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Pro-Canada Campaign
put spotlight on deal

The election of 1988 will be remembered
Not only for its outcome — the re-election
of a Tory majority government — but
because it marked a new stage in the politi-

- Cal struggle for the future of Canada.

Was the verdict of the Canadian voters a
mandate for integration with the United

~ States, militarization of the economy, and

_ attacks on labour and the people?

Contrary to the political pundits, the ful-
lest interpretation of the election has yet to
be rendered. That there will be at least two
interpretations of the results can be
expected, given the character of the battle,
and the magnitude of the stakes.

On the one side of this historic struggle
Were and are the Tories and the largest,
Most influential corporations, both Cana-
dian and U.S.

They had at their advantage the timing of
the election; electoral boundary changes;
billions of dollars in campaign promises; the
Support of all but two mass-circulation
daily newspapers in the country; along with
the television and radio networks; an army
of political “experts”; unwarranted interfer-
€nce in Canadian affairs by President Rea-
8an and Margaret Thatcher; cameo
appearances by political dinosaurs Emmett
Hall, Robert Stanfield and others; manipu-
lation by polls; unlimited dollars for adver-

tising, and smear tactics; access to family

allowance and pension cheques to sway the
Population; plus employer scare-tactics at
job-site meetings and in workers’ pay enve-
lopes. :

On the other side of the battle were and
are the pro-Canada forces involving mass
Organizations of the Canadian people, the

_ trade- unions, the women’s movement,

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€nvironmentalists, peace activists, farmers,
Pensioners, Liberals, New Democrats,
Communists, and a host of other popular
Movements whose combined constituencies

tallied a majority of the population.

This coalition forced the debate on the
trade agreement and shjifted public support
on the trade deal from 80 per cent two years
ago when the Tories first announced it, to

just over 30 per cent by mid-point in the

election campaign.

When Mulroney was driven from his
carefully crafted campaign cocoon half-way
into the campaign, both the Tories and the
deal were in serious difficulty. Canada has
not witnessed such a vicious election cam-
paign, as big business launched a rescue
operation for the Tories.

A massive hysterical attack was unleashed
against the Liberal Party, and to a lesser
extent the NDP, both of which opposed the
agreement. For the first time, big business
could not hide behind its spokesperson in
the old-line parties; it was forced out into
the open, a posture it found uncomfortable.

But a main feature of this election is that
business and the Tories were compelled by
the pro-Canada forces to constantly reas-
sure Canadians that social programs and
sovereignty were not at risk through the
deal.

Simon Reisman, Canada’s trade ambas-
sador, who now “retires” to his directorship
at Weston, gave such assurances. Brian
Mulroney gave his word. The Globe and
Mail (Nov. 1), which predicted economic
chaos if the Tories were defeated, said our
social and cultural “programs are not threa-
tened, directly or indirectly, now or in the
future, by this agreement, no matter what
the critics say.” Our water is not threatened
according to the same paper — “it is not
for sale.” +

The agreement will create thousands of
new jobs and unparalleled prosperity, they
said. Such utterances are a critical compo-
nent in the aftermath of the election. The
timing of the Gillette plant closures in
Toronto and Montreal indicate how perfi-
dious such assurances really were.

Rallies against the trade deal in Surrey (top) and Vancouver...part of the cross-
Canada campaign by coalition groups opposing Mulroney's sellout of Canada.

Despite assurances from big business
and Tory spokespersons, the attack on the
Canadian people, their social programs
and their sovereignty has already begun.

Neo-conservatism, born out of the crisis
of capitalism, dictates this threat. The
attack on the working class, on living
Standards and social programs, on peace,
the environment, on democratic rights
and on sovereignty will escalate in the
aftermath of the elections.

Already, Mulroney’s electoral “advi-
sors” are busy advising Michael Wilson on
how to balance the budget. Phase two of
tax “reform,” involving a national sales
tax, will hit Canadians with a vengeance.
Attacks on social services and regressive
child care provisions are on their way, as
are Perrin Beatty’s nuclear submarines.
More privatization and deregulation,
along with union-busting legislation, are
being considered.

Mulroney was given no mandate to do
this, even by those who voted for the Con-
Servatives.

The unity of all of the pro-Canada for-
Ces is therefore needed more than ever. To
leave the fate of our country solely in the
hands of parliament means to undo the
invaluable efforts by thousands of activists
and give up the field to neo-conservatism.

It would be naive to assume that the
battle will not take on new complexities
because of the Tories’ parliamentary

~ Majority. :
_An added concern for the peoples
Movements needs to be taken under con-

sideration. Some in the popular move-
ments cheered the appearance of the far
right, such as the Christian Heritage Party,
the Libertarians, the Western Independ-
ence, the Confederation of the Regions,
the Commonwealth and the Reform par-
ties in the election as siphoning support
from the Tories.

In fact, these parties, which as the
advanced guard of neo-conservatism are
instrumental in shifting popular thinking
further to the right, capitalizing and misdi-
recting legitimate peoples’ anger. They
reinforced Tory positions ideologically
and garnered almost five per cent of the
vote, placing a solid second in some consti-
tuencies. Attention will need to focus on
this phenomenon in the next stage of the
battle.

It would also be foolish to assume there
will not be an element of defeatism
amongst those who have fought hard for
the defeat of the Tories. Prominent Liber-
als such as John Turner and David Peter-
son appear to have thrown in the towel, at
least temporarily. So, too, has Ed Broad-
bent. They appear to have accepted the
initial big business’ interpretation of the
election.

But those leaders who called the trade
deal “sell-out” during the election must be
called on to continue to fight the sellout
after the election.

It would totally wrong to discount the
capacity of the Canadian people to resist
the Tory sellout of our country, or to write
off the laws of capitalism, which compel

the people, the working class in the first
place, to fight back, despite the Tory
majority in Parliament. It is similarly
wrong to discount the majority of Canadi-
ans who voted against the Tories and the
trade deal.

In the battle for the future direction of
Canada, the matter of an alternative to the
Mulroney-Reagan agreement will be of
increasing importance. To date, the matter
of an alternative to neo-conservatism has
taken a back seat to the fight against the
Tories, rather than being seen as an essen-
tial component of that fight.

The NDP, with 43 seats in the House of
Commons and an even bigger influence in
the mass movements, the trade unions in
particular, will play a vital role in Cana-
dian politics in the immediate period
ahead, and will have to adjust its tactics
very quickly, to regain badly lost ground
in the fight to defend Canadian sover-
eignty and the interests of the working
class and people.

There is considerable soul-searching
going on inside the NDP. Certain forces
would like to blame the mass movements
for the party’s failures. This stands the
matter on its head. The mass movements
did not abandon the NDP. The NDP
leadership turned its back on the biggest
mass movement in Canadian history by
making the trade deal a secondary issue in
its campaign strategy.

In British Columbia, where the party
made defeat of the deal the focus of the
fight, the NDP scored big victories.

The upcoming federations of labour,
the Canadian Labour Congress and the
various labour councils will provide a use-
ful forum from which to prepare the next
stage of the struggle.

Other mass organizations will similarly
be assessing the perspectives for the future.
The Pro-Canada Network will be meeting
in early December to lay out the next stage
of the battle. Other key popular spokes-
persons such as Mel Hurtig, Marjorie
Cohen and David Orchard have indicated
the battle is far from over. Dave Werlin of
the Alberta Federation of Labour has
issued a clarion call to step up the fight,
and that call will be echoed across the
country.

The key will be to maintain and extend
the maximum unity of all of these pro-
Canada forces, learn the lessons of the
round of battle just fought, make the
necessary adjustment to our tactics and
prepare for the next stage.

The Communist Party will continue, to
the utmost of its ability, to assist all of the
movements in whatever ways possible, to
unify and mobilize all patriotic Canadi-
ans.

We will continue to urge our friends
and supporters to step up their efforts for
Canadian independence, peace and social
justice, while at the same time assessing
our own work in the past period in order
to ensure more effective work in this direc-
tion.

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Pacific Tribune, December 5, 1988 « 7