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December 25, 2018
2018 Photo Review
Taking Bold Stands in Defence
of the Rights of All and to
Make Canada a Zone for Peace
September
 TML Daily
continues its month-by-month photo review of the stands taken by the
working people of
Canada and Quebec and Indigenous peoples in 2018 with September.
As September began, thousands of workers
participated in more than 70 Labour Day marches, picnics and other
celebrations across the country, upholding the dignity of labour. This
year, facing systematic attacks on their wages, working conditions and
safety at work, workers are deeply concerned about the direction of the
economy and future of society. The situation calls on them to step up
their organized resistance in defence of their rights and the rights of
all.
A major
feature of September was
the people's striving for empowerment in the Quebec election. Close to
50 per
cent of the candidates ran as independents or for parties that
did not hold seats in the Quebec National Assembly. Throughout the
election, despite every attempt to silence their voices, workers, their
unions, and social justice and environmental organizations spoke out
and
held actions to present their views and concerns. This showed the
people's determination and their recognition of the importance of
relying on themselves, not the cartel party system. The
Marxist-Leninist Party of
Quebec
(PMLQ) ran 25 candidates on the platform "For a Modern Quebec that
Defends the
Rights of All!" and "Humanize the Natural and Social Environment: All
Out for Democratic Renewal!" Every day throughout the election, Chantier
politique, the newspaper of the PMLQ, provided coherence by
addressing the concerns of
working people, debunking attempts by the ruling circles to divert
them,
reporting on their activities and providing a venue for workers to
speak
out on matters of concern.
In
British Columbia, people geared up for the referendum on proportional
representation that would start
October 22. Activists in favour of proportional representation
organized events, discussions and actions of various kinds over the
summer and the pace
of this activity accelerated as fall began, a reflection of people's
dissatisfaction with the status quo and their desire for new
arrangements.
Throughout September, issues of the
natural environment were high on people's consciousness. On September
8, people
across
Canada took part in an international "Rise For Climate" day of action.
In
Vancouver, the theme of the march and rallies was "Build Our Future Not
a Pipeline." As well, throughout the Quebec elections, demonstrations
organized by "The Planet Joins the
Campaign" put the urgent need for a coherent program to protect
the natural environment front and centre.
Also during September, annual Take Back the Night marches and other
activities to affirm women's right to fully participate in the life of
society and to walk the streets, day or night, without fear were held
across the country.
As the Ontario Ford government continued
to escalate its anti-social offensive, 40,000 students across the
province organized school walkouts emphatically stating, "We Do Not
Consent!" to the government's retrogressive changes to the sex
education and
Indigenous studies curricula, or to cuts for school
maintenance. They demanded a say and control over the decisions that
affect their education and lives. Injured workers' organizations
denounced the Ford government's decision to cut employer premiums for
workers'
compensation, depriving the system of much needed funds to assist
injured workers.
As the month of September drew to a close, hundreds of union activists and
supporters turned the tables on the managers and scabs at D-J
Composites' aerospace facility in Gander, Newfoundland, where 30 Unifor
members had been locked out by the
U.S. owners since December 2016. Activists from across Canada
surrounded the building and erected a temporary fence to keep scabs and
managers from returning to work. The union also ran a social media
campaign and newspaper ads, asking the public to write and call the
Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador to intervene to force the company
to sign a contract acceptable to the workers.
September 3
On Labour Day
workers across the
country participate in parades, picnics and other activities, upholding
workers' dignity, in the face of the brutal neo-liberal offensive which
treats them as a cost to be reduced and discarded.
Halifax  
Labrador West
 
Toronto  
 
    
Hamilton      
Sudbury
Barrie
London 
Windsor    
Winnipeg
 
Edmonton
 
Calgary
   
Vancouver
Prince George http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48030S.HTM
(Photos: TMLW, NAPE, Foundry
Photography, OECTA, $15 and Fairness, Occupy WSIB London, Unifor 444,
CUPE Manitoba, D. Brose)
Calgarians hold picket and lively
discussion on Labour
Day to oppose the impending
shutdown
of Greyhound bus routes in western Canada and Northern Ontario and
to discuss solutions. These cuts to service amount to nation-wrecking
as
they eliminate a vital transportation link for many Canadians in rural
areas.
http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0530.HTM#4
Information table at a Labour Day event
in
Gibsons
is one of many actions across BC as mobilization steps up for a "Yes"
vote in referendum on proportional representation.
http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48031.HTM#9
September 5
Federal public service
workers confront Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he arrives for a
fundraiser in Edmonton. They demand: "Fix the Phoenix Pay System Now!"   
http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0530.HTM#3
September 6
Information picket at
the entrance to Laurentian University in Sudbury opposes any
development of the Ring of
Fire that does not have the informed consent of the Anishinabek, nor
recognize that Indigenous peoples must be the primary beneficiaries of
any such developments on their lands. Instead, mining companies
continue to destroy their homelands, steal their
wealth, and leave them with scraps they are told to be grateful for.
 
  
http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48030.HTM#8
September 6
Quebec farmers take to the streets
of Montreal saying “Enough is Enough. No
More Concessions.” They demand the Trudeau government defend supply
management against U.S. demands for greater access to the Canadian
dairy market.
 
http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48034.HTM#2
September 8
A loud and vigorous
march and two rallies take place in Vancouver against construction of
the Trans
Mountain Pipeline and the federal government buyout of the Canadian
assets of the U.S. monopoly Kinder Morgan. "Build Our Future Not a
Pipeline" is the theme of the three-hour action. It is one of
hundreds of events held in Canada and internationally on the "Rise For
Climate" day of action.
 
http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48031.HTM#10
Victoria, BC
Kelowna; Nelson, BC
 
Winnipeg
Toronto
Montreal
In Prince George, people from all walks of life join in the
Red Dress Campaign to remember and give voice
to the missing and murdered
Indigenous women and girls along the Highway of Tears. A powerful
"stand-in" action is held at the corner of Highways 16 and 97, with
each red dress representing a loved one lost. From
there, participants move to Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park, where red
dresses are hung from trees and decorate the new park pavilion.
 
http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48031.HTM#11
September 9-10
Workers picket in
Estrie,
opposing the privatization of the Quebec Liquor Control Board. The picket is part
of two one-day strikes demanding that negotiations be unblocked so that
a satisfactory agreement can be reached that will immediately end their
precarious
working conditions.
 http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0531.HTM#6
September 10
A public assembly of
seasonal workers on the Acadian Peninsula and in
rural areas of New Brunswick, held in Inkerman, formalizes an alliance
of Quebec and New Brunswick workers to together fight to
eliminate the Black Hole of inadequate employment insurance.
 
http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0543.HTM#3
September 11
The 45th anniversary of
Canada-Vietnam relations is marked in Ottawa with a reception,
exhibition and a cultural
program. The events also celebrate
Vietnam's National Day, the day in 1945 when Vietnamese President Ho
Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence establishing the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
 
http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48032.HTM#12
September 12
Torontonians pack public
galleries at Queen's Park and rally outside city hall to express their
anger as the Ontario PC government reconvenes the legislature to
re-introduce the anti-social municipal government restructuring
legislation invoking the "notwithstanding clause." The new legislation
is introduced after a judge rules sections of Bill 5 violate the Charter.
The Ford government's actions make clear that it will pick up where the
Liberal government left off, escalating the destruction of all
arrangements pertaining to a public authority, leaving only the police
functions, which it will exercise to rule by decree.
  
http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48031.HTM#7
September 13
People gather outside
the CBC building in Montreal where the "Leaders' Debate" is taking
place, determined to break the suffocating silence that the election
imposes on them and affirm their demands for rights. There are
contingents from community advocacy, youth, tenants' rights and
environmental groups and workers from many regions. Locked-out aluminum
smelter workers, health care workers, and workers from Bombardier all
participate.
http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0531.HTM#2
https://pmlq.qc.ca/wp/2018/09/14/replique-citoyenne-manifestation
Demonstration
in
Montreal
by
Société
de
transport
de
Montréal
maintenance
workers opposes demands
for major contract concessions, such as the conversion of day shifts
into
evening and night shifts, the imposition of overtime and privatization
of services.
  https://pmlq.qc.ca/wp/2018/09/10/la-lutte-des-travailleurs-municipaux (Photos: CSN)
September 14
Vietnam-Canada
friendship organizations meet in Toronto to share experiences and ideas
of how to enhance relations between the two peoples and countries.
 http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48032.HTM#12
September 15
The PMLQ officially
opens its new office in Montreal where it announces the nomination of
25
candidates in the Quebec election.
   
  http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48031.HTM#4
(Photos: PMLQ)
People take to the
streets of Montreal putting
protection of the environment and an end to climate change on the
agenda of the Quebec election. The action is organized by "The Planet
Joins the Campaign."
  
pmlq.qc.ca/wp/2018/09/17/deux-milles-de-personnes-dans-la-rue
Demonstration by
seasonal workers in Tracadie, New
Brunswick demands reforms to employment insurance to ensure adequate
benefits.
 http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0543.HTM#1
Public sector
workers in Moncton hold a mass membership
meeting as part of CUPE New Brunswick's "Breaking the Mandate:
Bargaining Forward" campaign that puts wage increases for all 30,000
CUPE members as the first priority in current
negotiations with the province. Meetings are held in cities around the
province during
September.
 
http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0536.HTM#6
September 18
A reception takes place
in Ottawa for the new President of the Cuba-Canada Parliamentary
Friendship
Group, Gladys Mercedes Lopez. Gladys, who is also a member of the Cuban
National Assembly of People's Power, addresses the ongoing discussion
taking place throughout Cuban society on the draft proposal for a new
constitution.
 
http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48032.HTM#8
September 20
Spirited Take Back the
Night activities take place in Ontario and across the country. They
affirm the right
of women to say No! to
interference with or threats against their person,
whether by individuals or by the state.
Ottawa
Kingston
 
Toronto
 
Peel
Durham
Hamilton
 
Cambridge
Ingersoll
London
Windsor
Haliburton
Sudbury
 
Timmins
Elliot Lake
 http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48033.HTM#8 (Photos: B. Reid, S. Sheldrick, S.
Charron,
Sackingston, YWCA, L. Goodman, Samira, PWAWA, S. Denney, A. Tennier,
Alsamyname, J. Buckmaster, J. Watt, B. Miller, P. Mills, I. Cote, NFF,
eyes on windsor, Counselling Centre for East Algoma)
September 21
Some 40,000 students
walk out of class across Ontario affirming
that the Ford government does not have their consent for retrogressive
changes to school curricula.
Ottawa 
Nepean
Penetanguishene
Toronto, Western Tech
Toronto, Parkdale Collegiate
Toronto, Bloor Collegiate
Toronto, Wexford Collegiate
Toronto, Riverdale Collegiate
North Toronto Collegiate
Toronto, Harbord Collegiate
Toronto, Earl Haig Secondary
Toronto, Malvern Collegiate
Thornhill, Westmount Collegiate
Mississauga, Port Credit Secondary
Burlington
Guelph, walkout and rally at City Hall
Waterloo; Bracebridge
 
Parry Sound
Port Perry http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48033.HTM#7
September 22
A rally on air quality
is
held in the Lower Town of Quebec City. The PMLQ candidate and others
highlight that
the issue with air quality clearly shows working people must
make the decisions which affect their lives.
http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0532.HTM#3
September 23
Students rally at
Queen's Park to take their demands to the Ontario
government
two days after walkouts
take place in schools across Ontario.
  
  http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48033.HTM#7 (Photos: TML, Isabel,
I. Jansen, R. Operi, B.
Karpoche, M. Stiles, Jordanna, P. Tabuns, O. Wright, D. Ladd, S.
Tabasin, D. Matheson, N. Citron, S. Donegan, C. Smoolenaars, Benita Van
M, K. Fife, Emma, J. Thomson, G. Nore, Rayne)
September 26
Injured workers picket
the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) annual general meeting
in
Toronto demanding it withdraw its plan to cut employer premiums. The
new
government claims it has eliminated WSIB's fraudulent "unfunded
liability" ten years ahead of schedule that justifies giving employers
a massive reduction in premiums starting
in 2019, depriving the compensation system of $1.5 billion.
 
http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0542.HTM#1
http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0533.HTM#4
September 26-29
Workers from across
Canada help locked-out D-J Composites workers in Gander, Newfoundland
block scabs from entering the plant. Hundreds of workers and 1,000 feet
of fencing, erected by the union, surround the D-J composites plant.
 
http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0533.HTM
(Photos:
Unifor)
September 28
Postal workers across
the country gather outside their workplaces to
support their CUPW bargaining committees and tell Canada Post "Time's
Running Out: Negotiate Now!"
St. John's Newfoundland
Peterborough
Scarborough
Toronto
Prince George, BC
 http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0535.HTM#1
Retail and office workers
at the Quebec Liquor Board
hold a
membership meeting in
Montreal and vote 96 per cent in favour of a new 18-day strike
mandate, to be used when the union deems necessary in their
negotiations for wage increases to bring them to a modern standard
income and for an end to precarious working conditions.
 http://cpcml.ca/WF2018/WO0533.HTM#2
(CSN)
September 29
On the eve of the Quebec
election, housing rights activists rally and
march in
Quebec City demanding the new government recognize the right to
housing. Speakers denounce the complete silence imposed during the
election on the urgent need for social housing. The march, organized by
the Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain, "From Cities to
Villages for the Right to Housing" that began in Ottawa on September 2,
travels through some 50 municipalities to finish in Quebec City,
gathering broad support along its route.
 
 
Demonstrations in
four Quebec
cities -- Montreal, Gatineau, Sherbrooke and Cowansville -- continue to
raise
protection
of the natural environment as a major concern in the elections. These
are the third
actions organized by "The Planet Joins the
Campaign" which emphasizes that we are collectively responsible for the
environment, that solutions already exist and that it is urgent to
present a coherent program to preserve it.
Montreal
Sherbrooke https://pmlq.qc.ca/wp/2018/10/01/des-milliers-de-personnes-dans-quatre-villes-du-quebec
Actions take place
across Canada a week before the first round of the presidential
election in Brazil on October 7. People express militant support for
the
Brazilian people facing an election manipulated by reactionary forces.
Quebec City
Montreal
Ottawa
Toronto
Vancouver http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2018/W48034.HTM#12 (Brasil de Fato, Ninja Midia,
Vermelho)
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