• Back to Where We Started - October 14, 2008

• A Matter of Credibility and Trust - October 14, 2008

• False Claims re: Listeria Bacteria - October 12, 2008

• University of Victoria Workers Defend Right to Strike for Fair Wage Increases - October 11, 2008

• A Simple Question - October 9, 2008

• Sale of Canada Savings Bonds Suddenly Cancelled - October 8, 2008

• Monopoly -- The End Game - October 8, 2008

• Harper's Presence Vigorously Opposed in Val-d'Or, Quebec - October 4, 2008

• Harper Not an "Ordinary Person" - October 4, 2008

• Congratulations! - October 4, 2008

• Criminalization of the Youth - October 4, 2008

• U.S. Bailout - October 4, 2008

• Politics of Electoral Coups - October 3, 2008

• State Subsidies to Political Parties - September 28, 2008

• Gangster Capitalism - September 27, 2008

• Prime Minister's Comments Regarding the Arts - September 27, 2008

• The Need for Worker Politicians - September 27, 2008

• Fraudulent Elections in the Service of a Fraudulent System - September 25, 2008

• Queens of Denial - September 24, 2008

• Cost of Democracy - September 15, 2008

• Who Do the Liberals Think They Are Kidding? - September 15, 2008

• "Case Closed" Type of "Open Federalism" - September 14, 2008

• Opposition to Constitutional Renewal Cannot Be Called "Quebec Making Progress" - September 12, 2008

• People Must Be Very Vigilant and Defend Their Interests in this Election! - September 12, 2008

• "Snap Elections" or Not, Democratic Renewal Is the Order of the Day - September 8, 2008

• Getting Signatures for Democratic Renewal - September 8, 2008
 
 

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Back to Where We Started
- October 14, 2008 -

This election takes us to the same place we were when the election was called. The "major parties" have wasted millions of dollars to parade the hubris of these so-called leaders that they can win the confidence of Canadians, despite the nation-wide demands of the people for an end to the anti-social offensive.

(Signed)
Parry Sound

***

A Matter of Credibility and Trust

- October 14, 2008 -

Despite all their efforts, none of the "leaders" has emerged as the kind of champion the ruling class would like to see who can say he has the trust of the people to implement the agenda of the rich.

(Signed)
Ottawa

***

False Claims re: Listeria Bacteria
- October 12, 2008 -

In the aftermath of the deadly listeriosis outbreak at his Toronto facility, Maple Leaf Foods oligarch Michael McCain claims that "Listeria can never be eliminated from food plants and grocery stores" and that eliminating Listeria from the food industry is an "impossible expectation." McCain's self-serving claims are false, unscientific, and anti-technology.

It is true that Listeria monocytogenes (the pathogenic species of Listeria bacteria) commonly occurs in the natural environment around the world and obviously it is highly unlikely that it could be (or needs to be) eradicated from nature. However, it is false to claim that Listeria cannot be eliminated from food plants. In fact, an October 17, 2003 article on the American Meat Institute (AMI) website states that "In 1999, this industry declared that its goal was to reduce and eventually eliminate Listeria monocytogenes on ready-to-eat meat and poultry products." If what McCain says is true, why is the AMI setting elimination as its long-term goal? To give another example, in December, 2007, U.S. public health officials closed a Whittier milk plant near Boston because of a Listeria outbreak, and stated that the plant will remain closed while investigations continue and "the bacteria is eradicated." How strange that Listeria can be eradicated from the U.S. milk plant and not from McCain's plant in Toronto.

Many measures can be taken to eradicate Listeria in meat and poultry products so that such outbreaks do not occur. These include using a thermal treatment after a product has been packaged, using new ingredients to inhibit bacterial growth, developing new principles for processing equipment design, and, in general, further research to develop new technologies.

McCain falsely claims that Listeria cannot be eliminated because his goal is that the Maple Leaf enterprises generate maximum profits. He sees the required health and safety improvements to his plants only as a "cost of production." McCain is also denying the critical role of science and technology in helping society move forward. The human factor/social consciousness is certainly capable of solving the problem of eradicating Listeria from the meat packing industry but the McCains of the world stand in the way.

Monopolies such as Maple Leaf must not be permitted to block the people from using science and technology to serve the public good. Restricting monopoly right will assist the people in taking charge of their own destiny and in removing the roadblocks to social progress. It is the alienation of the actual producers from ownership and control of socialized production and the negation of the human factor/social consciousness that lead to problems such as bacterial infection.

A Science Educator in Edmonton

***

University of Victoria Workers Defend Right to Strike for Fair Wage Increases
- October 11, 2008 -

Workers represented by the United Steel Workers Union local 2952 went on strike for an increase in wages Sept 4/08.

University of Victoria Student Society (UVSS) workers are requesting $1.50 an hour wage increase and retroactive pay since the end of the last contract Apr 30/08.

General workers who work in the Student Union Building (SUB) are presently making $9.95 per hour, wages that are too low and unacceptable for working students. An example is dish washers in the SUB are making $9.95 and dish washers in the University of Victoria Commons are making $18.02.

With the cost of living increasing and rising tuition, it is time the SUB workers received a decent wage increase.

Student workers are having to obtain student loans and other forms of employment.

The strike being one month in progress has UVSS Board of Directors negotiating.

SUB employees who offer professional services for the public and students are simply asking for an acceptable wage increase -- something that has been an obstacle between workers, management, and board of directors.

The situation is creating problems in relation to staffing positions because wages are so low.

The strike is pivotal to future wages of workers in the SUB and the Province of British Columbia.

The strike has seen strong support from employees, students, the United Steel Workers Union and CUPE.

We the workers of the SUB defend the right to fair wage increases.

(Signed)
University of Victoria Student and UVSS employee

***

A Simple Question
- October 9, 2008 -

The leaders' debate of last Wednesday showed that it is because they defend the status quo that the business-parties -- whether they claim to be of the right, left, or centre-left -- receive their privileges.

The question that was asked to them was simple. A man standing in front of a gas station asked: "What are we waiting for to nationalize the oil industry in Canada?" That was a valid question, not only because of the skyrocketing prices of fuel and the incredible parasitism of the oil monopolies, but because the issue for the workers and people to put the natural resources and the financial institutions under their control is on the agenda. Many events are forcing people to think about it, including the bailing out -- with public money -- of the multi-billionaire financial institutions in the U.S. This highlights the urgency to affirm public right over monopoly right.

I was curious to see how the "leaders" would answer the question, which is simple enough but puts into question the right of private fortunes to not only seize public assets but to destroy everything by doing so.

One "leader" after another gave their "approach," either with an environmental angle, for more regulation or taxation of the oil companies, etc. No one even bothered to answer the question about nationalization. If I am not mistaken, no one even used the word "nationalization" in his/her answer. Obviously, to stay on topic was not a rule of the  leaders’ debate.

While the media said that it is Harper who felt the heat from his opponents, he is the one who set the agenda, which is the agenda of the oil monopolies and of the ruling elites to keep being paid and to plunder our natural and human resources. Control over our natural resources is a crucial issue for the sovereignty of the country. The business-parties clearly showed that not only they are not going to take up that issue but they will not even address it.

A Teacher in Ottawa

***

Sale of Canada Savings Bonds
Suddenly Cancelled
- October 8, 2008 -

The planned new sale of Canada savings bonds was suddenly cancelled by the Harper government. The only explanation is the following notice on the government website:
   

CAMPAIGN LAUNCH DATE POSTPONED

The sales date for the new Canada Savings Bonds Campaign has been postponed. The original date was set for Monday, 6 October 2008.

There are no bonds on sale at this time.

The new sales date, interest rates, and bond series will be announced shortly. Rates for outstanding issues of bonds will be announced at the same time.

This is the first time in Canada's history that a planned sale has been cancelled or postponed. This cancellation is highly suspicious given the current financial climate and heightened concern of Canadians for their savings. Many Canadians were planning on taking their savings and putting them in savings bonds at this time as they are considered a safe investment. Canadians should make this an election issue and demand an explanation from Harper candidates. In light of Harper’s repeated assurances that the economy is sound and that Canadian banks are in better shape than foreign banks this sudden cancellation is a contradiction.

Was this cancellation done at the urging of the financial monopolies that do not want Canadians moving their money to a safe location? Canadians demand and deserve a full explanation.

(Signed)
Peterborough, Ontario

***

Monopoly -- The End Game
- October 8, 2008 -

Politicians play at politics without trying to modify the rules of the game -- a game, which was never designed to be very democratic in the first place. Centuries of British tradition go by -- never a court challenge to its legitimacy. The Law Commission of Canada had the courage to say we should change. For its audacity, the government disbanded the Commission itself.

Until recently a socio-democratic government was always the result of a Canadian federal election, according to Professor Shadia Drury of the University of Regina. This is no longer the case with the break up of the PC Party. Any progressive ideology of public common good is minimized.

We are in the end game now. We have lost all semblance of democracy, and the environment is a shambles. We are at risk of losing every element of the people’s common good -- our water, our electricity, our right of way, our public broadcasting, our public health care, the control over our security, and our military, food safety -- even our sovereignty is in jeopardy. Fish stocks, wildlife, soil, biodiversity are at risk worldwide and may never recover, but the political game goes on as though we haven’t a care.

It is time to we had a court challenge to our electoral system. Society should have a say in policy along with business interests.

(Signed)
Cambridge, Ontario

***

Harper's Presence Vigorously Opposed
in Val-d'Or, Quebec
- October 4, 2008 -

This is the first I've heard of this. Was it covered nationally? I watched a bit of Harper's 'rally' in Val-d'Or on CPAC, (as much as I could before losing my lunch), and they said they were waiting for him, but I either missed why or they just didn't say. He went into another one of his George Bush-style sports analogies, but he seemed a little off his game (sorry for the pun). "Conservative sweaters...blah, blah, blah..."

We need more of these protests and they need national coverage. I've never really followed partisan politics, but always vote. Unfortunately, it's usually for the party I believe will do the least harm. This election I'm voting strategically AGAINST the party I believe will do the most harm. It doesn't seem right and is not democracy.

I'm an old broad so gravity prevents me from burning my bra and going on a march but if there was a similar rally in my area (Kingston, Ontario), I'd try to be there. These Christian Extremists in the Bush/Harper Administration, with their 'praise the lord and pass the ammunition' mentality, are out of control. My grandkids deserve better...

(Signed)
Kingston, Ontario

***

Harper Not an "Ordinary Person"
- October 4, 2008 -

Stephen Harper portrays himself as the champion of working class families, tax payers and ordinary citizens who want to raise their families in peace and security. The marketing firms have created an image of Harper as a good family man like any other. This is pathetic and grotesque. Just this week he claimed several times to be defending "ordinary people" when he tried to discredit the people who oppose his cuts to the arts and culture or when he said that anybody who wants to live in security supports his new bill on young offenders. He said that he sides with the victims rather than with the aggressors!

There are many other examples in this campaign where he claims to be an ordinary person who just wants to represent other ordinary people. (He is not the only one doing that; all the leaders of the major federal parties do the same.) I think that he is lying to the people. All he wants is for workers like us to side with him. There are many people who work for him and just repeat what he says in the newspapers, on radio and on TV. Radio and TV hosts who have something to say about everything try to influence us to get us to agree with the political program of the Conservatives. I think that they are just trying to fool us. They think that we were born yesterday.

Stephen Harper is not an ordinary person. He represents big oil companies in western Canada and it would be interesting to see which other big companies support him. A man who is an ally of George Bush cannot be an ordinary person. Somebody who turns a blind eye to the closures of factories, who is anti-union, who is attacking the youth and is for war as a way to solve problems in the world is not an ordinary person.

If he is not an ordinary man, it is because of his relationship to the owners of the means of production. He is a man who represents the rich. According to the latest polls, it is possible that he will form a majority government on October 14. How can a man who represents the rich be Prime Minister and keep saying that he represents all Canadians? That is not possible and this is a very serious problem that we are facing. This problem has been facing us for a very long time and it is getting worse all the time. Not solving the problem means that more and more people no longer believe in the political institutions or in the frauds called elections.

We must solve the problem and I think that the idea of sending workers to Parliament is a step forward in solving the problem. I like what the MLPC is saying about selecting candidates among our peers, building renewal committees and financing the process to assist ordinary people in taking up politics. This is something new and inspiring. I think that it is with this program that we can really elect "ordinary people" who are not there to get power for themselves but to represent people like them.

(Signed)
A truck driver in Montreal

***

Congratulations!
- October 4, 2008 -

I regularly visit your site. Let me begin by congratulating you for the material you publish. It responds to the search of people for political renewal. It is very inspiring to see such youth, such modest workers ardently defending the right of the people to governance and concretely showing how the problem poses itself. Another aspect to highlight is the MLPC's broad-minded vision, calling upon everyone to join the work for renewal. Partisanship lies in the determination of society's members to put an end to political arrangements which prevent the people from exercising control over their own affairs.

(Signed)
Quebec City

***

Criminalization of the Youth
- October 4, 2008 -

"An attack against one is an attack against all"

As a teacher, I wish to express all my contempt for the Conservatives' new attempts to further criminalize our youth. As workers in high schools, my colleagues and I have had to endure the Charest decree which prevents us from pursuing our struggle in defence of education as a right. However, this does not stop us from reflecting and having our own concerns about what the youth require to flourish. Besides fighting to stop the Canadian army from entering our schools to lure our youth to become cannon fodder, we understand that the youth must be given the best educational conditions so that they can understand the society in which they live and acquire the necessary knowledge to settle the various problems they face. We are in a position to say that the present arrangements in education only facilitate the abandonment of one's studies and the feeling of personal failure (which is also the case with teachers!). The crisis is not only worsening in the education system. Our youth and their families sorely lack resources in healthcare, social programs, to name but a few. And how about economic insecurity, where we must keep granola bars or other snacks in the classroom to ensure that our students can at least eat something in the morning before going to class!

To see that such youth in distress may, because of the Harper's reforms, end up in jail at the age of 14, as well as have their name made public is not right. I know that our struggle as education workers is just, but unless we become the decision-makers in society, we remain impotent to change the situation. We have know-how and experience on our side. We must put the full weight of our collectives behind our demands so that we are the ones who decide our affairs in the society. Let's get all those who are anti-people out of  power! Let's elect our peers to Parliament and to the National Assembly!

(Signed)
A teacher in Montreal

***

U.S. Bailout
- October 4, 2008 -

Given that the bailout is not going to end the crisis but exacerbate it, the push for the elimination of "politics" in favour of some form of fascist dictatorship is openly being called for.

An editorial in the Washington Post by Michael Gerson, former Bush advisor, targets "partisan politics" and "ideological purity" and then goes on to say, "It is now clear that American political elites have lost the ability to quickly respond to a national challenge by imposing their collective will. What once seemed like politics as usual now seems more like the crisis of the Articles of Confederation -- a weak government populated by small men. And this must be more frightening to a world dependent on American stability than any bank failure."

The Articles of Confederation precede the Constitution, and in that sense they call it into question.

Others are saying it is dangerous for Congress to cave to the people, who are too ignorant to understand the complex bailout. The Times of London added their two cents saying a benign dictatorship is better than the "democracy in action" which presumably is what led to the initial defeat of the bill.

A reader in Chicago

***

Politics of Electoral Coups
- September 28, 2008 -

One argument given by the media consortium for holding the so-called Leaders' Debates is that people are then given a chance to participate in the debate with those who will form the next government. "The people" are organized to ask questions to the leaders and this is supposed to be the guarantee that "the leaders" deal with "the people's" concerns. The fact that these questions are selected by the broadcasters on the basis of the "election issues" that the parties themselves along with the monopoly media have imposed is supposed to go unnoticed.

"Democracy must serve the interests of the majority"

Such is the media networks' striving for legitimacy as democratic institutions! Nonetheless, if a modern definition of democracy is to be given any meaning whatsoever, it is clear the media are not democratic. Every time they give free media time to the so-called major parties and treat all other registered parties in the most condescending manner possible, they corroborate the conclusion that they are guided by their opposition to the empowerment of the people. Neither they nor the business-parties defend the principle that all political parties must be treated equally to present their views to the people and explain their vision. They do not consider it anti-democratic that some parties have a lot of money from the state and other  privileged resources at their disposal while others do not. How can it be a democratic contest if the odds are already piled up in favour of some and in opposition to others? What is this definition of democracy?

Workers have to find other ways of getting their message across, as the workers in Alberta and Val-d'Or did when they opposed the attempt of Harper to sneak into their areas as part of the electoral coup politics. Speak out against the fraud that these parties receive "a mandate" from the people!

A worker in Edmonton

State Subsidies to Political Parties
- September 28, 2008 -

With such a heist of the state economy, it is no wonder the "democratic culture" has been further eroded. The self-serving strivings of the political parties of the rich not only justify the plunder of the state treasury and force Canadian taxpayers to fund parties they deplore, but the state-funding of political parties makes them appendages of the state, thereby crudely violating the right of Canadians to freedom of association and conscience. The state not only guarantees the survival of a cartel-party system which keeps the people out of power, but controls all aspects of party life through the finance provisions of the electoral act.

Canadian artists contribute to raising the level of culture in Canada -- the cartel-party system does nothing but lower it.

An actor in Toronto

Gangster Capitalism
- September 27, 2008 -

A world is dying, but can we unite to save it? Said a writer of The Independent, "If we want to survive we have to take action." Said another, "We're under siege by a system gone mad."

We live in a world described by George Soros, one of the world's richest men as "Gangster Capitalism."

Wow, if a man like Soros can make such a frank anti-capitalist statement, then why is the NDP staying in the middle of the road instead of making a bold move to make their legacy of the CCF from the Tommy Douglas era, the Regina Manifesto, a reality, which stated:

"We aim to replace the present capitalist system, with its inherent injustice and inhumanity, by social order from which the domination and exploitation of one class by another will be eliminated, in which economic planning will supersede unregulated private enterprise and competition, and in which genuine democratic self-governance, based upon economic equality will be possible."

This would give many people an option and hope, because ordinary people are disenfranchised as fortunes are made and lost with lightening speed on super computers on the stock market, operated by people who have no clue, or care, of the damage it does to society and the REAL world.

Sincerely

(signed) Kelowna, BC

***

Prime Minister's Comments Regarding the Arts
- September 27, 2008 -

Prime Minister Harper believes that "ordinary working people" don't care about funding the arts, and that they resent all the galas and glitz events "created through government subsidies." 

Ordinary working people? Just who does he think produces the art and culture in this country? Who are our painters, our actors, our musicians, our songwriters, our dancers, our poets, our writers, our photographers, our sculptors, our singers, our storytellers, our playwrights, our potters and artisans and craftspeople?  

Who paints the theatre scenes? Who designs and sews the costumes? Who installs and hangs the art in galleries? Who sells the tickets, prints the programs, places the advertising, orders the refreshments? Who points the camcorder, holds the camera boom, turns on the projector? Who raises the curtain, lowers the lights, and aims the spotlight?  

Who organizes the thousands of grassroots festivals and community events on shoestring budgets or even less? Who invites the authors to read at schools, libraries and church basements? Who organizes the shows in the thousands of small labour-of-love art galleries and community theatres across this country? Who sets up and staffs the hundreds of booths and display tables at the annual Word on the Street events across the country? Who stands in line for film tickets at the over 125 film festivals from Dawson City to Vancouver to Thunder Bay to Sainte-Foy to St. John's? Who stages the rain-or-shine outdoor and community pay-what-you-can theatre productions?

Who teaches our children and young people to draw, act, sing, dance, film, photograph, paint, and write? To imagine and create? Who are the arts role models those children see in their communities?

The Prime Minister must be referring to those other ordinary Canadians who have nothing to do with the arts. You know -- the ones up the street and around the corner who are not arts or culture consumers and have no one in their family or social circle involved in the arts or culture. Oh yeah. Those people. All three of them. 

I trust those three people will know how to vote in October. 

Ruth E. Walker 
Writer, editor and creative writing instructor
Member: The Writers' Circle of Durham Region, Haliburton Highlands Writers & Editors Network, and the Canadian Poetry Association
Board of Directors: Driftwood Theatre Group

***

The Need for Worker Politicians
- September 27, 2008 -

I follow closely the website of the MLPC. According to me, organizing the workers as worker politicians is what we need to turn things around. We have no control over the decisions that are taken by the monopolies and the governments even if these decisions affect our lives, sometimes dramatically. The workers' movement has to be the engine of economic and political decision-making, but the current political system puts us in the caboose.

This is not a new phenomena. I vividly recall the battles we waged in the labour movement in the 1980s, at the time of the adoption of the free trade agreement with the U.S. There was a tremendous pressure exercised on the labour movement to conciliate with the free trade agreement, which was adopted against the expressed will of the people. Under the hoax that we would have to live with it anyway, the view was presented that the unions had to adapt themselves to free trade. From the highest echelons of the political power, to the CEOs of the big corporations, to the trade union centrals, the watchword became that the monopolies need flexibility from the work force to be competitive on the global markets.

Right at that time, some of us understood what it would mean to say that the workers had a common interest with the monopolies and had to provide a flexible work environment. For us, it meant smashing the unions as collective defense organizations of the workers. It meant smashing them not only with repression, but by smashing the voice of the workers in defence of their own interests. We waged a big fight against this pressure in our own trade union central, and many called us "dinosaurs" at that time, as if we were refusing to renew our thinking in the face of new circumstances. What we were being asked was not to renew our thinking but to abandon any independent thinking based on our interests. The devastation that this so-called flexibility caused in our ranks is obvious for anybody who has eyes to see. We are facing a reduction of the unionized workforce, the spreading of contract, non-unionized, precarious, part-time, casual work, and we have more and more union people hired in managerial positions under the hoax that workers and the companies have common interests.

So we have to be the engine of the economic and political decisions in order to change the situation in favour of the people. The first thing that we have to put under our control is our own movement. To become worker politicians, according to me, means that it is the workers who have to be made able to make their own decisions on how to defend their own interests. We need information, research, discussions at the base, and we need to play an active role in all the work.

I also want to comment briefly on what I read on the web page of the Party about those who are telling the workers that they should vote for influential people who have the ear of the governments like mayors or members of the board of the Conférence régionale des élus. These people suggest that in voting for these "influential people" workers will have an influence on the decisions that are being taken in the regions such as ours, Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

What a farce! When we used to meet the CEO and other Board members of Noranda, one of our biggest problems was always with these people with "influence." They always sided with the company and were their biggest mouthpiece. The reason why Harper is pushing to have these "star candidates" in the regions, so he can pass anything he wants and then claim that the region was involved in the decision and has agreed to it. It is one more instrument in the hands of the governments to keep us out of power.

We have to take our place in this society, which means becoming decision-makers on the direction of society.

A retired Noranda worker in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec (Noranda is now Xstrata)

Fraudulent Elections in the Service
of a Fraudulent System
- September 25, 2008 -

This election is a blatant example of the fraud of the electoral system which claims to vest sovereignty in the electors. Nothing could be further from the truth. The electors are reduced to a mere vote bank which votes according to some vague idea of a green or brown or yellow shift or for one candidate or the other. This exposes that the system itself and its so-called democratic institutions only serve the business-parties which all together form a cartel against the general interests of society.

Institutions like the House of Commons and the Senate are merely a facade, a reflection of the colonial remains of a royal power which is now concentrated in the power of the cabinet, and this is anything but democratic. Not only are these institutions archaic and out of sync with the needs of our society, but they are an integral part of what is blocking any renewal of the arrangements for Quebec and Canada.

The only sovereignty which is possible is the one which is vested in the people and exercised by them so that they are enabled to work out solutions to the problems they are facing.

The parties of the establishment are wooing Quebeckers a lot in this election. They are advocating "open federalism" or  "asymetrical federalism," which have nothing to do with the solution of the issue of Quebec according to the interests of the Quebec people and of the people of Canada as a whole. Whatever the language in which these words are spoken, they will always remain empty in terms of content because they are a part of and serve the old way of doing things, the politics of the empire-builders of the 19th century.

So what do we do? Is it the end of history? Should we remain cynical? Stay out of the discussion and of the fight? No! We must not give them what they want and we must rather seize the opportunity and join the battle by supporting the only party, the only candidates who defend these principles and this program of renewal of all aspects of life.

Support the program for democratic renewal! Support the MLPC!

A student from the University of Ottawa

Queens of Denial
- September 24, 2008 -

The Cleopatra syndrome strikes deep among major party leaders. At the end of the first week of election campaigning, Harper, Dion and Layton made a fetish of living on denial...

According to the September 16 of the Globe and Mail, "Stephen Harper has tried to soothe fears that Canada is headed into a recession.

"The Conservative Leader acknowledged yesterday that there are significant problems in the United States, where a credit crisis is devastating major financial institutions, but he said he wouldn't 'throw in the towel' yet [sic] on the Canadian economy.

"'I don't think the atmosphere should turn to one of complete doom and gloom,' Mr. Harper said in Ottawa as he kicked off the second week of the campaign for the Oct. 14 election.

"'My own belief is, if we were going to have some kind of big crash or recession, we probably would have had it by now.'"

Such is the utterly delusional state of understanding displayed by the man who considers himeself to be the chief executive of an economy which has become annexed to the United States and whose military and foreign-policy machinery are fully annexed.

A more resounding declaration of Stephen Harper's unfitness to serve as Prime Minister could not have been invented. The absurdity of Liberal opposition leader Stéphane Dion's response is no less stunning: "'The difficulties in the United States are something that we worry about," Mr. Dion said in St. John's. "But still, they are outperforming the economy of Canada today. Their first six months [of 2008] have been better than ours in terms of economic growth." Dion then went on to propose his fraudulent "Green Shift" as the way out of the crisis.

Not to be outdone by his rivals in the midst of the deepest financial crisis yet to hit the global economy, NDP leader Jack Layton was at Dalhousie University in Halifax, urging the panacea of massive expansion of spending to train new legions of nurses and doctors, irrespective of the conditions of the healthcare system which show that the wrecking of healthcare is such that there are no mechanisms to absorb them.

What a trio! The unfolding of reality itself daily furnishes ever more urgent arguments as to the necessity for change, the necessity for democratic renewal. None of these parties have found or will find any way out of this deepening crisis. Vote Marxist-Leninist!

A researcher in Halifax

Cost of Democracy
- September 15, 2008 -

Come October 14, Canadians will have spent around $1 billion on three elections in the last four years ("The staggering price of our 'democracy,'" Hamilton Spectator, September 10, 2008). That is a staggering price for elections that are doing no more than giving rise to minority after minority government. While the article is correct in revealing the "bunkum and brinkmanship" of the Conservatives in calling these elections, the main issue is that all these past elections simply do not serve any aim of benefit to the polity. What problems have been solved by the 2004 or 2006 elections and their results? How have they strengthened democracy in its social and cultural forms or at the level of being mechanisms to empower the people in the governance of our society? How has the Harper government strengthened Canada's economy?

The crime of spending close to $1 billion on elections that have more to do with the vying for power among the political elites than with democracy is that such elections are taking Canada further and further away from democracy. As more people become disillusioned and see that their participation in elections does not lead to their empowerment, there will be ever decreasing participation in the political process while democracy is eroded in our society. This state of affairs can only be changed by thorough-going change beyond passing legislation on financing or fixed date elections that are, at the end of the day, ignored by the parties in power. The MLPC program for democratic renewal represents such change and it can be realized.

***

Who Do the Liberals Think They Are Kidding?
- September 15, 2008 -

Reading the article in TML on the fraud of the Liberal's "Green Shift" reminded me of a call-in program on the CBC that I listened to a few days ago. The guest was a Liberal MP. I did not get his name. The topic was the insanely high prices for gas -- down to $135.9 per litre from a earlier high in the summer of $157.5 on Vancouver Island, similar in Vancouver, with recent threats of more increases due to one or another hurricane.

The program was a local BC program as all the callers were from BC. I tuned in at the point where people were calling in. The Liberal was pushing "oversight" and bemoaning the fact that the monopolies do what they please with no oversight in Canada.

None of the callers I heard wanted to just ask questions of this genius but all had proposals of their own to put forward and discuss. One caller said that the logical thing to do would be to nationalize the oil and gas industry, that the resources in Canada belong to Canadians and the solution to the lack of control would be to nationalize the oil and gas resources in Canada. Another asked what would stop him from chartering a tanker ship, sailing to Venezuela, purchasing fuel and bringing it to a west coast port where it could be distributed. Another said that it is the responsibility of government to protect the people from the insatiable greed of the oil monopolies, citing the fact that when the price of oil increases the gas prices around the corner go up immediately but when the price of oil drops, the gas price stays the same. What's up?

The Liberal expert seemed a bit unnerved by the proposals and opinions of the callers, finding something wrong with each and insisting that what is appropriate is "oversight," not action. He argued that now is not the time to do anything, that what differentiates the Liberals from the Conservatives, and why people should vote Liberal, is that the Conservatives don't care and the Liberals care deeply and think there should be "oversight," so obviously people should vote for them.

Finding it hard to believe my ears, I googled "oversight gas prices Liberal Party" and lo and behold the first item is a press release from a BC Liberal candidate who claims that parliament owes it to "struggling Canadians to 'get to the bottom' of surging prices at the pumps."

The first sentence of the TML article nailed it: "The Liberal Party Green Shift is an attempt to stop a growing social consciousness that the monopolies are responsible for environmental degradation and that company polluters must be held to account to clean up the damage they have caused to Mother Earth."

This growing social consciousness also considers that the demand that the people should pay so the monopolies can have their way is unacceptable and needs to be stopped. A political system which perpetuates the status quo and excludes the workers, women, youth and everyone who is affected by and has an opinion about how the society ought to be organized, from governance, is a system that requires fundamental change.

A hospital worker on Vancouver Island

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"Case Closed" Type of "Open Federalism"
- September 14, 2008 -

The Conservatives claim that they are changing the old ways of the Liberals in favour of what Stephen Harper called "open federalism." The term "open federalism" is misleading because when it comes to renewing the arrangements at the base of the constitution, it means the very opposite of what it says. It means "closed federalism," as in "we voted a motion recognizing the Québécois form a nation and case closed." "We made an apology to the First Nations over their mistreatment in the residential schools and case closed." On the hereditary rights and land claims of the First Nations,  Stephen Harper has made this very clear.

A Gatineau worker

Talking to politicians like Harper is a waste of time. Voting for them is also a waste of time. This summer again, as part of the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Quebec City, Harper made all kinds of statements regarding the founding of Canada, the important place of Quebec within Canada and even about how the French language is a cause dear to his heart. But when he was confronted by people saying what would then be his government's move to address the constitutional crisis and to provide Quebec`s right to self-determination with a guarantee, the Prime Minister replied that celebrating what he called the "founding of Canada" was "not the time to discuss constitutional affairs."

A youth from Quebec City

"Open federalism" has more to do with continuing the deal-making with the provinces instead of renewing the arrangements at the base of the federation. If a provincial "partner" in the federation does not agree, then "too bad." Everything is done to crush that partner. What does this tell us about the word "open" in "open federalism"? Only that it is open season on anyone who does not agree to come under the federal dictate. It's a reference to Jean Chrétien's dictate that "the store is closed" when it comes to demands made by the provinces. "Open federalism" has to do with the demands of the rich for decentralization and deregulation, especially in education and health care, where huge private conglomerates are loudly knocking at the door demanding that they be allowed in to profit from the monies invested there. The Conservatives announced the new era of "open federalism" during the 2006 election saying, "a Conservative Government will ensure that the use of the federal spending power in provincial jurisdictions is limited, authorizing the provinces to use the opting out formula with full compensation." Provincial governments such as as the Liberal government of Jean Charest in Quebec which was champing at the bit to push through deals with private conglomerates, saw their demands met and lauded the openness of the Conservative government, while Danny Williams of Newfoundland and Labrador was shafted.

A Montreal teacher

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Opposition to Constitutional Renewal Cannot Be Called "Quebec Making Progress"
- September 12, 2008 -

On the website of the Conservatives, French version, one finds the clip of the "Quebec Is Becoming Stronger" ad which shows Harper and his Quebec ministers having a brunch around maple syrup and congratulating themselves for the so-called progress Quebec has made within Canada under the Harper government. "We promised to change things," says Lawrence Cannon. "Yes," replies Stephen Harper. "We restored accountability and we solved the fiscal imbalance." "Not only that," interjects Jean-Pierre Blackburn, "but we also recognized the Quebec nation and Quebec now has a seat at UNESCO." At the end the announcer says: "Quebec is progressing with the Conservatives."

This so-called progress is a mockery of the demand of the people of Canada and Quebec and of the First Nations and to move Canada from the 19th arrangements of empire-builders to a modern constitution and federation based on a free and equal union. It is not very different from the Wal-Mart ad which claims that this most brutal exploiter of the world's poor and wrecker of local economies is ensuring the survival of small regional industries in Quebec. It is necessary to see through the plans of these modern-day empire-builders and reject them. Just like the Wal-Mart ad, the Conservative ad omits to say that part of the Conservative plan for Quebec is to submit it through any means possible to the plans of the economically and politically powerful that dominate Canada, which includes mobilizing Quebec youth for war and aggression, wrecking the Quebec economy so that it is merely a bearer of water and hewer of wood and using Quebec as a pivotal platform for the annexationist ambitions of the U.S. and Canadian monopolies towards Latin America.

The new approach of the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP to the need for constitutional renewal consist in declaring that great progress is being made while not addressing a single real problem.

A Montreal worker

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People Must be Very Vigilant and
Defend their Interests in this Election!
- September 12, 2008 -

The federal election is barely a few days old and the monopoly media, especially in Quebec, are doing their best to cajole the people into believing that they can be passive in this election because it allegedly poses no threat to their well-being and their future. 

Whoever forms the next government is going to follow the so-called Canadian way which is presented as the way of the reasonable centre at arms length from right and left extremism. This is an attempt to disarm the people ideologically and politically so that they do not see the need to develop their own work to empower themselves and elect an anti-war government as the only way to avert the dangers that the situation engenders.

These columnists keep saying that Quebeckers are safe in this election because allegedly there is no crisis in Quebec at this time. By crisis what is meant is either a referendum on sovereignty or something like the sponsorship scandal. Quebeckers, we are told, should not worry about what the Conservatives and other are plotting so as to declare they have enough seats to represent Quebec. They should not worry about these "federalist" parties which are marauding in Quebec and are pledging their love for the Quebec people in order to smash and criminalize the struggles of the people to build the sovereign modern state of Quebec that will recognize the rights of all.

Similarly, the view is being pushed that Canada will never be warmongering like the U.S. because Canadians are culturally different and no government could rule in Canada like Bush does in the U.S.

This is being presented right at the time Canada has a war government that willingly participates in the bloody wars of aggression of the U.S. in spite of the expressed opposition of the Canadian people. It is also presented when the nation is being wrecked by the anti-social offensive and the drive for annexation to the U.S. empire builders. It is through the Party-dominated system of government that a warmonger and anti-people Canada is being imposed onto the people and it is being done through a political set up in Parliament that went from majority to minority government. Under both majority and minority government, the people have been shut out of the equation and deprived of their right to decide the affairs that concern them. The current election is organized in a frenzy to precisely impose another anti-people and war government to the workers and people of Canada.

In this election, the people must be very vigilant and defend their interests. There is a lot at stake but to turn things around in a way that favours the people, we must stick to our own demands and vote for those who fight for them every day.

A youth from Sherbrooke