>PEOPLE=S VOICE ON-LINE
>
>ARTICLES FROM THE COMMUNIST PRESS IN CANADA
>
>(The selected articles below are from the September 1-15/2000 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,
>706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.)
>
>________________________________________________________________
>
>
>In this Issue:
>
>1/ EDITORIAL: THE OKANAGAN-COQUIHALLA BY-ELECTION
>2/ WHERE'S STOCKWELL? - Canadian Alliance leader avoids the voters
>3/ MIXED RESULTS IN LATEST ELECTION ACT RULING
>4/ A BUSY AUTUMN IN HEALTH CARE STRUGGLE
>5/ ONTARIO TEACHERS WON'T DO HARRIS TORIES' BIDDING
>6/ THE OCAP CRACKDOWN: CRIMINALIZING PROTESTS
>7/ CUBA INVITES THE WORLD TO HAVANA
>
>*************************************
>
>
>1/ EDITORIAL: THE OKANAGAN-COQUIHALLA BYELECTION
>
>CANADIAN ALLIANCE LEADER Stockwell Day is seeking election in
>Okanagan-Coquihalla, where his extreme right-wing views are shared by a
>significant number of voters. The decision by the Liberals and Tories not
>to nominate candidates in the Sept. 11 by-election gave him another boost.
>
>But even in the south Okanagan, many voters are solidly opposed to the
>bigoted, reactionary ideology of Day and his party. From the moment the
>by-election was announced, residents of the area have spoken out for the
>rights of women, First Nations, working people, and other targets of the
>Canadian Alliance. The by-election has already proved that Stock and his
>gang - the most dangerous force among the big business parties - will face
>a rough ride whenever a federal election is called.
>
>We congratulate the progressive activists and movements who mobilized
>quickly in Okanagan-Coquihalla to reveal the Alliance's real political
>agenda. And we urge voters in the riding to cast a ballot for one of the
>candidates running against Day.
>
>The best of these is clearly Joan Russow, leader of the Green Party of
>Canada, a long-time campaigner for human rights, labour, social justice,
>the environment, and peace issues.
>
>In the spring of 1999, while the federal NDP was supporting NATO's
>aggression against Yugoslavia, Russow was helping to rally Canadians
>against this shameful imperialist war, and demanding that NATO be
>dismantled. She has been a powerful opponent of the so-called "trade
>agreements" driven by the transnational corporations. Under her leadership,
>the Green Party has been active in fighting NAFTA, the MAI, the WTO and
>other "globalization" treaties and bodies.
>
>Russow correctly warns that religious fundamentalists such as Day pose a
>threat to reproductive rights and the right of women to work outside the
>home. She wants the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect sexual
>orientation, gender identity, and form of family.
>
>Unfortunately, Canada's "first-past-the-post" electoral system is stacked
>against progressive, smaller political parties. Working people would be far
>better served by combining the election of individual MPs with some form of
>proportional representation. Such a change would increase the chances of
>electing Joan Russow or Communist Party leader Miguel Figueroa to
>Parliament, greatly strengthening the movements to put working people and
>the environment ahead of corporate greed. The by-election campaign is a
>perfect opportunity to expose the Canadian Alliance bigots, to win support
>for the idea of a broad alliance for progressive change, and to call for
>proportional representation and other democratic reforms.
>
>*************
>
>2/ WHERE'S STOCKWELL? - Canadian Alliance leader avoids the voters
>
>By Kimball Cariou
>
>LEADING UP TO the Sept. 11 by-election in Okanagan-Coquihalla, Canadian
>Alliance leader Stockwell Day is spending as little time as possible in the
>riding. Organizers of election forums have expressed frustration at Day's
>decision to be in the riding for only six or seven days of the campaign. At
>press time, Day had agreed to take part in only two all-candidate meetings,
>including one organized by a Chamber of Commerce.
>
>His absence has also angered voters, many of whom are upset that their
>support is being taken for granted. Day and his handlers claim that the
>Alliance leader has a "responsibility" to be taking his right-wing message
>across the country.
>
>Official functions in Ottawa are also a higher priority for Day than the
>by-election. For example, Day preferred to meet with Mexico's
>president-elect Vicente Fox in mid-August in his role as Opposition Leader,
>even though he has yet to be elected to Parliament.
>
>Many observers point to a bigger factor in Day's schedule than pressing
>duties elsewhere: the CA's attempt to minimise public criticism of his
>contempt for hard-won social equality rights, and of his pro-corporate
>economic policies. Since Day's victory in the CA leadership race,
>protesters have turned up with signs, slogans, and tough questions at many
>public appearances.
>
>Despite the corporate media's crude portrayal of Okanagan-Coquihalla as
>redneck country, many local residents are deeply alarmed at his views.
>First Nations organizations and other democratically-minded people in the
>riding strongly oppose the Alliance's denial of inherent aboriginal treaty
>and land rights upheld in recent court rulings. Similarly, there is strong
>support in the riding for women's reproductive rights, even though the
>anti-choice movement is well organized and vocal in the area.
>
>The defence of Canadian sovereignty is another key issue, especially given
>Day's support for corporate globalization and closer integration into the
>US economy. The Council of Canadians branch in Penticton, hoping to give
>voters a chance to compare the views of all eight candidates on such
>issues, has organized one of the public forums which Day has decided to avoid.
>
>Apparently fearing a poor showing, the NDP took weeks to field a candidate,
>finally nominating Jack Ellis a few days before the Aug. 21 deadline.
>Another candidate running a vigorous campaign is Jack Peach of the Canadian
>Action Party, which is focussing entirely on just two issues - opposition
>to corporate globalization, and using the Bank of Canada to control the
>money supply. The leader of Quebec's pro-marijuana Bloc Pot party flew in
>to join the race, and three candidates are running as independents.
>
>But the strongest opposition to Day has come from Green Party leader Joan
>Russow, whose roots in the riding include environmental and peace campaigns
>in the 1960s and '70s. Russow is running on a detailed progressive platform
>(see www.green.ca), and has an excellent track record on issues of social
>justice, opposition to NATO's war against Yugoslavia, and the struggle
>against the MAI and other globalization treaties.
>
>The lively Russow campaign is running a "Spot Stockwell" contest during the
>by-election. Voters get 10 points for sighting Day in the riding, 25 points
>for asking him a question, and 50 points for "getting a coherent answer."
>Anyone getting 100 points can pick up a stuffed prairie dog at Russow's
>campaign office, 419 Main Street, Penticton.
>
>************
>
>3/ MIXED RESULTS IN LATEST ELECTION ACT RULING
>
>Ontario PV Bureau
>
>THE AUGUST 16 ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal on the Communist
>Party's constitutional challenge to parts of the federal Election Act was a
>"split decision," according to CPC leader Miguel Figueroa.
>
>"It was a good news-bad news decision," Figueroa says. "We welcome the fact
>that the Appeal Court upheld certain important aspects of the Molloy [lower
>court] judgement. In the main, however, we are disappointed with the Appeal
>Court's inconsistent and contradictory decision."
>
>In March 1999, Ontario Justice Anne Molloy ruled in favour of the Charter
>Challenge brought by the Communist Party that several sections of the
>Canada Election Act were unconstitutional because they discriminated
>against smaller political parties and infringed on the rights of Canadians
>to free expression and free association. The Ontario Court decision
>dealt with Ottawa's appeal of a key part of Justice Molloy's decision,
>which struck down the rule requiring registered parties to run a minimum of
>50 candidates in every general election, and the associated prohibition on
>identifying the affiliation of candidates of a political party which falls
>short of that threshold. In place of the 50-candidate threshold, Molloy
>ruled that two (2) candidates is the appropriate number for a party to
>become and remain registered under the Act.
>
>The ruling of the Appeal Court was mixed. On one hand, the three-judge
>panel upheld Molloy's ruling that it is unconstitutional to withhold the
>party identifier on the ballot for parties which nominate less than 50
>candidates. The Court agreed that party affiliation is essential
>information for voters, and that therefore the threshold for placing party
>affiliation on the ballot should be lower than 50 candidates. However, the
>judges refused to set that lower threshold; instead they directed
>Parliament to reconsider the matter and amend the current legislation
>within six months.
>
>"While this part of the ruling is welcome, it is also problematic," says
>Figueroa. "By throwing the question back into Parliament, the Court is
>returning the issue to the very body which legislated the anti-democratic
>aspects of the Election Act in the first place. After all, Parliament is
>dominated by the large, established parties which have a shared vested
>interest in keeping the threshold as high as possible in order to
>discourage or prevent smaller or alternative parties from entering the
>federal political fray."
>
>But the most damaging part of the ruling was the Court's judgement that the
>50-candidate rule per se was not unconstitutional, and that the main
>benefit of party registration - the ability to give tax receipts to
>contributors - is a privilege which should be extended only to "political
>parties [which] assume a meaningful level of participation in the electoral
>process."
>
>"This ruling maintains an extremely narrow, electoralist conception of the
>role of political parties in the democratic process, and in society as a
>whole," Figueroa stated. "It is the traditional notion underlying bourgeois
>parliamentary democracy - that political parties exist only to run in
>elections, to form majority governments and/or to serve as `her majesty's
>loyal opposition'. It is precisely this narrow and dated concept that
>Justice Molloy challenged in her historic decision."
>
>If it is not overturned, this ruling will maintain the current
>discriminatory situation whereby members and supporters of the CPC, and of
>other smaller parties which have not met the 50-candidate threshold, are
>denied access to tax benefits, while Canadians who donate to parties like
>the Liberals or the Canadian Alliance can receive those benefits.
>
>"This is not only patently unjust, it is also a means to weaken and
>marginalize smaller political parties, especially working class and
>people's parties without corporate backing, to prevent them from
>participating in the federal arena," Figueroa points out.
>
>The CPC's Central Committee will decide soon whether to appeal part or all
>of the ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada.
>
>"Launching a Supreme Court appeal will be a big undertaking for our party,"
>says Figueroa. "We will be consulting with other smaller parties to see if
>they would be interested in supporting such an appeal. And of course, we
>would need the continued support of our members and friends, and of
>Canadians in general, who support our efforts to fight for democratic change."
>
>*************
>
>4/ A BUSY AUTUMN IN HEALTH CARE STRUGGLE
>
>By Pierre Fontaine, Montreal
>
>CONSIDERING THE CIRCUMSTANCES, holding actions across the country towards
>the end of October, targeting the federal government and supporting the
>future of our health care system is an excellent idea.
>
>Documents obtained by the media through the Freedom of Information Act
>prove that the federal government, despite its fine talk, secretly approves
>of Bill 11, the Alberta law that creates a wider opening for the
>privatisation of some health care services. For several years, Ottawa has
>systematically cut transfer funds to the provinces for social programs.
>Ottawa is thus the true orchestrator of plans for privatization of health
>care. The provinces, Quebec included, are playing second fiddle in this
>plan, several of them agreeing to play more quickly.
>
>The recent creation of the extreme-right Canadian Alliance increases the
>pressure on the federal Liberals to speed up moves toward privatizing and
>defunding health services. The Alliance is quite capable of seriously
>competing for power with the Liberals in the next election, this autumn or
>in the spring of 2001.
>
>On one hand, the Liberals would clearly have an advantage in calling a
>quick election to steal a march on the Canadian Alliance. On the other
>hand, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein also may want to call an election this
>autumn, with the effect of forcing an early federal election.
>
>Klein is at the present far ahead in the polls in his province. He benefits
>from a local economy that is buoyed by the rise in the price of oil, and he
>hopes to make the election a plebiscite in favour of his Bill 11. That
>would serve well the interests of the Canadian Alliance, which would have
>the opportunity of a "safe" election campaign to make its program better
>known. The close relation between Klein and his former minister of finance,
>Stockwell Day, suggests that this is a united and concerted tactic.
>
>In Quebec, this autumn is the time chosen by PQ cabinet minister Pauline
>Marois for her public consultations on the future of social and public
>health services. These consultations are artificial, since the Quebec state
>has already decided that it no longer has the means of assuring social
>services, and that the private sector must play an increasing role in this
>area. The government's plan, already sketched in the Arpin report, closely
>resembles Alberta's Bill 11. It is the same struggle in both provinces this
>fall.
>
>Other important events are also anticipated in the month of October, on the
>theme of the struggle against neoliberalism. These could contribute to
>creating a growing mobilization of an opposition.
>
>One is the World March of Women, including actions on Oct. 15 in Montreal
>and Oct. 16 in Ottawa. Then on Oct. 24-25 in Montreal, there will be a
>meeting of the G-20, a gathering of the largest imperialist countries and
>their international organizations such as the World Bank and the IMF.
>
>All these events should help to build up opposition. In the meantime, it is
>evident that without the support of the trade unions, building such
>opposition can succeed only with very great difficulty. The stakes are
>considerable, since the future of the public health system is seriously at
>risk. If worst comes to worst, we will find ourselves in an electoral
>campaign with all the pressures that are coming from the right, and with
>several governments looking for a legitimacy that will allow them to act
>against the popular will and raise their attacks against social programs
>another notch.
>
>(The author is a leading activist in the Montreal-area health care unions
>of the CNTU.)
>
>*************
>
>5/ ONTARIO TEACHERS WON'T DO HARRIS TORIES' BIDDING
>
>"Labour In Action" Column by Liz Rowley
>
>SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS in Ontario are putting their strike mandate on
>the shelf for now. They will do "an uncommonly good job" in the classroom
>for all their students, including the 20 to 40 new ones each will get this
>fall, said Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation President Earl
>Manners, speaking on Aug. 25 to 200 district presidents and local
>leadership in Toronto.
>
>The 50,000-member OSSTF, together with the 100,000 members of the Ontario
>English Catholic Teachers' Association, teachers in the French Boards, and
>CUPE support staff, were all in a strike position as collective agreements
>in the education sector expired province-wide on Aug. 31.
>
>OSSTF has already seen the Harris government rip up agreements negotiated
>just last spring. Bill 74, the grotesquely-named Education Accountability
>Act, has redefined the length of the workday, and even the work itself.
>Teaching time has been arbitrarily extended from 6 to 6.7 classes. In a
>classroom version of speed-up, fewer teachers must take on the jobs those
>who have retired or been laid off. The number of secondary teachers per
>1,000 students has been reduced from 65 to 57, or about 7 to 8 teachers per
>school.
>
>And it gets worse. The addition of new duties, called "co-instructional"
>activities in the legislation, will mean even more staff cuts if
>implemented. Other budget cuts, including steep reductions in special
>education funding, add to the loss of teachers, programs and services.
>
>Bill 74 also guts the powers and accountability of locally-elected School
>Boards, leaving trustees with two options: comply with Ministry-ordered
>cuts, closures and layoffs, or face removal from office, fines, and being
>banned from holding public office.
>
>Teachers say their fight is with the province, not the Boards. It's the
>Tory agenda to dismantle public education - and to introduce two-tier
>private education - that they want the public to understand and resist.
>
>"We will be returning to work in September, but we will not make Bill 74
>work," said Manners at the Aug. 25 meeting. "We will not make fewer
>teachers and new cutbacks work. There are consequences to this government's
>actions. They are real, they hurt, and teachers and educational workers
>have no intention of accepting responsibility for the government's actions.
>
>"If the Minister wants sports, music, and theatrical productions, then she
>will have to fund them. There will be no more bake sales, no more car
>washes. If the Minister wants students to travel to field trips, then she
>will have to fund the transportation. Teachers will no longer place
>themselves in a position of liability by transporting students in their
>private cars."
>
>Manners said the government is working to transform public schools into
>factories, as part of the move to charter schools and voucher education.
>Teachers will work to the letter of the law, he said, guaranteeing that
>students will get the very best during the four hours and ten minutes per
>day of legislated teaching time.
>
>The big lie: "teachers hardly work"
>
>Responding to the claim that teachers have an easy job, Manners said "It's
>the big lie. This government has tried to suggest that teachers only work
>four hours and ten minutes a day. So we are going to teach four hours and
>ten minutes a day. We are going to do the other things to make sure we do a
>good job. In the classroom.
>
>"But if this government wants to treat schools as factories, we are going
>to negotiate model factory collective agreements for our teachers, to
>protect the teaching and learning conditions of our classrooms. If they're
>going to introduce time and motion studies, our collective agreements are
>going to be talking an awful lot about time and motion.... We will not let
>a strike deflect from the consequences of Bill 74. We are going to let the
>government's actions see the light of day."
>
>"This is not work-to-rule," Manners said. "We are putting our strike
>mandate on the shelf, for now. But our members are fed up. If they are to
>do the job well in the classroom, they cannot do many of the other things
>this government expects. So they are going to focus on the classroom."
>
>Asked what the union will do when the Tories use the powers in Bill 74 to
>force teachers to pick up extra-curricular activities, Manners said, "We'll
>cross that bridge when we come to it. We have a strike mandate. But it
>won't be our actions that precipitate job action. If parents and the public
>are aware of that, then I think pressure will be brought to bear on the
>government, not us."
>
>Tories "really Ontario CRAP"
>
>Moving to the political agenda, Manners said that for the past five years
>"teachers and educational workers have been demonized and starved to make
>the public education system ripe for a private takeover. Mike Harris
>supports two-tiered health care. Mike Harris sets policies that separate
>the haves from the have-nots. Mike Harris is ready to back a two-tiered
>education system in Ontario."
>
>Warning that the Ontario Tories are signed-up members of the Canadian
>Alliance ("they are really Ontario CRAP"), Manners said this fall's
>municipal and school board elections, and the coming federal election, will
>be important battlegrounds.
>
>"Either we will have municipal councils and school boards that speak out to
_______________________________________
KOMINFORM
P.O. Box 66
00841 Helsinki - Finland
+358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081
e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.kominf.pp.fi
_______________________________________
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe/unsubscribe messages
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
________________________________________
