CANADA

CENTENARY OF NORTHWEST RESISTANCE

The Communist Party of Canada joins with other
anadians in saluting the Centenary of the Northwest
Resistance of 1885. The heroic sacrifice and struggle of
the Métis, and their Indian allies, are an example for all
anadians, native and non-native alike. The lives of
uis Riel, Gabriel Dumont, and hundreds of anonym-
Ous martyrs exemplify the best in Canadian democratic
tradition,

The apologists and propagandists for colonialism in
1885 Called these patriotic men and women “‘traitors’’.
To justify their vicious acts of repression, they labelled
the resistance against monopoly dominance a

tebellion’’, Bourgeois historians and racists continue
ES Perpetrate this lie even today. But the resistance of the
Metis and other indigenous peoples continues to hold an
'mportant place in the struggles of the Canadian people.

The Métis people was born through the fusion of the
Indian and European peoples at the beginning of the fur
trade era. They grew toward nationhood during their
Struggle against the monopoly domination of the Hud-
Son’s Bay Company. Their long fight for freedom is older
than Canada itself — indeed Canada was founded largely
On the basis of the labor of the Métis fur traders.

In later times, the Métis were among the first settlers
and farmers of the West, often opening up entire new
districts, only to be driven off by rapacious settlement
Companies which doubly profitted by selling the land to

uropean immigrants and exploiting their labor as well.
In their capacity as workers for the Hudson’s Bay and
Other companies, the Métis conducted some of Canada’s
first strikes, becoming early pioneers of the working-
Class movement.

The colonial Canadian government deliberately
€xcluded the Métis from the treaty process while ‘‘open-
Ing up’ the West. Instead, they were offered ‘‘land
Scrip’’ for small plots of land, in hopes of depriving them
of their aboriginal rights. Faced with starvation, the
Métis were often obliged to sell these scrip for ridicul-
Ously low prices. Many a financial empire began on the

asis of this wholesale ‘‘legal’’ theft.

Against this backdrop of denial of their national and
aboriginal rights, the expropriation of their lands, and

Metis still face repression

Gabriel Dumont, leader along with Louis Riel of the
Northwest Resistance, at Fort Assiniboine in May 1885,
just prior to the battle at Batoche.

racist oppression the Métis sent for Louis Riel in 1885.
Riel had led the Resistance of 1869-70 which fought for,
and won, the creation of the province of Manitoba,
blocking U.S. expansion into western Canada, and sup-
posedly guaranteeing the Métis a place in Confederation.
After being twice denied his right to sit in parliament as
the elected representative of his people, Riel was forced
into exile in Montana, before being recalled to join the
second Resistance.

This time, the Resistance was ruthlessly crushed.
After a farcical trial, Riel was hanged as a “‘traitor’’,
along with other Indian and Métis patriots. Dumont was
forced into exile. The government used its victory to
suppress the incipient resistance developing among the
Indians as well. A period of intense racist reaction fol-

lowed, during which even the most elementary demo-
cratic rights were denied the Indian and Métis peoples.
The difficult and heroic role played by Métis and Indian
women during the Resistance and the period of reaction
which followed is particularly deserving of further study
and recognition.

We appreciate the efforts of some legislators in press-
ing for a belated pardon for Riel. However, we believe
that rather than ‘‘pardoning’’ Riel for crimes he never
committed, the Canadian Government should be press-
ed to acknowledge the contributions he and his compa-
triots made to the building of Canada, and to admit that
he never should have been brought to trial in the first
place.

The Métis took up arms twice — in 1869 and in 1885 —
with the aim of securing a place for themselves in Con-
federation. A century later, whether living in traditional
communities or urban centres, they still face oppression.
Their battles for self-determination, genuine equality,
and jobs have the same roots as those of 1885. Without a
significant land base over which to exercise self-
government, and without effective affirmative action
programs, and funding to drastically improve housing,
schools, hospitals and social services, the further
development of the Métis people will be impeded.

The rebuilding of the Métis people’s movements,
which began during the 1920s and 1930s, with the parti-
cipation of Communists (such as Jim Brady) and other
progressives, has become a powerful force in Canada

today. This struggle is aided by the growing world-wide ~

sentiment for freedom, and by the movement for na-
tional liberation taking place on all continents. The
achievement of equality by formerly oppressed nations
and indigenous peoples in the socialist countries, such as
the Soviet Union, is a further stimulus to this struggle. Its
success will be guaranteed by the solidarity of all the
working people of Canada, native and non-native alike.
The Communist Party extends its best wishes for
successful and productive activities in this Centenary
year, from Back to Batoche this spring to the com-
memoration of Riel’s execution in November.
CEC, CPE
March 12th 1985

a

7”

U.S. dollar antics bode ill for Canada

By EMIL BJARNASON

What accounts for the rise in the
value of the dollar, and what are its
Consequences?

Canadians tend to think of a rise or
fall in our dollar in terms of the ex-
change rate with the U.S. dollar. To-
day, however, we have a contradictory
Situation; our dollar has fallen relative
to the U.S. dollar, but simultaneously it

as risen in terms of other currencies.

T to put it another way, the Canadian
dollar has risen, but the U.S. dollar has
Tilsen much more.

In the case of the United States, the
Overvalued dollar is Reagan’s method
of dealing with inflation. The high in-
terest rates in the U.S. attract capital
from Europe and Japan, seeking high
returns on their money, and also in-
duces U.S. multinationals to borrow
funds abroad rather than at home. The
resulting rise in the demand for U.S.
dollars is what causes the exchange rate
of the dollar to rise so spectacularly.

Since a dollar would buy three Ger-
Man marks in 1984, compared to about
One and a half marks in 1980, one

Merican dollar will buy German
800ds to the value of twice as many
Marks as four years ago. Since the same
thing applies to most other currencies,
ts Prices of all imported goods fall
and inflation is brought down.

But the other side of that coin is that
Cause foreign goods are cheap for
Mericans and U.S. goods are expen-

Sive for foreigners, imports rise and ex-

\ Bots fall. Last year American imports

exceeded exports by approximately
$150-billion.

Such a situation cannot last. The ex-
cess imports have to be paid for and
enormous as is the U.S. investment in
other countries, it is not infinite. It will
not take a long period of such deficits to
bankrupt the U.S. Since the bankers
and capitalists of the world are well
aware that the dollar must soon fall,
they must understand that when that
happens, the return on their US.
investments will come back to them in
devalued dollars. Sooner or later,
therefore, the flow of money into the
U.S. will stop, regardless of Reagan’s
policies. When it does, the dollar will
fall and the stimulus to inflation will
return.

In asense, Canada is less vulnerable.
At the moment we have the best of both
worlds. Because our dollar is very low
relative to the U.S. our exports are
high. But because our dollar is expen-
sive in terms of European and Japanese
currency, imported goods are cheap.
So instead of the huge foreign trade de-
ficit of the U.S., Canada is experiencing
a huge, $20-billion trade surplus. In
other words, for the moment we are
enjoying the advantages of both over-
valuation (cheap imports) and under-
valuation (competitive exports). ;

Unfortunately, that trade surplus is
not net income for Canada. A long
succession of pro-U.S. governments
has put us into hock to the U.S. andtoa
lesser extent to other countries. Asa
result, the use of our trade surplus for

the twelve months ending Sept. 30,
1984 was as follows:

Net payments to other countries

for services $ 3.9-billion
Net payment of interest and dividends

to other countries 14.1-billion
Reduction of net debt to rest

of world 1.3-billion

Canada’s net foreign debt has been
reduced by about six billion dollars in
the last three years. In spite of that the
first 14 billion dollars of our trade sur-
plus still goes into interest and divi-
dends on that debt. Moreover the syco-
phantic Mulroney government has
given ample indications that it intends
to promote further U.S. penetration of
the Canadian economy.

Because of that huge commitment for
interest and dividends, Canada can’t af-
ford to let the trade surplus fall. This
means that when the U.S. dollar comes
down to realistic levels, the Canadian
dollar will also decline, although cer-
tainly not to the same extent.

The day when that devaluation takes
place cannot be far off. The U.S. trade
deficit has already drained the coun-
try’s foreign assets to such an extent
that for the first time in 80 years, the
U.S. is about to become a net debtor
country. One more year at this rate and
the net U.S. foreign debt will be higher
than those of Mexico, Argentina, etc.
Moreover, that net debt comprises
huge obligations to European and
OPEC countries partially offset by
investments in those countries and
Canada, plus the huge loans extended

to third world countries in the seventies
when it was imagined that their ability
to repay would be assured by per-
manently high raw material prices. The
absurdly high interest rates which those
countries are now obliged to pay on
their inflated debts, coupled with the
high price of the dollars needed to make
such payments, creates a real danger, if
not certainty of massive defaults, un-
less Reagan’s short-sighted policies are
soon reversed. As Vancouver eco-
nomist Milton Wong puts it, such a de-
fault ‘‘could more than eliminate the
entire capital of the U.S. banking sys-
tem.”

We can be certain that U.S. monet-
ary policy will be soon reversed, either
because cooler heads in Washington
prevail over present policymakers or,
failing that, because the governments
and banks of the other developed coun-
tries force the dollar down. This means
that the U.S. dollar will fall drama-
tically in relation to European cur-
rencies. Canada’s dollar will also fall in
relation to foreign currencies but rise in
relation to the U.S. dollar. This will
create for Mulroney the problera of
how to meet those huge interest vay-
ments out of a declining trade surplus,
and, simultaneously, how to avoic an
upsurge of inflation in the face of the
rising cost (in terms of a deflated dollar)
of imported goods. Such are the con-
sequences of tying our country to the
American chariot.

Emil Bjarnason is an economist and
heads the Trade Union Research Bureau in
Vancouver.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, APRIL 3, 1985 e 5

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