rebel youth

inside
the economic crisis:

WHAT RE-
COVERY?
Sommet
populaire!
migrant workers:

RAIDS and
RACISM
CUBAN
REVOLU-
TION +
Coup in
Honduras

PLUS: Les Cinq Cubains; How to cut through

the Boss’s BS; dub poetry; BC HST; & more!
Issue #8 | $2.00 1
Graphic par Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante

I
T
’ S
EN O U
 The WOMEN of Canada are fac-
ing sharp new challenges
to equity rights & gains
from decades
of struggle. The
Conservative’s
agenda would
return women
G H ! to second-
class citizens.
We stand in
solidarity with all
those fighting the
Harper agenda,
& working to stop
exploitation,
violence,
& oppression
and win a
better world
where want
and misery
are ended forever
 dis-contents
table des
matieres
DEPARTMENTS DEMOCRACY, NATIONAL YOUNG WORKERS,
AND OTHER STRUGGLES LABOUR RIGHTS
5. Editorial
6. Editorial 10. Abolish the BC HST 18. Raids, Reforms & Racism
7. Letters 14. Evaluating an Occupation Mary Carl
34. Culture Drew Garvie 14. Political economy of call
- Class war kids 36. Resisting 2010 Olympics centers
- The Dils 39. Aboriginal Baricade Bilal Awami
- Inglorious Basterds David Jacks 7. Minimum wage fight-back
- The Brat Attack 32. Racism, Sexism, Heterosexism Stephen VonSychowski
- Legally Blind Asad Ali 12. Anatomy of a crisis: dis-
- Street Sweeper Social 33. L’offaire ideologique cussion on the recission
Andre Luz Johan Boyden
Club
- d’bi.young: dub
39. Blog features EDUCATION, HIGH
SCHOOLS AND POST-SEC-
PEACE, INTERNA- ONDARY STRUGGLES
TIONAL SOLIDARITY
11. Red Square: Quebec 2005
30. Sommet Populaire 15. SPECIAL FOCUS ON
30. Peace Summet HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVISM
Marianne Breton Fontaine - Two letters to R.Y. talk
26. Les Cinq Cubains about student attitudents and
26. The Cuban Five ciriculum
21. Post-coup Hondu- - Debating High School poli-
ras: the resistance tics: student democracy
Arnold August Jamie Burnett
22. Cuban Democracy 17. Student politics: Canada
Chevy Phillips YCL-LJC Central Committee
38. Jack on Afghani- 39. Tories attack York YFS
stan? K. Cariou

ABOUT OUR COVER ART

Rabbits - Ben Heine www.benjaminheine.
blogspot.com/ a Belgian political artist, carica-
turist and sometimes photographer.
Mr fist - This is taken from a great Cuban Poster.
Google “Cuban Poster Art” to check out the fantastic illustra-
tions by artists in Cuba!
Woman protestor -
Melanie Cervantes is a young artist in the USA
who does fantastic stuff. Check out her website:
http://dignidadrebelde.com/ and view an mini-
interview video with Melanie talking about “Post
Chicano” Art and politics on the RY blog

4
 EDITORIAL
IF THESE ARTICLES DON’T PISS YOU OFF OR FIRE YOU UP - WHAT WILL?

Rebel Youth is again published under condi-

ECN

SM
tions of a Harper Conservative regime hell-
bent on a big business agenda. What’s

R
ARU

new since our last issue? Despite their

O
unstable grip on power, the Conserva-

FN
tives are forcing the economic crisis’
S NI T

A
burden onto our communities, our

O
class, our generation and our en-

L
vironment. They’ve developed
NEM

T
their attack on youth and stu-

N
dent organizations. And

E
YOL

they’re acting as a diplo-

DU
matic prop to various

T
reactionary creations
PM

S
of US imperialism.
E

1. No aid to youth
Harper’s budget provided no aid to students, young moth- 3. Resistance
ers, young workers, aboriginal youth, racalized youth, or Against a backdrop of Canada’s ghoulish dip-
young farmers. The federal scenario has percolated like lomatic support of reactionary regimes, there’s
sour coffee through all levels of the bourgeoisie state. growing campus-based international solidarity
May to August saw the general failure of youth summer with Palestine, Cuba and Honduras. On the other
jobs programmes (youth unemploy- hand, the Harper Conservatives,
ment is the highest since Statistics 2. The Big Lie in concert with Zionists and uni- 4. Yet another
Canada started tracking in the 70s). Over this darkening night, a great bold-faced versity administrations, are step- area of sharp-
Frosts and snow will be accompa- corporate media lie has risen like a full moon: ping up their attack on campus
nied by the cold winds of continued Canada has exited the economic crisis. The freedom of speech. Last spring,
ening strug-
inaccessible childcare, employment lie illuminates only what the cheer-leaders of the Conservatives held Canada- gle has been over
insurance, post-secondary educa- capitalism want us to see, like claims of 0.1% wide training workshops with status and non-status
tion, as well as cut backs to public growth. Deep in the shadows are crowds of MP’s: how to attack progressive workers. RY presents
education and no break in terms of unemployed. Can we (and unite ultra-right) campus a special article here.
housing costs, car insurance, cell remain there? Check groups. More recently, students exposed direct interfer- MP Jason Kenney, pit

?
phones, the price of food and home out our focus on the ence by a Tory cabinet member into the York Federation bull of this attack, also
heating – let alone recreation. economic crisis. Is of Students elections. These are dangerous developments. venomously supports

?
the outlook of our apartheid Israel. MP
generation polariz- Peter Kent, caught meddling in student elections, is the spokesperson for
ing? More people are Harper on Honduras. We also present in this issue an over-view about
discontented. New that neo-fascist coup, plus elections in Cuba, the 11-year case of the Cuba
thinking ruptures with Five (with whom the Canadian Federation of Student recently expressed
previous assump- solidarity) high school student activism, and music and movie reviews.
tions and it’s the chal-
lenge of the young 5. If these articles don’t piss
left activists to bring you off or fire you up, what
progressive content will? Join these fights – don’t worry about
into that debate. knowing everything, figure that out when you get
into the struggle. As our cover says: Rebel Youth
5 – now is the time to organize.
 EDITORIAL
En- es- tre
u n e p a raît t e u rs n t é s des r n i e r nu- r v a t eurs b i t o ns, no

1
cor e ou t h er v a volo e de nse s ha
i s, R ebel Y e des cons âme aux epuis notr oir, les co tés où nou t
fo im s et fd ouv au on e
o u s le rég endu cor p uoi de neu ée sur le p s commun e générati
s v Q r le r
r per, ions. l assu e sur a, not
de Ha cor porat poigne ma de la cris au Canad es contre AUCUN
n d e s l e u r d e a u m é e s t t a q u
gr a lgré e fa r ppr i rs a SOUTIEN POUR
é r o ? Ma e por ter l nations o branle leu lus, ils
m i r s
t de f a
utes l
saien ociale, to nt. Ils ont étudiante a-
e
mis e n
s. D e p LA JEUNESSE
es e ns ré
class vironnem ganisatio ouce les c Le budget de Harper ne contient rien pour les étudiants, les
en or r en d es de
notre sse et les u v o i jeunes mères, les jeunes travailleurs, la jeunesse autochtone, la
ne omo s et varié
la jeu oient à pr e jeunesse de couleur et les jeunes cultivateurs. Le scénario fédéral a fil-
’ e m pl c t i o nnair US. tré comme du café amer à travers toutes les pores de l’État bourgeois. Depuis
s réa sme
tions é r i a l i
l’imp
mai jusqu’au mois d’août, on a assisté à la faillite généralisée des programmes
d’emploi d’été pour les jeunes (le chômage des jeunes est à son plus haut niveau depuis
que Statistiques Canada en tient compte à partir des années 1970). Le gel et la neige seront
accompagnés par les vents froids : des soins inaccessibles pour la petite enfance, l’assurance emploi,
l’éducation post-secondaire, ainsi que les coupures dans l’éducation publique, sans compter les coûts de
logement, l’assurance pour l’automobile, les téléphones cellulaires, le prix de l’alimentation et le chauffage du loyer
– pour ne pas mentionner les loisirs.

2 LE PIRE MEN-
SONGE
Peut-on accepter cela? Fa
éc on om iqu e.
isons le point sur la crise
Est-ce que le regard sur no
génération se polarise?
tre
De
plus en plus, les gens son
s t
Au-delà de cette nuit san mécontents. Et on voit
lueur, le pire de s me n- la situation d’un autre
songes a vu le jour angle que par le pas-
dans les médias; il sé; c’est le défi des
faut le faire: le Canada jeunes militants
est sorti de la crise de gauche
économique (sic). Le d’a pp or te r
mensonge éclaire
s un contenu
seulement les meneuse pro gre s-
de claque du capitalism e,
siste
comme l’affirmation vou- dans le
lant qu’il y a une crois- débat.
sance de 0.1%. Alors
que dans l’ombre,
et profondé-
me nt, des
masses de
ch ôm eu rs
le Honduras coup d’État néo-fasciste

cro up is-
sent.
 rebel youth
magazine
3 RÉSISTANCE Comite de Redaction | Editorial Board
Stephen Von Sychowski (Coordinator), Marianne Breton Fontaine
Avec, comme toile de fond, un appui diplo- (Quebec editor), Johan Boyden (Circulation/Design)
matique du Canada pour les régimes réac- Anti-racism - Asad Ali; Aboriginal issues - David Tymoshchuk; Culture
tionnaires, des solidarités internationales - Stephen Von Sychowski; Gender Equity and Homophobia - Shone
établies dans les campus sont en croissance Au printemps derni- Bracken, Betsy MacDonald; International - Johan Boyden; Latin America
incluant celles pour la Palestine, Cuba et le er, les conservateurs - Suzanne MacNeil; Political Economy - Jason Mann; Student movement -
Honduras. D’un autre côté, les conserva- ont organisé des Shone Bracken; Young workers - Asad Ali, Jason Mann.
ateliers de formation Special thanks to Chevy Phillips, Erin Searle, and Barteck Chlebowski
teurs de Harper, de concert avec les Sion-
à l’échelle du Cana- for their help with copy-editing, Daniel Mozarowski and Kaley McLean for
istes et les administrations d’université, ac-
da avec des députés design assistance, Melanie Cervantes, Ben Heine, Peter Yanke, Cristy C
célèrent leurs attaques contre la liberté de Road, Andrew Rejano, Alexandra Martellacci, Alex Filipe and all the New
parole sur les campus. : pour attaquer les
Labour Press crew for inspiring us to sing pirate songs late into the night.
groupes progres-
sistes sur les cam-
Contributions | Submissions
pus (et unir l’extrême droite). Plus récemment, les étudiants ont We welcome letters, poetry, artwork, photos, comics, reviews and article
dénoncé l’interférence directe d’un membre du cabinet tory à ideas. If we accept your work for publication we can’t pay you — but radi-
l’Université York lors des élections à la Fédération étudiante. cal youth around the country will see what you’ve got to say. Please limit
Voilà de dangereux développements. letters and editorials to 300 words. We may edit.
Advertising rates on request. Email submissions to
RebelYouth@YCL-LJC.ca
ù
domaine o
Un autre ê tr e
lutte s’avère Publication | Publishing
s’accentue la tut
bsence de sta Rebel Youth is published by the Young Communist League of Canada
le statut et l’a is,
rs. En frança - Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada
des travailleu a rt ic le
un court www.ycl-ljc.ca
RY présente va il
alement le tra www.rebelyouth-magazine.blogspot.com
relatant spéci lus étudiants en
. Un article p > find the YCL on myspace & facebook <
à Leamington d é d ié. français.
y est
ng en anglais
En anglais, nous
lo arque ue q Distribution & Subscriptions
assant, on rem
présentons un
E n p
survol sur ce enney, le Si ces sujets To get Rebel Youth on your campus or community, contact Coordinator
le d é p uté Jason K p- ne vous en
coup d’État néo-
it b u ll d e ce tt e attaque, su mettent pas
Johan Boyden: RebelYouth@ycl-ljc.ca or 416-964-3894.
fasciste, les élec- p eusement le plein la vue, Subscriptions are $12 for 4 issues; $16 for USA.
e a u ss i ra g
tions à Cuba et le port ël Please make cheques payable to “Young Communist League” and mail to:
rtheid d’Isra
cas des Cinq de régime d’apa qu’est-ce
Peter qui le fera? Rebel Youth, 290A Danforth Ave, Toronto ON, M4K 1N6
le d é p u té
Cuba qui entament alors que
leur 11ème année Kent, surpris en tr
ain de se P a r t a g e z
diantes, ces ba- Reprinting
d’emprisonnement mêler d’élections étu
er tailles – Copy-left 2009 Reprints by community organizations and progressive media are welcomed, with source
arole de Harp
(la Fédération ca-
est le porte-p
credit to the author and RY Magazine. All other media or institutions please request permission .

sur le Hondura
nadienne des étudi-
ants leur a exprimé
sa solidarité récem-
ment), le militantisme étudiant
dans les écoles secondaires ainsi que
des chroniques sur la musique et le
cinéma. En français nous publions
un reportage spécial sur le mouve-
ment de la paix. Nous publions aussi
Jeunesse Militante qui couvre encore
davantage sur la jeunesses et les
s. ne vous
inquiétez We support union print shops
pas de ne Printed by union labour in Montreal, Quebec, on recycled Newsprint
Payette & Simms Inc. 1-866-672-6380
pas savoir tout, sachez seule-
ment que ça viendra en par-
ticipant aux luttes. Comme le
dit la page frontispice : Rebel
Youth – voici le temps de
s’organiser. HIGH THEIR: May bee yew are a null re: tent hive anb yew
lyek two spot spooling Eeyore’s, well there is a dilliberate
mistakke & typo hiddun in thus magozine. Fined eat
7 und wheel guv yew a pryse: money of big Mig’s antique
uzed sweaters!

RY in Le Blo-
gosphere
I will take a little of your time to tell
you a story. One woman working
with me at the magazine Menta-
lité was looking for the name of a
famous poet she said, but she could
not remember the name. It turned
out to be Pablo Neruda. I asked her
if she knows Nathalie Caderon. She
said no. So we went on the com-
puter and I said search: Ligue de la
jeunesse communiste du Québec,
now Solidarité, look on your right up
to Commandate Che Guevara. We
put on the song Hasta Siempre.
Tonight, she sent me an e-mail: “J’ai
écouté le clip de Hasta Siempre une
bonne douzaine de fois. J’ai tout ça
dans la tête ce soir... Je comprends
que tu sois habité par tous ces per-
sonnages (she referred to Victor
Jara, Pablo Neruda), ils viennent
s’ajouter à ceux qui m’habitent aus-
si mais ils sont si différents. J’admi-
re ces hommes pour leur courage,
merci de m’en avoir parlé.”
Á la prochaine camarades,
Daniel, writer
Montreal
Socialism &
consumerism
Many young people, especially
those who hold strong views, feel
like their voice doesn’t matter – like
nobody else feels the way they do.
But consider:
The socialist movement today is
growing – people are starting to see
this system for what it is, and reject
it for something better. What we
desperately need is a rejection of
consumerism. Look no further than
the collapse of the economy.
Many more people have new de-
DEAR R.Y.
LETTRES ET COURRIELS| LETTERS AND EMAILS
sires today; [like the] ecological
awareness that was not present in
for the previous 30. Socialism isn’t
just possible, but imminent.
From lush forests teeming with life
To gray factories reeking of strife
the earlier part of the 20th century. The laws have changed
The internet and other communica- David, student From love thy neighbor
tions technologies have opened for To slave for checks or starve to
Ottawa
the youth new and fascinating ways death
of accessing information, and we
have adapted along with it, growing SLAVE OR STARVE
more able to distinguish between No one cares if you live or die
reliable and unreliable information. CRAVE YOUR SCARS
Because you know that you’re liv-
ing a lie
Money money money
money money!
Doesn’t something here seem
funny?
A bitter taste left in my dry mouth
Engulfed in doubt
Greedy capitalists are the only ones
that laugh
No longer after they feel the
True Wrath
SLAVE OR STARVE
No one cares if you live or die
CRAVE YOUR SCARS
Original in colour pastel by Sandra Stevens, Vancouver BC
Because you know that you’re
living a lie
Slave
Do you want to break your chains?
Then rise with me, rise with us all
ABOLISH
BUILD
SAVE
RENEW THE WORLD
It’s time to unite
Even if we have to fight
In many quarters, there’s a rejec- Slave -- It’s time for a brand new world
tion of neo-liberal economics that or Starve! We won’t be forced into the mold!
preach consumer capitalism like
dogma and demand ever-increasing SLAVE OR STARVE
levels of consumption. We see the Why hello there, The name’s Akai, No one cares if you live or die
profound disrespect offered to indi- and I’ve written a song I think you CRAVE YOUR SCARS
viduals by consumerism. Socialism would appreciate. If anyone wants Because you know that you’re
and post-consumerism are ironical- to go ahead and use this in a band living a lie
ly both more fair and equitable, and or something I’m fine with that as
more individual and expressive. long as I’m given some credit. REMEMBER THAT!
And society has changed more
in the last ten years than it had Oh, how the world has Akai, musician
8 changed

Email land
War & Peace
The logic employed by those in
power today – Stephen Harper’s
Conservatives - attempts to explain
peace ‘here’ (in Canada) as a result
of war ‘there’ (in Afghanistan). Noth-
ing could be more untrue.
Let’s examine some of Stephen
Harper’s remarks on Afghanistan:
“Our Canada is a great place, but
Canada is not an island. And what
happens in places like Afghanistan
threatens and affects all of us back
home in our own country.” “If we
fail in Afghanistan, if that country
relapses into anarchy and once
again becomes a haven for extrem-
ists and terrorists, the world will be
manifestly more dangerous.”
Harper constructs a notion of ‘Cana-
dian-ness’ as honourable, just, and
in need of protection. Harper uses
an opposing strategy in describ-
ing some Afghans as a dangerous
threat to Canadians, and other Af-
ghans as in need of Canadian pro-
tection. Such simple constructions
of the ‘nation’ attempt to elide differ-
ence and create neat categories of
people. How can war in Afghanistan
possibly bring peace to all Cana-
dians when 127+ Canadians are
dead as a result? World peace can-
not be achieved through violence.
War there, in Afghanistan, cannot
account for peace here in Canada,
precisely because war there is war
here. We are all connected.
In Canada, there are countless
social problems that are direct re-
sults of the government’s inaction
– thorough restricted access to
education, labour relations founded
on profit over human integrity and
family needs, the oppression of Ab-
original peoples, the criminalizing of
peaceful behaviour such as mari-
juana use, disrespect for the natural
environment, which in turn risks our
health and the health of future gen-
erations, cuts to Canadian arts and
culture, which economically limits
the personal expression of artists.
World peace could very well be the
highest ambition of humanity. And
while world peace is a certainly a
lofty ambition, it is only achievable
if we, the people, accept personal
responsibility for our actions and
accept our connectedness to one
another and to the world.
Adam, student jour-
nalist, London
Unemployed
Pudding
In Quebec there is a recipie from
the Depression called pouding
chômeur, unemployed pudding. Try
it!
Sauce: 1 cup of maple sirup, 1 cup
of brown sugar, 1 cup of boilling wa-
ter, 1/4 cup of butter. Cake: 1 1/2 cup
of flour, 1 c.t. of baking powder, 1/4
cup of butter, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup
of milk 1) Put the oven at 325 F Mix
the flour and the baking powder. Put
aside 2) In a bowl, undo the butter
until it becomes creamy. Incorpo-
rate slowly the sugar until it has an
unctuous texture. 3) Put a quarter
of the milk and the flour. Mix. Do it
until there’s no flour and no milk left
4) Butter a scare pan (13x9 inch).
Pour the mixture into it. Put aside.
5) In a pan, mix all the ingredients
for the sauce. Make it boil for a little
moment. 6) Pour the sauce on the
paste. Don’t mix. Cook for 45 min.
Sara, student
Montreal
Thanks everyone for the letters!
Keep ‘em coming. These letters
have been edited.
>FLASH!<
FOLLOWUP FROM PREVIOUS REPORTS
KSM Victory
Previous issues of RY (Summer ’07, Spring ’08) have reported on the ban-
ning of the Communist Youth in the Czech Republic, the KSM, for advocat-
ing socialism. We are very happy to report that the KSM has won a legal
challenge and regained its legality! In a statement, the World Federation of
Democratic Youth said “This decision is the result of KSM and Czech youth’s
struggle, as well as of the intense and worldwide solidarity expressed by the
youth of all corners of the world… proof that, despite the obstacles, difficul-
ties and attacks, the struggle is the way for victory against imperialism.
”
Big in Japan
Last issue of RY examined the growing interest in the Japanese Commun-
ist Party by youth. This summer Japanese politics saw its biggest shake-up
in decades, when the ruling parties suffered a crushing defeat. The JCP re-
ceived almost 5 million votes, an increase from 2005 election. It has attracted
14,000 new members in the last 18 months, a quarter of whom are under 18.
BC Election
We also reported in the last issue about the BC election. We congratu-
late student activist Zach Crispin for winning over 200 votes for the
Communist Party in Trail, and 17% of the high school vote. The second
attempt to win the support of British Columbians for the Single Transfer-
able Vote (STV) electoral system went down in flames. Were it for the
students, there would be an anti-Liberal majority in the Legislature today
-- but as YCL BC said “The re-election of the Campbell Liberals is very
dangerous news... [we need a] militant, united fight back to stop and re-
verse the agenda of the Campbell Liberals and win a better BC, and a
better world. For us, that means socialism!” More commentary inside.
Toronto 18
Our Spring ’08 issue reported on the case of the Toronto 18. Three were
held for over two years solitary confinement, just released this July and
August; nine have been denied bail and remain in detention awaiting
trial; one youth has been convicted and released; one has plead guilty
and awaits sentencing; seven youth have had their charges dismissed/
stayed. It is with great concern that we note two of the young men have
now been convicted, the first cases under the quasi-fascist Anti-Terrorism
Act. The young men were subject to police entrapment. In the trials their
Charter rights were violated. More information will be posted on RY blog.
Education is a right
That was the demand of the students occupying the UofT Presi-
dent’s office (Spring ‘08). All the activists have now had the charges ei-
ther thrown out of court or dropped (more on the blog). The Spring ‘09
RY analysed the Drop Fees campaigns, check this issue for updates.
Anti-homophobia in Durham
The article “Fighting Hate In Oshawa,” about the homophobic attacks on
lesbian mothers Anji Dimitriou and Jane Currie, was written by Jeff Tomlin-
son. RY apologizes for not attributing the article. This fall the case will go to
court and will be, thanks to public pressure, tried as a hate crime
9 not random violence.
 TFEL COAST
PERSPECTIVES
Minimum Wage Fight
Must Go On
Stephen Von Sychowski,
On November 1st, 2001, BC’s minimum wage
increased to $8 per hour. I was working that day.
It was at my first job, Super Save Gas. We were
minimum wage workers with no benefits, no job
security, no paid vacation, and all things consid-
ered, this was the best news any of us had heard
since we entered the workforce.
Almost eight years later, the wages of BC’s lowest
paid workers haven’t increased a single cent. In
fact, with inflation sitting just under two percent,
their real wages in terms of buying power have
plummeted significantly, leaving over 350,000
working for poverty level wages.
It’s no wonder that the $10 NOW campaign,
which calls for an immediate increase to $10 per
hour, a subsequent increase to $11, indexing to
inflation, and abolition of the “training wage,” has
garnered the support of 80% of British Columbi-
ans. Already over 70,000 people have signed the
petition for $10 NOW and young workers have
organized rallies, pickets, petitioning sprees and
other actions to voice their demands.
On May 12th, as the polls closed on another pro-
vincial election, minimum wage workers watched
in horror as their impoverisher, Gordon Campbell
and the Liberal Party, returned to power aided by
immense corporate funding, dismal voter turn-
out, and a weak campaign by the opposition New
Democrats characterized by tame, toned-down
policies hopelessly aimed at trying to please both
the workers, and their bosses.
During the election campaign the $10 NOW
campaign was effectively put on hold while the
majority of its volunteers flocked to electoral
work for candidates who pledged to support their
demands. Without the backing of a mass move-
ment, the debate quickly became abstract. The
Liberals were represented by the media as the
Party to be trusted on economic issues like mini-
mum wage because, ironically, of Campbell’s
“business experience.” The issue was largely
disarmed during the election period and was
10
not effectively used to rally anti-Liberal
forces to fight back or even vote.
Since May 12th, the $10 NOW campaign
has been slow to recover its pre-election
energy and exuberance. Yet it is neces-
sary more than ever before to fight for
BC’s low paid workers. BC, like the rest
of Canada, is in the midst of a global
capitalist economic crisis. The temporary
boom caused by construction and devel-
opment for the 2010 “Five Ring Circus”
is dissipating, and homelessness is in-
creasing dramatically. There’s no doubt
that those living on poverty level wages
desperately need an increase.
Waiting four years for another election
is too late for workers. Furthermore, in
four years the powerful corporate forces
that Gordon Campbell’s Liberal Party represent
may succeed in returning him to office yet again and the Federal Goods and Services Tax, into
if a mass, militant movement against their poli- one federally administered sales tax. When this
cies cannot be built in advance of the election. takes place, almost everything which PST does
Elections are not the be all and end all of politi- not apply to will see a 7% increase in cost. Among
cal struggle. It’s true that we must fight to elect these are some of the most important parts of a
a progressive, anti-Liberal majority in the next working class family’s budget: residential fuels
election. But we can and must put political and (electricity, natural gas) and heating, food prod-
economic pressure on the Campbell Liberals ucts, non-prescription medication, work-related
now in order to force progress on the immedi- safety equipment, smoke detectors and fire ex-
ate needs of working people for work and wages. tinguishers, and household maintenance such as
Nobody is going to hand that to us, but together renovations and painting. Even grieving families
we can take it. will now pay 7% more at a funeral home.
The Harmonized Tax system puts a massive
Abolish the HST
weight on working people in British Columbia.
YCL-BC Cmte
Northern B.C.ers who are seeing forestry jobs
lost and already pay far more for many essen-
As the economic crisis continues to endanger jobs tial products will now see home heating costs
and force down wages, British Columbians are increase dramatically. Commuters in urban ar-
faced with another attack. On July 23th, 2009 the eas will see bicycles and bicycle repairs jump in
right-wing B.C. Liberal government announced price, which continues the B.C. Liberal policy of
its intention to implement a Harmonized Sales profits before people and the environment.
Tax by July 1st, 2010. Despite explicit promises
not to introduce such a tax during the last provin- Youth will be affected drastically by the new sys-
cial election in May, the Liberal government per- tem. Movies and theatre tickets, repairs for home
sists in forcing working class British Columbians appliances, and other costs often born by young
to pay for the failing capitalist economy. people will increase substantially. Even school
supplies will see a 7% increase in cost when stu-
The Harmonized Sales Tax combines
two taxes, the Provincial Sales Tax
>>Pg. 36
 The Student’s
Red Square
“The red square is associated with a
mobilization of objection to
all policies that impoverish…”
RY Quebec Bureau tells the story behind the little felt square that became the
symbol of the most powerful student strike in recient Canadian history.

On October 5, 2004, the red square was born. Worn by strike. On March 16, several institutions historically less
members of the Collectif pour un Québec sans pauvreté mobilized than other campuses (such as the Ecole Poly-
(for a Quebec without poverty) against Bill 57, unaccept- technique de Montreal, Concordia University and graduate
able legislation on social assistance proposed to the Com- of McGill University) voted yes on taking 24 hour strikes,
mission Social Affairs of Quebec’s National Assembly, it joining already huge demonstrations. In total, 80 000 stu-
quickly became a symbol of the front of welfare: dents answered the call and marched peacefully through
the streets of Montreal. At that time, 230 000 of 450 000 of
“... We urge you to refuse that political institutions continue all Quebec post-secondary students were on strike.
to conceive, for the poorest citizens, escalators that go
down instead of up, and which each put us a little deeper At its first congress during the strike, the Coalition de
“into the red” [debt]. We l’Association pour une soli-
light a very, very big red darité syndicale étudiante
light... so that [this issue] (Coalition of the Association
will be even more visible. for expanded student-union
“* solidarity) which was an
ASSÉ coalition with some
Thus, little hand-made independent student unions,
red felt squares began adopted the red square as a
to appear, pinned on symbol of student struggle.
people’s coats and bags. “Students are also put into
By the fall, the move- the red by the Charest gov-
ment of the red square ernment!” was the cry. The
had multiplied, together small square was now not

with a broad mobilization
against Bill 57. The Al-
ternative Forum, held on
6 and 7 October by the
Réseau de vigilance (Net-
work of Vigilance), as well
as demonstrations opposing the regressive measures of
the newly elected Liberal government, popularized the red
square as a radical symbol. On November 20th more than
10 000 people, all most all wearing the red square, pro-
tested cut-backs that forced people “into the red” outside
of the Liberal Party of Quebec’s offices.
At the same time, the Charest government was also at-
tacking the students, cutting student financial aid by $103
million while the student organizations were campaigning
for free education.
The next year, in 2005, the Association pour une Solidarité
Syndicale Student (ASSÉ) as well as student associations
in Quebec (FECQ and FEUQ) opposed the reform of
financial assistance and began an unlimited general
11
* Source: Collective for a Quebec without poverty in the Gazette officielle du Québec, October 5, 2004
only worn by the young stu-
dent strikers, but also by all
supporters of the students
involved, even the leader of
the opposition in the Quebec
National Assembly. PHOTO: Students in 2005 bring giant red squares together in a mass action..
On March 30, 2005, a daring group of students hoisted
a giant version of the red square on the famous cross on
Mount Royal. The cross is a giant metal structure over-
looking all the city. It took over 24 hours for the authorities
to remove the symbol. Under the red square, it was pos-
sible to read from the streets below: “Let’s stop sacrificing
our children.”
Now well known in Quebec, the red square made its way
across Canada and into France thanks to the international
solidarity between student activists. Today, the red square
is associated with raising resistance to austerity policies.
In the struggles for equally distributing social wealth, the
red square continues be a powerful symbol.
Anatomy of a Crisis
Unprecedented developments are shaking global capitalism to its very core. RY looks closer.
While the global crisis is still in its early stages and is unfolding unevenly around the globe, general features can now be identified, and conclusions drawn.
Drawing from central convention documents now being debated throughout the Communist Party of Canada, J. Boyden presents this special feature.

THERE IS
Who pays? we pay! GLOBAL RE-
SISTANCE!
Leading capitalist states had little choice but to
massively intervene: bailing out the banks, fi- General strikes in
nancial and insurance companies and some of
Greece, bosses
the largest transnational corporations in order to
stave off complete economic collapse. The infu-
held hostage by
sion of public funds by capitalist states around the French workers,
world (bankrolled in large measure by mounting strikes in South
government debt) has been truly staggering. Africa, migrant
workers in jam
A Vicious Offensive MOOD OF
Dubai highways,
DISCON-
Capitalism is mired in the deepest world-wide TENT continuous picket
economic crisis since the Great Depression. outside Philipine
Meanwhile, its systemic decline continues: At the same time, factories, Japa-
militarism and war, and an environment crisis, the deepening nese Communist
both threatening the survival of humanity. The crisis are having a Party gains in elec-
root cause lies in the private ownership of the radicalizing effect tion, South Korean
means of production and its contradiction with on sections of factories occupied,
the increasingly social character of production.
the working class strikes in Domini-
The maturing of this contradiction makes the
capitalist system more volatile and destructive, whose economic can, Guadeloupe
with dire and sometimes unpredictable results. and social condi- What is holding shut down: Mass
tions are sharply protests against
Ruling circles are stepping up a vicious offen-
sive against our class in order to ‘save’ capital- deteriorating and back the fight? the economic
ism, shifting the cost of the crisis onto the backs are increasingly The labour and people’s fightback against the crisis are on the
of working people. Democratic and social rights driven to fight consequences of the crisis remains largely un- move almost
are under increased assault. Ultra-right, narrow back. even and sporadic, even though important ad- everywhere.
nationalist and neo-fascist groupings are prolif- vances have been made. Why? (1) the
erating in many countries in the cultivated soil Anti-capitalist sen- impact of fear and insecurity among broad
of reaction. sections of the working class, weakening –
timents and advo-
cacy of socialism if only temporarily – their capacity to unite
as the systemic and fight; (2) the imposition of state mea-
sures to restrict, and sometimes directly
alternative to
repress, organized dissent; (3) the dis-
decadent capital- orienting effects of the intense bourgeois
ism are growing ideological offensive directed at the work-
on a much wider ing class to split its ranks between public/
scale. private sector workers, unionized and un-
organized workers, and to scapegoat the
These are dynamic unemployed, new immigrants, women; and
times indeed, full finally (4) the betrayal of the right-wing, op-
of dangers and portunist leadership of social democracy
challenges and and the vacillation/retreat of sections of
the trade union leadership, obstructing the
also with the po-
development of a united and coordinated
tential of resurgent fightback movement.
socialism.

A STAGERING USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS: Jan.20th Fed. Budget: $30 Billion + Borrowin
 So-called nationalization
The so-called ‘nationalization’ of some financial
houses in various countries are not genuine ef-
forts to shift the balance of forces from monopoly
interests to the people. On the contrary, these
actions are intended to shore up capitalism using
state funds until such time as they can be handed
back to the private sector.

The danger of war

The crisis is aggravating contradictions among
the leading imperialist states and blocs, as each
scramble to defend ‘its’ own industrial/financial
Unhappy with the pace and substance of change, Canadians in the interests at the expense of foreign competi-
Great Depression sat down in plants and in the fields, marched, tors. Protectionist measures (such as the “Buy
America” conditionalities attached to U.S. gov-
petitioned and lobbied for a social safety net, established unem-
ernment-financed infrastructure projects) is fur-
ployed groups, and organized industrial workers into unions. ther crippling international trade flows that have
already fallen due to shrinking demand and ‘tight’
Everywhere the credit conditions. Notwithstanding the rhetorical
crisis is attended defence of ‘free trade’ spun at G-8, G-20, World
by growing Bank and other global and regional summits, the
impoverishment: evidence unmistakably points to increasing eco-
job losses, rising nomic nationalism and retrenchment. Over time,
unemployment this will in turn lead to rising inter-imperialist ten-
(especially among sions and rivalries – the historical precursor to
imperialist aggression and war.
full-time work-
ers), economic But isn’t it over?
insecurity, and An ideological offensive aims to mollify working
degradation of people with misleading and sometimes falsified
social conditions, reports that economic recovery is now in ‘full
especially for swing’, even though such optimistic claims are
women, youth, se- belied by the facts: unemployment now stands
niors and the most at 1.6 million workers and is rising. So too are
vulnerable. The foreclosures and bankruptcies, plus the percent-
dismal employ- age of working people slipping below the ‘poverty
line’. Domestic consumption and exports lan-
ment situation has
guish. New housing starts have almost halted.
been made worse Internationally, world trade is off sharply while
by the actions of most capitalist governments are mired in un-
financially healthy sustainable debt. Why then all the talk of ‘robust
corporations, recovery’? Because of the recent ‘bounce-back’
taking advantage of stock prices. Similar reports of false recovery
of the economic were common during the last Great Depression.
crisis to carry out All this serves a sinister purpose: deluding work-
radical restructur- ing people into believing that the worst is over.
ing (layoffs), often ‘Bunker down.’ Ride out the rest of the economic
storm. No way! The only choice is to educate,
with the help of
organize and fight!
government funds.

g to bail out financial sector: $200 bil. + buy- 13 ing morages & other toxic assets: $125
HCBP has been subject to heated community (Land Is More Important Than Sprawl), it is un-
debate since 1993. However, this summer the likely that any of Guelph’s recently unemployed
City of Guelph pushed ahead with construction. manufacturing workers would be eligible for a
Situated on the Paris-Galt Moraine, the HCBP research position in these offices. The industrial
site is essential to the integrity of local drinking section of the park will not be built for years, if
water. It is home to one of Southern Ontario’s last ever. While Guelph has 175 “brownfields” (un-
surviving Old Growth Forests. The site also con- used and toxified industrial/commercial sites)
tains provincially significant these must first be cleaned up, making them less
wetlands and protected On Monday profitable.
species. Environmental-
ists, scientists and commu- July 27th at Opponents of the HCBP have demanded re-
nity members agree that the
supposed precautions taken
6:30am, a sponsible development. YCL-Guelph called for
all levels of government to put nature and people
by the City are insufficient to
ensure that significant dam-
group of pro- before profits: create meaningful, decent paying
jobs, compatible with environmental sustainability
age is not done. The failure testers set and conservation. As one of the land defenders
of the city to properly ad- on the occupation site put it, “there’s no shortage
dress these concerns was up camp on of things that could be done to make the world’s
the real cause of the work environment a better place, rehabilitate the eco-
stoppage. the proposed systems, and keep the world from heating up”.

HCBP: not a solu-

Hanlon Creek
tion to recession Business Park
The City and its corporate
development
friends have “framed” the
opposition to the Business
(HCBP)...
Park as opposition to em-
ployment. Guelph is facing a jobs crisis. Work-
ers have lost over 2 000 manufacturing jobs
since last year alone. Guelph is also a university
town. The capitalist crisis has also hit students
hard making secondary education even less ac-
cessible to working-class youth.
The tenants that the HCBP hopes to attract are
biotechnology and agri-science firms. According
to the Guelph environmental coalition LIMITS
Criminalize and intimidate
The City’s reaction was an eviction notice. In 24
hours over a 100 people gathered on the site in
support, responding
...and shut down to flyering, going
door to door, and
construction. mobilizing progres-
sive forces. The
City and its armed wing (the cops) were not will-
ing to confront this mass of people. Instead of
negotiating, the City threatened a 5 million dol-
lar lawsuit. Unable to name the hundreds who
joined the occupation, the City had a detective
identify six activists.
The first court appearance was Aug. 5. However
Justice Wein refused to dismiss the community

u a t i o n o f
l
eva cupation
an oc
14
concerns. “Instead of granting the City’s injunc-
tion to force them to leave the site, she issued
an adjournment during which the occupation was
given the legal right to stay put and the construc-
tion crew was legally kept out” as Ontario Public
Interest Research Group Volunteer Coordinator
Mandy Hiscocks said. The campaign was then
able to put forward an injunction request, de-
manding construction stop. “And this is when the
shit hit the fan”.
In the next court appearance it was exposed
that the Jefferson Salamander, covered by the
Endangered Species Act, had been discovered
at HCBP. While the City had repeatedly claimed
to have the Ministry of Natural Resources’(MNR)
support, in court it was discovered that MNR had
actually asked the City to not proceed. While
Justice Gray’s decision granted the City’s injunc-
tion to remove the occupiers, he also granted the
MNR authority to put a stop work order on the
project.
It appeared that the City had royally screwed
themselves. The occupation ended.
But many people did not trust the MNR. Marxism
101 says the state is a tool of the ruling class and
is not an objective “mediator” between classes.
Municipalities are dominated by developers just
as the federal government is with the big monop-
olies. When the MNR was given the authority to
actually stop the HCBP it soon changed its tune
and allowed work to continue imposing a few,
largely meaningless, regulations.
Current situation
On August 27th the MNR allowed construction
on a culvert at the HCBP, but by Sept. 3rd City
had cancelled the HCBP – for the summer. Ap-
parently the City can no longer fit the construc-
tion into its summer work schedule.
According to Mayor Farbridge “A handful of pro-
testers have held our City hostage and ignored
democratic processes”. But what is less demo-
cratic than a city council ignoring the wishes of
its electorate? Opinion polls show the “handful”
had support. This support from the community
caused the campaign to be successful.
The environmental movement is now smarter,
stronger, more militant and more united. Meet-
ings continue. Further actions will be taken.
Many people, including youth, have been radical-
ized. These victories can not be taken away.
For more information check out: http://hcbpoccupation.wordpress.
com/
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT
STRUGGLES
In any high school, it is inevitable that you TWO LETTERS
will come across a student wearing a T-shirt fea- TO REBEL YOUTH
turing Che Guevara or the hammer and sickle.
I have been a dedicated communist for some
time, and one day I decided to ask a boy I seen It was a cold dark January morning,
wearing a hammer and sickle on his belt buckle if the type of morning most people just want to stay
he supported the communist party, in bed – but not me. I was excited
and his response was no. I asked to go to school. I had just learned
him why he would wear a commu- about something new, something
nist logo. He said to me, “This is the I thought would change the world:
Russian symbol. And anyways, you Socialism. I was excited to go talk
can’t even be communist in Cana- to my teachers about this wonderful
da, it’s illegal!” new thing I just discovered, about
We need education in our schools how we could set plans in motion.
about communism. From my el- I walked into my first period Sci-
ementary school years I can re- ence class, which was taught by
member “Politics” being taught over one of our schools most respected
a one month period as a unit in ge- teachers who I had a good friend-
ography. All this class ever taught ship with. As I sat in class waiting
me was that there were two political for the bell to ring I told my friends
parties in Canada, the Conserva- about the wonders of socialist think-
tives and the Liberals. And at that, ing expecting that I would get great
more time was used to educate us reactions.
about the Conservatives. Later, in All I got, to my disappointment was
grade 10 civics we are educated “isn’t Communism what Hitler be-
about 4 parties, the Conserva- lieved in?” and no matter how much
tives, the Liberals, the NDP, and the I tried to explain to them, they kept calling me Nazi boy.
Greens. There isn’t even the slight- When the bell finally rang I went to my teacher with new hope
est mention of other political beliefs: thinking that he as an intelligent man would agree with social-
it’s as if they want us to believe the ism. I walked up to him and said “if you could live in a nation
world stops and ends at the four that had any ideology what would you choose?” He said An-
major parties. We don’t even learn archy. I was surprised but responded “what about a Socialist
much about [the Bloc Quebequios] country?” His eyes is narrowed on me and said, “That is the
the fifth biggest party in Canada. lowest on my list!”
In my school library, the communist One other thing I will always re-
manifesto is in-between “What is member is that during History we
Fascism?” and “Nationalism, from were going over some slides on the
Hitler to Gandhi” In fact, when I great depression and the teacher
say I’m communist most people was going over great detail about
think I’m kidding. Some people every picture. One picture for some
even think of communism as akin reason he skipped over, some
to Nazism. Among the more open of the students asked him about
minded teens of today, communism that picture and he replied by say-
is generally accepted as a correct ing there was no time to look at it,
theory but not supported. Among but the kids persistency made him
the closed minded, it is the enemy. go back. The picture was of Fred
We must work to change this. Rose – the former YCL leader and
Mike, Vancouver activist with the Communist Party of
Canada who was the second Com-
Left, top and next page - drawings by Christy C. Road,
a young artist and illustrator floating in a pool of her munist elected to Ottawa (from a
own blood, sweat, and occasional tears. Check out riding in Montreal). My fellow class
www.croadcore.org
mates wanted to learn more – but
our teacher refused.
Kyle, Quebec
 Talking
S ch
HiPgohlitics ool
My recent ob-
session has identify as “political”. They’re more
working class, and they’re generally
They tend to become uncomfort-
able when politics becomes chal-
or hate the working class.

been the prod-
uct of a year
spent really
committed
to the idea of
high schools
as a site of or-
ganizing.
Jamie Burnett
My high school is pretty middle
class. When we talk about the
school’s “politics”, there’s some-
thing like two groups of people (of
course the whole story is more com-
plicated).
One is often simplistically referred
to as “politically apathetic”. They’re
not necessarily comfortable in the
school. They don’t go to class or
assemblies a lot. They very rarely
less likely to go to university
.
The other group is more middle
class. Their parents are, say, profes-
sors at the University, or engineers,
they’re a bank manager or they own
a business. None of these groups
are homogeneous, but there’s a
general tendency for these people
to do well in school. They’re more
likely to be “politically aware”. They
participate much more in extracur-
ricular, in clubs, and sometimes in
what are generally considered to be
“activist” groups. Some are more
right wing, some are more liberal.
But there’s a very visible class char-
acter to how “activism” within the
school works
. schools express purpose is to shape
I didn’t find either of these groups
particularly appealing at first. The
second group continue to do pro-
gressive things, but they’re limited
– they can give the appearance of
believing that they are saving the
world and everyone else is wrong.
lenging, unpopular, or potentially The struggle for youth liberation is
contentious. When the other group
of students doesn’t care about what
also one of the only major historic
struggles against oppression that
they’re doing, they believe it is be- receives almost no attention from
cause this group of students is igno-
rant. This excludes working class
mainstream leftists. (If people said
many of the things they say about
students, and when they live in a teenagers about women, they’d be
society and attend a school where
they learn that this is what political
totally ostracized from public life.)
Unfortunately what little attention it
activism is, it’s easy to come to be- does get comes mostly from anar-
lieve that they must themselves not
be interested in politics
chists. But a perspective in favour
of youth liberation is as compatible
. with Marxism as is feminism.
.
Why high schools are
important One of the few Marxist books to even
hint at this relationship is School-
ing in Capitalist America (1976) by
High schools are politically impor-
Herbert Gintis and Samuel Bowles.
tant for several key reasons. First-
Perhaps the most important is that
ly, the class composition of high
schools is in almost all cases very
workers for capitalist production and
different from the class composition “citizenship”. While no real school is
of universities. Those who believe
quite so simple, an ideal capitalist
that political activism is something
school teaches – in addition to use-
best left to those who have attained
ful technical skills like mathemat-
or are attaining postsecondary edu-
ics, communication and computer
cation are either totally delusional,
skills – obedience, acceptance of

the hierarchy of production, and on
a broader social level, appreciation
for the capitalist nation state and its
“liberal democracy”. Any serious
political analysis of schools entails
recognizing that they play a crucial
role in capitalist reproduction – not
producing commodities as such,
but reproducing capitalist society.
It’s worth considering that disruption
of this process could be for that rea-
son alone be valuable. Gintis and
Bowles also warn that liberal reform
is not sufficient for creating funda-
mental change in schools; to see
“real” change in schools, we need
to change the whole society. While
this is true in the grand scheme of
things, that doesn’t mean there
aren’t a lot of gains to be made in
reforming high schools, and educat-
ing students about politics.
Our action
Back at my school, the work I’ve
been doing over the past year even-
tually materialized into Centennial
THE RENEWED ATTACK
ON THE STUDENT MOVEMENT
YCL-LJC CENTRAL CMTE
Student De- The August crash in
mocracy. The youth employment is the
basic mandate context of September’s student
of the group is loans.
to fight for stu-
dent democ- May to August saw the general
racy: student failure of youth summer jobs pro-
participation in grammes (youth unemployment is
the functioning the highest since Statistics Canada
of the school, started tracking in the 70s). It is
like bringing a hard to get concrete facts here. One
student voice example: the Saanich, BC, Service
to discussions Canada Centre for Youth faced
about dress “triple the number [of inquires] seen
code or code by the centre the year before,” but
of conduct. “only about half walked away with
While these jobs.” (Reportedly, 75 % of Youth
are not things Skills Link funding went to Conser-
that get any vative ridings.) The unemployment
revolutionary rate among returning students aged
very excited, 15 to 24 in Canada jumped to 20.9
the group is per cent in July, the highest rate re-
actually devel- corded since Statistics Canada be-
oping incred- gan collecting data on the subject
ibly quickly, in 1977, and a 51 per cent increase
and incredibly from the same month last year. The
well – it got started late in the year, number of youths under 25 years
and most of its members have very old receiving regular Employment
little “activist” experience (even in Insurance benefits has more than
the narrow “water-bottle-selling” doubled in the past year up 108.6%.
sense). But what is developing is This despite specific regulations in
a sort of institutional criticism, not EI frustrating youth collection –
just “why can’t we wear t-shirts like requirements of hours worked
with swear words”, but “why are before collection which should be
some programs and departments eliminated. Requirements on hours
better funded than others”, “why is especially hits Aboriginal youth,
X taught and Y not”, “what is the part-time workers, and farm-worker
relationship between marking and youth. [1]
learning”, or even “why is that rela-
tionship so tenuous”. Currently, when a Canadian student
applies for financial assistance, it is
The people who are coming out so
assumed they’ll contribute a portion
far are mostly of the more “middle of their summer employment income
class” group of students – that’s toward their education – whether
okay, but for the reasons I’ve al- they earned any money during the
ready mentioned it has its challeng- summer or not, and regardless
es. However, there’s a surprising of how much they earned. (We
and exciting awareness among the should note in passing that this is
group itself that this is a problem,
being raised by the tepid Canadian
and there’s a real commitment to Alliance of Student Associations).
ameliorating it. There are a lot of
Not surprisingly, as CFS freedom of
questions and uncertainties – for
information requests have exposed,
example, the reaction of the teach-
there is already a 10-12% increase
in student loan requests at Toronto
>>Pg. 37
university campuses.
Resistance: In Ontario the
CFS is campaigning against the
economic crisis with the slogan
“Drop Fees for a poverty-free
Ontario.” In BC, the CFS is focus-
ing on student debt (about $27,000
per student). CFS Manitoba will be
continuing its campaign against the
4.5% annual tuition fee increases
of the NDP.
The Quebec national student move-
ment organization ASSE is continu-
ing its fight against Bill 38 (forced
privatization of post-secondary in-
stitutions). The Federations (FEUQ
et FECQ) have criticized the call
by the young ADQ to deregulate
tuition. Both organizations (FEUQ,
FECQ and ASSÉ) are campaign-
ing to reform student loans and
bursaries (open only to the most
impoverished students but profiting
banks). Now in Quebec there is a
big increase of the tuition fees for
the international students.
Finances are the main obstacle to
access to education – which is a
right, not privilege or a commodity.
Yet recent OECD numbers show
that rising tuition has caused a de-
cline in the number of people get-
ting degrees: one-fifth of 15 to 19
year-old Canadians are no longer
pursuing an education.
It is in this context
that we should view
the developed attack
by the Harper Tories
on the youth and stu-
dent organizations.
These attacks include:
Organizing late-spring workshops
across the country, brining together
Conservative Party youth with Party
activists and sitting MPs, local stu-
>>Pg. 37
Terreur et violence
contre les migrants
par Mary Carl

Au début d’avril, l’Agence des services frontaliers

du Canada (ASFC) et la police de South Sim-
coe ont effectué des raids similaires à Simcoe,
Toronto, Leamington et Windsor, pour arrêter
des centaines de travailleurs venus de l’étranger
avec un statut précaire.

Près de 100 travailleurs détenus ont été encer-

clés dans les installations de transformation
d’aliments «Cericola Farms». Les travailleurs
ont été conduits sous la menace d’armes à feu
et parqués dans une cafétéria, où l’ASFC ont sé-
paré les personnes ayant une preuve de citoyen-
neté et de résidence permanente des travailleurs
n’ayant pas tous les documents, qui ont immédi-
atement traités comme des criminels.

Ces derniers ont ensuite été transférés et main-

tenus immobiles au moyen de menottes dans
un autobus pendant huit heures. Des dizaines
d’autres sans-papiers ont été arrêtés ailleurs
qu’à leur lieu de travail, certains par des agents
qui attendaient hors des abris ou par des per-
sonnes se faisant passer pour des avocats.
Plus d’une centaine de ces travailleurs ont plus
tard été conduits au centre de détention de
l’Immigration de Rexdale, où ils ont été gardés
dans une pièce sans meuble, sans aucun soin
pendant plusieurs heures. Un agent des services
d’immigration a alors expliqué à la hâte quels
étaient leurs droits en une quinzaine de minutes
en utilisant un langage compliqué, saturé de
termes juridiques.
Le fonctionnaire a donné aux travailleurs mi-
grants des conseils biaisés et sans expliquer
correctement quels documents il leur demandait
de signer.
Les documents fournis ne sont pas indiqués
dans la Loi fédérale sur l’immigration et la pro-
tection des réfugiés. Ce manque d’informations
et de soutien a fait en sorte que de nombreux
travailleurs ont, contre leur volonté, renoncé
à leurs droits à avoir l’aide d’un avocat, et aux
possibilités de retarder leur suspension et d’en
appeler par des mesure de procédure.
Un peu plus tard en avril, 43 travailleurs détenus,
dont un grand nombre avaient eu leurs passe-
ports confisqués par leurs employeurs, ont été
18
Raids, Reforms and Racism
Mary Carl writes about the growing terror, violence and
exploitation of immigrant and migrant workers in Canada.
This spring, Canadian-(im)migrant relations when they pursued their hostile raids. The crimi-
have been marked by violent, US-style raids. nalization of migrant workers, with or without sta-
Throughout southern Ontario, hundreds of over- tus, is wrong. What truly has been their crime?
seas workers have been aggressively arrested
and denied due process. Many of those arrested Canada continues to make it close to impossible
were detained in public places in sting opera- for hardworking (im)migrants of trade and man-
tions, including cases in which Canadian Border ual labour skills to enter this country legally with
Services Agents posed as lawyers willing to help full rights. In turn, the number of “legal” migrants
them with their paperwork. Others were arrested in Canada is rapidly dwindling in numbers. This
in workplaces or their homes, and held at gun- is caused by changes to Canada’s point system.
point and left handcuffed. (To emphasize the rigidity of these changes, a
professor at the University of Guelph, a Cana-
The latest example of this disturbing trend took dian citizen, took the immigration test and did
place this past May 27. Early Wednesday morn- not qualify for citizenship.) Coupled with this re-
ing, immigration enforcement officers swarmed striction on providing citizenship, the system has
Lakeside Greenhouse in Leamington, Ontario, placed economic needs over the well-being of
and arrested at least nine female migrant food migrants by introducing and expanding exploit-
packaging workers. The Mexican women, includ- ative temporary worker programs.
ing a pregnant detainee, were being detained in
Windsor County Jail prior to their deportation. Bill C-50: Catastrophic Barrier
to Settlement and Integration
Some of the arrested were in Canada on valid
visas and others had pending refugee claims. In- into Canada
dividuals awaiting refugee hearings legally hold
a level of protection against immigration arrests Repression and raids are part of the regressive
and are legally allowed to work. With these raids, changes made to the Immigration system in re-
immigration enforcement officers bypassed pro- cent years by the Harper Conservatives. These
tocol and disregarded any humane sensitivity raids that are accompanying current immigration
Illustration by Kaley McKean for Rebel Youth.
flickr.com/photos/kaleymckean/
policy are designed to ramp up the exploitation of
(im)migrants in Canada. All throughout Canada
last summer, mass protests were held against
the passing of the racist and classist Bill C-50.
The bill was passed in June 2008 with the Liber-
als refusing to vote against it for fear of prompting
a politically undesirable election.
The Immigration, Citizenship, and Multicultural-
ism Minister (currently, Jason Kenney) now has
the power to set quotas on the “category” of
person that can legally set foot in Canada. This
includes setting quotas on countries of origin.
Setting quotas on the basis of a person’s country
of origin represents a critical shift in Canadian
policy towards exclusionary legislation that has
precedents in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923,
the Order in Council of 1911 prohibiting the land-
ing of “any immigrant belonging to the Negro
race”, and the “None is too many” rule applied
to Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Eu-
rope during the Second World War. Under Ste-
phen Harper, and Minister of “Censorship and
Deportation” Jason Kenney, Canada’s immigra-
tion policy has taken a significant step backward
towards its racist roots.
With the new changes made by the Tories, rich
(im)migrants can now be bumped to the front of
the line and granted Canadian citizenship. Poor
(im)migrants have little chance at status and are
forced into migrant worker programs if they wish
to work in Canada. This increases temporary
workers who have limited rights and tries to pit
Canadian workers against them in the job market
creating a “race to the bottom”. In short, these
immigration policies give exploitative employers
a tool to erode wages and rights for all workers.
Canadian immigration system
fosters severe worker abuse
and exploitation
There are so many systemic problems, and all
of them contribute to the intense hardships and
exploitative conditions that migrant workers face.
When the worker has violated immigration policy,
it often means that the illegal act at its core has to
do with the restrictive nature of the work permits
given to migrants. The Canadian immigration
system is geared at creating a class of dispos-
able people who can easily fired and deported if
they attempt to demand safe working conditions
or a living-wage, or attempt to unionize.
Some migrants do enter Canada outside of tem-
porary worker programs. People who have more
academic credentials, do get into the country be-
cause of the point system’s favourability to highly
academically educated migrants. However, the
Canadian system has rigid or unconquerable
barriers that often suppress their ability to use,
and discredits, the skills and academic creden-
tials of (im)migrants, which they had worked hard
to achieve in their country of origin. Contrary to
(im)migration myths, migrants do not take-on
“low-skilled” jobs because they are incompetent
or “low-skilled”. These jobs offered by Canadian
temporary worker programs should not be seen
as “low-skilled”. They are valuable and require
much skill. The system pushes these (im)mi-
grants into low-paying and “low-skilled” jobs.
This also forces (im)migrants to work longer and
harder in an attempt to secure a stable livelihood
in Canada.
Overseas workers are not making enough money.
A lot of their earnings are sent overseas to sup-
port their families back home. When discussing
the income of Canadians it is almost always ex-
pressed in terms of “household” income. Provid-
ing for your family is part of being “paid enough
to live a ‘decent’ life”. This should hold true for
migrant workers sending money back home to
support their families, as well. This should be
taken into account to understand the inadequa-
cies of monies being earned by people working
in these jobs.
For example, according to a National Post editor,
many migrants in Canada working with work per-
mits, such as many live-in caregivers, get paid
$3.50/hour, and regularly work overtime with-
out pay. This is not even approaching a living
wage and is illegal by the standards set by all
provincial minimum wage laws. Also, in recog-
nizing that many (im)migrants to Canada are not
making enough money, including those deemed
eligible to work in temporary worker programs, it
is deplorable that migrants are subjected to pay
exorbitant bureaucratic fees such as recruitment
agency fees. This is a huge drain on income and
leads to a severely burdensome financial situ-
ation for many migrants. Additionally, from the
beginning, the provincial wage laws for indus-
tries where migrants are hired are unjust. For
instance, migrant agricultural workers who are
working extremely long hours are exempted from
overtime, holiday, and vacation pay. Coupled
with these unjust wage laws, unjust Canadian
immigration legislation and enforcement also re-
inforces the low and unjust pay of migrants. The
precariousness of their immigration status makes
them vulnerable to deportation, and makes it
so that migrants often do not speak out about
wages. Hence, this makes it easy for employ-
ers to get away with these wrongdoings, and
employers rarely receive a penalty.
19
forcés de quitter le Canada et ont été déportés
en Thaïlande.
Un fois de plus, faisant preuve de manque de
sensibilité et de sens de la justice, les autorités
des services d’immigration n’ont pas tenu compte
du contexte de ces cas.
Un grand nombre de personnes arrêtées avaient
eu un permis temporaire de travail, mais avaient
fini par se retrouver titulaires d’un statut précaire
pour un certain nombre de raisons légitimes.
Certaines de ces personnes ont déclaré qu’elles
étaient confrontées à de graves dangers si elles
devaient retourner dans leur pays d’origine. Au
moins l’une d’elles, dont les documents étaient
en règle, aurait dû quitter son emploi à cause de
son employeur qui la harcelait sexuellement et
qui lui avait enlevé son permis.
PHOTO: Aux fermes Cericola.
Despite this, there are many reports of both
worker abuses committed by employers who
hire overseas workers and systemic problems
that facilitate exploitative work conditions within
(and outside of) Canadian migrant worker pro-
grams. Canadian immigration officials rarely
investigate immigration law violations committed
by employers. Instead, resources are devoted to
hounding the workers to create a culture of fear
and intimidation. Immigration officials know that
going against citizen employers, unregulated re-
cruitment agencies, or multinational corporations
staffed with powerful and well connected lawyers
will not likely lead to a conviction. Instead, they
focus their attention on overseas workers such
as those from impoverished nations (e.g., live-in
nannies from the Philippines, Somalia, Paraguay,
or vegetable pickers from Jamaica, Mexico, and
Thailand). These workers speak little English,
and, again, earn little and have borrowed large
sums of money just to pay a broker back home
to arrange for their underpaid and brief period of
stay in Canada. Many hope to find a path to im-
migration when they are here.

All people should have the ability to walk away
from an abusive or a bad job. Granting these in-
dividuals open work permits would allow them to
travel within certain certified industries, including
those recognized as having labour shortages.
This would alleviate the high frequency of cases
where migrating individuals experience abuse in
the workplace and are forced to choose between
enduring the abuse and becoming “illegal”. This
would also allow them to work multiple jobs if
they so choose, which coincides
with their right to strive to better
themselves and support their
family back home.
Accompanying the economic
crisis, racist and anti-(im)mi-
grant sentiment has a tendency
to grow as people look for easy
scapegoats to pin job losses on.
In the context of the economic
crisis, it is important to realize
that we’re not “competing for
jobs” with (im)migrants. Expand-
ing rights and a living wage to all those living in
Canada by granting status will combat the ero-
sion of wages and increase purchasing power
across the board. This accompanied by other
measures, such as attainable employment insur-
ance (EI) that meets living wage standards, is
the only way forward in reconstructing a healthy
economy that meets everyone’s needs
20
Immigrants for (Im)migrants:
Fuerza/Puwersa Takes Action
Against Imperialism’s Bullying
In response to these recent raids that have occurred under
the public’s noses, there have been many mass public ac-
tions throughout Canada denouncing these dehumanizing
attacks on (im)migrant communities, including in Guelph,
Ontario.
Formally known as Student Support for Migrant Workers,
Fuerza/Puwersa (both meaning ‘strength’; the former being
in Spanish and the latter being in Filipino) is a volunteer-run
group which has been organizing out of Guelph for three
years. Fuerza/Puwersa consists of students attending the
Human Beings, NOT Economic University of Guelph, and members of the broader Guelph
Commodities! community. Fuerza/Puwersa works to build awareness about
Canadian migrant worker programs, including the Seasonal
Agricultural Workers Program, the Temporary Worker Pro-
Shamefully, all of this is happening while the gram and the Live-in Caregiver Program.
government continues to bail-out the wealthy
whose unrestrained greed has caused the cur- Furthermore, Fuerza/Puwersa is active in working with tem-
porary migrants in Guelph, Bradford, Simcoe and Niagara,
rent economic crisis, while working people, both contributing to the provision of free resource support to these
(im)migrant and Canadian, pay the price. These individuals while working in solidarity with them on various
latest arrests are part of a wider crackdown that projects aimed at promoting their agency and dignity.
emphasizes that our immigration sys-
One Guelph response took place on April 30 in the form of an
tem is in dire need of reworking. If migration awareness and community discussion event orga-
we aim to live in a democratic and nized by Fuerza/Puwersa. The event featured speakers from
humanist society, clearly we must a variety of associations: Janet McLaughlin, a University of
continue to address issues concern- Guelph International Development Studies instructor; Marco
Luciano, a coordinator with Migrante Ontario, an alliance of
ing our immigration system through Filipino (im)migrant advocacy organizations; and Craig For-
a perspective affirming the dignity tier, a community organizer with No One is Illegal – Toronto.
and worth of all people, not dismiss- All spoke eloquently on the plight of migrating individuals with
ing anyone in the name of profits. temporary, precarious and no statuses throughout Ontario.
Migrants, with or without status, Next, on May 2nd, along with 2,000 other participants, sev-
working people and the poor should eral full vehicles organized by Fuerza/Puwersa headed from
not be criminalized. Newcomers de- Guelph to Toronto for the May Day of Action Rally and March
serve respect and dignity. Canada to express opposition to increased government cruelty to-
wards under-protected workers. In the spirit of May Day (May
should regularize non-status mem- 1st), an annual day devoted to workers’ rights, this march
bers of our communities so they is co-organized annually by a number of marginalized (im)
can live in safety and peace. We should discard migrants’ rights advocacy organizations including No One is
status-based identification, provide equal rights Illegal –Toronto and Migrante Ontario. Interested in work-
ing with Fuerza/Puwersa in the upcoming year? We’d love
for everyone, and put an end to the discrimina- for you to get involved. Do connect us at fuerza.puwersa@
tion and unfounded scapegoating against (im) gmail.com.
migrant communities!
PHOTOS – Top left: Community members listen as speakers describe desperation among margin-
alized migrating workers in Southern Ontario and Canada (Alexandra Martellacci); Top right: Fuerza
members with YCL-Guelph unfurl their homemade banner at the annual Mayday of Action No One
Is Illegal! Rally and march in Toronto. (Andrew Rejano); Centre: Women jumping at the Migrante
Ontario camping event at Guelph Lake last August. Local (im)migrant Filipina women who
work as live-in caregivers play a traditional Philippine game (Alex Filipe). Eduardo Huesca also

Post-coup Honduras
Arnold August
The Frente Nacional de Resistencia
is leading the courageous struggle
of the Honduran people. For 70
consecutive days the peo-
ple of Honduras, from
all walks of life, are
confronting vio-
lent repression
by the military
and the police.
They are peace-
fully, with a very
coherent politi-
cal and increasing-
ly sophisticated orga-
nization, putting forward
their demands. These include
the restoration of the constitutional
order in Honduras and the return of
President Zelaya. As the situation is
evolving the people are more and
more pressing for a constituent as-
sembly to re-found the constitution
and the nation. They are saying that
whether Zelaya returns or not, this
has become the objective of the on-
going resistance.
Now that the elections have been
called by the coup perpetuators,
the Frente Nacional de Resistencia
roots movement,” Zelaya said [as
reported in The Nation, September
4, 2009], has only one purpose, the
transformation of Honduras, includ-
ing deep structural changes. “This
movement is now very strong. It can
never be destroyed,” he said. On
September 5, when the people s
resistance against the military coup
was going on for 70 days, the Fr-
ente Nacional de Resistencia was
analyzing its next actions.
Post-coup Honduras has now
joined the movement that has been
spreading like wild-fire across South
America, even if its elected Presi-
dent Zelaya is not in the country at
this time. This grass-roots South
American movement represents a
push in favour of people’s power
and against neo liberal policies and
US domination.
“Fighting for democ-
racy shouldn’t be a
has also called for the boycott of the that time) for the Partido de Unifi-
crime. We have to
elections. The non-recognition of cación Democrática (UD) and cur-
the elections and the simultaneous rent deputy César Ham stated that seek to come together
continued mass movement in the that there is a pre and post-coup directly in order to
streets for a new Hondu- Honduras. His statement, in very achieve peace... my
ras is a most impor- few words, crystallized the current position is fatherland,
tant phase in the situation in Honduras and provides
restoration or death.”
battle. Workers’ the historical context. The UD has
and employ- joined the Frente Nacional de Re- Manuel Zelaya
ees’ unions, sistencia in the streets. In fact two
women ac- of UD’s leading members were as-
tivist groups, sassinated by the military regime.
peasants, On August 31, according
students, in- to a Prensa Latina re-
tellectuals and port, Ham and oth-
other sections ers UD members
of the society are confirmed that
all in the forefront. The they are
Honduran putschists are hop- boycotting
ing to legitimize the coup through the elec-
the holding of the elections. tions.
Other
Political forces not connected with non-tra-
the military regime are also join- ditional
ing forces with the mass move- a n d
ment. The Resistance has gained e v e n
so much prestige that it has suc- s o m e
ceeded in winning the adherence of sections
a wide range of political forces. For of the tra-
example, on July 18 (over one and ditional po-
a half months ago), in an interview litical forces
with Prensa Latina’s Raimundo Lo- are doing the
pez, the presidential candidate (at same. “The grass-
FOCUS:
Cuban d e m o c r a c y
Chevy Phillips
Despite his supposed agenda for change, even
President Obama has stuck to the same, tired
line – the trade and travel embargo aimed at
Cuba will stay until “democratic elections” are
held on the island. In fact, little has changed for
half a century when it comes to the behaviour
of the US towards Cuba (behaviour repeatedly
condemned and declared illegal by the UN, Eu-
ropean Union and numerous other international
bodies), and consequently the widespread belief
that the “Castro regime” and a “communist dicta-
torship” continues to stifle “freedom and democ-
racy” in Cuba persists in the popular imagination
(at least in North America and most of Europe).
Perhaps it is typically ironic that the US, of all
countries, should target Cuba for ‘suppressing
freedom and democracy’. Despite half a cen-
tury of anti-communist propaganda and shrill
demands for ‘democratic elections’ to be held,
the US knows perfectly well that Cuba regularly
holds such elections, it just happens to do so in
a manner of which Washington disapproves, i.e.
in the interests of the people of Cuba and not
in the interests of international (and particularly
American) capital. The Cubans are also perfectly
aware of what kind of democracy the US has in
mind when it repeats its familiar mantra about
elections – that kind where the outcome is deter-
mined by corporate sponsorship, or as we saw
in the US in December 2000, a coup d’etat by a
far-from-neutral Supreme Court acting on behalf
of the extreme Right.
But the Cubans have seen what this democ-
racy looks like, and they have suffered the con-
sequences. During the years before the 1959
Revolution the island was subject to a brutal dic-
tatorship, a dictatorship that deprived the people
of their land and their political voice. It was the
July 26th Movement, led by Fidel Castro, that re-
stored both land and voice to the people of Cuba
and expelled the vulture-capitalists (both foreign
and domestic) bent on turning the island into a
neo-slave colony at the mercy of US capital. The
coalition of people’s forces that the July 26th
Movement represented became the bedrock
upon which the Communist Party of Cuba was
formed in 1965.
Earlier in 2009, in response to renewed calls for
‘reform’ emanating from the Whitehouse, Raul
Castro declared that he had been elected “to
defend, maintain and continue perfecting social-
ism - not to destroy it.” Since the early years of
the formation of the new Cuba, the people have
repeatedly made it clear that the kind of corrupt,
plutocratic, two party ‘democracy’ that predomi-
nates in capitalist countries would not be toler-
ated on their island. The undignified spectacle
of professional politicians (bought and paid for
by their respective backers) competing to be the
most convincing liars simply to gain office only
to abuse it, is not one that would be welcome
in Cuba. The difference between socialist and
bourgeois democracy is well understood here,
by a population with a very high level of politi-
cal literacy unlikely to be fooled by the kind of
shambolic insult that passes for democracy in the
country of their would-be tutors. The people of
Cuba are keenly aware of what takes place when
Democrat confronts Republican every four years,
and they know it has nothing whatsoever to do
with democracy.
Consequently, the socialist democracy of Cuba
does not have a multi-party system of the sort
found in countries like the US or Canada. In fact,
there are no political parties here in the way bour-
geois democracy understands them, and far from
being an engine of ‘dictatorship’ as their enemies
charge, the Communist Party of Cuba is neither a
source of governmental nor legislative power. Not
only does one not have to be a member of the
Communist Party to stand for election, the Com-
munist Party does not even nominate candidates.
Rather, the entire process is in the hands of the
people themselves. The members of each of the
three levels of government in Cuba (municipal,
provincial, national) are ordinary Cubans elected
by their constituency communities and the com-
munity groups known as People’s Associations
(these are numerous and include: the Cuban
Federation of Women, the Union of Young Com-
munists, and the National Association of Small
Farmers). Nominees are elected from a long list
of candidates, the list itself being composed by
the local constituency, and subject to recall at any
time. Of course, some candidates are members
of the Communist Party but most are not. There
are no professional politicians in Cuba, a para-
sitical burden from which the people there are
free, and during elections there is no formal cam-
paigning; rather, the biographies of candidates
are posted in public places and the people make
their choice. Cubans also go to great lengths to
ensure the integrity of their electoral process,
posting children and young people (in the form of
the ‘Young Pioneers’) to guard the ballot boxes.
This not only encourages political consciousness
TOP: Biographies
of candidates.
LEFT: A sample
ballot in a Cuban
municipal election
RIGHT: A young
girl, a member of
the Young Pioneers
organization, guards
ballot boxes in the
last Cuban election.
and participation from an early age
among the citizens of the Republic,
it’s a far safer way to ensure a fair
vote than relying on, for example,
corporate- controlled electronic vot-
ing machines (widely used in the
US and responsible for massive,
although often unreported, electoral
fraud in the Presidential elections of
2000 and 2004).

This is not to suggest that the Com-

munist Party of Cuba does not have
an important role to play in political
life on the island. The party acts to
continually raise the political con-
sciousness of the Cuban people
(a truly terrifying concept to bour-
geois politicians) and promote the
benefits of the socialist system, a
system which is known the world
over for producing superlative
health and education services to
its people (and working diligently
to export these benefits in the form
of a generous overseas volunteer
programme). The Communist Party
also regularly consults the people
over issues of concern and has held
referenda to gauge support for the
socialist system: the 1993 national
elections were not only an electoral
process but a plebiscite on social-
ism itself, one which produced a
99.6% turnout with 92.97% of votes
cast being valid, and 94.99% of
those valid ballots cast in favour of
socialism and the leadership of Fi-
del Castro (see Canadian academic
Isaac Saney’s detailed examination
in Cuba, A Revolution in Motion).
Such a level of consent and political
legitimacy is unheard of in capitalist
countries. The Communist Party’s
primary role is to overcome the
gap between the government and
the governed (a gap which we can
recognise as not only enormous but
forever growing in capitalist coun-
tries). In Marxist terms, the party is
working to abolish the ‘abstraction’
or ‘alienation’ of government from
the people; something which can
eventually be done by increasing
participation and accountability to
the level, ultimately, of the ‘withering
of the state’ so that, in the words of
Engels in Anti-During, “...the gov-

>> Pg. 37
 put in a dollar, they don’t just care that you will
The Political bring in some money on that dollar, they want to
Economy of know how much so they don’t invest some where
an Outsource else. Even though with paying overtime the to-
Call Cen- tal profit will be higher for the call centre than
ter Job, not having anyone do the work they don’t have
or
How
people for, it would lower their profit rate since
you would get to keep more of the money that’s

To brought in than if you were working the regular

wage rate. In other words, the rate of exploita-
tion is lower when you are paid overtime because
the owner gets to keep less of the money you
bring in.

Cutrough
So the call centre owner would rather make a
lower total profit, and have fewer calls answered,

Th the
than taking a lower profit rate by paying for over-
time for someone to take the extra calls they
didn’t schedule people for.

s B S
There are some situations where call centre

s ’
owners will want people to work a lot of overtime

o s
however, if the penalty for not answering a certain

B
Bilal Awami
At almost any job you’ve had
you’ve probably wondering
why things were setup the way
they were. If you asked a man-
ager you would probably get
a BS answer that stops making
sense if you dig deeper. Talk at
work probably included trying
to figure out what was really go-
ing on.
Political economy is the science of how we re-
late to each other in making wealth, which under
capitalism is for those who own the equipment
we use. An outsourced call centre might do the
same physical work as an in-house call centre,
but the difference is with outsourcing are mak-
ing a direct profit for the owner by the call. Marx
wrote that in his time people who didn’t make any-
thing physical but still made a profit for someone,
and so are “productive” in the capitalist sense,
were very few. Today however, according to the
Government of Canada, Canadian outsourced
call centres pull in US$14 billion/year and are the
second-biggest market after India.1
24
1 “Canada’s Key Sectors”, Government of Canada (http://investin-
canada.gc.ca/eng/publications/invest-in-canada-brochure-summary.
aspx)
Under-
standing the political economy
of where you work is important for figuring out
what’s really going on, why things are setup the
way they are, and where they are headed. It isn’t
as simple as it looks from the surface: as Marx
said if things worked on the inside the way they
looked on the outside we wouldn’t need science
to tell us anything.
This is just a taste of what lurks behind the way
your workplace is setup. Dig into your own work-
place’s political economy and write in to Rebel
Youth with what you and your co-workers have
figured out.
1. Why don’t they let us work
all the overtime that’s available,
they’d still be making more they
pay us even with overtime?
It’s true that call centre outsourcers pull in so
much more money per hour or minute or call than
they pay, that they could be paying overtime and
still make a profit. It might look like a win-win to
get lots of overtime so you can make money while
the call centre owner makes money too. But it’s
the profit rate (profit per $ spent) and not actually
profit that the call centre owner is after. This rate
has to be a higher than what other industries (not
just other call centres) offer.
Think about it from the perspective of
an investor. If an investor is going to
number of calls is looking too high for example.
2. Why do supervisors send us
home on VDT (Voluntary Down
Time) when I know that there
will be more calls coming than
the people who are left can
handle?
Outsourced call centre managers are judged on
the profitability of their queue or section or de-
partment. But even the managers and supervi-
sors ultimately can’t make whatever decision
they want, they have to defend their decisions
based on call forecasts from the client.
The forecasts are based on a mathemetical mod-
el, called the Erlang C equation, which basically
assumes a random distribution except that some
people will give up and call back later. However,
call centres often don’t know day to day how
many people are out there who would want to
call (the customer universe), so the model is a
guide at best. The model might tell you, based
on last year’s calls, when there will be a bump in
calls, but not how big of a bump.
For this reason managers think it’s better to
make a safe decision they know is wrong that
they can defend with the client’s forecast than
take a risk in keeping people on that could end
up costing them unnecessarily if they’re wrong,
because when the managers are put on the spot
by their managers the upper management can
pull out the forecast and blast them for wasting
money when the forecast said there wouldn’t be
any calls coming in. On the other hand, if calls
gets missed because more came in than were
forecast, the manager can always hide behind
the forecast and blame the client.
3. Why do they care so much
about my being late – is it be-
cause they don’t want too many
calls to be in queue?
Outsourced call centres will want you to be on
time even if there are no calls in queue, it has
nothing to do with catching calls. Their forecasts
for how many calls are coming in aren’t that ac-
curate.
The real reason call centres are big on tardiness
is because they make money for every minute
you are on the phone or taking a call or, in some
cases, in your seat regardless of whether there
is a call or not. Losing money because agents
aren’t bullied enough for tardiness by a manager
will make the manager look like they can’t man-
age to their supervisors, and since tardiness is
one of the things managers think they can control
more than other things they will pick on tardiness.
They might excuse it saying it puts stress on the
team to not have someone who is scheduled
there to take calls in queue, but that’s not why
the manager cares about attendance.
4. What does the outsourced
call centre’s profit rate have to
do with auto and steel, or gen-
eral, profit rates?
Outsourced call centre’s biggest expense per dol-
lar spent on a call is the wage they have to pay
a worker – their variable cost of production (tak-
ing calls which bring in money). The fixed costs
of the telephone bill and equipment you use is
relatively low. Call centres are labour intensive
rather than capital intensive, constant capital (the
means of production) is low compared to labour
costs. In other words the “organic composition”
of capital is low (less constant capital than vari-
able capital). With auto and steel plants the or-
ganic composition of capital is high: the equip-
ment and raw materials that go into a car or roll
of steel take up more per dollar invested than the
labour that makes the wealth.
Because profit is made from only the labour and
not the equipment and raw materials, i.e. a tele-
phone or car factory only makes money while
someone is working on it, call centres should
have a higher profit rate than auto and steel fac-
tories (more profit per each dollar invested). This
is because more of a dollar spent in a call centre
pays for work bringing in money than in an auto
plant or steel factory, where for each dollar spent
much more of it is going into equipment than the
labour. An hour of labour might produce more in
an auto plant or steel factory, but the capitalist’s
dollar doesn’t buy as much labour there because
more of the dollar goes to the expensive equip-
ment and raw materials. Remember the profit
rate is per dollar invested in both capital and la-
bour, not how much you get out of an hour of
labour which is the exploitation rate.
But outsourced call centres aren’t in a different
society than auto and steel factories, capitalists
can shift their dollars from auto and steel plants
with lower profit rates to call centres with higher
profit rates. Capitalists don’t care about the total
profit as much as the profit rate, since to maxi-
mize profits they need to make more for each
dollar they put in. In this way in capitalist society
as a whole more investment goes for a while into
industries with higher profit rates, until because
of competition from all these capitalists crowding
into call centres the profit rate goes down in call
centres, and goes up in auto and steel factories
from capitalists pulling out and decreasing com-
petition. In this way most of the businesses in a
capitalist society end up with a similar, average
rate of profit. If any industry could do better than
average, and they do, capitalists would crowd
into there and drive the profit rate towards a new
average. This is constantly happening under
capitalism as the economy develops.
So what does this average rate of profit under
capitalism mean for your call centre job? It means
that the profit rate the owner of your call centre
takes in doesn’t just depend on the industry your
calls are in or the call centre industry itself, but it
depends on the whole of capitalist society and
what the average rate of profit is.
From my own call centre company’s numbers
there are different minimum profit rates to do
business in different countries. Profit rates from
centres in underdeveloped ex-colonies are about
150% the rate for an imperialist country like Can-
ada. 40% profit might be super in Canada but
won’t cut it in the Philippines. This is related in
part to less capital-intensive industry (lower or-
ganic composition of capital) in ex-colonies, but
that is changing.
Notice how because call centres will initially turn
a higher profit for each dollar invested (even
though they may require fewer dollars), their
profit rates go down from the competition from
25
the different capitalists getting in to the business.
This means call centres end up charging their cli-
ents less than the value of the calls they take as
the price is driven down by competition. Similarly
in capital-intensive (high organic composition) in-
dustries, because there is decreased competition
from a lower profit rate (less profit per dollar in-
vested because more of the dollar goes to equip-
ment and raw materials that doesn’t do anything
by itself), they can sell their goods for a higher
price than the real value since there is much less
competition.
This means that when you look at what’s hap-
pening from the perspective of capitalist society
as a whole, the value produced by workers in in-
dustries with a low organic composition of capital
is effectively “moved” to the capitalists in indus-
tries with a higher organic composition of capital
by the averaging out of profit rates.
In other words, when you take a call you are not
only making money for the owner of your call
centre but also for the owner of an auto plant or
steel mill. More broadly, under capitalism work-
ers aren’t just making money for their employ-
ers but as a class we are making money for the
capitalists as a class. This is a big reason why
call centre workers should be in solidarity with
their brothers and sisters in auto plants and steel
mills, and vice-versa. This analysis is not obvi-
ous and requires some serious following of the
money, as Marx said in Capital III “The actual dif-
ference of magnitude between profit and surplus
value (money you bring in over your wage) … in
the various spheres of production now conceals
completely the true nature and origin of profit, not
only for the capitalist who has a special interest
in deceiving himself on this score, also for the
labourer.”2
2 Capital vol. 3, Karl Marx, Kerr Edition, p. 198
 The Cuban Five
les cinq cubains
Appel aux parlementaires et aux peuples du monde
Gerardo Hernández Nordelo,
Ramón Labañino Salazar, Antonio
Guerrero, Fernando González Llort
and René González Sehwerert will
soon have served eleven years of
unjust prison terms.
After a devious and arbitrary trial
hearing last June 15, the US Su-
preme Court decided to ignore the
Call to Parliamentarians and Peoples of the World
unprecedented universal clamour
for the case to be reviewed. The
judges preferred to do what the
Obama administration requested
and without paying any attention,
they ignored the solid arguments
presented by the defence and by a
dozen supporting documents signed
by ten Nobel laureates, legislative
Le 1er août, l’Assemblée nationale
du pouvoir populaire (Parlement cu-
bain) a adopté une déclaration qui
est un appel urgent à la solidarité
de toutes les instances législatives
et de toutes les organisations poli-
tiques et sociales du monde pour
exiger la libération immédiate des
cinq patriotes cubains injustement
incarcérés aux États-Unis. Voici le
texte de la déclaration.* * *
Gerardo Hernández Nordelo,
Ramón Labañino Salazar, Anto-
nio Guerrero, Fernando González
Llort et René González Sehwerert
entameront prochainement leur
onzième année d’emprisonnement
injuste.
bodies, hundreds of parliamentar-
ians, jurist organizations from nu-
merous countries including the US,
and personalities defending human
rights, academics, religious people
and others representing millions of
people on all continents.
In this manner, the Court validated
a never-ending series of violations
of law and of legal procedure and
also became an accomplice of the
shameful policy of promoting and
supporting terrorism that has been
and is the substance of the mighty
injustice of which our Five Com-
patriots have been made victims.
The list of those violations is long;
any one of them would be enough
to decree immediate liberty for the
accused.
Immediately after being arrested
in the dawn of Saturday, September
12, 1998, the FBI informed repre-
sentatives of the terrorist mafia and
the mass communications media in
Miami, who started at that time an
unleashed and intense campaign of
hatred and lies that has not ceased,
describing them falsely as “spies”
and plotting with the government to
include the February 24, 1996 inci-
dent as part of the accusation after
they had been imprisoned for more
than six months.
From the moment of their arrest
and during 17 months they were
submitted to solitary confinement,
placed in punishment cells, isolated
from the outside world, in violation
of the very US prison regulations
that limit such treatment to a maxi-
mum of sixty days and is used only
for dangerous prisoners who have
committed serious crimes inside
the prisons. This cruel procedure
has been practiced against them,
later, on several occasions, with no
justification whatsoever, to prevent
them from mounting their defence.
Thus they were again locked up for
several weeks in the ominous “hole”
in June 2001, while they were sup-
posed to be preparing for their only
opportunity to address the Court at
the close of the trial; they returned
to the infamous double incarcera-
tion, under even tougher conditions,
during the entire month of March,
2003, exactly when time was expir-
ing for them to lodge their appeal
before the Atlanta Court.
Throughout more than ten years,
they and their lawyers, have faced
the greatest of obstacles in order
to exercise their rights. They were
denied access to a large part of the
evidence that sustained the fraudu-
lent accusations set down against
them, rejecting more than ten mo-
tions presented by the defence be-
fore the trial began. They remain in
five separate prisons, spread apart
in isolated places over US terri-
tory, whereupon it is very difficult
for them to communicate with their
lawyers. We must add that several
times, always at decisive moments
in the process, the legal correspon-
dence they needed to draw up their
appeal, was not received by them
or it was delayed. Gerardo Hernán-
dez Nordelo never received the
documents relating to his petition to
the Supreme Court that were sent
to him by certified mail at the be-
ginning of this year. This clear and
inexcusable violation of the rights of
the prisoner and his lawyer is an ex-
ample of the constant obstacles to
Gerardo’s communication with the
outside that persist in spite of the
numerous Cuban protests to the
US authorities.
Development of the fallacious trial
was, in its entirety, a macabre farce.
The government insisted that it be
held in Miami where, precisely at
the same time, the scandalous kid-
napping of Elián González was tak-
ing place, a six-year-old child whose
rescue was achieved by Washing-
ton sending Special Forces from the
capital since all the local authorities
and agencies were accomplices
of the kidnappers. The district at-
torney’s office refused to move the
trial to the neighboring city of Fort
Lauderdale, half an hour away.
The government flagrantly lied
when it alleged that Miami was a
suitable place in those days, in a
hostile and threatening atmosphere
created by Elián’s kidnappers and
nevertheless some years later in
2002, when government officials
appeared in a civil lawsuit, they
requested the change of venue
adducing that nothing, even some-
Suite à un procès détourné et arbi-
traire le 15 juin dernier, la Cour su-
prême des États-Unis a décidé de
ne pas tenir compte de la clameur
universelle sans précédent en
faveur d’une révision du dossier.
Les juges ont préféré faire ce que
l’administration Obama a demandé
et n’ont accordé aucune attention
aux arguments solides présentés
par la défense et à la dizaine de
documents en appui signés par dix
Prix Nobel, des instances législa-
tives, des centaines de parlemen-
taires, des organisations de juristes
de plusieurs pays, y compris des
États-Unis, et des personnalités en-
gagées dans la défense des droits
humains, des professeurs, des gens
de religion et d’autres, représentant
des millions de personnes sur tous
les continents.
La cour a ainsi validé une série
d’atteintes à la loi et à la procédure
juridique et s’est fait complice de la
promotion de la politique éhontée
d’encouragement et d’appui au ter-
rorisme, qui a été et qui demeure le
fond de la grande injustice dont sont
victimes nos cinq compatriotes. La
liste de ces violations est longue et
chacune d’elle suffirait à justifier le
décret de la libération immédiate
des accusés.
Immédiatement après leur arres-
tation le matin du samedi 12 sep-
tembre 1998, le FBI en informait les
représentants de la maffia terroriste
et les masse-médias de Miami, qui
déclenchèrent à ce moment-là une
campagne intense de propagande
haineuse et de mensonges qui n’a
pas cessé depuis, les qualifiant
à tort d’« espions » et complotant
avec le gouvernement pour inclure
l’incident du 24 février 1996 dans
les chefs d’accusation après qu’ils
furent emprisonnés depuis plus de
six mois.
Du moment de leur arrestation et
durant 17 mois, ils furent soumis
à l’isolement solitaire, placés dans
des cellules de châtiment, isolés
du monde extérieur, en violation
des règles du système carcéral
américain qui limitent ce traitement
à un maximum de soixante jours et
qui n’en permettent l’utilisation que
dans le cas de dangereux prison-
niers ayant commis des crimes
graves à l’intérieur de la prison.
Cette pratique cruelle a été utilisée
contre eux à plusieurs reprises par
la suite, sans aucune justification,
pour les empêcher de préparer leur
défense. Ils furent donc enfermés
à nouveau pendant plusieurs se-
maines dans l’infâme « trou » en
juin 2001, alors qu’ils devaient se
préparer pour leur unique possi-
bilité de s’adresser à la cour, à la
clôture du procès ; ils revinrent à
l’infâme double incarcération, avec
des conditions encore plus sévères,
durant tout le mois de mars 2003,
soit exactement au moment où la
possibilité d’appel devant la Cour
d’Atlanta tirait à sa fin.
Pendant plus de dix ans, eux et
leurs avocats ont affronté les pires
obstacles dans l’exercice de leurs
droits. On leur refusa l’accès à une
partie importante de la preuve en
appui aux fausses accusations por-
tées contre eux, et plus de dix mo-
tions de la défense furent rejetées
avant le début du procès. Ils sont
restés dans cinq prisons séparées,
réparties sur le territoire des États-
Unis dans des régions isolées où il
leur a été difficile de communiquer
avec leurs avocats. Nous devons
ajouter qu’à plusieurs reprises, tou-
jours à des moments décisifs dans
le processus, ils n’ont pas reçu, ou
ont reçu avec délai, la correspon-
dance légale dont ils avaient besoin
pour formuler leur appel. Gerardo
Hernández Nordelo n’a jamais reçu
les documents relatifs à sa pétition à
la Cour suprême qui lui avaient été
envoyés par courrier certifié au dé-
but de cette année. Cette violation
flagrante et inexcusable des droits
du prisonnier est un exemple des
obstacles continuels à la communi-
cation de Gerardo avec l’extérieur,
qui ont persisté malgré les nom-
breuses protestations cubaines au-
près des autorités américaines.
Le procès fallacieux fut du début
à la fin une farce macabre. Le
gouvernement insista pour qu’il ait
lieu à Miami où, précisément à ce
moment-là, avait lieu l’enlèvement
thing of lesser importance and only
indirectly related to Cuba could be
tried fairly in Miami (Ramírez vs.
Ashcroft, 01-... Civ-Huck, June 25,
2002). The question of the denial of
a change of venue and the prevail-
ing environment there, lead to the
panel of judges in Atlanta on August
9, 2005 to unanimously declare the
entire trial null and void and to order
that it be held in a different venue
(Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal,
No. 01-1..., 03-11087). In an unusu-
al action contrary to US norms and
practice, the government appealed
against this historical decision and
forced the Court of Appeals, by a
divided vote, to reverse it.
On May 27 of the same year, the
United Nations Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention concluded, for
the first time in a case related to the
United States, that the privation of
liberty of the Cuban Five is arbitrary
and in contradiction with the inter-
national covenants due to the vio-
lations committed during the legal
process and urged the US Govern-
ment to immediately take measures
to resolve that arbitrariness.
After forcing the trial to be held in
Miami, the government took other
steps to ensure the most severe
and unjust sentences. In the jury
selection it manifested evident rac-
ism when it succeeded in exclud-
ing the majority of the potential
Afro-American jury members. The
District Attorney’s Office allowed all
kinds of pressure and threats to the
jury members who were chased into
the interior of the building, hounded
by the crowd and harassed by jour-
nalists who were paid by the gov-
ernment and in the service of the
terrorists, to such a point that sever-
al times they expressed apprehen-
sion and concern for their safety;
compelling the judge to complain
and implore the government to do
something to remedy the situation.
The so-called evidence against
them, whimsically classified as
secret was fraudulently manipu-
lated in order to fabricate the main
charges whose falseness would be
acknowledged later on by the gov-
ernment itself and by the Court of
Appeals. Senior military officers,
who appeared as witnesses or
experts and went over the alleged
evidence, stated, all of them without
exception, under oath, that they had
not found anything that implied the
searching of secret information nor
that affected the national security
of the United States. […] The en
banc Court of Appeals unanimously
determined in September 2008 that
there was no evidence that the ac-
cused had “gathered or transmitted
top secret information” nor that they
had damaged the national security
of the United States and thus it de-
cided that the sentences for Charge
2 (conspiracy to commit espionage)
were erroneous, it vacated them
and remanded Ramon and Antonio
for resentencing. Nevertheless, as
an astounding discrimination, even
though it acknowledged that the
same procedure should be applied
to Gerardo, it refused to do so ad-
ducing that a life sentence was al-
ready weighing against him.
As for Fernando González, for
other reasons, the Court also de-
clared the sentence imposed to
be erroneous, declared it null and
void and remanded for resentenc-
ing. We must emphasize that these
“errors” cannot be attributed only to
the Court that imposed the exact
sentences requested by the district
attorney’s office.
There is no greater evidence of
prevarication than the other life sen-
tence punishing Gerardo Hernández
Nordelo for the so-called Charge 3
(conspiracy to commit murder).
The government itself, in May
2001, recognized that “in light of
the evidence presented in this trial”
Charge 3 could not be proven since
it supposed “an insurmountable
hurdle to the prosecution”, it asked
for it to be modified at the last min-
ute and appealed to the Court of At-
lanta for that, in a step that the dis-
trict attorney’s office acknowledged
lacked of precedents (Emergency
petition for writ of prohibition- pages
1 to 8 and 27 to 31). Having been
denied the petition the most unlikely
thing happened. Without one single
question, in a few minutes, the jury
declared Gerardo guilty for an al-
leged crime he did not commit and
scandaleux d’Elián González, un
enfant de six ans secouru par l’envoi
des Forces spéciales de Washing-
ton puisque toutes les autorités et
agences locales étaient complices
de l’enlèvement. Le bureau du
procureur de l’État refusa de démé-
nager le procès à Fort Lauderdale,
à une demi-heure de route de là.
Le gouvernement a carrément men-
ti lorsqu’il a soutenu que Miami était
un endroit convenable à l’époque,
dans le climat hostile et menaçant
créé par l’enlèvement d’Elián, et
pourtant, des années plus tard, en
2002, lorsque les représentants du
gouvernement ont comparu devant
les tribunaux dans le cadre de pour-
suites au civil, ils ont demandé un
changement de lieu en alléguant
que rien, pas même un cas de
moindre importance et relié à Cuba
que de façon indirecte, ne pourrait
être jugé en toute justice à Miami
(Ramírez c. Ashcroft, 01-4835 Civ-
Huck. 25 juin 2002). Le refus du
changement de lieu et le climat qui
existait à l’époque amenèrent le
tribunal d’Atlanta, le 9 août 2005,
à déclarer à l’unanimité le procès
nul et non avenu et à ordonner qu’il
ait lieu dans une juridiction différ-
ente (Onzième Cour d’appel, No.
01-17176, 03-11087). Posant un
geste inhabituel et contraire aux
normes et pratiques américaines,
le gouvernement interjeta appel de
cette décision historique et obligea
la Cour d’appel à la réviser par un
vote divisé.
Le 27 mai de la même année, le
Groupe de travail de l’ONU sur la
détention arbitraire concluait, pour
la première fois dans une affaires
reliées aux États-Unis, que la priva-
tion de la liberté des Cinq Cubains
est arbitraire et contraire aux con-
ventions internationales à cause
des violations commises durant
le processus juridique, et pressa
le gouvernement des États-Unis à
prendre des mesures immédiates
pour corriger cet arbitraire.
Après avoir obligé la tenue du
procès à Miami, le gouvernement
prit d’autres mesures pour que les
sentences soient les plus sévères
et les plus injustes possible. Il fit
preuve d’un racisme évident dans
la sélection du jury, parvenant à ex-
clure la majorité des jurés potentiels
d’origine afro-américaine. Le bu-
reau du procureur de l’État permit
des pressions et des menaces de
toutes sortes contre les jurés, qui
étaient pourchassés à l’intérieur de
l’immeuble, traqués par la foule et
harcelés par les journalistes payés
par le gouvernement et agissant
au service des terroristes, au point
tel qu’ils ont dit à plusieurs reprises
craindre pour leur sécurité ; ce qui
força le juge à porter plainte et à
implorer le gouvernement de faire
quelque chose pour remédier à la
situation.
La prétendue preuve retenue con-
tre eux, arbitrairement déclarée se-
crète, fut manipulée pour fabriquer
les principaux chefs d’accusation
dont la fausseté allait être recon-
nue plus tard par le gouvernement
lui-même et par la Cour d’appel.
De hauts officiers militaires qui,
comparaissant à titre de témoins ou
d’experts, ont examiné la prétendue
preuve ont tous déclaré sous ser-
ment n’avoir rien trouvé qui puisse
justifier le secret des renseigne-
ments ou qui affecte la sécurité na-
tionale des Etats-Unis. […] La Cour
d’appel en formation plénière jugea
à l’unanimité en septembre 2008
qu’il n’y avait aucune preuve que les
accusés aient « recueilli ou transmis
des renseignements top secrets
» ou causé des torts à la sécurité
nationale des États-Unis et décida
par conséquent que les sentences
pour le chef d’accusation numéro
2 (conspiration pour commettre
l’espionnage) étaient erronées, les
annula et renvoya Ramon et Antonio
à une nouvelle sentence. Or, la cour
a fait preuve d’une discrimination
ahurissante lorsqu’elle a refusé de
le faire dans le cas de Gerardo, tout
en reconnaissant que la même pro-
cédure s’appliquait, sous prétexte
qu’une peine d’emprisonnement à
perpétuité pesait déjà contre lui.
Quant à Fernando González, la
Cour jugea pour d’autres raisons
that the US Government itself rec-
ognized that they could not prove.
This is the undeniable evidence
that in Miami that so-called trial
could be nothing other than a gross
lie. Terrified, pressured and threat-
ened, the jury had spent seven
months in a room overflowing with
the same delinquents whom they
had seen in the local media carrying
out the kidnapping of a child, defy-
ing the government and the law and
threatening to set fire to the city and
they heard them demand that the
Court pass the worst punishment
on Gerardo.
In spite of being aware of such
precedents, the district attorney’s
office asked for and got the life sen-
tence. […]
Those who have unfairly incar-
cerated Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio,
Fernando and René show an un-
pardonable cruelty towards their rel-
atives with complicated and frustrat-
ing procedures to get the visas they
need to visit them, thus ignoring
the rights of the prisoners and their
families. Especially outrageous is
the situation faced by Adriana Pér-
ez and Olga Salanueva who have
regularly been denied the possibility
of visiting their husbands. The US
authorities have refused up to now
to allow them the visits, turning a
deaf ear to the repeated petitions of
religious, human rights, trade union
and intellectual organizations from
all over the world.
The way Adriana is treated is so
despicable that it is difficult to con-
ceive. Gerardo has to serve two life
sentences plus fifteen years, he has
not seen his wife in eleven years
and the Supreme Court refused to
consider his case. July 15, exactly
one month after that condemnable
decision and the day of their wed-
ding anniversary, was the day cho-
sen by the Department of State to
communicate her, for the tenth time,
the negation of a visa, alleging that
Adriana “is a threat to the stability
and national security of the United
States”. To the irrational sentence
imposed on Gerardo, this abomina-
ble torment has been added, some-
thing truly sadistic for two innocent
young people; it should be vigor-
ously condemned by all humanity.
By refusing to review the case, the
Supreme Court practically closes
the legal channels for its solution.
All that is left are the next resen-
tences for Ramón, Antonio and
Fernando before the same Miami
judge. We must demand her to free
them now.
We are entering into a new phase
where the responsibility of the ad-
ministration, specifically that of
President Obama, is greater.
The president has the constitu-
tional authority and the moral obli-
gation to see that justice is carried
out. He can and must do so. For
that he must see to it that the prin-
cipal charges being used against
our compatriots are dropped. Both
charges were already severely
questioned: by the Appeals Court
and by his predecessor in the
White House. He has to do this
if he hopes to project an image of
change towards Latin America and
the world.
The terrorists jubilantly celebrate
the conduct of the present adminis-
tration that continues to guarantee
the impunity of Luis Posada Carriles
and Orlando Bosch, guilty of the de-
struction of a civilian flight in mid-air
and the death of 73 people, while
cruelly punishing those who, without
harming anyone, handed over their
youth in order to stop the misdeeds
of these and other criminals.
The National Assembly of the Peo-
ples’ Power demands the urgent
solidarity of all legislative bodies,
parliamentarians and political and
social organizations and people of
good will all over the world and it
calls on them to mobilize and de-
mand the immediate freedom of Ge-
rardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando
and René. We the Cuban men and
women, for whom they sacrificed
their lives, know how to tirelessly
fight until we have them returned,
free, to their grateful Homeland.
Havana, August 1, 2009
National Assembly of the Peoples’ Power of the
Republic of Cuba
que la sentence était erronée, la
déclara nulle et non avenue et
ordonna un nouveau prononce-
ment de sentence. Nous devons
souligner que ces « erreurs » ne
peuvent être uniquement attribuées
à la Cour, car elle a imposé les sen-
tences précises demandées par le
bureau du procureur de l’État.
Il n’y a pas de plus grande preuve
de prévarication que l’autre peine
d’emprisonnement à perpétuité
contre Gerardo Hernández Nordelo
au prétendu chef d’accusation nu-
méro 3 (conspiration pour commet-
tre un meurtre).
Le gouvernement a lui-même re-
connu en mai 2001 qu’« à la lumière
de la preuve présentée à ce procès
» le chef d’accusation numéro 3 ne
pouvait être prouvé puisqu’il sup-
pose « un obstacle insurmontable
pour la poursuite ». Il demanda qu’il
soit changé à la dernière minute et
en appela à la Cour d’Atlanta à cet
effet, un geste qui, de l’aveu même
du bureau du procureur de l’État,
était sans précédent (« Emergency
Petition for Writ of Prohibition »,
pages 1-8 et 27-31). La pétition lui
ayant été refusée, une chose tout à
fait improbable s’est produite. Sans
poser une seule question, le jury n’a
pris que quelques minutes pour dé-
clarer Gerardo coupable d’un crime
qu’il n’a pas commis et que le gou-
vernement des États-Unis admet
lui-même être incapable de prouvé.
Voilà la preuve indéniable qu’un
procès à Miami ne pouvait être
autre chose qu’un grossier menson-
ge. Terrifié, pressuré et menacé, le
jury avait passé sept mois dans une
salle remplie des mêmes voyous
qu’ils avaient vus dans les médias
locaux enlever un enfant, défier le
gouvernement et la loi et menacer
de mettre le feu à la ville, et il les a
entendus demander à la Cour d’im-
poser à Gerardo le pire châtiment.
Bien que conscient de ces précé-
dents, le bureau du procureur de
l’État demanda et obtint l’emprison-
nement à perpétuité. […]
Ceux qui ont injustement incarcéré
Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fer-
nando et René font preuve d’une
cruauté impardonnable envers leurs
familles en leur imposant des pro-
cédures compliquées et frustrantes
pour l’obtention de visas, bafouant
ainsi les droits des prisonniers et
de leurs familles. La situation que
vivent Adriana Pérez et Olga Sala-
vnueva est particulièrement scan-
daleuse. On leur a systématique-
ment nié la possibilité de voir leurs
maris. Les autorités américaines
ont refusé jusqu’à présent de leur
accorder le droit de visite, faisant
la sourde oreille aux pétitions répé-
tées des organisations religieuses,
des droits humains, syndicalistes et
intellectuelles du monde entier.
La manière dont Adriana est traitée
est si méprisante qu’elle est difficile
à imaginer. Gerardo doit servir deux
peines d’emprisonnement à per-
pétuité plus quinze ans, il n’a pas
vu sa femme depuis onze ans et la
Cour suprême a refusé de revoir son
cas. Le département d’État a choisi
le 15 juillet, exactement un mois
après cette décision condamnable
et le jour de leur anniversaire de
mariage, pour annoncer à Adriana,
pour la dixième fois, le rejet de sa
demande de visa, alléguant qu’elle
« est une menace à la stabilité et
la sécurité nationale des États-Unis
». À la sentence absurde infligée
à Gerardo, s’ajoute cet abominable
tourment, quelque chose de vrai-
ment sadique pour ces deux jeunes
personnes innocentes. Ce geste
doit être condamné avec vigueur
par l’ensemble de l’humanité.
En refusant d’examiner cette af-
faire, la Cour suprême ferme, en
pratique, les voies légales de sa so-
lution. Tout ce qui reste est le réexa-
men des sentences de Ramón, An-
tonio et Fernando à Miami devant
la même juge. Nous devons exiger
qu’elle les libère immédiatement.
Nous entrons dans une nouvelle
phase où la responsabilité du gou-
vernement, en particulier celui du
président Obama, est encore plus
>> Pp. 36
 S’organiser pour dire
non à la guerre
Sommet populaire québécois
contre la guerre et le militarisme
Au Canada et encore plus au
Québec, la majorité des gens
s’oppose fermement à la
guerre en Afghanistan. Mais
la démocratie bourgeoise
n’étant pas véritablement
démocratique, Stephen Harp-
er continue cette guerre qui
dure maintenant depuis 8 ans
sans problème. C‘est aussi un
virage militaire complet que
prend le gouvernement con-
servateur.
En 1990, 10% des forces militaires canadienne
étaient engagées dans des missions des Casques
bleus. Aujourd’hui, elles ne sont plus que 0,08%,
soit seulement 56 soldats! Des dépenses sup-
plémentaires de 490 milliards de dollars ont été
annoncées pour les 20 prochaines années et le
recrutement militaire des jeunes devient de plus
en plus agressif dans les médias et sur les cam-
pus des collèges et des universités.
C’est dans ce contexte que le collectif Échec à
la Guerre organise un sommet populaire con-
tre la guerre et le militarisme en mars 2010. Ce
sommet sera d’une importance majeure pour le
mouvement pour la paix et anti-impérialiste au
Québec. Il arrive deux ans après le succès des
Audiences populaires pour le retrait des troupes
canadiennes de l’Afghanistan de février 2008,
qui avaient réussies à faire converger pour une
première fois les oppositions à la guerre.
Le collectif
Créé en 2002 et développé durant la vague
de protestation contre la guerre en Irak, le col-
Par Marianne Breton Fontaine
A People’s Summit in Quebec
against war and militarism
Most people oppose the Afghanistan war, but
Canadian will not withdraw the troops. In this
context, le collectif Échec à la guerre is organiz-
ing a People’s Summit against war and militarism
in March 2010.
The important summit comes two years after the
popular success of Quebec-wide hearings for the
withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan
in February ‘08. Peace rallies have been get-
ting smaller in size, and an annual protest is not
enough to stop the imperialist war machine. We
don’t know if Canadian participation will end in
2011 as Harper says. The war has now spread
to Pakistan.
Thus the summit’s main goal is to strengthen the
Quebec anti-war and anti-militarism movements.
That means exposing the media’s pro-war lies,
especially the claim that the war is for women’s
liberation, and that we must respect our NATO
commitments. To respond, two booklets were
drawn up before the summit’s (the article pres-
ent’s excepts).
But talking is not enough and doesn’t replace
mobilization. We should be concerned that there
is no demonstration this year. Protests stopped
the Liberal’s from sending Canada into Iraq.
The Conservative’s speak for the imperialists,
and see Afghanistan’s geo-political significance.
Therefore the struggle against militarism Canada
contributes to a much broader struggle against
extreme right and capitalism.
The Summit will be held from 19 to 21 March 2010 in Montreal. For
more information (also in English - People’s Summit Against War and
Militarism):
www.echecalaguerre.org.
30
lectif Échec à la guerre est un regroupement
d’organisations sociales et politiques qui se ral-
lient sur le principe de s’opposer à toute guerre
d’agression, à toute volonté de domination ou de
contrôle entre pays, nations ou autres commu-
nautés humaines. C’est notamment ce collectif
qui a prit les devants au Québec du combat con-
tre la guerre en Afghanistan.
Vers le sommet
À chaque année depuis l’invasion de l’Afghanistan,
l’Alliance canadienne pour la paix et Échec à la
guerre appellent à une manifestation pancana-
dienne contre cette guerre. Mais manifester une
fois par année n’est pas suffisant pour arrêter la
machine de guerre impérialiste du Canada. Sans
compter que dans les dernières années, le nom-
bre de participants et participantes aux marches
s’est amoindri.
Et ne soyons pas dupes; rien ne garantit qu’en
2011, la participation canadienne sera défini-
tivement terminée. C’est, comme le dit Stephen
Harper, «la mission telle que nous la connaissons
actuellement» qui prendra alors fin. Depuis 2005,
la situation n’a fait qu’empirer et cette guerre dé-
borde maintenant des frontières afghanes. Ainsi,
l’objectif principal du Sommet est de renforcer le
mouvement québécois d’opposition à la guerre
et au militarisme en ce qui a trait à sa réflexion,
à ses revendications et à son unité d’action,
comme le mentionne le collectif dans son com-
muniqué.
Pour se faire, il faut s’attaquer aux mensong-
es pro-guerre véhiculés dans les médias. Le
plus populaire est sans doute celui qui dit que
l’invasion de l’Afghanistan avait comme dessein
la libération des femmes. Vient ensuite les idées
que nous ne pouvons nous retirer immédiate-
ment du pays et que nous devons respecter
nos engagements face à l’OTAN. Pour répon-
dre à ces mensonges, deux brochures ont été
produites en préparation du sommet. Voici un
extrait de chacune :
«En janvier 2002, G.W. Bush déclarait : « Le
drapeau américain flotte de nouveau au-dessus
de notre ambassade à Kaboul (…). Aujourd’hui
les femmes sont libres! ». Ainsi, la libération
des femmes afghanes était présentée comme
l’objectif principal de cette guerre déclenchée au
lendemain du 11 septembre 2001. Rappelons-
nous cependant que les talibans étaient au pou-
voir depuis 1996, que la situation d’oppression
vécue par les femmes afghanes était connue
et largement dénoncée par des féministes par-
tout dans le monde et que ni les États-Unis, ni
d’autres puissances occidentales ne semblaient
en faire grand cas. Comme le dit la féministe
Christine Delphy, « Les États-Unis n’ont que faire
des droits des femmes. Pas plus en Afghanistan,
qu’au Koweït, en Arabie-Saoudite ou ailleurs. Au
contraire, ils ont sciemment et volontairement
sacrifié les Afghanes à leurs intérêts. » Brochure
«Mener la guerre pour le bien des femmes... vrai-
ment?», en collaboration avec la Fédération des
femmes du Québec.
«Les membres de l’OTAN sont responsables d’au
moins 75 % des dépenses militaires mondiales,
allouant maintenant 1 000 milliards de dollars
US par année à cet effet. En dollars constants,
les dépenses militaires de l’OTAN ont augmenté
de 31 % de 2000 à 2008. Le déséquilibre des
forces au sein de l’OTAN est illustré par le fait
que les États-Unis sont à eux seuls responsables
de la moitié des dépenses militaires mondiales.»
Bochure «L’OTAN : alliance défensive ou instru-
ment de guerre ?».
Cette campagne pré-sommet est d’autant
plus importante que la propagande pro-guerre
s’intensifie. L’armée canadienne s’est donné
comme objectif de trouver 13 000 nouvelles re-
crues cette année et elle a besoin de justifier ses
interventions à l’étranger. De plus, le gouverne-
ment conservateur doit défendre les dépenses
militaires en constante expansion qui survien-
nent au moment où nous traversons la crise
économique.
Parler ne suffit pas
Si le sommet est un grand pas en avant pour
l’unité du mouvement anti-guerre, il est loin d’être
suffisant et ne rem- place en rien
la mobilisation dans 31 les rues. Le
fait que cette année, il n’y aura pas d’appel à une
manifestation pancanadienne contre la guerre en
Afghanistan est inquiétant.
Seul une mobilisation de masse peut vraiment
changer le cours des choses. Rappelons-nous
que c’est la mobilisation populaire contre la
guerre en Irak qui à forcer le gouvernement
libéral d’alors à ne pas participer officiellement
à cette guerre. Les conservateurs sont très bien
informés des enjeux et n’ont rien à faire de la dé-
mocratie et de l’opinion de la majorité. Ils défend-
ent les intérêts des impérialistes et l’Afghanistan
est un enjeu stratégique pour eux. La main mise
sur l’Afghanistan, c’est une porte d’entrée ouverte
au coeur du Moyen-orient et de ses ressources
pétrolières ; C’est un point stratégique pour con-
trer l’influence de deux puissances concurrentes
: la Chine et la Russie.
C’est pourquoi la lutte contre le militarisme ca-
nadien s’intègre à une lutte beaucoup plus large
contre l’extrême droite et le capitalisme. Travail-
lons pour que ce soit chose comprise au sommet
populaire québécois contre la guerre et le mili-
tarisme. Le Sommet aura lieu du 19 au 21 mars
2010 à Montréal.
Pour plus d’information (also in english - People’s Summit Against War
and Militarism) : www.echecalaguerre.org.
mad activist skills 101
Understanding Racism,
Sexism, and Heterosexism
Rebel Youth reprints edited notes from a talk by Asad Ali given at the March
09 Young Communist League’s Ontario school, and developed further at
the August 09 YCL school. We reprint this here as one perspective on a
important question, with the hope that it will be of interest not just to other
YCLers but all people in the broad movement for social justice. We welcome
dialogue on how to better understand and address racism, sexism and het-
erosexism. (If you would like a copy of the full notes, unedited, please write
rebelyouth@ycl-ljc.ca and we will put you in touch with the author.)
by Asad Ali
Why is understanding racism, sex-
ism, and heterosexism important?
Do we here today reflect the full
potential of a revolutionary organi-
zation? Does racism, sexism, het-
erosexism exist outside the YCL?
If you think it does, are we immune
from it?
No one is immune from the racism,
sexism and heterosexism. We can’t
overthrow capitalism in Canada by
ourselves as we exist today; the
revolutionary movement will need
to include broader sections of peo-
ple of colour, women, and queers if
we’re going to have a chance. This
talk is about some of the things we
need to understand so we can grow
even further than we already have.
1. We need to understand
racial and patriarchal su-
premacy, and the liberation
from it, as historical and so-
cial processes. These aren’t
arbitrary oppressions that divide the
working class. For example, there
is discrimination against left-hand-
ed people too, but why don’t we
find capitalists dividing workers into
right-handed workers who oppress
left-handed workers? The process-
es of racism, sexism, and hetero-
sexism are not arbitrary; they are
historical processes, like capitalism,
that predate capitalism. Fredrick
Engels in The Origins of the Family,
Private Property, and State explains
how these processes develop with
private property and pre-capitalist
economic systems, how patriarchy
developed so men (fathers specifi-
cally) could keep control of private
property while the state developed
so one people could dominate other
peoples. Similarly, the movement
to liberate ourselves from these
historical and social oppressions
is also historical and social; like the
class movement against capitalism
it is rooted in our development as
humanity.
2. There are social process-
es that maintain racial and
patriarchal supremacy, and
social processes are also
trying to break out of it. This
is not a “zero sum game.” Capital-
ism uses these pre-existing sys-
tems of oppressions and transforms
them, but they do exist apart from
capitalism because they are rooted
in pre-capitalist systems of produc-
tion that haven’t disappeared even
though capitalism is the dominant
one. Religion also is closely tied
with different forms of racism in
terms of why some peoples adopt-
ed certain religions throughout their
communities. It’s no accident that
the northern Germans and Swedes
are Protestants while the French,
Spanish, and Italians are Catho-
lics. Religions were adopted by
32
different people as part of a histori- Karl Marx said “there is something
cal and social process as well. in human history like retribution:
and it is a rule of historical retribu-
3. Recognize denial and tion that its instrument be forged not
dodging admission of privi- by the offended, but by the offender
leges as a “defense mecha- himself.” (The Indian Revolt, New
nism.” When getting screwed York Tribune, Sept. 16 1857). What
over, we can usually feel it in our Marx is saying is that there is such a
gut – even if we don’t understand thing as payback. In this particular
case Marx was criticizing the British
how we’re getting screwed over. It’s
public for being horrified at the tac-
good to trust your gut in those situa-
tics of Indian revolutionaries. If they
tions. But if you know you don’t fully
wanted to see the source of the hor-
understand racism, or sexism, or
ror, Marx said, look instead at how
heterosexism, don’t trust your gut.
the British were treating the Indians
Instead, slow down, take a breath,
and others before the revolution.
if you feel a “defense mechanism”
Take the sexist and male suprema-
kicking in, and consider where it’s
cist attacks Thelma and Louise
going. It might best better not to say
went through in the famous movie
something, even if you don’t see
of that name. If this wasn’t consid-
why it is racist, sexist, or heterosex-
ered, you might end up just blaming
ist. Avoid jumping to an opinion.
Thelma and Louise for the violence
You might not “get” the issue yet, so
– instead of recognizing what they
avoid giving uninformed opinions.
are giving payback to.
Realize your own role in the his-
torical systems of racism, sexism,
5. How can we perpetuate
heterosexism and check yourself
anti-racist, anti-patriarchal,
before you dodge an uncomfortable
and queer liberation? We
responsibility.
should support the development
of leadership of people of colour,
4. What are the ways white,
women, and queers, and orient our-
male, and straight suprem-
acy are perpetuated? What selves towards the organizing hap-
pening within communities of peo-
ways are people of colour, women,
ple of colour, women, and queers.
and queers kept in their place – or
If we’re not aware of the organizing
even threatened? Maybe it’s just a
happening in these communities it is
suggestion that things could get ugly
not because it is not happening – it
for them. Could we be reproducing
just seems that way because we’re
or repeating stereotypes, jokes,
not paying attention. In personal
behaviors, references? What is
interactions, be aware of interrupt-
the role of the news and media in
ing and listen: pay attention. Social
perpetuating white supremacy, and
movements that are here today are
how might we be playing into that?
not necessarily what will be around
Taking racism, sexism, and hetero-
tomorrow. This is different from
sexism out of an analysis of any
tokenism (which is just including a
news event can give twisted results
representative for formality’s sake)
that can be the opposite of what is
instead of connecting with the pro-
actually going in.
cess of change, revolution.
6. Conduct meetings, events,
and ourselves everywhere
not just for today’s YCLers
but for future YCLers who
will be joining us from com-
munities we haven’t reached
yet. Would we act the same way
if they were here today? Would
the people of colour, women, and
queers who will be joining the cur-
rent YCL people of colour, women,
and queers find our group to be dif-
ferent in terms of racism, sexism,
heterosexism than other groups out
there? We should make sure that
we don’t tell jokes or make com-
ments that perpetuate the racism,
sexism and heterosexism that ex-
ists outside the YCL, echoing the
subtle and open threats that rever-
berate outside.
7. Get the people, issues,
and communities of color,
women, and queers on your
radar. If it looks like nothing is
going on, it probably means you’re
not looking deeply enough or with
an orientation towards what is de-
veloping. As we build relationships
with each other, and learn to recog-
nize each other, our ties will come
in handy when “the shit hits the fan”
and we all need to find support from
people we can trust.
8. Initiate solidarity and sup-
port when people of colour,
women, and queers are un-
der attack. Initiate corrections
and challenges within the YCL and
workplaces and other organizations.
Do the capitalists have a better
sexual harassment policy than we
do? Would we initiate disciplinary
charges against someone for racist
sexist homophobic remarks? Initi-
ate criticism and self-criticism, don’t
leave anyone hanging alone to fight
for themselves as that will be a mor-
tal danger to our organizations.
9. Privilege is not the same
as power. True solidarity is when
it counts, when you have to sacrifice
privilege/comfort to defend those
who have no comfort in the current
situation, and pay a price alongside
those who don’t have a choice.
Solidarity is empty if it doesn’t go
into action when it’s needed and
is just words said from comfortable
positions. Trust is built only when
it counts. If you hold back support
because it makes you feel uncom-
fortable, who is winning: white/
patriarchal supremacy or liberation
from it?
10. Keep reading and dis-
cussing current events as an
exercise. Is a certain news story
part of a racist, patriarchal, sexist,
or heterosexist project? Be aware
of the stereotypes and how you
might be perpetuating them.
11. Don’t be silent or passive
or accepting of anything
just to avoid dominating if
you are white/male/hetero-
sexual, play your role in lib-
eration because no one else
will play it for you.
12. We are part of the social
change we are fighting for
and “things don’t stay stand-
ing.”
If you are not developing forward
on these questions, then chances
are that you are not developing in
the direction you choose – you are
moving in the direction the boss
chooses for you! Stay on top of
these issues, because unbeknownst
to you, racism, sexism, and hetero-
sexism could be staying on top of
you, and using you.
Additional readings:
(1) http://colours.mahost.org/org/whitestudents.
html Ten Things to Remember: Anti-Racist Strate-
gies for White Student Radicals by Chris Dixon
(2) http://colours.mahost.org/org/whatiwish.html
What I Wish I Knew: My Own Goals for Anti-Racist
Practice by Catherine Jones
(3) http://colours.mahost.org/articles/karens.html
The White Collective (a blinding glimpse of the ob-
vious) by Barbara Karens
(4) www.nccri.ie/cdsu-cop.html Anti-Racist Code
of Practice, National Community Development Pro-
gramme, December 1999
(5) From the classics: Engels Preface to Origins of
the Family Private Property and State
www.marx2mao.com/M&E/OFPS84.html
33
L’offensive idéologique sur la
André Luz
jeunesse
Mais il existe d’autres examples,
comme le jeu « Call of Duty » dans
Les contradictions du sys-
lequel, soi-disant, on rejoue dif-
tème capitaliste s’accentuent
férentes batailles de la Seconde
toujours plus chaque jour, et
Guerre Mondiale. Dans tout le
comme les manières de les
jeu, il existe près de 12 niveaux
justifier aussi s’usent, le sys-
et pendant près de 9 niveaux le
tème vit dans une recherche
incessante pour renouveller, joueur commande un soldat allié,
français ou anglais, alors que dans
actualiser et créer de nou-
tout le jeu on joue seulement deux
velles manières de se légi-
niveaux avec l’Armée Rouge, sa-
timer et de faire obstacle à
chant que la première mission du
la lutte des peuples.
joueur est de commander un soldat
qui doit monter une colline mais qui
Le système capitaliste use de toutes
n’a pas de balles car il n’y en avait
ses armes pour tenter de dominer
et de formater les esprits et il a à pas pour tout le monde, comme
on nous l’explique avant même de
son service d’immenses ressources
commencer à jouer. Ainsi, un jeu
pour permettre la diffusion de ses
qui, soi-disant, reconstitue la Sec-
idées. Les jeunes sont naturelle-
onde Guerre Mondiale est fait pour
ment la cible principale de cette
nous donner l’idée que ceux qui ont
offensive. Aujourd’hui, l’offensive
combattu en fait étaient les forces
idéologique se fait sentir partout,
alliées du monde capitaliste, et
dans des domaines de grande
importance comme dans ceux de qu’elles étaient très efficaces, et que
l’Armée Rouge, qui pourtant a été la
moindre importance, et en usant de
force qui a apporté la plus grande
tous les moyens possibles. [...]
contribution, et la plus décisive, à
la victoire, n’y était pour rien, ou en
Dans les jeux vidéos
De nos jours, tout le monde joue à tout cas a eu un rôle bien moindre
que celui des autres forces. Par-
un type de jeu ou à un autre, soit
ler d’offensive idéologique dans les
sur ordinateur, soit sur console de
jeux vidéos peut paraître étrange,
jeu, et il existe mille et uns type de
mais la vérité c’est que le gou-
jeux, de sport, d’action, d’aventure
vernement américain s’intéresse
et encore bien d’autres. Nous
énormément à ce domaine, car des
savons aussi que les plus grands
milliers des personnes jouent, dans
producteurs de jeux vidéos sont
le monde entier, à ce type de jeu,
nord-américains, mais c’est que les
tous les jours. [...]
gens savent moins c’est que le gou-
vernement américain donne tous
Cette offensive idéologique est
les ans 120 000 dollars à l’Armée
forte, car la vérité est que le sys-
nord-américaine pour le développe-
tème capitaliste a ce grand objectif
ment de jeux vidéos. Comme nous
parce qu’il sait très bien que le futur
le voyons, l’Armée nord-américaine
de l’humanité ne réside pas dans
crée et développe des jeux vidéos,
cette société, ce n’est pas cette
qui n’ont rien de jeux innocents. Par
société que les peuples veulent
exemple, dans tous les jeux d’action
et il sait bien que la solution est le
qui existent le personnage est tou-
socialisme. Et c’est parce qu’il le
jours un individu, jamais un collectif,
sait bien qu’il investit des milliers
il est toujours un commandant de
forces spéciales qui se débrouille d’euros dans le développement de
nouvelles manières de contrôler les
seul, et tue tout seul, l’action collec-
idées, mais la lutte se chargera de
tive n’existant pas. Ainsi, de cette
rétablir la vérité!
manière, on défend l’idée que nous,
André Luz est un Membre de la Commission poli-
seuls, arrivons à tout faire et que tique de la Direction Nationale de la Jeunesse
nous n’avons en aucun Communiste Portugaise, Traduction AC pour http://
cas besoin du collectif.
solidarite-internationale-pcf.over-blog.net/
Peoples culture
Resistance in music, movies
The Dils
The Dils were a punk band in Cali-
fornia from 1978 to 1980; in 2000,
the Bacchus archives imprint of
Dionysus records released an al-
bum (Class War) of a live show
plus two studio tracks. A quote the
old liner notes, describes them: “...
simply youthfully rebellious. It didn’t
matter if some members of the
band were admitted communists,
or that they were outspoken critics
of the local scene.” One track, “Red
Rockers Rule” makes it even more
obvious. They are noted as open-
ing for the Clash during the bands
first North American tour. For such
a short lived band, their songs are
well covered: “You’re Not Blank”
was covered by the band Dillinger
Four, while the song “Mr. Big” was
covered by the band D.O.A [D.T.].
The Brat
Attack
The Brat Attack is a rabble-rousing
punk band from Winnipeg who play
songs of protest and resistance.
Their fourth album “Those Who
Sow Sorrow Shall Reap Rage,” is
made up of fourteen songs taking
on such issues as religion, capi-
talism, racism, war, and of course
our favourite advocate for all of the
above: Stephen Harper.
The album is a call-to-arms; it’s fuel
on the fire, it’s a brick in the hand, a
wrench in the gears, and a kick in
the ass. It’s inspirations and incendi-
ary. Perfect for fans of Propagandhi,
Leftover Crack, Anti-Flag, The Fall-
out and The Rebel Spell. Favorite
tracks include “Spark,” “Hey Harper
You Anti-Choice Homophobe Fuck
Die Die Die,” “This Police State
Causes Urban Genocide,” and “End
the Occupation.” Check them out
today at rebeltimerecords.com [SvS]
The Class War
Kids
The Class War Kids are a political
punk group from Newfoundland
playing upbeat yet aggressive ac-
tivist rallying cries. Building on their
last album, they seem to have found
a perfect mix of music and mes-
sage in their new album “Reflection!
Rage! Rebellion!” Fans of bands like
The Rebel Spell, D.O.A., Anti-Flag,
and Propagandhi will love these
fourteen songs of resistance with
healthy doses of humour and anger
packed into just over half an hour.
Favorite tracks include Policeman,
Cherry Poppin’ Conservatives, Riot
2010. Check them out on Myspace
and order “Reflection! Rage! Rebel-
lion! from Rebel Time Records. [SvS]
34
Inglorious
Basterds
Being an avid movie buff can get
a little complicated when you are
a leftist. Most of the films we see
in Canada are from corporate Hol-
lywood and contain the usual right-
wing biases of the movie industry.
Still, there are some flicks which
are able to avoid United States-
Christian moralism and the com-
mon tendency to distort events in
favour of one western government
or another. I would say Quentin
Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards is
one of those films.
The story follows two groups as
they unknowingly work together
towards killing the leaders of Nazi
Germany. The ‘Inglorious Bastards’
are a group of mostly Jewish sol-
diers who operate in Nazi occu-
pied France, while the other major
anti-fascist plotter is a young Jew-
ish girl named Shosanna Dreyfus
whose family is killed in the begin-
ning of the film. Each of the many
protagonist characters continually
and unquestioningly enters into im-
mensely dangerous situations to
fight fascists, many of them dying in
the process.
The movie exits the generic World
War Two film role when it becomes
apparent that none of the char-
acters are fighting for the good of
some western state. In fact, most
of these guerilla warriors display
outright disdain for their bourgeois
masters in one way or another. The
leader of the Inglorious Bastards,
Aldo Raine, even directly disobeys
orders near the end of the film just
to ensure one of the most repulsive
Nazis sees some resemblance of
justice, even though he is order
bound to let the SS officer live.
The idea that these courageous sol-
diers are all Jewish is included with
a positive approach, as well. Never
do these hero Hebrews succumb to
any of the Hollywood stereotypes or
profess to seek any Zionist goals,
unlike those depicted in Adam San-
dler’s 2008 film You Don’t Mess
With The Zohan and others. Like
these, the African Frenchman char-
acter Marcel also escapes any neg-
ative race role, and takes an active
part in the most dangerous scene of
the film.
In the end, this is a Tarantino film
and those not accustomed to this
unique style may be a little shocked.
No part of the violent and sadistic
Nazi method is censored, and the
strange back and forth storytell-
ing which has come to define the
director can be a put off for some.
Of course, if you enjoy the director’s
other films and watching fascists
get unequivocally owned you will
like Inglorious Bastards. ZC
Reviewers
DT - David Tymo-
schuck
SVS - Stephen Von
Sychowski
ZC - Zach Crispin

Legally Blind
Legally Blind is an anti-Olympics,
anti-capitalist punk rock band based
in Vancouver, British Columbia.
They are described by their Mys-
pace page as “three experienced
Vancouver area musicians and one
experienced three chord propagan-
dist united to take the shine off the
2010 Winter Olympics…,” and “like
the Communist Manifesto in Braille,
through a used Boss distortion
pedal.” If that doesn’t make it clear
enough for you, their message can
be easily summed up in a couple of
simple slogans “Fuck 2010” and “No
Olympics on Stolen Native Land.”
In 2008, they released their first
EP titled Best Before 2010. The EP
contains four catchy tracks attack-
ing the corporate five ring circus
and the resulting war on the poor,
environmental degradation, and the
police state. Dead Kennedys fans
should check out “Vancouver Uber
Alles,” for a modern local spin on a
classic punk rock tune. Check out
Best Before 2010 on (Myspace.
com/punklegallyblind)
Street Sweeper
Social Club
Miss Rage Against the Machine?
Well, you probably shouldn’t hold
your breath for a new studio album,
but there’s something else you
ought to pick up. Street Sweeper
What is Dub Poetry?
Social Club was formed less than
a year ago by Tom Morello (Rage
Against the Machine, Audioslave,
Nightwatchman) and rapper Boots
Riley of the legendary hip-hop
group The Coup.
Their first, self titled, album is prob-
ably the first album of its sub-genre
worth listening to since the likes of
Fred Durst hijacked it, turning it into
a mere cash cow and discarding its
progressive roots.
Although Morello’s guitar seems
quite a bit more toned down and ba-
sic than in the days of Rage Against Dub poetry has been around since the 1970s. This summer d’bi.young, a
the Machine, this album is no less Jamaican-Canadian dub poet, as well as a Dora-winning actor and play-
than brilliant. There is no filler here, wright, led a youth dub theater in Toronto. Here is an explanation of dub
no songs that suck, and thankfully from her website, verbatim.
no obnoxious guy in a red hat jump-
ing around screaming about “doing
language
it for the nookie.”
originally story-told in the nation language of jamaica - a mix-up of west-
afrikan languages/english/some spanish/some french, birthed from the co-
Instead there are 11 catchy tunes,
lonial experience of the trans-atlantic slave trade - dub chants in the tongue
each of which carries forward the
of the under/working class. the form speaks to and for the people by break-
revolutionary, anti-capitalist mes-
ing with british hierarchical linguistic rule and grammatically, syntactically,
sage of both Rage Against the Ma-
and stylistically represents the working class experience.
chine and The Coup. Morello has
recently been quoted as describing
musicality
the album as “revolutionary party
at the time of the birth of dub poetry, reggae was urgently making a national
jams,” which Boots has referred to
and international name for herself. in jamaica, dance halls, street corners,
it as “something to listen to while
the insides and outside of tenements were booming with the inventive
storming Wall Street.”
sound. through the storytelling musical culture of reggae music dub poetry
rode-di-riddim into the hearts of the people.
Favorite tracks include “Fight!
Smash! Win!” “100 Little Curses,”
“Promenade,” and “Nobody Moves political content
(Till We Say Go).” Check out Street dub insisted/insists on being a political form. based on the premise that
Sweeper Social Club online at http:// people’s personal realities are a result of political decisions, dub chants
streetsweepersocialclub.com/ about grassroots working-class realities; emphasizing the cause and effect
relationship between political action and social change. this analysis goes
even further to de-construct the socio-economic decisions that lead to pov-
erty and degradation and offers solutions towards change.
performance
dub is one of the many branches of mama afrika’s griot tradishun. this
ancient/present storytelling form demands musical, physical, and vocal
creative embellishment of a story to engage the listener wholly and com-
pletely. live performance has the ability to transcend time and space and to
magically transform a dub poet’s story into a story for the entire village; pri-
oritizing the spiritual connection between the storyteller and the
people. dub is primarily oral. this fact however does not restrict
35 it to the stage.
NO 2010
Cinq Cuban
grande. Le président a le pouvoir constitutionnel
et l’obligation morale de veiller à ce que justice
soit faite. Il peut et doit le faire. Pour cela, il doit
voir à ce que les principales accusations contre
nos compatriotes soient abandonnées. Déjà,
deux accusations ont été sérieusement remises
en question par la Cour d’appel et par son pré-
décesseur à la Maison Blanche. Il doit le faire s’il
souhaite projeter une image de changement en
Amérique latine et dans le monde.

Les terroristes jubilent devant la conduite du

gouvernement actuel qui continue de garantir
l’impunité de Luis Posada Carriles et de Orlando
Bosch, coupables de la destruction en vol d’un
avion civil et de la mort de 73 personnes, tout
en punissant cruellement ceux qui, sans nuire à
personne, ont sacrifié leur jeunesse pour empê-
cher et faire cesser les crimes de ces derniers et
d’autres criminels.
L’Assemblée nationale du pouvoir populaire de-
mande la solidarité urgente de tous les organes
législatifs, des parlementaires et des organisa-
tions politiques et sociales et des personnes de
bonne volonté dans le monde entier et il les invite
à se mobiliser pour exiger la libération immédiate
de Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando et René.
Nous, les hommes et les femmes de Cuba, pour
qui ils ont sacrifié leur vie, sauront combattre
sans relâche jusqu’à ce que nous obtenions leur
retour, libres, dans leur patrie reconnaissante.
La Havane, le 1er août 2009
Assemblée nationale du pouvoir populaire de la République de Cuba
Abolish the HST in BC
dents already pay a criminal tuition fee to attend
college or university. While the Liberals refuse to
raise minimum wage or legislate a living wage
system they continue to increase taxes on those
who fall below the poverty line.
To add insult to injury the B.C. Liberal government
will receive a 1.6 billion dollar payout from the
federal Conservative government to implement
this system. As working people try to balance
meager budgets the provincial sellout continues.
If it was not clear before, British Columbians now
know exactly how much they sell for in the capi-
talist market.
Resisting 2010
ORN
Last issue of Rebel Youth looked at the BC 2010 Olympic games,
un-surrendered indigenous lands and corporate profiteering, and in-
digenous people’s resistance. This issue we look at three other prob-
lems with the games as presented by the Vancouver-based Olympics
Resistance Network (ORN).
Increasing homelessness and gentrification:
It is projected that the number of homeless in
Vancouver will triple from 1,000 homeless peo-
ple since the Olympic bid in 2003 to over 3,200
people by 2010. The hardest hit area has been
Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES), the
poorest off-reserve postal code in Canada. At
present, over 1,200 low income housing units
have been lost in the DTES since the Olympic
bid in 2003. Meanwhile, real estate speculation
and gentrification has led to a projected 1,500
new market housing units, primarily condomini-
ums, being built in the DTES. According to a
report by the Geneva-based Centre on Housing
Rights and Evictions, the Olympic Games have
displaced more than two million people around
the world over the last 20 years. This figure does
not include the estimated additional 1 million dis-
placed due to the Beijing Games.
Unprecedented destruction of the environ-
ment: This includes massive deforestation in the
Callaghan Valley to build the Whistler Olympic
Center, clearcuts of Cypress Mountain which
is a designated 2010 venue location; massive
sand and gravel mining operations to build con-
struction materials; and the destruction of Ea-
gleridge Bluffs due to the Sea-to-Sky Highway
construction. In 2007, 71-year
old Pacheedaht
36
elder Harriet
Nahanee and 78-year old environmentalist Betty
Krawcyzk were two of the arrested at a blockade
opposing construction at Eagleridge Bluffs. Har-
riet Nahanee contracted pneumonia at the Sur-
rey Pre-Trial Center. She died a few days later,
while hospitalized, on Feb. 24, 2007.
Repression of dissent: Anti-Olympic activists
are already being subjected to heavy surveil-
lance and repression and countless people,
particularly Indigenous defenders, have been
intimidated and harassed by CISIS and VISU
(Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit). A
May 2008 CSIS Threat Assessment document
notes that “opposition to the 2010 Olympic
Games is most noticeable amongst the more
extreme elements of First Nations communities
in conjunction with groups like No One is Illegal,
the Anti-Poverty Committee, and the Downtown
Eastside Residents Association.” Protest pens,
fenced-in areas for demonstrators that are iso-
lated from the public, and control of political dis-
plays are already planned for the Games under
the guise of “free speech zones”. Sociologist
David Lyon has dubbed Vancouver 2010 “the
Surveillance Games” since security operations
will include over 13,000 RCMP, military & other
security personnel as well as joint US-Canada
military & North American Aerospace Defence
Command operations. The 2010 security budget
is estimated at $1 billion, almost five times the
original estimate of $175 million. In the name of
“national security”, additional funding is provided
to law enforcement and security agencies to pro-
cure advanced technologies, such as Closed Cir-
cuit TV’s, that are used well beyond the duration
of the Games.
PHOTOS: Top - Harriet Nahanee’s arrest; Right -
Manitoba students protest rision tuition in 2008
Student struggles
dent unions the CFS, setting up front groups, and
working with ultra-right forces like Zionists and
anti-Abortionists;
Attacks on several Public Interest Research
Groups in Nova Scotia and Ontario
The interference of MP Peter Kent’s office, with
the collusion of senior university administrators,
in the York Federation of Student’s elections;
Continued attacks on student groups in solidarity
with Palestine.
This goes much further than previous efforts, like
the Ontario Conservative Campus Association’s
“Millennium Leadership Fund” (a secret fund ac-
tive since 2000 and used to support Conservative
students “taking back” student unions). We ex-
press our strong condemnation of these actions
which should signal a high alert to all democratic
student organizations.
High schools: This meeting of the Cen-
tral Committee of the Young Communist League
of Canada should also expresses extreme con-
cern at the recent announcements of provincial
governments across Canada regarding pub-
lic secondary school funding and legislation.
In British Columbia the Campbell Liberals are
again pressuring school boards to make mas-
sive cuts, forcing them to pay for an increase in
Medical Plan service rates, and over $122 million
in cuts, plus cuts to sports. In Alberta the prov-
ince has recently imposed a wage settlement on
teachers and is implementing $56 million in cuts.
We also express alarm of recent announce-
ments in legislation. The province of Alberta
is putting forward legislation under the Alberta
Human Rights code for parents to opt-out of
lessons on religion, sex and sexual orientation
(which parents already have the ability to do un-
der the School Act). Education on sexual health
and countering homophobia, as well as faiths
other than the Christian faith, is a right of the
youth and can not be taken out of their hands.
In Ontario the province is proposing the Student
Achievement and School Board Governance
Act and has only allowed email consultation.
This draconian legislation attacks the local de-
mocracy and autonomy of school boards, limit-
ing their ability to fight a coming wave of cuts. or wilfully distort. This is understandable, as they
fear what takes place in Cuba - in so far as there
We note that nowhere in Canada are our schools is any suppression taking place, it is suppression
adequately funded, which will require billions of of the interests and ambitions of capital; suppres-
dollars. That money is in the corporate purse. sion of those which would turn the clock back to
We declare that teachers working conditions are before the victory of the July 26th Movement;
students learning conditions and call for youth suppression of the enemies of socialist democ-
and students to stand with educators in opposing racy who would trample on the progress made
these attacks! These issues should be brought by the Cuban people. For this, Cuban democracy
to the attention of our conference calls of post- deserves our attention, our study, and our admi-
secondary and high school activists. ration in this 50th Revolutionary year.
(Endnotes)
1 Sources: VicNews.com, “Youth employment centre job
High school politics
vacancies plummet,” Aug. 12; Winnipeg Free Press, “Worst year on ers and administration is mixed and not yet clear
record for students seeking work,” Aug 14 – but what has already been accomplished is im-
pressive. It’s not a way to change an entire so-
FOCUS: CUBAN ciety, or even an entire educational system, but
DEMOCRACY it is something else – a way to create a political
ernment of people is replaced by the administra- space. Coupled with serious proposals for action,
tion of things.” No candidate at any level of gov- this will create, at a minimum, a better school.
ernment can be installed without a majority (i.e. And if it works, which it has a lot of potential to, it
more than 50%, not just a plurality as so often can provide a model for similar projects at other
happens in ‘first past the post’ electoral systems) schools. Creating some sort of a leftist activist
of the votes cast in his or her local constituency, club hasn’t worked, and I’ve certainly tried. And
and once elected, representatives are bound to that sort of a format, at least right now, is not ac-
regularly return to their constituencies in person cessible to working class students. A group that
to hear the concerns and demands of the people focuses on immediate concerns within the school
they represent. All these conditions placed upon welcomes a diverse group of people with similar
elected representatives extend to all levels of concerns into a potentially very political space
government – including senior figures like Cas- they might not otherwise find themselves in.
tro (it is worth pointing out that neither Fidel nor
Raul are appointees, but elected and subject to High schools are places which present real prob-
the same rules as other representatives). Most lems for students, but those same students have
elected officials do not even receive a salary and real potential to fight for a better society.
continue with their previous jobs (as far as pos-
sible and practical) whilst acting as the people’s
representatives. The contrast between Cuba and
bourgeois democracies like Canada and the US
could hardly be more profound.
Those voices hysterically denouncing Cuba, par-
ticularly those emanating from the notorious ul-
tra-right base of exiled Cubans in Florida, should
ask themselves: Does your democracy allow for
elected representatives to be recalled at any
time? Does your government consist of ordinary
workers receiving an average worker’s wage? Do
your elections take place free from billion dollar
media and corporate manipulation? The reality is
that Cuba, when compared to virtually any coun-
try in the world but particularly when compared to
countries like the US or Canada, is democratic
in a way that bour- geois inter-
ests either do not
37 comprehend
 In Vancouver, get Rebel Youth at
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Bookstore
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News for the youth and student movment across
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BLOG FEATURE
I was interested the forms now posted on this screen. such as one explaining the term
in doing this as He explained that in order to volunteer I rice Christian. Are these missions
I had wanted to had to be all of the things on the qualifi- simply doing good work or exploit-
volunteer but cations sheet (1st image) Well I looked ing a person down on their luck?)
was always too at the form and thought “this is why we
busy working at separate church and state”. I questioned the legality of this set
a minimum wage of forms. It’s a church, albeit a right-
job that I didn’t I had two choices: either I lied through wing church by the sounds of it so I
enjoy. I thought my teeth to accomplish my goal of get- did not push the matter. “Oh well” I
I’d try out the ting a volunteer posistion, or I just say I thought. I had school to worry about
soup kitchens in am anything but the things on that form. first, and bills to pay, before I find
Winnipeg. The Qualifications Form and me: out more on that. And finding out
more through a government office in
Well, there were 1. I’m not born again. NDP Doer’s Manitoba is like pulling
many to choose 2. I consider myself Catholic and hardly teeth. Sort of like filing for EI. “Meh”.
from: Winnipeg in any congregation. I just say I am not all of the things
Harvest which 3. Well, okay I guess I can agree with the form says I should be for vol-
was the major this one. unteering. So, that said and done,
foodbank, Si- 4. I enjoy a good drink now and then. the church man was kind enough to
loam mission And I still smoked back then. suggest Winnipeg Harvest.
In 2005, I was a 5. I’m gay nothing wrong with that. Ex-
youth starting which had just moved into a recently
out in university closed down garment factory (which cept in the eyes of Union Gospel, I’m Next time I feel like working at a
and interested moved production overseas), and Damned. soup kitchen, I’ll find the local food
in a provincial Union Gospel Mission, which had for- 6. Who knows, but I’m guessing a big not bombs.
government tress like buildings in skid row areas of NO on this one.
program that the city. On a whim I decided to hit the Read stories of young workers and
gave students Union gospel one first. A man greeted (After this episode I was interested in student’s lives, as well as other up-
tuition money for me and buzzed me in. And I was told the history of such missions and found dates on news and information on
so many hours of to wait. Another man showed up and some books interesting among them Rebel Youth magazine blog. Make
volunteer work. called me into his office and showed me How the other half lives and articles a submission today!

Tories meddle in York
student politics cloak and
dagger style... RY MB
Emails secured through a recent Free-
dom of Information request revealed
that Conservative MP Peter Kent, MPP
Peter Shurman, and senior York Univer-
sity administrators were interfering in
this year’s general elections of the York
Federation of Students. During the elec-
tions York University’s Vice-President
Students warned the students’ union
not to disqualify candidates who were
caught violating the elections rules be-
cause the University and members of
Parliament “were watching the election
closely....” tinyurl.com/lu3ep4
MORE HIGHLIGHTS
Aboriginal Barricade at Wuskwa- Where is Layton's NDP on
tim Hydro Dam: What the media the war in Afghanistan?
missed… David Anton Jacks K. Cariou
I’ve been following some This is an urgent
of the stories about the question for the
Wuskawatim blockade, and anti-war movement,
once again, mainstream regardless of our
media has created a situ- various political af-
ation where the story is filiations. I'm sure
about a group of protest- we're all interested
ers, rather than the core, to hear what Jack
underlying issues faced by Layton has to say on
many Aboriginal people in this issue. The un-
Manitoba: Poverty, systemic discrimination, and fortunate problem is that it has been many
months since he explicitly called for bringing
the consistent denial of self-determination. So I
the troops home... tinyurl.com/mufdgr
decided to do a little research.... tinyurl.com/mopmw6
39
 s.
o f th e Palestinian
tence
p e r il : it ’s the exis
at’s in
e o p le s ’ e xistance th
e Israeli p
It is not th

free palestine!

REBEL YOUTH
FALL-WINTER 2009