Evidence of Canada’s Democracy
The state violence against protesters at the Fairy Creek blockade on Vancouver Island is unacceptable and must be stopped. It underscores the kind of democracy Canada has, where no matters of concern to the people are discussed but instead are subjected to state-organized police violence, resulting in injuries, arrests and denial of free speech and conscience.
The fate of old growth forests is neither a new issue nor one that in any way should be subjected to state intervention with court injunctions, exclusion zones, obstruction of media, police violence and mass arrests. Issues concerning the social and natural environment must be argued out in discussion and debate among the people without the threat of state-organized interference and violence.
The forest company in question, Teal-Jones, cannot use its claim of ownership of private property and sense of entitlement bestowed on it by governments as reasons to override the discussion regarding the cutting of old growth forests in the Ada’itsx (Fairy Creek watershed) on unceded territory of the Pacheedaht Indigenous Nation. Unceded means the Pacheedaht have not relinquished their rights and titles to the land. To sell unceded land is surely the definition of theft if ever there was one.
Adding insult to injury, the state authorities deprive the people of their right to discuss the problem of cutting old growth forest. To unleash court injunctions, exclusion zones, police violence and the arrest of 800 land defenders who oppose the cutting of old growth forests is beneath contempt and in opposition to modern principles of sorting out problems through discussion and the peaceful development of public opinion. No matter how individuals may feel about the cutting of old growth forests, it remains an issue that must be resolved through discussion, objectivity of consideration and modern principles underlying an economy that serves and meets the needs of the people and Mother Earth, and the humanization of the social and natural environment.
Protest against RCMP violence in Nanaimo, August 23, 2021
The scenes of police violence at the Fairy Creek blockade are sickening to watch and a travesty of what Canadians normally consider as their right to protest and voice their opinions. In response to the latest police violence and arrests, hundreds of people demonstrated their outrage at 15 different RCMP detachments across BC on August 23 to demand an immediate end to the repression and the resolution of this issue peacefully.
An alternative to police power and state violence against the people is found in the mobilization of the people for democratic renewal. An alternative is found in people speaking in their own name, and in groups discussing issues of concern without fear of reprisal from powerful forces that own social wealth and parts of the socialized economy as private property and who exercise inordinate power over governments to the point of controlling their decisions.
The program of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada calls on the people to organize and empower themselves to bring into being a modern Canada under their control that meets the needs of all, defends their rights and humanizes the natural and social environment!
