>From: Communist Party of Canada <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: People's Voice - June 16-30, 2000 > >PEOPLE=S VOICE ON-LINE > >ARTICLES FROM THE COMMUNIST PRESS IN CANADA > >(The selected articles below are from the June 16-30/2000 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/ IT’S “HIGH NOON” IN THE BATTLE TO SAVE MEDICARE >2/ Editorial: NO SUMMER VACATION IN MEDICARE FIGHT >3/ CAPITALISM & WAR VS. PEACE & SOCIALISM: >NO to National Missile Defence! >4/ OAS RALLY BRINGS 5,000 TO WINDSOR >5/ NAC ANNUAL MEETING A POWERFUL EVENT >6/ ENVIRONMENTAL HARMONIZATION: NICE SLOGAN, BAD POLICY >7/ HEALTH CARE PRIVATIZERS EYE BC FACILITY >8/ BC TREATY PROCESS HITS NEW SETBACK > > >******************************** > >1/ IT’S “HIGH NOON” IN THE BATTLE TO SAVE MEDICARE > > Years of underfunding and cutbacks have pushed Canada’s system of >universally-accessible, free Medicare to the brink of destruction. But a >groundswell of public anger is demanding that governments reverse this trend. > Solving the health care crisis is the number one priority for >Canadians, judging by recent public opinion surveys and the growing >movement to save Medicare. Unions and other organizations across the >country are putting the heat on the federal Liberals, demanding that Ottawa >restore health care funding and stop Alberta’s Bill 11. > Rammed through the Alberta legislature by Ralph Klein’s Tory >government, Bill 11 allows private, for-profit hospitals, effectively >setting up a two-tier health care system in Alberta. Under the North >American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), once this fateful step is taken, >U.S. for-profit health care corporations can open similar hospitals across >Canada. The only way to block this scenario is to force the federal >government to pass legislation preventing Bill 11 from taking effect. > On June 14, the four largest unions in the health care sector, >representing 370,000 members - CUPE, SEIU, NUPGE, and the Nurses’ Unions - >are holding a National Day of Warning. At workplaces across the country, >health care workers sounded sirens and alarms, blew whistles, and made as >much noise as possible to demand action from the Chrétien government. > Other organizations are also mobilizing to save Medicare. At their >annual general meeting in Ottawa in late May, delegates to the National >Action Committee on the Status of Women unanimously adopted a resolution >calling for an emergency summit meeting of all groups which support Medicare. > The Council of Canadians, the country’s largest citizen action >group, has unveiled a series of bus shelter ads dramatizing the threat to >Medicare. The ads appear on bus shelters outside the Alberta legislature >and on Parliament Hill. The Council is also demanding that the Liberals >restore full funding and introduce public programs such as homecare and >pharmacare. > “Our health care is being slowly killed by governments too willing >to promote or too weak to oppose the privatization of Medicare,” said CoC >Chair Maude Barlow. > “We are asking our members and all Canadians to petition the >federal government to stop Bill 11 before it becomes law and causes real >trouble,” added Barlow. “The proposed law in Alberta is nothing less than >an invitation to for-profit companies - including U.S. corporations - to >undermine the public health system from within. If public money is >available to support private, for-profit facilities, it’s available to >support public, non-profit services.” > One of the most dramatic challenges to the Klein government came >shortly after Bill 11 was passed, when frustrated health care workers >struck for higher wages. After years of wage restraints, cutbacks and >contracting out of their jobs, 11,000 members of the Alberta Union of >Provincial Employees staged an illegal walkout, forcing the Tories to grant >a 16% pay increase over two years. The union and its president, Dan >MacLennan, have been hit with a $400,000 fine, which is being appealed. > A May 23-26 survey of 1,200 people by the Ekos polling firm, >commissioned by CUPE, shows that 74 per cent of Canadians want more >hospital beds and more health care workers in hospitals. Expanded home and >community care was a priority for 57 per cent of those polled. > Responding to the poll, CUPE president Judy Darcy said “Federal >and provincial ministers are playing games with public health care. The >feds say they want reforms. The provinces say they want money. Well, >Canadians want both. They want a strong public health care system, without >for-profit services or user fees.” > So far, despite overwhelming public opinion, provincial and >federal officials have refused to take such a course. At the recent meeting >of Western premiers in Brandon, the NDP premiers of BC, Saskatchewan and >Manitoba failed to draw a line in the sand against Ralph Klein and the >Chrétien Liberals. Instead, the NDP premiers are seeking compromises, such >as partial restoration of the huge spending cuts imposed by the Liberals. > “Instead of blocking Klein’s assault on Medicare, the Liberals >claim all they can do is measure the scale of the damage. That’s completely >unacceptable,” warns Communist Party of Canada leader Miguel Figueroa. >“Supporters of the public health care system need to turn up the pressure >on Ottawa and the provinces. We need to see bigger demonstrations and >petitions, but we also need more dramatic actions, such as occupations of >government offices. It took more than two generations of struggle to >achieve Medicare. Everything possible must now be done to save it!” > >******************************** > >2/ Editorial: NO SUMMER VACATION IN MEDICARE FIGHT > >Time is quickly running out in the crucial struggle to save Medicare. Only >much stronger pressure on federal and provincial politicians in the weeks >ahead can stop Alberta's Bill 11 from coming into effect. That legislation >will trigger NAFTA provisions which make it impossible to prevent some of >the greediest, profit-hungry corporations on the planet from swarming >across the border. Once that happens, it's game over: two health care >systems in Canada - a deluxe version for the wealthy, and a bare-bones >system for everyone else. > That would reverse a cherished victory for working people in >Canada. Deeply angered by the denial of proper medical care to millions of >Canadians, leaders like the Communist Party's Dr. Norman Bethune and >Saskatchewan's CCF premier, Tommy Douglas, launched powerful movements to >establish a universal health care system for all, rich and poor alike. That >historic struggle took nearly four decades to succeed, and now it is being >snatched away. It was the so-called "socially progressive" Chrétien >Liberals who set the stage for this calamity, starting with Finance >Minister Paul Martin's deep cuts in spending for education, health and >social welfare. Now the right-wing Tory government of Alberta is pulling >the NAFTA trigger. > There are many important people's initiatives underway from coast >to coast to defend Medicare. Every one of these protests deserves full >support. The Alberta citizens who occupied their Legislature against Bill >11 should inspire all Canadians to take similar militant actions. > There is also an urgent need for the key mass movements in this >country to mobilize for an all-out counter-attack. The call by delegates at >the annual meeting of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women >for a summit meeting of people's organizations on health care should be >acted upon immediately. Yes, summer is coming, but if the labour and >democratic movements wait until September to decide further strategy, it >will be too late. The time to fight back is now! > >******************************** > >3/ CAPITALISM & WAR VS. PEACE & SOCIALISM: >NO to National Missile Defence! > >Statement by the Central Executive Committee, >Communist Party of Canada, June 12/2000 > >The Pentagon's adventurist military plan for a ballistic missile shield >seeks to ensure U.S. imperialist global domination. So far the plan lacks >support from any government in the world, yet it has its backers in the >Liberal Government of Canada. > Washington may approve the National Missile Defence plan after >another test launch of an experimental NMD rocket. It needs no >encouragement from Canada. > The NMD would undermine Canadian and global security, perhaps >fatally. By creating a sense of false confidence, the system could make a >nuclear war more possible, not less likely. > The military-corporate backers of the NMD are led by the most >reactionary sections of the U.S. monopoly capital class, those who support >a nuclear war-fighting strategy. These warmongers want to make the >possibility of nuclear war less unthinkable for the U.S. public, opening >the way for other military adventures all over the world. > The U.S. government is prepared to approve NMD with or without >support from Canada or NATO, the U.S.led military alliance which is >responsible for over 55 per cent of world military spending. > Already NATO (whose member countries include just 15% of the >world's population), officially rejects international law and gives itself >the "right" of first use of nuclear weapons in a war. Approval of the NMD >would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty between the >Russian Federation and the United States. > NMD cannot replace international law or cast aside past >accomplishments of arms control and disarmament without seriously >undermining global security. NMD backers are ignoring world opinion, >including U.S. public opinion, that supports unequivocal steps for nuclear >weapons disarmament. > Not least, an NMD system would spark an even larger arms race, >costing tens of billions of dollars, depriving millions of people of food, >jobs and housing. > >For a broad and powerful arms control and disarmament movement! > > It is time for public organizations to speak out in support of >arms control and disarmament! > "We the people" need to uphold and strengthen the ABM treaty, and >urge other countries to sign it. > We need to join in the world condemnation of National Missile >Defence, and any violation of the ABM treaty. > We need to demand the conclusion of an early treaty setting out a >timetable for the complete abolition of nuclear weapons, as an urgent and >immediate goal. > We need to repudiate the threat or use of force in settling >differences or disputes in international relations. > We need to ensure global, common security through respect of >international law, promotion of sustainable development, and above all, by >curbing the power of transnational corporations. > We need to reduce world and NATO military spending. We need to >pull Canada out of NATO and NORAD, to ensure that our country has an >independent foreign policy that reflects the interests of the large >majority of Canadians. > We need to support measures between states to reduce the >probability of the accidental outbreak of war, and to prevent the >deliberate fabrication of armed incidents that can develop into >international crises, genocide and wars. > >Socialism and disarmament > >Ten years ago, when socialist governments collapsed in the Soviet Union and >Eastern Europe, pro-capitalist political parties said that the arms race >would end and people would get a "peace dividend." > But today, one-third of the global labour force is jobless or >under-employed. Millions more are thrown into poverty every year. >Transnational corporations are often behind the growing number of new and >brutal wars in the world's poorest and most exploited nations. The arms >race continues. > A social system that relies on military force to prop itself up is >a dying system. The process of capitalist globalization, pushed ahead by >transnational finance capital with the aim of dominating all the markets of >the world, is leading to unequal, distorted and aggressive relations >between all nations. > Only a social system that puts people and nature ahead of profit >can ensure global disarmament and the survival of life on earth. That >system is socialism, a society where war will be banned forever and the >true history of humanity will begin. > >(From the brief of the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of >Canada to the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence and >Veterans Affairs.) > >******************************** > >4/ OAS RALLY BRINGS 5,000 TO WINDSOR > >By Hassan Husseini, >Ontario CPC Organizer > >WINDSOR, Ontario An estimated 5,000 protesters took part in the main rally >against the annual meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS), on >Sunday, June 4. The rally was preceded by days of events focusing on the >OAS, but also on the present nature of capitalist globalization, and how to >fight it. It was followed by two more days of direct action, police >intimidation and arrests of the mostly young protestors. > On the morning of June 4, Windsor was like a police state, as >busloads of cops from all over Ontario, plus the RCMP and the OPP, were >visible on rooftops, street corners, in front of banks, corporations, in >the air, and even in boats on the Detroit river. Around 5,000 cops were in >Windsor itself, with an additional 4,000 in Detroit, in case more >intimidation and repression were needed in the streets of Windsor. But our >own Canadian enforcers of capitalist order never ran out of pepper spray, >and arrested over 50 demonstrators on that day alone. > The Windsor action was successful in many respects. Once again, it >brought together diverse organizations and individuals in common action (at >least partially) against capitalist globalization. > This protest was also an important bridge between the mass actions >in Seattle and Washington, and next April's FTAA meeting to be held in >Quebec City. While the protest did not shut down the OAS meeting, the mere >fact that 15 city blocks were completely cordoned off into a huge compound >for delegates points to the growing fear the ruling class has of the >organized resistance of the people in the streets. Foreign Affairs Minister >Lloyd Axworthy was blunt when he appealed for demonstrators not to target >the FTAA meeting in Quebec City. > Finally, the Windsor action helped to bring many young people into >the streets, helping to raise their political and class consciousness. > However, many weaknesses also appeared, before and during the >actions. Labour's mobilization was much less than demanded, especially from >the leadership of the CLC. Some buses were booked, and leaflets put out, >but mostly in major centres such as Toronto. In other Ontario cities, >activists had to lobby hard for information on the action and to get >financial help in booking buses to travel to Windsor. > Politically, the Canadian Labour Congress and some of its >affiliates seem to have bought into the idea that "what the people need is >a seat at the table," as CLC President Ken Georgetti said in a press >release. This view reflects the class collaborationist politics of >right-wing social democracy, both in the leadership of the NDP and many in >the trade union movement. Even as capitalist globalization gets more >exposed as another face of imperialism, right-wing social democrats seem to >accept this process as a fact of life, calling for meaningless "social >clauses" that only lend legitimacy to institutions and treaties such as >NAFTA, APEC and the FTAA. > On the ground in Windsor, many trade unionists left after the main >rally feeling that their job was done, and the powers that be must have >heard their plea for inclusiveness. What is needed instead is for the >labour movement to assume its historic role to lead the fightback, not the >retreat, to become the uniting factor for all the forces battling >capitalism and building a world for people. > At this stage in the struggle what is needed is more militancy and >a principled opposition to free trade and capitalist globalization, linking >these policies with the reality that working people are living in Canada. >It is these policies of neoliberalism that Chrétien, Harris and Klein are >using every day to attack workers and their rights, to privatize hospitals >and close schools. It is the policies of de-regulation, privatization and >downloading that are ultimately to blame for the tragedy in Walkerton, >where up to 11 people died and thousands more fell ill from E-coli in the >water. > >******************************** > >5/ NAC ANNUAL MEETING A POWERFUL EVENT > >By Jane Bouey > >This year’s annual general meeting of the National Action Committee on the >Status of Women (NAC), held in Ottawa May 26-29, was a powerful event. From >the opening address by outgoing President Joan Grant-Cummings, who >emphasized the importance of "real politics" in debate, to the Lobby at >Parliament Hill, women from across Canada reaffirmed their commitment to >fighting for women's rights, and social justice for all. > Terri Brown was acclaimed NAC's new and first-ever aboriginal >president. Born in Tahitan First Nation at Telegraph Creek, BC, Terri has >lived in communities in northern BC, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and most >recently Vancouver. Soft-spoken and fierce-willed, she has a BA in >Economics from Simon Fraser University, and has been active in the women's >movement for the past ten years. > Terri says that she "will speak for women who cannot speak for >themselves due to oppression, lack of opportunity, or poverty. We live in >one world and have one struggle, `our fight for equality, justice and >freedom'." > Other highlights of the AGM included an update on the World March >of Women, which continues to be a priority of NAC, as well as a powerful >Town Hall on Racism with Joanne St. Louis, Beverly Bain, Chantal Tie, and >Viola Thomas, to advance NAC's anti-racism and anti-discrimination work. > __________________________________ 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] ___________________________________
