Acting on behalf of the ruling elite, the representative of the Liberal cartel party government Chrystia Freeland presented a fall economic statement on November 3. She and much of the mass media made feeble attempts to portray the statement as important but could not, as it was just the normal run of the mill "things are not really as bad as they feel" pronouncement of policy objectives. Besides, the government admits it cannot do much because private interests control the economy as their private domain and fiefdom.

The role of governments and the cartel parties has degenerated. They no longer consider providing for the public good as a duty, but rather provide solely for the private interests of the giant oligopolies, including repeatedly taking money from the public treasury to pay the rich in one way or another. The vast human productive powers that have been created by the workers are out of their control and that of the rulers as well. For the workers this poses the necessity to advance a nation-building project of their own, to take hold of these vast powers and use them for the benefit of the human and natural environment. The rulers, who cannot control the human productive powers, in their desperation resort to governments of police powers, which act with impunity to repress and criminalize the workers while destroying human productive powers through wars of destruction abroad and closures and demolition of factories, mines and mills at home.

The spokesperson of the Liberal cartel party in power admitted, "Canada cannot avoid the global slowdown, any more than we could have avoided COVID once it had begun infecting the world."

It shows the extent to which governments are impotent to solve problems as they are bound within a straitjacket of serving the rich and their enterprises and maintaining the status quo based on private ownership of the socialized economy. The imperialist economic system needs complete renewal with a new pro-social direction and aim, not to serve global private interests but the people and their society. Policy objectives from the imperialists and their elite are par for the course. The rulers are smug because, like the emperor who struts around naked while the courtiers praise his new suit of clothes, they have the power to speak nonsense while they carry on unmolested, paying the rich and privatizing social programs, abandoning the people to fend for themselves.

Their pablum has the aim of presenting current arrangements in a manner designed to make the people feel that something is being contemplated to deal with the very real insecurity and worries they are feeling. They suggest that, in the final analysis, nothing of substance can or should be done because the economy will somehow sort itself out on its own without human intervention. Increasingly, their empty chatter is seen as such with working people beginning to seize the initiative to defend their rights, interests and claims through actions with analysis to open a path forward to build the New.

The cartel party's feeble attempt in the economic statement on social programs and to give assurances things will not be as bad as many fear fell flat. Without much conviction Freeland proposed some minor tweaks such as, "to make the federal portion of all Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans permanently interest-free, including those currently being repaid." What is hidden is that this is not a cancellation of student debt and measures to make education a right for all but a transfer from students to the government of interest payments on student debt to the private moneylenders. It is, in effect, yet another pay-the-rich scam.

What are made to appear as investments in social programs, either new or refurbished, are measures designed to strengthen private interests in control of the economy. This includes the government topping up of wages for low-income workers, paying rent subsidies to landlords, and paying up to $1,500 in closing costs when buying a home. These solve no problems and change nothing of substance, certainly not the anti-social anti-people direction and aim of the economy to serve the rich.

Freeland also announced new programs to pay billions of dollars to private enterprises to transition to "clean energy" and "clean hydrogen." The imperialist media say this scheme is to catch up to President Biden's plan to hand over billions of dollars in public green funds to private interests. The media call this "attracting business investment."

She then said the Liberal cartel party will move "forward with the Canada Growth Fund (CGF), a $15 billion institution to help businesses fund emissions-reducing technology and 'unlock private capital.'" It is clear private interests have locked up private wealth the working class has produced and the Liberal party government can bribe the private interests with public funds to unlock it.

The government reports, "The 2022 Fall Economic Statement outlines the design, operations, and investment strategy of the Canada Growth Fund, which will help to attract private capital to invest in building a thriving, sustainable Canadian economy."

Canada's "Rationale" for Using "Innovative Public Funding Tools"

In its Fall Economic Statement, the Liberal cartel party in power provided the following "rationale" for upping the ante in the CGF:

"CGF will help Canada keep pace with a growing list of jurisdictions that are using innovative public funding tools to attract the significant private capital required to accelerate the deployment of technologies required to decarbonize and grow their economies.

"Because Canada's economic prosperity has traditionally been built on natural resources and other emissions-intensive industries, a substantial transformation of our industrial base will be required to meet our climate targets and ensure long-term prosperity for Canadians and the Canadian economy. Canada needs to build the technology, infrastructure, and businesses to reduce our carbon reliance, but this will not occur without rapidly increasing -- and then sustaining -- private investment in activities and sectors that will strengthen Canada's position as a leading low-carbon economy.

"Today, while companies and investors are aware of opportunities to commercialize and deploy emissions-reduction technologies, they are often restrained due to investment risks that are often associated with these investment opportunities. CGF is designed to invest in a manner that mitigates these risks that currently limit private investment, and unlock the domestic and foreign capital that Canada needs now.

"The energy security and climate change provisions in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the United States have created particular urgency for Canada. The IRA includes U.S.$369 billion in new climate and energy spending to find new areas of growth in the American economy. To further unlock private investment, the IRA increased the loan and loan guarantee authority of the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office almost tenfold -- from U.S.$40 billion to U.S.$390 billion, which significantly expanded available financing for both new innovative clean energy projects and the retooling and decarbonization of existing energy infrastructure.

"The magnitude of the IRA incentives and expanded financing supports will significantly mobilize investment and improve U.S. project economics. This will draw capital, talent, and raw materials away from Canada if we do not respond. As an instrument that can attract private capital, CGF will be an important part of Canada's work to respond to the IRA and remain competitive."

What this means is that the CGF will use public funds to "scale up" private companies and "capitalize on Canada's abundance of natural resources and strengthen critical supply chains" to serve the U.S. war economy.

The statement highlights some pay-the-rich schemes: "Following the adoption of the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States, the need for a competitive clean technology tax credit in Canada is more important than ever. The 2022 Fall Economic Statement proposes a refundable tax credit (for private enterprises) equal to 30 per cent of the capital cost of investments in: Electricity Generation Systems, including solar photovoltaic, small modular nuclear reactors, concentrated solar, wind, and water (small hydro, run-of-river, wave, and tidal); Stationary Electricity Storage Systems that do not use fossil fuels in their operation, including but not limited to: batteries, flywheels, supercapacitors, magnetic energy storage, compressed air storage, pumped hydro storage, gravity energy storage, and thermal energy storage; Low-Carbon Heat Equipment, including active solar heating, air-source heat pumps, and ground-source heat pumps; and, Industrial zero-emission vehicles and related charging or refueling equipment, such as hydrogen or electric heavy duty equipment used in mining or construction."

The regressive and unequal practice of handing out public funds to private enterprise is given the veneer of being pro-labour and showing concern for the natural environment. It is meant to woo rich oligarchs to set up shop in Canada. The economic statement says: "The Department of Finance will consult on any additional eligible technologies (e.g. large-scale nuclear and large-scale hydroelectric). To incentivize companies to create good jobs, those that adhere to certain labour conditions will be eligible for the full 30 per cent credit, while those that do not will only be eligible for a credit of 20 per cent."

The cartel party in power also pledges yet another pay-the-rich scheme saying, "The government is proceeding with its commitment, announced in Budget 2022, to establish an investment tax credit to support investments in clean hydrogen production.... The lowest carbon intensity tier that meets all eligibility requirements is proposed to receive an investment tax credit of at least 40 per cent."

Left unsaid in the economic statement is the reality that the government will continue the imperialist practice of borrowing money from private cartels to finance its budget deficits and debt. The recent deficits have pushed the public debt to private interests beyond $1.2 trillion. The interest charges to service the debt last year amounted to $24.5 billion. The amount flowing into the already bulging pockets of the global private oligarchy to service the debt rose by 52 per cent in the first five months of the fiscal year, in tandem with interest rate hikes. This means yearly debt interest service charges will immediately double to $49.8 billion.

These payments to the rich from the public treasury are a huge burden on the working people who are best served if they put forward the demand for a moratorium on servicing the existing debt, establishing an investigation into the legitimacy of the existing public debt and making it a criminal offence for government to borrow from private moneylenders.

The economic statement confirms the continuing restructuring of the state as a machine to guarantee control of the Canadian economy by a global imperialist oligarchy pushing the U.S. striving for world hegemony. The Canadian state's capacity to mobilize public funds and control the working class through the use of its prerogative powers is being used to subordinate Canada to the U.S. frenzy to escape civil war at home and feed its war preparations which will plunge the world into a dangerous world war.

The working people will give the fall economic statement a fitting response by stepping up their fight for the rights of all, putting forward the claims they are entitled to make on society by virtue of being the producers of all the wealth the society depends on. The demand for a moratorium on debt incurred to pay the rich and suspending interest payments on that debt would show how much money is available to fund social programs and restore the health care and education systems.

Meaningless Talk About Fiscal Responsibility

Canada must remain "fiscally responsible" in responding to tough economic times as forecasts of a recession grow louder, Justin Trudeau says. The phrase rolls off his tongue without context.

"Fiscal responsibility" in fact for his social class means reducing social programs and assistance to individuals in need and telling them to "Fend for yourself!" in the face of price inflation and a mean-looking recession and disturbing prospects of WWIII looming on the horizon. It means "targeted" spending to pay the rich for promised jobs in factories, mines and other global enterprises over which the people have no control.

Trudeau nuanced his "fiscal responsibility" saying, "We know that we need to help people who need help without putting at risk our fiscal stability or contributing further to inflation. That's why remaining fiscally responsible and measured in our response is essential because we have to prepare for whatever might come in the coming weeks and months."

In other words, helping people contributes to price inflation, so not helping people is good for the economy and all this without knowledge of "whatever may come in the coming weeks and months." The entire nonsense is to cut off any discussion as to what is going on in the economy and why human beings supposedly cannot bring their own economy under control and make it work for them.

Meanwhile, the mass media are reporting dire predictions for the economy. Chantal Hébert writes in thestar.com, "Recession forecasts grew louder this week after the International Monetary Fund on October 11 cut its global growth forecast for 2023.... (It) indicated a third of the world economy will likely contract by next year.

"Carney (former Bank of Canada governor) on Thursday (October 20)told a Senate committee that Canada is likely headed for a recession next year amid 'difficult economic times,' but backed the Liberal government's current 'fiscal discipline' in tackling high inflation."

Now we have "fiscal discipline" thrown into the mix, apparently a policy feature of the same Prime Minister who favours "fiscal responsibility." Again the words are spoken without context, just words without meaning to cause confusion and avoid any real analysis and discussion.

Hébert then introduces more dancing demons into the mix, writing, "Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the nation was going to face an 'economic slowdown' soon. She teased that Ottawa will share with 'some precision' its projections for the economy in its fall economic statement."

Explaining Freeland's musings Hébert writes, "The prime minister's 2015 campaign promise to run deficits is a commitment he has more than fulfilled over his past seven years in office.

"But as Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland prepares for her fall fiscal update, she has apparently decided the party is over.

"In a note to her cabinet colleagues obtained by the Star earlier this week, Freeland spelled out some ground rules pertaining to the financing of new projects.

"Those will, at least in part, have to be paid for out of existing ministerial budgets. In other words, some of the needed money will have to be drawn from program cuts."

So the Prime Minister and his deputy both in their own convoluted way say that by cutting programs Canada has the "fiscal capacity" for "fiscal responsibility and discipline" to deal with the "difficult days ahead for Canada's economy and for the economies of all of our friends and allies around the world."

Well that is not very reassuring and certainly does not put our minds at ease. Our leaders say they are thinking about dealing with the problems in the economy even though they can say nothing concrete except offhand stock comments that something really bad is looming and that social programs are on the block.

Hébert concludes, "Trudeau said he has heard about the challenges Canadians are currently facing.... 'We've made a commitment to be there for Canadians as a government,' Trudeau said."

Are Canadians supposed to be comforted that their leader "has heard about the challenges" they are facing but can say nothing scientific about the concrete conditions of the economy and the necessity for a new direction? Or that his deputy trots out the tired old line of fiscal restraint and cutting programs to solve problems, which in essence solve nothing and make life worse for the people and economy.

This points to the challenge Canadians must take up to have their own thinking and analysis of a new direction to solve the intrinsic problems of the economy and resolve its festering contradictions and mobilize others around their views. For starters: Stop paying the rich, increase investments in social programs, make Canada a zone for peace and bring into being a new pro-social aim and direction for the economy to meet the needs of the people and humanize the social and natural environment.

Bank of Canada Sets Anti-Human Economic
and Political Bank Policy

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem laid bare the anti-human direction of the ruling elite in a recent speech to the Public Policy Forum. Under the rubric "getting back to stable prices and a balanced jobs market" Macklem reduced the working class to things without rights to be manipulated for the good of those in control and ownership of the economy. He said measures are being introduced such as depressing investments through higher interest rates to make workers suffer higher unemployment, compete for available work and dissuade them from demanding higher wages and better working conditions.

Without proof, Macklem implied a connection between the current price inflation and workers' fight for higher wages. He said price inflation was connected with high employment levels and that "the Bank of Canada is working to cool an overheated economy" and bring back "maximum sustainable employment."

He said "the best contribution the Bank of Canada can make to the well-being of Canadians is to keep prices low and stable. That's because inflation that is near our two per cent target and what economists call maximum sustainable employment are strongly connected."

He suggested, "When the economy is operating above maximum sustainable employment, businesses can't find enough workers to keep up with demand. As a result, prices go up and inflation rises. That's where we are today. The current environment of excess demand means the economy's need for labour is greater than its ability to supply it. The Bank began raising interest rates in March to cool this overheated economy."

Macklem said, "Price stability and a healthy labour market go hand in hand." He does not openly specify that the price for which he seeks stability is the price of the capacity to work. Nor does he say openly that a healthy labour market to achieve stability of the price of the capacity to work requires a large number of unemployed workers seeking work and competing with each other for the available employment. Imperialist "maximum sustainable employment" requires a certain rate of unemployment so workers are fighting each other for available work, effectively reducing the price of their capacity to work.

The official rate of unemployment is 5.2 per cent and annual price inflation hovers around 6 per cent. According to the economic theory of the ruling elite the number of unemployed is not high enough to achieve a healthy labour market and balance between supply and demand of those things called workers and thereby bring down their price.

Do Macklem's words have any standing in science? Even his sequence of events is highly suspect. Before the current spike in prices, the economy has been in the doldrums since the onset of the pandemic, with many workers unemployed or only partially employed. Wages generally have been stagnant for years under pressure from the anti-social offensive. The current trend of fighting for better pay and benefits is considered a response to recent price inflation, deteriorating social conditions and a lowering of the standard of living.

Speaking for the ruling imperialist elite as Governor of the Bank of Canada, Macklem declares the economy is not for those who do the work and produce the goods and services the people and society require for their existence. Those who are the actual producers are not regarded as human beings with rights but as things without rights that those in control and ownership of the country's economic and political affairs manipulate to serve their aim to expropriate maximum profit and maintain their positions of wealth and privilege within the status quo.

Workers who must suffer the loss of their jobs and incomes as investments dry up are disposable things without rights within the quest of the rich for a "healthy labour market" and lower prices for workers' capacity to work. Their role in life is to serve those who own and control the imperialist economy and its aim of maximum profit, certainly not the people's well-being and humanize the social and natural environment.

Profit is the aim of the economy for those in control, and profit exists in contradiction with wages. The aim of the imperialist economy is not to benefit the human beings who make up the vast majority of the population and do all the work producing the goods and services and generally doing whatever those in control and ownership demand of them. The human beings who do the work are relegated as things without rights to be manipulated in the service of the tiny minority in control who crave maximum profit and the power and privilege it brings.

Macklem feels self-satisfied and smug within his world view when he speaks of balancing human beings and their supply and demand because those workers in his mind are not human beings with rights but things without rights to be coldly manipulated without compassion or compunction. "Cooling an over-heated economy" and deliberately generating an increased supply of workers seeking work and driving down wages make consummate sense from Macklem's reference point of serving those in ownership and control of the economy and their mania for maximum profit and power.

But the world of industrial mass production and an educated and mature working class has long passed the reference point of the ruling elite of the rich and rendered it obsolete. Those who do the work do not see themselves as things; they demand their rights by virtue of being human. What they lack are modern economic and political forms in conformity with the massive development of the human and productive forces.

The human beings who do the work have a different world view and reference point from Macklem and the rest of the ruling elite. They do not regard themselves as things without rights. They demand a new direction for the economy that is modern and human; they seek to invent the new forms suitable for the current stage of development. They are organizing and developing their individual and collective forces to affirm their rights in the present and create the conditions to build the new where human beings are in control of all those economic, political and social affairs that affect their lives.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem's Speech
to the Public Policy Forum

Macklem declares, "What I want to stress here is that maximum sustainable employment and inflation close to the two per cent target go hand in hand. If employment is well below its maximum sustainable level [which means in his convoluted way of speaking, a high rate of unemployment - TML Ed Note], the economy is missing jobs and incomes, and spending will be below the economy's productive capacity. This puts downward pressure on inflation, pushing it below the target. That's what happened early in the pandemic. If the economy is operating above maximum sustainable employment [a low rate of unemployment - TML Ed Note], businesses won't be able to find enough workers to keep up with demand, putting upward pressure on prices and pushing inflation above the target. That's where we are today."

Macklem's words are pseudo science. The relation between the labour market, wages and price inflation exists in that they are all features of the imperialist economy. Within the economy no direct connection can be drawn between rates of unemployment and price inflation. Both can be low or high depending on the concrete conditions, which involve all manner of economic and political features of the imperialist system both objective and subjective.

According to his theory, Macklem suggests that high unemployment as a general rule means the labour market is not operating at its maximum sustainable level but below it. Macklem's high and low, and above and below his imaginary maximum sustainable level are very confusing and difficult to follow. He is deliberately being obtuse to show his superior intellect.

In his imaginary scenario, high unemployment results in low inflation. In fact Canada's own experience contradicts his theory, in particular the period in the seventies known as stagflation when price inflation, unemployment and interest rates were all very high. The term stagflation is said to have been coined by British imperialist politician Iain Macleod who was Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1970. Macleod used the term to describe the situation in the United Kingdom during a period of simultaneously high inflation and unemployment. He said: "We now have the worst of both worlds -- not just inflation on the one side or stagnation on the other, but both of them together. We have a sort of 'stagflation' situation."

Macklem's self-serving theory suggests a labour market operating below its maximum sustainable level with a low rate of unemployment will force prices higher. In saying this he postulates low unemployment gives workers the upper hand to increase their wages and this will cause price inflation. The crux of his theory revolves around the unscientific view that wage increases cause price inflation. With this political line he attacks the working class movement in defence of its claims and rights.

He sets the following scenario: low unemployment -- less competition for jobs -- pressure for higher wages, thus higher prices. But this is not the actual relationship. Wages are in a contradictory relation with profit within the same price of production. The rate of wages plays only a very minor role in raising or lowering prices of production. Low wages generally mean higher profits and vice versa within the same price of production.

Individual prices of production higher than their reality found in their scientific determination are usually a result of price manipulation from monopoly control or supply of a particular social product less than the demand.

General price inflation can stem from state manipulation of the amount of money in circulation plus other factors. The big chartered banks control the money supply and together with governments at all levels they have been pouring extra currency into circulation through low interest rates, fashioning deficit budgets to pay-the-rich and continually increase the counterproductive and destructive war economy, and engage in state borrowing from global moneylenders, which entails unproductive interest payments to them.

Macklem suggests without proof that the present high inflation in Canada is caused by what he considers low unemployment or a deviation from his imagined level of "maximum sustainable employment." He says in effect that the imperialist economy cannot "sustain" full employment. The economy cannot assure viable employment for everyone with some unfortunate people having to pay the price of this failed economy. It should be remembered that the current official rate of unemployment that he describes as being lower than his desired "maximum sustainable employment" is 5.2 per cent. This leads us to imagine just what rate of unemployment does he want -- seven or eight per cent or higher?!

He admits in his speech that his views are merely speculative or self-serving for the ruling elite. He spouts the following nonsense: "We recognize that maximum sustainable employment is not directly measurable and is determined largely by non-monetary factors that can change through time. This reflects the reality that maximum sustainable employment is more of a concept than a number. In practice, knowing when we've reached it is difficult because we have to infer where it is, and labour market indicators give us clear signals only when we are well above or below it." Wow; that is a mouthful indeed!

Examples contradicting his bogus theory that unemployment less than his concocted level of maximum sustainable employment causes price inflation are easily found. Japan is a case in point at this time. The rate of unemployment in Japan is around 2.5 per cent well below Canada's current 5.2 per cent and even further below Macklem's desired "sustainable" rate.

Macklem says Canada's rate of unemployment is below the desired maximum sustainable employment level and is thus causing price inflation. This would suggest that Japan's price inflation should be even greater than Canada's six per cent given that the rate of unemployment is far below Canada's and Macklem's imaginary sustainable level of employment. But that is not the case. In fact, Japan's price inflation hovers around zero per cent and has continued to be low during its prolonged period of low unemployment, which are a result of the concrete conditions in imperialist Japan.

The lesson for the people from Macklem's speech is the necessity to have their own modern economic theory born out of an analysis of the concrete conditions and independent of the self-serving inhuman ravings of the ruling elite.

Reports

Food Insecurity in Canada

Students at UBC protest food insecurity, October 27, 2022

Disturbing reports say food bank usage across Canada reached an all-time high of nearly 1.5 million visits last March. Food Banks Canada released its annual report on October 20 painting a picture of unprecedented food insecurity in the 21st century. The 1.5 million visits to food banks in March of this year was 15 per cent higher than the number of visits in the same month last year and 35 per cent higher than visits in March 2019.

More than 4,750 food banks and community organizations contributed to the details in the report. Comments in the report suggest the skyrocketing cost of food and housing, as well as general price inflation, stagnant income for workers, and low social assistance rates are all contributing to the rise in food bank usage.

Kirstin Beardsley, the CEO of Food Banks Canada, called the reported numbers of usage "devastating."

"What we are seeing is the combination of long-term effects to a broken social safety net combined with the effects of inflation and high costs driving more people to use food banks than ever before in Canadian history," she said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "Behind each one of these numbers is a person who is struggling too much to get by."

Beardsley said fixed-income groups like seniors and employed but low-income people such as students have been hit harder because their paycheques can't keep up with inflation. "We have got people like seniors, who have been able to afford to live, suddenly having to turn to the food bank for the first time in their lives because it doesn't all add up," Beardsley said. "(Some people) are on a very limited income, and so when the costs go up, the way we have seen, you just can't stretch the dollar."

The Food Bank reported that around 500,000 food bank visitors in March or about one-third were children, who make up around 20 per cent of the country's total population. Hunger among children is an issue that can have a lasting impact, Beardsley said.

"This is the future of our country; this is who is going to be our future leaders, scientists, artists," she said. "When you're going to school hungry, you're not learning, you're not focussing, you're not setting yourself up to thrive."

Beardsley called the report a "wake-up call" that should trigger moves to tackle food insecurity and the issues that contribute to it. Food Banks Canada said the problem is especially dire in Northern Canada suggesting a need for the development of community-based approaches in those areas to address the issue.

The report demands increased investments in social programs and pro-social reforms such as providing more affordable and rent-assisted housing and immediate changes to employment insurance, which has become virtually useless in most cases.

(With files from The Canadian Press)

Small Businesses Struggling to Repay Debt

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) reports small businesses are struggling to repay debt they accumulated during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Adding to the problem are the recent increases in the interest rates tied to outstanding and new debts. Many have not yet repaid the debt they accumulated during the pandemic when a significant number of small businesses faced an unprecedented fall in revenue.

Increasing the burden of debt was yet another interest rate hike from the Bank of Canada on October 26. The central bank raised its key lending rate by a half-percentage point to 3.75 per cent. The bank has incessantly raised the interest rate this year from a low of 0.25 per cent in March. A third of Canadian small business owners now say borrowing costs are causing difficulties, compared with about a fifth of businesses at the start of the year, CFIB reports.

Reflecting problems in the economy, a Leger survey of more than 1,000 Canadians found 76 per cent of those polled plan to rein in holiday spending because of higher food prices, followed closely by worries of other price increases and overall economic concerns.

Annual Labour Survey Released

The annual labour survey of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) recently released shows a shortage of workers is harming the Canadian economy. In the last year alone, CME says these shortages have resulted in economic losses totalling nearly $13 billion, a figure calculated from the responses of 563 manufacturers from across 17 industries in Canada.

The admission that a shortage of workers and the skills they bring to production results in economic losses comes from a leading imperialist organization. It contradicts the regular accusation that employed labour does not add value and is not the source of profit but is a regrettable cost of production. How can the CME declare in good conscience that a shortage of workers and their skills costs the economy billions of dollars while usually huffing and puffing that employed workers are a cost to the economy's enterprises?

The CME specifically bemoans a lack of skilled workers costing the economy billions of dollars. The issue of a skills shortage resulting in billions of dollars of lost production and value explodes another myth that education represents a cost to the economy and society. Contrary to the usual complaint of the imperialists, education and other social programs contribute immense value to the economy and society. In fact, the enterprises that employ skilled workers are irresponsible for not investing directly in the country's human and material education and health care resources and paying for the value they receive in educated healthy workers. Therein lies a big problem.

Right before our eyes we see the imperialist government of Ontario using police powers to attack education workers and refuse to negotiate and come to an agreement that meets the demands of those who produce educated and skilled workers. Why does the CME not jump all over the Ontario government for refusing to fulfill its social responsibility and obligation to society and the people and meet the demands of education workers and increase investments in education?

If the CME wants to legitimize its complaint of a skills shortage it should demand its member enterprises properly directly realize (pay for) the education value they consume in their operations and not expect this to be done through taxation. Money should flow directly from enterprises into the educational system for the value they consume just as they must pay for all other consumed inputs. To be taken seriously, the CME and its members should vigorously support an increase in investments not only in education as a right for all from birth through adulthood but in all social programs.

According to the CME data, over the past year, 62 per cent of manufacturers have lost or turned down contracts and faced production delays due to a lack of workers, resulting in $7.2 billion in lost sales and penalties for late delivery. At the same time, 43 per cent of companies have postponed or cancelled development projects because of labour shortages, corresponding to $5.4 billion of lost investment.

"Our survey confirmed what we've been hearing from manufacturers on the ground for a long time. Labour and skills shortages are a chronic and persistent issue for manufacturers, and they continue to limit the growth prospects of the sector. If we don't find the workers we need, Canada's economy will suffer," said Dennis Darby, President and CEO of CME.

CME Survey Highlights:

Shortages: The ongoing challenge of labour and skills shortages continues to be exacerbated by the fallout from the pandemic. For the second consecutive year, more than 80 per cent of manufacturers reported facing labour and skills shortages, up sharply from 60 per cent in 2020 and 39 per cent in 2016. Shortages are most acute in production-related jobs, and manufacturers continue to have trouble finding enough highly skilled workers to fill skilled trade occupations and other workers to fill general labour and assembly positions. Eight-in-ten manufacturers say labour shortages in related sectors, like transportation and logistics, are also negatively affecting their business.

Instead of identifying itself and its members as a major negative factor in the problem of lack of skills because of their unwillingness to realize education value and change their ways; in the most irresponsible, banal and ridiculous way CME chief economist Alan Arcand accused young Canadians of having "a lack of interest in manufacturing jobs."

Opposition to U.S. Imperialist Domination of International Finance

Growing Resistance to Attempts to Maintain
U.S. Hegemony

The U.S. financial oligarchy uses its control of international institutions in the realm of trade, and the movement of money and credit to impose worldwide sanctions and blockades. Those countries wishing to break free from U.S. hegemony find themselves up against barriers that restrict their ability to trade or in other ways engage in international finance and business.

For example, the extraterritorial edict the U.S. has issued banning banks and other enterprises from doing business with Russia extends to all because, eventually, if an enterprise or state anywhere in the world, wants to engage in global business with others, it will come into contact with a U.S.-controlled institution.

In an item titled "Turkish state banks exit Russian payment system," Bloomberg News reports, "The threat of U.S. sanctions has forced lenders in Türkiye to stop dealing with Russian Mir [credit] cards, a senior official told Bloomberg. The decision followed a warning from the White House that financial institutions would risk secondary penalties if they help sanction-hit Russia to bypass Ukraine-related punitive measures."

"Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it was ready to impose sanctions on any institution outside Russia using the country's payment system.

"Turkish lenders joined the Mir payment network in early August, allowing tourists from Russia to pay for their purchases in the country.... The forced measures that are expected to be taken by Halkbank, Ziraat Bank and VakifBank to stop using Mir marks the latest turnaround in the Turkish stance on anti-Russia sanctions.... Mir was developed by the Central Bank of Russia as a domestic alternative to Visa and Mastercard after the first round of sanctions was imposed on Moscow in 2014. Since the introduction of the new payment system, Russian banks have issued more than 129 million Mir cards. Last week, Russian media reported that banks in Kazakhstan and Vietnam had stopped accepting Mir payment cards to avoid the risk of U.S. secondary sanctions."

The Atlantic Council, a front group for U.S. imperialism, reports on the global financial measures to sustain U.S. hegemony: "Over the past six months, the Group of Seven (G7) has leveraged the combined force of the dollar, euro, pound and yen to exact a heavy toll on the Russian economy. The backbone of this strategy rests on the way the world uses the dollar as an international reserve currency and the overwhelmingly preferred settlement mechanism in global currency exchanges. Nearly half of the world's trade is conducted in dollars, which also comprise approximately 60 per cent of global foreign-exchange reserves."

The Council expresses alarm however that sanctions are losing their effectiveness, as those affected are developing alternative means to circumvent the financial attacks. It writes, "De-dollarization or reducing a country's reliance on the dollar has gained momentum: From Russia to China -- and to many non-aligned countries in between -- there is a fear that overreliance on the dollar gives the United States too much leverage."

The Council reviews various methods U.S. imperialism has developed to sustain its hegemony and suggests how it may retain their effectiveness. It begins with the private system called SWIFT: The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, which the U.S. financial oligarchy controls led by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is a cartel of U.S. private banks.

SWIFT provides what it calls safe, secure, and efficient communication between banks for moving money. Over eleven thousand financial institutions in more than two hundred countries and territories rely on SWIFT for their financial transactions.

While SWIFT provides a method of secure communication, the actual fund clearance and settlement is handled by another U.S. Fed-controlled institution, the Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS). CHIPS clears close to $1.8 trillion in transactions daily.

The Council writes, "The (CHIPS) system has 43 direct participants, which are all U.S. banks or foreign banks with U.S. branches, and eleven thousand indirect participants, which are banks without U.S. branches who are engaged in the system through their accounts with direct participants. Through its participants, CHIPS covers over 96 per cent of dollar-denominated cross-border transactions. CHIPS works in parallel with the Fed-owned Fedwire Funds Service to actually clear and settle transactions. Together, SWIFT, CHIPS, and Fedwire broadly cover almost all dollar-denominated international transactions. They create a network effect that is nearly impossible to rival."

Regardless of the gloating, the Council grudgingly admits that rivals are indeed rising to challenge U.S. financial hegemony including its champions SWIFT, CHIPS, Fedwire and the U.S. credit card giants. Russia and China in particular are rapidly developing alternatives.

The Council writes: "Russia began developing its System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) after being hit by a round of sanctions following the 2014 annexation of Crimea. It functions as an alternative to SWIFT for transmitting information across four hundred domestic Russian banks and around fifty international entities primarily from Central Asia. Although reports have recently emerged about central banks in India, Iran, and China connecting to SPFS."

China developed its own Cross-Border Interbank Payments System (CIPS) in 2015 as an alternative to the CHIPS system. The People's Bank of China supervises the transactions. The system began by using the SWIFT infrastructure in China but has rapidly built an independent network that includes around one-tenth of the total participants in SWIFT. Reports in the financial press say the volume of transactions through CIPS using primarily the Chinese currency the yuan is growing by 50 per cent per year.

The Council admits the extensive imposition of sanctions is generating more resistance and expansion of alternatives to the U.S. dollar and financial mechanisms. It says the growth of the Russian and Chinese systems followed "the imposition of stricter financial sanctions on the countries that designed these (new) systems. As U.S. officials tighten sanctions measures, there will be more incentive for countries to participate and grow the network of these alternative payment rails."

The Council notes that not only are "U.S. adversaries like Russia or competitors like China" resisting U.S. hegemony. "Countries like India, Indonesia, Brazil, and South Africa are all exploring changes in the way they process cross-border payments and the possibility of reducing their reliance on the SWIFT system," it writes.

Credit and Debit Cards

Others around the world are exploring ways to have their own credit and debit cards used internationally but face attacks from the U.S. financial oligarchy to shut them down or at least blunt their effectiveness. The U.S. dominates the credit and debit card industry. U.S.-controlled Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are the three largest companies that allow cross-border and domestic payments. Visa and Mastercard each reach close to 53 million global merchants in over two hundred countries but alternatives are rapidly taking hold. The Chinese alternative payment network called UnionPay was introduced in 2002. UnionPay now has 55 million merchants in 180 countries signed up to use the credit or debit card, including 37 million merchants located outside of China.

The Council writes, "Since Visa and Mastercard suspended their services in Russia, UnionPay has emerged as one of the only options for cross-border transactions for Russians. Another one of those options is Mir, Russia's homegrown card scheme. Mir, which was developed during the 2014 round of sanctions on Russia, has become popular because it is used for pension and public-sector payments domestically and can be used by Russians living abroad. Over one hundred million Mir cards have been issued, and several countries, including Turkey and Iran, have expressed interest in joining Mir's network. Additionally, Russian banks have been doing business with UnionPay for several years, and given UnionPay's large network, Mir could partner with UnionPay to expand its reach with marketing or even co-branded cards."

Technical developments in the financial sector are also creating alternatives to the U.S. credit cards such as wallets and platforms that primarily enable domestic retail payments in the local currency of a country. Chinese fintech companies are more advanced on this front with the two most popular global digital wallets, AliPay and WeChat Pay. Each has more than a billion users with AliPay in use in up to 110 countries and WeChat Pay in 50 countries. The U.S.-controlled ApplePay and GooglePay have around four hundred million users each.

Developments in digital currencies are also allowing countries to bypass the U.S. dollar-based financial system by using Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). Twelve cross-border CBDC experiments are underway, such as the multiple CBDC Bridge (mBridge) that connects Thailand, Hong Kong, China, and the United Arab Emirates in a multi-currency exchange bridge.

The system is touted as cheaper, more efficient, less risky, and a faster transaction pipeline than existing systems, in addition to the benefit of not having the U.S. in control. One hundred and five countries are actively using forms of CBDC. Some of them are planning to launch "Wholesale CBDCs" that will enable institutional transfers between banks bypassing altogether the necessity to use SWIFT.

The Council notes with alarm, "Over time, these innovations could erode the way the dollar's global dominance is used to make sanctions effective. That's certainly the hope in Beijing: According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the People's Bank of China has 300 staff members solely dedicated to its CBDC -- that's larger that the entire staff of most other countries' central banks.

"De-dollarization is not a new idea -- but both fintech innovation and the weaponization of the dollar via sanctions have breathed new life into an old debate. ... [T]hreats to the dollar are looming in the distance: The yuan's share in global payments has seen an uptick this year, and given the energy crisis, countries could be convinced to offer ruble or yuan swap lines and increase the share of these currencies in their balance sheets. Over time, if the United States does not lead with allies in their own technological innovation, many countries will seek alternatives."

Exasperated, the Council falls back on the imperialist method of imposing U.S.-controlled standards "to curb the growing fragmentation in the global payments landscape." "Fragmentation" is code for any alternative to the hegemony of the U.S. dollar and financial systems. Imposing what they call global standards is a tried and true method to weaken fragmentation or loss of U.S. control.

The Council issues a veiled threat against those wanting relief from U.S. hegemony. "The United States has a crucial role in setting global standards and needs to be more active at the Group of Twenty (G20) and IMF on these issues. This would serve two purposes: It would ensure that innovation in the payments landscape does not lead to more fragmentation and also would make clear which countries are interested in collaborating -- and which ones truly want to carve out a different path."

Russian President Addresses Tectonic Shifts Occurring in the World Order

Russian President Putin in a recent speech predicted trade in national currencies will soon dominate globally. He suggested the long reign of the U.S. dollar as the world's trading benchmark and reserve currency will soon be over. In its place, trade and financial settlements conducted using the national currencies of the trading partners will gain momentum and gradually replace the dollar and make holding it in reserve redundant.

Putin said the U.S. and its allies have weaponized and compromised the U.S. dollar through illegal sanctions and seizure of other people's reserves. "Using the dollar as a weapon, the United States, and the West as a whole, discredited the institution of international financial reserves, first devaluing them due to inflation in the dollar and the Eurozone, and later completely pocketing our foreign exchange reserves," he said.

The seizure of the Russian assets has made all nations think about whether to keep reserves in dollars and reflect on what an independent and depoliticized international financial system could be, he said.

"Sovereign development must be ensured for all countries; the choice of any country must be respected. This is also important even in relation to the financial system," Putin remarked.

He suggested that the legitimate defence of Russia's national interests against U.S./NATO encroachment with a special military operation in Ukraine will "accelerate" changes in the current world order dominated by the United States.

"We're facing a historic milestone," Putin said. "Ahead of us is possibly the most dangerous, unpredictable, and, at the same time, crucial decade since the end of the Second World War."

Putin insisted that "a flare-up" of some sort "would have happened regardless of how Russia could have acted in Ukraine" due to an inevitable decline in U.S. power relative to others yet increasingly desperate attempts of the U.S. to maintain its hegemony.

"Yes, there are some issues -- I refer to the losses incurred due to the special military operation -- and I always say that, yes, there are economic losses," Putin remarked. However, in the end he suggested the losses will be offset with enormous gains arising from the assertion of Russia's "sovereignty in all domains, and in particular, in the economic field."

Putin insisted Russia has proven more resilient than Western officials would have expected and has, despite the difficulties, pivoted to insisting on a "new world order based on law and justice," a prospect that requires the formation of a new international financial system impervious to U.S. sanctions and dollar hegemony.

He questioned whether such a future is possible. "Yes, he answered. It would require a lot of effort and joint efforts of many countries, but it is possible to overcome the abuse as it now exists. A new global financial infrastructure could be built to safely and securely benefit all countries without the intervention of the U.S. dollar and the current system of reserve currencies, which are open to abuse by the most powerful."

Putin denounced "the Western globalization model," insisting that the structure of the existing world order is advantageous to an elite in the United States and disadvantageous to almost all others.

"As soon as you open your market for certain items, goods, then the local producer is going down, and it's almost impossible to bring back the industry," Putin asserted, saying that is the way they build relations. That is how they take over markets and resources leaving countries without much potential.

Putin denounced the enforced U.S. "standardization" of economies saying, "This has been the foundation of the Western globalization model, whose nature is neo-colonial, basically reinforcing absolute dominion of the West over the world economy and the world politics."

But within the situation he said, "Existing power centres are wilting and new ones are emerging mostly in Asia but also in Africa, which is still a very poor continent, so far, but you see the great potential to tap into there. And the same applies to Latin America. And these changes will happen, these tectonic shifts."

(Quotations and files from various mass media)

Third British Prime Minister in Two Months

Hedge Fund Conception of "Economic Stability
and Confidence"

People's Assembly Against Austerity, Birmingham, October 2, 2022.

On October 25, Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer of Great Britain (2020 to 2022) and Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2019 to 2020), became the third Prime Minister of the U.K. in two months.

Bloomberg News proudly announced, "Hedge Funds Get Their First Prime Minister."

Sunak is reported to be the richest MP in history, worth £730 million, according to the Sunday Times rich list. He and his wife Akshata Murthy are among the top 250 wealthiest people in the whole of Britain. The major source of their wealth is Murthy's 0.9 per cent stake in her billionaire father Narayana Murthy's IT company, Infosys. The stake is estimated to be worth around £690 million, which allowed the couple to collect £11.6 million in dividend income last year. The Sunday Times says that the source of their wealth is a "technology and hedge fund," implying that the remaining £40 million may originate from Sunak's time as a partner at the hedge funds Children's Investment Fund Management and Theleme Partners, or from his time as director of Catamaran Ventures, the investment firm also owned by his father-in-law, which he led from 2013 to 2015 before going into politics.

Sunak's net worth is said to make him richer than King Charles III himself, who before his inheritance had a net worth around $440 million, according to an estimate provided by research institute Wealth-X. From the people's point of view, perhaps that makes him a worthy business associate for the king, but hardly any more fit for public office than the king himself.

In his first speech as Prime Minister, Sunak immediately set out to assure financial markets that he is their man. Britain "is facing a profound economic crisis," he said. Who knew?

After paying formal tribute to predecessor Liz Truss, he committed his first act of fraud by declaring he is legitimate because he had been "elected" as Conservative Party leader and hence Prime Minister. In fact he was the choice of some150 or so members of the Tory party who are Members of Parliament. In no way does this furnish him with a credible mandate to represent the people of Britain. He was chosen to fix Truss's ineptitude which means to do a good job of covering up the pay-the-rich agenda of the British government. The message he gave was in fact very similar to that of Truss, but his language was designed to give confidence. He said he would "place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government's agenda," as if his "economic stability and confidence" will please the people, not the stock market.

The anti-worker, pro-austerity agenda is the same and, of course, "This will mean difficult decisions to come," he said. But this is not something the working class and people will accept, and are not accepting because they already suffer the consequences of the anti-social neo-liberal agenda and its slogan All for One and Nothing for All.

The Enough Is Enough campaign, the campaign for a People's Assembly and the demands to stop paying the rich and increase investments in social programs continue across Britain, calls for a general election are also increasing and hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for one. The revolt of the working class is such that the demand for a regime which upholds the rights of all is the call which imbues all other demands, irrespective of which cartel party forms the government.

Rishi Sunak's claim to bring "compassion to the challenges we face today" is unlikely to placate working people suffering under the cost-of-living crisis. Similarly, his implied condemnation of Boris Johnson in saying, "This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level," is unlikely to win the trust of the electorate as the economic crisis continues to deepen, no matter how much Sunak declares that "I fully appreciate how hard things are." There was even an echo of Truss's hero Margaret Thatcher, as Sunak concluded that "we" -- by which he fraudulently means the people and government together -- will "fill tomorrow and every day thereafter with hope." This was said without conviction and bereft of credibility, as though "hope" was as far as people could expect to go under his government.

The choice of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister along with the "revolving doors" of Cabinet, big industry and finance confirm that narrow private interests have been politicized, which means they have directly taken over the functions of the state.

Sunak attended Winchester College, an elite public school where fees are currently £46,000 per year. From there it was straightforward for him to go to Oxford, and read Politics, Philosophy and Economics. With his Winchester and Oxford background it was a matter of the right contacts for Sunak to get into Goldman Sachs and earn his first millions in investment banking, and then move on and up into the world of hedge funds and private wealth management. Marriage to the daughter of a billionaire was a suitable arrangement.

His appointments to Cabinet appear as a shuffling of the cards, not as a manifestation of Cabinet as a "broad church" as the rulers like to pretend it is, by which they mean it is representative of all walks of life and opinion. The ministers do not inspire the "trust" of which Sunak spoke because they are all tainted with the same brush of entitlement, corruption and fraud. Jeremy Hunt retains the post of Chancellor to indicate that the economies of austerity are to continue for the mass of working people. The appointment of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary has horrified all right-thinking people. She is as wild a racist and advocate of transporting asylum seekers to Rwanda as it is possible to get.

The fact that the measures announced in the "mini-budget" one week could be overturned a week later reveals the arbitrary powers the British government wields and who they serve. Sunak seeks to give the financiers confidence that all will now be calm and the chaos and ineptitude of Truss's 45-day premiership has ended. However, it cannot be readily forgotten that it was his resignation from Cabinet that finally precipitated the downfall of the corrupt and entitled Boris Johnson who continues to insist he is fit to rule. So long as Sunak and his new Cabinet are tainted by deceit and treachery, their conscience cannot come clean. Sunak may well find that asserting he leads the Tories at this time is something of a poisoned chalice.

Class War in Britain

The independent program and politics of the working class puts the human being at the centre of considerations. That is the exact opposite of what the Tories are doing right now. One of their chief considerations is to make sure Britain has an effective war government so as to remain competitive in the arms market and its striving for control over markets in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as in Europe. Despite the fact that war production is parasitic and a drain on the economy, does great damage to all public services as well as being disastrous to the environment, Sunak's government is set on this course.

In this regard, Sunak's stand is to whip up hysteria against Russia and China. He has stated that he considers China to be "the biggest threat" to Britain. When he was contending for the leadership of the Tory party, Sunak set out a series of plans he would undertake if elected Prime Minister, to defend against Chinese "technological aggression."

"China and the Chinese Communist Party represent the largest threat to Britain and the world's security and prosperity this century... I will build a new international alliance of free nations to tackle Chinese cyber-threats and share best practice in technology security," he said.

Brazil Election

People Return Lula to the Presidency in Historic Election Victory

On October 30, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected president of Brazil for the third time in a runoff vote against the current president, Jair Bolsonaro. Lula, founder and leader of the Workers' Party (PT), won with a 2.14 million vote advantage over his Liberal Party opponent. Lula and his vice presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin of the Socialist Party, will assume office on January 1, 2023.

The results of the vote were close, with a mere 1.8 point difference between Lula's 50.90 per cent share of the vote and Bolsonaro's 49.10 per cent. Over 123 million Brazilians -- 79 per cent of the electorate -- took part in the second round vote.

Broad Front Formed to Prevent Bolsonaro's Re-election

The strategy of the PT and its close allies was to create a broad front of political forces willing to work together to deny Bolsonaro a second term. The former army captain and his running mate, a retired general, never hid their nostalgia for the U.S.-backed military coup of 1964 and the dictatorship that followed it for over twenty years. Bolsonaro cloaked himself in religious and social conservatism and pitched his campaign as a battle of "good" against "evil" and even of "Christianity" versus "communism" to avoid any discussion of the destruction his reactionary government has wrought on Brazil, its people and natural environment.

To begin building the broad front that was envisioned the PT, Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) and Green Party joined together formally in the Brazil of Hope Federation. Their alliance eventually expanded to a 10-party coalition in support of the Lula-Alckmin ticket. Two prominent candidates eliminated in the first round of the presidential election and two more parties threw their support behind Lula for the second round. Many unions, social movements and well-known personalities, including former political rivals, also declared their support for Lula.

Flanked by his allies as he delivered his first speech as president-elect on election night, Lula said the victory was not his or the PT's or the parties that supported him in the campaign, but the victory of "a huge democratic movement formed above political parties, personal interests and ideologies." He said the challenge ahead was "immense," as Brazil needed to be rebuilt in all its dimensions: "in politics, in the economy, in public management, in institutional harmony, in international relations and, above all, in caring for the people most in need."

Bolsonaro's Dirty Campaign, Refusal to Concede Defeat

Jair Bolsonaro was brought to power from relative obscurity in 2018 as part of a continuing coup against the PT that began with the illegal impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff in 2016. Its next target was Lula, to prevent him from running for and likely winning the presidency of Brazil in 2018. He was subjected to a vicious "lawfare" campaign orchestrated by a corrupt U.S.-tutored "anti-corruption" judge that resulted in his being unjustly convicted and jailed for crimes there was no evidence he committed, putting an end to his bid for the presidency just weeks before the election.

In this year's election Bolsonaro and his backers were determined to hold on to the presidency by means fair or foul. The campaign they ran openly and routinely flouted the electoral law, inundating Brazilians with disinformation, "fake news," and fearmongering about what a Lula presidency would represent. Evidence also abounds of how Bolsonaro lost no opportunity to abuse the power of his office and control of the state treasury to buy votes for himself and suppress the votes of those who could be expected to support Lula and the PT. Voter harassment and intimidation, as well as violence, were also part of the Bolsonarists' arsenal.

In televised debates Bolsonaro told lies and repeatedly called Lula a "criminal," as if he had not been cleared of all the wrongful convictions that led to his spending 580 days in prison; and as if the judge who exonerated him had not instead ordered an investigation into the conduct of the corrupt lawfare judge who Bolsonaro made his justice minister for services rendered.

It took two full days for Bolsonaro to speak or even show his face in public after losing the election. Some of his most fanatical supporters, however, went into action right away, crying "fraud" and setting up illegal roadblocks around the country to press their demand for the military to intervene to prevent Lula from taking office. When Bolsonaro finally spoke on November 1, it was for less than three minutes, mainly to sympathize with the actions of his angry supporters. He said their "indignation" at the "injustices of the electoral process" was understandable and justified, but asked them to keep their protests "peaceful."

Regarding his own intentions, Bolsonaro spoke cryptically. He said those who call him anti-democratic are wrong, that he has always operated within the bounds of the constitution and would continue to follow all its "commandments." He did not, and still has not, conceded his defeat. It fell to his chief of staff, after Bolsonaro left the press conference without taking questions, to say that a transition process would take place with representatives of the next government. Vice president and retired Army General Hamilton Mourão also said not long afterwards that there was "no use crying anymore" and that there would be a peaceful transition. All of it suggests the country's military, and interests in the U.S. that were instrumental in putting Bolsonaro in power in 2018, and particularly now the Biden administration, were not ready to support a Trump-style coup attempt to keep him there.

Most of the roadblocks Bolsonaro supporters had erected were cleared within days after the Electoral Court ordered police to dismantle them and impose hefty fines on anyone who did not cooperate. Bolsonaro also sanctimoniously reminded his supporters not to interfere with the people's freedom of movement as that was "against the constitution." He did not, however, take issue with those who switched to holding large demonstrations outside military installations to urge the armed forces to stage a coup. Some participants in those actions were captured on film raising their arms in a Nazi salute as Brazil's national anthem was played.

The leadership of the armed forces did not take issue either with those calls to sedition raised on their doorstep. Instead, in an open letter issued on November 11 the commanders of the Army, Navy and Air Force mainly lectured the judicial and legislative branches of the government about their responsibility to uphold the people's constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms to protest "peacefully."

On November 23, the head of Brazil's Superior Electoral Court rejected the request submitted by Jair Bolsonaro and the Liberal Party the day before to annul all ballots cast on most of the electronic voting machines, which would have overturned the results of the October 30 election. The court refused, with the chief justice stating that "[t]he complete bad faith of the plaintiff's bizarre and illicit request ... was proven," citing among other things "the total absence of any evidence of irregularities and the existence of a totally fraudulent narrative of the facts."

He also ordered the suspension of government funds for the Liberal Party's coalition until a fine of 23 million reais (U.S.$ 4.3 million) for bad faith litigation is paid.

Challenges Facing the New Government and People

Among the challenges Lula and his government now face is having to govern without a majority in either house of the National Congress and navigating the complexities of being a broad front/coalition government. They and the organized Brazilian people will also have to remain vigilant and ready to deal with whatever the forces of retrogression might try, even if rejecting the results of the election is not on their agenda for the time being.

Pressures of all kinds can be expected to come from the U.S. as it strives to maintain its global dominance, drawing as many countries as it can into its economic and military wars against old and new enemies and pushing those it calls its "partners" to meddle in the affairs of other countries that have never done them any harm. This is particularly pertinent at the present time as the U.S. and Canada are on the hunt for "partner" countries to lead and/or provide troops for the new intervention force they want to impose on Haiti allegedly to combat armed gangs there - a role Brazil already played from 2005 until 2017 commanding the UN military and police mission known as MINUSTAH which Haitians condemned as a brutal and illegitimate foreign occupation force. The people expect the new government's international relations to be consistent with Latin America and the Caribbean being a zone of peace by strictly adhering to the principles of non-intervention in the affairs of sovereign countries and the right to self-determination of nations and peoples.

Bringing about the transformation of the country and Brazilian society was addressed by Lula in his speech on election night. Lula acknowledged that Brazilians want not just to elect those who will govern them, but to participate actively in decision-making.

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) extends congratulations to Lula and the Brazil of Hope Federation and the other political parties and social movements that worked together to ensure Bolsonaro's defeat and Lula's election. Congratulations as well to the Brazilian people who, despite the many obstacles thrown in their way, delivered the historic victory of October 30. CPC(M-L) along with the Canadian working class and people can be counted on to stand with them and their new government as they take up the challenge of rebuilding Brazil, defending its sovereignty and waging the necessary battles for democracy and progress.

For the text of Lula's election night speech click here.

(With files from Brasilwire, CNN, Associated Press, Folha de São Paulo, Wikipedia)

20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China

Successful Congress Held in Beijing

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 16 and closed October 22. At the preparatory meeting held the day before it opened, a list of 22 members of the delegate credentials committee was approved, and a list of 243 members of the presidium of the congress. The meeting approved Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee to serve as secretary-general of the congress.

The meeting also approved the agenda of the congress: the presentation and examination of a report of the 19th CPC Central Committee, a report of the 19th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, an amendment to the Party's Constitution, and the election of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

After the preparatory meeting, the delegate credentials committee held a meeting, and the presidium of the congress held its first meeting at which the schedule of the congress was set.

Qualifications of 2,296 delegates to the Congress were confirmed valid. Delegates represented more than 96 million CPC members and over 4.9 million primary-level Party organizations.

Full Preparation

Media in China provided detailed reports on the preparations for the Congress. They inform that the draft report of the 19th CPC Central Committee to the 20th CPC National Congress was written by a working group headed by General Secretary Xi and joined by other leaders of the CPC Central Committee and heads of relevant departments and local senior officials, as well as experts and scholars, to carry out the work under the direct leadership of the Political Bureau, and the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

The CPC Central Committee also conducted in-depth investigations and research for issuing the draft report, as it set 26 key task topics, which were researched by 54 institutes under the CPC Central Committee and the government, and 80 research reports were produced. The relevant departments under the CPC Central Committee also solicited opinions from the online users and received more than 8.54 million comments. These all formed a solid basis for issuing the draft report, Sun Yeli, the spokesperson for the 20th National Congress, said.

Opinions of more than 4,700 people were subsequently collected on the draft report.

The Constitution of the CPC was amended in accordance with the needs of theoretical innovation and the evolution of practice, the spokesperson of the CPC pointed out.

The spokesperson explained that the CPC Constitution was adopted at the Party's 12th National Congress in 1982, and subsequent congresses have all made amendments to that document. He said that different regions and departments earlier this year agreed unanimously to make appropriate amendments to the CPC Constitution. A number of Party members, including some veteran Party members, also wrote to relevant departments of the CPC to offer their suggestions, he said.

The amendment to the Constitution of the CPC incorporated the major theoretical views and strategic thinking put forward in the report of the 19th CPC Central Committee to the 20th CPC National Congress. The spokesperson said that the amendment fully embodies "the latest achievements in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and to the needs of the times." It also enshrines "the new ideas, thoughts and strategies on national governance that the CPC Central Committee has set forth since the 19th CPC National Congress, while reflecting the latest experience in the Party's development and work."

According to the spokesperson, the amendment meets "new requirements for advancing the Party's development and work in the face of new circumstances and new tasks."

The 20th CPC Central Committee held its first plenary session after the 20th CPC National Congress ended. Members of the new Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee met Chinese and foreign journalists after the conclusion of the first plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee.

(Xinhua News Agency, The Global Times)

Qualifications of Congress Delegates

On October 15, as final preparations were made for the holding of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the qualifications of 2,296 delegates were confirmed valid, Sun Yeli a spokesperson for the Congress informed. Delegates attending the Congress represented more than 96 million CPC members and over 4.9 million primary-level Party organizations, Sun informed a press conference. He said the spectrum of the delegates is broadly representative.

The delegates come from various sectors, various administrative levels, and various institutions including Party and government departments, enterprises, public institutions and people's organizations.

More than one-third of the 2,296 delegates are Party members working on the frontline. Among them, workers or migrant workers account for 8.4 per cent of all delegates, farmers 3.7 per cent, and professionals and technicians 11.6 per cent.

The ratio of female delegates has risen to 27 per cent, Sun said, adding that ethnic minority delegates account for 11.5 per cent of the total.

Sun noted that 59.7 per cent of the delegates are aged under 55, and 95.4 percent of them have a diploma from junior college or above. More than half of the delegates have a master's degree.

Sun said 96.9 per cent of the delegates joined the CPC after the reform and opening-up started in 1978.

All primary-level Party organizations and up to 99.5 per cent of more than 96 million Party members took part in the process which elected the delegates. The CPC Central Committee also directly invited 83 special delegates who enjoy equal rights as elected delegates.

Significance of the 20th Congress

The newspaper Global Times on October 26 issued the following points on the significance of the 20th Congress of the CPC.

This is "the first national congress held after the CPC's 100th anniversary, and its significance to the Party and the country is self-evident. From the grand perspective of history and the world, the 20th CPC National Congress also provides the outside world with a window to gain an in-depth understanding of China in the new era. As Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, pointed out, to understand China today, one must learn to understand the CPC.

"Looking back at the great changes of the new era in the past 10 years, it can be said that they have been extremely unusual and extraordinary. For the first time in history, China has eliminated extreme poverty. The fight against corruption has seen an overwhelming victory and been consolidated in an all-round way. The ordinary people truly feel a sense of fairness and justice. At the same time, China's GDP has surpassed 100 trillion yuan. Our economic development has become much more balanced, coordinated, and sustainable."

Referring to the challenges of these days, Global Times points out: "This decade has been one in which the world has undergone drastic and profound changes. Risks and uncertainties have increased in an unprecedented manner. During these years, many countries have failed in their pursuit of development. Their economies have stagnated or even regressed, their societies have seen turmoil or even war, and political instability has become a vicious circle that some countries have found difficult to escape. Impacted by various crises, developed countries in Europe and the U.S. have also made missteps, facing unprecedented predicaments. In this complex and turbulent international situation, countries that can maintain rapid economic development and long-term social stability are rare, if not unique.

"As we all know, the U.S. has intensified its suppression and containment of China in recent years, and has resorted to extreme measures to this end. This, however, shows that we have done the right thing. Why is China regarded as a top strategic competitor by the U.S.? It is because Washington does not want to see China's development and growth. Facing the severe and complex international and domestic situations as well as the ensuing huge risks and challenges, the reason why we can firmly grasp the initiative of our country's development and security is the incomparably strong leadership of the CPC, which has become the most reliable backbone when difficulties and storms emerge. Otherwise, how can China stand the test of the risks and challenges from politics, economy, ideology and nature?"

Global Times continues: "'Stability' is the most prominent feature and advantage of China's politics and development, and it is also the fundamental manifestation of political maturity. Stability leads to long-term development, and this is especially the case for major countries. The key to China's long-term stable development is the strong leadership of the CPC. This is not a secret, and should be one of the most important research topics in contemporary political science. The CPC cannot be simply explained and understood through the concept of 'party' in Western political science. There are more than 96 million CPC members. This figure is more than the population of most countries in the world. More than 4.9 million grassroots Party organizations can be found in all fields of society. The CPC is deeply rooted in China and the Chinese people, and thus has uplifting power in the pursuit of excellence.

"The CPC comes from the people, is for the people and relies on the people. All of the steps it strives to take are dedicated to working for the wellbeing of the Chinese people and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. This original mission is manifested through specific policies and measures, as well as the practice of every Party member, and has been proven by the great practice of the CPC. Ties between the CPC and the Chinese people are like ties between flesh and blood -- they are inseparable. This is fundamentally different in nature from the relatively loose political parties in Western countries, which are more like interest groups formed around elections. It is also very important for the world to understand this, as it explains that while China is much stronger than what it used to be, it has always maintained the style of a moderate and kind country.

"In today's fast-changing international situation, the significance of the CPC as the backbone of the Chinese people is even more prominent. Since the establishment of the CPC, the Chinese nation has not needed to wander through the dangerous jungle of modern civilization. In the 10 years of the new era, the CPC has reached a new realm as it gains a deeper understanding, a more mature strategy, and a richer practice of building a modern socialist country."

Referring to the new ideas, new strategies and new measures adopted at the 20th National Congress of the CPC, Global Times says they will "profoundly influence the future of China and the world." The congress "will make Chinese people feel more enriched and make China's steps more stable," Global Times states.

"When the world is prosperous, China will be prosperous. When China is prosperous, the world will be more prosperous. The political maturity of China and the CPC enables the steady functioning of China, and is a stabilizing force in a chaotic world. China's steady and rapid development in recent years has greatly improved the wellbeing of its people, and at the same time injected new energy into the world. After the 20th National Congress of the CPC, China will be more stable, certain and predictable, and will benefit the Chinese people and the rest of the world through steady development. This is of great significance to China and the world," Global Times concludes.

China's Development Goals

The report of the 19th Central Committee, delivered to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) by Xi Jinping on China's development goals, "set the tone for striving in unity to build a modern socialist country in all respects and advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts," Chinese news media reported.

"From this day forward, the central task of the Communist Party of China will be to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to realize the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization," Xi said in his speech.

News reports inform:

"In the preceding decade, the CPC has led the Chinese people to three historical accomplishments that will have a significant impact on the globe. In Xi's words: 'We embraced the centenary of the Communist Party of China; we ushered in a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics; and we eradicated absolute poverty and finished building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, thus completing the First Centenary Goal.'"

Xi said, "These were historic feats -- feats accomplished by the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people striving in unity, feats that will be forever recorded in the Chinese nation's history, and feats that will profoundly influence the world."

News media noted, "China's socialist democracy, specifically the whole-process of people's democracy, efficiently protects the fundamental interests of the people.... The basic objective of the Party in fostering economic and social growth has always been to address the needs of the people for a better life."

Elaborating China's pragmatic view of Marxism, Xi said, "We owe the success of our Party and socialism with Chinese characteristics to the fact that Marxism works, particularly when it is adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of our times." In his speech he added:

"Chinese modernization is socialist modernization pursued under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It contains elements that are common to the modernization processes of all countries, but it is more characterized by features that are unique to the Chinese context. It is the modernization of a huge population, the modernization of common prosperity for all, the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement, the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and the modernization of peaceful development....

"Education, science and technology, and human resources are the foundational and strategic pillars for building a modern socialist country in all respects. We must regard science and technology as our primary productive force, talent as our primary resource, and innovation as our primary driver of growth.

"We will work to raise the share of personal income in the distribution of national income and give more weight to work remuneration in primary distribution. We will improve the policy system for distribution based on factors of production, explore multiple avenues to enable the low- and middle-income groups to earn more from production factors, and increase the property income of urban and rural residents through more channels."

Xi also vowed to unswervingly advance the cause of national reunification.

Speaking about China's commitment to its foreign policy goals, Xi emphasized that China's aim of protecting world peace and advancing common development "provides greater reassurance to the international community," Chinese news media pointed out. "The deficit in peace, development, security, and governance is growing. All of this is posing unprecedented challenges for human society. The world has once again reached a crossroads in history, and its future course will be decided by all the world's peoples," Xi said. "History is a testament to the fact that China has never or will never pursue hegemony or engage in expansionism; its preferred approach is constructive engagement, instead of the use of force," Xinhua writes.

Xi Jinping's presentation "drew resounding and long applause from the delegates," Xinhua reports.

A commentary on the presentation published by Xinhua underscores: 1) the plan to widen market access and open China to foreign investment; 2) China's ambitious targets and actions for decarbonization which have cut its carbon emission by 34.4 per cent over the past 10 years; 3) China's adherence to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence pursuing friendship and cooperation with countries; and 4) China's adherence to "the right course of economic globalization." China "is committed to working with other countries to foster an international environment conducive to development and create new drivers for global growth," the commentary concludes.

Zhao Chenxin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, in another commentary said:

"China will unswervingly expand all-around opening up and push economic globalization toward being more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all."

"It is wrong to think that by focussing on the domestic economy China will scale back its opening-up efforts or even turn to a 'self-sufficient economy,'" he wrote.

"Economic globalization has become an irreversible trend," he said, adding that China is already deeply integrated into the global economy and the international system, and the industries of China and many other countries are highly interconnected and interdependent," Zhao added.

(Xinhua)

The Policy "One Country, Two Systems"

"The policy of One Country, Two Systems is a great innovation of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It has proven to be the best institutional arrangement for ensuring sustained prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao after their return to the motherland," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a report at the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

"This policy must be adhered to over the long term," he said. "We will fully, faithfully, and resolutely implement the policy of One Country, Two Systems, under which the people of Hong Kong administer Hong Kong and the people of Macao administer Macao, both with a high degree of autonomy. We will remain committed to law-based governance in Hong Kong and Macao," Xi said.

"We will ensure that the central government exercises overall jurisdiction over the two regions. We will see that Hong Kong and Macao are administered by patriots," he said.

"We will support Hong Kong and Macao in growing their economies, improving their people's lives, and resolving deep-seated issues and problems in economic and social development, and promote long-term prosperity and stability in the two special administrative regions," Xi said.

"We will support Hong Kong and Macao in better integrating themselves into China's overall development and playing a greater role in realizing national rejuvenation," he said.

"We will ensure both the central government's overall jurisdiction and a high degree of autonomy in the special administrative regions," the report emphasized.

The central authorities will uphold executive-led government in Hong Kong and Macao and support the chief executives and governments of the two regions in exercising law-based administration, enhancing their overall governance and management capacity, and improving their judicial and legal systems, the report said.

"We will inspire more people in Hong Kong and Macao to love both the country and their own regions, be more patriotic, and forge a broader united front at home and abroad in support of the One Country, Two Systems policy," the report said.

"We will crack down hard on anti-China elements who attempt to create chaos in Hong Kong and Macao. We will take resolute action to prevent and stop interference in the affairs of Hong Kong and Macao by external forces," the report stressed.

On Taiwan Xi Jinping said that the Communist Party of China (CPC) will implement its overall policy for resolving the Taiwan question in the new era, and unswervingly advance the cause of national reunification.

"Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, a matter that must be resolved by the Chinese," Xi said. "We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary. This is directed solely at interference by outside forces and the few separatists seeking 'Taiwan independence' and their separatist activities; it is by no means targeted at our Taiwan compatriots," he said.

Xi said that the wheels of history are rolling on toward China's reunification and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. "Complete reunification of our country must be realized, and it can, without doubt, be realized!"

"We have always shown respect and care for our Taiwan compatriots and worked to deliver benefits to them. We will continue to promote economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation across the Strait," Xi said. "We will encourage people on both sides of the Strait to work together to promote Chinese culture and forge closer bonds," he said.

"A Human Community with a Shared Future"

"China is dedicated to promoting a human community with a shared future," Xi Jinping said at the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on October 16.

China has always been committed to its foreign policy goals of upholding world peace and promoting common development, Xi said. The report provided by the Xinhua News Agency follows:

Stressing that human society faces unprecedented challenges, Xi called upon all countries to hold dear humanity's shared values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom, and promote mutual understanding and forge closer bonds with other peoples.

"Let us all join forces to meet all types of global challenges," Xi said.

China remains firm in pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace. It has always decided its position and policy on issues based on their own merits, and it has strived to uphold the basic norms governing international relations and safeguard international fairness and justice, Xi said.

China stands firmly against all forms of hegemonism and power politics, the Cold War mentality, interference in other countries' internal affairs, and double standards, Xi said.

Xi noted that China will never seek hegemony or engage in expansionism.

China adheres to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in pursuing friendship and cooperation with other countries. It is committed to promoting a new type of international relations, deepening and expanding global partnerships based on equality, openness, and cooperation, and broadening the convergence of interests with other countries, Xi said.

Guided by the principles of sincerity, real results, affinity, and good faith and with a commitment to the greater good and shared interests, China endeavors to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries and safeguard the common interests of the developing world, Xi said.

China is committed to its fundamental national policy of opening to the outside world and pursues a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up. It strives to create new opportunities for the world with its own development and to contribute its share to building an open global economy that delivers greater benefits to all peoples, Xi said.

China adheres to the right course of economic globalization. It is committed to working with other countries to foster an international environment conducive to development and create new drivers for global growth, Xi said.

China plays an active part in the reform and development of the global governance system. China upholds true multilateralism, promotes greater democracy in international relations, and works to make global governance fairer and more equitable, Xi said.

Xi said the world has once again reached a crossroads in history, and its future course will be decided by all the world's peoples.

The Chinese people are ready to work hand in hand with people across the world to create an even brighter future for humanity, Xi said.

Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence

The Five Principles, as stated in the Sino-Indian Agreement 1954, are listed as:

- mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty,
- mutual non-aggression,
- mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs,
- equality and co-operation for mutual benefit, and
- peaceful co-existence

These principles are a strict interpretation of the Westphalian norms of state sovereignty.

According to Wikipedia:

Westphalian sovereignty, or state sovereignty, is a principle in international law that each state has exclusive sovereignty over its territory. The principle underlies the modern international system of sovereign states and is enshrined in the United Nations Charter, which states that "nothing ... shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state." According to the idea, every state, no matter how large or small, has an equal right to sovereignty. Political scientists have traced the concept to the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which ended the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and Eighty Years' War (1568-1648). The principle of non-interference was further developed in the 18th century. The Westphalian system reached its peak in the 19th and 20th centuries, but it has faced recent challenges from advocates of humanitarian intervention.

On the People's Well-Being

Bringing benefit to the people is the fundamental principle of governance, Xi Jinping said at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on October 16. Working for the people's well-being is an essential part of the Party's commitment to serving the public good and exercising governance for the people, he said.

Addressing plans to improve the people's well-being and raise quality of life Xi said:

"This country is its people; the people are the country. As the CPC has led the people in fighting to establish and develop the People's Republic, it has really been fighting for their support."

"We must ensure and improve the people's well-being in the course of pursuing development and encourage everyone to work hard together to meet the people's aspirations for a better life," Xi said.

The CPC will work hard to resolve the pressing difficulties and problems that concern the people most, improve the basic public service system to raise public service standards and make public services more balanced and accessible, so as to achieve solid progress in promoting common prosperity, Xi said, adding that China will improve the system of income distribution.

"We will ensure more pay for more work and encourage people to achieve prosperity through hard work," Xi said. "We will promote equality of opportunity, increase the incomes of low-income earners, and expand the size of the middle-income group," he said.

China will do more to help those in difficulty find employment and meet their basic needs, and improve the social security system with expanded coverage of social insurance programs, Xi said.

The country will move faster to build a housing system featuring multiple suppliers and various channels of support that encourages both housing rentals and purchases, Xi said.

In an effort to advance the Healthy China Initiative, China will establish a policy system to boost birth rates, pursue a proactive national strategy in response to population aging, and promote the preservation and innovative development of traditional Chinese medicine, Xi said.

The public health system will also be improved, with strengthened systems for epidemic prevention, control, and treatment as well as emergency response capacity so as to effectively contain major infectious diseases, Xi said.

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