(The following article is from the December 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: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

Meeting on Nov. 15, delegates to the 38th B.C. convention of the Communist Party elected Sam Hammond as the party's new provincial leader. Outgoing leader George Gidora, who had served in that position for the past fifteen years, was among 15 members elected to the new BC Provincial Committee of the CPC.

     The convention heard reports on growth of the party in the province this year, with members joining in several areas. Among the most recent is in Trail, where a new club will soon be organized. Many of the new members are active in the progressive South Asian and Latino communities.

     A report from the outgoing Provincial Executive, presented by Sam Hammond, analyzed recent political and social developments in the province, especially since the May 2009 provincial election. That campaign, the report notes, "did not develop into a massive fight back to dump the Liberals mainly because the NDP decided to move to the right and compete with the Liberals. The Liberals softened their rhetoric, hid their main agenda, claimed that BC was unaffected by the recession, promised a balanced budget with only a small possible deficit, lauded the economic wealth to arrive with the 2010 Olympics and schmoozed their way with a compliant media to a narrow majority.

     "The NDP failed to grasp the opportunity to win working class and popular support, expose the recession or launch a political offensive that could have brought out the anti-corporate vote; in fact in a pre-election interview Carol James said that the NDP would also cut corporate taxes if elected. They played down the problems with the Olympics, the threat to civil rights, the use of First Nations Land and the repressive measures and by-laws being enacted. They did not scream very loud about the closing mills, the softwood lumber deal, NAFTA or the scandalous privatization of BC Rail and the ongoing sellout of Hydro and energy resources.

     "The NDP also did not exploit the effects and the looming danger to BC of the world wide economic crisis which the Liberals chose to ignore during the election period. In short the NDP did not concentrate on the working class issues but opted to compete with the Liberals on their own ground in a parallel campaign. The result was the lowest voter turnout in BC history and a bland election that saw the Liberals and the NDP fighting over the same bone while significant numbers of people became spectators of a contest where they did not see their interests represented."

     As the report outlines, the global financial crisis has had a heavy impact on the B.C. economy, for example by slashing resource revenues. At the same time, the Liberals have moved to shift $1.9 billion from working people and small business to the corporations with the imposition of a Harmonized Sales Tax. The HST, the largest transfer of wealth in the history of British Columbia, has sparked a tremendous public backlash, which has been taken advantage of by former Social Credit Premier Vander Zalm and other right wingers. But rather than dissuading the left from joining the anti-HST fight, as some have done, the Communists have helped build this struggle, taking to the streets in Surrey, Abbotsford and Vancouver as part of the "People's Forum" movement.

     Meanwhile, the Liberals have used the economic crisis to push their right-wing agenda, by slashing spending on social programs, health care, and education. They have kept up their attacks on organized workers, youth, and First Nations.

     "Most of the province's public sector unions will be in negotiations soon," the report notes, "and it is apparent that the government will seek no major confrontations until after the Olympics are over. When the spotlight of world coverage is gone and the business community has slaked itself on the Olympics the other shoe will surely drop. If labour, and especially the public sector unions, do not properly prepare for the coming struggle there could be a heavy price to pay," including a wage freeze which the Liberals hope to impose on the public sector.

     The BC Communists are calling for dramatic action to address the crisis, including major construction of new social and low-income housing to reduce homelessness, improved health care and education, an end to "public-private partnerships" and other forms of privatization, and a big increase in the minimum wage, which at $8/hour (and $6 for "first time workers") is now the lowest in Canada.