Borges Blogue

The Green Shift and Farmers

2008-07-25T15:02:00.000-04:00

Farmers in Eastern Ontario have voiced their concerns to Stephen Dion over their survival, in general and in the wake of his Green Shift proposals. There is a palpable feeling that soaring fuel prices and rising costs of production may soon find many of them severely hard pressed to continue, if not completely put out of, business.

With some painting the Green Shift as the end all of (relatively) cheap oil for Canada, M. Dion reminded his audience that a. Canadian Farming is too dependent on fossil fuels, and b. his plan will raise the price of a litre of fuel only 4 cents over 4 years (that's one cent a year if you hadn't worked it out) compared with the 46 cent rise in price seen over the past two years. The participants also doubted Dion's promises that the tax rebates would adequately compensate the rise in costs which will be felt as the effect of the Green Shift. Dion assured them that a Liberal government would work very closely with the farming community to try and reduce energy dependence on oil, and that the tax refund/rebate/whatever, would be sufficient to make up for the losses.

The Liberal Party of Canada is right to work with those communities most affected by his plans and try to reassure them that they won't be hit unnecessarily hard in a bid to help the environment. The Green Shift in general continues to beg the question: Just what are Canadians willing to pay, to give, to help become a less harmful nation? The answer to that question of course would differ greatly region to region, group to group, as we well know. Is the Green Shift the place for consensus?

Also, one wonders what the run-down of such a meeting would look like had this been held when he was in Alberta recently...

Pour le Québec ouvrier: Libéraux promissent 18 000 plus places dans les CPE

2008-07-25T09:48:00.000-04:00

Le gouvernement libéral de Premier Ministre Jean Charest continue améliorer l'état de la classe ouvrière au pays avec l'annonce d'un ajout de plus de 18 000 places dans les garderies, ça veut dire les Centres pour la petite enfance (CPE, qui servent, premièrement, les travailleurs ordinaires du pays avec un prix bas de 7$ par jour). C'est très bien, mais il ne suffit pas pour satisfaire le besoin qui existe au Québec pour les places subventionnées, et même s'il ne semble beaucoup d'argent pour payer, 188$ par mois pour un enfant, mais pour beaucoup de ménages il est encore un cout inabordable pour envoyer un enfant à la garderie.

Récemment on a appelé le gouvernement se souvenir ses promesses récentes pour aider les québécois ordinaires, et on est très heureux pour apprendre que l'administration Charest n'a pas oublié l'importance des crèches pour gens qui travaillent fort. Mais ces mêmes travailleurs menacent les garderies SANS FRAIS, comme existe en Grand Bretagne et plusieurs pays au monde.

On Stalin and socialism

2008-07-19T11:10:00.001-04:00

Part of any socialist political transformation is coming to terms with the atrocities committed in the name of building «socialism» in the Soviet Union after it's degeneration into a bonapartiste régime which used terror and coercion in order to control society and build the fledgling nations economy. After the Revolution's glory, and Lenin's death, Stalin took control of the country and in effect quickly stripped the people of their rights and democratic form of government and left only a sham political system. Soon began the process of mass deportations and executions.

Two of the groups worst hit were the Chechen and the Ingush peoples (proportionally anyway, of course the Ukrainian kulaks suffered most in number, if one isn't mistaken) who had their political autonomy taken away and subsequently deported to Siberia to work in the massive industrial works which were expanding after the War. Below, leading British Trotskyist (Marxist) Ted Grant denounced the actions of the Stalinist régime:

The uprooting and exile of entire peoples is a measure of such unmitigated barbarism, that it can be compared only with the excesses of the Nazis in modern times. It is a measure of national oppression that is nothing but a mockery of the elementary conceptions of socialism.
The real meaning behind these measures of repression is to terrorise the peoples of the national Republics into submission to the Great Russian bureaucracy. This is an example of what happens to any people who may oppose the monstrous Stalinist regime. The pretext that there were quislings among these people does not hold water. All, innocent or guilty, workers or peasants, members of the Communist Party—all are to suffer a like fate. This in the name of Socialism! [07.1946, Ted Grant, Socialist Appeal UK]

This clearly wasn't socialist (no workers control, democracy, etc.) ideology at work, and yet that is the picture that entire world has of socialism, communism and Marxism. And we socialists, Marxists, we have nothing to look for hope besides maybe the ten years after the Russian Revolution when the Soviet government was socialist, though there were significant mistakes made even then.

The monstrosity of the Stalinist model, exported throughout the world, has nothing to do with socialism. And despite the leaps and bounds made by Soviet society during the Stalinist period in industry and technology, there can be no justification for the tens of millions who died of famine, deportation, over-working, or execution. No Marxist could deny that, no Marxist could support any regime so oppressive.

So to the glory days of the 1917 Russian Revolution we look back to, but we learn from the mistakes made, and analyse the reasons for its disintegration into the dictatorship that it became, and why the whole system collapsed all those years later. And to the future we look forward brightly to the revolutions that have yet to come, we build class-conciousness bit by bit, person by person, standing on the concrete ideas of Marxism.

Bush befriending Ahmedinijad?

2008-07-18T12:34:00.000-04:00

While Barak Obama wants to go «face to face» with President Ahmedinijad of Iran, President Bush is pushing less direct diplomatic contact, but important all the same. The United States government will soon be submitting a request to open up an «interests office» in Iran, a half-step below an embassy by all accounts, and will be the first diplomatic visit since the revolution.

And after all that talk of war, bomb-bomb Iran, nuclear weapons, defending Israel, destabilising Iraq, blah blah blah, all the political rhetoric, basically blew over and the real motive behind all foreign policy, financial interest, takes command of the situation. The Presidents are keen to open up investment in Iran to the United States, and vice versa. Friendly nations prosper...

Question one: Will McCain follow Bush's lead?
Question two: What does Israel think of this? What consequences does a shift in U.S. attitudes and actions have for Israeli foreign policy.

On the phallacy of change: Oil interests in politics

2008-07-17T11:29:00.000-04:00

Just like the Republicans, the Democrats have done their part to help big oil companies make mega profits at the expense of working people. It is well known that Bush and co. are oil men and women, but this is not unique. Oil money has seeped into many hands in Washington, those in power have returned the favour.

Even the “environmentalist” Al Gore has played his part. During the Clinton/Gore years the largest act of privatization by the federal government took place when the Department of Energy sold 47,000 acres of the Elk Hill oil reserve to the energy company Occidental. The sale of the publicly owned oil reserve to a private company came after five years of lobbying, with Clinton and Gore pushing for Elk Hills to be sold as part of their 1995 “Reinventing Government” initiative, despite a recommendation against privatization by the National Academy of Public Administration. Gore served on the board of directors of the private company hired to assess the sale’s environmental impact and at the time controlled $500,000 of Occidental stock. After the sale, Occidental’s stock shot up by 10 percent, netting hefty gains for Mr. Gore.

In addition, oil companies have not made payments of at least $10 billion in royalties for the right to drill on public land. This began under Clinton and has continued and been compounded under Bush. Whistleblowers in the Department of the Interior have reported intimidation at attempts to rectify this situation from within the department.

So can we expect anything to change now that Bush is on the way out and the Democrats seem poised to take the reins of power? Obama opportunistically and demagogically poses as an opponent of big business. For example, earlier this year he appeared in a TV ad stating: “I’m Barack Obama. I don’t take money from oil companies or Washington lobbyists, and I won’t let them block change anymore…”

As it happens, ever since 1907, federal law has prohibitted corporations from contributing directly to federal candidates – making his statement technically true of all the candidates. Nevertheless, they receive millions from big oil on the campaign trail and then serve corporate interests once in office. What Obama fails to mention is that, while he has received no money directly from corporations, he has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from top executives of oil companies in the form of individual contributions. George Kaiser, the chairman of Oklahoma-based Kaiser-Francis Oil Co., ranks 68th on the Forbes list of world billionaires, and is listed on Obama’s web site as having raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the candidate. He has also received contributions from “individuals” at ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron and BP. All in all, he has taken in more than $213,000 from “individuals” in the oil and gas industry alone.

Obama, seen by many as a candidate of “diversity,” also equally respects the funding he has received from those in the nuclear power industry. For example, the executives and employees of Illinois-based Exelon have contributed at least $227,000 to Obama’s campaigns for the United States Senate and now for President. Two top Exelon officials, Frank M. Clark, executive vice president, and John W. Rogers Jr., a director, are among his largest fund raisers.

Of course, working people can expect no more from McCain. Although he has said: “I am very angry, frankly, at the oil companies,” he takes their money just the same, to the tune of $720,613. Big oil is clearly hedging their bets in order to ensure their interests are represented no matter which party wins the Presidency. [16.7.08, Shane Jones, Socialist Appeal USA]

Québec Liberals: Still going strong

2008-07-16T11:57:00.001-04:00

Liberals continue to dominate political opinion as is reflected in the latest poll, indicating a 10 point lead over the Parti Québécois and a 28 point lead against the official opposition ADQ. Pauline Marois and the souverainist crew haven't really capitalised on Charest's inaction over the dossiers unveiled concerning the healthcare system, reasonable accommodations, etc. and the ADQ have been nothing but whiners when it comes to politics, both on the campaign trail in by-elections and in the National Assembly.

It's at this point that the socialist left should really remind the Charest government of their mandate, because it is quite pro-worker in its proposals. They say that the first priority of Québécois is healthcare (one would argue that for Francophones, the first priority is French, but that is besides the point). They promise: 1500 more doctors and 2000 more nurses, along with operations guaranteed within 6 months (one would assume that means without outsourcing patients across the border). So let's see it happen Charest!

In education, they promise to raise the level of français au pays (one idea is to organise a national spelling bee...), add an hour of extracurricular activities for school-age children, and a raised level of support for professional qualifications in across Québec, with 6 million extra dollars to be invested in the school councils in order to better offer short-term technical courses etc. Also the typical priorities of reducing décrochage, getting people back to school, and having students master English by the time they leave school.

The list could go on and on and on. Basically, stop revelling in the glory of the C-Series and get on with it...

World Refugee Day :Down with borders!!

2008-06-20T10:05:00.000-04:00

World Refugee Day, sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is today and is a time to reflect upon the very comfortable and stable lifestyle that most people able to see this are blessed to have in comparison to those on the run, and more importantly to focus on the pain, suffering and injustice which plagues the world and creates at least 30 million refugees (and millions upon millions more internally displaced). Give what you can, even if it is just a few dollars, pounds, yen, rupee whatever...

Most are very careful to separate immigration from refugees, if only to spare refugees the kind of stigma that some immigrants face upon arrival in their new home. Refugees are protected under international law, although determining who is under those protections often seems to quite difficult for receiving countries. Meanwhile economic migrants face extreme hardship if they are without the proper documentation, forced to live in fear, scapegoated by society for any social or economic woe.

The only real solution of course is a fundamental transformation of the way that human beings organise themselves and their economy. Under a democratically planned economy, there would be enough to satisfy the needs of all, and there would be no economic pressure to move from richer to poorer countries, it would simply be a case of personal preference where one lives. National borders only divide the working class and help distract us from our true enemy: the capitalists and politicians who run the world. So NO to immigration controls, NO to the small confines of the nation state, and N0 to the victimisation of migrants, whatever their status.

Muslims removed from Obama rally

2008-06-19T08:44:00.008-04:00

Obama campaigners in Detroit earlier this week were so worried about their candidates image that they escorted two female Muslims (wearing head scarves) away from behind M. Obama so that he would not be photographed with Muslims in the background. That's not RELIGIOUS TRANSCENDENCE... and so they have apologised. Still...

So it's a smear to call Barak Obama a Muslim (because what could be worse right?) and now it's damaging to him and his campaign to even be seen NEAR Muslims (despite the fact that his family is part-Muslim). I have no illusions about Americans, I know that there are some that would not vote for him if he was Muslim, however, there are plenty that won't vote for him just being Black (biracial if you'd like to be correct) so where is the moral high ground?

Leading Obamite John Aravosis, responds:

We live in a country that just removed a tv commercial because the
famous tv chef, rachel ray, was wearing a "terrorist scarf."  She was
wear a keffayih (or however you write it).  Unfortunately, that  
picture of Obama would have probably ended his shot at the  
presidency.[my emphasis]  Is it right?  No.
But do I want to hand the Republicans
a photo to put John McCain in office? No

What I want to know is if these two women are still big Obama supporters

Liberal Party of Canada must orient itself towards workers

2008-06-16T10:14:00.000-04:00

In reading about the Marxist intervention in the Oshawa General Motors strike, it was interesting to see the militancy of the workers there reflected in a serious distaste towards the Liberal Party of Canada:

At one point during the day, John McCallum, former Liberal Finance Minister, arrived at the blockade to try to paint the Liberal Party a pro-worker opposition to the Harper Tories. He was immediately surrounded by angry workers, who had not forgotten the Liberal's record. "We're not the government," was McCallum's talking-point response to demands for political action to save the plants slated for closure. One member of the bargaining committee interrupted McCallum, "You were the government, and we know what you did then: Nothing!" At one point, the only thing protecting the right honourable gentleman from his would-be constituents was the ring of journalists and cameramen that had formed around the ex-minister. [IDOM, 13.6.08]

Indeed, the party is not in government, and that can hold serious credibility in certain cases, however there is something to be said about being a proactive, or at least active, Official Opposition. The Liberal Party needs to show the workers of Canada that they exist for them, because it the workers who make up the nation. The Liberal deputies have been tactically spineless, and there is something to be said about knowing when to back down, however that must be tempered with a sense of purpose and determination.

Obama: Your saviour and mine

2008-06-04T10:26:00.000-04:00

Americans are so lucky to have Barak Obama there to save them from themselves (and even global warming!). Obama's victory speech:

I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment - this was the time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Yes God bless us all indeed. And God Bless Goldman-Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and God Bless crack-downs on immigrants, and the capitalist system which you so whole-heartedly support and God bless the people who are so blinded by hope for change that they give their all for a man who is basically the same as George W. Bush, that is, a pawn of capital and industry. That's not to say that the American working class is at fault for their disillusion with the status quo and their deep desire to cling onto something different to the last 8 years of reaction. However what must be remembered is that these 8 years of reaction are only a continuation of 200+ years of bourgeois domination of politics and the economy. Republican, Democrat, neither have the answers, neither have the ability to affect the true transformations needed.

Liberals trounce the Opposition in Québec

2008-05-30T10:57:00.000-04:00

The latest assessment of the Québécois electorate shows an increased level of support for incumbent Prime Minister Jean Charest and the Liberal Party of Québec, at a huge expense to the ADQ, and to a lesser extent, the Parti Québécois. Polls come out on a regular basis in Québec, and from this near constant self-examination the province finds itself deep in the clutches of the province's Liberals, even after the revelation of the full Rapport Bouchard-Taylor was released to the chagrin of the Opposition, who did try extensively to fault the government with an abandonment of principles and renewed calls for a Québécois constitution. The results:

41% PLQ
32% PQ
14% ADQ

Good governance breeds popular support, and with that support the Charest administration has the ability to take the Liberal mission further, to renegotiate the ways in which society functions: pro-worker reforms in the areas of healthcare, education, and housing are required in order to help remedy some of the inherent conditions of capitalism. The environment, and Québécois identity as well, are up for grabs by the political parties, and the Liberal Party should capitalise on their support. Rest not on your laurels, PLQ, rest not!

Fake Democracy in Pakistan set to improve

2008-05-25T11:36:00.000-04:00

The march towards a more complete sham democracy, the leading parliamentary parties of Pakistan's National Assembly have tabled plans to greatly reduce the powers of the President, the post currently held by oft-criticised Pervez Musharraf. Despite it's small chance of garnering the necessary two thirds support for constitutional changes in both the National Assembly and Senate, the ruling Pakistan People's Party, together with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Awami National Party have proposed sweeping changes to the current system of governance, hoping to restore the "majesty of parliament".

Hilariously, Prime Minster Gilani has said that he doesn't want to clash with the government, just strike a balance with the presidency over power. Critics fault it with failing to implement the Muree Declaration, made with the formation of government after this past February's elections. The proposals don't go very far in the way of electoral reforms and are overall quite a pathetic attempt to improve the system through token gestures.

The fallacy of bourgeois democracy for Pakistan is disheartening. Whether power rests with the judiciary, the executive, or legislature, it won't change the real situation on the ground for Pakistanis, who suffer from lack of or inadequate food, educational and health facilities, electricity, sometimes even running water. After over 6 decades of existence, capitalist democracy has failed to bring real development to the country. This country has seen populists, democrats, totalitarians, fundamentalists, and combinations of the above in power and each has promised prosperity and freedom for the people of Pakistan, none has delivered. The only way forward is for a true democracy with the economy under the control of workers, with each decision taken with the approval and for the well being of the populace. In short, a socialist revolution is necessary to solve the contradictions of capitalism in Pakistan, and throughout the world.

Anyway, the proposals are as follows:

• Article 58-2(B), which gives the president powers to dismiss an elected government and dissolve the National Assembly, will be abolished.
• The president’s authority to appoint provincial governors and the services chiefs will be transferred to the prime minister.
• There will be a bar on a person running for the office of president for more than two terms.
• A three-year tenure for the chief justice proposed.
• Name of the NWFP will be changed to “Pakhtoonkhwa”.
• Through amendment to Article 6, those judges who validate military takeovers in future and take oath under a PCO to be tried for high treason.
• Minorities to have representation in Senate.
• Through an amendment to Article 63, a person who defames or brings into ridicule the judiciary or the armed forces will not be disqualified from contesting elections.
• Caretaker governments at the centre and provinces will be appointed in consultation with prime minister, Senate chairman and speakers of the National and provincial assemblies.
• The law under which an elected person can hold two government offices simultaneously will be done away with.
• The Council of Common Interests and the NFC will be made more effective. It will be mandatory on the CCI to meet twice in a year. [Dawn, 25 May 2008]

Zimbabwean is the new Black: Racism and rioting in South Africa

2008-05-21T14:47:00.000-04:00

Few would have missed the news that the rainbow nation of South Africa has been embroiled in a string of anti-immigrant riots which have brought to light the endemic discrimination and mistreatment that many African migrants face in the Black townships of the country. Tensions have been simmering for a long time, and the conditions on the ground are worsening as more and more impoverished souls compete for scraps thrown from the bosses' and landlord's tables.

Previously, economic hardship could be blamed on the shackles of apartheid, but as time moves on that explanation becomes less and less plausible and the fault must be shifted onto another party, this time immigrants from neighbouring nations who are drawn to what is indeed Africa's wealthiest and most developed nation. The masses are caught up in a fever of xenophobic fury and are blinded by their rage, blind to the real reason for their dire poverty and living conditions: the capitalist economy, with its emphasis on profit rather than human development, exploitation rather than assistance. Until the working class of South Africa wakes up to the very troubling situation that they are in there will be little hopes of quelling the violence that has swept that country.

For Liberal links with the Trade Unions

2008-05-16T12:10:00.000-04:00

The New Democratic Party of Canada has joined the three largest provincial parties of Québec in a celebration of the creation of the FTQ (major québécois trade union) Solidarity Fund, in an attempt to demonstrate to the syndicates that the party is indeed the one to be chosen to represent the workers of Québec in Ottawa, and hopefully in time obtain their endorsement, which has been with the Bloc Québécois for nearly 2 decades (since its creation and especially since Trade Union head Gilles Duceppe came to the forefront of the party in 1997).

This is an extremely shrewd move which comes upon the revelation that the NDP is more popular with Francophone Québécois than the Liberal Party of Canada, though just marginally so. The NDP is conducting itself in the correct manner for any party that wishes to court the working class. The Liberal Party of Canada should attempt to become the party of the Canadian masses, through the building of links with the trade union movement. The people of Canada have their greatest protection in their syndicates, and it is up to the visionaries in the Liberal Party to see that it is within this movement that success lies.

A connection between the trade unions and the Liberal Party would not only be beneficial to the working class, it would be helpful to the Liberal Party in steering it towards policies that are truly progressive and for the improvement of the majority of Canadian people's lives. The protection and amelioration of workers status should be at the forefront of any Liberal agenda, and it is only with the trade unions that the party can ever truly represent the working class of Canada.

Liberal Neglect?

2008-05-13T11:10:00.000-04:00

Leader of the New Democratic Party, Jack Leyton, has criticised the Liberal Party of Canada for their refusal to support a motion damning the Conservative government over their handling of the economy. M. Leyton has accused the Liberal opposition of effectively giving the party the status of majority in Parliament by their constant abstentions. He certainly has a point, as all these 20 votes of confidence (and abstentions) over the past several months have amounted to the implementation of a truly Conservative programme of government, which is not in keeping with the minority nature of the administration.

While the economy is the most important issue to Canadians, the truth is that overall the economy of the nation is growing, and adding jobs, and so the government cannot truly be chastised for their handling of the capitalist down-spiral which is occurring south of the border. According to New Democratic Party however:

With the income gap in this country growing and ordinary Canadians working harder and longer just to make ends meet, the NDP is committed to standing up to the Conservative government’s out of touch approach to dealing with important issues. Today, the NDP has introduced a non-confidence motion on the issue for its opposition day motion. [NDP 7.5.08]

This has been a problem coming for over 2 decades, and one hardly thinks that the Conservative Party of Canada is single handedly responsible for the basic expression of the nature of capitalism (institutionalised inequality). Only once that system of production is abolished and a democratically planned economy implemented will the gaps in income close.

Is Dion a liability for the LIberal Party?

2008-05-11T11:02:00.000-04:00

Recent poll findings show that Stéphane Dion of the national Liberal Party is just slightly less dislikeable than Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, although most Canadians still find M. Dion lacking inspiration. The ill feeling expressed towards both leaders of the two largest parties in Parliament is a bit disheartening, though not especially surprising. M. Harper has been marred by political scandal for the past several weeks, M. Dion has showed unimpressive conduct as leader of the parliamentary Liberal party with numerous abstentions (rightly) seen as backing down under pressure, and thereby letting their duty as official opposition escape them.

Dion has always been seen a liability for the Liberal Party, at least in the wider Canadian political context. He is consistently viewed as cold, distant, out of touch with the reality of the nation. While these assumptions may not be true, they are important because these personal idiosyncrasies translate into voter apprehension. Dion needs to take a page from the book of British Conservative leader David Cameron, who has managed to take himself and his party from a discounted opposition with a stale leader to a vibrant party with a tenacious head which is now stealing the favour of the nation as the «party of progressivism». The transformation is exceptional, and Dion needs something similar: media blitzes aimed at humanising him in the eyes of the public, showing that he is in touch with the average voter and their concerns, that he is a personable, listening person with the gall to do what needs to be done.

Burma...Nargis...HELP!

2008-05-10T10:21:00.003-04:00

Burma is a country that has suffered under the brutal military dictatorship of Saw Maung, and subsequently Than Shwe for decades, with the junta waging war on various ethnicities in the outer areas of the country, and the lives of the urbanites and countrymen tightly controlled and heavily impoverished. Recent attempts at protest, in pure angst over economic conditions, was brutally put down. Democratic beacon Aung Sun Suu Kyi has been imprisoned for over a decade, the movement she leads harshly repressed. And then cyclone Nargis happened.

What tragedy can befall a nation worse? Honestly, for the people of Burma to live in such horrible circumstances for so long, and to be hit so hard by this cyclone was absolutely brutal. Nearly 30 000 dead, millions displaced and in peril. But what is so heartbreaking is that Than Shwe and his friends won't allow foreign aid workers in and have only just started to allow supplies to reach the needy. There's nothing more to say really. The death toll rises each day that food and medicine and transport are delayed.

The Burmese government is absolutely right to fear the aftermath of such a catastrophe. For a brief moment last Sunday one had the flicker of hope that such a natural disaster of this scale could perhaps leave society so shaken that a popular uprising takes place among all the chaos and destruction and mismanagement. Unfortunately this is not what has happened. The military regime has apparently too tight a grip on the Burmese people to allow anything of that nature, and is too selfish to allow aid in from the outside world, fearing the consequences. They, such an impotent, and yet so powerful, an administration would prefer to handle it on their own, completely incapable to carrying out the task at hand. So more will die. More will mourn. And so it seems, nothing will change...

However you can help, give to Oxfam Canada or Oxfam America's appeals, or donate some money to the Disaster Emergencies Committee of the United Kingdom, which is making real progress in Burma.

Liberal Carbon Tax: Good, bad, or ugly?

2008-05-08T13:11:00.000-04:00

The Harper administration is in turmoil, the gap between rich and poor widening, and there exists a very real fear of a deficit in the budget for the first time in several years (after the Liberal administration balanced the finances in the 1990s). It is on the tail of this that Stéphane Dion will mount his summer campaign to connect with Canada ahead of suspected Fall elections, and the premier issue on his agenda will be... carbon tax. D'oh!

The Liberal Party of Canada will be promoting a revenue neutral carbon tax in an effort to garner support from the greener sections of society. In a bid to stand apart from the NDP and Greens in the environmental sphere, the party will now champion the phasing out of 10 cent excise fuel tax to be re-implemented in the form of a carbon tax, which will then be used to fund tax cuts numbering around 10 billion dollars.

How excited can one get about a carbon tax. The environment is important to Canadians, however running a campaign around a tax on certain kinds of fuels for households and businesses is not the best way to garner support. The Tories will easily exploit this ploy, and the public may offer the Dion camp a backlash against what they might very well see as posturing on real issues. Well, anyway, good luck Stéphane!

Scots whae hae: Referendum on Independence

2008-05-07T11:37:00.002-04:00

Though they may have been accused of some rather unscrupulous political wrangling, Canadian Federalists have never had the gall to take such actions as have recently been done by the Scottish Labour Party, which, though a Unionist party through and through, is appealing to the Scottish public for a referendum on independence! Apparently they saw how well referendums work in Québec on settling questions of national determination, and wanted to emulate that success abroad. Good-Oh!

This is a very shrewd move indeed. With Scottish independence sentiment at quite a historic low, (a few months ago it was 42 percent, now, it's at 19%) there is still a huge danger that the results could get much to close for comfort. Scotland is under a very successful nationalist administration, which has repeatedly called for dialogue on how to proceed with Scotland's status in the United Kingdom. Wendy Alexander, leader of the later party, would prefer to just get on with it. Gordon Brown and the national Labour Party don't seem to support her move and she'll need the support of Scottish Conservatives in order to proceed with this plan. Good to find a spectacle to watch that doesn't directly affect!

Scots whae hae: Référendum sur l'indépendance en Écosse:

Les partis fédéralistes ont étés accusés de grands manques de jugement pendant la campagne pour le référendum 1995 au Québec, et beaucoup de marchandage avant, mais ils n’ont jamais osé d’agir de la manière tellement avisé que les travaillistes en Écosse ces jours récents en proposant un référendum pour l’indépendance. Il faut qu’on mentionne que les travaillistes sont, dans le lexique québécois, fédéralistes, et le parti voient telle mesure comme un outil CONTRE l’indépendance écossais.

Wendy Alexander, leader des travaillistes écossais et dirigeante de l’opposition officielle au Parlement écossais, a proposé cette semaine un référendum concernant l’indépendance de l’écosse , plutôt que la conversation nationale préférée par les nationalistes qui forment le gouvernement nord de le mur de Hadrian. Cette décision a été prise en vue de la faible taux de soutien pour l’indépendance écossaise, qui ne surpasse que 19 percent du vote, en comparaison avec le 42 percent achevé en hiver, sous l’administration nationaliste très populaire.

« Nous sommes dans une situation fou quand la première ministre adjointe a dit qu’elle croyait qu’il y avait une majorité pour l’indépendance au pays, mais apparemment elle préfèrerait rester une unioniste pour les 3 ans suivis » a déclaré Madame Alexander »

La première ministre adjointe soi-même a dit « Nous suivrons avec celui que nous avons offrent aux écossais : démontrer la crédibilité en gouvernement, engager avec le peuple via notre conversation national, et procéder avec le référendum en 2010. C’est que nous avons mis dans notre programme pour gouvernement, et il était avec ça que nous avons gagné l’élection ».

Les Conservateurs et les démocrates libéraux ne soutiennent pas le mesure, et considérant que les travaillistes aurait le besoin d’aide de ces deux partis, un référendum n’est pas nécessairement un fait accompli. Mais c’est une proposition très intéressante , pour agresser le mouvement indépendantiste avec leur propres idées.

No Summer Federal Elections: Well Duh!

2008-05-06T11:03:00.000-04:00

Surprise surprise there will be no summer-time electoral fever to sweep the nation this year. Instead Liberals will use this season as a time for reflection and convincing Canada about their programme for government. There is however a hint that the Liberals will be ready to bring down the Conservative government by the Fall of 2008.

This decision should be shocking to no one, the Liberals have hardly been audacious in their Opposition to government, having abstained on nearly every vote of confidence held so far this term, but the prospect of a Fall election is certainly news to most. It shows that the Liberals, with their strong sense of values and pragmatism, have decided that they are indeed powerful enough to take on the Conservative minority government, just not yet.

A good move overall, as Stephen Dion needs time to connect with the general population, to do his tour of Canada and show the people that he is indeed capable of leading the nation. Waiting until Fall will also give the Conservative Party more time to do more damage to their credibility, with a new fold of scandal seemingly opening itself up every other week. The Conservatives are down, let's use this as a chance to get up!

Different democracy in changing China

2008-05-05T18:44:00.000-04:00

As the forces of production in China are developed so rapidly, the political climate is moving at less a break-neck pace and is at more of an amble. But there are concrete achievements being made by local citizens in the realm of public participation in politics, if lacking the democracy and protection of human rights of the much of the Western World.

For example, there has been a growing infiltration of the Communist party's government apparatus by independents who would have previously been barred from participation in Chinese politics because of their personal views. Another extremely interesting development in Chinese politics is the local government of Nanjing, a large Eastern city famous for its historical importance in the story of the nation, is holding a round of debates to determine the make-up of its directorate-general, which is very interesting, sort of harkens back to the Athenian democracy of the ancient ages.

Protests are happening all over China, with land-lords, bosses, and corrupt government officials being brought to task for the injustices perpetrated against the people, though most escape any sort of reprimand. There is also an increasingly vocal environmentalist movement (which, if anyone remembers, was essential to the bring down of the oppressive Bulgarian regime prior to the fall of ~~Communism~~ deformed proletarian bonapartist government in the country) which has made huge gains in defending their local patches from unscrupulous development:

The protest movement in Chengdu is at least the third such groundswell to emerge in recent years. Last year, construction of a chemical plant outside the city of Xiamen, in Fujian Province, was halted after residents held a series of street protests.
More recently, residents in Shanghai protested construction of a high-speed rail line designed to link a city suburb with the airport, forcing officials to announce the Shanghai project was being put on hold. [5.5.08 NYT]

In the coming years, as China opens up, and the economy demands a further liberalisation, we will see more and more of these, and eventually, the introduction of democracy and human rights guarantees (real ones, not the fake ones promised in the Constitution of China), or preferably, another revolution, but this time with workers control and democracy at the helm of developments, instead of the peasant army which controlled the last revolution.

Liberal Fundraising: What's going wrong?

2008-05-05T11:25:00.000-04:00

There is little that counts more in politics than money, and so it is with some disappointment that the latest figures for fund-raising are released: The Liberal Party of Canada raised less than one million dollars in the previous quarter. That is in comparison with 5 million for the Conservateurs and 1.1 million for the NDP. The leaders of the Official Opposition have managed to garner 846,129$ in the first three months of the year.

How is it that two political parties with near equal parity in support among the general public can manage a 400% gap in funding? What is wrong with the Liberal party apparatus that has allowed its financial standing to fall below that of the New Democratic Party? Can it be that Liberal voters are simply less giving, less mobilised for the cause. Or could it be that the other parties have simply perfected the fund-raising process to a degree that has escaped the Liberals?

Of course the very obvious conclusion could be drawn that the political weakness of the party has damaged its financial status, in continually propping up the Conservative government and its politics (who seem to make everything a matter of confidence). If people are not engaged in the politics of their party, if the parliamentary party cannot maintain the Opposition effectively, how are potential donors expected to be swayed? Who's going to give money to a party that is seems to effectively be doing nothing?

World Food Crisis: Profits keep rising

2008-05-04T12:05:00.000-04:00

As 100 million fall into danger of sever hunger, and rioting over food supplies continues, the British Independent informs us of the astronomical profits made by the large industrial players in the world's food economy. The figures speak for themselves:

Monsanto (seed and pest control) 64 percent
Cargill (agribusiness) 86 percent
Mosaic (fertilizer) 1200 percent

No one should be shocked, demand often dictates profits. One would be naive to criticise the very impetus behind the entire capitalist system, profit, however this growth simply illustrates the way in which the worlds large companies continue to enrich themselves on the back of the world's most impoverished. Far away from comfort of the first world, the majority of humanity lives in abject poverty, struggling simply to survive. And it is through their labour that the large multi-nationals make their gains.

Montréal: Bilingue toujours?

2008-05-02T09:42:00.000-04:00

Est-ce que le Loi 101 un succès?

Si on veut répondre à cette question, on doit considérer une autre:

Est-ce que la métropole montréalaise sera-t-elle toujours bilingue et pas francophone?

C'est la question qu'on doit se poser quand on lit les plus nouvelles manchettes concernant la situation des deux langues à la ville. Après la cacophonie autour de la situation linguistique à Montréal et les affiches adéquistes, on apprend que la Ministre d'Immigration et communautés culturelles et Emploi Québec fournissent les cours linguistiques pour les immigrants en anglais.

Oui, pour faire les nouveaux arrivants plus attirants aux embaucheurs prospectifs, la Ministre James a décidé qu'on doit apprendre l'anglais. Le porte-parole de la Ministre dit que c'est une décision «honnête et réaliste», et que la réalité de Montréal est une vraiment bilingue. Donc, on se questionne, est-ce que la Charte de la langue française a réussi si la Ministre d'immigration et le service d'emploi québécois croient encore qu'on doit connaitre l'anglais pour trouver un job.

Le but de la Charte a été pour transformer la situation linguistique du pays en faveur de la langue française, pour créer une société vraiment francophone. Si le gouvernement lui-propre ne considère pas le français suffisant pour gagner sa vie, comment est-ce qu'on peut voir le Loi 101 ayant réussi?

May Day, May Day!

2008-05-01T12:49:00.001-04:00

The first of May is celebrated annually as a holiday of the working class, to look back on our triumphs, and forward to our future struggle. The labour movement and the Liberal Party of Canada have seemingly lost sight of that fight, that battle against the barbed teeth of capitalism, which seeks at every turn to claw back the gains made by the working class, to crush resistance to the enterprising profiteers who seek to exploit the labour of the working class for as much capital gain as possible.

The greatest problem facing Canada is a severe inequality, in incomes, in quality of services, in economic and infrastructural development, with various regions and groups of people (students, immigrants, traditional industrial workers) finding themselves disadvantaged and missing out on the economic boom which has been seen across Canada for so long. Women consistently earn less than men, visible minorities find themselves discriminated against in the labour market, and those living East of the Prairies see an uphill struggle to achieve parity with the development and quality of services seen in the West.

It is the duty of each and every progressive to fight against these inequalities, to try and remedy the expressions of the contradictions of capitalism, but there must be no illusions as to the true cause: the chaos of capitalism, which will always fail to address the needs of the working class in a true and meaningful way. There have been incredible gains made by the Canadian labour movement since the last century, and it is indeed one of the best places to live in the world. However the drive for profit and the need for a constantly expanding market will always mean deprivation and inequality for many.