March 6,
2009 - No. 48
International Women's
Day 2009
No Means No! Stop Paying
the Rich;
Increase Funding for Social Programs!
- Statement of the Communist
Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) -
• No Means No!
Stop Paying the Rich;
Increase Funding for Social Programs!
- Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
• Women in the Forefront for a New
Direction for Quebec
- Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec
(PMLQ)
• All Out to Support the
Struggles of Women in Defence of the Rights of All!
Federal Government's Attacks on Women
• Step
Up the Work of Settling Accounts with
Anachronistic Arrangements! - Christine
Dandenault
• Rights -- the Missing Word
- Dagmar
Sullivan
• Attacks on Women's Collectives
--
Attacks on the
Collective of Women - Janice Murray
• Women, Poverty and the Need to
Strengthen
Public Enterprise - Hilary LeBlanc
SUPPLEMENT
• Condemn Harper
Government's Record on Women's Rights
International
Women's Day
2009
No Means No! Stop Paying the Rich;
Increase Funding for Social Programs!
- Statement of the Communist
Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) -
On the occasion of International Women's Day 2009,
the Communist
Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) sends it revolutionary greetings to
the fighting women across Canada and around the world. This year March
8 marks the fight for women's rights within a context where federal and
provincial governments
are going all out to save the economy of the rich through attacks on
the public good and by plundering the public purse on a grand scale. As
a result, the conditions of women are worsening by leaps and bounds
with women of national minority and aboriginal origin the most affected.
Through meetings, conferences, demonstrations and
discussions women
are raising their concerns and organizing to advance their cause which
is the cause of the entire society. Their demands include: Stop paying
the rich and increase investments in social programs! Healthcare is a
right! Provide adequate
quality public childcare and seniors' care! Education is a right! They
demand an end to wars of occupation and aggression; an end to all
discrimination on the basis of gender, nationality, language, religion
and
belief, including an end to the criminalization of dissent and the
ability of governments and police and other agencies to act
with impunity. These and many other demands express the striving of
women for empowerment. CPC(M-L) hails all the actions of women and
their organizations on the occasion of International Women's Day and
calls on all to help make them a success.
Establish
Renewal Committees to Enable
Women to Affirm Their Humanity!
Every
single day women are active participants, both as women and as workers,
in creating a society which recognizes the rights of all, in which
women stand second to none. They have no use whatsoever for
the crocodile tears of government representatives regarding the plight
of women and their families. With their determination to humanize the
natural and social environments, they block the pressure from the rich
and their representatives to accept that no
alternative is possible.
CPC(M-L) hails the women the world over who,
fighting side by side,
share their rich experience of resistance and struggle in defence of
their rights, for a world without exploitation and oppression, a world
free from the dictate of the monopolies and warmongers.
On the occasion of March 8, the fighting women of
CPC(M-L) are
leading by putting themselves in the front ranks of the work to
organize the renewal of the democratic institutions so that the
authority which keeps women oppressed and exploited is
removed and the people can
exercise control over their lives. The problems women face can be
resolved, but not on the basis of the status quo. Let March 8, 2009
represent another step forward in the work to organize women for
renewal!
No Means No!
Stop Paying the Rich; Increase Funding for Social Programs!
Women in the Forefront for a
New Direction for Quebec
- Statement of the
Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec (PMLQ) -
Montreal,
September 28, 2008: Demonstration against Bill C-484, the "Unborn
victims of Crime Act"
viewed by many as an attack on the rights of
women to control their bodies
and a start to the recriminalization of abortion.
This March 8, 2009, the Marxist-Leninist Party of
Quebec (PMLQ)
joins with all the women of Quebec, the First Nations, Canada and
worldwide in
demanding a society fit for human beings! Since March 8, 2008, had it
not been for their active resistance and struggle against the
anti-people agenda of
governments, such as privatization, cuts in culture and the arts, Bill
C-484, the militarization of public space, the participation of
Canada's war government in
the service of the U.S. to name but a few of the struggles, the
situation facing the people would be even more dramatic.
Two surprise federal and provincial elections
have revealed the
crisis of this system of non-representative democracy. Marginalized
from any control
and power over issues concerning their future, women and various
collectives took to the streets in mass actions to make their demands
heard.
In this time of economic crisis it is all the
more pressing that
democratic renewal be realized and that women, the working class and
its allies vest the
necessary power in their collectives to take control over the direction
of the
economy and the decision-making process. The issue of who decides is on
the agenda
for all. Women, in the front ranks of the protest movement, must be in
the forefront of the movement for political empowerment. So-called
democratic
institutions imposed in the 19th century are used to keep women and the
people out of power. They must be democratized to empower the people!
Under the high ideal of being "democratic" such
institutions are
used to keep the people marginalized and make them the victims of the
crisis. At present,
Minister Jérome-Forget has undertaken a vast "consultation" on
the next
provincial budget. The Ministry of Finance, an offshoot of such
"democratic"
institutions, is being used today to consult with the people in order
to more brutally attack them tomorrow. The dice are loaded. Multiple
choice answers are
geared towards paying the rich and the Montmarquette Report and its
recommendations for fees for public services will be resurrected. Why
should women
seek their salvation in so-called democratic institutions which deprive
them of all control and serve to further attack them? To achieve the
affirmation of rights
for both themselves and their peers, they must take up the renewal of
the political process. Rejecting the old institutions which refuse to
build a bright future
will open a path to create an alternative. Rejecting the views of those
who advocate prosperity through the annexation of Quebec's economy to
that of empire
builders, or exhort the financiers to be less "excessive" in their
pursuit of profits will open a path to create an alternative.
Women are active participants in the socialized
economy and have
the experience and creativity required to transform the situation into
one which benefits
the people. The exercise of governance must reside in their hands in
order for them to participate in the elaboration of an authority which
would affirm the rights
of all.
The PMLQ is of the view that the participation of
women, workers
and the people in decision-making in the society is decisive for
nation-building based
on the recognition of the rights of all. It calls on women to join the
work to build renewal committees at workplaces, in neighbourhoods,
colleges and universities
and amongst seniors. They are a mechanism through which both they and
their allies can elaborate the independent politics of the working
class and represent
them in Parliament. The road must be blocked to those who destroy our
economy, pay the rich, sell Quebec out to foreign interests and place
us on the side
of war and aggression.
Let us demand that the state Stop Paying the
Rich! Let us demand
new investments in social programs! Let us all work together for the
renewal of the
democratic institutions! Let us provide a new direction for Quebec!
All Out to Support the
Struggles of Women
in Defence of the Rights of All!
TML Daily
hails women's participation in
the front ranks of
the
movement to end the anti-social offensive and to put a stop to U.S. led
wars of aggression and occupation. The women of Canada raise their
collective fists
on
International Women's Day 2009 at a time of severe economic crisis when
governments at all levels are using their positions of power to serve
the owners of capital. The bailout and stimulus packages they are
introducing to pay the rich are a declaration
of war by the state against the people whose pooled resources are being
used to prop up narrow private interests. These governments are
completely abrogating their responsibilities to maintain a Canadian
standard of living for all.
Within these conditions women workers
are justly
concerned about their future. Whether young or old, retired, employed
or
unemployed, the economic crisis has exposed all workers to uncertainty
and hardship. For those without a livelihood and others facing a loss
of pension income, their needs are immediate.
Within this situation women, who are already bearing the brunt of the
anti-social offensive, are facing difficulties which are becoming
extreme.
Not only are they
under attack as workers, but
the
Harper/Ignatieff budget continues the attacks of the Harper government
and the Liberals before them, on their collective rights as
women.
Since coming to power in 2006 Harper's "New Government" has pushed the
line that women are already equal,
a claim which is put to shame so long as women dominate the sectors
which are most impoverished, exploited and oppressed. Based on this
bogus claim the government has cut funding for any organizations which
assist women in asserting their just claims on the society. It has once
again in the current budget refused
to take up its responsibility to guarantee pay equity to its own
employees, making it a matter of negotiation and eliminating even their
ability to seek redress from the courts. Cuts to financing of public
childcare that women require to ensure the youth are cared for while
they participate in the social economy, further
reflect the contempt in which the state holds the collective of women.
What the economic
crisis brings into stark focus
is the
fact that the antiquated outlook and practice of using the socialized
economy to serve, protect and enlarge the private wealth of owners of
capital is anachronistic and socially irresponsible. A radical new
direction is required. The alternative of producing
and providing services for the common good through public enterprise,
which is always rejected out of hand by the forces of the status quo,
needs to be examined and discussed. Only on the basis of working out
their own stands within the situation by getting informed, working out
What's What and Who's Who and
how to favour their own interests within the situation and what those
interests are, can the women avoid all the traps in their path, uphold
the dignity of labour and unite the class on the basis that the
security of the workers and all the people and their collectives lies
in the fight for the rights of all.
Women need to discuss a pro-social response to
the
crisis, and most importantly how to use the organized unity and
strength in numbers of the working class to bring such a pro-social
alternative into being. In all fields, working women lead in organizing
their own collectives against the anti-social
offensive and for a secure and dignified life. By working out what
favours the interests of the collective of women within the situation
and how to fight to bring these things into being, women play their
role in the affirmation of the rights of all.
All Out to Support the
Struggles of
Women in Defence of the Rights of All!
Federal
Government's
Attacks
on Women
Step Up the Work of Settling Accounts with
Anachronistic Arrangements!
- Christine Dandenault -
In a modern socialized economy such as in Quebec
and
Canada, having a Ministry responsible for the Status of Women should
mean that the State hands
it the responsibility of making society's resources available to
women as a collective so that they can fully play their active role of
opening society's path
to progress.
March 8 would be the occasion for that ministry
to be
accountable to the polity for actions taken to sort out the problems
facing women and their
collectives. It would also be an excellent opportunity to mobilize all
women to sum up the progress achieved and facilitate their
participation, from one end
of the country to the other, in that discussion to set objectives for
the coming year. This would be an integral part of the nation-building
process of the entire
society in responding to the needs of all.
The reality is that in Canada the federal
government
refuses to allow women to play their modern role in society. The
mandate of its federal organization,
Status of Women Canada (SWC), taken from its website, is to promote
"the full participation of women in the economic, social and democratic
life of Canada.
SWC works to advance equality for women and to remove the barriers to
women's participation in society, putting particular emphasis on
increasing women's
economic security and eliminating violence against women.
"To advance equality for women, SWC works with
federal
departments and agencies to ensure that the gender dimensions are taken
into account in the
development of policies and programs -- by conducting gender-based
analysis and supporting research.
"The Honourable Helena Guergis is the Minister of
State
(Status of Women)."
On the occasion of March 8, 2009, Status of Women
of
Canada issued a short press release that would have been laughable had
it not been its official
communiqué: "Canada's theme for International Women's Day/Week
2009 is Strong Leadership. Strong Women. Strong World:
Equality.
"The theme reflects the government's firm belief
that
increasing women's participation and access to leadership roles and
opportunities will help women
and girls thrive, reach their full potential and fulfil their dreams,
and help build a more prosperous Canada.
"For Canadians, equality means women and men
sharing in
the responsibilities and obligations, as well as the opportunities and
rewards, of life and work.
In Canada, leadership is key across society -- from the private sector,
to governments, to the general public -- for people of all origins,
generations and
backgrounds to participate fully in our country's economic, social and
democratic life, and ultimately, in improving the state of the world."
The statement offers nothing to the women of
Quebec and
Canada, other than feelings of contempt towards a government that can
write such absurdities
and vulgarities. Within a context of great economic insecurity borne by
women from one end of the country to the other, and further exacerbated
by the anti-social policies of the Canadian government, the press
release confirms
the urgency of ridding ourselves of such governments. They are a living
obstacle to the
struggle of women for their emancipation. It is urgent that women place
themselves in the van of the movement for democratic renewal so that
they can provide
themselves with institutions where State power is placed at the
disposition of the needs of women who stand second to none in
contributing to the well-being
of the entire society.
Rights -- the Missing Word
- Dagmar Sullivan -
"Strong Leadership. Strong Women. Strong World:
Equality" is the Status of Women Canada's (SWC) theme for International
Women's Day 2009.
According to its website:
"The theme reflects the government's firm belief
that
increasing women's participation and access to leadership roles and
opportunities will help women
and girls thrive, reach their full potential and fulfill their dreams,
and help build a more prosperous Canada.
"For Canadians, equality means women and men
sharing in
the responsibilities and obligations, as well as in the opportunities
and rewards, of life and
work. In Canada, leadership is key across society -- from the private
sector, to governments, to the general public -- for people of all
origins, generations and
backgrounds to participate fully in our country's economic, social and
democratic life, and ultimately, in improving the state of the world."
What is glaringly missing in this "Canadian"
definition
of "equality" put forward by this federal government's organization is
the word "rights." Equality
is a right. Women's equality is not only a right which concerns women
but an issue for the entire society. What kind of equality is the SWC
talking about
without rights? What is behind its slogan that "Strong Leadership +
Strong Women + Strong World = Equality"? Where in this world does
strong
leadership, strong
women and a strong world equal equality? In Canada? in the U.S.? in
Afghanistan? in Palestine? in Haiti? in Iraq? Where? Only in countries
such as Cuba where the working people have created their own governing
institutions, are rights provided with a guarantee.
In Canada, what is said with this theme is as revealing
as
what is
left out. The underlying premise is that there is a common cause in
Canada which women can
participate in to "help build a more prosperous Canada" and
"ultimately" improve "the state of the world." While various levels of
the government are using
their positions of power and privilege to pay the rich and save them
from their own actions and the economic crisis they have unleashed on
the country, these
same governments are attacking the workers and people of Canada,
forcing more and more people to fend for themselves. From Prime
Minister Stephen Harper's
October 2007 Throne
Speech entitled "Strong Leadership, A Better Canada," to his January
26, 2009 Throne Speech, which begins "it is imperative that we work
together, that we
stand beside one another and that we strive for greater solidarity," to
the press conference during the visit to Canada of U.S. President
Barack Obama, the
message is the same: common values, common cause -- one nation
politics. In other words, what is needed is for everyone to get behind
the government in
its service to the monopolies. Canada's prosperity brooks no
opposition. Everyone has to share "the responsibilities and
obligations." We are responsible for
our own plight -- poverty, the violence against us, the
super-exploitation -- we are merely a cost to society.
The thrust of the SWC's theme of women taking
positions
of "leadership" "from the private sector, to governments, to the
general public," "to participate
fully in our country's economic, social and democratic life, and
ultimately, in improving the state of the world" is for women to play a
leading role in taking
up the cause of the monopolies. Shut up and put up or else...
The role offered to women in the SWC's theme is
not one
of fighting for the rights of women as part and parcel of the fight for
the rights of all or of
leading in taking up society's problems for solution but of building
the United States of North American Monopolies and of advancing
Canada's role in the
creation of a modern empire under the U.S. imperialist lead. The theme
is part of the assault by the monopolies, their governments and the
media on the thinking
of women, workers, youth, and native peoples to divert them from seeing
where the monopolies and their political representatives are taking the
country and
how to form an effective opposition to block them.
Women need only pay attention to their own direct
experience to see where the federal government stands on women's
equality. The federal government
over the years has been using its position of power and privilege to
slash and burn organizations of women fighting for their rights or even
contradicting the
powers that be. The National Action Committee on the Status of Women
funds were cut by the
then Liberal government when it opposed the Charlottetown Accord in
1992. Soon
after
elected Prime Minister in 2006, Harper quickly moved to cut funds from
a number of groups
working in defence of women's rights, replaced plans for a national
daycare program with
a token monthly payment to individual families, struck the word
"equality" from the SWC's goals, eliminated the SWC's
Policy Research Fund,
which supported research specifically focussed on issues pertaining to
women's equality, and announced the closure of 12 of the 16 SWC
offices. Through its
recent federal budget, it is attempting to deny women government
employees the right to turn to the courts to obtain pay-equity
settlements. The rights of women
are not part of the government's agenda or of their monopoly masters'.
There is no "one nation politics" that women can participate in which
has anything to
do with equality. Equality is won in the struggle against those who
have usurped power by force and are negating the rights of all.
Leadership is an issue for women in Canada but it
is
the issue of women leading the fight for the rights of all. It is
leading the building of organizations
which can block institutions at all levels from denying their social
responsibilities. It is leading to establish an anti-war government to
get Canada out of
Afghanistan, NATO and NORAD and which upholds the right of all nations
to self-determination. It is leading to establish an effective workers
opposition in
the Parliaments and Legislatures so that the nation-building agenda of
the people is enacted and the legal will becomes a real expression
of the popular
will.
Strong Leadership to Build
an Effective
Opposition!
Strong Women for Democratic Renewal!
Strong World Against Imperialism, Fascism
and War!
Fight for the Rights of All!
Attacks on Women's
Collectives --
Attacks on the Collective of Women
- Janice Murray -
The attacks on women's collectives contained
in the
Harper/Ignatieff budget are a continuation of the attacks on the
collective of women.
Late last November, the UN Committee on the
Elimination
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) released a particularly dismal
report dealing with
Canada's record on women's rights. The Committee, which reviewed
Canada's compliance with CEDAW, issued its Concluding Observations in
Geneva. Canada
has been given one year to submit a report on the measures it has taken
to address inadequate social assistance rates across the country and
the failure of law
enforcement agencies to deal with the disappearance and murder of
Aboriginal women and girls.[1]
The UN CEDAW Committee also drew attention to
some of
Canada's other deficiencies in the realization of women's human rights,
such as the lack
of affordable child care spaces and housing, insufficient access to
civil legal aid, inadequate services and shelters for women and girls
experiencing violence,
the cancellation of funding to the Court Challenges Program, the poor
representation of women in public life, continuing labour market
inequality particularly
for racialized women, the mistreatment of federal women prisoners and
girls in detention and the elimination of Status of Women funding for
advocacy by
women's organizations.
In its first mandate, the minority Harper
government
dismissed any hope of a national daycare program in favour of a token
payment to individual
families each month and eliminated the Status of Women Canada's (SWC)
Policy Research Fund, which supported the independent production of
research
specifically focused on issues pertaining to women's equality. In
autumn of 2006, the Harper government struck the word "equality" from
the SWC's
goals, cut off funding for projects that involved advocacy, lobbying or
research and eliminated the Court Challenges Program, which funded
cases with important
questions of law that might not otherwise be taken before the courts.
Harper's Conservative government also announced that it was closing 12
of the 16 SWC offices.
The Submission of the Canadian Feminist Alliance
for
International Action (FAFIA) to the UN CEDAW Committee on the Occasion
of the Committee's
Review of Canada's 6th & 7th Reports pointed out that "women's
organizations cannot receive funds for domestic advocacy activities,
for lobbying of federal,
provincial and municipal governments, or for research related to
advocacy and lobbying activities; only incorporated non-profit
societies are now eligible for
these funds. This requirement means that SWC can no longer be a
resource for new or ad
hoc women's organizations that do not have the
capacity to incorporate
legally; [and] for the first time, for-profit organizations are
eligible to receive funds from the Women's Program."[2]
A survey by FAFIA of its more than 80 member
groups[3]
"revealed that women's groups that do not
provide direct services to individual women are
already having difficulty securing funding through the Women's Program
for their core activities.[4]
FAFIA
itself, which since the late 1990s has been fighting
that Canada fulfil its international human rights obligations, had SWC
funding only to the end of September 2008 and by the time the 6th and
7th reports of
Canada are reviewed in October 2008, FAFIA would not be permitted to
receive or use federal funds to carry out its core function of advocacy.[5]
However, these attacks are not the first faced by
women's organizations fighting in the interests of the collective of
women. The National Action
Committee on the Status of Women (NAC) "received much of its funding
from the federal government until cuts by the Brian Mulroney government
in the
wake of NAC's opposition to the Charlottetown Accord forced the
organization to lay off its staff and cut its budget."[6] Within days of NAC
announcing its
opposition to the Charlottetown Accord, it was warned that its 'file is
being reviewed' by the Secretary of State. Monique Simard, Quebec
Vice-President of
NAC, stated: "When we took our decision to back the No side -- for very
valid reasons -- we knew there could be consequences down the road, the
least of which
was not the fear of vindictive funding cuts. It's no secret that the
Conservative government has been anti-women, but this is something else
entirely, it's extremely
tainted by partisan politics."[7]
"The cuts [against NAC] continued during the Jean
Chrétien government and, in 1998, the group largely ceased
operations for a time after Status of
Women Canada, a department of the federal government, ceased granting
money for day-to-day operations. NAC soon accumulated debts in excess
of $100,000
and was forced to close some of its regional offices. Although NAC's
activities were greatly reduced through the 1990s into the 21st
century. NAC has revived
and renewed itself in recent years and is primarily funded largely
through donations and membership fees."[8]
A NAC press release of October 13, 2006 reported
NAC
had held its Annual General Meeting in Toronto the previous week:
"The re-emergence of NAC came on the heels of the
federal government's dismantling of the Court Challenges program, and
the 38.5 percent funding
cuts to Status of Women Canada with a fundamental change in its
mandate. 'Equality is not a part of the Women's Program agenda under
this government,'
explained NAC's newly elected president, Dolly Williams. 'Minister Bev
Oda, is simply applying Conservative Party ideology to propagate the
notion that
women have reached equality. This is especially puzzling when only 7 of
the 27 of Harper's cabinet are women. Is this what they mean by
equality?'
"The federal Conservative government says it will
no
longer fund women's groups that do advocacy, lobbying or general
research as part of the new
terms and conditions for grants. This is seen as a deliberate tactic to
cripple women's organizations that rely on these funds to promote
substantive equality rights
for women in Canada.
"The elimination of the Court Challenges Program
also
confirms the new government's game plan.
"'NAC has been able to use this program in the
past to
question the constitutionality of cuts to core funding for
equality-seeking women's organizations,'
affirmed Ms. Williams. 'The government thinks that it has found a way
to silence us and our sister organizations, but we will not be
deterred.' The federal
government is abandoning its duty to uphold the democratic process.
Without the Court Challenges program and with the devastating cuts to
Status of Women
Canada, women have little to no access to bring their injustices to the
legal and political forefront.
"In the face of the Harper government's new
tactics to
yield women's issues non-existent and near invisible, NAC's membership
is determined, despite
these obstacles, to assert a national voice to advocate and lobby for
equality. There is an absolute need for coordinated women's voices at
the national level.
The Harper government's dereliction of duty to sustain and protect
access to democratic accountability measures must be exposed. NAC and
its membership
are prepared to work to ensure this happens."[9]
While NAC is listed as a member of FAFIA as at
September 4, 2008, NAC's website, http://www.nac-cca.ca, is
inaccessible and an enquiry to their last
address located for the organization found that the organization is
"not currently active."
Notes
1. "Discrimination Against
Women -- UN Report," The Marxist-Leninist Daily, No. 180, December 10,
2008.
2. "FAFIA Response to
Violations of
Article 7: Political and Public Life in CEDAW's Report (2003)," Women's
Inequality in Canada: Submission
of the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action to the
United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women on the
Occasion of the Committee's Review of Canada's 6th & 7th Reports,
September 2008, page 57.
3. For complete list
of FAFI's Member
Groups, Women's Inequality in Canada, pages 118-121 at
http://www.fafia-afai.org/files/FAFIA_Canada_CEDAW_2008.pdf.
4. Ibid.,
pp. 57-58.
5. Ibid.
p. 58.
6. "National Action
Committee on the
Status of Women," Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Action_Committee_on_the_Status_of_Women,
accessed February 10, 2009.
7. "Ottawa Accused of
Blackmail" by Andre
Picard, Globe and Mail, September 18, 1992, as
quoted in A
Power to Share: A Modern
Definition of the Political Process and A Case for Democratic Renewal,
by Hardial Bains, (Canadian Renewal Party: Ottawa, 1993), p. 7.
8. "National Action
Committee on the
Status of Women," Wikipedia, accessed February
10, 2009.
9. "NAC condemns
changes to Status of
Women Canada's mandate," Canada NewsWire, Ottawa: Oct 13, 2006., pg. 1,
http://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/Federal%20Budget%202006/Media%20coverage/
(accessed February 7, 2009).
Women, Poverty and the Need to
Strengthen Public Enterprise
- Hilary LeBlanc -
In Canada, a newborn female is more likely than a
male
to grow up to be poor. Some 18 percent of Canadian women (just under
2.8 million) are living
in poverty compared to 15 percent of the male population. Based on the
2001 census 23 percent of all Canadian women not born in Canada lived
in poverty,
and 37 percent of those who had arrived in the previous five years were
impoverished. Among aboriginal women 43 percent lived below the poverty
line. All
indications are that the situation of national minority and aboriginal
women in particular has deteriorated since these figures were gathered.
Single mothers and other "unattached" women are
most
vulnerable to poverty with 46 percent of single mothers and 43 percent
of "unattached" women
over 65 living in poverty. By comparison 31 percent of single senior
men live in poverty. Two thirds of those earning the minimum wage are
women and it
is simply not possible to work enough hours at this rate to get above
the poverty line.
In addressing the issue of poverty, one of the
central
issues which has to be addressed is the antiquated outlook and practice
of using the socialized
economy to serve, protect and enlarge the private wealth of owners of
capital. The federal government is currently indebting the country
further to finance its
stimulus package, paying the very international financiers who have
brought on the current economic crisis and whose private wealth is
being enshrined by the
government borrowing. The government is then using its power and
privilege to hand over these funds to the owners of capital and
blackmailing the workers
to agree to concessions.
At the same time, the labour of the workers
transforming nature is the only source of added value in the society
for sustaining themselves and for
funding social projects. The lay offs and shutting down of
manufacturing in Canada is reducing the social wealth available to fund
social projects. Reducing
the number of workers working means there is less social product
produced from which the government can claim its share as taxes. With
less workers working
or making less wages or facing reduced pensions, their incomes are
down, driving more and more into poverty and reducing the spending
capacity in the
socialized economy which will further exacerbate the economic crisis.
The direction the monopolies are taking the country through the federal
and provincial
governments will only lead to further economic crisis and more poverty
and misery for the people.
Private enterprise is unwilling and structurally
unable
to organize production to provide the people of Canada with the
Canadian standard income they
all deserve and to direct the socialized wealth the workers produce for
the common good. A radical change in direction is required. What is
required is a
campaign to build the country anew through public enterprise. Only the
government through public enterprise is in a position to mobilize
enough resources and
organize work for all at a Canadian standard income and provide
services to meet the needs of the people.
The idea that the economy must always be
organized on
the basis of reliance on the international financial oligarchy is a
myth. The possibility of the
economy being organized on a new basis, on the basis of its own people
with the aim of guaranteeing the rights of all has to be seriously
considered. This is
not a question of "protectionism" versus "open borders" but of
challenging the status quo of paying the rich and taking up
nation-building through public
enterprise and establishing trade on the basis of mutual benefit.
Providing the funds to eradicate poverty and guarantee the rights of
all can only come about
through public enterprise which produces and provides services which
guarantee the rights of all.
Read The
Marxist-Leninist
Daily
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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