June 2018 | Socialist.Ca $12 Billion to Fuel Climate Chaos SINK TRUDEAU’S PIPELINE

The enduring legacy Abortion rights victory of Vern Harper in Irish referendum Page 7 Page 3

$2 | No 605 | June 2018 | socialist.ca $12 billion to fuel climate chaos SINK TRUDEAU’S PIPELINE

by Bradley Hughes $12 billion Kinder Morgan hand out. without a home a new condo for $1.8 billion Income Supplement (GIS) provides a monthly Here are just a few: dollars. If we spent the money on constructing non-taxable benefit to Old Age Security (OAS) rime minister Justin Trudeau’s For $ 1 billion you could provide home new buildings, the cost would be less, and we pension recipients who have a low income government has committed to buying energy retrofits for 60,000 homes, and create would create 16,000 person-years of employ- and are living in Canada. Nearly 2 million the existing Kinder Morgan pipeline 16,000 person years of employment. This ment. low income seniors access this benefit million Pand to spending whatever it costs alone is more than the likely number of A high speed rail link between Calgary and seniors for a total of just under $11 billion. So to try to construct the new bitumen spewing jobs created by the Kinder Morgan pipeline Edmonton would cost $3.7 billion, it would this money would be enough to double the GIS pipeline. They will spend $4.5 billion on the expansion. cost $2 billion for one between between Van- for two million low income seniors. According existing pipeline and the construction costs to There are 174 drinking water advisories couver and Seattle. This would decrease pollu- to the Canadian federation of Students, the complete the new line is currently estimated at in Indigenous communities right now across tion and carbon emissions from cars, decrease total Canada Student Loan debt for students is an additional $7.4 billion. what is currently called Canada. To provide deaths and injuries on the highways and create over $19 billion. The Liberals are spending this money to safe drinking water in these communities (on nearly 100,000 person years of employment. This is half again as much as Trudeau wants protect oil company profits, trample Indige- par with what is commonly available in settler All of that would create more than ten times to spend on the pipeline, but 50 % cost over nous rights over their land and to fuel climate communities) it would cost $3.2 Billion. This as many jobs as the Kinder Morgan pipeline runs are certainly possible. change. If their priorities are reconciliation, would create around 25,000 person – years of expansion and still leave you with $300 million The Indigenous lead climate movement has improving people’s lives and fighting climate employment. to spend on other projects. forced Kinder Morgan to abandon their pipe- change, they would be funneling this public There are 3600 homeless people in the If you were to spend the $12 billion on a line project. We can build on this victory to money onto those projects - not building a greater Vancouver area. It is still just possible single project, you could cover tuition fees defeat Trudeau. We need to build on that vic- pipeline that we don’t need. to buy a new one-bedroom apartment in Van- for three years for the two million post-sec- tory to create a movement for a just transition There are much better ways to spend the couver for $500,000. We could buy everyone ondary students in Canada. The Guaranteed that can spend money on people not profit. G7: Trudeau, Trump and the charade in Charlevoix by Kevin Taghabon are being threatened. We warned that President Donald Trump visits Cana- such actions will not be left without da – the longest time it’s taken a new Leaders from seven of the world’s consequences. All responsibility for President to visit Canada in 40 years. most prosperous countries met them rests with Washington, Lon- Trudeau sequestering the summit to together in the idyllic town of La don and Paris.” These air strikes a far corner of Quebec was shrewd. Malbaie, two hours northeast of were supported by Justin Trudeau’s Within days of Trump’s victory in the Quebec City. Officials from Japan, government. 2016 US election, there were sponta- the US, Germany, the UK, Italy and It bears repeating simply: three neous protests which brought out tens the European Union attended, all months ago a military action that of thousands of people in Canada. totaled representing nearly half of the Canada supported brought two nucle- It is no stretch to assume that if the global economy. ar armed powers (the US and Russia) summit had been held in a major city, Following in Stephen Harper’s to the brink of war. The Canadian the entire city would be shut down as footsteps in 2010, Trudeau has government has never condemned during Harper’s 2010 G20 summit. placed the G7 summit far from the the ongoing US-supported Saudi-led Trump infamously cancelled his visit prying eyes of a city dense with peo- genocide against the Yemeni people. to the UK last year after Britons prom- ple, media and dissidents. The five Justin Trudeau infamously sold $15 ised there would be a large opposition themes, set by Prime Minister Justin billion of weapons and military gear ready to greet him with due hostility. Trudeau’s government, include secu- to Saudi Arabia as one of his first in- Trudeau invited him to Ottawa then as rity, growth, gender equity, jobs and ternational actions after being elected. well, which he declined. The handful tackling climate change. The UN is now estimating that 18.4 of the most powerful people in the million people will starve in Yemen world were given a safe area to make Activists hit the streets in Quebec City June 8 Photo: Patrick Sicotte “Working together on by the end of the year, representing a worldly decisions by Justin Trudeau. climate change” to social programs encapsulates our is first and foremost the government staggering two thirds of the country’s The most glaring of these hypoc- government’s vapid commitments to of Donald Trump. Perhaps our Prime total population. Movements speak real risies is, predictably, their position progress. Minister is naive enough to think that This does not yet even mention politics on climate change. The G7s public Question 3 in the engagement a productive conversation can be had the massacres that the Israeli state is We have seen what a sustained move- engagement paper, Working Togeth- paper is “What are the most important with Trump at this getaway that won’t gleefully carrying out against a grass- ment can do to halt and perhaps even er on Climate Change, Oceans, and issues facing our oceans and coastal immediately be trashed once Trump roots Palestinian uprising (who have cancel a planet-destroying project. Clean Energy betrays the priorities communities today?”. The image is out of the country. Last summer shunned Hamas in their organizing). Kinder Morgan was brought to its of the Liberal government. After a of filthy oil destroying the beautiful Trudeau said that Trump “really lis- Israel has proclaimed that the targets knees by an Indigenous-led climate few paragraphs of reasonably pro- British Columbia coats and the water- tens” to opposition viewpoints in are killed by their snipers deliberately. justice movement that is just gearing gressive rhetoric on this issue, we front of Vancouver is unbearable for good faith. “We know where every bullet land- up for the next leg. are reminded that our priorities must many. Not our government however, The paper also throws hostility at ed,” said the IDF spokesperson in a We live under a government that include, “...driving new solutions for which has made it clear that it is more the governments of Venezuela. Justin now-deleted tweet. has decided it is better to use public the sustainable extraction and use of important to bail out a multinational Trudeau’s government has continued This includes journalist Yasser funds to build climate-killing eco- fossil fuels.” This is the only mention oil company that made a bad, envi- Harper’s fetish with regime change in Murtaja (who was wearing a clearly nomically precarious fossil fuel infra- of fossil fuels in the entire paper - let ronmentally destructive investment Venezuela. Admonishment was also marked PRESS jacket) and 21-year- structure instead of helping its people. alone any discussion of tar sands than it is to protect the natural wealth thrown at Russia – likely the input old medic Razan al-Najjar, alongside The Trudeau government has decided bitumen. and security of Canadians. As such, of Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia scores of other people. Our govern- that decisions about the wealth and The Liberal government just pur- Canada now leads the G7 in fossil Freeland, who is barred from enter- ment has never condemned these power of half of the planet should be chased a $4.5 billion pipeline that fuel subsidies. So much for the Paris ing the country. This huge diplomatic atrocities, playing the same “both sequestered to the idyllic countryside oil mega-corporation Kinder Morgan Accord. hindrance is opposed by no one in the sides” game that Trump played when of eastern Quebec. An orange tyrant considered too risky to move for- Trudeau government. Additionally, it a right-wing terrorist killed Heath- with the ego of a lion and the skills of ward with. This will cost Canadians “Building a more peaceful has become clear over the past few er Heyer in Charlottesville. Justin a blind duck occupies the most pow- an additional $7.4 billion dollars in and secure world” years that NATO allies have been Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland have erful office on the planet. upkeep. For some perspective, the Canada’s public engagement paper positioning themselves aggressively no business engaging in the construc- These figures, as well as their average cost of healthcare in public on this topic is perhaps the most against Russia in a new Cold War. tion of a “more peaceful and secure counterparts in Germany, Japan, and funds per person per year is $5,988 hawkish of all five sections of their The most dangerous episode in this world” – nor do the warmongers from across the planet, derive their power (2013 data). $12 billion of public G7 agenda. According to the paper, saga was in April of this year. The US, Europe, Russia, Syria, and the US from the support of the people. With- funds could cover the cost of 2 mil- we face, “a shifting global balance UK, and France launched air strikes who brought the world to the brink of out us lending them their legitimacy, lion people’s healthcare. The fact that of power, a growing trend towards against the Assad regime in response war in April. they have nothing. Alone, we cannot we have a new fossil fuel infrastruc- authoritarianism, and persistent and to an alleged chemical weapons attack communicate our displeasure. Unit- ture purchased with public funds as challenging security crises.” A child in Syria. This attack brought threats Safe playground for power ed in mass movements we can force opposed to a federal green jobs pro- could tell our government that the of “consequences” from the Russian Canada’s hosting of the G7 summit their hand in our favour, until it is our gram or any myriad of improvements “authoritarianism” referred to here ambassador in Washington. “[W]e this year is also the first time that hands building society without them. Jean Swanson’s campaign takes on the 1%

by Lisa Descary campaign mobilized large num- housing in Vancouver, which has As O’Keefe explained; ‘Jean bers of numbers of people, and the highest rents and lowest va- Swanson really embodies a very, It’s that time of year in Vancouver stands to do so again this year. cancy rates in Canada. Jean’s call very different type of politician.’ when warm weather is here, Swanson’s launch rally was for a four-year rent freeze and a … we don’t just want to get Jean and municipal political parties fun and entertaining, featuring ‘mansion tax’ of an additional one on council, although that’s goal have begun to announce their a giant Kleenex box of ‘Jeanex percent on houses valued at over number one. The goal is also to candidacies for Vancouver city tissues’ (for the tears of man- five million dollars were concrete build the social movements in the council. But long-time anti- sion owners complaining about demands that people could rally city; to build the tenants’ union, poverty activist and COPE city proposed tax increases), and a around. Jean was almost suc- to build the power of tenants and council candidate Jean Swanson, skit involving Jean’s ‘therapy cessful in gaining a position on renters across the city to give the did things quite differently tent’ for one-percenters needing council- she came close to winning progressive politicians in office the by holding a kickoff rally in counselling for their ‘cognitive Fighting for affordable housing despite her shoestring budget. power, the authority behind them Shaughnessy, Vancouver’s most dissonance’ as they perceive But in a statement that echoes from a mobilized citizenry to make affluent neighbourhood. more progressive taxation as Housing Crisis the best of Bernie Sanders or the changes [we need].” For those who followed Jean’s somehow unfair to society, as Jean Swanson has run for city Jeremy Corbyn, Jean was adamant As socialists, we agree that campaign in the 2017 by-election, well as speeches. council several times since the that her campaign is not just about building strong social movements this shouldn’t be a surprise. When But Jean’s campaign isn’t just 1970s, but most recently her 2017 her, but is really about a move- in the city is the only way to win it comes to class consciousness, witty and creative; it’s a true by-election campaign gained ment. At her launch rally, speeches the city we need. If only the NDP Jean knows where she stands; grassroots movement that is a wave of popular support by from Swanson and running-mate would take a page from Swanson with working people, especially inspiring people who wouldn’t tapping into popular anger around Derrick O’Keefe mentioned that and O’Keefe’s campaign book, we renters, against the landlords and normally get involved in munici- inaction on Vancouver’s housing they don’t see just getting a seat would be in a much better position the mansion owners of the one pal politics to join in the fight for crisis. Her campaign called atten- on council as the goal of their to fight for the world we need as percent. And that is why her 2017 the ‘city we need.’ tion to the acute lack of affordable campaigns. well.

2 Socialist Worker June 2018 The Irish vote is a victory for all of us! by Carolyn Egan the campaigners for all the work that they had done. y mother left Inishmore, Young Irish returned to the country one of the Aran Islands off from as far away as Australia, the the coast of Galway, when United States and Canada to cast a Mshe was five years old. She vote, with crowds applauding them was born in Boston but shortly as they arrived home. In Toronto, after her parents returned to their they held demonstrations at Nathan birthplace. She grew up speaking Phillips Square showing their support Irish and it was the time of the war for change. A number of them came of independence. They moved back to the “hand maids” picket that the to Boston and were actively involved Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clin- in the Irish community always ics called at the leadership debate in supporting “the cause”. the Ontario election outlining Doug She worked as a clerical staff at a Ford’s policies on creating barriers to Catholic high school. During the rag- abortion access in Ontario. ing debates on abortion she walked Northern Ireland still has a very into a student assembly with a non restrictive abortion policy not in line Catholic teacher who had a sign pro- with the law in the United Kingdom. claiming that she was pro-choice on Abortion is only allowed if the life or her pregnant belly. My mother had health of a woman is at risk. A large six children and four miscarriages demonstration took place in Belfast and keenly understood the reality of after the success of the referendum in women’s lives and was prepared to the south with signs, “We’re One All stand with those who supported the Irish Movement”, “Human Rights right to abortion. Shouldn’t Stop at the Border” and Though she died a number of Savita Halappanavar mural in Dublin Photo: ZcBeaton “We’re Unstoppable”, which shows years ago she would have been the confidence a victory can bring. thrilled to see that Inishmore voted There is presently no government in in its majority to strike down the 8th the country. The strength of the vote and throw its weight behind reforms Ireland with the heavy involvement the North since Sinn Fein with- along with the rest of the country. It showed the overwhelming support which make real differences in of young people. The vote in support drew from Stormont a while ago. It would be hard to find a more remote that had been organized. The Irish people’s lives. of gay marriage a few years ago supported the campaign in the south area in Ireland with a population Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) Even the rural areas came out pointed the direction the campaign while the Democratic Unionist Party of 840, a small island in the north had a long time position against the in support, often said to be much was going but the final outcome was is anti-choice. Atlantic, but its people voiced their 8th since it was first introduced, more conservative with the Catholic so overwhelming it amazed many It seems clear that the campaign strong desire for change and support and was a strong supporter of the Church still holding sway, they were activists. There was certainly a will continue in Ulster and further for women’s rights. The 8th was the “yes” vote. It called it a fundamental also with the majority. At a National generational split in voting patterns mobilizations are under way. The amendment introduced in 1983 that obstacle to women’s equality and Ploughing Championship farmers, which bodes well for the future. success in the south is a huge step put the life of a fetus on par with that inappropriate in a democracy. Its primarily male, supported the repeal Savita Halappanavar, a thirty-one forward which shows that major of the person carrying the pregnancy. affiliated unions urged their members by 64% which shows the depth of year old dentist originally from In- gains can be won in these volatile It was in the Irish constitution and to take a strong stand for the right to the sentiment against the amend- dia, suffered a miscarriage a number times through strong movements outlawed abortion. Women have control your own body. ment. Rural women of course are of years ago and was not allowed to from below. The working class has been traveling to the UK for decades, Labour has also played a key role much more isolated and not as easily have an abortion because the fetal a significant role to play in fighting using the abortion pill at home in other countries such as Canada connected to the networks which heart was still beating. She died and both exploitation and oppression illegally, alone and afraid, or having in overturning restrictive abortions helped people to make the trip across it created a huge response within the in all its manifestations. This Irish children they did not chose to bear. laws. It’s very important that the the Irish Sea to secure an abortion. country. Her parents said that the victory is a concrete example for all It was a massive, grass roots cam- organized working class mobilize Local pro-choice groups were victory was a battle for Savita that of us that collective power can win paign that mobilized people across on questions outside the workplace set up in communities throughout had finally been won and thanked against the forces of reaction. The Nakba, Canada and Palestine: Interview with Hammam Farah by Gustavo Monteiro cided to move and inaugurate a new We feel that one of the biggest Israel. I think this where we’re at, embassy in Jerusalem while IDF issues in being able to organize for this is what Canadian society has On Saturday, May 12 hundreds snipers are killing demonstrators Palestine and Palestinian rights in reached where we can now demand gathered in Toronto for a rally for and injuring thousands of people. the city is there’s a gap between an arms embargo and I think a lot Gaza and to commemorate 70 years Canadian Foreign Minister the Palestinian community and the of Canadians would support that since the Nakba and to say no to Chrystia Freeland commented on Palestinian solidarity movement so demand, but we need to do the Israeli occupation, apartheid and the recent events in Palestine saying we’d like to bridge that gap, that’s education that is required, we need massacres. “All parties to the conflict have a the role of APPC. to continue to reach out to people, The rally started across the responsibility to ensure civilians are Considering what’s going on in reach more people so they can come street from the Israeli Consulate protected” which is a very similar Gaza right now, is completely atro- out and support us, we need to reach and marched to the US Consulate. statement to what Trump said after cious that we see the Israeli military to other oppressed communities. A group called the Association of Charlottesville car attack led by deploying hundreds of snipers on Israel is violating human rights, Progressive Palestinian Canadians a white supremacist that injured the Gaza boundary fence to shoot at it’s in violation of international law, (APPC) organized this event which several people and killed Heather unarmed demonstrators that are just shooting at unarmed demonstrators. was endorsed by several progres- Heyer. trying to exercise their internation- At the end of the day, this is sive organizations and indigenous Socialist.ca spoke with Hammam ally recognized right to return home. a human rights issue. It’s not a peoples. Farah, a member of APPC, to talk Protesting the Nakba in Toronto What’s the message from the Ca- religious issue. It’s an issue of free- Palestinians continue to suffer about the work of this new organi- nadian Government which claims dom, justice and equality of people through apartheid and daily violence zation, the importance of the event phase, we’re still trying to work out to be a Human Rights defender? fighting for freedom from oppres- while the US blocks the UN Securi- and solidarity with people facing the the logistics on how we’re going to HF: We’ve seen nothing from sion, from injustice, from ethnic ty Council calling for investigation violent regime of Israel in Palestine. be launching and how we’re going Trudeau about what’s happen- cleansing, from apartheid, from the into Gaza violence. The American What’s the APPC and its mis- to be organizing, but essentially ing right now in Gaza. The main military occupation that is illegal government not satisfied by only sion? what this group is going to be about demand of this rally is for Canada under international law and for the backing up Netanyahu’s regime, de- HF: APPC is still on its launching is in the name, progressive values. to impose an arms embargo on recognized right of return.”

June 2018 Socialist Worker 3 ONTARIO ELECTION THE RESISTANCE BEGINS NOW The Tory party has won a majority but has no mandate to rip apart social programs and cut services. Jesse McLaren looks at what happened Lessons from the Harris years with the election and Doug Nesbitt highlights the by Doug Nesbitt Canada’s richest. In late July, Toron- North Bay, all had Days of Action diligent organization and education between union leaders continually lessons of the last Ontario Tory government. to’s childcare workers also held a very with strikes across the municipal and can overcome these obstacles of lack undermined the movement. The lead- he last time the Tories took successful illegal walkout against the provincial public sector, private sec- of experience, and a flat-footed union ership of some unions refused to par- power under Mike Harris, prospect of major childcare cuts. Join- tor manufacturing, and Canada Post. leadership. ticipate in the Days of Action strikes, we responded with nearly ing them were many parents, children, Teachers went on a two-week politi- and even openly opposed them. They Tthree years of intense protests, and even childcare operators. cal strike in October-November 1997. Province-wide communication is believed the goal was electing the NDP including city-wide general strikes, a By September 27, Embarrass Har- There were also rotating 10-minute essential in the next election, not protesting and province-wide walkout by childcare ris had won the support of labour illegal walkouts against hospital clo- Protests and especially strikes were striking the Harris Tories. Casting a workers, and a two-week illegal councils and union locals and 10,000 sures and cuts by healthcare workers most successful when organization ballot in protest is a weak strategy when teachers strike. people rallied at the opening of the in March and April of 1997. was tight and communications effec- workers can shut down businesses and by Jesse McLaren nearly 50 seats to win 76 seats in the The Tories promised a better legislature. It was the birth of a mass Each political strike was built tive. In the lead up to OPSEU’s five- create a crisis for a slash-and-burn cor- legislature. The last time any party has Ontario with the Common Sense movement. Protests spread across the using similar methods. First, there week strike in early 1996 against mass porate government. oug Ford proclaimed a “strong, had as many seats was Mike Harris’ Revolution, but the reality was ugly. province and Tory MPPs were chased was serious membership education layoffs and weakened pension rights, The Days of Action were always stable majority government,” 1995 victory, which was followed by Education was crippled by deep cuts, wherever they went. With the Tory through both face-to-face shopfloor government lies and propaganda were meant to escalate into a province-wide but the Ontario election results rapid and brutal cuts. and healthcare decimated by hospital agenda now attacking labour rights, organizing, informal meetings outside regularly countered through OPSEU general strike. Despite three OFL Ddon’t represent a surge to Ford hinted at a repeat of those pol- closures, bed closures, and the opening the protest movement led directly to of work, and mass membership meet- Fax, a punchy union bulletin distrib- convention mandates for the general the right. Instead there has been a icies in his acceptance speech, declar- up of a low-wage for-profit long-term the first Day of Action in London, ings. Unions printed up materials and uted through the government’s 3,500 strike union leaders refused to take polarization to the left and to the right, ing Ontario “open for business,” but care and homecare sector. Privatiza- Ontario on December 11 1995. In -25 trained up organizers to do this, but fax machines. The teachers were also a lead. Other opportunities were and Ford’s own voting base includes he said nothing about tax cuts, layoffs, tion of the 407, road cleaning, service passed up, including sympathy strikes both those pushing for austerity and attacks on abortion, or destruction of centres, saw services decline and user when OPSEU was out from Febru- those angered by it. While Ford is the environment. Instead he led with fees rise. Water safety privatization ary-March 1996 and when the teach- strong in the legislature he is weak the message that got him the victory, led to the Walkerton disaster killing ers struck illegally for two weeks in outside, where cuts will alienate a that “help is here,” and that he will in- 6 and making over 2,000 ill. The so- October-November 1997. Demands section of his base. But because he augurate a “government that works for cial safety net was shredded with a for the Days of Action to become larg- has a majority of seats the NDP can’t the people,” and deliver “prosperity 22 percent welfare cut while income er regional strikes were also rebuffed. just rely on opposition inside the for all.” tax cuts overwhelmingly went to the Instead, the Days of Action became legislature, and will need to amplify He is well aware it was not his Protesting Conservative Doug Ford’s bigotry at a provincial leaders debate top ten percent income earners. The predictable, routinized affairs and the opposition outside. planned cuts to jobs and services that minimum wage was frozen during the most employers soon learned how to earned him victory. In the last election, entire period of Tory rule, from 1995 absorb a lost day of work. Liberal collapse: good Tory leader Tim Hudak revealed his instead of two, and there is increasing won. They attacked Joel Harden (NDP jority inside the legislature intent on to 2003, while employment standards But even union leaders declaring riddance plan to rule for the 1% and suffered the opposition both inside and outside the candidate for Ottawa Centre) for being cuts, but there is still a majority outside were dramatically rolled back. strikes made fatal decisions. In late After 15 years of Liberal austerity— consequences: after promised 100,000 legislature. a socialist, and he won—beating the in favour of a $15 minimum wage, Protests and strikes did beat up the October 1997, 126,000 teachers in with rising inequality and declining job cuts, he lost 200,000 votes. Liberal Attorney General by over 8,500 healthcare, abortion rights and the “Common Sense Revolution” agen- five unions struck illegally against social services—voters had enough. By contrast, Ford repeated on the Opposition inside and votes. They attacked Laura Kaminker environment. Ford only achieved his da, and for most of their first term, the education-wrecking Bill 160. The In the 2014 Ontario election the campaign trail that his government outside the legislature (NDP candidate for Mississauga Cen- legislative victory by riding the wave the Tories were actually second in the government miscalculated and public Liberals temporarily tacked left and would hire “thousands” of teachers, During the 2014 election the NDP re- tre) for being a peace activist, and she of anger at Liberal austerity and blur- polls. Measures like mandatory work- support swung behind the teachers. A monopolized the anti-Hudak vote, doctors and nurses, tapping into wide- fused to support the higher minimum nearly doubled the NDP vote, coming ring his true intentions. So when Ford fare were stopped, hospital cuts were “Intimidating the legislature” during the Harris years judge even threw out a government gaining nearly 250,000 votes, but spread sentiment for improved public wage and were outflanked by the Lib- in second with more than 11,000 votes. moves forward with his cuts, a section blunted, some regressive laws defeat- degree weather, 30,000 people went success still needed the initiative and able to build confidence for a politi- injunction to end the strike. But three then returned to austerity. services. erals—who monopolized the higher But starting in third place and facing of “Ford Nation” will feel betrayed. Ef- ed (like Bill 136), but on the whole on strike, idling most manufacturing activity of local and shopfloor leaders. cal strike through a new publication, out of five teacher union leaderships They tried the same tactic in the Ford tried to mask his 1% roots fective organizing that leads with class we lost. The province-wide general and government services, and 15,000 A big obstacle was overcoming the the OTF Communique. Canadian threw in the towel and within days past few months, raising the mini- by appealing to the 99% at the same politics—not name-calling, smugness strike, mandated by three separate marched. Even bigger protests and worrying number of union members Autoworkers also published a weekly the strike was over. Even though mum wage under pressure from the time: although he promised Bay Street Ford may have a majority inside or denunciations—can win over a sec- Ontario Federation of Labour con- strikes were on the horizon. who voted for Harris. This meant real online report CAW Contact that cov- teachers were balloted for a strike, Fight for $15 and Fairness, but it was $6 billion in cuts, he also promised tion of Ford’s base. ventions, never came. Union leaders Nothing was automatic about these political conversations with people ered all union matters and promoted they were not balloted for ending the not enough to erase the accumulated workers he would be the “Premier for the legislature intent on cuts but wound down union protest activity in early protests. Many union leaders about the issues that hit them the the fight against Harris. strike. Many teachers were enraged experience of austerity. With their the people,” he would “stand up for Next steps 1998. The Tories regained confidence counseled against protests being “too most. It meant showing how the rich Communications are needed to and called on union leaders to resign. polling numbers collapsing they re- the little guy,” there would be not one there is still a majority outside in The first opportunity to do so will be and strength and won re-election a early”, and believed they could sit would benefit most from tax cuts, and deliver factual information, and es- Some locals rebelled and demanded a vealed their true colours as the twin single job loss, and that he would end the critically important Rally for De- year later. down with Harris and talk him out that privatization would drive down pecially arguments and counter-ar- vote. Tragically, the two-week strike party of Canadian capitalism—at- hallway medicine. favour of a $15 minimum wage, cent Work on June 16. The movements What are the hard lessons we can of his agenda. But organizers knew wages, raise user fees, and weaken guments about ongoing debates with did nothing to stop Bill 160. In fact, tacking unions and undermining the While he stoked anti-immigrant rac- ‘ need to spring into action now and learn from those years? better and forged ahead. The early quality of services. the government, employers and the the Tories made the legislation even NDP vote, helping ensure a Ford ism by saying “we need to take care healthcare, abortion rights and raise the demand, “Hands off the min- protests were important for showing Second, members were balloted for media. In the fight against Harris, worse once the strike was over. majority. of our own first,” he then campaigned imum wage!” The Fight for $15 and Protest early and often thousands of people across the prov- strike action. This happened in mass unions were effective at using internal Last but not least, the Days of Ac- Indeed, after conceding defeat a as “a champion for new Canadians” to the environment.’ Fairness campaign engaged thousands As soon as Harris was elected in June ince that, like them, there was some- meetings, at conventions, or by ballot. communications when it came to their tion were called off at an OFL meet- few days before the election, Wynne build a base in racialized communities. of voters during the election, many of 1995, Ontario members of the Nation- one else prepared to fight. It channeled When stronger unions took the lead in membership. But there was nothing of ing in July 1998, where union leaders called for as many Liberal votes as While he won the party nomination on voter turnout against Tim Hudak. This a hostile corporate media, the NDP whom decided against voting for Ford al Action Committee on the Status of anger and fear, pulling new people balloting, they also built confidence the kind for the wider movement. decided a general strike would never possible in order to hold whoever a plan to stop the $15 minimum wage time the NDP had a more progressive needed not only a decent platform to when they discovered he promised to Women were encouraged by their into activity. As the Common Sense among workers in other unions. Today’s social media makes com- happen. As soon as the union-led pro- forms government in check, equating he did not have the confidence to even platform including support for the $15 win; it should have been campaigning roll back the $15 minimum wage. Albertan counterparts to start pro- Revolution unfolded and reality set An excellent tactic used in the munication much easier than in 1995. tests were over, Tory popularity began the threat of brutal cuts under Doug mention this during the campaign, or minimum wage and increased funding much more aggressively on these issues There will be an even bigger audi- testing immediately and frequently. in, protest organizers inside the unions Days of Action was cross-picketing The experience of the Fight for $15 to climb and they were re-elected. Ford with an NDP majority. at any of the debates. for healthcare and childcare. A stronger between elections. ence of people, including those who did Albertans had already undergone two were able to win their unions and local so workers wouldn’t be around their and Fairness confirms this. Activists The protests and strikes had created a The Liberals still clung on to 1.1 Ford’s electoral victory was based platform at election time, combined Had they done that in the years— vote for Ford, who will be angry at any years of Ralph Klein’s government labour councils to action. The small own management and risk being around the province stay in touch permanent political crisis for Harris, million votes, but the loss of 750,000 on holding together the conflicting con- with the higher voter turnout and col- rather than just the months—leading attempt to attack the minimum wage. and Harris was seen as a copycat. The cog turned a bigger cog, and that cog caught. Management threats of disci- through social media, teleconference provided a focus for hundreds of thou- votes plus the surge in voter turnout stituencies of “Ford Nation”— bosses lapse of the Liberals, doubled the NDP up to the election, they could have June 16 is an opportunity to pry open Ontario NAC activists, who had roots turned an even larger one. pline were ignored with many work- calls, and annual assemblies in Toron- sands, and kept the important issues from 51% to 58% cut their share of eager for more austerity, and workers seats to 40. They gained 800,000 votes monopolized the anti-Liberal vote and that contradiction in Ford’s base, and in unions and community organiza- There is already an opportunity to ers taking a loss of one day’s pay. In to. Local activity is balanced out with on the media agenda. This was all lost the vote in half—from 39% to 19% angered by it. These contradictions – just as many as Ford did – again beaten Ford. With the NDP now the begin the work of expanding the reach tions, formed the Embarrass Harris begin this process. The Fight for $15 fact, discipline was very rare during province-wide priorities. It is a good when the protests were shelved. of the vote. This decimated their seats will become more obvious when Ford showing the polarization to the left and “Official Opposition,” there is a real of movements outside the legislature to coalition. They held the first major and Fairness and Ontario Federation the Days of Action. example to draw upon for any future in the legislature, reducing them to 7 forms government and struggles to right. danger it will retreat even further from resist Ford. protest on June 26, only 18 days after of Labour have already called a rally It is not 1995. Doug Ford doesn’t workers’ movement that spills beyond And today? (their worst results ever) and cost- meet the massively raised expectations The failed smear campaign by the the social movements that help generate By redoubling the Fight for $15 the election. Two thousand people on June 16 at the Ministry of Labour have as much support among union the ranks of unions themselves. If the union leaders are with us and ing them official party status. Voters of all those who voted for him. right-wing press also showed that people its support, and adopt a far more cau- and Fairness in every union and every rallied and kicked off a summer of for decent work. Be there. workers as Harris did, but because represent us, we should work with surged to the polls to thrash the Liber- Ford’s “majority” does not even are eager for change. They attacked Jill tious “government in waiting” stance. workplace, opposing privatization and growing protests. of Harris, union strength isn’t what it Don’t leave everything to union them, but as soon as they decide on a als, and their vote hemorrhaged both represent the popular vote: 40% voted Andrew (NDP candidate for Toronto St. This would be a disaster, restricting austerity, and challenging racism and Other organizations like the On- Political strikes can be built was. In 1995, strikes were more com- leaders different path, whether unilaterally or to the right and to the left. for him but 60% voted against him. Paul’s) for calling out police chief Mark their opposition to moderate voices discrimination in every form, we can tario Coalition Against Poverty also Nobody anticipated political strikes mon and there was a living tradition The truth is union leaders were reluc- stage-managed vote, we should carve And looking at the combined Tory/Lib- Sanders who criticized the Black Lives inside the legislature instead of being a fracture Ford’s base, push the NDP to organized regular protests. OCAP led when Harris was elected. Cities big of militancy. But times are changing tant to fight Harris in 1995 and only out an independent path that builds Contradictions of “Ford eral vote, its share declined from 70% Matter action at Toronto Pride in 2016, megaphone for the opposition outside amplify the resistance—and bring the a march of hundreds from one of On- and small, including London, Ham- and anger against Ford is running really kicked into action after labour workers power on the shopfloor and Nation” in 2014 to 60% in 2018. For the 1%, and she won. They attacked Gurratan the legislature. real change that all political parties tario’s poorest neighbourhoods, Re- ilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Metro high. The American teacher strikes laws were rolled back. Throughout the in the streets to oppose Ford’s agenda. Ford rode the anger against austerity the vote for corporate parties has been Singh (NDP candidate for Brampton Ford has his majority government promise but only movements can gent Park, through Rosedale, one of Toronto, Peterborough, Windsor, and in Republican Red States show that fightback against Harris, bitter fighting •This article is shared from rankandfile.ca to victory, gaining 800,000 votes and reduced but concentrated in one party East) for protesting the police, and he but it is not stable. He may have a ma- deliver.

4 Socialist Worker June 2018 June 2018 Socialist Worker 5 Where we stand The dead-end of capitalism Trans Mountain pipeline The capitalist system is based on violence, oppression and brutal exploitation. It creates hunger beside plenty, it threatens our sustenance through unsafe and unsustainable farming, and kills the earth itself with pollution and unsustainable extraction of oil, minerals, animals, trees, and water. Capitalism leads to imperialism and war. Saving ourselves and Canadian capitalism and the planet depends on finding an alternative.

A system that is killing the planet by Jesse McLaren Capitalist profits depend on extracting the world’s blood and bone. The devastating impact of capital’s assault on the planet affect the world’s Facing mounting opposition from most vulnerable populations and threaten the long-term meaningful the Indigenous-led climate justice existence of humanity. Capitalism cannot regulate the catastrophic movement, Justin Trudeau has effects of climate change. We stand for climate justice, including the committed to paying $4.5 billion to concept of “just transition” for affected workers. Kinder Morgan for its Trans Mountain Pipeline—and at least $7.4 billion more Socialism and workers’ power to expand the tar sands pipeline. Any alternative to capitalism must involve replacing the system from the The state has always provided legal, bottom up through radical collective action. Central to that struggle is the economic and military support for workplace, where capitalism reaps its profits off our backs. capital accumulation—from England Capitalist monopolies control the earth’s resources, but workers who in 1670 granted the Hudson’s Bay everywhere actually create the wealth. A new socialist society can only Company a fur trade monopoly over be constructed when workers collectively seize control of that wealth Indigenous territory on Turtle Island. and plan its production and distribution to satisfy human needs, not By the 1850s oil wells were spreading corporate profits—to respect the environment, not pollute and destroy it. across Ontario, and in 1880 the Imperial Oil Company was founded in London, Oppression Ontario. Within capitalist society different groups suffer from specific forms of The gas guzzling World War 2 and tal regulation and criminalizing dissent (paying ten times what Kinder Morgan oppression. Attacks on oppressed groups are used to divide workers ongoing imperial competition during through Bill C-51—but this sparked the paid when it bought the time pipeline a and weaken solidarity. We oppose racism and imperialism. We oppose the Cold War was intertwined with the climate justice movement to challenge decade ago), is a desperate reassurance all immigration controls. We support the right of people of colour and growth of Canada’s oil economy. In tar sands and their pipelines. to Bay Street that the Liberals will other oppressed groups to organize in their own defence. We are for real, 1947 Imperial Oil began the oil boom Trudeau was elected on a promise to support the pipeline. social, economic and political equality for women. We are for an end in Alberta, and in the 1950s pipelines respect Indigenous nations, and signed to all forms of discrimination and homophobia against lesbians, gays, began to spread across the country. In the Paris climate accord “to finally fight Indigenous sovereignty and bisexuals and transgender people. 1950 Enbridge began its pipeline east, climate change.” In 2016 Trudeau was just transition We oppose environmental racism. We oppose discrimination on the and in 1951 Trans Mountain Pipe- forced to reject the planned Northern This is a slap in the face to Indigenous basis of religion, ability and age. line Company was created to take oil Gateway pipeline, and in 2017 stood communities who Trudeau promised to west—incorporated through an Act of by as the Energy East pipeline proposal respect, but it is in line with the histori- Canada, Quebec, Indigenous Peoples Parliament, supported by the province collapsed under the weight of Indige- cal role of the Liberals as the twin party Canada is not a “colony” of the United States, but an imperialist country of BC, and with imperial competition in nous-led protests across Quebec and of Canadian colonialism and capitalism. in its own right that participates in the exploitation of much of the world. mind. As the Trans Mountain president Canada. These were major blows to While Morneau claimed that “this is The Canadian state was founded through the repression of Indigenous explained, “its existence is a military Canadian capitalists, and they don’t the best way to protect thousands of peoples and the people of Quebec. asset adding powerfully to the defen- want to see a third pipeline proposal fall good paying jobs,” the Liberals are not We support the struggles for self-determination of Quebec and sive strength of Canada and the United to defeat. motivated by the concerns of workers Indigenous peoples up to and including the right to independence. In States.” Kinder Morgan wants to expand the either. As NDP leader Jagmeet Singh particular, we recognize Indigenous peoples’ original and primary right Oil expansion continued through the Trans Mountain pipeline, increasing explained, “$4.5 billion to create what to decide their fate and that of their lands, heritage, and traditions. 1960s and 1970s with the emergence of its capacity from 300,000 to 890,000 Kinder Morgan has indicated would be Socialists in Quebec, and in all oppressed nations, work to give the the tar sands, encouraged again by pro- barrels a day. But the climate justice fewer than 3,000 jobs. That’s almost struggle against national oppression an internationalist and working vincial and federal government across movement—led by Indigenous nations $1.8 million per job—jobs that are class content. the spectrum. During the international who have not consented to tar sands short-term and won’t be there for the oil crisis of 1973 Alberta Conservative expansion—has pushed the NDP in BC next generation.” Internationalism Premier Peter Lougheed invested $100 to at least partially reflect the majority There is growing support for Indig- The struggle for socialism is part of a worldwide struggle. We campaign million in technology to increase tar opposition—and has exposed the Alber- enous sovereignty and a just transition for solidarity with workers in other countries. We oppose everything that sands extraction, and in 1975 Lib- ta NDP for their concessions to Big Oil. for workers in extractive industries— turns workers from one country against those from other countries. We eral Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau Now the Tories are trying to rebuild and Trudeau has just shown that support all genuine national liberation movements. (with support from the NDP) created themselves on the frustrations of the billions of dollars could be available to The 1917 revolution in Russia was an inspiration for the oppressed Petro-Canada as a crown corporation, 1%—from Jason Kenney attacking build this better world. We can demand everywhere. But it was defeated when workers’ revolutions elsewhere invested with $1.5 billion. Rachel Notley in Alberta, to Andrew that the billions be redirected from tox- were defeated. A Stalinist counter-revolution, which killed millions, Scheer attacking Trudeau for having ic tar sands to clean water and proper created a new form of capitalist exploitation based on state ownership From Harper to Crudeau “chased away the investment” and call- housing for Indigenous communities, and control. In Eastern Europe, China and other countries, a similar Harper was elected in 2006 and was a ing on Trudeau to bail out Energy East. and green jobs for workers—as part system was later established by Stalinist, not socialist, parties. We vocal supporter of tar sands expansion Trudeau is risking his political career of building a movement towards a support the struggle of workers in these countries against both private on the purchase of the Trans Mountain world beyond the colonial state and its and state capitalism. for nearly a decade—abandoning the Kyoto protocol, destroying environmen- pipeline. This corporate giveaway capitalist corporations.

Elections and democracy Elections can be an opportunity to give voice to the struggle for social Never miss Name: change. But under capitalism, they can’t change the system. The structures of the present parliament, army, police and judiciary protect an issue. Address: the ruling class against the workers. These structures cannot be simply Mail in this form with a cheque taken over and used by the working class. The working class needs Phone: real democracy, and that requires an entirely different kind of state—a or money order made payable to workers’ state based upon councils of workers’ delegates. “Socialist Worker”. E-mail: Prices per year (CAD dollars): Regular subscription: $30 Reform and revolution Mail to: Socialist Worker, PO Box 339 Every day, there are battles between exploiter and exploited, oppressor Institutions, First Class Station E, Toronto, ON Canada, M6H 4E3 and oppressed, to reform the system—to improve living conditions. delivery and U.S.: $50 Phone: 416.972.6391 / E-mail: [email protected] These struggles are crucial in the fight for a new world. To further these Other international: $60 struggles, we work within the trade unions and orient to building a rank and file movement that strengthens workers’ unity and solidarity. But the fight for reforms will not, in itself, bring about fundamental social change. The present system cannot be fixed or reformed as the Join the International Socialists NDP and many trade union leaders say. Nor can the system regulate itself to prevent environmental destruction and climate injustice. It has to Na me: City: be overthrown. That will require the mass action of workers themselves. Address: The revolutionary party E-mail: Phone: To achieve socialism the leading activists in the working class have to be organized into a revolutionary socialist party. The party must be a party Mail to: International Socialists, PO Box 339, Station E, Toronto, ON Canada, M6H 4E3 of action, and it must be democratic. We are an organization of activists Phone: 416.972.6391 / E-mail: [email protected] committed to helping in the construction of such a party through ongoing activity in the mass organizations of the working class and in the daily struggles of workers and the oppressed. If these ideas make sense to you, help us in this project, and join the International Socialists. Find us on: @socialist_ca \socialistca

6 Socialist Worker June 2018 Asini Vern REVIEW Harper: Music for a time of Red Power leader simmering chaos by Kevin Taghabon structive ways belong in outer space/ We must wild and we run free/...Pushin’ on against the go to the cosmos/ We treat our home with such storm/ Better know I’ve been warned/ Should oronto’s own hardcore punk heroes, Cancer disgrace/...Set your sights to the stars/ We’ve ig- have learned from past mistakes/ Who am I Bats, have delivered a ferocious sixth record nored the facts/ There’s no turning back/ We’re to pump those brakes?/...Kill two birds so it Tdense with themes of fearlessness, unshack- all corrupt/ Leave it behind/ The Earth deserves makes three/ My agenda’s always on me/ We led youth, and even environmental justice. The are what you have made us/ Don’t ask us how band recently celebrated the tenth anniversary we fit in/ We are what you have made us/ So of their seminal record “Hail Destroyer”, an LP keep the lights on!” Cormier screams on ‘We which shot the band from the beloved sticker Run Free’. This is a rejection of mainstream and sweat encrusted walls of the Ontario’s local culture. More specifically, it is as a retort to the rock venues into international stardom. “lazy millennial” criticism that right-wingers Cancer Bats is not a political music group – at love to bandy about as an excuse for the virus least not constantly. Still, many of their previous of capitalism and its side effects. ‘Bed of Nails’ songs have spoken to the alienation felt in our doubles down on this: “We take this life/ We society, especially among young people strug- make this life/ What it is, and what we want/ by Valerie Lannon gling to carve out rewarding lives in a decaying Our own rules/ Our own tools...Forget anyone system. who’s gonna tell you how to love and live.” One of the high points of the Red Power There are barely-cryptic references to polit- We live in a time of simmering chaos, which movement was the Native People’s ical tensions and events throughout The Spark also presents once-in-a-generation opportuni- Caravan of 1974. Several hundred That Moves. Trump’s nuclear deathwish gets ties for radical change. This can go either way, Indigenous activists travelled across shots fired across the bow in the opening song, but young people are decidedly on the left in Turtle Island, from Vancouver to Ottawa, ‘Gatekeeper’: “Scorched earth/ annihilation/ this equation. Leaked research from the con- to assert their inherent rights and to without a second thought/...You’re past the servative Manning Centre in 2017 found that protest the federal government’s ongoing insane/ You’ve got this rust inside your veins.” only 16% of millennial Albertans consider betrayal of historic treaties. One of the The threatening sound of the track is perfect for so much better than the human kind/ Space themselves politically conservative – in the Caravan’s leaders was Vern Harper, a lead singer Cormier’s words. and time is my state of mind/ Leave behind the most conservative province in the country. In Cree activist who resided in Tkaranto and This message isn’t alone in one song. ‘Heads human kind/”. Cormier virtually endorses Musk 2016 (long before the election) a Harvard study died this May at the age of 85 after a life Will Roll’ includes much of the same disgust shooting his class into the sun. ‘Space and Time’ found that a majority of millennial Americans full of commitment to Indigenous peoples. coupled with a call to stand up and fight. “Det- reminds us that humanity has abused the natu- reject capitalism. These numbers have likely onation, all guns blazin’/ Burning down what ral world to the brink of collapse. But it is our increased. Political development you fabricated/ Hypocrite and lie distorter/ But collapse, our eviction. The planet belongs here The generation that these musicians belong Harper came from a long line of fighters you’re judged for your chaos now...Heads will without our pillaging, colonization, and climate to is ascendant, and their politics have largely as a sixth generation grandson of Big roll!/ Is nothing sacred anymore!?...I know I denial, and pipeline buyouts from oil lackeys in shed the 20th century hangups about anti-cap- Bear, who fought the last battle between must be stronger/ I know I must resist/ I must our federal government. italism and reaction. With that in mind, take the Cree and the Canadian government in be patient/ I must rise above.” The majority of The Spark That Moves the advice of our angsty Bats here on “Bright- 1885. To escape a traumatic upbringing Cormier spares no expense on ‘Space and is about being free. Truly free, not in some est Days”: “We might be wrong but feels too Harper joined the American military and at Time’. The track may as well be a cutesy poem crass commercial sense, but in the pursuit of right to know/ It don’t make sense just go with the age of 17 served in the 82nd Airborne for Elon Musk and Rex Tillerson’s petri-dish a fulfilling life that meets persons energy and the flow/ The brightest days are yet to come/ Division in the Korean War. But within starchild. “We must go to the cosmos/ Our de- potential. “Expectations are so mean/ We run Heads!/ Held!/ High!/” 10 years his overt political development had begun, influenced by the rise of the Red Power movement of the 1960s. He became a leader of the American Indian The case against climate geoengineering Movement after returning to his birthplace in Tkaranto. By 1972 Harper was vice-president of by Valerie Lannon again no focus on reducing the production of the Ontario Metis and Non-Status Indian greenhouse gas emissions. Association and along with the Ojibway There are full-blown climate change deniers, Lastly is the stuff of both science fiction Warrior Society of Kenora and the Regina including Scott Pruitt, the head of the US movies and of actual use in China, namely Warrior Society, he helped create the Na- Environmental “Protection” Agency. Then there weather modification, usually to either make tive People’s Caravan. Harper offered the are those who acknowledge the seriousness of rain or suppress rain, e.g. via “cloud seeding.” following analysis of events in 1974: “One global warming but are confident that capitalist The report explains all three approaches in of the key factors that made ’74 a turn- ingenuity will save the day somehow “just like greater detail and provides eight case studies, all ing point was that native activists, for the we always have.” Last but not least are those of which point to extreme dangers and, in many first time in their generation, realized that who are concerned about global warming, are cases, irreversibility. there was non-native support for their not overly confident in capitalism-as-saviour cause. The isolation of the natives, used but who are so desperate to avoid climate How to respond? by the state, is no longer effective…We catastrophe that they pray that the far-out The authors of the report make four excellent see trade unions, progressive left groups, solutions they hear about from Bill Gates (for recommendations to address the problems church groups such as the Quakers, even “storm modification”) will keep the global raised with current geoengineering “solutions.” liberal elements give support, such as warming wolves at bay. These include: funds, telegrams, participating in demon- It is for these last two large categories of l End the production of carbon dioxide from strations, letters to Members of Parliament people that the arguments in The Big Bad Fix: fossil fuels by phasing out fossil fuel infrastruc- denouncing the tactics of the state, to help The Case Against Climate Geoengineering are ture, using renewable sources with communi- us. There’s a more militant and revolution- ones we have to make. This 77-page report ties’ consent, efficient public transport, reducing ary theme emerging, which is beginning to was prepared in 2017 by Biofuelwatch and the energy consumption, transforming agribusiness get support from all elements of the native Heinrich Boll Foundation, and is an update of to smaller holdings and “agroecology” movement…Native and non-native people their 2010 report Geopiracy. l Restore natural ecosystems, including are seeing that capitalism doesn’t serve forests, rainforests, moors and oceans, with full the masses. It only protects the capital- What is climate geoengineering? atmosphere by turning sunlight back into space. involvement of local communities ists’ interests.” The report defines geoengineering as “large- There is no attempt to try to reduce greenhouse l Ban outdoor testing of geoengineering, en- In 1976 Harper co-founded the First scale, intentional human manipulation of gas emissions; instead it releases “inorganic forced through a global governance body, since Nations School of Toronto to instill Indig- climate or Earth systems.” (emphasis mine to particles such as sulphur dioxide into the upper geoengineering has global impacts enous students with a strong sense of distinguish geoengineering from humanity’s layer of the atmosphere—via cannons or hoses l Debate proposed geoengineering solutions pride and cultural strength. As a respected historic interaction with nature, including our or aircraft—to act as a reflective barrier to using the “do no harm” principle. “urban” Elder, he went on to become a earliest technologies). Its proponents see it as reduce the amount sunlight reaching Earth… the The longstanding Indigenous worldview of spiritual leader in prisons, leading tradi- a solution to the devastation caused by climate unknowns are many, including the possibility humanity’s symbiotic relation with the rest of tional ceremonies and providing traditional change. So far, all attempts at geoengineering of ozone layer depletion and significant weather nature is incompatible with colonization and counselling. Activists in Idle No More and have either had to be abandoned or, if tried, re- pattern changes.” capitalism’s need to profit from the extraction of Indigenous (and non-Indigenous) defend- sulted in further threats to people and the planet. The second broad approach, with many varia- resources. Fighting for an end to capitalism— ers of the land and water stand on the There are three main approaches to geoen- tions on the theme, is Greenhouse Gas Removal and for a better world through socialism, in alli- shoulders of leaders like Asini (Cree word gineering. The first is called Solar Radiation (GGR), which does not focus on the sun but, as ance with struggles for Indigenous sovereignty for “stone”) Vern Harper. Management (SRM) (aka albedo modification), its name describes, removing the excess green- and just transitions for workers to low carbon aimed at reducing the amount of heat in the house gas that is already in the atmosphere; jobs—is our only hope.

June 2018 Socialist Worker 7 $2 | No 605 | June 2018 | socialist.ca Defend the $15 minimum wage mboldened by Doug Ford’s electoral the same time as Donald Trump was elected, victory, the 1% are coming for low- people voted to increase the minimum wage in wage workers. The morning after the a number of states. Mobilizations by the Fight Eelection the Financial Post declared, for $15 were crucial to expose this contradiction “Let’s undo the damage of Wynne’s cruel and and give people the confidence to fight against unfair minimum wage crusade.” Trump. Heading into the election the Fight for Businesses not only want to stop the planned $15 planned a day of action after the election minimum wage increase to $15/hr in 2019, they regardless who won, and this became the first want to roll back the $14/hr minimum wage that major action against Trump—giving confidence was won this year. to other mobilizations. There are already Liberal loopholes in the The June 16 Rally for Decent Work was minimum wage that make it lower for student planned before the Ontario election, because and liquor servers, and bosses want to massive- the Fight for $15 and Fairness and the Ontario ly expand these. They are cruelly saying min- Federation of Labour knew that whoever got imum wage workers are not worth$14/hr, and elected would need to be pushed to defend are especially targeting disabled and immigrant and extend the gains of the campaign. workers. With Ford elected and the 1% on the of- Ford’s victory will give confidence to those fensive, June 16 will be crucial to show the spouting ableism, racism and other forms of support that still exists for low wage workers. oppression, and bosses will be coming for Ford calls him self the “Premier of the peo- non-unionized and unionized workers alike. ple” but the people are clear: we want $15 and They are also using all the old arguments that Fairness, all workers deserve it, and we are raising the minimum wage causes job losses. We won’t back down! Don’t let Ford roll back wages going to fight to get it. They said the same thing in January when the $14/hr wage took effect, and the sky didn’t fall. wage workers. Doug Ford, while briefly mentioning his inten- There was a big business backlash, with Tim Polls show a majority of people across the tion to stop the wage increase, couldn’t cam- • On June 16 join the Rally for Decent Hortons clawing back wages, but there was province support the $15/hr minimum wage, paign on stopping it. Work, 1pm at the Ministry of Labour, 400 also an outpouring of support for minimum including 40 per cent of PC voters. That’s why We saw the same contradiction in the US. At University Ave, Toronto. Cops and bigots not welcome at Pride by Pam Johnson gation, targeting of trans people and anti-black Resistance to the police presence in Pride is not Toronto did in 2016, demanding that the police racism are all issues that have been raised by just happening in Toronto. Protesters in the Ed- and military not be allowed in future parades. n a statement the day after the election On- LGBTQ community members as evidence that a monton Pride parade stopped the march on June LGBTQ activists in other parts of the world tario Premier-elect Doug Ford said that ‘if problem with police continues to exist. 9 in a similar action to what Black Lives Matter have also shown resistance to right-wing gov- the police are allowed to march’, he might ernments using homophobia to further their Iattend the Pride parade in Toronto. agenda. Pride parades in Poland and Romania This is a nod to his homophobic base of re- have been drawing thousands. ligious right and social conservatives that take Pandering to social and religious conserva- credit for his victory. tives, with the current rise of the far right and This shamefully reignites a contentious issue neo-fascist hate groups is a dangerously toxic that the Toronto Pride committee has already mix. settled – that the police are welcome to attend Just recently, Christian bigots disrupted the out of uniform, but that there will be no uni- Haldiman Norfolk Pride event in Dunnville by formed contingent in the Pride parade. blocking the stage with their hateful messages Toronto Police are no longer pursuing this We need to move swiftly to fight Ford and issue and have withdrawn their application. build the resistance to the bigots have been em- This is a divisive and potentially dangerous boldened by his victory and who are using him ploy that fuels homophobic hate and intoler- to build their hateful movement. ance. Anti-gay preacher Rev. Charles McVety When BLM Toronto held its protest during and former PC candidate Tanya Granic Allen Pride in 2016, opposing the police presence at showered Ford with praise on election night Pride, they and their many supporters faced a for vowing to scrap the new sex-ed curriculum. backlash in the media, and in sections of the Ford claims that the revised curriculum, which community. Today, more people have come to includes LGBTQ and consent information, forc- the same conclusion that they had put forward es students to learn about “six different genders then. This is an important step forward. and all the nonsense’. But it shows the importance of building sol- The strained relations between the police and idarity with marginalized communities under the LGBTQ community cannot be ‘overcome by threat from police and the bigoted attacks fueled a parade’ according to the Toronto Pride commit- by politicians like Ford. Our unity can defeat tee. The Bruce MacArthur serial murder investi- Black Lives Matter began the resistance to police at Pride Photo: Uranranebi Agbeyegbe their attempts to divide and conquer.