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March 8, 2012 - No. 31 International Women's Day 2012 Women Workers Must Lead the Struggle for Renewal
International
Women's
Day
2012 International Women's Day 2012 Women Workers Must Lead the Struggle for Renewal
CPC(M-L) calls on advanced women workers to join the Party, organize basic organizations for the emancipation of women at their workplaces, inclusive of all fellow workers irrespective of gender, and excel in taking up political affairs under the banner of the democratic renewal of the political process. CPC(M-L) takes this opportunity to express its full support for all women fighting for emancipation on the world scale and to hail the increasing participation of women in political affairs. The Party condemns all acts of oppression and humiliation of women, condemns the rape and other forms of brutality and terror practiced by the ruling circles against them and demands that all those committing crimes against women be punished. Hail March 8 -- International Women's
Day!
Wheat Board Allies Vow to Continue Fight Against Harper Dictatorship Let the Farmers Decide!
In a ruling on February 24, Justice Shane Perlmutter of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba dismissed an application for an injunction against the Harper dictatorship's Bill C-18, the so-called Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act which will end the Canadian Wheat Board's (CWB) single desk August 1. The application was brought by eight former CWB directors fired from the board when the Harper dictatorship proclaimed the new legislation late last year. Justice Perlmutter is a Conservative Party donor who was appointed by the Harper dictatorship on February 4, 2011. In throwing out the case, Perlmutter rejected the plaintiffs' argument that a clause in the old CWB Act bound the federal government to hold a vote by grain producers before ending the Wheat Board's public marketing monopoly. He also rejected the argument that farmers would suffer irreparable harm if prairie grain marketing was opened up to private grain monopolies such as Cargill, Viterra and Richardson. Perlmutter pointed out that as a Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba any injunction he granted would only apply to Manitoba grain producers. "As such, staying the operation of the New Act would have the undesirable effect of creating disparities between provinces," he wrote. In December 2011, Federal Court Justice Douglas Campbell ruled that Harper's Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz broke the law when he introduced his CWB marketing bill without first holding a plebiscite amongst the farmers, as required by section 47.1 of the old CWB Act. But Campbell was not asked to rule on the validity of Bill C-18 itself, and it passed following his decision. Perlmutter said he was "not bound" by Campbell's decision, which was at odds with his own interpretation of Section 47.1 -- that the federal government was not required to hold a vote before ending the Wheat Board's public monopoly. The Harper dictatorship is appealing Campbell's ruling and arguments are likely to begin in May. The farmers and their organizations leading the fight against the arbitrary dismantling of the CWB say Perlmutter's decision is just one incident and that the battle over the future of Prairie grain marketing is not over. The Friends of the CWB, the CWB Alliance and others will continue to support a Constitutional challenge to Harper's dismantling of the Wheat Board. Bill Gehl, chairperson of the CWB Alliance stated, "This is a question of due process and the rule of law itself. Federal Justice Campbell has already ruled that Ottawa's actions are 'an affront to the rule of law' and we believe everyone, including the Minister of Agriculture must follow the law. The ruling of a provincial judge is certainly not the last word on this issue," Gehl said. "We firmly believe Ottawa broke the law when it introduced its legislation ending the Wheat Board and dismissing our farmer-elected directors. Our court action speaks to our basic constitutional rights to vote on the control and mandate of our Wheat Board." Former CWB chairman Allen Oberg, one of the eight former farmer-elected directors, found Perlmutter's decision "extremely disappointing." "He's suggesting that if you just remove one grain from the wheat board's jurisdiction that a [farmer] vote is required. But if all grains are removed a vote is not required. That doesn't make any sense at all," Oberg said. He and the other former directors may appeal the ruling, he added. "This is
another one of those legal skirmishes but it only makes up a small part
of the battle," said Saskatchewan farmer Stewart
Wells, also a farmer-elected board director fired under the new
federal law. "We're ready for a long fight," said another former CWB
director Kyle Korneychuk
in response to the judgment. Korneychuk said the former directors have
not yet decided if they will appeal Perlmutter's ruling. Other Outstanding Lawsuits
Also looming are two class-action suits against the
Harper dictatorship over its removal of the Wheat Board's public
monopoly, both seeking billions of dollars in compensation for Prairie
farmers. One lawsuit, launched February 15, claims the new legislation
violated
farmers' Charter rights and
seeks to restore farmers' democratic
control of the Wheat Board and the right of producers to collectively
market their grain. Said Stewart Wells, "We have a
broadly based group supporting this action
including eight of the ten deposed farmer-elected CWB Directors, the
Producer Car Shippers of Canada, the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance,
various civil society groups, the National Farmers' Union and others
who are affected by the changes Ottawa has imposed on farmers." (To
join
the class action, visit: www.cwbclassaction.ca.) The other class action lawsuit was filed in Saskatoon on January 9 by Regina-based lawyer Tony Merchant. Duane Filson, a farmer from Woodrow, Saskatchewan, is named as plaintiff. The Canada-wide suit claims that western Canadian farmers must be repaid $15.4 billion by the federal government as a result of the dismantling of the CWB. Merchant said the $15.4 billion represents the value of the Wheat Board's tangible assets, including $100 million in cash, about $102 million for 3,400 hopper cars, $65 million for two lake freighters and $14 million for the head office in Winnipeg, as well as intangible assets, including premiums paid to wheat and barley farmers over 20 years ($7.4 billion) and transportation and logistics savings of $7.7 billion over the same period. In related news, the effects of the loss of the Wheat Board's single desk and aim of serving farmers are already being felt. On March 1, the CWB reached an agreement with private grain monopoly Cargill to move the board's 2012/13 grains through Cargill's grain elevators and port facilities, the first such deal after Harper's destruction of the public monopoly. (CWB Alliance, Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board, Regina Leader Post, Winnipeg Free Press) Ministerial Power in Service of Narrow Political Interests Government Cuts Funding for Palestine House
The decision to cut its funding is openly aimed at punishing Palestine House for the work carried out by its cultural centre which upholds basic principles of human rights and international relations through its defence of the Palestinian people's rights and opposition to their oppression by the state of Israel. Such just stands are supported by the vast majority of peace- and justice-loving people around the world. It is no coincidence the decision by the Harper government followed a Canadian government delegation's trip to Israel on February 5 where Foreign Minister John Baird crowed like a little schoolboy that Canada is "Israel's staunchest ally" and "greatest friend," declaring to the world the Harper government's support for Israel's war crimes against the Palestinians and its attacks on those who support them. The political nature of the Harper government's cuts are clear. In December, Palestine House received a letter from Minister Kenney accusing it of having "a history of taking positions that could be interpreted as extreme or supportive of terrorists and terrorism." In it he cited three instances that he said "could arguably be seen as extreme": 1. Kenney labelled "a map" on Palestine House's website "showing a Palestinian state encompassing all of Israel" -- it is actually the Palestine House logo which incorporates an outline of ancestral Palestine; 2. Palestine House in March 2010 hosted journalist Abdul Bari Atwan, whom Kenney claims made a statement in 2007 that he would celebrate if Iranian missiles hit Israel; 3) Palestine House held an event October 8, 2011 celebrating the release by Israel of about 1,000 political prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. According to Kenney's letter those freed included "convicted terrorists and at least one individual who murdered two Canadian citizens."
TML calls on all Canadians to stand with Palestine House in opposing the Harper government's cuts and to oppose them for what they are: an attack on the right to conscience of all Canadians. Palestine House is calling on all Canadians to make their views known to Minister Kenney directly (jason.kenney@parl.gc.ca; CC: Minister@cic.gc.c) and through their local MPs. To contact Palestine House: Ten Years After the Failed Coup in Venezuela Defending the Strides to Open
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The Communist Party of
Canada (Marxist-Leninist) greets March 8,
International Women's Day, with full confidence that women workers will
continue to take the lead in the work to open society's path to
progress. The more the all-sided crisis in which society is mired
deepens, along with it the discrimination
to which women are subjected as workers, as women and as mothers also
worsens. This is why it becomes ever more significant to support the
women who take their place in the front ranks of the struggles which
are taking place for the recognition of the rights of all. This is
especially true when it comes to the
need to renew the political process so that the people's striving for
empowerment can become a reality. Today, as always, the question of
gender discrimination is a question of emancipating the working class
and the mobilization of women workers for the renewal of the political
process is a step in this direction.
As is the case with all the workers, to be political, the women workers
must work out their program and take the same to all sections of the
society.
By raising their own demands
within the struggle for the
emancipation of the entire working class, women workers will make great
headway to achieve their own emancipation as well. 
On February 14 Palestine
House Cultural and Educational
Centre, in Mississauga, Ontario, or Palestine House as it is known,
revealed that Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and
Multiculturalism, on behalf of the Harper government, had decided not
to renew its funding for the services it provides to the surrounding
community. The nearly $1 million in annual government funding
went towards immigrant settlement services, daycare and English
language training for some 1,100 new immigrants in the area. Besides
the loss of these important services, 20 employees will lose their jobs.
The Harper cabal would have
us conclude that dangerous
extremists are in out midst, but the Harper government can be entrusted
to defend us as a
champion of "freedom," "democracy" and "rights." In the name of
opposing extremism or "hateful ideologies," the
Harper government carries out the
most extreme actions such as attacking Afghanistan, invading Libya,
supporting Israeli war crimes, supporting torture, revoking Canadians'
citizenship, using police to violently attack demonstrators -- the list
goes
on. Every year, the Venezuelan people commemorate their staunch defence of their Constitution and defeat of the April 2002 coup. Shown here, President Chavez addressing the nation in April 2009; banner reads "Remember April." |
Consul General Vanegas elaborated this point, explaining that the coup was orchestrated by a small minority comprised mainly of elements from the oil industry, a small section of the military and the Catholic Church. She herself was Director of the Office of the President of the National Assembly on April 11 when the coup took place. Within hours of the "take-over," she said, the people were brutally repressed. But the powers behind the coup underestimated the Venezuelan people's support for the legitimate government and their willingness to defend the new Constitution, said Mrs. Vanegas.
Consul General Pardo said that amongst the Bolivarian Revolution's achievements is the heightened humanitarian and social consciousness in Venezuelan society -- that the people should receive what belongs to them by right. She spoke of the strides made in education, health care and housing. A recent census shows that Venezuela is made up of a relatively small and very young population of 28 million people, 10 million of whom are studying at various educational levels. Thousands of schools have been created, including the Bolivarian University. Illiteracy has been wiped out. It is no longer necessary to travel long distances to get to a hospital since Emergency Care Centres have been set up throughout the country. Food security is being guaranteed. Poverty has been reduced by 40 per cent while social investments in housing and health has increased by 500 per cent. Pensions for all have been established at one of the highest levels in Latin America. Economic dependence on the U.S. is being reduced by expanding trade with countries such as Iran, Russia and China, and by consolidating regional organizations such as the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA).
Consul General Malvar reiterated that the powers behind the coup d'état in 2002 are still active and that further attempts are still in the making under the influence of international imperialist interests. She elaborated on the ways Venezuela is opposing U.S. hegemony and breaking the bonds of neoliberalism. She spoke of ALBA and how it facilitates international relations that provide not only trade but health care and social programs. She gave the example of the Misión Milagro project which Venezuela carried out in collaboration with Cuba to restore the sight of two million of its citizens. She also cited Venezuelan assistance to Haiti in the form of health care and fuel. She concluded by giving the example of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) as another positive development for the region, noting that its orientation as a body opposed to foreign interference allows it to take united stands on issues such as the Malvinas (Falkland Islands) and the blockade against Cuba.
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