(The following article is from the January 1-31, 2009, 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

Stephen Harper's appointment of 18 new senators is yet another indication that his government will use every possible trick to cling to power. Lacking the support of a majority of MPs or the public, the Tories have resorted to extraordinary steps such as the unwarranted prorogation of Parliament, a dangerous precedent giving minority governments a way to remain in office without the support of Parliament.

     The record of attacks on democratic rights and civil liberties under the Harper Tories includes: their outrageous moves to deprive thousands of prairie farmers of the right to vote on proposed changes to the Canadian Wheat Board; the campaign to portray critics of the Afghan war as treasonous; firings of public sector employees who dare to speak out against pro-corporate government policies; police infiltration of opposition movements, such as the provocateurs who tried to discredit protests against the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" in Montebello, Quebec.

     The Tory drive for massive new spending on the military, spy agencies, police, and jails, is combined with moves to dismantle and privatize social programs. The Harper government is utterly committed to wiping out the progressive social gains achieved by generations of people's struggles, in favour of expansion of the state's repressive functions.

     This far-right agenda runs completely counter to the view of the majority of Canadians, who want to bring the troops home from Afghanistan and to invest in social programs and other measures to protect working people from the impact of the deepening capitalist crisis. The steady erosion of constitutional democracy will make it easier to impose drastic restrictions on the labour movement and all democratic forces. This is the real reason why the Tories locked the doors on Parliament.

     We urge the labour movement and all its allies - Aboriginal peoples, social justice and anti-war movements, students, seniors, women's groups, environmentalists - to resist this attack on democracy. The period leading up to the return of Parliament must be used to warn Canadians of the grave dangers posed by the Harper Tories, and to mobilize support for a genuine People's Agenda in response to the capitalist crisis.