$2 | No 610 | November 2018 | socialist.ca

Photo: Michael YC Tseng BUILD THE RESISTANCE Stop Ford’s attack on workers he Tories are look- and family friend Gavin Tighe who is The freeze on the minimum wage You can’t live in on that. You company that left Ontario. He could ing out for the CEOs – not the getting paid a $667,000 yearly salary at $14 will result in a cut in real just can’t.” not, nor could any of the half dozen little guy. Their plan to scrap by the people of Ontario. wages. The doom and gloom argu- She will be one of 1.6 million peo- cabinet ministers who joined him at Tthe hard fought workers’ The response has been swift. Ral- ments about the loss of jobs after ple who will continue to suffer as the the press conference. gains in Bill 148 will only help the lies, marches and pickets were orga- the wage increase have not borne minimum wage cannot pay for the The next weeks will be a crucial rich at the expense of the rest of us. nized all over the province the day out. In fact, giving more workers skyrocketing cost of living. time for the people of Ontario. People Ford has announced Bill 47 which after the announcement. a raise means that they spend that Ford has said that there has been an will need to be on the streets in num- would cut sick days, scrap the expect- Workers from all backgrounds money locally, providing a boost to exodus of companies moving out of bers to stop Ford. Shamefully, the big ed $15 minimum wage increase and will be affected by Ford’s actions. the economy. Ontario because of Bill 148. During battalions of the labour movement roll back a host of workers’ rights. The loss of sick days will mean Christine, a speaker at the Toron- the announcement of the repeal, re- have yet to acivate and they will be All the while, his advisors and more people going to work when ill to rally on March 15 said, “All my porters asked Jim Wilson, Minister needed to stop the Tory attacks. friends are being given plush new which will cost all of us in increased jobs are minimum wage. Last year of Economic Development, Job Cre- For full coverage jobs. He recently hired his lawyer healthcare costs. I earned in the vicinity of $22,000. ation and Trade if he could name any please see page 2 Bill 148 and people Ford cuts healthcare with disabilities funding, prepares ground by Melissa Graham part of the workforce. This is also why some well-intentioned families want the On October 3rd 2018, Premier Ford return of sheltered workshops. spoke to Provincial Parliament in de- By removing that exemption, the Lib- for privatization fense of his decision to repeal Bill 148, erals sparked a conversation about how the Fair Workplaces and Better Jobs workers with disabilities are perceived by John Bell Health Act outright. According to money”; this is a one-time infu- Act: in Ontario, and why some people and Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) sion aimed at dealing with the “Speaker, I’ll never forget when I politicians think they deserve less than “No attempt at ethical or social research, 88 clinics across the upturn in patient visits during flu went to Renfrew—Minister of Trans- other workers. seduction can eradicate from country charge user fees. season. The amount is actually portation, John Yakabuski. I saw 20 In the 2018 provincial election, there my heart a deep burning hatred In Ontario the Tories under less than that spent by the Wyn- people with disabilities come up to me were a number of Conservative candi- for the Tory Party. So far as I am Harris, and then the Liberals ne Liberals at the same time and say, “Doug, I lost my job because dates who campaigned on bringing these concerned they are lower than under McGuinty and Wynne, last year, and will do nothing to of Bill 148.” These are young people sheltered workshops back. They capital- vermin.” –Aneurin Bevan created a “crisis” in healthcare address the systemic problems and young adults with autism. Thou- ized on the gap in services, and directed Most will be unfamiliar with where patients face overcrowd- behind “hallway healthcare.” sands across the province lost their jobs the anger, inaccurately and convenient- Welsh firebrand Bevan, one of ed facilities, longer waits for It must be noted that Ford’s because of Bill 148. Students lost their ly, at Bill 148, much like Ford did a few the outstanding MPs in British non-emergency treatment, and announcement came not at an jobs because of Bill 148. We’re going weeks ago. Labour Party history. Think the staff shortages. Now the Tories open press conference, but at to create jobs. We’re going to make sure The Liberals did the right thing by Jeremy Corbyn of his day. Bevan under Doug Ford promise to a closed-door photo op. Critics we hire students, hire people with spe- closing sheltered workshops. To re- was Health Minister in Clement solve “hallway healthcare.” like OHC’s Natalie Mehra and cial needs.” open them now would be a huge step Atlee’s postwar Labour govern- representatives from the On- He was referring to the closure of shel- backwards. There are ways to provide ment, who oversaw the creation Tory medicine tario Nurses’ Association were tered workshops across Ontario. These employment supports in community for of the National Health Service. Expecting Ford to solve the very excluded, forced to stand in an workshops have been in gradual closure equal pay, but that requires political will He spent a lifetime fighting Tories problem he and those like him outside hallway instead. since 2015 as part of a process to mod- and adequate funding. who didn’t just turn a callous, created is ridiculous. Everything Finally, all of Ford’s coming ernize and individualize employment supports for disabled people. The coming attack on social Sheltered workshops in Ontario are assistance typically run by not-for-proft organiza- Sheltered workshops are only part of the tions funded by the Ministry of Commu- problem. For workers who are also on nity and Social Services (MCSS). They the Ontario Disability Support Program provide work for people who struggle to (ODSP), the current earnings exemption, fnd jobs, often adults who have devel- recently increased by the Liberals, allows opmental disabilities. Originally, they social assistance recipients to keep $200 were created to be temporary places of their gross wages per month. Every where people would learn job skills. dollar over $200 reduces their income In reality, many people have worked at support by 50% of those wages. ODSP

blind eye to the deadly health his Ontario government has cuts will make life harder for issues facing Welsh coal miners; done promises to make things people in Ontario: harder to pay many of those Tories were mine worse. bills, harder to find an apart- owners profiting from shortened One of Ford’s first acts was ment, harder to stay home rath- life spans and brutal exploitation. to appoint Dr. Rueben Devlin as er than have to spread illness Bevan considered universal his special advisor on health- at work. health care a human right: “The care. Devlin is indeed special: Full disclosure: part of this collective principle asserts former president of the Ontario was written during a recent stint that ... no society can legitimately Conservative Party during the in hospital. There were indeed call itself civilised if a sick person Mike Harris years; advocate patients on gurneys in the halls is denied medical aid because of of privatized medicine; and of the ER where I was admitted. lack of means.” former CEO of a “public private When asked, nurses laughed partnership” hospital that spent openly about the prospect of Creating a crisis a fortune replacing staff with Doug Ford solving the problem. Since the early 1960s most digital resources. Ford is paying One told me they expect the Canadians have come to agree Devlin $350,000 (plus expens- trend of nurse layoffs to contin- with Bevan, and identify health- es) for advice. ue: “We’re already serving more care as an essential part of Next Ford appointed former patients per nurse than is safe. our national identity. But “free BC Liberal premier Gordon It should be 4 to each nurse. market” Tories disagree; they Campbell to oversee an exam- I’m looking after 6, and that’s see only an opportunity to make ination of the Wynne govern- on a good day.” profit snatched from their grasp. ment’s policies. Natalie Mehra Smaller health facilities will be Doug Ford’s Tories, like the of the OHC sums up Campbell’s amalgamated for “efficiency”, Conservatives Bevan battled, record on healthcare: “I was beds will be closed and staff them for decades, some for most of their also provides $100 each month a person believe that no one is entitled trying to think of who could ac- made redundant as a result. This lives. works or when their business makes a to anything unless they can tually be worse than him to be is already happening at hospitals proft. This is called the Work-Related afford to buy it. appointed into that position… in Lindsay and Peterborough. And Where Bill 148 comes in Beneft, because apparently the Liberals The very popularity of our He has a terrible record on the crisis in healthcare will be Sheltered workshop workers were paid lack a sense of irony. healthcare poses a problem for health care and privatizing and made worse, giving the Tories a stipend, sometimes only a few dollars Ford and his government not only Liberals and Tories. Given their cutting public services.” After the excuse to do what they want- an hour. Up until the passage of Bill place less value on the labour of dis- way they would abolish public 10 years in office Campbell was ed to do all along – introduce a 148, sheltered workshops were exempt- abled people, they seem to think the health services outright, but forced to resign amid scandals two-tiered system that will allow ed from the Employment Standards Act. current social assistance rate of $1,128 that would be political suicide. and unpopularity, leaving Christy the rich to buy better care while They did not have to pay the minimum per month for individuals should suffce. Instead they chip away and Clark to carry the Liberal banner workers suffer with crowding and wage, overtime, or provide hours of In August, the Ford government cut the weaken our system. They’ve for another six years. long waits. work protection. planned social assistance increase in delisted services that were After the Liberal years, BC Our health system is under Bill 148 did not directly close shel- half, pittance as it was. More cuts are once covered; they’ve cut funds led the nation in doctors extra a long-planned and carefully tered workshops, but it did remove their expected soon. and laid off nursing staff; and billing for services. When the executed attack. To defend it will exemption from the ESA. There was no Without alternatives in place, the they’ve weakened regulations new NDP government started require serious grass-roots orga- transition funding provided to sheltered options for many disabled people are prohibiting private clinics. issuing fines for violations of the nizing. It comes down to whether workshops to allow them to meet the re- underpaid work or no work at all, but As of 2017 there were 34 Canada Health Act, BC doctors or not you believe that every quirements of the ESA during the tran- there are better options. Disabled peo- private clinics operating in brought a lawsuit to the Pro- human being deserves decent sition period. This forced a lot of them ple deserve equal pay for equal work. Ontario, and 136 across the vincial Supreme Court seeking healthcare; whether medicine is to close prematurely. No worker should be devalued on the country. Some, like private an injunction to stop the clamp first and foremost about need When the Liberals decided to slowly basis of disability. We need strong allies cataract surgery clinics, operate down. An affidavit in support of or about making profit. When we transition Ontario out of sheltered work- among non-disabled workers and across under provincial rules but offer the doctors’ right to charge extra talk about those in Doug Ford’s shops, they hadn’t put new programs in all disability communities to make this “premium” services for extra fees was delivered by none other Tory government we know where place yet to replace them. This was real- happen. Join the fght against Ford’s ma- fees – two-tiered healthcare. than Gordon Campbell. their priorities lie, for now as in ly diffcult for some people who worked nipulative use of disabled people for his Others, like “boutique” doctors’ Then came Ford’s announce- Bevan’s day they are “lower than there. For many, this was their social own propaganda. Join the Fight for $15 clinics, violate the Canada ment of $90 million of “new vermin.” connection, and opportunity to feel like and Fairness today!

2 Socialist Worker November 2018 Toronto Resistance needed after election: more of the same far right victory in Brazil by John Bell by Alistair Farrow Earlier in the election campaign a women A large part of the blame for Bolsonaro’s had a swastika carved into her body by a Nazi. election win lies with the PT. Its credibility was In an election marred by the manipulations of the Far right candidate Jair Bolsonaro was elected Bolsonaro’s lead narrowed after a particular- destroyed by its record of 13 years in offce. Ford provincial government, cutting the number president of Brazil on October 28. ly vicious speech he gave last week in which he Huge corruption by PT offcials involving the of wards almost in half, voters turned out in He took around 55 percent of the vote, and threatened to arrest left wingers if they did not allocation of contracts for state-owned oil com- small numbers. The results – incumbent John his victory in a country of 210 million people leave the country after the election. pany Petrobras undermined the party’s support. Tory was easily returned as mayor. will have a huge impact. It is also another sign This led prominent fgures in Brazilian so- This meant Bolsonaro was able to pose as His leading opponent, Jennifer Keesmaat tried of the rise of the global far right that has to be ciety to publicly back Haddad. In the end this an anti-corruption crusader - while allying with to position herself as the left standard-bearer, resisted everywhere. corrupt elements in Brazilian but never galvanized support. Her positions, His election marks a bru- society. like fghting a housing crisis with policies like tal turn in Brazilian politics. The corruption scandal rent-to-own housing, made no sense to voters. Bolsonaro is a front man for of the PT, including jailed Her defnition of “affordable” housing as 80% of the sort of forces involved in former president Luiz Inacio market rent, where market rent for a 1 bedroom the murderous military dicta- Lula da Silva (Lula) soured tops $2,000 monthly, was too anemic. And torship from 1964 to 1985. the party’s image for millions. tearing down the crumbling Gardner expressway On Saturday Charlione On top of the corruption, Lu- might be a good idea, but it hardly tapped into Lessa Albuquerque was shot la’s successor Dilma Rousseff voters’ major concerns. dead, allegedly by a Bolsona- heaped the price of the eco- Disturbingly, neo-Nazi Faith Goldy came ro supporter, while attending nomic crisis on the backs of third, with more than 25,000 votes, about a rally in support of the Work- ordinary Brazilians. 3.4%. Her campaign was given a boost by the ers’ Party (PT) candidate Fer- “In Lula’s day the whole openly racist Toronto Sun, and tacit support from nando Haddad. favela was PT,” said Haroldo Toronto Police, some of whom posed with her Throughout his election Carrilho. “They abandoned for pictures. Some of those votes might just be campaign Bolsonaro has used us.” protest votes, but her campaign was explicitly vile language to refer to mi- Bolsonaro’s main support anti-immigrant, and especially Islamophobic. nority and oppressed groups. base lies in the richer south- The result will give more confdence to far-right He has backed the use of vio- ern states of Brazil such as organizing, and make life more dangerous for lence by the murderous Bra- Sao Paulo and Rio de Janei- Muslims, Jews and people of colour. zilian cops. Between January ro. A new middle class, who One bright spot was the strong campaign of and July this year, in just one have seen their standard of human rights lawyer Saron Gebresellassi, who state—Rio de Janeiro—cops living attacked, particularly impressed in debates with strong positions for killed 895 people. after the commodities crisis affordable transit and housing. She also chal- He has described himself of 2015 onwards, see him as lenged the ideas that addressing crime means as “homophobic—and very a fghter for their interests. more money for policing – in fact she proposed proud of it.” LGBT+ groups The new government will fnancing public services by taking money away described his victory as be a government for the rich. from the massive police budget. Knowing she “opening the gates of hell.” Bolsonaro has surrounded had no chance to win, she declared she was in “Bolsonaro means every- himself with economic advis- the race to give voice to young women of colour. thing that is bad,” PT member ers such as Paulo Guedes, who Despite the fact that most “left” votes went to Cleusa told Socialist Worker. wants to privatise 147 state- Keesmaat, Gebresellassi garnered almost 15,000 She was attending a protest owned businesses as well as votes (2.01%). outside the Brazilian embassy in central Lon- had little effect. introduce a fat-rate 20 percent income tax. don on Saturday night. Bolsonaro capitalised on an attack on him “I lived through the dictatorship and we Council “He has said that the citizens he deems to be during the election campaign, during which he don’t want to go back to that. It’s dangerous,” Despite the chaos created by Ford’s meddling, ‘good’ will be allowed to carry guns. The ‘bad’ was stabbed. This allowed him to present as a said Lima. “I know what dictatorship means. It the election resulted in status quo on council. ones are the people who live in favelas [poor law and order martyr. means torture, do you know what I’m saying?” The expanded downtown wards brought back areas] and are black. To attribute his victory just to this would be a There will be resistance to Bolsonaro. The left-of-centre incumbents Joe Cressy, Mike Lay- “He has said women shouldn’t earn the same mistake—there are more deep-rooted reasons. military dictatorship was eventually beaten by ton, , Kristyn Wong-Tam and Paula as men.” Big business has warmed to his success. mass workers’ resistance and strikes. Fletcher. And the suburban wards brought back Since he moved ahead in the frst round of the There are powerful women’s and right-wingers Michael Thompson, Mike Ford Fascists election three weeks ago one Brazilian stock LGBT+groups and social movements. and . If Ford’s cut of wards was Cristina argued, “After Sunday, Brazil will not market index has soared 18 percent while glob- The resistance to Bolsonaro and the far right meant to destroy the left, it failed. The makeup be the same. The fascists there will wake up.” al indexes have fallen. he has emboldened must start today. of council is much the same as the outgoing one, on a smaller scale. Some defeats were welcome. Racist scum- bag Georgio Mammoliti ran as “Doug Ford’s Choice,” and was turfed after a campaign that Confronting the rise of the far-right has to be described as thinly-veiled fascism. Long time left councillor lost to by Michelle Robidoux trying to unify the strategy of European far- zation KEERFA, said: “Every time we make a centrist . Why Mihevc prominently right parties and has established a headquarters concession, we open the door to the far right.” featured an endorsement from is the The far-right is building internationally – we in Brussels in advance of next May’s European But while the threat is growing, so is the force question; Matlow’s vocal sparring with Tory need to fght back globally. This sums up the elections. Each victory of the far-right, from that can stop it. “The media say, the far-right over subway overspending was probably the urgent task set by the international conference Trump to Bolsonaro, energizes and radicalizes is unstoppable. It’s not true. Millions have pro- secret to his success. organized by Stand Up to Racism in the UK these parties. tested Trump. Salvini and Merkel are on the on October 20th. Titled Confronting Racism defensive because of movement on the streets. GTA Votes and Fascism, the conference, attended by 1400 Resistance Don’t panic if they enter Parliament, but don’t In Brampton, the improbable return of Patrick people including representatives from across Cornelia Kerth, from the Federation of An- underestimate them. Golden Dawn tried to Brown saw the recently-disgraced Tory leader Europe, Latin America and Canada – dis- ti-Fascists in Germany, spoke of the organizing build from Parliament to the streets but there defeat incumbent mayor Linda Jeffry. Jeffry had cussed the growth of racism and the far-right, that produced the brilliant 240,000-strong pro- was a mass movement there to meet them.” been a strong defender of the Muslim communi- and strategies to oppose them. test in Berlin against racism and xenophobia. He reminded us that there is power in the ty when it came under attack from bigots, but no “There are a lot more people fghting racism “The [far-right] AfD party are stronger where workplace: when Golden Dawn tried to use its doubt lost because she had been in a losing fght in Germany than were being racist in Chem- we aren’t present. But in Hamburg, wherever allotted hour to speak in Parliament, govern- with the provincial Tories over transit funding. nitz – we have to be more organized,” said they speak, we mobilize. It is impossible for ment workers struck for an hour. They have These elections were marred by open cam- Claude Moraes, MEP, referring to the recent them to book a room.” organized in the teachers’ unions, among doc- paigning by Nazis. In , white-su- racist rampage in the east German city. Ismahane Chouder, a teacher and activ- tors, and among youth. Refugee communities premacist Islamophobe Kevin Johnston came Hungarian Roma activist Sandor Szoke ist, spoke of the role of Islamophobia in the have played a central role in fghting back. second, with 13.6% of the vote. But in Hamilton, spoke of the fast-changing situation in Hunga- growth of the far-right in France. “Unfortu- Paul Holborow, a key organiser of the An- despite numerous articles in The Spectator giv- ry, where far-right president Victor Orban has nately, right-wing ideas have penetrated the ti-Nazi League that successfully defeated the ing him a platform, long-time Nazi Paul Fromm implemented a series of brutal attacks, crimi- left. There is an identitarian left convergence British National Front in 1979, said “We need got only 552 votes. nalizing the homeless, banning gender studies, with the right on Muslim questions. This to join ranks and build an international wall This warning on the right underlines the need and forbidding protests. Nara Jararaca, an ac- makes it diffcult to mobilize left groups on of resistance against this flth trying to infect for a bold left alternative to the failed policies of tivist with the Brazilian Worker’s Party (PT), initiatives upholding the rights of all.” our politics.” Tory. It was largely not on offer in this election. spoke of the growth in attacks on Afrodescen- The far-right, she said, has understood this. Next steps: mass action November 17 in the But ’s COPE platform, which elected dant communities and the left, as far-right “I understand that it is easier for governments UK and coordinated protests world-wide for councillor Jean Swanson on a bold campaign presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro boosted to fght against Muslims than against unem- UN anti-racism day on March 16, 2019. for housing, shows that such an alternative can the confdence of Nazi thugs and police. ployment,” Chouder said. inspire, mobilize and deliver electoral success. Notorious far-right ghoul Steve Bannon is Petros Constantinou, of the Greek organi- • For more info: standuptoracism.org.uk

November 2018 Socialist Worker 3 The German Revolution 1918-1919

by Chantal Sundaram debate about power was not won the contradictions of the Weimar Re- HOW WORLD WAR I even within these councils: on No- public. Although state power was not ovember marks the vember 10, the Berlin Workers’ and inevitable, the Nazis’ emergence was 100th anniversary of a Soldiers’ Council confrmed the six linked to the failure of the German little-known revolution “People’s Commissars,” leaving its revolution to lead to a conception of Nin the heart of Western own authority vague. socialism that was not wedded to the Europe. Like the Russian Revolu- The majority of German councils old forms of wealth and power. tion of 191, it posed a fundamental formed in November were dominat- The other form of barbarism uestion: what kind of social change ed by the SP, without any serious that resulted from the failure of did the world need to escape the competition. In Russia, the Bol- the German revolution to lead in a barbarism of world war and social sheviks had not always carried the socialist direction was Stalinism. For Arson attack on inequality? day in the multi-party soviets, but the revolution to hold on in Russia WAS STOPPED The German revolution replaced they had argued constantly within and not regress to control by a new a constitutional monarchy with a them for effective strategy based on ruling class, it needed to spread refugees at Toronto parliamentary republic, later known decades of experience with collec- internationally – and immediately to as the Weimar Republic. It also tive resistance on the streets and in wealthier countries. In the end the unleashed a period of instability that workplaces. Stalinist push for “socialism in one hotel lasted until late 1919. As in Russia, In Germany, especially Berlin, country,” which was actually a turn The First World War ended – not because the generals and the the enormous toll of WWI on poor there were networks of revolution- to state-run capitalism and count- By Carolyn Egan hotel. Along with other unions and working class people created a ary shop stewards, who were open er-revolution, won the day. and community organizations politicians wanted it to, but because workers and soldiers refused to fght. crisis that put the legitimacy of the to the politics of Spartacus and to a A synagogue was recently such as the Urban Alliance on aristocracy and the bourgeoisie into workers’ alternative to parliament. Rosa Luxemburg attacked in Pittsburgh by a Race Relations ,the Steelworkers On the 100th anniversary of the end of the war, Sid Lacombe explores question. But without a separate voice with Rosa Luxemburg, a leader of Spart- white, anti-semitic male who have been mobilizing members Soldiers’ mutinies erupted in credibility built through decades of acus and a founder of the German left dead and wounded behind in protests against right wing the revolutions in Germany and Russia that ended it. German naval ports at the end of common struggle, it was a challenge Communist party, was undoubtedly him. A few years ago, a mosque extremism. ctober, provoking civil unrest until to be heard at the eleventh hour. one of the most important theorists in Quebec City faced a similar I recently attended a the monarchy fell and the republic of revolution from below in the assault by a young Quebecois conference in the UK, “How Do was proclaimed on November 9. Marxist movement. She theorized influenced by right wing, We Defeat the Rise of Fascism The immediate question in Ger- the importance of workers’ self-ac- Islamophobic ideas. We are and Racism”. Over 1200 many, as in Russia after the fall of tivity through mass strikes, and the seeing a move to the right in this attended the event and there the Tsar, was: who will now govern ability of spontaneous struggle to country, with an increase of 20 were representatives from across change the consciousness of masses to 25% in racist, anti-immigrant Europe including Hungary, where A tale of two revolutions of ordinary people. organizations in the last three the extreme right has come to The socialist movement in Germany But her tragedy was in under- years, according to the Toronto power. A leader of an anti-fascist was quite different from the one in estimating the need for separate Star. Faith Goldy, who has taken group in London was attacked Russia, where a credible alternative political organization outside the part in neo-nazi demonstrations, by a dozen neo-Nazis who laid in to parliament existed, even prior to SP in the years before 1918-19. ran for mayor of the city of wait for him as he approached World war and world revolution ctober 191: a large network of The SP was the largest and most Toronto and won 25,000 votes. the conference. They were run grassroots workers’ councils rooted successful socialist party in urope, Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, off, but it speaks to the level of his November 11 will mark sufferings for ends which I believe to troops decided to end the hostilities was that the October revolution was signed the treaty of Brest-Litovsk in workplaces called “soviets” in and gave rise to the social democrat- posed for a picture with her and violence that people are facing in 100 years since the end of the be evil and unjust.” themselves and came out of the largely bloodless. There were few which gave the Germans signifcant Russian, controlled by direct work- ic movement throughout the West, didn’t distance himself from it many countries and the reality of frst world war and in Canada trenches to share drinks and play a army units left to send to try and lands in Poland, kraine and the ers’ democracy, and excluding the including parties like the NP. But for days while public pressure the far right gaining confidence. Twe will be inundated with Imperialist war game of soccer. Although this is now defeat the revolutionary forces in Baltic states and offcially pulled the ruling and middle classes. January uprising Luxemburg’s hesitation was not due mounted. People from France, Germany, stories of heroism and national pride. This was a war started by the main seen as a bold and tender moment on Russian cities. Most had been won Russians out of the war. And unlike the Bolsheviks, who n ecember 30-31, 1918, Sparta- to illusions in the ability of the SP, On October 2nd, in the east Poland, the Netherlands, The Canadian government will, no capitalist powers in Europe to try history, it was viewed very differently over to the revolution. nfortunately, the other imperial looked to those workers’ councils as cus members launched the German or SP, to lead a revolution. n end of Toronto, the Radisson Catalonia, Denmark, Greece doubt, laud the killing felds as the and gain control of the resources and at the time. The British declared that At the Zimmerwald conference powers were unwilling to talk the key to winning genuine power Communist Party, and in early Janu- the contrary she fought relentless- Hotel which houses over 570 and other countries spoke about crucible within which Canada became lands of their rivals. As many as 10 they would kill any soldiers, German in Switzerland in 1915, Russian peace. They were terrifed that for working people, in Germany the ary 1919 they led an uprising intend- ly as the SP took one mistaken refugee claimants was the target the organizing that they are a nation. The battle of Vimy Ridge – million working people died in an or British if they came out of the Bolshevik leader Lenin spoke about any concession would result in a dominant left party, the Social em- ed to push the revolution beyond the position after another, from trying of an arsonist. A security guard doing. There have been inspiring a fght that killed 3,598 and wounded industrialized slaughterhouse that trenches to engage in this kind of the nature of the war. weakening of their position in the ocratic Party SP looked instead limits of parliament. But the struggle to reinterpret Marxist economics as found a gas container with a demonstrations, such as the ,00 Canadian soldiers for a largely served no purpose at all. civility again. “The uropean and world war global imperial pecking order. to a national assembly that would on the ground was not yet gener- a way to reform capitalism, to the burning wick in a third floor 250,000 who recently marched useless ridge line – will be given As socialist historian Chris Harman The frst major mutinies started in has the clearly defned character of As a result, they killed more than integrate the German upper classes alized across the country, and the disastrous capitulation of supporting hallway. The floor rug was burning against fascism and racism in specifc treatment as a key moment in a bourgeois, imperialist and dynastic one million more people between the into a social democratic parliamenta- SP alliance with the army allowed the German war effort in 191, to the when he kicked it into a concrete Germany, strongly supported by Canadian history. war...setting the wage slaves of one Russian call for peace and the offcial ry government. This extended to an nationalist militias, the Freikorps, to compromise with German capital in stairwell. Fire services and police trade unions. In Greece there The realities of the war – more than Economic competition had turned nation against those of another so as end of the war in 1918. alliance with the German Supreme crush the 1919 uprisings by force. forming Weimar. were called and the hotel was have been broad mobilizations 100 years past – are now obscured by to beneft the bourgeoisie–these are Command of the military. The Russian Revolution faced a She did not break earlier with the evacuated. This could have been against the Golden Dawn, a offcial histories and Canadian history into competition for territories, and Legacy The other major difference similar challenge in July of 191. SP for fear of being cut off from a horrible disaster if it had not fascist organization, which a vignettes. The stark brutality of WWI was to between Germany and Russia at the When the timing wasn’t right, the the mass of workers who identifed been discovered in time. few years ago had seventy-six As Ian McKay and Jamie Swift the outcome depended on armed call into question the very nature time - in addition to the hold of par- Bolsheviks had the credibility to with socialism. Even when the revo- The refugees crossed into offices across the country and state in their book, The Vimy Trap: of the capitalist system for workers liamentary politics and the absence win the argument to maintain unity, lution broke out in early November, Canada from the United States was openly attacking immigrants Or, How We Learned to Stop might. throughout the world. Simultaneously, of workers’ councils as an alternative to preserve organization against the Spartacus leaders decided to stay as because of Donald Trump’s and refugees. Today, the number Worrying and Love the Great War, the the Russian revolution provided the - was the absence of revolutionary assault of the right, and to tactically long as possible to try to win over as anti-immigrant policies. The has been cut to ten because commemorations of the battle only states, “The rival imperialisms which April 191 when a full 8 divisions inspiration for millions who opposed organization capable of uniting the retreat and prepare for the next round many as they could. There was prob- government has been separating of united front activities locally began in earnest well after the soldiers had emerged as each capitalism of French troops refused to return to the barbarity of the system. majority of working people in coor- – which came a few short months ably also a hope that the revolution- children from their parents at and nationally that have strongly who participated in it had died. It was tried to solve its own problems by the front. They were attacked and 50 The next few years were flled dinated mass activity on the ground. later. ary moment might make the limits of the Mexican border, continuing reduced their capacity to draw during the Cold War militarist build expanding across state boundaries of the leaders of the mutiny executed. with revolutionary uprisings from The workers’ movement is always parliamentary socialism clear. This systemic anti-Black racism, and people to their ideas. It has been up that the battle became a centerpiece now collided right across the world. But revolts spread quickly. More than Hungary to Austria to Italy to Parliament or worker’s uneven, with some sections lagging was an honest belief in the ability has been whipping up hatred a combination of community in Canadian history textbooks. Economic competition had turned into 100,000 British soldiers mutinied Germany. nfortunately, they were power? behind in struggle and others far of workers themselves, through against Muslims. It is also trying organizations, immigrant groups, Governments from all of the competition for territories, and the in Boulogne before the generals not successful, which left the Russians By 1918 a new party to the left of ahead. Revolution is a process, and their experience of mass struggle, to to remove immigrants who have trade unionists and socialists belligerent nations have tried to build a outcome depended on armed might.” executed the leaders of the rebellion. isolated and under attack. the SP, the SP, had formed. But as it unfolds it can give an impulse eventually see through the limits of been in the country for years. that has strengthened the anti- new narrative about the war as a noble This competition between states is German sailors mutinied and refused The ruling classes in the belligerent it too had illusions in a parliamenta- to the most advanced workers to try the SP and SP. Many at the hotel are originally racist, anti-fascist organizing. quest for peace and democracy. But a central feature of capitalism which to go to sea to fght the British navy. countries even put aside their own ry solution to the crisis. Immediately to seize power prematurely, leaving But while this potential was and from Haiti and Sudan and are Though we are not facing the nothing could be further from the truth. needs to accumulate wealth at all costs. Indeed, the rebellions in Germany, animosity towards each other – the two began negotiations on the others behind, to the advantage of is real, it is also always uneven, and now very fearful for their safety. same level of far-right activity in ne needs only look at the writing, both by soldiers and workers reeling despite years of describing their formation of a government. the right. competes with other ideas that con- An immigrant aid organization Canada, we must be very clear poetry and art from the soldiers Revolts from the deprivation caused by the opponents as inhuman killers – and The SP, in return for an offer As the Russian revolutionary lead- stantly attempt to reconcile workers which provides services to them that unless we organize today themselves to see the brutality of While the war was greeted with some war, became so widespread that there joined forces to attack Russia. of eual representation, withdrew its er Leon Trotsky famously said, if the with some kind of compromise with has spoken out about the rise it could certainly happen. With the war from the perspective of the enthusiasm by the general populations was fear of a revolution building Their fear of a worker led most radical conditions. A Council forces of reaction had been success- capitalism. Consciousness never of right wing nationalism in this the election of Donald Trump troops. And although they rarely get at the start, the prolonged struggle among the German rulers. Capitalists hide from injured soldier government that refused to engage in of People’s Commissars was estab- ful in dividing the revolutionary changes in a uniform way, even in a country and the need to fight and Doug Ford, we have seen any air time in the current offcial resulted in a growing anti-war and – painting by George Grosz imperial slaughter was greater than lished with three members of each movement in that country, fascism revolution when so many things may against it. It clearly saw this as a how people can be drawn to photo George Popplestone CC-BY-NC-NC 20 histories, they offer a glimpse of revolutionary sentiment. Soldiers Russia their hatred of a rival ruling class. party, and they called for the election would have been a Russian word. favour it. hate crime. right-wing ideas unless there is what really happened both during from both sides of the confict began And in Russia ending the war, the only real content and signifcance The commemorations of the war of a national assembly. What both 191 in Russia and The hotel is organized by a real alternative. They, in turn, the war and what really ended the to identify more with the other poor which had cost some 1.8 million of the war.” this year will be full of fowery Spartacus, a small group of Socialism or Barbarism 1918-19 in Germany should leave the United Steelworkers, and give confidence to the extreme confict. infantrymen in the opposite trenches lives, became a central demand of After the revolutionary victory on language and calls to patriotism. It is revolutionaries which operated as German revolutionary leader Rosa us with is that while a better world when the local area council of right. We have to do all we can Sigfried Sassoon, a British soldier rather than with their own rulers and the revolutionary movement. The ctober 25, 191 Russia declared that crucial to remember that a key factor an organized collective within the Luxemburg, who herself was a vic- is possible, a worse one is possible the union heard about what to directly take on the growth wrote a letter which was read in the offcers who sat in chateaus sipping Bolshevik party was one of the few it would end hostilities even if that in the war’s end was the revolt of the SP, denounced the Council of tim of the Freikorps on January 15 as well. What can make the dif- had happened, the delegates of racist and fascist ideas and House of Commons which spoke cognac as they sent tens of thousands socialist groups that was opposed amounted to a defeat at the hands of troops who saw that the real enemy People’s Commissars, and called 1919, wrote in 191: “Bourgeois so- ference is being an active, visible, representing every USW build an anti-racist working class for the millions of soldiers in the to a grisly death. to the war from the beginning. It the Germans. The Bolsheviks called wasn’t the workers in the opposition instead for all power to the Work- ciety stands at the crossroads, either and organized revolutionary force, workplace in Toronto unanimously alternative that will fight against trenches, “I have seen and endured The Christmas truce in 191 scared was this clarity that allowed the “upon all the belligerent nations and trench, but the capitalists and generals ers’ and Soldiers’ Councils. These transition to Socialism or regression that can call for workers to have passed a motion to support the exploitation and oppression in all the sufferings of the troops and I can the offcers and rulers on both sides Bolsheviks to gain infuence among their governments to start immediate that prolonged the slaughter for their did exist in Germany, but not to the into Barbarism.” confdence in their own power at refugees and the workers at the its forms. no longer be a party to prolong these of the confict. German and British the soldiers themselves. The result negotiations for peace.” They then own personal gain. extent they had in Russia. And the German fascism found a base in the right time.

4 Socialist Worker November 2018 November 2018 Socialist Worker 5 Where we stand The People’s Party is the The dead-end of capitalism 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 people’s mess pollution and unsustainable extraction of oil, minerals, animals, trees, and water. Capitalism leads to imperialism and war. Saving ourselves by Kevin Taghabon and the planet depends on finding an alternative. A few months ago, it would have A system that is killing the planet sounded silly. Maxime Bernier and Capitalist profits depend on extracting the world’s blood and bone. The Andrew Scheer seemed like two peas devastating impact of capital’s assault on the planet affect the world’s in a pod. But then the peas got in a most vulnerable populations and threaten the long-term meaningful spat. Maxime was pushed from cabinet, existence of humanity. Capitalism cannot regulate the catastrophic and eventually left the party three days effects of climate change. We stand for climate justice, including the before their disturbing convention in concept of “just transition” for affected workers. Halifax. Conservative Party delegates voted Socialism and workers’ power to end birthright citizenship, a cruel Any alternative to capitalism must involve replacing the system from the position that could create untold bottom up through radical collective action. Central to that struggle is the stateless people. This proposal is workplace, where capitalism reaps its profits off our backs. a dramatic escalation in the wrong Bernier: Courting fascists and xenophobes Capitalist monopolies control the earth’s resources, but workers direction in our century, which will everywhere actually create the wealth. A new socialist society can only almost certainly be marred with interrogated by security services after climate while continuing to arm Saudi be constructed when workers collectively seize control of that wealth unprecedented climate-induced their struggle to arrive. Arabia. and plan its production and distribution to satisfy human needs, not migration. Like Scheer, Bernier is not Trump. Many Canadians have forgotten that corporate profits—to respect the environment, not pollute and destroy it. The Conservatives are setting He is still calculating how he can Stephen Harper was wandering in the themselves up to capture popular anger establish himself on the right of the wilderness while Jean Chretien was Oppression and marry it with the idea of internal Conservative Party without humiliating Prime Minister. His pre-PM days were Within capitalist society different groups suffer from specific forms of enemies. Andrew Scheer is less Donald himself in the 2019 election. Hence, the equally ideological, serving as head of oppression. Attacks on oppressed groups are used to divide workers Trump than Donald Duck, but Scheer’s rhetorical fence-straddling with far-right the National Citizens Coalition from and weaken solidarity. We oppose racism and imperialism. We oppose campaign manager is former Rebel sprinkles. 1998-2002. Harper tempered his own all immigration controls. We support the right of people of colour and Media exec and Alberta Wildrose It would be unwise to predict his social conservatism and went from an other oppressed groups to organize in their own defence. We are for real, operative, Hamish Marshall. An expert downfall. The far-right AfD has surged outsider to Prime Minister in four years. social, economic and political equality for women. We are for an end in far-right propaganda sits comfortably in Germany to second place in the polls The inability of the Liberals to to all forms of discrimination and homophobia against lesbians, gays, at the top of the Conservative campaign under the reigning Conservative, Angela meaningfully combat bigotry, coupled bisexuals and transgender people. machine. Merkel. France came within a hair’s with the Conservative Party’s need to We oppose environmental racism. We oppose discrimination on the The post-Harper rightward drift of breadth of electing their own neo-fascist keep in line with its base, means there basis of religion, ability and age. the Conservative Party has accelerated government in 2017. Beyond motions in is no guarantee whatsoever about the partly due to their distance from offcial Parliament denouncing Islamophobia, effect of the People’s Party. Canada, Quebec, Indigenous Peoples power. They watch as reactionary forces the Liberal government has done little What is clear is that professional Canada is not a “colony” of the United States, but an imperialist country translate resentment against austerity to quell the spike in extreme-right conservatives are well aware of where in its own right that participates in the exploitation of much of the world. into anti-immigrant violence and violence in Canada, while security popular energy lies. Right-wing Ontario The Canadian state was founded through the repression of Indigenous electoral opportunities the world over. services themselves are implicated Proud directly imitates the UK Labour peoples and the people of Quebec. in discrimination. After the white Party’s “For the Many, Not the Few” We support the struggles for self-determination of Quebec and Bernier: not enough supremacist terrorist attack against messaging. Doug Ford’s campaign Indigenous peoples up to and including the right to independence. In Bernier, evidently, did not think the the Muslim community in Quebec repeated “for the people” more times particular, we recognize Indigenous peoples’ original and primary right Conservatives were moving to the far in January 2017, this is astounding. than any platform point. The ability of to decide their fate and that of their lands, heritage, and traditions. right fast enough. He has now appointed Inaction has allowed the cancerous conservative politicians to convince Socialists in Quebec, and in all oppressed nations, work to give the himself as the saviour of “Canadian forces of bigotry to organize openly in voters that their politics are not skewed struggle against national oppression an internationalist and working values” by launching his People’s Party. public spaces, which only increases the towards the rich is a signifcant, if class content. The seven central planks that Bernier confdence and electability of far-right hollow victory. wants to focus on if he gains power parties. It is also failure of the left and in Internationalism include well-trod reactionary ideas such Parliament, the NDP. An equivalent, The struggle for socialism is part of a worldwide struggle. We campaign as gutting public fnances with tax cuts Moving the goal posts harnessed popular energy pushing bold for solidarity with workers in other countries. We oppose everything that and opening the door to bankruptcy- There are those who deeply disagree candidates on the left to the national turns workers from one country against those from other countries. We causing private healthcare. with Bernier and conservative politics stage is missing. Social movements, support all genuine national liberation movements. But Bernier is also moving in general who have been celebrating the likes of which have propelled The 1917 revolution in Russia was an inspiration for the oppressed comfortably with the tides of the the break between Scheer and Bernier. fgures like Jean Swanson and Bhutila everywhere. But it was defeated when workers’ revolutions elsewhere far-right by proposing that CSIS, the “Vote splitting” between two right-wing Karpoche in their cities, are key to were defeated. A Stalinist counter-revolution, which killed millions, RCMP, and IRCC, “do background parties will save no one. It will not help building a left alternative. As it exists, created a new form of capitalist exploitation based on state ownership checks on all classes of immigrants, build a popular base for progressive offcial power has been unable to stem and control. In Eastern Europe, China and other countries, a similar including more face-to-face interviews policies. Worse, it may feed into the the tide of reaction. Mass movements system was later established by Stalinist, not socialist, parties. We if deemed necessary.” Yes, Bernier continual “lesser of two evils” narrative are the only deterrent to the birthing of support the struggle of workers in these countries against both private believes that an effective way of dealing that encourages so many progressives to a far harsher Canada, because ballot and state capitalism. with refugee crises is to have refugees vote for a Liberal party that destroys the boxes only come every few years.

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 Name: 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 November 2018 REVIEWS Labour of Love: Hip Hop for the revolution by Kevin Taghabon maybe we won’t need the rental van.” These Music, visual arts, and collaborative work with scenes quickly resonate with listeners in a way artists in general...especially Region 5, OPSEU At the October 25th launch event in Toronto, that other media cannot. “Labour of Love” in Toronto.” I asked The Socialist Vocalist AKA Moham- along with “Solidarity Forever” featuring The closing song, “The Karma of Brown mad Ali what local underground talent he is Ayesha Adhami are the most soulful on the Folk”, is quite interesting. Ali has turned the impressed by. His face went wide eyed, as record, and demonstrate Ali’s versatility – not melody from 50 Cent’s “Many Men”, a song if the list of talented working musicians was all political rap has to be aggressive. about gang violence in New York in the ‘90s, a mountain in his head. This brief pause is a Still, Ali is a socialist entrenched in the and turned it on its head. The chorus begins, good snapshot of Ali – a working artist who books as well as the streets. On a wide-span- “Many men, is stressed about me/ Love in my tirelessly channels the popular rage and love in ning interview with Talking Radical Radio with eyes, got what they can’t see/ I’m trying to the political struggles of our time. (Ali named Scott Neigh, Ali said that his exposure to Che breathe, they won’t let me be me/ ‘Cause peo- THEO3, Toronto’s FreedomWriters supergroup, Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries gripped him. Ali ple tryin’ to take my rights away.” Ali opens the Solidarity Squad, and Ian Kamau). weaves experiences with political literature, as track with a spoken-word quote from Prashad’s Ali’s solidarity extends far beyond the in, “Never had a dad/ so I adopted Frederick The Darker Nations. He then moves to explore musical realm. Activists in Ontario will rec- Douglass.” the pains that racialized people experience in ognize him from performances at key actions, The radical politics junkie will have to the West. “We’re in their households/ But our including the June 16th Rally for Decent Work listen several times before appreciating every names, they can’t pronounce though/ Samir, not and last year’s OFL Young Worker’s Assembly. historical reference. Ali says he draws immense Sammy/ Abdullah, not Abby/ This ain’t some After being completed for two years, Ali has f- thematic inspiration from Fred Hampton and rap name/ Born and raised Mohammad Ali”. nally collected the art, resources, and infrastruc- the Black Panthers. As a young man facing Ali also calls the listener to ally oneself with ture to put Labour of Love out properly. The racism in small-town Ontario in the ‘90s, Ali based on a real person whom Ali met years ago today’s movements, rapping, “Rock Trayvon’s project is not limited to the album, with other gravitated towards rap as a way to understand through political work. hoodie/ Rock Malala’s hijab”. artistic pieces, merchandise, and an excellent his experiences. He also credits Malcolm X’s The relationship with the trade union move- The song features vocals from Rob GF, lyric and art book supplement. autobiography as a big part of his political de- ment that Ali regularly alludes to is not a one who was recently signed to Universal Music The music is relentlessly political. This does velopment in youth, and refers several times to way street. Ali reminded people at the show Canada. Ali said on Talking Radical Radio that not mean emotionless or dry. On the contrary, Vijay Prashad’s The Karma of Brown Folk. that it was here where he has been able to fnd a while the vast majority of artists he has met Ali understands that songs are not seminars. Some of the songs on the album center home and spread his music. Mayworks Festival are progressive, they can’t all make political “Music has to be emotionally honest,” Ali around characters that are vehicles for the and the Worker’s Arts and Heritage Centre in music. He asserts that labels have one contract explains. “You can’t just put a press release out larger struggles. The “Dreams” tracks (part I, II, Hamilton are among the organizations he has for every 10,000 musicians, and many are not over music and have it connect with people. and III) spread out on the album introduce the previously pointed out for doing it right. This looking for political work. In this sense, Ali’s You need to tell stories that really connect with listener to three different characters and their means incorporating the artists’ experience music occupies two spaces – that of precarious people, that really pull on heartstrings, and clash with structural forces in society. Part III into their programs and campaigns, not simply labour, as well as steadfast solidarity, despite make it real. Make it tangible.” introduces a soon-to-retire Steelworker who has having them perform and leave. potential barriers it might present. Ali has no Ali lives the life he raps about in his songs, his retirement threatened by the Harper gov- “Some specifc unions are really trailblaz- intention of slowing down, and is already hard present on the title track. “Report in for my ernment. The Steelworker decided to get very ing in terms of how they work with the arts at work on new albums: Protest Music volumes shift/ a couple more months/ I can afford an- involved in his union at the end of his working community,” he says. “CUPE, their cultural I, II, and III. other trip/ Disneyworld, me and my little girl/ life, and was part of a campaign that success- program works super seriously at their con- Disneyland, me and the little man/ Next year, fully beat back Harper’s attacks. The story is ventions, at their rallies. Same with OPSEU. • Follow Ali’s work at socialisthiphop.com Indigenous sovereignty and socialism by John Bell mation about the organization of Haudenos- the turning of Africa into a warren for the Coulthard, Ron Bourgeault and others–are aunee Confederation of Six Nations democra- commercial hunting of black skins, signalised generously cited. Hats off to authors Valerie Lannon and Jesse cy and classless society was a huge inspiration the rosy dawn of capitalist production…” McLaren for tackling the diffcult task of to Marx and Engels. It proved the lie about These are crucial insights. They make the Struggle: Nation to Nation producing a succinct overview of the struggle “human nature” central to capitalism–that The authors skilfully expose the way brutal against colonialism, aimed at educating competition, greed and individualism were practices like Residential Schools give way settlers who wish to become allies. The result essential to human beings. to today’s high rate of First Nations children is an excellent introduction to a big topic, a Instead, here were cultures where democ- being taken from their families by children’s brief book that points readers to a wealth of racy, equality and sustainable relations with aid workers. There is nothing new about Justin literature by Indigenous writers. nature were the rule. This inspiration was Trudeau’s practice of acknowledging Indige- Both are activists who bring expertise central to one of the foundational Marxist nous rights in the abstract, and opposing them around climate justice to a view of Indigenous texts, Engels’ The Origins of the Family, when Indigenous nations exert those right on history and analysis of current struggles. This Private Property and the State: “All are equal the ground. is a crucial link since connection to the land, and free–the women included. This is what There can be no resolution of colonial and its stewardship, is central to understand- mankind and human society were like before oppression until there is recognition of Indige- ing those struggles. class divisions arose.” nous national sovereignty–not the phony, less Kanehsatake activist and artist Ellen Ga- Marx also wrote extensively about how than municipal government concept on offer briel was talking specifcally about the 1990 capitalist relations broke the connection from Trudeau’s colonial state. And the good “Oka Crisis”, but her words could refer to In- between human and nature, so that nature news is that there is now, more than ever, soli- digenous resistance from frst contact to today: becomes an object to be exploited. Accord- darity with Indigenous struggles from sections “We are a sovereign nation and our identity is ing to Marx a healthy approach, one found of settler society. linked to the land. That is why the government among Indigenous cultures, said that nature From the Red River Rebellions, to the rise has tried so hard to break us, so that they can was “man’s body, with which he must remain of Red Power, to Idle No More the evolution fully exploit our land.” in continuous interchange if he is not to die. and constancy of struggle is described and Three strands intertwine through the book: That his physical and spiritual life is linked to rightly celebrated. The mission of the book the history of colonialism both before and nature means simply that nature is linked to is summed up perfectly: “As socialists we after the creation of the Canadian state, with itself, for man is part of nature.” want to learn from and support Indigenous its concerted attempts to destroy Indigenous Capitalism breaks this healthy metabolic sovereignty. As the two Row Wampum made cultures though both violence and subtle at- connection–Marxist writers rediscovering clear 400 years ago, it is not up to settlers to tempts at assimilation; indomitable Indigenous the essential place of socialist ideas in facing steer the course of Indigenous national libera- resistance and struggle that continues to this environmental crises call this the “metabolic tion movements but to provide unconditional day; and the relevance of socialist ideas in rift”. And Marx notes well how this rift if con- ideas of socialism a natural resource for Indig- support. This requires revolutionizing settler understanding these histories and informing nected to the rise of capital, colonialism and enous struggle–not just Eurocentric ideology. society, by building unity and solidarity within the struggles to come. the brutal exploitation of Indigenous peoples. And it should make socialists resolute and the working class, which includes Indigenous In Capital Vol. 1 he wrote: “The discovery respectful allies in the fght to expose and end workers.” Marxism and Indigenous Culture of gold and silver in America, the extirpation colonialism. Indigenous Sovereignty and Socialism makes Lannon and McLaren make it clear that the and enslavement and entombment in mines So it is useful that Indigenous authors and a worthy contribution toward that goal. relationship between Marxism and Indigenous of the aboriginal population, the beginning of historians who are infuenced by Marxism– culture is not a one-way street. Indeed, infor- the conquest and looting of the East Indies, Howard Adams, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Glen • To order, visit socialist.ca

November 2018 Socialist Worker 7 $2 | No 610 | November 2018 | socialist.ca RADICAL ELECTORALISM COPE victory in Vancouver by Bradley Hughes COPE is back and Vision is gone.” The COPE campaign and its electoral success show that the here is lots of good news from the Van- radical left can get a hearing and win elections. couver city election on October 20. It also shows that elections can be won First and foremost is that one of the without mainstream parties’ fxation with data Tthree COPE candidates for council, Jean mining and elaborate social media campaigns. Swanson, won a seat, with the fourth most votes. Working class people with working class poli- COPE ran an incredibly inspiring campaign tics can talk with and convince other workers of that stressed unapologetically working-class the need to vote in their own interests. demands. They emphasized that the life of rent- ers and the rest of the working class can only Defeat for the bosses parties improve if we take power and money away from The good news from this election continues; the 1%. none of the three new pro-business parties, Co- The campaign focused on fghting for a rent alition Vancouver, Vancouver 1st and YES Van- freeze, ending homelessness in one year and im- couver got a single candidate elected to council, posing a mansion tax on homes worth more than school board or parks board. $5 million. This campaign won a partial victory Two of the three Green councillors did sig- weeks before the vote. nifcantly better than the rest of the winners. The provincial NDP government had an- Adrienne Carr and Peter Fry won nearly 70,000 nounced that the allowable annual rent increase and 62,000 votes respectively, while the rest of would be 4.5%. In a city where the average the elected councillors won between 43,000 and rent for a one bedroom apartment is now above 53,000 each. $2000, this would have meant increases of over COPE will carry on fight for a rent freeze, a mansion tax, an end to homelessness. If everyone who cast a vote voted for at least $1000/year for many renters. After COPE and one councillor, Carr received 39.5 per cent of the Vancouver Tenants Union organized rallies on council have been members of Vision Van- The new council, along with Jean, includes the vote. Since none of the major parties felded and email campaigns to MLAs, the province couver. This is Vancouver’s version of the feder- Kennedy Stewart, a former NDP MP as mayor, a complete slate, it’s very likely that this refects reduced the increase to 2.5%. As the candidates al Liberals: get all your funding from business, three greens, Christine Boyle from One City and not just their own support but also voters from said repeatedly, “Two down and 2.5% to go!” look out for their needs frst and then try to con- fve NPA councillors. In more great news, Vision the right and the left choosing the Greens as a vince the rest of us that we matter. As a result, Vancouver was unable to get a single seat on second choice. Housing property developers and speculators have done council, and their best placed candidate, Tanya Now that the election is over, COPE is gear- The COPE campaign concentrated on those very well for themselves, rental vacancy rates Paz, was nine people back of the last councillor ing up to win the fght for a rent freeze and a most effected by the housing crisis and can- have plunged to zero, the numbers of homeless to get in. Paz won 29,000 votes compared to mansion tax to end homelessness. As Jean vassed hundreds of apartment buildings in the people have remained constant, and rents have Swanson’s 49,000. Swanson said at the election night victory party, lead up to the vote. Mainstream parties usually shot through the roof. On election night Derrick O’Keefe, who al- before the results were announced, “our accom- put little effort into renters since they tend to The other traditional pro-business party is the most made it onto council, explained the impor- plishment and our focus is movement building.” vote much less than people in condos or houses. NPA; between them the two business parties had tance of this. “For years they told us you have to Watch out for actions on the day the council The makeup of the new council is also good the mayor and nine of the ten council positions vote for the centre, that voting for the left spoils members are sworn in and on the frst day that news. For a decade the mayor and the majority before the election. elections. Well, tonight we saw the opposite; council meets. Stephen Harper’s message: ‘give me a fascist any day’ by John Bell more than done his part to drive reported ever criticisms one might make of Bernie hate crimes in the UK up about 40 %, from Sanders or Jeremy Corbyn, that broadly Former Prime Minister and current 5,949 in 2016-17 to 8,336 in 2017-18, describes both their long political careers – corporate reptile Stephen Harper recently according to the Home Office data. “really, really frighten” him. told : “I look at Donald “The Donald Trumps of the world, the Harper has a book to sell and he’s in Trump. Obviously, there’s things that I’m Nigel Farages of the world — one can say-something-sensational mode, but what uncomfortable with but the Bernie Sanders disagree with them, especially a conser- he describes is a world trend, not just his of the world or the Jeremy Corbyns in vative like myself,” Harper told his inter- personal creepiness (although there is that, Britain are the ones that really, really viewer. “But they are at least trying to fix this is Stephen Harper after all). Check the frighten me.” what they see ails democratic, capitalist, vicious, racist austerity regime of the fal- We presume Harper is “uncomfortable” market-oriented societies and my fear is if tering British Tories; of the US Republicans with Trump’s flirtations with fascism, they don’t have success or if conservatives refusing to bar out-and-out white suprem- employing racists like Steve Bannon and do not adapt to the political pressures that acists from running for office under their Stephen Miller in the White House, and are driving these movements, my concern banner; of Australian conservatives who refusing to condemn Nazis marching in the is we will have the left-wing version of parade their xenophobic policies to main- streets. Perhaps there is a minor disagree- that, which will be anti-market, which will tain power; or our own Tory Ontario Premier ment over the fact that Trump will address be socialist or Marxist economics, which (and long-time Harper ally) Doug Ford who the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Stephen Trumper I believe would turn us in an irreversible, refuses to denounce an outright neo-Nazi Summit – a group that is virulently anti-LGT- nod to Nigel Farage, former leader of UKIP, downturn direction.” who ran for mayor of the country’s biggest BQ+ and has been designated a “hate an anti-immigration party well to the right of Just to be clear, Harper would have polite city. Everywhere an economic system based group” by the Southern Poverty Law Centre. the British Tories. Farage has made a career disagreements with neo-fascists, bigots on inequality and oppression is ready to Trump will share the podium with Steve of flirting with fascist groups, and manipu- and white-supremacists, but gladly ally with turn to fascism to solve its pesky democra- Bannon and Sebastian Gorka, a leading lating Islamophobia to grow his party. He them to save the free market. But people cy problem. anti-Muslim racist. has been adept at connecting Brexit nation- who are actively fighting against racism and Unlike Harper, that’s what really, really Harper didn’t stop there. He also gave a alism to anti-Muslim racism. Farage has for better lives for working people – what- frightens me.