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July 25, 2015 - No. 30 12 Years in
the Life of Local 1005 USW (2003-2015) Hamilton
Steelworkers Express
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Rolf recalled the
importance
of taking stands "against secret deals and against negotiations behind
the backs
of the workers." "Steel is what the society is built on," Rolf said,
adding,
"What does it mean when steelworkers are discarded like scrap? It means
the
society is in deep trouble, and it is up to us to make sure it changes
direction.
This is what we have done for the past 12 years, and I want to
express my
profound appreciation for every one of you, our families and our
community."
Speaking further about the
Thursday Meetings, Rolf
explained: Local 1005 poet Bill Mahoney gave a performance of his poem "Our Town" to enthusiastic applause. |
Rolf thanked his party, the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada (MLPC) which he said has stood with the steelworkers through thick and thin and will continue to do so. The presence of MLPC National Leader Anna Di Carlo at the party was received with applause.
Rolf gave his heartfelt appreciation to the workers who
began the Thursday Meetings, to workers who have passed on, and to
those who have made a special contribution to the life of Local 1005.
He gave special mention to the three other steelworkers who began the
Thursday Meetings with him, Wayne Hudema, Gary Howe and Jake Lombardo.
He spoke with emotion about the Local 1005
workers who have passed on, including Bob Smith (Smitty) who played a
crucial role in the fight against CCAA proceedings.
Rolf's presentation was met with a standing ovation, especially when he said at the end that he would continue to take part in all aspects of the life of Local 1005, particularly the distribution of Information Update every week in downtown Hamilton and in the actions which advance the fight for the rights of all.
Hamilton Centre MP David Christopherson then spoke and
presented Rolf and Jake with certificates of appreciation for their
contributions to the community.
Jake Lombardo closed the event, offering his sincere thanks to all the workers and their families who came to honour the work of Local 1005. Reflecting on the battles fought by Local 1005 and the way the union stuck to principles and defended the rights of all, he asked what it would look like if unions across Canada took the same stand. "In Canada and Ontario, if all the unions joined forces and did what we have done, including educating the people on the streets," they would win, said Jake. At the end of the day there's always other choices, he said. "Today people are not happy with what's happening with Stephen Harper, they're not happy with Kathleen Wynne. There's a change that could be happening, and at the end of the day it's going to take a lot of hard work and the kinds of things we do," he said.
"We've got to give someone
else a chance that's going to
stand up and
defend the rights of all. Defend all the rights of all the workers
here. It's time
to step up the fight. They did it in '46, and we can do it today."
Jake thanked everyone for coming, and called on everyone to keep up the fight in the streets, to keep educating the people, and to make the world a better place for their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Jake also received enthusiastic applause and a standing ovation.
One by one, workers approached Rolf and Jake to shake hands, have their pictures taken and express their appreciation that Local 1005 and its leadership fought for the dignity of labour. On this occasion, TML Weekly sends its warmest greetings to Rolf and Jake, and to the new President of Local 1005 Gary Howe, all the executive members and all the fighting steelworkers, pensioners and people of Hamilton who have supported their cause.
(Photos: VoS)
Brief Overview of Rolf Gerstenberger's Achievements as President of Local 1005 USW
Local 1005 United Steelworkers rally on Parliament Hill, May 1, 2011, carrying on the
fighting spirit of '46 in the present conditions.
Local 1005 USW's great
achievement under the leadership of Rolf
Gerstenberger has been to renew its founding spirit in the conditions
of the
present. That is not a minor matter. Under Rolf's stewardship Local
1005 has
persevered and developed under all conditions, something only a few
organizations have accomplished. It has renewed its original fighting
spirit in
the conditions of the present and by doing so is still vital and
leading its
members and retirees in the defence of their rights and the rights of
all.
At the time Rolf took over as President of Local 1005, the local faced and resisted the demands of CEO James Alfano for a 20 per cent wage cut. Local 1005 saw Alfano's demand as an attempt to use economic problems in the steel sector, which were not caused by steelworkers, as an excuse for owners of debt and equity to increase their claim on the wealth Stelco steelworkers produced, at the expense of the actual producers.
In 2003, Rolf led Local 1005 to face and denounce the demands for concessions of CEO Courtney Pratt who, like Alfano before him, did a Chicken Little routine crying the "sky is falling" hoping to panic steelworkers. Local 1005 rightly called on its members to be calm, pointing out that concessions were not solutions to the steel crisis and, besides, Stelco was capable of producing 5 million tons of steel a year and with steel prices rising to their prices of production the company would soon have a substantial gross income.
In spite of the obvious
growing gross income, Pratt initiated proceedings
under the Companies' Creditors
Arrangement Act (CCAA) and with the
collaboration of Justice James Farley of the Ontario Superior Court
put
Stelco under bankruptcy protection on January 29, 2004. Rolf led Local
1005
to denounce the move as a fraud and refused to participate in any of
the
phoney restructuring talks, where the collective agreement would be
opened
and the union would be forced to give concessions. During more than two
years
under CCAA, with Rolf's leadership, Local 1005 led the
country
in exposing CCAA as state-organized legalized theft of pensions, wages
and
benefits and an assault on all those creditors not in league with the
most
powerful in control of the bankruptcy process.
Local 1005 disseminated its views on the CCAA into the public domain and led many across the country to the conclusion that the CCAA process is indeed a fraud. More and more Canadians came to understand that the CCAA and its counterpart in the U.S. called Chapter 11 are instruments of the most powerful owners of capital to consolidate assets and power in fewer hands; liquidate excess capital investments of others through closures, layoffs and selling assets; extract concessions from workers through extortion; feed the parasites of the bankruptcy sector, and prepare conditions for a big score for those in control upon exiting bankruptcy protection.
All this occurred at Stelco
except Local 1005 and others stood firmly
against concessions and through their resistance exposed the entire
state-organized process as a destructive fraud that solves no
fundamental
economic problem for the company in question, the sector or economy. In
a
most socially responsible way, Local 1005 gave its views for an
alternative
pro-social restructuring of Stelco outside the CCAA and in sharp
contrast to
the subsequent disaster of the restructuring, the big score for
Brookfield
Management Inc. et al and
sell-out to U.S. Steel.
When the asset-management companies that had seized Stelco during CCAA pulled off their big score with the sale of Stelco to U.S. Steel in 2007, Local 1005 alerted its members and retirees that their biggest challenges were yet to come. U.S. Steel, as a leading monopoly of the U.S. global empire would soon reveal its rotten soul. Despite having signed a takeover agreement with Investment Canada, which contained assurances of improved production and employment levels and, in contradiction with a pension agreement with the Ontario government guaranteeing Stelco's pension funds and the retirement benefits of steelworkers and a company letter in the Hamilton Spectator assuring all who would listen that Stelco pensions were secure and inviolable, U.S. Steel soon went on an anti-social anti-national offensive, closing both Hamilton Works and Lake Erie Works and extorting concessions on pensions.
 Workers protests on the Hamilton lift bridge stopped removal of Coke from the plant during the 2010 lockout. |
Local 1005 warned members that not only would U.S. Steel not respect any contract it signed, as this was now the norm with monopolies, but that it would wage a constant war with steelworkers for concessions that would not end with de-indexing of pensions or a two-tier system of pensions, wages and benefits. Rolf pointed to the direct experience in the neo-liberal era which shows that monopolies such as U.S. Steel try to extort the workers on every issue while also showing no respect for agreements entered into with the governments in question.
Throughout this period, active and retired steelworkers have made it clear through their determined resistance that they will fight the blackmail to give concessions which destroy their standard of living and way of life, as well as nation-wrecking.
Local 1005 pointed out to its members that this fight with the U.S. monopoly would be similar to the 1946 struggle. While the conditions today under neo-liberal globalization are not the same as in 1946, the workers must fight all over again for union recognition and an acknowledgement by owners of monopoly capital and governments that workers have rights by virtue of being human and the producers of all wealth and providers of all services and those rights must be guaranteed and respected by all in practice. The fate of the country and the fate of the workers are one, Rolf said.
Another feature of Rolf's
leadership has been his
confidence that the
workers will always stand by the justice of their cause. Local 1005
has
mobilized the workers and retirees to oppose secret deals and instead
participate themselves directly in taking the decisions on matters that
affect
their lives. His very first act on taking office was to organize weekly
meetings
every Thursday without fail that put everything on the table, where
everything
of importance to the members and retirees is discussed and where a
winning
strategy is formulated and agreed to, that members
and
retirees defend in practice with unity and determination.
Rolf has also led Local 1005 to rely on the community by keeping the community informed of the situation at Stelco, as well as uniting with all those under attack or who simply oppose the extortion by monopoly right and want to see public right prevail. Local 1005 has reaffirmed its connections with the community that existed at its origin. Together, active and retired steelworkers and their supporters in the community demand that governments uphold their social responsibilities to defend public right and oppose nation-wrecking.
From the very beginning, Rolf put forward concrete proposals to rebuild the Canadian steel sector and economy and Local 1005's active defence of the rights of all demonstrates in practice that it is not only a workers' resistance organization but one that upholds its social responsibilities.
Local 1005 reaffirms in practice as it did in 1946 that
workers who are
united organizationally and determined to defend their just cause can
win even
against a dark force such as U.S. Steel that attempts to use its global
power
to dictate concessions from Canadian workers and wreck the Canadian
steel
sector. As a result, many across the country see Local 1005 as a beacon
of
determination and unity of the working class movement.
Congratulations to all those in Local 1005 who have persevered in the fight to defend their rights and the rights of all. By constantly renewing Local 1005's spirit and convictions, relying on the initiative of its own members and the community, by facing the world and its problems as they present themselves and not fudging them with "easy buttons" or other fabrications, and by holding governments to account to defend the people and public right, Local 1005 has proved and will continue to prove that the working class movement is more than a match for even the most powerful of monopolies.
Fundamental Problems Facing the Country
Council of Federation Meeting Solves Nothing
"Health Care Not Harper Care" action demands investments in public health care, during
Council of the Federation meeting, July 15, 2015.
The summer meeting of provincial Premiers held in St. John's Newfoundland on July 16 and 17, 2015 has once again highlighted the ongoing conflicts between the provinces and the federal government and the failure of the provincial Premiers to come to any substantive agreements among themselves.
 AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde holds press conference after meeting with provincial Premiers. |
Even before the conference began the preparatory discussions revealed the Premiers' dissatisfaction with the failure of the Harper Conservatives to address issues of national importance. On July 15, the Premiers met with leaders of national Aboriginal organizations in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Newfoundland Premier Paul Davis announced that Canada's Premiers support all 94 recommendations arising from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and will work to implement them in their own provinces. The Premiers also reiterated their support for the call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women.
On the first day of the conference, the Premiers
received a report from the
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU). The report revealed that
reductions by the federal government in the Canada Health Transfer may
be
greater than first feared, leading to a greater strain on the
provinces, which are
already struggling to sustain Canada's public health care system. The
report
from the CFNU expressed grave concerns that the federal government's
planned cuts to health care funding transfers not only shift costs onto
provinces
and territories but, they said, "The federal government's actions
pressure
provinces and territories to cut spending on health care. Actions that
limit the
scope of public health services available to Canadians risks making
private
options more attractive and undermines public health care in Canada."
The
report found that up to $43.5 billion of health care spending will be
cut over
the next eight years, based on economic growth projections. This
analysis
predicts a loss of $10.7 billion annually by 2024-2025.
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions demonstration on June 5, 2015, during their national convention in Halifax, puts health care as an issue in the federal election.
Placards say: "Vote for the Health Care We Deserve."
In their final communique the Premiers expressed support for the report from the CFNU and called for the federal government to commit to increasing the Canada Health Transfer to a minimum of 25 per cent of all health care spending by provinces and territories. It is important to point out that the Harper government has not met with Canada's Premiers to discuss health care or to negotiate an agreement since the 2004 Health Accord.
Premiers also criticized the federal government for failing to address the issue of pension reform and directed provincial and territorial finance ministers to update their work on options to expand the CPP/QPP and report to the Premiers at their 2016 summer meeting.
The Conference also raised the grave concern of Premiers with the quality of information provided by the voluntary National Household Survey with which the federal government replaced the mandatory long-form census. They pointed out that Statistics Canada changes have negatively affected the ability of governments to evaluate and implement key programs and services for Canadians. In the final communique the Premiers called on the federal government to "work with provinces and territories to ensure that governments have the reliable, high quality statistics they need to make good policy and program decisions to help meet the needs of all Canadians."
It was on the issue of the
Canada Energy Strategy,
including climate
change and energy pipelines that sharp contradictions among the
Premiers once
again came to the fore. These issues have been on the agenda of every
Council
of Federation meeting for more than three years with practically no
progress
towards any agreement. The contradictions among the Premiers became
even
more sharp in 2014 with the election of Premiers Philippe Couillard in
Quebec
and Kathleen Wynne in Ontario. Both of these Liberal governments
announced
their intention to work in close collaboration and establish a Central
Canada
Alliance in opposition to the agenda of the Harper Conservatives and
oil
monopolies in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Under the guise of protecting
the
environment, Premiers Couillard and Wynne tried to mobilize the
Premiers to
the
side of the monopolies in central Canada and use the Canada Energy
Strategy
in their interests. This created a stalemate and since then the
Premiers have not
been able to come to any agreement. On the contrary, it has given rise
to new
conflicting views on issues regarding the way to achieve reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions and the introduction of a cap-and-trade
system.
Far from being a mechanism to address concerns about the environment, the purpose of the Central Canada Alliance between the governments of Quebec and Ontario is to use their considerable power to transform central and eastern Canada into a huge network of energy corridors and gateways, with pipelines, railways, intermodal trucking and warehousing. This serves monopoly interests to further integrate the Canadian economy into the United States of North American Monopolies, which will continue the destruction of manufacturing and make the Canadian economy more subservient to private interests.
Meanwhile Premier Brad Wall of Saskatchewan and others who represent oil monopolies in production and distribution are desperately fighting to have the Energy East pipeline built from Alberta to New Brunswick without any interference from cental Canada. With the U.S. increasing its own oil production, the Keystone XL pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico is no longer a possibility. The future development of the tar sands depends on TransCanada's Energy East project. Ironically, as Premier Wall was chastizing the Premiers for minimizing the importance of oil to the Canadian economy and daring to criticize the tar sands, one of Nexen Energy's new pipelines near Fort McMurray was involved in a spill of five million litres of bitumen, sand and salty water.
With Premiers each representing the conflicting interests of the different monopolies, progress towards an agreement on a Canadian Energy Strategy never materialized. While the Premiers' conference gave rise to a document, it is far from a "strategy" and only further exposes the inability of the Premiers to go beyond vague generalities and agree on any concrete actions that would use the country's natural resources in the service of Canadians and protect the environment.
For example, the document stated with respect to controlling greenhouse gas emissions:
"Review and explore the potential to expand the use of market-based mechanisms across Canada and identify elements and opportunities to promote collaboration to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of programs" (Action 2.2.1); and "Collaborate on the development of options for an integrated pan-Canadian and North American approach to greenhouse gas reductions" (Action 2.3.1).
The goal "To maintain world-leading practices for the safe, secure, efficient, reliable, resilient, and environmentally responsible construction and operation of Canada's energy infrastructure" (Goal 7.2), has as its action plan: "Identify and adopt policy and regulatory best practices within provinces, territories, and internationally, and explore the establishment of common technology standards" (Action 7.2.2).
The failure of the Premiers to
formulate a sensible
Canada Energy Strategy
stems from the fact that they have no aim for Canadian society other
than to
side with one monopoly or the other as they contend for control of the
natural
resources and the wealth created by the working class and people of
Canada.
The hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks for the
western
oil monopolies and the huge grants given to heavy polluters out of a
special
Green Fund created by the Quebec government[1] are
examples of the
theft
from public funds that reflects the sharp contradictions between
different
sectors of monopoly corporations and the governments, whether federal
or
provincial, that represent them.
Banners from Jobs, Justice Climate Action march in Toronto, July 5, 2015.
For the working class and people of Canada there are many important issues for which the provincial Premiers and the Harper Conservatives are not part of the solution but part of the problem. What is urgently needed is a change in the direction of the economy which recognizes the importance of protecting the natural environment and puts an end to the squandering of the natural resources of the nation in favour of private interests. In this way we can build a stable and prosperous economy and defend the independence of the country and the well-being of the people.
Note
1. For example, in the documents made public by the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development, the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change Green Fund (MDDELCC), it is revealed that during the period of 2008 to 2013 transportation monopolies, including Canada Steamship, Bombardier and CN; mining monopolies such as Rio Tinto; as well as the Alouette aluminum smelter; and the paper industry monopoly Kruger; were able to pay for ships, locomotives, the transportation of bulk alumina and wood using the public purse to the tune of many millions of dollars.
Harper Government Fails to Defend Dairy Producers in Face of U.S. Attacks
Ottawa protest against TPP negotiations, July 10, 2014.
As the endless secret negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks drone on and on, U.S. and other foreign interests continue to attack Canada's supply management system, most recently regarding dairy products such as milk, cheese, butter, yogurt and ice cream. The annual meeting of the Dairy Farmers of Canada passed a resolution on July 15 calling on the Harperites not to make any concessions on supply management as part of the TPP. On July 18, it was revealed that a small group of U.S. Congress members, mainly from milk-producing states, have written to Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Gary Doer pressing Canada to include more imports of U.S. dairy products as part of the TPP trade talks. The letter includes the thinly-veiled threat that if Canada does not provide more access to foreign dairy producers, it risks being eliminated from the TPP in the final stages of the negotiations.
For four decades, Canada's
federal and provincial
governments have
effectively managed and regulated the supply of dairy products, through
a
system of quotas, marketing boards and tariffs. The provincial dairy
supply
management systems are producer-controlled organizations developed to
fulfill
the needs of the dairy producers, which render account to the producers
as to
the price that is put on the value they have produced. They oppose the
dogma
of the ruling circles that some mysterious "free market" can set "fair"
prices,
even when it is clear for all to see that every sector of the economy
is
dominated by monopolies that manipulate prices to suit their narrow
interests.
Supply management systems have a long and commendable record of
maintaining stable and affordable prices for producers, processors and
consumers, ensuring a constant and certain supply of safe, quality
products,
and eliminating reliance on subsidies, while assuring farmers a
predictable
income.
The U.S. Congress' letter attacking Canada's dairy industry was, unsurprisingly, supported by the two main U.S. dairy organizations -- the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and Dairy Export Council (USDEC) -- which called for "balanced market access." This is code that U.S. producers want the green light to seize Canadian dairy markets once international trade agreements have eliminated Canada's supply management system. But while dismantling the system is in the interests of private foreign monopolies, it is not in the best interests of Canadian farmers and workers. Wrecking supply management would extinguish thousands of family dairy farms, destroy other related livelihoods, increase economic insecurity, cause unstable and rising product prices, and subject Canadians to foreign products that might not meet Canadian domestic-production standards.
While the Harperites have been making noises about protecting supply management and that they are "studying the issue," their real aim is to eliminate it and to turn the dairy and other industries over to foreign ownership, just as they have done with the Canadian Wheat Board. John Manley, President and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and former Deputy Prime Minister, stated on April 10, 2012, on behalf of the corporate monopolies which he represents and which placed Harper in power, that he hoped the Harper government has "begun planning for some kind of transition from supply management." Manley added: "This is very much in the national interest to grow out of a national system that may have served us well at one time but has become an impediment to our own region and elsewhere." Further, it is no secret that Harper's current Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Gerry Ritz, who spearheaded the wrecking of the Canadian Wheat Board, is opposed to anything that interferes with the "rights" of the private agri-monopolies.
The dismantling of the dairy
and other agricultural
supply management
systems poses a grave threat to the well-being of the people of Canada.
The
threat comes not only from the TPP agreement but from the longstanding
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the recently signed
Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European
Union. All these "free trade" agreements, which are really forced trade
agreements, are eroding Canada's sovereign right to make its own
economic
decisions and causing further damage to the Canadian economy. The
National
Farmers Union pointed out in a December 5, 2014 statement that "CETA
will
weaken dairy supply management." Just as in the wrecking of the
Canadian
Wheat Board, foreign monopolies such as Dean in the U.S. and
Nestlé in
Switzerland are waiting to take full control once
local producer control is destroyed. The loss of Canada's ability to
control the
production and marketing of its own dairy and other food products to
global
supply chains under the control of the predatory international
agri-monopolies
will have very disastrous results for the Canadian people.
According to Harper, this new free trade agreement will
be a great
economic boon to Canadians. However, study after study shows that other
free
trade agreements, like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
have very negatively affected the peoples of all the countries
involved. For
example, as a result of NAFTA, signed in 1994, Canada has been further
penetrated by foreign monopolies which exploit our workers and
resources and
then destroy entire communities by closing their operations. U.S.
workers have
lost hundreds of thousands of jobs and Mexican farmers have been put
out of
business by U.S. agri-monopolies. The main reason that free trade
agreements
do not serve the interests of the people is that they are not put into
effect to
serve the interests of the people but those of the monopolies.
Police Violence in British Columbia Outside
Site C Dam
Public
Forum
January 2014 demonstration, one of many actions against construction of Site C dam,
this one organized by Treaty 8 Tribal Association.
Concern is mounting over the police killing of a man
outside a BC Hydro
information meeting dealing with the Site C dam on the Peace River.
According to media reports, the RCMP responded to a 911 call of a
disturbance at a Site
C
dam public forum on July 16 in Dawson Creek, BC. Witnesses say the
police,
upon arriving at the scene, shot a man dead outside the meeting place.
The
police identified the man they killed as someone protesting and causing
a
disturbance by turning over BC Hydro tables and scattering material
related
to the proposed nearby Site C dam project on the Peace River.
A day later, an official for the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of BC under the Ministry of Justice contradicted the initial RCMP report. The spokesperson said the dead man was not the protestor inside the hall, who is apparently alive but remains unidentified and has not been seen.
On the evening of July 17, IIO spokesperson Kellie Kilpatrick said that the deceased individual was in fact "unrelated to the public information session" and the original disruptor of the Site C event had left the premises alive and well.
According to the IIO, the man an RCMP officer shot and killed is James Daniel McIntyre. The 48-year-old man had been a dishwasher and assistant cook at a Dawson Creek restaurant for the past four years. Media reports say McIntyre was a member of a local Indigenous Nation and activist in the opposition to the Site C hydroelectric project that will flood a large region in the Peace River valley.
Monopoly media reports on the police shooting of McIntyre are unsubstantiated and seem geared to excuse his killing by portraying it as a legitimate police response to an alleged violent provocation. The media have released a video of the moments after the shooting showing McIntyre motionless and lying in a pool of blood on the sidewalk. The police kick at something on the sidewalk, move away from the victim for a moment, then approach and appear to attempt to handcuff the motionless man.
Subsequent media reports say the deceased, James Daniel McIntyre, was indeed active in protesting the Site C dam project. The Canadian Press says the Twitter account @jaymack9 belongs to McIntyre. CP writes, "Tweets from the account, @jaymack9, indicated a presence of some kind was planned for the Dawson Creek open house by those opposed to the Site C dam mega-project."
The last two tweets from that Twitter account were just before McIntyre's death and no subsequent tweets have occurred. The National Post reports, "One of those tagged in @jaymack9's last two tweets was Faisal Moola, a director of the David Suzuki Foundation and an environmental scientist. 'I don't know the individual. I am not clear why he tweeted me, the local First Nations and the David Suzuki Foundation,' Moola said in an interview. 'I do not know the individual at all but I am aware of what happened to him in this altercation with police.'"
The police violence in Dawson Creek has sent a chill through BC. People are expressing their condolences on the death of James Daniel McIntyre to his family, coworkers and Indigenous Nation. Many say this police violence should never happen in Canada. Aside from the loss of life, the shooting has already negatively affected the politics and discussion surrounding the building of the Site C dam, creating a climate of fear. BC Hydro announced that it was postponing job fairs for the Site C project scheduled for later this month in Tumbler Ridge, Fort St. John and Chetwynd saying, "BC Hydro is currently evaluating its policies and procedures for public meetings. The postponement of the job fairs will give us time to complete this task. Our intent is to ensure the safety of our staff and members of the public."
Activists opposed to the Site C dam organized in a group called "Drums for the Peace River Valley," which had planned a rally in Vancouver now say, "It has come to our attention that there is a risk that the rally planned for Thursday [July 23] may become violent so we have decided that it is in everyone's best interest to cancel it."
Concern is growing that state-organized violence, and the atmosphere of anarchy and impunity for state officials and big business that follows, does not allow the people to participate in politics and exercise their right to be informed and take positions on these important issues that affect their lives and the environment such as the Site C dam.
Harper Minister Says, Protest Using "Democratic Ways"
or
Face the
"Full Force of the Law"
The Harper government's Public Safety Minister, Stephen Blaney, made his first comment on the Dawson Creek RCMP's fatal shooting of McIntyre while attending a Conservative Party function in Delta, BC on July 21. Media reported that Blaney's comments appear to threaten people with execution if they do not protest in ways determined by and acceptable to the government, which he characterized as "democratic." "'There are many ways this country enjoys freedom to express our democratic views," he said. "I invite those who want to express their views to use democratic ways. Those who don't, expose themselves to face the full force of the law."
Blaney suggested that
protests against the Site C dam and the police shooting of McIntyre are
connected with terrorism and therefore reasons why the Harper
government's recently passed anti-terrorism legislation Bill C-51
should be supported,
which
amongst other repressive measures, gives more powers to Canadian police
and
spy agencies to engage in sting operations and disrupt protests,
including those
of Indigenous Nations defending their rights. He said, "I still cherish
our freedom and
democracy. That's
why our government has introduced legislation [Bill C-51] to protect
those
freedoms and rights that are threatened by those who would want to harm
us,
such as the international jihadi terrorism organization."
The comments are similar to those made by the Prime
Minister and his
cabinet after the killing of a soldier in Quebec and another in Ottawa
in
October 2014, with spurious references to protestors as "criminals" or
"extremists." These references are being bandied about to justify the
Harper government's
extremist agenda of codifying the use of state terrorism against those
who do not share its narrow, anti-social and warmongering views.
As Pauline Easton wrote in TML Weekly at that time, before
Bill C-51 was introduced and passed into law, "... the greatest
danger to the society is not posed by individuals
who commit crimes, because all the mechanisms are in place to bring
them to
trial and hold them to account. The greatest danger is posed when
governments
pass laws and endorse practices which permit ministers and security
agencies
to act with impunity, on the basis of arbitrariness, not Rule of Law.
When
such laws and practices go against the standards achieved by human
beings
and their society and in fact constitute crimes, despite the opinion of
those
who enact such laws that they do not, then society faces a serious
problem.
[...]
"[The Harper government's response to the attacks on the soldiers] shows how dangerous it is for a group or an individual who holds opinions to go beyond advocating that their view should be considered above everything else and instead turn this opinion into law. It violates the basic principles of democracy and poses grave dangers to society. Furthermore, past experience shows that the Canadian state and its agencies have more often than not been implicated in sting operations which have incited individuals to carry out acts that they themselves, on their own, would neither think of carrying out, nor have the means to carry out. The individuals are subsequently blamed for the attacks. The state then provides itself with justification for more repressive measures, saying it stopped many more attacks thanks to its actions.
"This is what the Harper government is doing. It is
already criminalizing
the right to conscience and is planning to ban it outright. It shows
that the
government has itself become extremist. It justifies its actions on the
basis of
replacing facts with its own opinion, reverting to the medieval
practices of
defamation and outlawing individuals with whom it does not agree. Once
an
individual is declared an outlaw, he or she is 'fair game' -- that is,
a target of
attack.
[...]
"Opinions about this or that group or individual cannot replace hard facts. The hard facts show that it is the actions of the Harper government both at home and abroad which pose the greatest danger to society at this time. The individual right to conscience must be affirmed not violated. This goes hand in hand with taking firm stands against all those who instigate or organize violence. Everything has to be looked at according to its own merit. The Government of Canada must stop declaring that the violation of rights at home and of international law abroad makes Canadians safer. Its duty is to defend the rights of all. The conception that democratic liberties have reasonable limits which are then defined on a self-serving basis is not a modern conception or standard of behaviour. Rights belong to the holder by virtue of being human. Those who trample them underfoot attack the very being of the targeted individuals, minorities and organizations and thus the very being of society itself."
Broad Opposition to Zombie-Like Statue
in Nova Scotia
Park
Architects' drawing of Green Cove site for "Mother Canada" monument.
A private Toronto businessman and a retired Canadian
general propose to
place an 80-foot tall war memorial on a hectare of land on the
shores of
Green Cove in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The
statue, to be called "Mother Canada," is specifically supposed to
commemorate
members of the Canadian military who died overseas and is to be
completed
in 2017.
The Harper government's approval of the project began in 2013 when former Minister of the Environment Peter Kent authorized Parks Canada to collaborate with the project. Federal Justice Minister and Nova Scotia MP Peter MacKay and the federal minister in charge of Parks Canada, Leona Aglukkaq, have both endorsed the memorial. In fact, MacKay is listed as an honorary patron. However, many Canadians are expressing their opposition and ridicule, for example, calling the statue zombie-like and nothing more than a "memorial to Harper."
By focusing solely on Canadian military operations
overseas, the statue
project deliberately blurs the distinction between just and unjust wars
fought
by the Canadian military, presenting Canada's glorious overseas Second
World
War contribution to the defeat of the Hitlerite Nazis as somehow
equivalent to its shameless participation in aggressive and illegal
imperialist
wars such as the invasions of Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan, and the
bombing of Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Syria. It echoes the Harper
government's recent
Remembrance Day speeches which spread the same disinformation. The
statue
is a further step in Harper's project to promote Canada as a
warmongering
nation that glorifies military force as the means of settling disputes
in the
world and that lines Canada up on the side of the U.S. imperialists,
the Israeli
occupiers, and other aggressive states with long records of state
terrorism and
military intervention.
 Image posted online of "Mother Canada" amidst the Tar Sands mocks the project. |
The "Mother Canada" statue is also a blatant act of hypocrisy, considering Harper's ongoing attacks on war veterans and Veterans Affairs, with the closing of numerous offices which provide crucial services to veterans and the insulting behaviour of the Minister of Veterans Affairs to those for whom his Ministry is responsible. Even more insulting is that the government would have veterans believe that these attacks on their well-being are just improvements in efficiency that will not impact their access to the services they require. The government's cynicism is starkly evident. It wants to keep sending young Canadians to aggressive wars overseas as cannon fodder, and then not look after the wounded or the families of those who die. At the same time, the Harperites have no compunction in spending millions of dollars to build a statue which will make no positive contribution whatsoever to the lives of veterans.
The group behind the project, the Never Forgotten National Memorial Foundation, is promising to raise the estimated $60 million cost of the "Mother Canada" statue from private donations. The project has already received $90,000 from Parks Canada and the foundation says it will apply for federal support through the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program. According to filings with the Canada Revenue Agency, at the end of 2014 the foundation had only $6,000 in the bank, with $30,000 in accounts receivable against $396,000 in accounts payable and accrued liabilities. Experience shows that when private groups lack funds for projects of which the Harper government approves, the federal government will step in and donate millions in public money. This is what occurred in the case of the also controversial private anti-communist, pro-Nazi monument proposed for Ottawa.
Many object to locating the "Mother Canada" statue in a
public national
park, pointing out that the parks belong to all Canadians and are not
the
Harper government's private preserve. At the same time it is well known
that
park privatization is on the Harper government's agenda, as evidenced
by its
slashing of parks' budgets and open calls for commercialization.
Putting the
monument in a national park may even be a ploy to help guarantee
the Harper government's
infusion of public money, once donations fall short. It has also been
pointed
out that the statue will have a negative effect on the surrounding
environment,
for example, pouring tons of concrete over 1.5 billion year-old rocks.
In
addition to the towering statue, the memorial will include a 300-car
parking
lot, a restaurant, souvenir shop and more. All of this contravenes the National
Parks
Act section on the mitigation of
environmental
damage (Article 32). The only "environmental assessment" of the site
was
performed by Stantec, a private engineering firm which is also one of
the main
corporate supporters of the project.
Site
of
proposed
monument.
As well as being a public park, the site is also unceded Mi'kmaq land. Mi'kmaq scholar and ethnobotanist Tuma Young, an assistant professor at Cape Breton University, prepared a report for Friends of Green Cove explaining how the statue could cause considerable negative impact on Aboriginal and treaty rights to hunting and fishing, along with the harvesting of traditional medicines in the Green Cove area. The report notes the site is also of cultural and spiritual significance in relation to myths and the stories of the Mi'kmaq cultural hero Kluskap. Young states in the report, "If the proposed Mother Canada development were to proceed, any future use of the area and any future exercise of any Aboriginal and Treaty Rights by the L'nu [Mi'kmaq] would be extinguished." In a July 9 press release, Friends of Green Cove call the "Mother Canada" statue "an act of potential cultural as well as ecological vandalism."
Montreal Professor Exposes Extremist Ideology
Behind
Anti-Communist
Ottawa Monument
The Montreal daily newspaper Le Devoir recently carried an article by University of Montreal History Professor Yakov Rabkin in which he points out that the Harper government's ill-conceived plan to build a "monument to victims of communism" next to the Supreme Court building in Ottawa is much more than just cynical political manoeuvring for the coming elections. The article makes a well-reasoned argument that this project, which is being so fervently pushed in spite of opposition from all sides, is part of the Harper Conservatives' ongoing attempts to manipulate the collective social memory to suit their own extremist ideology.
Professor Rabkin says, "This project is part of the
radical transformation
Canadian society has undergone and which the Harper government, with
unparalleled ideological coherence, has implemented year after year."
He
points out, "The name of the monument itself is taken straight
from Cold War
rhetoric.... To take up this vocabulary twenty-five years after the end
of the
Cold War is not haphazard. It is part of the warmongering and Manichean
rhetoric taken up by the Harper government in the international arena."
The article explains that in many East European countries like the Ukraine and some of the Baltic states monuments are being built to honour the memory of those who collaborated with Nazi Germany in World War II. To justify this, Nazi collaborators are being promoted as "patriots" who fought communism.
Professor Rabkin explains,
"Hence the ideological
necessity to establish a
moral equivalence between Soviet socialism and German Nazism. In
Estonia,
for example, I visited the 'Museum of Occupations.' In this Museum,
four
years of Nazi military occupation is put on the same level as almost
six
decades of being part of the Soviet Union. In Estonia, local Nazi
collaborators
exterminated the near totality of Jews, making this country one of the
first to
win from Nazi authorities the title 'Judenrein' (cleansed of Jews). One
leaves
the museum feeling that Estonia is but an innocent victim and that
there is
actually no difference between the Hitler Regime and the Soviet Army,
which
played the key role in Hitler's demise."
The article also points out that Harper's snub of the Moscow ceremonies commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the victory over fascism in Europe was part of a conscious effort to erase from the collective memory the decisive role played by the Soviet Red Army, which fought alone for more than three years against the Nazi aggressors.
Professor Rabkin concludes by exposing the extremist positions of the Harper Conservatives in international affairs:
"In light of the Conservative Party's ideological commitment, his monument in Ottawa is in honour of the 'victims of Communism' rather than the victims of capitalism. In attempting to obliterate the role of the Soviet Union in the struggle against Nazism, Harper seeks to create a new collective memory with regards to the Second World War, while reinforcing hostile, anti-Russian feelings. As far as threats against Russia are concerned, Mr. Harper is by far the most warmongering of all Western leaders. He also leads the way in descrediting all left-leaning solutions against triumphant neo-liberalism.
Professor Rabkin notes that the right-wing ideologues are patient and determined to use this monument project as a political tool in spite of the fact that many Canadians do not approve of it (on the CBC website, 88 per cent said they were against the monument).
For the full article in Le Devoir, click here.
(Quotes translated from original French by TML.)
Historic Re-Opening of Cuban Embassy in U.S.
Cuba's Flag Waves in U.S. Capital
Cuba's diplomatic mission in the United States was officially re-inaugurated on the morning of July 20. For the first time in more than half a century, Cuba's national anthem was heard in the U.S. capital and its flag raised to reopen the country's embassy in the United States in what has been the Cuban Interest Section in Washington, DC.
The two countries, which
had no
formal relations since
January 3, 1961, now
have embassies in their respective capitals as a result of an
agreement reached
last December between Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro.
In addition to the large number of people on the embassy
grounds for the historic event, more than a hundred people gathered
outside the diplomatic mission located on 16th
Street, flanked by dozens of reporters. These included political
figures and well-known
personalities from Cuba and the United States.
Left to right: Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy and aide Tim Riser; Josefina Vidal, Head of the
U.S. Division of the Cuban Foreign Ministry and José Ramon Cabañas,
Chargé d’Affaires of the Cuban Embassy.
Left to right: Miriam Garcia, Dean of the University of Informatics, Eusebio Leal, Historian of the City of Havana, Miguel Barnet, President of the Union of Writers and Artists (UNEAC), and Ana Maria Mari Machado, Vice President of the Cuban National Assembly.
Left to rigth: Former U.S. Representative Bill Delahunt, Former President of the Cuban National Assembly Ricardo Alarcón and actor Danny Glover; Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla became Cuba's first official to make a state visit to the U.S., since the end of diplomatic relations in 1961. He held a press conference immediately following the inauguration ceremony, attended by the U.S. State Department's Roberta Jacobson, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemispheric Affairs.
Later that day, Rodríguez Parrilla was received by Secretary of State John Kerry at the U.S. State Department. The heads of Cuban and U.S. diplomacy discussed the current state of relations between the two countries, as well as progress achieved since the announcements made on December 17, 2014, including Cuba's removal from the U.S. list of "state-sponsors of terrorism"; the historic meeting between President Raúl Castro and President Barack Obama in Panama; the expansion of official exchanges on issues of common interest; the re-establishment of diplomatic relations; and the re-opening of embassies.
Acknowledging the appeal
made by President Obama to the
U.S. Congress
to definitively lift the blockade, as well as the steps which have been
taken to
modify aspects of its implementation, Rodríguez Parrilla
insisted that
the lifting of the blockade is essential to the normalization of
relations, as is
the resolution of other problems which have accumulated over more than
fifty
years.
He emphasized that, in the meantime, President Obama can continue using his executive powers to significantly reduce the blockade's impact.
Rodríguez Parrilla reiterated the Cuban government's willingness to move toward the normalization of relations with the United States on the basis of respect and equality -- without compromising the island's independence or sovereignty.
Both parties reiterated their
interest in normalizing
bilateral relations,
recognizing that this will be a long and complex process that will
require the
willingness of both countries.
(Photos: CubaDebate, Granma
International, B. Hackwell)
Statement by Cuban Foreign Minister
Posted below is the statement of Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla at the ceremony to re-open the Cuban Embassy in the United States in Washington, DC, July 20.
***
Her Excellency Mrs. Roberta Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of State;
Officials of the U.S. Government accompanying her;
Honorable members of Congress;
Esteemed Representatives of the U.S. Organizations, Movements and Institutions who have made huge efforts in favor of the change of the U.S. Cuba policy and the improvement of bilateral relations;
Esteemed Representatives of the Organizations and Movements of the patriotic emigration;
Distinguished Ambassadors;
Comrades of the Cuban Delegation;
José Ramón Cabañas, Chargé d'Affaires;
Officials and workers of the Cuban Embassy;
Esteemed friends;
The flag that we revere at the entrance of this room is the same that was hauled down here 54 years ago, which was zealously kept in Florida by a family of liberators and later on by the Museum of our eastern city of Las Tunas, as a sort of premonition that this day would certainly come.
Flying once again in this place is the lone-star flag which embodies the generous blood that was shed, the sacrifices made and the struggle waged for more than one hundred years by our people for their national independence and full self-determination, facing the most serious challenges and risks.
Today we pay homage to all those who died in its defense and renew the commitment of the present generations, fully confident in the newer ones, to serve it with honor.
We evoke the memory of José Martí, who was fully devoted to the struggle for the freedom of Cuba and managed to get a profound knowledge about the United States: In his "North American Scenes" he made a vivid description of the great nation to the North and extolled its virtues. He also bequeathed to us a warning against its excessive craving for domination which was confirmed by a long history of disagreements.
We've been able to make it through this date thanks to the firm and wise leadership of Fidel Castro Ruz, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, whose ideas we will always revere with utmost loyalty. We now recall his presence in this city, in April of 1959, with the purpose of promoting fair bilateral relations, as well as the sincere tribute he paid to Lincoln and Washington. The purposes that brought him to this country ... are the same that have [been] pursued throughout these decades and coincide exactly with the ones that we pursue today. Many in this room, whether politicians, journalists, outstanding personalities in the fields of arts or sciences, students or American social activists, have been able to treasure unlimited hours of enriching talks with the Commander, which allowed them to have a better understanding of our reasons, goals and decisions.
This ceremony has been possible thanks to the free and unshakable will, unity, sacrifice, selflessness, heroic resistance and work of our people and also the strength of the Cuban Nation and its culture.
Several generations of the revolutionary diplomacy have converged in this effort and offered their martyrs. The example and vibrant speech of Raúl Roa, the Chancellor of Dignity, have continued to inspire Cuba's foreign policy and will remain forever in the memory of the younger generations and future diplomats.
I bring greetings from President Raúl Castro, as an expression of the goodwill and sound determination to move forward, through a dialogue based on mutual respect and sovereign equality, to a civilized coexistence, even despite the differences that exist between both governments, which makes it possible to solve bilateral problems and promote cooperation and the development of mutually beneficial relations, just as both peoples desire and deserve.
We know that this would contribute to peace, development, equity and stability on the continent; the implementation of the purposes and principles enshrined in the UN Charter and in the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, which was signed at the Second Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States held in Havana.
Today, the re-establishment of diplomatic relations and the re-opening of embassies complete the first stage of the bilateral dialogue and pave the way to the complex and certainly long process towards the normalization of bilateral relations.
The challenge is huge because there have never been normal relations between the United States of America and Cuba, in spite of the one-and-a-half centuries of intensive and enriching links that have existed between both peoples.
The Platt Amendment, imposed in 1902 under a military
occupation,
thwarted the liberation efforts that had counted on the participation
or the
sympathy of quite a few American citizens and led to the usurpation of
a piece
of Cuban territory in Guantánamo. Its nefarious consequences
left an indelible
mark in our common history.
In 1959, the United States refused to accept the existence of a fully independent small and neighboring island and much less, a few years later, a socialist Revolution that was forced to defend itself and has embodied, ever since then, our people's will.
I have referred to history to reaffirm that today an opportunity has opened up to begin working in order to establish new bilateral relations, quite different from whatever existed in the past. The Cuban government is fully committed to that.
Only the lifting of the economic, commercial and financial blockade which has caused so much harm and suffering to our people; the return of the occupied territory in Guantánamo and the respect for Cuba's sovereignty will lend some meaning to the historic event that we are witnessing today.
Every step forward will receive the recognition and the favorable acceptance of our people and government, and most certainly the encouragement and approval of Latin America and the Caribbean and the entire world.
We reaffirm Cuba's willingness to move towards the normalization of relations with the United States in a constructive spirit, but without any prejudice whatsoever to our independence or any interference in the affairs that fall under the exclusive sovereignty of Cubans.
To insist on the attainment of obsolete and unjust goals, only hoping for a mere change in the methods to achieve them will not legitimize them or favor the national interest of the United States or its citizens. However, should that be the case, we would be ready to face the challenge.
We will engage in this process, as was written by President Raúl Castro in his letter of July 1st to President Obama, "encouraged by the reciprocal intention of developing respectful and cooperative relations between our peoples and governments."
From this Embassy, we will continue to work tirelessly to promote cultural, economic, scientific, academic and sports relations as well as friendly ties between our peoples.
We would like to convey Cuban government's respect and recognition to the President of the United States for urging the U.S. Congress to lift the blockade as well as for the change of policy that he has announced, but in particular for the disposition he has showed to make use of his executive powers for that purpose.
We are particularly reminded of President Carter's decision to open the respective Interests Sections back in September of 1977.
I am pleased to express my gratitude to the Government of the Swiss Confederation for having represented the Cuban interests for the last 24 years.
On behalf of the Government and the people of Cuba, I would like to express our gratitude to the members of Congress, scholars, religious leaders, activists, solidarity groups, business people and so many U.S. citizens who worked so hard for so many years so that this day would come.
To the majority of Cubans residing in the United States who have advocated and called for a different kind of relation of this country with our Nation, we would like to express our recognition. Deeply moved, they have told us that they would multiply their efforts and will remain faithful to the legacy of the patriotic emigration that supported the ideals of independence.
We would like to express our gratitude to our Latin American and Caribbean brothers and sisters who have resolutely supported our country and called for a new chapter in the relations between the United States and Cuba, as was done, with extraordinary perseverance, by a lot of friends from all over the world.
I reiterate our recognition to the governments represented here by the diplomatic corps, whose voice and vote at the UN General Assembly and other fora made a decisive contribution.
From this country José Martí organized the Cuban Revolutionary Party to conquer freedom, all the justice and the full dignity of human beings. His ideas, which were heroically vindicated in his centennial year, continue to be the main inspiration that moves us along the path that our people have sovereignly chosen.
Thank you, very much.
(Granma International; Photos: CubaDebate)
U.S. Senate Committee Approves Measure to
End
Restrictions on Travel
to Cuba
On July 23, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to the proposed 2016 government budget which could relax restrictions on travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens, and allow increased trade between the two countries.
The amendment received bipartisan support, with 14 Democrats and four Republicans on the committee voting to add the amendment to the budget bill.
This is the first step taken in Congress to oppose the blockade since diplomatic relations were reestablished between the two countries July 20.
The Appropriations Committee, which is dominated by Republicans, also approved two other amendments to allow the granting of credit to Cuba for purchases of U.S. agricultural products, and to vacate blockade regulations prohibiting ships which have docked in Cuba from entering a U.S. port for a period of 180 days.
If the measures are to be implemented, they must be approved in their entirety by the full Senate and subsequently considered by the House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee has so far voted to maintain the blockade of Cuba. Analysts say however, that differences within the Republican Party will deter those who would like to reverse the policy changes introduced by President Obama.
Current law prohibits U.S. citizens from visiting Cuba as tourists, although the Obama administration has taken steps to facilitate the granting of general licenses in a dozen categories based on a variety of reasons for travel, including religious, cultural and 'people to people' exchanges.
"This is a first step by the Senate to dismantle a discredited and counterproductive policy that in 54 years has failed to achieve any of its objectives," said Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, according to the New York Times.
(Granma)
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