(The following article is from the March 16-31, 2010, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers and  overseas readers - $50 per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

Leonard Asper may be gone, but we’re still here. After years of piling up debts, Asper has  resigned his position as CEO of CanWest Global Communications, Canada’s biggest corporate media empire. As the feeding frenzy begins for control of lucrative chunks of CanWest Global, the potential investors never utter a word about the interests of thousands of media employees, or the subscribers to CanWest stations and newspapers. Their only “lens” is profits, not real news and information.

People’s Voice isn’t here to make profits, but we are here to provide our readers with reliable  facts and analysis from a different perspective, using the lens of working class interests. For  example, when the corporate media reports on “reform policies” in a country such as Greece or Iceland, you can safely assume that these “reforms” are meant to protect the vital interests of finance capital. But when we report on reforms, we’re talking about the movements for employment insurance, job creation, the shorter work week, universal social programs, progressive taxation, defense of the environment, reductions in military spending.

Last year we achieved our Fund Drive target of $50,000 to keep publishing People’s Voice. It  wasn’t easy, and it took a bit longer than we wanted, but we did get there. This year, we need to raise the same amount, and donations are already coming in. Thanks to all who have sent early contributions!

As a mark of appreciation for your generosity, we are once again offering supporters complimentary gifts. For each $100 in donations, you can choose one of these black and white portraits, mounted on card, matted and ready for framing: Che Guevara, Clara Zetkin, Augusto Cesar Sandino, Bhagrat Singh, Gall (Sioux), Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Louis Riel, Jeanne Corbin, or Gladys Marin. Other choices include music CDs or a copy of our 2010 Women’s Socialist Calendar.

Two fundraising events will help kick off this year’s PV Drive. On Sunday, March 21, the  Vancouver East Club CPC invites all readers in the Lower Mainland to their annual Pasta Dinner, starting at 5 pm, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver. Tickets are just $12, all proceeds to the Fund Drive. The dinner will be followed at 7 pm with a showing of Michael’s Moore’s biting documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story. Call 604-255-2041 for details.

The Ontario fund drive campaign will start with a lively social event on Saturday, March 27, starting 7 pm, at the GCDO Hall, 290 Danforth Ave., Toronto. The evening will feature live music, good food and refreshments, and greetings from PV Editor Kimball Cariou. For more information, call 416-469-2446.