The Crown in Parliament Generates
More Disequilibrium in Canada
- K.C. Adams -
Part Two of the series, "The Crown in Parliament
Generates Disequilibrium in Canada --
Parliamentary discussion on implementation of
anti-social Omnibus Budget Bill C-60." For Part
One see TML Daily, May 28, 2013 - No.
65.
Part Two: Harper Parliamentary Secretary Pierre
Poilievre
Attacks and Insults Public Sector Workers
Contrary to the ravings of Pierre Poilievre,
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of
Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and for
the Federal Economic Development Agency for
Southern Ontario, workers at Canada Post produce
the value from which they make their claims for
wages, benefits and pensions. Their claims
represent absolutely no loss, liability or cost
for the Crown Corporation. Even pensions are
covered by the value produced by current workers.
Postal workers have the modern right to an
organized and effective say regarding their claims
on the value they produce and for working
conditions suitable to themselves, as do all
public and private sector workers.
Monopoly capital vultures are circling Canada
Post and other Crown Corporations to seize their
assets and potential value. They are demanding
privatization of Canada Post not because it is
failing but because it is extremely profitable.
They are salivating at the business opportunities
to engorge themselves on Canada Post assets and
potential, and the many new productive areas that
have opened up with advances in communications
technology such as Internet ordering and delivery
of commodities and e-commerce.
To make the corporation even more profitable
before private interests seize it, and in the
interim transfer yet more postal profit into the
public treasury for use in pay the rich schemes,
owners of monopoly capital have ordered the Harper
dictatorship to use its state power to force down
the claims of postal workers and other public
sector workers on the value they produce and to
worsen their working conditions.
Mr. Pierre Poilievre, Parliamentary Secretary in
Harper's dictatorship targeted Canada Post workers
when speaking in Parliament on the Omnibus Budget
Bill C-60 and Measures for Crown Corporations
Negotiations. Using hateful words and grossly
distorting the economic reality, he demands a
greater transfer of value from the working class
to owners of monopoly capital and their
representatives in government.
Quoted in the Hansard, May 7, 2013,
Poilievre says, "Let us consider Canada Post. Its
losses and liabilities are the burden of its
owners. They are taxpayers. Seventy-one per cent
of the company's costs are labour wages and
benefits."
Taxpayers are not the owners of Canada Post. It
is a Crown Corporation owned and controlled by the
Canadian state. Taxpayers are not even an
identifiable category other than perhaps people in
general. Taxpayers include every man, woman and
child in the country who has ever purchased
anything, officially worked or owned a home,
including of course every single public sector
worker. All those groups supposedly representing
taxpayers, including the Harper dictatorship are
in reality advocates of owners of monopoly capital
and virulent opponents of the interests of the
working class and small and medium-sized business.
Harperites and well-funded so-called taxpayer
groups preach one-nation politics where the
working class and owners of capital allegedly have
common interests. They do not have common
interests; they have diametrically opposing
interests based on the objective conditions of
social class differences. Canada is divided into
two on social class lines: the working class and
owners of capital. The clash that exists because
of social class divisions is the essence of
politics. Harper's one-nation politics and those
who conciliate with it are determined to negate
the independent politics of the working class and
its staunch defence of its working class interests
and rights, and its own agenda and nation-building
project.
If owners of capital refuse to recognize the
rights of the working class within the capitalist
system and its division on social class lines then
disequilibrium results. The rights of workers
include the right to an effective organized say on
their claim on the value they produce and services
they provide and on working conditions suitable to
themselves.
Poilievre says the Harper dictatorship has the
right and authority to dictate Canada Post and
other public sector workers' wages, benefits,
pensions and working conditions. The words and
actions of Harper and his retinue are meant to
deprive the working class of its rights and
generate disequilibrium.
Poilievre says Crown Corporation losses and
liabilities are a burden on their owners. What are
those losses and liabilities? Are they the
enormous infrastructure and assets the postal
working class and other public sector workers have
built and maintained for over one hundred years?
Are they the produced value generated by public
sector workers and claimed by their specific
corporations for reinvestment or claimed by the
government to augment the public treasury? Are
they the added-value produced by postal workers
and claimed by privileged business interests as
preferred cheaper prices such as business class
postal rates? Are they the necessary services and
infrastructure the public sector provides?
Poilievre accuses workers' wages, benefits and
pensions as a major source of Crown Corporation
losses and liabilities. This is a deliberate
distortion of the source of value and the economic
system. The source of value is workers
transforming raw material into use-value and
delivering it to where it is needed and providing
services on which the country and people depend.
The tremendous added-value postal workers produce
year upon year is legend. Why else would the
monopoly capitalist parasites be demanding Canada
Post's privatization unless it is highly
profitable, especially if the nation-building
aspects are eliminated such as equal delivery
service to smaller cities and towns and rural
regions?
Workers'
claims for wages, benefits and pensions are not
costs. They are claims on the value they produce
and services they provide. Workers work. Their
work-time according to their abilities, education
and experience while using modern means of
production produces and provides services. They
transform the bounty of Mother Earth in
multifarious ways to create a modern life. Without
that work, there is no modern life. Without
workers working, there would be no wealth to
support Parliament and Poilievre's salary,
benefits and pension. There would be no wealth to
fill the pockets of the rich and sustain their
lavish lifestyles of class privilege.
Poilievre should drop to his knees every day and
sincerely thank the working class for producing
the lifestyle and wealth he enjoys as a
Parliamentarian and businessperson. Without
workers producing and providing value and
services, there would be no Canada for Harper to
dictate to and no Canada for monopoly capital to
exploit. There would be no wealth to pay the rich.
There would be no services to meet every whim of
the privileged elite.
Poilievre and his ilk should recognize the rights
of the working class and back off from their
hateful words and outrageous attacks such as Bills
C-60 and C-377, an Act to amend the Income
Tax Act (requirements for labour organizations),
the private member's bill that singles out trade
unions for an onerous system of public reporting
not required of any other organization or
enterprise. Workers are fed up with the Harper
dictatorship's anti-worker ravings and actions.
(To be continued)
Omnibus Bills to Be Passed Using
Omnibus House of Commons
- Enver Villamizar -
On May 21 the House Leader of the Harper
government Peter Van Loan tabled a motion which
would have the House of Commons sit until
midnight, except on Fridays, in order to guarantee
the passage of the government's bills, many of
them omnibus. This effectively turned the House of
Commons into a instrument of omnibus passage of
omnibus Bills.[1]
According to standing orders, House sittings can
be extended but only within 10 days of the June 21
scheduled rising of the House for the summer
recess. The motion would extend this period by
almost 3 weeks.
The motion
effectively punishes the opposition parties for
trying to have "too much" debate on government
bills by forcing votes on the bills even if the
debate was not concluded in time for the votes to
take place. With the motion the government has set
up time allocation for the entire House of
Commons, limiting debate on the contents of
government legislation so as to get everything
passed. The attempts to eliminate the House of
Commons as a forum for actual debate and
discussion on the direction in which Canada is
being taken is how the government's
nation-wrecking manifests in Parliament itself.
Much of the legislation set to be passed is being
actively opposed by Canadians and First Nations,
especially that which tampers with the hereditary
rights of First Nations and makes changes which
usurp the regulatory authority of the Parliament.
This underscores that the government does not have
a mandate as it claims and why it must
increasingly resort to using heavy handed means to
impose its agenda. The more it serves narrow
private interests at the expense of the public
interest, the more contempt it arouses against
itself.
The government presented its anti-democratic
actions in the guise of high ideals. Van Loan
stated that the motion was a method of ensuring
that Parliament "rolls up its sleeves and works a
little harder, earlier this year."
He
summarized the motion in the following manner:
"This would amount to an additional 20 hours each
week. Extended sitting hours is something that
happens most years in June. Our government just
wants to roll up our sleeves and work a little
harder, earlier this year. The motion would allow
certain votes to be deferred automatically until
the end of question period, to allow for all
honourable members' schedules to be a little more
orderly."
He then went on to outline some of the
legislation the government hopes to ram through
using this method: "Some of those accomplishments
we intend to pass are: reforming the temporary
foreign workers program to put the interests of
Canadians first; implementing tax credits for
Canadians who donate to charity; enhancing the tax
credit for parents who adopt; and extending the
tax credit for Canadians who take care of loved
ones in their home. We also want to support
veterans and their families by improving the
determination of veterans' benefits." Below are
the Minister's remarks. Comments from the author
are contained in double parentheses.
Legislation Affecting First Nations
"Of course, these are some of the important
measures from this year's budget and are included
in Bill C-60, Economic Action Plan 2013 Act,
no. 1. We are also working toward results for
aboriginals by moving closer to equality for
Canadians living on reserves through better
standards for drinking water and finally giving
women on reserves the same rights and protections
other Canadian women have had for decades. Bill
S-2, family homes on reserves and matrimonial
interests or rights act, and Bill S-8, the safe
drinking water for first nations act would deliver
on those very important objectives."
((This legislation is being actively opposed by
First Nations across the country and their
supporters. It is part of the colonial agenda to
destroy the current arrangements between the state
and First Nations. Instead, fee simple
arrangements are to be imposed to erase First
Nations treaty, hereditary and constitutional
rights and claims based on those rights, in this
case in the name of women's rights or ensuring
safe drinking water.[2]))
Bill C-51, the Safer Witnesses Act
"We will also work to keep our streets and
communities safe by making real improvements to
the witness protection program through Bill C-51,
the Safer Witnesses Act. I think that
delivering these results for Canadians is worth
working a few extra hours each week."
((This legislation would permit not only law
enforcement agencies but military and other
federal security agencies to place witnesses in
witness protection programs, especially in
relation to matters of "organized crime and
terrorism." It would also increase the ability of
the state to keep secret its sources in such
investigations.))
Bill C-48, Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012
"We will work to bring the Technical Tax
Amendments Act, 2012, into law. Bill C-48
would provide certainty to the tax code. It has
been over a decade since a bill like this has
passed, so it is about time this bill passed. In
fact, after question period today, I hope to start
third reading of this bill, so perhaps we can get
it passed today."
Bill C-52, the Fair Rail Freight
Service Act
"We will also work to bring Bill C-52, the Fair
Rail Freight Service Act, into law. The
bill would support economic growth by ensuring
that all shippers, including farmers, are treated
fairly. Over the next few weeks we will also work,
hopefully with the co-operation of the opposition
parties, to make progress on other important
initiatives."
((This legislation establishes a process for
shippers to enter into binding service contracts
with freight companies.))
Bill C-54, the Not Criminally
Responsible Reform Act
"Bill C-54 will ensure that public safety is the
paramount consideration in the decision-making
process involving high-risk accused found not
criminally responsible on account of mental
disorder. This is an issue that unfortunately has
affected every region of this country. The very
least we can do is let the bill come to a vote and
send it to committee where witnesses can testify
about the importance of these changes."
((This legislation is part of the government's
"tough on crime, except our own" agenda. Like
other legislation of this sort, the government
claims it is to support victims of crime.
Meanwhile, what is covered up are the attempts to
completely change the spirit and letter of the
criminal justice system.))
Bill C-49, the Canadian Museum of History Act
"Bill C-49 would create the Canadian Museum of
History, a museum for Canadians that would tell
our stories and present our country's treasures to
the world."
((This legislation seeks to rename and reorient
the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull. It
will be called the Canadian Museum of History and
be used to promote the Harperite revision of
Canada's development to make it match Harper's
anti-worker, anti-immigrant, anti-First Nation and
anti-communist notions of Canadians as a military
people who contributed to defending Empire from
the time of the Boer War to the current day.))
Bill S-14, the Fighting Foreign Corruption Act
"Bill S-14, the Fighting Foreign Corruption
Act, will do just that by further deterring
and preventing Canadian companies from bribing
foreign public officials. These amendments will
help ensure that Canadian companies continue to
act in good faith in the pursuit of freer markets
and expanded global trade."
((Of course the Harper government does not have
the same qualms about corruption within its own
ranks. It is mainly a means to wage a kind of
internecine fight between competing corrupt
rivals.))
Bill S-13, the Port State Measures Agreement
Implementation Act
"Bill S-13, the Port State Measures Agreement
Implementation Act, would implement that
2009 treaty by amending the Coastal Fisheries
Protection Act to add prohibitions on
importing illegally acquired fish."
Bill S-9, the Nuclear Terrorism Act
"Tonight [May 21] we will be voting on Bill S-9,
the Nuclear
Terrorism Act, which will allow Canada to
honour its commitments under international
agreements to tackle nuclear terrorism.
((The Act passed that evening. It made planning
or carrying out an attack or interfering with the
operation of a nuclear facility or nuclear
material a terrorist act, unless it is done by a
state in an act of war. Of course the bill is only
intended to reinforce the glaring double standard
on who can and cannot develop and possess nuclear
energy and nuclear weapons. It is not meant to
address nuclear terrorism by the U.S. or its
client Israel should either attack nuclear
facilities in the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea or Iran, for example. According to the
Harperite worldview, such attacks would not be
considered nuclear terrorism on the basis that
might makes right, and because these countries
actively reject U.S. imperialist dictate they are
fair game.))
Bill S-10, the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act
"Another important treaty -- the Convention on
Cluster Munitions -- can be given effect if we
adopt Bill S-10, the Prohibiting Cluster
Munitions Act."
((This legislation would give force to Canada's
ratification of the Convention on Cluster
Munitions (CCM). According to the legislative
summary, Canada currently possesses 12,600 cluster
munitions, which were withdrawn from active
service in 2007 and a process is underway to
destroy the remaining stockpiles by 2014.))
Bill S-17, the Tax Conventions Implementation
Act, 2013
"We will seek to update and modernize Canada's
network of income tax treaties through Bill S-17,
the Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2013,
by giving the force of law to recently signed
agreements between Canada and Namibia, Serbia,
Poland, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Switzerland."
((This bill gives force to the signed treaties.
According to the legislative summary, the treaties
are aimed at "the avoidance of double taxation and
the prevention of fiscal evasion."))
Bill C-56, the Combating Counterfeit Products
Act
"Among other economic bills is Bill C-56, the Combating
Counterfeit Products Act. The bill would
protect Canadians from becoming victims of
trademark counterfeiting and goods made using
inferior or dangerous materials that lead to
injury or even death. Proceeds from the sale of
counterfeit goods may be used to support organized
crime groups. Clearly, this bill is another
important one to enact."
((This bill amends the Copyright and Trade-marks Act in
line with demands of the U.S. to align Canada's
copyright laws with its own. It also adds offences
from the Copyright and Trade-marks Act
under which authorities can seek judicial
authorization to use a wiretap.))
Bill S-15, the Expansion and Conservation of
Canada's National Parks Act
"Important agreements with the provinces of Nova
Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador would be
satisfied through Bill S-15, the Expansion
and Conservation of Canada's National Parks Act,
which would, among other things, create the Sable
Island national park reserve [...]"
((An excerpt from the bill's summary indicates
what the Harper government is likely trying to
cover up by passing the legislation in this
omnibus session: "The Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia have
asserted Aboriginal rights and title to the
province of Nova Scotia, and the governments of
Canada and Nova Scotia are negotiating this claim
under the Made-in-Nova Scotia Process. Designation
as a national park would not allow for Aboriginal
land claims against the area that it encompasses;
accordingly, designation as a national park
reserve allows the governments to continue these
land claim negotiations."))
Bill C-61, the Offshore Health and Safety Act
"[...] Bill C-61, the Offshore Health and
Safety Act [...] would provide clear rules
for occupational health and safety of offshore oil
and gas installations."
((This legislation amends the Canada Labour Code
as well as concentrates powers for making health
and safety regulations concerning the transport of
workers to and from offshore drilling rigs.))
Bill S-12, the Incorporation by Reference in
Regulations Act
"Earlier I referred to the important work of
committees. The Standing Joint Committee on the
Scrutiny of Regulations inspired Bill S-12, the Incorporation
by Reference in Regulations Act."
((This legislation would effectively usurp
Parliament's regulatory-making authority and
permit the delegation of these powers to foreign
entities.[3]))
Notes
1. The text of the
motion reads:
That, notwithstanding
any Standing or Special Order or usual practice
of the House, commencing upon the adoption of
this Order and concluding on Friday, June 21,
2013:
(a) the ordinary hour
of daily adjournment shall be 12 midnight,
except on Fridays;
(b) when a recorded
division is demanded, in relation to a
proceeding which has been interrupted pursuant
to the provisions of an order made under
Standing Order 78(3) or pursuant to Standing
Orders 61(2) or 66(2), (i) before 2 pm on a
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, it shall
stand deferred until the conclusion of oral
questions at that day's sitting, or (ii) after 2
pm on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday,
or at any time on a Friday, it shall stand
deferred until the conclusion of oral questions
at the next sitting day that is not a Friday;
(c) when a recorded
division, which would have ordinarily been
deemed deferred to immediately before the time
provided for Private Members' Business on a
Wednesday, is demanded, the said division is
deemed to have been deferred until the
conclusion of oral questions on the same
Wednesday;
(d) when a recorded
division is to be held, except recorded
divisions deferred to the conclusion of oral
questions or to the ordinary hour of daily
adjournment, the bells to call in the Members
shall be sounded for not more than thirty
minutes; and
(e) when a motion for
the concurrence in a report from a standing,
standing joint or special committee is moved,
the debate shall be deemed to have been
adjourned upon the conclusion of the period for
questions and comments following the speech of
the mover of the motion, provided that the
debate shall be resumed in the manner ordinarily
prescribed by Standing Order 66(2). 2. See TML
Daily, October 11, 2012 - No. 126. 3. See TML
Weekly, April 20, 2013 - No. 15.
Fighting for the Rights of All
Atlantic Lobster
Fishermen Wage Mass Actions to Improve Their
Conditions
Rally on Prince
Edward Island from the beginning of the lobster
fishermen's strike in early May.
Since early May, thousands of lobster fishermen
in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia have been waging mass actions to improve
their living and working conditions. For many days
they tied up their boats and refused to go
fishing. They held demonstrations at the
processing plants, at the offices of the
commission buyers who take a cut of the price of
their fish and the offices of the provincial
Ministries of Fisheries. Lobster fishermen from
Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine held actions to
support the fishermen from the Atlantic provinces,
tying their boats for a few days. The main demand
of the lobster fishermen is on the price they get
for their catch. The price this year is around $3
a pound and the fishermen say that without about
$5 a pound they cannot maintain themselves, pay
for their licences and fuel, buy bait, pay their
employees and maintain and repair their boats.
TML recently spoke with Ian MacPherson,
the Executive-Director of the Prince Edward Island
Fishermen's Association. "Just to give you an
example, an average of $3 a pound is what we were
getting in 1991," he said. "At that time bait was
$0.07 a pound, not about a dollar like today. The
fuel was $0.30 a litre then and today it is about
a dollar. The wages of our employees and
maintenance costs are also much higher today than
they were at that time. The situation that our
fishermen are facing is truly dramatic,"
MacPherson added, pointing out that the pricing
system being used in the Atlantic provinces is
dysfunctional.
MacPherson said, "There are may factors in the
equation. The main thing is that no basic price is
set for the catch. The boats go out and one or two
weeks later the fishermen are advised what price
they will get for their catch. They have expenses
to meet but they have no idea how much income is
coming in. Then there is the issue of the
commission buyers. Up to 10 or 12 years ago, the
fishermen dealt directly with the plants. Then
commission buyers were brought in, who take some
of the money. We are asking for an agreement that
sets a basic price that is acceptable to the
fishermen so that they can make a living and keep
fishing. At the current price, that is not
possible. "
The fishermen are facing a most difficult
situation. With the recent changes to the EI
program for example, when they make very little
money as is the case this year, the EI office
forces them to look for a job at 70 per cent of a
wage that is already extremely low. How can they
keep fishing?
"That is one of the main problems we have, making
sure that our people can stay in business as
independent licensed operators. There are
thousands of them in the Atlantic provinces. If
the prices remain low a number of independent
operators are going to drop out of the market.
There will be no buyers for their licences among
the independent operators and the corporations
will pick them up. These are owners of big fishing
boats with no ties to the communities. That is
just going to increase the trend of the
concentration of corporate wealth that we already
see happening with the fish processing plants
where many of the smaller plants have closed in
recent years. A way of life that sustains the
rural areas is endangered."
Around mid-May, all the fishermen were back at
sea but they have broken the silence on their
conditions and are carrying on the fight to get a
price for their catch they find acceptable. The
Ministers of Fisheries of Prince Edward Island,
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have committed to
set up a panel of experts to study the issue of a
basic price for lobster that would be acceptable
to the fishermen. Officials of the Ministries held
meetings with representatives of the fishermen and
plant owners but nothing has transpired yet of
what was discussed. The fishermen refuse to be
uprooted from their communities and demand to be
able to live and work under decent conditions in
their region. They are proud of the support they
received for their struggle and mass actions and
especially of the fact that they organized joint
actions in the three provinces.
"The support of the people has been very strong
and they appreciate the difficulties we are going
through. Besides, it is the first time in years
that the fishermen tied up their boats together.
That is very inspiring," MacPherson said.
Song: "Three Bucks
a Pound"
Global Day of Action Against Monsanto
On May 25, hundreds of people took to the streets
in the cities of Montreal, Quebec City and
Sherbrooke, joining people around the world for
the Global Day of Action Against Monsanto.
Organizers report that some two million protesters
in more than 50 countries took part around the
world. More events are planned to continue
educating the public on Monsanto and genetically
modified foods.
The U.S. firm Monsanto is one of the largest seed
and chemical products companies in the world. It
has developed a strain of canola resistant to its
herbicide Roundup. Farmers are thus forced to buy
Monsanto seeds and Monsanto herbicide together
because other herbicides can damage plants and the
herbicide Roundup can kill seeds that are not
genetically modified (GMO). They must sign a
contract to buy GMO seeds from Monsanto that bars
them from using seeds harvested from its GMO
products for planting the following year.
In Montreal, more than 400 people gathered in the
pouring rain at 2:00 pm downtown. Organizers,
hailed it as a great success: "Quebeckers have
mobilized to defend their rights."
"We can do farming differently. More and more
scientific studies highlight the relevance of GMO-
and pesticide-free methods. These methods would
develop our regions and meet the food needs of the
entire population while respecting the ecosystem
and human health," said Benoit Girouard, President
of l'Union paysanne.
"Monsanto has 90 per cent of the patents for GMO
crops. This is one of the most powerful companies
in the world in the field of agribusiness. In
particular, it produces GMO seeds designed to
resist its flagship herbicide, Roundup, in order
to sell both together. The governments of Quebec
and Canada should end this quasi-monopolistic
control of multinationals like Monsanto," said
Dominique Bernier of Friends of the Earth, Quebec
City.
"If you do not want multinationals like Monsanto
to decide what we put on our plates and what we
plant in our fields, it is time to mobilize and
ask our elected officials to encourage a
sustainable, diverse and equitable agricultural
system. This means an agricultural system that
promotes fair trade here in Quebec and supports
the wealth of regional and local agricultural
heritage. It should strengthen policies that
restore confidence to consumers and citizens, not
those that give more power to those who already
have too much," said Elizabeth Kowalski of the
Department of Sociology at the University of
Quebec in Montreal (UQAM).
(Quotations translated from
original French by TML. Sources: LML, Nature
Québec)
Thousands Militantly Demonstrate in Britain to
Defend National Health Care
- Workers' Weekly -
As many as 7,000 marched from the South Bank to a
militant rally at Downing Street on Saturday, May
18.
The demonstration had been called by an
unprecedented coalition of London residents,
medical staff, trade unions and health campaigners
in London. The local campaigns have been
mobilising thousands on the streets in their
communities to defend local hospitals against
threats of closure and down-grading.
There were big mobilisations from the Lewisham,
Ealing, Hammersmith and Whittington National
Health Service (NHS) campaigns on the
demonstration, as well as big contingents from the
trade unions with their banners. Many health
workers also joined the march.
Unprecedentedly, a platform was erected opposite
Downing Street and the thousands of demonstrators
staged a rally with speakers representing health
workers, their trade unions, and the local
campaigns, as well as a number of MPs who reflect
the sentiment of their constituents to fight to
safeguard the future of the NHS. The Save Lewisham
Hospital campaign banner had been prominent near
the front of the march, and Dr Louise Irvine,
chair of the campaign, gave the opening and
penultimate speeches. Her call was for the
militant unity of all to give the movement to
defend the NHS and against its privatisation a
coherent national character.
While the speeches took place, a petition was
delivered to the Prime Minister's residence at
Number 10 Downing Street.
The demonstration represented a significant
stepping stone in demonstrating the sentiment of
the working class and people in their fight to
change the direction of the NHS. Throughout the
demonstration the call was heard time and again:
Whose NHS? Our NHS!
(Workers' Weekly is a
publication of the Revolutionary Communist Party
of Britain (Marxist-Leninist). Published May 19,
2013.)
Read The Marxist-Leninist
Daily
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email:
editor@cpcml.ca
Workers'
claims for wages, benefits and pensions are not
costs. They are claims on the value they produce
and services they provide. Workers work. Their
work-time according to their abilities, education
and experience while using modern means of
production produces and provides services. They
transform the bounty of Mother Earth in
multifarious ways to create a modern life. Without
that work, there is no modern life. Without
workers working, there would be no wealth to
support Parliament and Poilievre's salary,
benefits and pension. There would be no wealth to
fill the pockets of the rich and sustain their
lavish lifestyles of class privilege.
The motion
effectively punishes the opposition parties for
trying to have "too much" debate on government
bills by forcing votes on the bills even if the
debate was not concluded in time for the votes to
take place. With the motion the government has set
up time allocation for the entire House of
Commons, limiting debate on the contents of
government legislation so as to get everything
passed. The attempts to eliminate the House of
Commons as a forum for actual debate and
discussion on the direction in which Canada is
being taken is how the government's
nation-wrecking manifests in Parliament itself.
He
summarized the motion in the following manner:
"This would amount to an additional 20 hours each
week. Extended sitting hours is something that
happens most years in June. Our government just
wants to roll up our sleeves and work a little
harder, earlier this year. The motion would allow
certain votes to be deferred automatically until
the end of question period, to allow for all
honourable members' schedules to be a little more
orderly."
