0
;

h

a
ONTREAL—Entitled a Con-
, Of Orientation, the Alliance
+ rofesseurs de Montreal
“three days of meetings,
€s. and workshops in: an
to redefine the teachers’
Structure and role. in
be.

posed of 10,000 working
fats in the City of Mont-
ithe Alliance members. lis-
“to their president, Robert
plon, explain the reason for
Ongress.
Pitalism in general and the
fi! system in particular play
i TOle in keeping Quebeckers
4°Ondition of servitude. Mr.
Pon called upon the teach-
j‘8vement to recognize the
ay of conditions and move
j.the mainstream of Quebec
Mining the workers in the
le to correct social injus-
‘that plague our people.
flecting a militancy which
ates the French-speaking
gers of Montreal, he illus-
f¢ the role the government
48ving in further exploiting
a‘emoralizing the teachers.
Without giving them a con-
Quebec has_ unilaterally
ded their working day and
f Geclassified them and con-
a’ to treat them with an
f'alleled insolence.

a'sse and other actions have
*d to disenchant the teach-

fiitd leave them no alterna-

gut to seek allies and new
4 They must dispose of
collective organized
asth in such a way as to
éMplish concrete action.
# is only in alliance with
aVorking class that can we
Re the system,” Mr. Chag-
#Said. “Merci, Mr. Drapeau

December. 1 throughout France, millions demonstrated for
ent at 60 for men and 55 for women. The demonstrations,
Qs the one above in Paris with over 100,000 participants, were
iMized by the General Confederation of Labor and the CFDT.

and Mr. Desmarais (Power Cor-
poration): wage earners learned
a lot, and quickly, thanks to
you.”

Special guests at the meeting
included Michel Chartrand and
Marcel Pepin of the Confedera-
tion of National Trade Unions
and Yvon Charbonneau, Presi-
dent of the Quebec Teachers
Corporation (CEQ).

“The day we take affairs into
our own hands.is the day when
we will no longer be obliged to
beg a place in the system,”
Chagnon said.

The conference was attended
by delegates from about 150 of
the 300 French-speaking schools
in Montreal. They accepted re-
solutions placing teachers firmly
beside the workers in the class
struggle, defining the teacher’s
job as the development of a cri-
tical spirit and a social con-
science in his pupils and calling
for collaboration with workers
in planning the “transformation
of society.”

Mr. Chagnon explained that at
present the role of schools is
essentially to teach Quebeckers

Call for lower
fares over 60

MONTREAL — Deploring the
City Council’s veto against the
adoption of a reduction in
public transit fares for people
over 60 as proposed by the
Urban Community Council,
the Montreal Labor Council
passed a resolution calling on
Mayor Drapeau to support the
Community Council’s decision
for lower fares for older citi-
zens.

LABOR SCENE

by Bruce Magnuson

At the time of writing the
Quebec Federation of Labor
convention is still in session.
But even before its conclusion
it is possible to discern certain
developments within the organ-
ized labor movement in Quebec.
These _ developments, which
have their roots in the all-per-
vading crisis of imperialism and
the capitalist economy system,
inevitably express its internal
contradictions.

A few days prior to the con-
vening of the QFL convention
the Communist Party of Canada,
meeting in convention in To-
ronto to analyze political events
in Canada and chart the road for
the future, had this to say, “At
the present time in English
Canada the breakaway from the
old bourgeois parties and poli-
ties finds a reflection in electoral
support for the NDP. In French
Canada, where nationalist and
separatist policies influence cer-
tain sections of the middle
strata, the hope lies in a united
labor movement moving to cre-
ate a federated mass party of
labor.”

The same policy statement
also emphasized, ‘“‘What is qua-
litatively as well as quantita-
tively new is that a polarization
of class forces cutting across
party lines and the entire poli-
tical spectrum, as well as a
fragmentation within the tradi-
tional bourgeois parties, is tak-
ing place in Canadian political
life.”

The radical stance of the Que-
bec Federation of Labor conven-
tion reflects this process, which

to obey the rules of a society
which operates in the interests
of others.

In an effort to truly democra-
tize the school system immedia-
tely, he urged: “Teachers must
at least take the first step and
integrate parents into the life of
the school, thus returning it to
the hands of the citizens.”

Some of the delegates spoke

of leaving the central council of
the CEQ which unites the entire
70,000 teachers in the province
in favor of the CNTU. This was
viewed as a retrograde step.

Many of the iectures were de-
voted to an independent Quebec
and to support of the Parti
Quebecois.

The entire congress seemed to
consist of these two themes, pro-
letarian awakening and nation-
alism. On the one hand there
was Clear talk of tearing away
the “mask of fiction” and dis-
covering that there is no such
thing as “deprived or unfavored”
persons, but rather “exploiter
and exploited.”

It was explained that real
planning for society could only
be achieved when “the principal
means of production and ex-
change are placed in the hands
of society as a whole and not in
private ones.”

Since the state is nothing but
a political instrument of the
dominant class and can only
serve that class, being a wage
earner for the state or for a
school commission is really not
much different from being a
wage earner in private industry.
And so it must be understood
that the state is not above
classes.

The teachers turn left.

Quebec workers awakening
to labor political action

has been intensified by events
of the past few years, including
the October crisis of 1970 and
the recent struggle around the
La Presse lockout.

There is a deep going and '

broad based polarization taking
place in Quebec society. The
emergence and consolidation of

.a broad common front of organ-

ized labor with farmers, teach-
ers and all sections of working
people, including broad sections
of the intelligentsia is bound to

come at some time.

The appearance of Marcel
Pepin, president of the Con-
federation of National Trade
Unions, Yvon Charboneau, pre-
sident of the Quebec Teachers
Federation, and Paul Couture,
vice-president of the Catholic
Farmers Union, at the Quebec
Federation of Labor convention
would indicate that the process
of common struggle has produc-
ed a new stage in the fight for
labor and democratic unity in
Quebec.

The movement has been and

is subject to petty-bourgeois in-
fluences of nationalism and sep-
aratism using radical phrases
about “a sovereign socialist and
independent Quebec.” (By the
time of publication, however,
the QFL convention had adopt-
ed the following resolution,
based in the interests of the
working people: “The QFL pro-
claims its support for the prin-
ciple of a Quebec possessing to-
tally its right to self-determina-
tion including the right to pro-
claim its sovereignty with the
qualification that this process
must take place according to
the needs and aspirations of the
working classes.”

Nevertheless, Louis Laberge’s
definition of the real enemy as
“a ruling group of government,
employers and the judiciary en-
gaged in a conspiracy of viol-
ence against the workers” is be-
ginning to get at the problem
of monopoly control and the
need for.a common front and a
class struggle approach.

The way the QFL_ finally
comes to grips with that ques-
tion and the relationship of
that to the overall struggle of
the labor movement in the rest

of Canada is yet to be seen and
analyzed.

The only thing that is obvious
at the time of writing is that
the working class in Quebec is
being drawn more and more by
the realities of life into a com-
mon front for independent class
political action.

It is precisely this that the
politicians and the monopoly
controlled mass media are get-
ting worried about. They can be
expected to leave no stone un-
turned to confuse the labor
movement inthe rest of Canada
as to what is taking place in
Quebec, while at the same time
doing everything they can to
divide Quebec labor and try to
turn it inwards upon itself.

One thing is clear beyond
doubt. What is happening now
in Quebec is an_ irreversible
process. Quebec society will
never be the same as it was
prior to the present monopoly
Offensive against the working
people and particularly the use
of the War Measures Act. The
Status quo is under fire and
great changes can be expected
to take place in the relationship
of political forces. :

Organized labor and, all work-
ing people in the rest of Canada
need to examine this‘ process
most carefully with a view to
the fullest understanding of the
motivating forces behind the
developing struggle in Quebec.

The same. monopoly interests
that exploit Quebec workers are
also exploiting workers in the
test of Canada. The political
awakening now taking place in
Quebec is part and parcel of the
same political process develop-
ing in somewhat different forms
in all parts of Canada.

In one way or another, at
some time and in some form the
issues will become joined and
workers in all parts of Canada
will come to grips with their
common foe, the big monopolies
and their state apparatus which
now is used as the weapon to
browbeat and hold labor in sub-
jugation. It would seem by the
speed of current developments
that this time may be nearer at
hand than most of us perhaps
realize.

The tarnished image

The difficulties encountered by
monopoly in projecting its
“image” become evident if you
listen to some of the advertising
blurbs dreamed up by Canadian
admen. If at one time capital
was proud of its unleashed pro-
duction and productive capabil-
ity, this is no longer the case. In
the past it could flaunt the view
that people were. needed for
production; after the impact of
the revolutionary events of our
century it was forced to change
its tune and say that production
is aimed for people.

Faced with crisis and truth,
monopoly set out to change its
image. Quite suddenly, planning
and production became the or-
der of the day. Alcan, for ex-
ample, announces in mellifluous
tones on a national network how
carefully the company takes in-
to consideration the needs of the
public before gearing for pro-
duction. Domtar demonstrates
its public concern on television
by claiming that it plans for
years ahead. These claims are,
of course, some of the most fla-
grant lies imaginable.

The essence of the problem is
whether the monopolist produces

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1971—-PAGE 5

for profit or the people. Do they
in actual fact take into account
the real needs of the Canadian
populace — for example, their
desperate need for homes?

A Laval University research
group says the massive clearing
of vast areas of timberland to
make way for the James Bay
hydroelectric project could glut
the timber market.

To avoid upsetting the equi-
librium of the lumber market,
the Foundation says the govern-
ment might be better advised to
flood the entire area rather than
cut down trees.

Dr. Andre Lafond, director of
the Foundation, said in an inter-
view the government should be
preoccupied with protecting the
lumber industry by assuring pro-
fitable markets. If all the wood
in the James Bay area were to
arrive on the market at the
same time, he explained, there
is a strong possibility that the
private sector of. the industry
would be the first to suffer .. .

And so it goes. All those po-
tential homes, all that beautifyl
lumber, all those proud Cana-
dian trees—ali- under 60 feet of
water. (AP)