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September 6, 2012 - No. 110
Quebec Election Results
Democratic Institutions in Need of
Renewal
Quebec
Election
Results
• Workers Must Oppose the Degeneration into
Anarchy and Violence
• The Brutality of the Anachronistic Democratic
System
• The People Are Assigned the Role of
Spectators All Over Again
• An Electoral Coup Once Again
• The Fidelity of the Youth to Their Decision
Made the Difference
• Congratulations to PMLQ Candidates and
Supporters!
Canadian and U.S.
Warships Tour Canadian Ports
• Montrealers Oppose Canada's Integration into
U.S. War Machine
• Oppose the Harper Government's Promotion of
War and Aggression! - Statement of the Windsor Peace Coalition
• Halifax Weekly Anti-War Picket
Democratic Institutions in Need of
Renewal
Workers Must Oppose the Degeneration into
Anarchy and Violence
The Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec (PMLQ) condemns the
assassination attempt made against the new Premier of Quebec Pauline
Marois on election night and the threat it poses to the Parti
Québécois
(PQ) and the Quebec polity.
The PMLQ blames the chauvinist sectarian politics of the
representatives of the Anglo-Canadian state and their media. They are
the ones who create the perpetual climate of civil war in Quebec. In
this climate, the shooter whether deranged or not, found fertile ground
to carry out his desperate act. The aim is
to incite maximum sectarian hatred over the Quebec issue to make sure
people cannot think and cannot take control of their sovereign
decision-making power. Whether they constitute an independent country
or renew the federal-provincial relations is a completely separate
issue. As concerns federal-provincial relations,
all provinces are trying to renew their relations with the federal
Canadian state; there is nothing strange about that. It is no reason to
incite a civil war.
Far from permitting this climate of civil war, the PMLQ
will do
everything possible to ensure that the results of this election are
well understood by workers and youth and all the social forces that
seek to achieve their vision of society. How to hold the government
responsible is now on the agenda for all social
forces. It must carry out the will of the people who demand that the
rights of all be provided with a guarantee.
The Brutality of the Anachronistic Democratic System
The brutality of the chaos that the anachronistic
democratic system imposes on the polity is such that the people
themselves did not even have time to reflect on the election results
before an assassination attempt against the new Quebec Premier Pauline
Marois, leader of the new Parti Québécois government,
changed
everything. The man, whether deranged or not, was clearly swept up in
the atmosphere of civil war incited by private interests linked to the
anachronistic institutions of the Anglo-Canadian state. He became the
emissary of the death threat -- a declaration that the future will be
one of instability and civil war; that
this is what the Quebec people can expect if they or the PQ dare to do
things that deviate from the neo-liberal line of march and the kind of
federal-provincial relations the international financial oligarchy
dictates.
With this, any serious reflection on the election
results is to be quickly forgotten. The tragic event which led to the
death of one person and the serious injury of another is
decontextualized. It is turned into a lament about unspecified dangers
about which we can do nothing. It could have been worse, the pundits
say, as in the case of the Polytechnique massacre that left 14 victims
13 years ago.
The PQ now forms the government, but it faces a complex
situation where the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) thinks it can
dictate what this party can and cannot do. It immediately expressed its
condolences to the families of the victims. It issued a call for calm
in the National Assembly and expressed its desire
for cooperation and civility. It was joined by the other parties which
in turn expressed an open or reluctant desire to cooperate as the case
may be. All in all, an eerie climate is created where everything is now
"business as usual." The people are supposed to do nothing but live
with the consequences and carry on.
Certainly the new Quebec Premier is not lacking in
courage and it comes as no surprise that she faced the challenge before
her without faltering. This does not, however, mean that it is business
as usual. The message is crystal clear: do not cross the line because
this is what will happen to you if you do. It is unacceptable! It
must not pass!
With anarchy comes
violence. Anarchy gains ground when private interests fight for control
of the state and put everything at their disposal. The fact that they
can do so with impunity and resort to violence against each other and
the people to get their way indicates that the civil society based on
the vision of
a common good and the state arrangements which provided it are
finished. Once anarchy reigns, we are already in a civil war situation,
one against all and all against one. The factions of the ruling class
have taken control of the sovereign decision-making power by using the
royal prerogative, also referred to as Henry
VIII clauses. This has already permitted the likes of Jean Charest and
Stephen Harper to do many things against everyone and everything. This
civil war is  waged using legislation
which outlaws resistance and
criminalizes any organization that fights for the rights of its
members. It uses defamation, mass arrests, threats,
assassination attempts, actual assassinations, bombings and more. There
is nothing "civil" about the current situation. The way Charest dealt
with the students and now the threat to Pauline Marois and the PQ
provide the proof.
According to Madame Marois' resumé, her strength
is her ability to compromise. Her way of doing things is to resolve
disputes to promote a peaceful coexistence we are told. But in whose
favour are these disputes resolved? And what are the disputes? Are they
disputes over differing visions of society, that of the people
and that of the rich, in order to resolve the crisis in favour of the
people, so as to find a new equilibrium that favours the people? Or are
they disputes between factions vying for control of the state on behalf
of private interests? How does preserving the peace between private
factions serve the public interest? Why
speak in the name of the public interest if it is to defend private
interests? Is it to mislead and disinform the people? We must be clear
on this.
The People Are Assigned the Role of Spectators
All Over Again
 The September 4 election
results place the responsibility on the workers to not permit the
cartel party system to take over the National Assembly and play havoc
with their lives. More than ever, the people are facing the historic
necessity to hold their own discussions on what is happening on the
basis of their
own thinking and their own interests. There is no question of accepting
the neo-liberal ideological offensive pushed by private interests which
are not their own. The workers must define their own interests within
the complicated here and now and take decisions based on warranted
conclusions.
First, it is clear that today, as a result of the
electoral coup that brought a minority Parti Quebecois (PQ) government
to power with the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) as "the voice of
reason," all the political parties in the National Assembly speak in
the name of the people, of the common good and social order.
It could not be otherwise since what was at stake in this election was
precisely the vision and demand of the people for a society which
upholds public right.
The new Premier Pauline Marois has assured the
electorate from the get-go that the main demands put forward by the
people in this election will not be compromised as she can simply issue
ministerial decrees. She will cancel the tuition fee increase which it
is said will de facto make
Law 12 (the Special Law --
formerly Bill 78) redundant.
Under the circumstances this may well bring about a
temporary much needed truce in this matter but the workers and students
should beware of a system whose only option is to act through
ministerial decrees.
What does such a system do to the people and their
decision-making power? Jean Charest and Stephen Harper and others at
the provincial level across Canada have resorted to ruling by decree to
serve private interests and we are very much opposed to that. We fought
against the decrees of Charest and Harper.
However, this time we are told it will be done in our interest so our
role is merely to applaud. Not only must we applaud the decision but we
must accept its corollary -- that, in return, we must accept that other
things cannot be done because the CAQ will not agree. We must keep
quiet so as not to rock the boat.
Nobody consulted us about this or about what it is we
must do and why, but we are to accept it is the way it is and nothing
can be done. Can such a method as ruling by decree be used to serve
public interests? What does it mean?
There is certainly a need for the workers to discuss to
make sure they protect their interests on the basis of upholding public
right. Already their role as spectators once again has been decreed and
nobody noticed. They will need to actively participate in discussing
the affairs which concern the polity as the new
parliamentary in-fighting gets underway at the people's expense.
Finally, we must appreciate the essence of the
arrangement of rule by decree. It puts the responsibility for social
order squarely in the people's court. It is constitutional, the people
are told. Therefore, if the people object to the state of affairs, they
will be the ones to blame for any social unrest that results. This
is what was done to the students. In fact the social unrest exists
because of the neo-liberal refusal to renew the democratic institutions
so that the sovereign decision-making power rests in the hands of the
people, not the rich and their political representatives. Just like the
students were blamed for the social chaos
because they resisted Jean Charest's decision to further privatize
education by increasing student debt, so now the attempt will be made
to blame the workers and people if they resist the anti-social
offensive which will continue as a result of the cartel party system.
The representatives of the ruling elite call for a social consensus but
there is no such
thing in a society divided into classes with clashing interests and
social visions.
The National Assembly ruled by the cartel party system
works to keep the parties in power. So long as it is not the people who
decide and who are in power, the different factions in the National
Assembly will expend all their energies to maintain social order
amongst themselves and keep the people suppressed
so that they play no role in taking the decisions which affect their
lives. This means threats and reprisals against one another and against
the people.
This creates a difficult situation for the workers,
women and youth to the extent that it prevents them from seeing clearly
what is happening under their noses. We must be vigilant. We must
continue to develop the independent politics of the working class so as
to occupy the space for change. This space exists
objectively. The people vie to occupy it and make sure it is not
occupied by the private interests which have taken over the public
authority for their self-serving aims.
An Electoral Coup Once Again
In this election, powerful interests linked to the
Anglo-Canadian
state succeeded in carrying out an electoral coup which promoted the
Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) and put it at their disposal in
Quebec. They hoped to have the CAQ as the Official
Opposition should the Liberals have been wiped
out. Instead, the CAQ came in third, which is a result more positive
for the interests of the reactionary forces than they could have hoped
for. The CAQ has enough seats to get official party status and hold the
balance of power. In this way, the collapse of the Quebec Liberal Party
was averted. This is a great relief
for the Liberal Party of Canada which erroneously thinks that so long
as
it has not lost a foothold in Quebec, it still has a lease on life.
Meanwhile, the Canadian establishment thinks this is a positive
development should it need to use the Liberal Party in Quebec to hold
Mulcair's
NDP in check Canada-wide.
The Fidelity of the Youth to Their Decision
Made the Difference
Students and others
opposed to the Charest government's anti-social offensive in the
streets of Sherbrooke
the day the former Premier launched the Liberals' election campaign,
July 31, 2012.
The Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec (PMLQ) expresses
heartfelt congratulations to the youth and students who promised to
make the difference in this election and did so.
We are convinced that this difference can be seen in the
voter turnout as well as in Jean Charest's defeat in his own riding. On
election night Charest spoke as if he had won something. He was the
portrait of denial as if his defeat did not really take place, let
alone that it was thanks to the diligent and arduous
work carried out by the teams of students. Thanks to their conviction,
their conscious effort to accomplish something tangible, they achieved
their aim. Bravo!
The other political formation that the PMLQ thinks
merits Quebeckers' respect when it comes to the role played by the
youth is the party created by the new generation, the Option Nationale
and its leader, Jean-Martin Aussant. Their experience in this election
will be very important for the future of Quebec.
Aside from all the experience gained in the work of organizing an
election, they have learned the cruel lesson of what it means to be
marginalized by the so-called democratic system. This will serve them
in their fight to abolish electoral arrangements based on power and
privilege that permit such shameful discrimination.
Imagine the results if the media had given Mr. Aussant the same
privileges as it gave to Ms. David of Quebec Solidaire. He too might
well have been elected. But obviously this is pure speculation since
the privilege-based system blocked the people from receiving the kind
of information they required to make an
informed choice. The system defines the choices, puts them in an
alleged order of preference and then tells the people to choose! What a
fraud!
We are certain that Option Nationale will continue to
build itself and organize to achieve the vision of Quebec the youth
espouse. Congratulations to the youth who joined Option Nationale to
take their future in hand and make the difference! It can be done! It
must be done!
Congratulations to PMLQ Candidates and Supporters!
 As always, we express our warmest
congratulations to the candidates and supporters of the
Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec (PMLQ). We work within great
difficulties, to
be sure, but that is nothing new! The fact is we play an important
role, especially with regard to analyzing what is happening and
identifying
the space for change that the workers and other sections of the people
can occupy. That the election resulted in a minority government, not a
majority, does not change the need for the workers to develop their
independent politics on the basis that they, not the rich, must occupy
the space for change. The election
of a minority government makes it all the more urgent for the workers
to organize themselves politically to make sure they are not caught by
surprise by the unfolding events. They must be able to control the
decisions that affect their lives and the future of society.
In our opinion, the usurpation of state power by private
interests and the depoliticization of the body politic are the main
dangers at this time. The role the PMLQ can play, the contribution that
all those who are part of its ranks can make, is to analyze the
election results so that we can contribute to the best of
our ability to make sure no one falls into the many traps which lie
ahead.
A big thank you to all the PMLQ candidates and
supporters. Participation in this election shows there is money for
votes, there is money for disinformation, but the fidelity to one's
decisions and courage of one's convictions are priceless!
Canadian and U.S. Warships Tour Canadian
Ports
Montrealers Oppose Canada's Integration
into U.S. War Machine
Montrealers vigorously opposed the Montreal Military
Culture Festival (MMCF) called "An Army of Culture" held from August 31
to September 3 at the Port of Montreal. This pro-war festival was
directly financed by the Canadian government including the Ministry of
Defence, the Canadian Forces, Veterans Affairs and others. The
festival's
brochure said the MMCF "seeks to increase the general public's
awareness of the military's contribution to the culture of Montreal,
past, present and future. It also aims to remind people of the
different historical events for which Canadians in the military played
an important role." Further on the brochure said, "Few
opportunities exist in the city to recognize this heritage and the
sacrifices which our soldiers have made and continue to make for us to
enjoy this way of life."
 Activists carried a large banner
which read, "Culture my eye. The army serves to kill!" Several actions
took place throughout the event to denounce the promotion of military
culture, including the presence of the Women in Black, a public
"die-in," white flags, a children's art session, a large-scale
projection of anti-war images and distribution of anti-war leaflets.
The group Artists for Peace and
other artists denounced the vulgarization of the word culture and its
association with war, killing and politics of aggression against the
world's peoples. Échec à la guerre issued a statement
calling for a boycott of the festival and denounced, among other
things, the fact that while the government makes cuts to cultural
programs, it diverts public funds to support the aims and plans of the
U.S. war machine around the world.
 The Marxist-Leninist Party of
Quebec (PMLQ), the Campaign Opposing Military Recruitment and
Échec à la guerre held a joint action in front of the
gates of the Old Port. They had a large banner that read "No to the
Militarization of Public Spaces, No Propaganda for Wars of Aggression
and Occupation." Other signs read, "No to Stephen Harper's War
Culture," "Not a Single Youth for Imperialist War," "Canada Out of
NATO." Activists distributed hundreds of flyers and many people stopped
to talk. The presence of the activists created quite an atmosphere
where instead of promoting military culture, questions
were raised as to why military culture is being promoted and for what
purpose.
Dozens of people warmly thanked the activists for the
action, wishing them well. A young security guard shook hands with
activists one by one, pleased with the action. Even soldiers came to
say they opposed the foreign missions aimed at aggression against the
peoples. Attempts by some security guards to intimidate
the activists and stop the action did not succeed.
Other activists set themselves up on one of the
Bonsecours Basin islands where the festival was also taking place where
they unfurled a banner that read, "Military Propaganda in Service of
Imperialist War." Several security guards made aggressive attempts to
make them leave, but they held their ground.
Oppose the Harper Government's Promotion of
War and Aggression!
- Statement of the Windsor Peace
Coalition -
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Windsor Anti-War Picket
Saturday, September 8 -- 11:00 am
Dieppe Park
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From September 5th-10th the
Royal Canadian Navy
frigate Ville de Quebec will be docked at Dieppe Park in
Windsor. The warship is touring the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes
along with two U.S. warships, promoting the close alliance between the
two countries' naval forces.
Although the government promotes the Navy's role in
terms of defending Canada and engaging in humanitarian actions, in fact
Canada's Navy is more and more being used to attack and threaten other
countries. Last year two Canadian warships took turns working in
conjunction with a U.S. carrier battle group
off the coast of Libya as part of the U.S./NATO aggression against that
country. More recently they have been prowling the waters of the
Arabian Sea as part of a U.S.-led flotilla.
 The USS Hurricane,
one
of
the
ships
on
tour
with the Ville de Quebec is
the type that provides "full mission
support" for U.S. Navy SEALs and other special forces that travel the
world carrying out assassinations and "black ops" for the U.S.
government.
Promoting the tour, Canada's Minister of National
Defence Peter MacKay said: "This year we will also commemorate the War
of 1812 and celebrate 200 years of peace and prosperity between our
nation and our closest ally, the United States of America. The events
of that historic conflict so long ago serve to
remind us all that the link between sea power and our nation's security
and prosperity is as relevant today as ever before."
Windsorites should ask why the Harper government is
trying to associate Canada's warships operating alongside U.S.
warships, often under U.S. command, with "our nation's security and
prosperity." Prosperity for whom? This is the same government that is
taking billions from Canadians' social programs, including
their pensions and Employment Insurance, to hand over to military
contractors to build warships and fighter planes for aggression abroad.
As for the War of 1812, ... the Harper government is
using this historic war to cover up
the aggressive and expansionist nature of U.S. imperialism
today, and suggest that Canadians are somehow eager to join its wars
against peoples of other lands -- something Canadians do not support.
The Windsor Peace Coalition calls on everyone to oppose
this attempt to twist what Canadians consider to be their values into
support and recruitment for criminal wars of aggression.
Join our anti-war picket this Saturday, September 8 at
Dieppe Park at 11 am or any Saturday at the same time on Ottawa Street
across from Market Square.
For information contact windsorpeace@hotmail.com.
Halifax Weekly Anti-War Picket
 
Fridays -- 4:30-5:30
pm
Corner of Spring Garden Rd. and Barrington St.
Followed by discussion 5:30-6:30 pm at Paperchase, 5228 Blowers
St.
Read The Marxist-Leninist
Daily
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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