Republican‑controlled states in the U.S. Workers in the federal public
service are likely to be among the first targets of Harper's "plan"
to eliminate the deficit within three years.
The so‑called "social conservatives"
are already raising demands to "reopen" the debate on women's
reproductive rights and to strip away other gender and equity‑based
gains, and to eliminate Human Rights Tribunals.
Given the new balance of forces within
Parliament, the capacity of the NDP and other opposition parties to counter
this agenda will be significantly weakened; they will offer up their critiques
and may succeed in delaying various pieces of legislation, but with the Tories
in full control of both the Commons and the Senate, the possibilities of
actually blocking or defeating government bills by parliamentary means alone
have all but disappeared. In such circumstances, the focus of resistance and
struggle against this reactionary agenda must shift decisively to the extra‑parliamentary
arena. This is where the next battles will be fought and where victories can
and must be won.
The trade union movement has a critical and
central role to play in initiating and leading a broad‑based,
pan-Canadian fightback movement against a renewed "Tory majority"
onslaught. The Canadian Labour Congress is currently meeting in
2) CUPW
HOLDS DAY OF ACTION FOR FAIR CONTRACT
PV Vancouver Bureau
Entering the final days of negotiations for a
new collective agreement, the Canadian
A recent CUPW bulletin stressed the need to
focus on key issues, such as efforts to maximize full‑time jobs and
implement a process to ensure vacant positions are filled.
"We are all aware of the problems
resulting from staffing shortages in postal facilities across the
country," says CUPW President Denis Lemelin. "These not only include
occupational health and safety problems, but also problems with service to the
public. To preserve universal public postal service, we have to find a
practical solution to these staffing shortages. To find such a solution, we
need to review the ratio of full‑time jobs and discuss the rules
governing the staffing of vacant positions. This is a concrete problem that
needs a concrete solution. This will help us determine whether the employer is
truly willing to resolve problems.
"We must continue to put pressure on the
employer at the negotiating table and on the work floor. We must intensify
activities and solidarity actions as we prepare for the May 11 National Day of
Action. Together we will win!"
Illustrating the problems in dealing with
Senior management responded that many of these
issues should be dealt with at the local level, but as Vincelette pointed out,
local management always says that the problems have to be resolved at the
national level.
In other recent sessions, the parties
discussed issues such as the union's demand for a comprehensive cost of living
allowance (COLA),
Management's "clarification" on
their proposed short term disability plan states that CUPW members "are
not going to lose their bank of sick leave credits". However, under this
scheme CUPW members will not be able to use any portion of their sick leave
credits for absences of five days or less, and will receive no pay for these
absences once their personal days have been used up.
The company's "clarification" also
claims that Manulife initially only denies one out of every twenty sick leave
claims under the short term disability plan. But the union warns that if
Manulife does become the decision‑maker when it comes to receiving pay
under the short term disability plan, this will give a private insurance
company more power over the lives of postal workers.
Meanwhile,
In response, CUPW wants recognition that
postal workers have helped
3)
ANTI-HARPER DEMO CAPS CAMPAIGN IN
By Sean Burton, May 4, 2011
Stephen Harper attempted to woo Newfoundlanders
and Labradorians during the election with the usual campaign promises, but the
majority of people in this province demonstrated that they have not forgotten
or forgiven the federal Conservative Party's contempt.
This province was largely ignored by the
mainstream parties save for a handful of token visits by party leaders. As the
campaign moved on, the word on the streets was largely that it would take a
miracle for the Conservatives to win any seat here. Nonetheless, a group of
about 35 concerned citizens rallied in downtown
Organizer Adrian House condemned the Harper
government for its cuts to social programs, excessive military spending and
overall right‑wing agenda, as well as the PM's lack of commitment to the
people of
It was not surprising that the Conservatives
once again failed to win a seat. The sole exception was
Regardless of the election outcome, only vague
commitments were made to the province on economic development. Harper's
minority government as well as the previous Liberal government have not had a
good record of keeping promises, and now that Harper has a majority, there is
even less reason to do so. Since many Newfoundlanders have vocally rejected the
Conservatives twice in a row, Harper may well act out of spite.
The Conservatives were evidently hoping for
quite the coup in
It is bittersweet that Harper was defeated
here and rejected by over 60% of Canadian voters, who still have to face the
fact of a Conservative majority government. Many people worked hard fighting
against that majority, and now is certainly not the time to give up. Rather,
all Canadians who value peace and democracy must redouble their efforts to
challenge the right and expose the Conservatives as the enemies of the working
peoples of
4) UNITY
PROPOSED FOR
PV Vancouver Bureau
2011 will be a year of elections in
Just as the federal race entered the final
lap,
If accepted, this would be the third
consecutive cooperation agreement between COPE and Vision, aimed at defeating
the right-wing Non-Partisan
Six years ago, the first attempt at electoral
cooperation between COPE and Vision failed to block the NPA from narrowly
regaining office after an overwhelming defeat in 2002.
But in 2008, the NPA elected just one city
councillor, as Vision won the mayoralty and seven council positions, along with
two COPE candidates. Vision also elected four school trustees, along with three
for COPE and two from the NPA. While the Vision majority on council has avoided
day-to-day cooperation with COPE's Ellen Woodsworth and David Cadman, the two
parties have voted along the same lines on most issues. At School Board, the
Vision and COPE trustees quickly formed a strong alliance, helping to lead
province-wide demands to provide adequate funding for public education.
This time around, the proposed agreement could
see COPE win a bigger voice on city council. The deal would provide three spots
for COPE on a joint slate, up from two in 2008. At School Board, the proposal
is for five Vision and four COPE candidates.
Announcing the tentative agreement, COPE
External Chair Marcus Youssef said, "COPE has a long history of
cooperating to ensure progressive politics in
Youssef said the agreement reflects the hard
work COPE Councillors have done at City Hall. "We needed to grow our
numbers to keep up that work, and this agreement provides for that," he
said. "City Hall is better with COPE, and having a chance to expand on our
team there is going to be good for
Within this framework, COPE has been able to
influence many critical civic policies, especially around emergency shelters
and housing, civil liberties, preventing school closures, and ecological
initiatives.
"Political cooperation has been a very
good thing for this city," said Youssef. "Unlike the divisive and
backward‑looking politics of the NPA, COPE's goal of creating a
The shift in council slate positions may also
reflect some difficulties faced by the Vision majority at City Hall. Heading
into the 2008 campaign, Vision signed up a membership of some 15,000, as
Vancouverites rebelled against the NPA's arrogance and its undiluted
big-business policies.
But while Vision remains the largest civic
party by a wide margin, some of its members have dropped out or returned to
their former home in COPE. Many cite the governing party's tendency to make
important Council decisions prior to full genuine democratic consultation.
Others have been alienated by pro-developer decisions, or Vision's move to
continue the NPA-initiated shift of property taxes away from the business
sector and onto the backs of homeowners.
During the 2008 election, the bulk of labour's
support and resources went to the Vision campaign, but the trade union movement
in
But there is no guarantee that the COPE
membership will accept the tentative agreement. Some COPE members are
understandably angry about certain Vision policies, and the fact that Vision
relies heavily on contributions from the city's developers.
However, the danger is that divisions between
the centre and left forces in
The election of a Harper Tory majority with
less than 40% of the popular vote is also a warning that disunity can be
deadly. The flip side of this argument is easily found on
Some activists, such as supporters of
ultra-left former councillor Tim Louis, argue that COPE could win a civic
election on its own, but this view overstates the extent of socialist views
among working people in
An examination of
The 77,000 Tory voters (and many of the
Liberals), are the NPA's power base in the city's west and south. Although some
Liberals and Greens do vote COPE at the civic level, left-minded NDPers form
the core of COPE's east side and Kitsilano base. Vision draws its broader
support from Liberals, New Democrats and Greens across the city.
The conclusion is obvious: any "go it
alone" strategy by COPE would almost certainly end in defeat. Well aware
of the numbers, most sections of the labour movement which lean towards COPE
would probably decide not to throw their scarce resources into an impossible
campaign. An isolated COPE slate would be outgunned in an expensive at-large civic
race, despite its advantages of "brand recognition" and a dynamic
group of elected officials and supporters.
Will this sober appraisal be shared by a
majority at the next COPE membership meeting? Or will anger at Vision's retreat
from its progressive image prove more powerful? In our next issue, we'll hear
from COPE executive members and elected officials.
5) ELECTORAL
REFORM: MORE THAN EVER
People's Voice Editorial
It's no exaggeration to state that the May 2
federal election was literally stolen from the 60%-plus of Canadian voters who
cast a ballot against the Harper Conservatives. There is wide agreement that
the policy platforms presented by the parliamentary opposition parties were
sharply different from the Tory agenda. On the whole, the NDP, Bloc Quebecois,
Liberals and Greens opposed the Harper government's drive to lower corporate
taxes, build more prisons, and ignore climate change.
It's true there was less difference among all
the major parties on foreign policy, sadly reflecting the NDP's unwillingness
to reject
But on the whole, Canadian voters faced a
choice between one far-right party, and several others which claimed to stand
for progressive values. Not surprisingly, three out of five chose one of the
latter, hoping to dump the Tories. Instead, eerily reminiscent of the 1988
"free trade" election, the "first-past-the-post" system
allowed a minority party to win a solid majority in Parliament. Only one adult
out of four voted for the Harper Tories, hardly a "mandate" for their
reactionary policies.
This outcome should stoke the demands for
genuine electoral reform in
6)
CONGRATULATIONS TO B.C. TEACHERS
People's Voice Editorial
The recent court victory by
This matter goes back to the 2001 election of
the Liberal government in
The response was a powerful fightback by the
labour movement, anti-poverty groups, and other forces. Faced with deeply
negative impacts on public education, teachers across the province worked with
other unions, students, parent groups, and progressive school trustees to hold huge
protest rallies, gather petitions, and much more. Education Minister Christy
Clark - now Premier - arrogantly dismissed this public anger. Teachers were
finally compelled to walk out in defence of their bargaining rights and the
interests of students. For two weeks in the fall of 2005, the BCTF stood up to
the
This legal ruling against the Liberals is a
solid victory for collective bargaining rights, and it was won as much through
the political action of teachers as through legal channels. As the ruling says,
the right to collectively bargain "reaffirms the values of dignity,
personal autonomy, equality and democracy that are inherent in the Charter."
Next step: defeat the B.C. Liberals and step
up the fight to restore education funding cuts over the past two decades!
7) THE ELECTION - A VIEW FROM
By Johan Boyden
The NDP 58‑seat "surge" in
Overwhelmingly,
In addition to their anti‑people, pro‑war
and anti‑Quebec agenda, the Tories were embroiled in a scandal. Harper's
top advisor in
Harper's government is the first majority in
modern Canadian history without a significant number of seats in
Just last winter Ezra Levant, conservative
author and self-styled Zionist Albertan "red‑neck", told the
founding meeting of Francois Legault's new right‑wing group Réseau
Liberté‑Québec (RLQ) that separation would be positive to conservatives
in the rest of
Leading right‑wing have long floated
scenarios where the inflammation of long‑standing grievances helps
provoke the eventual separation of Quebec, an area of strong popular support of
the labour movement, social programs, and peace.
The unexpected mass attraction of
This should not be seen as a rejection of
sovereignty for
These sentiments have sent an unusually large
number of workers, students, Aboriginal people ‑ even a single mother who
helps run a pub ‑ to the seats of Parliament, next to lawyers, CEOs and
bankers. The corporate media, having Americanized elections into a horse‑race
between "the leaders", is mocking the people for electing
"rookie" MPs; most people never heard about their local candidates,
just Jack Layton.
What are the implications of the anti‑Harper
vote for
8)
Special to PV
The
Organized every March by students on Canadian
campuses, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) features film screenings and
high-profile forums with prominent academics and community leaders. IAW
condemns all forms of racism and discrimination, including anti-Semitism,
Islamophobia, anti‑Arab racism, and homophobia. Many Jewish students are
involved in organizing IAW.
The Canadian Arab Federation says the May 3
motion "aims to deny Canadian students and academics the rights of freedom
of expression and academic freedom, rights that are enjoyed by Israeli students
and academics... The motion creates the absurd situation where Canadian
students and academics are allowed to freely criticize their own government but
are banned from criticizing a foreign government.
"The motion put forward by Councillor
(Howard) Shore is one of several attempts currently being undertaken to censor
and suppress public debate on this subject in order to shield
The CAF points out that
Markham City Council also ignored the
compelling evidence introduced from the Human Sciences Research Council of
South Africa, the Conference of Southern African Christian Churches, the
Association of Civil Rights of Israel and the Legal Centre for Arab Minority
Rights in Israel, that irrefutably proves Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel are
systematically discriminated against and that the situation in the occupied
West Bank and Gaza is reminiscent of apartheid in South Africa.
Speakers against the
On the surface, the motion is puzzling, since
there are no university campuses or IAW events in
Also,
As CAF National President Khaled Mouammar
stated, "Regrettably, this politically expedient decision runs counter to
the Town of Markham's stated mission to recognize and accept the diversity of
its residents, to respect the differences in all peoples and their right to
hold different opinions, to promote the value of human rights, and to oppose
racism and discrimination."
This commentary by Saskatoon-based political
activist Marjaleena Repo was circulated before the federal election, and
remains highly relevant as Canadians debate how to democratize our electoral
system. Anecdotal evidence from across
At
In 2008, Elections
There are hundreds of thousands of Canadians
whose address is a box number and that is where wholesale rejection occurs: a
box number is not acceptable. Among them are large numbers of rural residents
and Aboriginals on reserves where street names don't exist and everybody has a
box number. (A scrutineer in a 2008 campaign in northern
Elections
How older citizens are affected was documented
by former
Our voter participation was already decimated
by a major change in a system that used to work well. Until the late '90s we
had the world's best voter registration system. All potential voters were
enumerated after an election was called, and consequently the voters' lists
were highly accurate and the voter needed only to prove they were the person in
question, not where they lived.
With enumeration, a high percentage of
eligible voters were registered; today we do not even know how many can't make
the list as it is now left up to citizens to register themselves, by hook or by
crook. Educated and privileged classes have an easier time; others can face
overwhelming difficulties. We have moved from the world‑class Canadian
system of universal voter registration to the American‑style system of
survival of the fittest, each man or woman for him/herself. Large‑scale
voter inequality has reared its ugly head and with it comes falling voter
participation, from 67% in 1997 when the last enumeration took place to 61% in
2000 and a historic low of 58.8% in 2008.
Another change added to falling rates. The
campaign period was shortened in 1997 to a minimum of 36 days from 47. Time is
central to citizen participation in elections, and there can't be much of it
when the campaign whirls by at break‑neck speed - neither the candidates
nor the voters have an opportunity to engage in a meaningful way. Elections
have become virtual ones, taking place mostly in the media, run by pollsters
and pundits, and not in our neighbourhoods and communities where they belong.
(It is interesting that with a 55 day campaign in 2006, participation rose to
65% from 61% in 2004, then fell below 60% in the last election with a 37 day
campaign.)
There is much ado about "voter
apathy", with a focus on young people, who in creative and desperate ways
are urged and "mobbed" to vote. Unfortunately, much of this effort is
barking up the wrong tree: unless we can guarantee that hundreds of thousands
of Canadians who are eager to vote can actually do so, we are subjecting them
to a nasty piece of Catch 22 where the victims of voter obstruction get the
blame for being apathetic and not doing their civic duty. The simple solution
is to bring back voter enumeration with all its democratic benefits, and to
extend the campaign period to a minimum of 47 days that served us so well.
[Editor's note: The
federal election of Jan. 23, 2006 was longer to allow for the Christmas-New
Year holiday period. In the 2011 election, voter turnout rose slightly to
61.4%.]
10)
"Food for People, Not for Profits, by Chris Picek,
With the 2011 federal election in the bag we
can reflect on the state of our pretend democracy in
One issue that the mainstream media completely
ignored is one that affects all humans, regardless of colour, creed or
credentials: food.
This is unfortunate, since for the first time,
all major parties included a food policy component in their platforms. The
Grits and Tories were largely long on style but short on substance to affect
change. The NDP hit closest to the mark by way of the Heritage Breed Act, which
would aim to preserve biodiversity and establish a sustainable agricultural
sector for the future.
The Green Party put focus on the critical
issue of food sovereignty by amending the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
mandate to remove any obligations to agribusiness.
According to the People's Food Policy, 2.5
million Canadians are food insecure. There has been a surge in the last ten
years in farm‑to‑table eating and a resurgence of local farms. This
has been spearheaded by chefs, restaurateurs and farmers.
While an admirable effort to reestablish a
link between producer and consumer, it is overlooked that this wonderful bounty
is priced out of range for most working people and the poor. The alternative is
to resort to the unholy trinity of sugar‑fat‑salt which passes for
food in our industrially provisioned supermarkets. Even those who could afford
a local, organic diet do not know, due to decades of propaganda by agribusiness
that have convinced us it is normal to eat California strawberries in January
or Peruvian asparagus in April.
This illustrates our heavy dependence on
imports, often from countries where food production is profoundly undemocratic and
relies on migrant labour that may be ill treated and poorly paid. This is
compounded by the environmental degradation that comes with industrial
agriculture and the huge amounts of fuel, water and chemicals it requires to
function.
An area of specific concern in
A well thought out policy on food administered
at the federal level must take into account the particular needs of our
country's disparate regions and their unique populations, climate and
demographics. The way to ensuring we all have something good to eat begins with
the admission at all levels of government that access to food is the basic
human right. This right cannot be overlooked under any circumstance whatever.
We can start by accepting that smaller scale,
biodiverse farms are at least as efficient as their larger counterparts, without
the attendant costs and environmental fallout. The biodiversity and integrity
of the ecosystem must be protected and nurtured, since it is upon this that we
depend for life itself.
Producers that practice sustainable methods
and humane animal husbandry must be encouraged and endorsed at all levels.
People must have a framework in which to help themselves by means of an urban
food production program that makes use of land that is otherwise wasted: golf
courses, parking lots and half‑empty condo developments.
It is imperative that all Canadians, indeed,
all people of the Earth have access to healthy, tasty, sustainable, affordable
and appropriate sustenance. The wars of the future may well be fought over food
and water, not oil.
11) CANADIAN BOAT TAHRIR
TO JOIN
The Canadian Boat to
The Tahrir
will sail with vessels from
Fundraising for this campaign has been shared
by thousands of Canadians from coast to coast to coast, and organizers expect
to secure the remaining amount needed over the next few weeks of fundraising.
The 25‑metre Tahrir will carry about 45 delegates from across the country,
high profile Canadians plus journalists. As well, the boat will carry delegates
from
Despite news that
"Gaza is the only port on the
Mediterranean which is closed to shipping and the only coastal area in the
world which cannot access its own territorial waters," points out David
Heap of the CBG steering committee. "Until the Palestinians of
The Israeli government continues to threaten
the use of force against the Freedom Flotilla II. The campaign is calling on
all Canadians, including Members of Parliament, to demand that the Canadian
government take concrete steps to guarantee the safety of humanitarians headed
to
"My heart is with the participants in the
Canadian boat to
For more information, visit www.canadaboatgaza.org or email info@canadaboatgaza.org.
12) SANDINISTAS: WHERE DO THEY STAND TODAY?
By Rozhin Emadi,
"Viva La Revolucion". These are the
words I kept seeing on the streets of
The Sandinistas united the people together for
a Revolution to give
However, the
My Global Ed 2011 class at
As I sit inside our red tour bus, I look
outside, to see and observe
I first discussed politics with my Spanish instructor
in Laguna de Apollo. Elena is an intellectual young woman. She liked the
Sandinistas, she told me, though she mentioned that she doesn't like Daniel
Ortega, the leader of the FSLN. She believes that stronger leaders would better
represent the Sandinista Party, which always gets her vote. Her whole family
are supporters of the Sandinistas, in particular her brother. She showed me a
book of all the Sandinista icons, and proudly explained who they were, and why
they were inspirational. I listened and tried to understand to the best of my
ability, using what little Spanish I knew to comprehend what she was saying.
Later, I talked to Tania Gutierrez, the
translator for our program. She supports the FSLN, because their number one priority
is health and education, which she believes are the most important aspects to
have in a community. Tania told me that the Liberal Party in Nicaragua wants to
privatize much of education and health care, and if they win the next election,
they will destroy all the work put into creating a strong health care and
education system. I also talked to Roberto Myrena, the
Coordinator of the community we worked in, Mano Amiga. He mentioned that he
only ever votes for the Sandinistas, the party that he believes is for the
people of
The majority of the Community in which we
spent the most of our time were supporters of the FSLN. My home-stay family
were also proud Sandinista supporters of them. Nonetheless, after asking all
these people who they thought would win the next election, none had any idea.
They were afraid that there could be a chance that the opposition could win.
Overall, I'm proud to say that the people I
got the chance to meet were supporters of socialism and the Sandinistas. We
will have to wait till the 2011 election in
"Viva La Revolucion"; three words,
with powerful meanings that sum up the fight for change that occurred in Nicaragua,
a country I'm honoured to now refer to as a part of me.
13)
MILLIONS MARCH ON MAY DAY 2011
Marches and rallies marking May First, the
International Day of the Worker, took place around the world this year.
Millions of people took part, taking a powerful stand against the continued
attacks on wages, labour standards and social programs by the transnational
corporations and neoliberal governments.
Activists flooded
Across
In
In
Thousands of people turned out for May Day
demonstrations in Paris, where supporters of the far‑right National Front
party tried to sow divisions by pushing their racist, anti-immigrant policies.
France's five major labour unions organized around 200 marches across the
country, calling for measures to tackle the rising cost of living and to
denounce racism. The CBT labour federation estimated that more than 120,000
people took part.
In the
In
In
Thousands of Communists and members of other
left-wing groups marched through
Austria's Social Democratic Chancellor Werner
Faymann spoke a crowd of about 100,000 at a May Day rally in Vienna, denouncing
the banking sector. "When everything's going well they fill their
pockets," he said. "And when things are going badly, it's the
taxpayers who pay."
In
In
In
Thousands of protesters in
Several May Day rallies and marches were held
across
In
Other May Day rallies were held in Canadian
cities such as
In the
From a podium next to a memorial in
In
"Gov. Scott Walker has declared war on
The fusing of the struggles for workers rights
and immigrant rights was a feature of all
Some 10,000 demonstrators in
In Houston, the local chapter of the Labor
Council for Latin American Advancement joined with Houston United in a huge
rally for worker' rights and immigrant rights. Workers in
14) THE ASSASSINATION OF OSAMA BIN LADEN
Fidel Castro Ruz, May 4, 2011, 8:34 pm.
Those persons who deal with these issues know
that on September 11 of 2001 our people expressed its solidarity to the
We also immediately opened our country's
airports to the American airplanes that were unable to land anywhere, given the
chaos that came about soon after the strike.
The traditional stand adopted by the Cuban
Revolution, which was always opposed to any action that could jeopardize the
life of civilians, is well known.
Although we resolutely supported the armed
struggle against Batista's tyranny, we were, on principle, opposed to any
terrorist action that could cause the death of innocent people. Such behaviour,
which has been maintained for more than half a century, gives us the right to
express our views about such a sensitive matter.
On that day, at a public gathering that took
place at Ciudad Deportiva, I expressed my conviction that international
terrorism could never be eradicated through violence and war.
By the way, Bin Laden was, for many years, a
friend of the
In the carefully drafted speech announcing Bin
Laden's death Obama asserts as follows: "And yet we know that the worst
images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner
table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their
father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child's embrace.
Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts."
That paragraph expressed a dramatic truth, but
can not prevent honest persons from remembering the unjust wars unleashed by
the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, the hundreds of thousands of
children who were forced to grow up without their mothers and fathers and the
parents who would never know the feeling of their child s embrace.
Millions of citizens were taken from their
villages in
Still engraved in the minds of hundreds of
millions of persons are also the horrible images of human beings who, in
Guantanamo, a Cuban occupied territory, walk down in silence, being
submitted for months, and even for years, to unbearable and excruciating tortures.
Those are persons who were kidnapped and transferred to secret prisons with the
hypocritical connivance of supposedly civilized societies.
Obama has no way to conceal that Osama was
executed in front of his children and wives, who are now under the custody of
the authorities of Pakistan, a Muslim country of almost 200 million
inhabitants, whose laws have been violated, its national dignity offended and
its religious traditions desecrated.
How could he now prevent the women and
children of the person who was executed out of the law and without any trial
from explaining what happened? How could he prevent those images from being
broadcast to the world?
On January 28 of 2002 the CBS journalist Dan
Rather reported through that TV network that on September 10 of 2001, one day
before the attacks against the
Having assassinated him and plunging his
corpse into the bottom of the sea are an expression of fear and insecurity
which turn him into a far more dangerous person.
The
15) BUILDING SOLIDARITY FROM
Excitement is building for a cross‑Canada
speaking tour with trade union representatives from
The tour will be an important opportunity for
debate and discussion on how trade unionists in
Mathematician Dr. Amjad Barham is the head of
the Palestine Polytechnic University employees union and the President of the
PFUUPE, which represents unions at all Palestinian universities in the West Bank
and Gaza. At PV press time, the SAMWU speaker had not been announced.
Palestinian trade unions continue to confront
a daily reality of military occupation, apartheid walls and neoliberal
austerity. In
The General Union of Palestinian Workers
(GUPW), Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), and the
Palestinian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (PFITU) have been at the
forefront of the Palestinian movement challenging these multiple violations of
Palestinian workers' rights.
The tour will help to consolidate the worker‑to‑worker
solidarity already established between Palestinian and Canadian and Québécois
trade unionists.
Trade union sponsors and endorsers of the tour
and local events include: Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW‑STTP);
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)-Ontario Division; CUPE Local 15
(Vancouver); CUPE Local 2491; CUPE Local 3903, Toronto; CUPE Local 3906,
Hamilton Political Action Committee; CUPE Ontario International Solidarity
Committee; CUPE Toronto District Council; FΘdΘration
nationale des enseignants et enseignantes du Québec (FNEEQ); FTQ Regional
Conseil Montreal; London & District Labour Council; Metropolitan Montréal
Central Council, Confédération des syndicats nationaux; Retail, Wholesale and
Department Store Union (RWDSU) Local 568; Teaching Support Staff Union, Social
Justice Committee, Simon Fraser University; Toronto Secondary Unit Ontario
English Catholic Teachers Association Human Rights' Committee; Vancouver &
District Labour Council.
Other groups include Boycott Israeli Apartheid
Campaign, Vancouver; Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid; Faculty for
Palestine; Independent Jewish Voices; London Solidarity Coalition for
Palestine; Not in Our Name: Jewish Voices Opposing Zionism; Students Against
Israeli Apartheid; Tadamon!
Tour dates:
MONTREAL ‑ Tue., May 17, 7 pm, Centre St. Pierre Salle 304, 1212,
rue Panet (metro Beaudry). Info: 514‑659‑0106.
TORONTO ‑ Sat., May 21, 6:30 pm, Beit Zatoun,
LONDON ‑ Wed., May 25, 7 pm, Tolpuddle room,
VANCOUVER ‑ Sunday, May 29, 7 pm, Maritime Labour Centre, 1880
Triumph St., (two blocks north of
Solidarity
Tour
Solidarity from South Africa to
Palestine, May 15-30 cross-Canada tour by
speakers from Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees
(PFUUPE) and South African Union of Municipal Workers (SAMWU). For info and dates,
see article on page
eleven.
David Rovics concert, fundraiser for Canadian Boat to Gaza, Sat. May 21, 7:30 pm, BCGEU Hall,
Re:Imagine Schools, Defending the Potential of Public Education, Tue., May 17, 7:30 pm, at
Left Film Night, 7 pm, Sunday, May 22, Centre for Socialist Education,
Fair Taxation Conference, cosponsored by BC Fed and Coalition to Build a Better BC, May 27-28
(Friday 7-9 pm, Sat. (9:30-4), Maritime Labour Centre,
Revolutionary Bus Tour, Sun., May 29, leaves 10 am from
Sanctions-Busting Fundraiser for Abousfian Abdelrazik, Monday, May 30, 7 pm, at Grandview Calvary Baptist,
19th Annual People’s Voice Victory
Banquet, 6 pm, Sat., June 4, Russian Hall,
Mayworks Festival of Labour and the
Arts, throughout May, call 947-2220, see http://www.mayworks.org
for full program.
Making Connections: Communities and
Labour, MayWorks event including tribute to
the legacy of Joe Zuken, Wed., May 18, 7 pm, Millennium Library, for info contact
Jill at CCPA, 927-3200.
Marxism course, register with the Communist Party at 586-7824 or cpc-mb@mts.net
Hemingway On Stage: IN DEADLY
ERNEST, Thur., June 2, 7:30 pm,
Palestinians And Jews United, boycott/disinvestment/ sanctions picket, every Saturday, 1-3 pm, outside
Le marcheur, at Duluth & St. Denis.