October 6, 2018 - No. 34

Matters of Concern to the Polity

The Noise Accompanying New
Free Trade Agreement Between
U.S., Mexico and Canada

- K.C. Adams -

For Your Information
• NAFTA Becomes USMCA

• Liberal Government's Bogus "Recognition and Implementation
of Indigenous Rights Framework"
For Your Information
• Panel of Legal Experts and Other Indigenous Leaders
• Breaking Down Trudeau Government's "Rights
Recognition Framework"
- Statement of Truth Campaign, Idle No More
and Defenders of the Land -
• Sisters in Spirit Vigils Held Across Canada and in Quebec

• Significance of Quebec Election Results
- Chantier politique -
For Your Information
• Election Results

• The Elephant in the Room of 
New Brunswick Election Results
- Tony Seed -

• "False Majorities" and Other Electoral Distortions
Under First-Past-the-Post
- Peter Ewart -

October 7 Presidential Election in Brazil
• Massive "Not Him" Demonstrations Held All Over Brazil
• Montreal Rally in Support of Brazilian People
- Garnet Colly -

Matters of Concern to the Polity

The Noise Accompanying New Free Trade Agreement Between U.S., Mexico and Canada

- K.C. Adams -

Since President Trump's inauguration in 2017, the Trudeau Liberals and their retinue in the mass media and trade union movement have hysterically bleated about the demise of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). They have presented Trump's threat to walk away from NAFTA as a grave danger to Canada's economy and saving the trade agreement as akin to saving Canada from collapse. The mass media generated a three-ring circus of non-stop "will they agree or not," "will Trump pull the plug or not," "will Freeland appear on the steps to make an announcement or not."

The purpose behind this madness seems to have been to convince Canadians that they were wrong about NAFTA when they opposed it, from the beginning in 1994, just as they opposed the earlier Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. Canadians have consistently insisted that they want more control over their economy, not less, which is what imperialist globalization has meant.

The constant bleating that without a NAFTA agreement all is doomed was designed to tell Canadians to give up any hope of building an independent self-reliant Canadian economy, one that could trade with the U.S. on an equal basis for mutual benefit without the overbearing U.S.-dominated financial oligarchy dictating our every move and telling us how to live and organize our lives. The Trudeau/Freeland histrionics during this NAFTA charade were to convince us to rally behind saving NAFTA and place our future in the hands of the U.S. oligopolies and their Homeland Security and war on terror, and endless predatory wars of invasion and regime change and geopolitical calculations.

The Trudeau pro-NAFTA ruckus was to silence any voice for a pro-social alternative and drown out any discussion suggesting a possible new direction for the country in opposition to U.S. dictate. The Liberal sellouts and their vassals in the media and certain leaders in the trade union movement present the new NAFTA deal with a sigh of relief that somehow Canadians have escaped the worst wrath of Trump and can now breathe easier.

But the modern world is not easier, safer or more credible when the ruling imperialist elite in business, politics and the media deliberately disinform the people. The nature of international trade and who holds the power over it provide the framework within which everything is negotiated, settled and decided. The people have no say in the matter and have not given their consent. Working people in the U.S., Mexico and Canada have not even been able to discuss international trade, discover the facts of the issue in a calm atmosphere, or explore other possibilities. The dictate is further capitulation to the supranational oligopolies whose only interest is to serve narrow private gain.

There is now a done deal. During the week leading up to the deal, Trump was denouncing Trudeau and damning Freeland in no uncertain terms. All that is now forgiven as Canada remains open for business with its human and natural potential under the control of U.S. imperialism. The financial oligarchy has once again secured North America as a base to achieve its striving for world domination.

For Canadians, the problem poses itself as the necessity for democratic renewal and empowerment, to make their voices heard so that matters of concern to the polity are brought under its control.

For Your Information

NAFTA Becomes USMCA

The supranational oligopolies that control the economies of North America and seek global hegemony have tightened the screws of their domination over the peoples of the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in becoming the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) have both strengthened and loosened the rules of international trade on the continent to favour the most powerful oligarchs.

NAFTA, in its new configuration called USMCA, continues to deny the sovereign right of the peoples of North America to control their affairs and chart a direction for their economies that favours the working people and their concerns.

Similar to the original NAFTA of 1994, the ruling elite are imposing USMCA without the people's consent or say. The revised NAFTA serves the financial oligarchy centred in the United States, along with its powerful members and allies in both Canada and Mexico who have integrated the economies of those countries into a new Fortress North America. The agreement further guts any semblance of Canadian or Mexican sovereignty and hands over both countries' human and natural resources to the U.S.-led oligarchs.

Supply Management in the Agricultural Sector

Action by dairy producers in Montreal, September 6, 2018, demanding supply management be protected in any new trade deal.

Very little of the Canadian economy bears any resemblance to a nation-building project favouring development in opposition to U.S. continentalism, which was the founding purpose of Canada under British colonial rule. Almost all sectors and features of the economy have come under the dominance of the U.S.-centred financial oligarchy and its global oligopolies. Agriculture suffered a huge blow with the elimination of the single selling desk of the Canadian Wheat Board under the previous Harper regime.

An exception to nation-wrecking has been the determination of farmers to defend supply management in dairy and poultry production and retain some control over standards of production. The management of this agricultural sector in a manner that defends itself from inroads of the U.S. financial oligarchs serves the actual producers and guarantees a certain food quality and security for Canadians. Supply management and standards in this sector act as a barrier to U.S. oligarchs being able to seize control in ways that enabled them to gain hegemony over the agricultural sector in the United States. Trump himself made this particular sector of Canadian agriculture a target with constant diatribes, and now puffs himself up as quite content that his threats have succeeded with the USMCA.

The Dairy Farmers of Canada has denounced the USMCA and calls it the death of supply management by a thousand cuts. This attack intensifies the earlier ones in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership that Trudeau signed in March 2018, and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union (CETA), which is awaiting final approval in Europe. Both agreements allow inroads into the Canadian agricultural market currently under supply management. The USMCA intensifies the trend by breaching the barrier of supply management with greater freedom for the U.S. farming monopolies to penetrate the Canadian market. This will allow the U.S. oligarchs to dump their excess product into Canada at low prices for a time, which is a typical method to wipe out smaller competitors. The amount of domestic milk now displaced with all these global agreements has reached 18 per cent or $1.3 billion in annual sales according to the Dairy Farmers of Canada.

The loosening of standards regarding the quality of milk and other products is another feature of the USMCA. The U.S. allows cows to be fed artificial hormones to increase milk supply from 11 to 16 per cent. Feeding hormones to increase production is not allowed under current Canadian regulations. Research reveals significant damage to cows from the hormones while the health risks to humans have not been sufficiently investigated. The USMCA appears to overturn this prohibition on the sale of milk produced with artificial hormones.

The USMCA diminishes Canadian standards for industrial milk used in secondary production. Canada currently has what is called a "Class 7 designation" for the quality of milk in this regard. Again, the USMCA appears to circumvent, if not eliminate, any Class 7 designation, which opens the door for U.S. industrial milk that does not meet current Canadian standards.

The USMCA also interferes with the Canadian dairy sector's ability to export production not only to the U.S. and Mexico but also outside North America. The agreement caps Canadian exports of skim milk powder, milk protein concentrates, and infant formula.

Dairy farmers protest, Montreal, September 6, 2018.

The Pharmaceutical Oligopolies (Big Pharma)

The Canadian health care sector is under immense pressure from high drug prices and the lack of any domestic public production and distribution of pharmaceuticals to serve the people and Medicare. The USMCA tightens the grip of private Big Pharma over the sector. An intellectual property chapter lengthens the time from eight to ten years that Big Pharma drugs are protected from generic drug competition. This means Canadians will pay more for biologic drugs.

Big Pharma realizes that many Canadians cannot afford to fill their prescriptions. To serve the narrow interests of Big Pharma and the financial oligarchy, a push is underway for a government-funded pay-the-rich pharmacare system that guarantees the sales of Big Pharma but does not solve the problem of their domination of the sector and their manipulation which results in absurdly high costs to individuals or to the state purchasers of drugs. The pressure for pharmacare will become greater with USMCA, as no end or solution is in sight to produce domestic pharmaceuticals where the value workers generate is poured into the entire health care sector to sustain it rather than bleed it dry, as is the case now. Discussion must begin on building a Canadian public pharmaceutical sector that develops, supplies and controls the sector in the interest of Canadians and health care for all, including pharmacare that is not a pay-the-rich scheme.

BC Wine

The USMCA even attacks the sale of BC wine in grocery stores. The California wine monopolies, such as Gallo, have long denounced the BC practice of encouraging the provincial wine industry by allowing it exclusive presence in grocery stores. Other wines are allowed in the much larger government BC Liquor Store retail outlets. The USMCA "commits Canada" to end the practice of promoting BC wines and allows U.S. and other foreign wines into grocery stores. This is a direct blow against the smaller Okanagan and Vancouver Island wineries.

USMCA Restricts Trade with China

The USMCA contains Article 32.10 that infringes on Canadians' sovereign right to develop trade with countries outside North America. According to the USMCA, Canada now has to discuss with the U.S. and gain its approval for any attempt to negotiate broader trade with China or any country the U.S. considers a "non-market economy." Failure to inform the U.S. and win its approval for the terms of any new agreement would terminate the USMCA.

This article within USMCA clamps down on any attempt by Canada to explore new avenues to trade. Escalating U.S. imperialist trade and military competition with China does not bode well. It also makes a mockery of the Trudeau Liberals' claim that the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion to Vancouver is to open heavy oil export markets to China. Oil is a strategic military product that the U.S. is determined to control globally even to the point of blockades and war. Heavy Alberta oil transported through an expanded Trans Mountain Pipeline and additional tanker traffic is destined for U.S. refineries on its West Coast.

"Macroeconomic Policies and Exchange Rate Matters"

Chapter 33 of the USMCA is entitled "Macroeconomic Policies and Exchange Rate Matters." It gives the U.S. ruling elite power over Canada's currency, government spending and taxation. The USMCA puts these matters under the control of the U.S. financial oligarchy to strengthen dollar hegemony.

Chapter 22

Chapter 22 of the USMCA classifies as State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) all Crown corporations in Canada. These include Canada Post, public electricity producers and presumably public health care providers such as public hospitals, public pharmaceutical enterprises and mass public transit, in particular any production in the public interest rather than for private profit.

The U.S. ruling elite classifies SOEs as non-market entities subject to restrictions. The USMCA targets SOEs and demands they not compete with private sector companies. The USMCA text even spells out specific penalties to be paid for non-compliance if a non-market entity -- SOE -- uses public investment to develop an enterprise in the public interest as part of nation-building.

Copyright Extensions

Copyright terms in Canada now extend for 50 years beyond the year the creator of the work dies. The USMCA extends the term to 70 years.

Issues Not in USMCA

The global oligopolies in vehicle production retain their control with almost no change from NAFTA. International trade of vehicles produced in North America is mostly intra-company movement of production within the oligopolies. This also includes long-term agreements with the big parts suppliers.

The Trump tariffs on steel and aluminum in the name of U.S. national security were not removed.

Canadian softwood lumber production, which was not part of NAFTA, is not included in the USMCA and remains subject to special U.S. tariffs and duties.

The U.S. policy of "Buy America" for all publicly-funded projects remains intact. Trudeau apparently made the elimination of "Buy America" an objective in renegotiating NAFTA. In the USMCA, production in Canada and Mexico cannot be used in U.S. state-funded projects, including U.S. sub-national states and municipalities. Open procurement for state-funded projects forms part of CETA with the European Union. This open procurement goes both ways and increases the pressure to privatize all provincial and municipal business, including services.

The list for professional visas to work in the U.S. remains unchanged. The list of professions currently eligible for the special class of temporary work visas in all three countries created under NAFTA known as TN (Trade National) visas stays the same, which excludes many of today's professions.

The language of Canada's existing cultural exemption from NAFTA remains in the new USMCA. This means that digital audio and video content was not addressed. It seems that the U.S. cultural oligopolies, such as Disney, want to use their command of digital works as a modern means to break down any barriers to U.S. imperialist cultural control in Canada. The lack of any specific agreement on digital content means, in addition to unlimited distribution, Canada does not have a legal means to force U.S. producers and distributors of digital content to pay into any government program assisting Canadian cultural workers.

Liberal Government's Bogus "Recognition and Implementation of Indigenous Rights Framework"

On September 7, prior to the start of the fall session of Parliament, the Trudeau Liberals posted their "Recognition and Implementation of Indigenous Rights Framework" on the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Ministry website, calling it a document for "discussion." The Trudeau government says the "Framework" is the prelude to replacing the Indian Act with new legislation.

In February, Prime Minister Trudeau announced that his government would present a new "Indigenous Rights Framework" for the fall 2018 session of Parliament, with the intention to have new legislation to replace the Indian Act adopted as law by the next federal election in October 2019.

The government is forging ahead despite the firestorm of opposition the "framework" has elicited from the Indigenous peoples of Canada and their allies who have in no uncertain terms told the Liberal government to STOP!

Dispossessing Indigenous peoples of their lands and resources is for purposes of extinguishing their hereditary and treaty rights and assimilating them so as to commit genocide. It was the united political opposition of the Indigenous peoples and their Canadian allies that forced the withdrawal of a prior attempt to achieve the same thing in 1969 under the Pierre Elliott Trudeau government. Since then, various governments have tried to revive the aim of replacing the racist Indian Act with policies that achieve the dispossession and assimilation of the Indigenous peoples in the name of rights. These attempts continue to be met with fierce organized resistance led by Indigenous peoples. Despite this, the Liberals have persisted in holding bogus "consultations" with the provinces, territories, Indigenous and Métis organizations over this past year. These "consultations" are held on the basis of the superiority of the colonial government and are designed to achieve self-serving results. They are seen to be bogus because they are bogus.

Since being elected, the Trudeau government has put great stock in its "sunny ways" to cover up its deceitful backroom deals. On this fundamental constitutional matter of the rights of the Indigenous nations and what Canada stands for as a country, the government is desperate to meet the relentless demands of the international financial oligarchy to remove obstacles that stand in the way of their plunder of valuable mineral and land resources. Much of these resources the international oligarchs covet are under the hereditary jurisdiction of the world's 400 million Indigenous peoples. The affirmation of the hereditary and treaty rights of the Indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world is thus a matter of principle. Modern nation-building projects must recognize the principle of nation-to-nation relations with the Indigenous peoples. It is the recognition of their inherent rights which is an impediment to the plunder by private interests and the genocide they want to commit.

Canada, along with the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, refused to vote in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples when it was passed at the UN General Assembly in November 2007 because they do not recognize Indigenous rights. The Trudeau government "signed on" in 2016 on the basis of what appears to be an arrogant belief that through "sunny ways," it could pull off dispossession using backroom methods.

The day has come for Canadians to break with the past and engage in modern nation-building which will recognize, as a first principle, nation-to-nation relations with the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island. For Canada to turn the page on its colonial past a modern constitution is required which constitutes an independent, free and voluntary union of the Indigenous peoples, the nation of Quebec and the peoples of the rest of Canada.

TML Weekly calls on the working class and people of this country to demand that the federal legislation be stopped. Join the Indigenous peoples in demanding a new process that is based on hereditary rights; pre-existing sovereignty; Aboriginal title; historic treaties; the internationally recognized right of self-determination; and the restoration of all stolen lands, territories and resources, or restitution for lands, territories and resources not returned! Let all Canadians join the Indigenous peoples and demand this with one voice!

For Your Information

Panel of Legal Experts and Other
Indigenous Leaders

On August 10, a panel of legal experts and other Indigenous leaders, convened by Professor Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Director of the Indian Residential School Centre for History and Dialogue, met at the University of British Columbia on Musqueam First Nation territory to discuss the federal government's Indigenous rights agenda. The meeting was co-chaired by former Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild and Grand Chief Edward John of the Treaty 6 Confederacy. Other participants included Paul Chartrand, a leading Métis scholar, lawyer and former Commissioner of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. As a result of their discussion, a letter was sent on August 21 to Prime Minister Trudeau calling for a "reset" of his government's Indigenous rights agenda.

The letter in part notes:

The engagement process has yet to produce clear focus, despite the input of many of us. The basic materials we have been provided appear to misstate foundational legal and constitutional concepts. Specifically, views expressed to us by senior officials about the meaning of co-development, recognition, implementation, Indigenous laws, Indigenous jurisdiction Treaties, Aboriginal title, engagement, consultation, free prior and informed consent, self-determination and self-government, among other topics are not legally correct, nor could they serve as a foundation for new recognition and implementation legislation or policy. From our perspective, the initiative fails to appreciate or understand that legal rights have already been recognized by the Courts in Canada in a multitude of cases where inherent Aboriginal and Treaty rights have been consistently affirmed for Aboriginal peoples and Treaty First Nations peoples.

It is difficult for us to comprehend the sources for these government materials and the validity of positions advanced by Crown officials. We are left with a distinct impression that there is an absence of a proper legal, constitutional, normative, jurisprudential and theoretical context, and as a result there are basic deficiencies in documentation, development of options and dialogue. This "engagement" has drifted away from the promise for a comprehensive and transformative moment....

We urge you to take a look at the current path, and reset. This work needs to be placed on a proper legal, international and domestic human rights and constitutional footing. The Minister of Justice and Attorney General whom you have also mandated on this initiative must be engaged to provide the legal advice and direction for the Crown. We note that under section 4 of the Department of Justice Act, the Minister is the legal advisor to the Government and she must "see that the administration of public affairs is in accordance with the law. ...

More troubling, we have been informed that this "recognition framework" will result in rights recognition only after the conclusion of a negotiation process. This is inconsistent with the major rulings of the Supreme Court of Canada and is a denial of rights approach which you renounced on February 14, 2018. For government to refer to or even tolerate discussion of such a flawed, outdated, and legally unsound approach, is harmful.

Aboriginal and Treaty rights are not conditional or inchoate, nor do they only become legal rights after the conclusion of a negotiated agreement. The Government of Canada must clearly recognize and acknowledge pre-existing and inherent Aboriginal and Treaty rights because they are existing legal rights and they are constitutionally recognized, affirmed and protected. There exists a legal duty on the federal Crown to negotiate in good faith and to act with honour toward Indigenous peoples -- these are foundational long-standing Canadian legal principle.

Breaking Down Trudeau Government's
"Rights Recognition Framework"

- Statement of Truth Campaign, Idle No More and Defenders of the Land -

After the Federal Government, the Provincial Governments and the Municipal Governments
"Indigenous Governments are the Fourth Level of Government in this country."
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau June 8, 2016, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Summit Event

Introduction

Since the 2015 Federal Election Justin Trudeau has co-opted terminology like "nation-to-nation," "reconciliation," "decolonization" "self-determination" and "Inherent & Treaty Rights." This has confused many of our people and hidden the true intent of the Trudeau government's Indigenous Policy and Rights Agenda.

The Trudeau government has even co-opted the Assembly of First Nations, and many Chiefs and Chiefs' organizations. Although there are some Chiefs and Chiefs' organizations who are still true to serving their people working to protect and defend Inherent Rights, Aboriginal Title & Treaties and Treaty Rights!

The Trudeau government is operating in secret and is carrying out a sophisticated public relations misinformation campaign that is causing confusion among our people about the government's true intentions. This misinformation strategy is called "Special Words and Tactics (SWAT)."

Since forming a majority government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has launched the largest assault on First Nations collective rights in the 151-year history of Canada! Larger than the Harper government ever aspired to, but consistent with the intent of Pierre Trudeau's 1969 White Paper on Indian Policy! What we are seeing now is the implementation of the White Paper through federal law, policy and their proposed Recognition Framework.

In order to re-colonize First Nations into assimilated "Indigenous-Canadians," the Trudeau government has unilaterally imposed 10 Principles on Indigenous Relationships and started to dissolve the Department of Indian Affairs. Trudeau has imposed two new federal departments over First Nations to implement a new law and policy "Framework."

Throughout the summer the Trudeau government has conducted a national engagement process with select, invited participants. This is a top down process that goes around our peoples and places our rights on the line without our participation or consent!

As Parliament resumes on September 17, we must publicly demonstrate that we do not agree with the federal process or the resulting legislation because it violates the international minimum standards regarding the rights of Indigenous Peoples!

If passed, this legislation will affect generations of our people and we haven't had any say in the process or their plan! The federal goal is to use federal funding to force our people into new agreements that sever us from our original relationship with our lands, territories and resources as Indigenous Nations.

The time is now for Indigenous First Nation Peoples -- as the legitimate rights holders -- to get organized and exercise our own decision-making powers with Free, Prior Informed Consent. The legitimate rights holders, the people, will make decisions through our governance systems -- families/clans, communities and as nations. Collectively, we will be directing leadership as international self-determining peoples on our issues!

Trudeau's "Rights Recognition Framework" Is a Threat to Our Survival!

The "Framework" is a collection of federally imposed law and policy designed to terminate our pre-existing sovereignty and collective rights as Indigenous Nations and get us to surrender to Crown sovereignty as ethnic minorities, also known as, "Indigenous Canadians" NOT as Indigenous Nations.

The core of the planned federal "legislative framework" is to transition bands currently under the Indian Act into "self-government" agreements, which the Trudeau government is falsely calling "self-determination."

According to a July 2018 federal "Engagement Document":

1. Federal laws and jurisdiction will continue to be imposed on our peoples and nations.

2. Provincial and Territorial laws and jurisdiction will continue to be imposed on our peoples and nations.

3. The "Framework" will be the basis for ALL relations between the Government of Canada and Indigenous peoples, First Nations, Inuit and Metis. The rights of First Nations will be watered down in a pan-Indigenous approach under this legislation.

4. "Self-Determination" and "Nation Re-Building" will be defined under federal jurisdiction by financially coercing/co-opting non-self-governing Indian Act Bands to become federally recognized "Indigenous Governments" operating under various Canadian "fourth level" self-government regimes, including:
- A comprehensive land claim agreement which includes a comprehensive self-government component;
- A comprehensive agreement on self-government; or
- A legislated comprehensive self-government arrangement.

5. A National "Oversight Body" is to be created reporting to Parliament on progress implementing Indigenous Rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples for First Nations, Métis and Inuit. Supposedly, the body would be "independent." However, past experience shows the federal government stacks this type of structure with co-opted elites with ties or sympathies to the political party in power. There is no mention of requiring international monitoring or reporting to United Nations Human Rights bodies.

6. A National "Dispute Resolution Body" is to be created to "support the collaborative resolution of issues relating to the recognition and implementation of Indigenous rights." Again, it is claimed this body would be "independent"! However, the federal government controls the one-sided "recognition" and "negotiation" of rights.

7. To establish a "Negotiation Table" under the "Framework" an Indigenous Nation or "collective" has to "submit information to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs demonstrating that they represent a rights-bearing Indigenous nation or collective." Those groups who are already at what we call "Termination Tables" only need to make a request to "bridge" into the new negotiations "Framework." In BC, "Indigenous nations and collectives there could continue to apply to the British Columbia Treaty Commission to establish negotiation tables. In such a case, the Government of Canada would respect the decisions of the Treaty Commission."

8. The "Negotiation Mandates" under the "Framework" will build on the secret negotiations the Trudeau government has been conducting with about 60 "Negotiation Tables" with First Nations, Métis and Inuit. Click here for a link to a list of the negotiating groups. The "Negotiation Mandates" at these tables will lead to various forms of "fourth level" ethnic minority "Indigenous Governments" as described in paragraph 4 above.

9. The "Framework" allows that "Practical approaches could be introduced to recognize and implement interests in and title to lands." This is mainly referring to Indian Act Reserve lands, NOT traditional or Treaty territories. There are already a number of policies the federal government is using to get rid of reserves. As the 1969 White Paper on Indian Policy put it:

Control of Indian lands should be transferred to the Indian people ... Between the present system and the full holding of title in fee simple lie a number of intermediate states. The first step is to change the system under which ministerial decision is required for all that is done with Indian land. This is where the delays, the frustrations and the obstructions lie. The Indians must control their land ... The Government believes that each band must make its own decision as to the way it wants to take control of its land and the manner in which it intends to manage it. It will take some years to complete the process of devolution. -- 1969 White Paper

The "Framework" is based on the 1969 White Paper that's why the "Framework" focuses on existing Reserve Lands NOT Aboriginal Title or Treaty lands, territories or resources, because the federal goal is still to turn Reserves into private property (fee simple).

10. The "Framework" if adopted, will negatively and severely impact the historic Treaty relationships. Historic Treaties were not meant to be an instrument of reconciliation -- treaties were necessary for the Crown's subjects to enter Indigenous Peoples' territories -- that is not reconciliation -- Canada does not legitimately possess the lands and resources Indigenous Peoples' own. The words "agreements and other constructive arrangements" were added to the UN Study on Treaties as a way to side-track the Special Rapporteur on Treaties -- Miguel Alfonso-Martinez -- away from the Treaties. He asked Canada to provide him with the international definition for agreements and other constructive arrangements -- they never provided him with any definition. The use in this federal "10 Principles" position is designed to provide a smokescreen because Canada cannot provide documentation.

Ongoing cooperation -- means that Indigenous Peoples are supposed to stand out of the way as the land and resources are taken from their lands without their consent -- that is Canada's view of cooperation and partnership. The federal purchase of the Trans Mountain Pipeline is a clear example of this.

After 1973 -- the "land claim agreements" are all based on the federal Comprehensive Land Claims Policy -- this is not treaty-making like the historic Treaties were. That's why "land claims agreements" were only added to section 35(3) of the Constitution Act 1982, in the 1983 constitutional amendment and weren't included in section 35(1) of the original Constitution Act 1982.

One of the underlying assumptions in the federal "10 Principles" and the "Framework" is that the historic treaties do not form an instrument for federal recognition and implementation of rights.

11. The entire "Framework" is based on a new "Fiscal Relationship"! As stated above, the Trudeau government distinguishes between "non-self-governing" Indian Act Bands and Aboriginal groups who have signed Modern Treaties and Self-Government Agreements.

There are two different fiscal relations processes and two different federal departments: one for Indian Act Bands (Indigenous Services) and one for federally created "fourth level" "Indigenous Governments" through Self-Government Agreements and/or so-called Modern Treaties (Crown-Indigenous Relations).

The new federal "Department of Indigenous Services Canada (DISC)" is taking over much of what the former Department of Indian Affairs used to do in implementing the Indian Act, which is to deliver on-reserve programs and services. This Department is also to fund the capacity of bands until they can be coerced/co-opted into signing new self-government agreements or modern treaties to move them into the new "Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations (CIR)." The removal of the on-reserve tax exemption will be part of new agreements.

The Trudeau government is using federal legislation, policy and new 10-year funding agreements for bands under the Indian Act to force our people into new agreements that break our original relationship with our lands, territories and resources as Indigenous Nations.

The new federal "Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations (CIR)" is taking over the implementation of section 35 self-government agreements, modern treaties and "Indigenous-Canadian" agreements under the proposed "Framework."

The federal "Department of Indigenous Services Canada" is intended to be temporary until all existing Indian Act bands are converted essentially into ethnic municipalities as "Indigenous-Canadians" and then "DISC" will also dissolve.

12. This federal legislation must be stopped and a new process started that is based upon our original instructions from the Creator; our pre-existing sovereignty; our Aboriginal Title; our historic Treaties; our internationally recognized right of self-determination; the restoration of our stolen lands, territories and resources, or restitution for lands, territories and resources not returned!

13. We ask our Elders, pipeholders, medicine or traditional people and all our people to pray on Monday, September 17, 2018, the day Parliament resumes. We must start the process of mobilizing our youth, families, communities and Nations to stop the Trudeau government's Termination legislation and start building a new relationship in the right way from the ground up and not the top down!

14. We ask our people to organize teach-ins around the Federal Plan and Recognition Framework for the month of September to prepare for what's coming!

This document is issued by the Coordinating Group of the Idle No More, Defenders of the Land and Truth Campaign Networks. For more information: info@IdleNoMore.ca.

(September 7, 2018)

Sisters in Spirit Vigils Held Across Canada
and in Quebec 

Parliament Hill, October 4, 2018

On October 4, more than 115 vigils and other actions were held in Quebec and across Canada to honour the memory of the more than 4,000 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.This was the 13th year the vigils have been held.

At the Ottawa vigil this year the Families of Sisters in Spirit read out the names of the 124 Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited people who have been murdered or gone missing since the Trudeau government came to power in 2015, with its promises to take action to end the violence and establish a new relationship with Indigenous peoples. The number of those missing and murdered is a damning indictment of the government's refusal to act. The disappearances and deaths continue while the state refuses to investigate these cases and bring those responsible to justice, in some cases dismissing suspicious deaths as suicides, and missing women as having run away and "not wanting to be found."

In addition to vigils, marches took place in Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Montreal demanding justice. In Winnipeg, students at the University of Manitoba organized a red riboon walk, tying ribbons and messages to utility poles in memory of the missing and murdered women. In North Battleford, the family of a young woman who has recently gone missing attended the vigil to ask for assistance in finding her.

In the organizing kits for the vigils, the Native Women's Association of Canada outlined the aims of the vigils as: to honour the lives of the murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls; to support grieving families and provide opportunities for healing; and to be a movement for social change, united in the demand for action "on a Canadian issue that impacts us all."

Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario




Taqamkuk, Newfoundland


Bathurst, New Brunswick


Whycocmagh, Nova Scotia

Montreal, Quebec

Toronto

Waterloo, Ontario


Manitoulin Island, Ontario


Sault Ste Marie, Ontario


Anishinabek Nation, Ontario


Mohawk Territory

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan


North Battleford, Saskatchewan


Edmonton, Alberta


Calgary, Alberta




Lethbridge, Alberta

Grand Prairie, Alberta


Kelowna, BC


Prince George, BC

Whistler, BC; Mission BC


Whitehorse, Yukon

(Photos: TML, L. Larter, Amnesty International, J. Barrera, K. Graczk, A. Blanchard-Whi, Charlotte, L. Lanteigne, J. Hopkin, Anishinabek Nation, Unifor, E. Vas, A. Grabish, E. Vas, E.V. Lee, A. Brown, J. Irwin, D. Larivee, Now Media, Howe Sound Women's Centre, A. Joseph, L. Cabott, Karihwakern, V. Fox, M. McCoy, M. Robinson)

Significance of Quebec Election Results

- Chantier politique -

The October 1 Quebec election stands as testimony to the profound crisis of the party-dominated system of representative democracy in which governments that receive a minority of both eligible votes and votes cast claim a majority. The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) won 74 of the National Assembly's 125 seats and will form a "majority government," notwithstanding the fact that it garnered votes from less than 25 per cent of the eligible electorate, nearly 35 per cent of whom abstained from voting. This unrepresentative electoral system declared a "sweeping victory" for the CAQ on the basis of a winner-take-all method of counting votes which looks at the facts of the vote in a self-serving way.

According to the tenets of the party-dominated system of representative democracy, the holding of elections where electors get to vote for one or another political party is supposed to "promote the emergence of a sufficiently clear and coherent political will" in the form of a party government. But this is not what the results of the Quebec election show. These results are yet more evidence that, today, the ruling elites have abandoned any aim other than to get a party government elected, by hook or by crook, so that they can declare that the "people have spoken" and that the government has "a mandate" to implement an agenda the people have not adopted.

Even as on election night the CAQ's "sweeping majority" was being described by the ruling elite and its media as a "historic breakthrough" and a "remarkable accomplishment," none of them could say what the CAQ majority government will do and on the basis of what "mandate." While the CAQ proclaims that now it will rule for "all the people," political pundits from all quarters are asking: "What does the vote for the CAQ mean?"

The fact is that nobody knows. What is known, however, is that CAQ leader François Legault is a multimillionaire whose interests have never coincided with those of the working people of Quebec. Besides the fact that a leader of a political party is declared the new Premier of Quebec and he is not a peer of the working people, the election is a fraud because it is not the citizens who decide the agenda and direction of the society. Furthermore, the abstentionist vote is an additional factor which shows that the electoral system is incapable of capturing what the people are saying with their ballots. By no stretch of the imagination is it the citizens of Quebec who set the course of the government for the coming period.

CAQ leader Legault held his first official press conference as premier-designate in Quebec City on October 2. Even though the election can be described as anything but one that rallied people behind a vision for the future, Legault declared, "I think yesterday we began to bring Quebeckers together." He said his three top priorities will be the economy, education and health, by which he means their privatization.

Given the aim of the election, the direction of the economy will remain the same and the people can expect their conditions of life and work to worsen.

This government can also be expected to do everything possible to divide the polity on a narrow-minded backward basis, while it makes sure the people's concerns are not known. It is already making statements to pit one section of the people against another in the name of defending what it calls Quebec values.

Should the people resist, it will continue the practice of turning them into criminals for allegedly harming the economy and the national interest. This is what the so-called liberal democracy permits this government to do. It is designed to keep the minority, which protects private interests, in power and make sure the people remain out of power.

The election results mean that all those fighting for social justice, especially the workers, women and youth who are in the front ranks of the striving to humanize the natural and social environment, must be fully supported. This will strengthen the people's ability to resist and, on this basis, strengthen the political movement for empowerment. At the heart of this fight must be the recognition that what is called a liberal democracy must be replaced by a mass democracy which vests decision-making power in the people.

Democracy is a question of the highest principle, and workers have every right to demand that their own government be democratic. The question that arises is: How is this to be achieved? It will not be brought about by merely demanding that the government uphold its promises without paying attention to the content of what the workers are fighting for and what the society needs. In the wake of the Quebec election, the Marxist-Leninists will continue to speak openly. They will continue to provide information which tackles issues directly, taking facts from life so as to assist in getting the society to take up a democratic orientation and to contribute to the same nationally and internationally.

Chantier politique is the on-line newspaper of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec (PMLQ): www.pmlq.qc.ca.

For Your Information

Election Results

The result of the Quebec election held on October 1 is as follows: The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) will form a majority government, having won 74 ridings with 1,509,428 votes, which is 37.4 per cent of the popular vote. This is said to be the lowest vote in Quebec history for a party that won a majority. CAQ gains came at the expense of the Liberals and the Parti Québécois (PQ) outside of the island of Montreal, where the CAQ has only two seats.

The Liberals will form the official opposition with 32 ridings, down from 68 when they formed the previous majority government. They received 24.8 per cent of the vote, which is 1,001,148 votes, said to be the lowest ever in their history since Confederation. While they maintained seats in Montreal and two seats in the Outaouais, they lost in the rest of Quebec, besides the riding of Gaspé, which is the only new Liberal gain and where there is going to be a vote recount because of a very close result, and Robervale where former premier Philippe Couillard was reelected. Their leader Phillipe Couillard, former Premier of Quebec, who campaigned on what he called the great achievements of his government, resigned as a result of this clear rejection.

Québec Solidaire (QS) more than tripled its seat count with ten of its candidates elected, up from three in the previous government. It received 649,488 votes, which is 16.1 per cent of the total vote. Besides six seats on the island of Montreal, where it defeated PQ leader Jean-François Lisée in Rosemont, QS won Taschereau and Jean-Lesage in Quebec City, Sherbrooke in the Eastern Townships, as well as Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue.

The biggest loss was incurred by the PQ. It salvaged nine seats, down from 28 in the previous government where it formed the official opposition. This means it has lost official party status. It received 687,935 votes, which is 17.06 per cent of the total vote, slightly more than Quebec Solidaire. This was the worst result the PQ has achieved since the 1973 general election. PQ leader Jean-François Lisée resigned and Véronique Hivon has taken over as interim leader.

The Abstention Vote

The large number of people who chose not to vote is an indication of the crisis of the party-dominated system of representative democracy. Many self-serving interpretations are given as to what the votes signify. Of the province's 6,169,772 eligible voters, 2,070,132 abstained, 33.6 per cent of them, which means more people abstained from voting than voted for the CAQ. While the CAQ obtained 1,509,428 votes, amounting to 37.4 per cent of the 4,033,545 valid votes cast, this only represents 24.5 per cent of the registered electors.

To further put the CAQ's "sweeping victory" in perspective, the combined votes received by Québec Solidaire, the PQ, the small parties and independents totalled 1,522,969, compared to the CAQ's 1,509,428 votes. These combined votes amount to 37.8 per cent of the valid votes cast (24.7 per cent of eligible voters). This means that the abstentionist vote, combined with the votes received by these parties that comprise an opposition to the CAQ stands at 58.2 per cent of the registered electors.

Looking at the election results in the context of the vote, not the first-past-the-post winner take all framework imposed by the electoral law in Quebec, the CAQ's "sweeping majority" is not so sweeping after all.

The Elephant in the Room of New Brunswick
Election Results

- Tony Seed -

Mass demonstration by more than 2,000 public sector workers and retirees in defence of their pensions, Fredericton, November 6, 2013.

The final result of the New Brunswick election on September 24 gave rise to a minority Conservative government. The Conservative Party received 22 seats; the incumbent Liberal government, 21 seats; the Green Party, three seats; and the People's Alliance, three seats. Both Blaine Higgs and Brian Gallant, leaders of the Conservatives and Liberals respectively, claimed to have won the election. Both of these parties received less of the popular vote than in the previous election in 2014. The Green Party increased from one to three seats and the People's Alliance from zero to three seats. The NDP has not won a seat in New Brunswick in some 15 years. The failure of this election to give rise to a majority government desired by the ruling class so as to claim a strong mandate shows once again the legitimacy crisis facing the cartel party system and its first-past-the-post method of counting votes.

Without batting an eye, the pundits and media reassured the people of New Brunswick that the Lieutenant Governor, who is a representative of the Queen of England, will now decide which party will form the government. This British colonial institution is said to be a "Canadian tradition" which provides a peaceful handover of power from one party to another. The electoral system is said to be representative because voters are more or less equally apportioned into ridings.

In his final wrap-up of the election night coverage, senior news anchor of ATV (CTV Atlantic), Steve Murphy, tried to suggest the result is a product of a "North-South divide" and "a language divide" between Acadians and Anglophones. This disinformation is aimed at concealing that the biggest divide is between the working people and the rich and their supranational oligopolies, such as the Irving empire.

Yes, Irving is the elephant in the room which no one talks about.

The cartel parties all demand that "making New Brunswick [Irving] competitive" is the key to prosperity for one of the most impoverished provinces in Canada. If prosperity has been achieved by opening New Brunswick to the plunder of our resources and work over the past 151 years, then why does it suffer a net population loss and rising out-migration of its youth? Why are families torn asunder and educated people forced to go elsewhere to find a living? Mass unemployment persists as what little manufacturing that existed has been destroyed along with the decimation of the fisheries and forestry. To blame the Acadians, again, for their own tragedies reveals a wretched outlook to say the least.

The economic and political crisis will deepen. Any attempt to claim a popular mandate for the government which will be formed through backroom negotiations is dead in the water given that the people exercise no control whatsoever over the choices being made.

New Brunswickers stand second to none in fighting for their rights and like everyone else across the country, they face the issue of how to empower themselves, whether within the difficult situation of an election where everything is stacked against them exercising any control over the electoral process, as well as following the election. Despite the absence of an independently organized political force, the situation of a minority government and the political crisis of the ruling elite provides an excellent opportunity for the working class, youth and students, women, seniors, Acadians and Indigenous peoples to advance their demands and concerns on the basis of their own independent politics.

"False Majorities" and Other Electoral Distortions Under First-Past-the-Post

- Peter Ewart -

One of the biggest complaints against the existing first-past-the-post voting system in British Columbia and Canada as a whole is that it very often creates what is termed "false majorities" and other electoral distortions.

With a false majority, a political party receives less than half of the votes but wins more than 50 per cent of the seats. In Canada, this happens almost all the time, with political parties routinely forming majority governments with only 40 per cent of the vote or even less.

One example is the recent election in Ontario where, under the first-past-the-post system, the Doug Ford Conservatives got 40 per cent of the vote but 60 per cent of the seats, resulting in a majority government with 100 per cent of the power.

The Quebec election on October 1 is another case in point. The Coalition Avenir Quebec got a majority government with almost 60 per cent of the seats (74 seats out of 125), yet it received only 37.4 per cent of the popular vote, the lowest vote share of any majority government in Quebec history.

Under first-past-the-post such bizarre distortions are common. In the 1996 election in British Columbia, the NDP won re-election as a majority government with just 39.5 per cent of the vote and the resulting 39 seats. Paradoxically, the BC Liberals received substantially more votes than the NDP (41.8 per cent) yet, remained in Opposition with only 33 seats.

In the 1993 federal election, Jean Chretien's Liberals won a majority government with only 41 per cent of the vote. For its part, the Bloc Quebecois received 13.5 per cent of the vote and 54 seats, becoming the official opposition in Parliament. At the same time, Kim Campbell's Progressive Conservatives got 16 per cent of the vote but only a paltry two seats. When parties receive these false majorities and form government, they claim that they have a mandate to rule and impose agendas, which are often hidden. A glaring example in British Columbia happened in 2009 when the Campbell Liberal government imposed the Harmonized Sales Tax just weeks after the election, even though it had denied having any such plan before the election.

Regional distortions are also a serious problem with first-past-the-post. For example, in the 2001 British Columbia election, the NDP received 21 per cent of the votes and the Greens 11 per cent. However, the NDP got only two of the 79 seats and the Greens zero. The two NDP seats were confined to the city of Vancouver with the rest of the province's vast regions represented by Liberal MLAs.

On the other hand, in the 2017 BC election, despite getting 30 per cent of the vote on Vancouver Island, the Liberals ended up with only one out of the Island's 14 seats.

False majorities and distorted voting results aggravate other problems in the party-dominated electoral system. Many voters in ridings that are considered "safe" for one party or another, feel that their vote is wasted, while others feel the necessity to vote strategically rather than for the candidate they actually prefer.

These problems serve to further exacerbate the decline in voter numbers with often as many as 40 to 45 per cent choosing not to vote at all, the number being much higher amongst youth.

The three options in the upcoming BC referendum on Proportional Representation (Dual Member, Mixed Member and Rural -- Urban), each in its own way, are means to avoid these "false majorities" and minimize distortions.

What is clear is that British Columbians want more proportionality and accuracy in voting results that better reflect their voting preferences. This desire is part of their striving for more say and more control over the political and economic processes of the province and country.

October 7 Presidential Election in Brazil

Massive "Not Him" Demonstrations Held
All Over Brazil

"Not Him" demonstration in São Paulo, as part of September 29, 2018, day of action.

On October 7 a general election is being held in Brazil to elect the President and Vice President, the National Congress, state and Federal District Governors and Vice Governors, state Legislative Assemblies and the Federal District Legislative Chamber. If in the presidential election no candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the vote on Sunday, a runoff will be held on October 28.

The election is stacked against the people of Brazil as a result of the jailing and disqualification of former President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, by far Brazilians' favourite candidate. Two main contenders for the presidency are now Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party (PSL) and Fernando Haddad of the Workers' Party (PT). Bolsonaro is a former army officer and so is his running mate, General Hamilton Mourão, who recently retired from active military service. Bolsonaro heads an alliance called "Brazil Above All and God Above Everyone." Bolsonaro and his running mate are notorious not only because of their nostalgia for the fascist military dictatorship Brazilians endured from 1964 to 1985, but for the hateful racist, misogynist and homophobic remarks both have made publicly. Bolsonaro is said to be the front runner in the polls.

The people's candidate is Fernando Haddad who replaced Lula last month and is therefore less known. Haddad's running mate in the "People Happy Again" coalition is Manuela D'Ávila of the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB).

What is thus at stake in Brazil is to prevent the continuation of the neo-liberal nation-wrecking program embarked on by the president imposed on Brazil by its financial oligarchy through a constitutional coup. Michel Temer was installed in 2016 to do their bidding after President Dilma Rousseff of the PT was falsely accused of corruption and Lula was disqualified, despite still having appeals pending before higher courts on a conviction based on similar false charges.

The violations of fundamental democratic principles, which the ruling elite have used their control of the state power to impose, show clearly the use to which the system called "liberal democracy" is put. The system must be replaced with one in which the people can elect their peers, defend their choices and exercise control over the direction of the economy and social policy.

Women Take the Lead to Defend Democracy and the Rights of All

In an effort to ensure that the candidate of the financial oligarchy Jair Bolsonaro is prevented from becoming the country's next president, starting with denying him a first round victory on October 7, Brazilian women went into action and organized the biggest mobilization of women in the country's history on September 29. Well over a million people, the large majority of them women, took part in militant #EleNão ("Not Him") marches in 438 Brazilian cities as well as in 34 countries around the world. Some of the largest actions were in São Paulo where 500,000 filled the city's streets; Recife, where 250,000, including 500 Doctors against Bolsonaro took part; Rio de Janeiro with 200,000 participants, and Belo Horizonte with 100,000. In Curitiba where Lula has been unjustly imprisoned since April, 30,000 people surrounded the courthouse and raised the demand that he be freed in addition to expressing their rejection of a Bolsonaro government.

In Canada "Not Him" actions were held in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.

Participants said the demonstrations were not just against one candidate, but to say No to privatization of the people's natural resources and state-owned companies and other neo-liberal measures imposed by the highly unpopular coup president Michel Temer. These measures include the Labour Reform that attacks workers' rights and the constitutional amendment that imposed a 20-year freeze on social spending.

A Manifesto entitled "Women United Against Bolsonaro" was released for the occasion calling for equality, freedom, rights, social justice and a life free from violence. In it the women express their rejection of a dictatorship or fascist rule. "Bolsonaro is everything Brazil does not need to overcome the crisis and move forward," they say.

Despite Bolsonaro leading in the polls since Lula was forced out, since the women began mobilizing to defeat him, the percentage of electors who say they would absolutely not vote for Bolsonaro has risen to 45 per cent, the highest rejection rate for any candidate. Another round of "Not Him" marches has been called for the eve of the election on Saturday October 6.

Actions Across Brazil

São Paulo

Brasilia


Curitiba


Rio de Janeiro: Recife


Fortaleza

Porto Alegre


Pernambuco

Bom Jardim


Belo Horizonte

Actions in Canada and Around the World

Quebec City


Montreal

Ottawa

Toronto

Vancouver

Santiago, Chile

Boston, U.S.


Miami, U.S.

San Francisco, U.S.


Bristol, Britain

Glasgow, Scotland


Frankfurt, Germany

(Brasil de Fato, Ninja Midia, Vermelho)

Montreal Rally in Support of Brazilian People

- Garnet Colly -

More than 300 Brazilians resident in Montreal and their supporters gathered in the Place des Festivals in the late afternoon on Saturday, September 29, to add their voices to those of the hundreds of thousands in over 400 cities and towns across Brazil and around the world to show their determination to ensure that the outcome of the upcoming Brazilian election defends the interests of the people. The demonstrations were held a week before the first round of the presidential election on October 7, with Jair Bolsonaro, a defender of military dictatorship and torture, currently leading the polls.

Women in Brazil realized that the oligarchy now running their country was determined to push the fascist candidate Bolsonaro to escalate the nation-wrecking against the people's gains since they succeeded in defeating the previous military dictatorship. They began to organize on social media as "Women United Against Bolsonaro" with the hashtag #elenão -- #nothim. Their movement has continued to gain strength, uniting all those under attack, particularly women, blacks, Indigenous peoples and LGBTI individuals, but has also given new strength and energy to the workers' movement. They took their activity from social media to the streets and organized what many have called the decisive event of this election campaign.

At the Montreal rally, in an upbeat, vigorous spirit, speaker after speaker made it clear that their opposition was not just to one man, as the hashtag might suggest, but to the backward politics that he represents and the dangers to the country represented by his openly racist, misogynist, homophobic, violent, neo-liberal, anti-social positions. People of all ages and from all walks of life applauded enthusiastically as women and men, youth, students and workers declared that this spirit of unity in defence of the rights of all is what represents their people and what they will continue to fight for.

Alessandra Devulsky, spokesperson for the Coletivo Brasil-Montréal, which organized the event, pointed out that culture is an essential part of politics, as had already been illustrated in some of the interventions. She invited Eluza Gomes to lead the crowd in the spirited singing of "Ele Não" (Not Him) -- an adaptation of Bella Ciao to the current struggle in Brazil. She also contributed another song and poetry.

This was followed by an open mic session in which many people intervened to support the fight of the Brazilian people for their right to decide. Among them, was Geneviève Royer, officer of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec (PMLQ), who said that the fight of the Brazilian people is part of the fight of the people of the world to seize control of their destiny against forces of reaction that are becoming more desperate every day and have only anarchy and violence to offer. She said that this striving of the people to exercise control over their lives is also seen in the Quebec election with its high level of sectarian infighting amongst the political parties of the rich. The interventions were vigorously applauded.

The rally ended with a group photo to be shared with the movement in Brazil, to remind the reactionaries that patriotic Brazilians, and their supporters everywhere, are determined to prevent Brazil from being dragged backward. The organizers, who were overwhelmed by the participation, along with all of the participants, left with renewed enthusiasm and energy to continue their struggle in defence of democracy and the rights of the people.

PREVIOUS ISSUES | HOME

Website:  www.cpcml.ca   Email:  editor@cpcml.ca