Turn Left Virez à gauche Spring/ Voice of the NDP Socialist Caucus / Voix du caucus socialiste NPD $2 Printemps 2013 THE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES First Nations, Land Rights and the Rescue of Canada’s Environment INSIDE 03 No to Pipeline Construction: Nationalize Transcanada and Enbridge 05 John Orrett 04 From the Editor - Dear Right: The Left is Winning. Get Over it. Sean Cain 05 What if First Nations Stopped Subsidizing Canada? Dru Ola Jay 08 Why we Fight to Keep Socialism in the NDP Barry Weisleder 10 Long Live the Spirit of Hugo Chavez 11 Elizabeth Byce 11 Another Invasion of U.S. Democratic Party Apologists? NDP Socialist Caucus Steering Committee 12 Quebec: Despite Progress, the NDP Still Has Far To Go Richard Fidler 14 Le dilemme du NPD Richard Fidler 17 Socialist Caucus Resolutions for Federal NDP Convention 14 17 The Struggle for the Right to Choose Not Over in Canada Judy Koch 18 Canada-EU Trade Deal: No Time for NDP to Show Moderation Sid Ryan 19 Le NPD ne peut être modéré au sujet de l’entente de libre-échange avec l’UE Sid Ryan 20 Mulcair: Between a ROC and a Hard Place Hans Modlich 22 21 Exposing Canada’s “Petro State” Foreign Policy Yves Engler 21 Review: The Future of Federalism in Quebec, by John F. Conway Hands Modlich 22 Concessions Cripple Labour’s Struggle Against Capitalist Austerity Julius Arscott 24 Socialist Caucus Candidates for Federal NDP Council No to Pipeline Construction: Nationalize Transcanada and Enbridge Photo: Ian Mackenzie Socialist Caucus activist John Orrett a good start. The NDP Allan Blakeney with no public ownership of any oil and discusses the danger of current Government in Saskatchewan created gas resources, Canada has very little pipeline proposals, and how social the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Company control over its own energy policy or ownership and democratic control in 1973. But the Conservative Premier future. are key to real environmental Grant Devine sold the Government’s In the last three decades, we sustainability interest in 1986. Those shares ended up have become aware of other crucial with Nexen Inc., which was swallowed factors relating to a carbon based energy uring the 1970s, Canada’s need up for $15 billion in February 2013 by economy. We know that resources are for self-suciency in oil and the Chinese National Offshore Oil finite. We reached peak oil production. Dgas, and the need for public Corporation in a controversial sale Even Canada’s considerable reserves ownership of these vital resources, that raised questions about Canadian have a stale date. More importantly, we were at the forefront of public debate. economic sovereignty. have learned about global warming, and Thirty-plus years later, self-suciency Meanwhile the Trudeau that a carbon-based energy economy is in petroleum products has become minority Liberal government, under non-sustainable. It rapidly changes the a reality with proven reserves in the pressure from David Lewis and the global climate so that many of the areas Arctic, British Columbia, Alberta, Federal NDP, created PetroCanada in of the world are under man-made threat Saskatchewan, in East Coast waters, 1975. It grew through internal earnings of drought, flooding and other disasters. and in the world’s second largest oil to become one of the three largest We owe much to the deposit, the Athabaska Oil Sands. integrated oil companies in Canada. ecological-environmental protection Petroleum products are now Canada’s This Crown Corporation was sold back movements for educating many citizens largest export, earning over $48 billion in to private investors in 10% increments about this very real threat. But it is only 2010, with 99% of it going to the United by the majority Jean Chretien and a Socialist-Environmentalist alliance, a States. Paul Martin Liberal governments, until blending of ideas and actions, can lead But the second part of the the whole thing was gone. Even the us forward. tandem, public ownership of those Ontario Conservative Government of We must realize that is the resources, has been a dismal nullity. Bill Davis in 1983 was in on the action owners and exploiters, along with Not due to lack of merit, but through with the purchase of 25% of Suncor, the Premiers, Cabinet Ministers, the deliberate sabotage of the effort by later sold by the short sighted NDP Bob right-wing, neo-liberal governments. Rae Government a decade later. continued on page six In the 1970s, public ownership got off to Fast forward to 2013. One can see why, Turn Left/Virez à gauche 03 Turn Left Published by the NDP Socialist Caucus Editorial Board: Cover Image by Andy Everson www.ndpsocialists.ca Elizabeth Byce www.andyeverson.com Ross Ashley Produced by union labour Editor and Designer: Sean Cain Barry Weisleder [email protected] John Orrett www.ndpsocialists.ca Dear Right: The Left is Winning. Get Over It. By Sean Cain on banks and financial institutions to of numbers. reduce the deficit, and 83% agreed that At the same time, the right- It never ceases to taxes should be raised for the “richest wing media owned by the corporate amaze me how income earners.” At the same time, an elite have been debased into pure fast things change Abacus Data poll showed that only 21% theatre and a source of comedy. A vast in the world of believe that “lower corporate tax rates majority understand too well that Sun politics. encourage investment and create jobs,” TV, FoxNews, right-wing newspaper We all a theory which for two decades stood chains and personalities like CBC host remember the as the pinnacle credence of neo-liberal Kevin O’Leary aren’t even under the 1990s. Those were fundamentalism. pretense of performing real, actual tough times. Just talking about raising Even in the United States, a journalism. Admitting that you listen wages, increasing social spending or 2012 Pew Research poll showed that to them and take them seriously in regulating an industry was practically while 46% of 18 to 29 year-olds viewed front of others – especially during a thought crime. Even mentioning the capitalism as “positive,” a higher 49% life’s more sensitive moments like job word “capitalism” was to drum up fears of those in the same age group viewed interviews, dinner parties and first dates that – heaven forbid – you were thinking socialism positively. And in all ages, – is to pay a hefty social price of utter about a different kind of economic only 50% viewed capitalism positively embarrassment. system. and 40% viewed it negatively. This is The global revolt against the Two decades later, and years a remarkable statistic from a country failed policies of neo-liberal capitalism of neo-liberal policy failure speak for where even the “liberal” media presents rests on an ancient and very well- themselves: stagnant wages, increasing their economic system and corporate understood reality: that injustice breeds debt, widening inequality, and a global interests in such an overwhelmingly resistance. Everywhere. Always. economic order stumbling from one positive light. Neo-conservatism’s greatest crisis to another, not to mention a Just ten years ago, socialists fear has come true: the class struggle is deteriorating environment and wars couldn’t even have dreamt these kinds back. for profit killing hundreds of The Left and labour unions thousands. have been pinned against the wall Right-wing economic for so long, we almost forgot what theory – once a hallmark of it feels like to be winning. Working conservative thought – has people may certainly be losing the degenerated into sheer lunacy. “Right-wing economic economic battle against austerity Not even the wackiest of theory – once a hallmark of and corporate power, but when corporate politicians would it comes to the ideological clash, campaign on deregulating the conservative thought – has we’re way ahead, and we should financial industry, privatizing our degenerated into sheer start acting like it. health care system or giving tax lunacy. Not even the wackiest It may be dicult to be happy in breaks to banks and billionaires times like this, but that shouldn’t (even though they have no of corporate politicians would take away from us feeling problem doing this as silently as campaign on deregulating the confident about the rapid change possible when in government). financial industry, privatizing in attitudes of people in Canada A recent Environics poll and around the world inspired by showed that 65% of Canadians our health care system or the vision of a more democratic, believe that taxes should be raised giving tax breaks to banks. free and socialist future. n 04 Turn Left/Virez à gauche What if First Nations Stopped Subsidizing Canada? Photo: Tamara Herman Attawapiskat Attawapiskat has been in the news because their ongoing housing cri- sis came to the attention of the media in 2011 (MP Charlie Angus referred to the poverty-stricken community as “Haiti at 40 below”). More recently, Chief The- resa Spence has made headlines for her hunger strike. The community is near James Bay, in Ontario’s far north. Right now, DeBeers is constructing a $1 billion mine on the traditional terri- tory of the Ahtawapiskatowi ininiwak. Anticipated revenues will top $6.7 billion. Currently, the government is subjecting the budget of the Cree to extensive scrutiny. But the total amount By Dru Ola Jay government controls large portions transferred to the First Nation since of the cash flow First Nations depend 2006 — $90 million — is a little more than here is a prevailing myth that on. Much of the money used by First one percent of the anticipated mine Canada’s more than 600 First Nations to provide services does come revenues.