— wanower! | Se, m2 5 em Pye 4 a = YHA . % He made sense... One : back, ene, a few years L Sig Went to a meeting at “Mileg pore That’s about 10 chewan 0m Kamsack in Saskat- reek, if The hall at Stoney a Out’ halt remember rightly, is Ww. a mile off the high- a blu Surrounded by a poplar . Tr The tal was full of farmers. Organi akers were farm union iq _2ers, two of them. They 800d job deploring the eine conditions on the den, backwardness of life, the ee of farm children, about it of facilities. No doubt impresge” their speeches really Afte ed the audience. Me too. the a the speakers were done, ~ Nicely airman thanked them ita us that we were Wel). have had two such Speake Informed and capable that 2s; Then he suggested AUN ; tions. here might be some ques- did g faible A of ww fiure rose at the back builg han He was of wiry SH 's face ‘and neck weather- and by; and his hands gnarled d ae with ingrained grease and hi Sine : His knuckles were big, hands had that huge, Ww too Y, and for his size almost i Working Pe of the hard © began, Ma farmer. In fact, my ‘evening, thinking parents were farmers, and I farm their land. My life has been hard. You might even say it’s been very hard. I know every- thing you’ve told me tonight. Do y'know, I know it better than you, because that’s the way I’ve lived. I don’t need any- one to come here and tell me how tough my life is. My wife’s telling me about it all the time. There’s just one thing I do need to know. What are we going to do about it? What do the speak- ers, who did make some very fine speeches, intend to do about it? That’s all I want: to know. I can see that sympathy isn’t going to help me out of the kind of mess I’m in.” The chairman was very em- barrassed, and suggested that Nick was out of order, shouldn’t ask questions that. Strangely enough, the speakers seemed to be embar- rassed and apologetic when they answered Nick. At the end of the meeting, several of his neighboring farmers gathered around Nick and upbraided him for having behaved so badly. Was he trying to ruin the union, oF something? I drove back to Kamsack that Nick was the ade sense that only one who m er changed my evening. I’ve nev mind.—W.B. Editor—MAURICE RUSH stings St., \ Mrs. MacLeod and the rest of E ; , | ip ; Atte cat ; eee A CALL T0 BATTLE FOR THE RIGHT TO WORK The ringing call of the Oshawa auto unionists for a march of employed and unemployed workers on Ottawa to de- mand a halt to lay-offs and measures to provide jobs for all should meet with the widest response throughout the country. The whole labor movement in Can- ada should rally to the struggle to roll back unemployment, to win the right to work. This is a matter of prime con- cern to all workers, to all Canada. As the Trudeau regime with its new budget further unfolds its offensive on behalf of the Canadian and U.S. mono- polists against our working people, the people are beginning to mount the coun- ter-offensive. Trudeau says that — ostensibly in the the interests of Canada, to curb infia- tion — plants, factories and mines must be closed, a million and more Canadians must be denied jobs, land must lie fal- | low, pensioners and low-income groups e must starve, the middle classes must squeezed out more and more. This is a -policy of regression, of ruin. Labor is beginning to unfold its coun- ter program: that industries must be kept operating, that workers have the right to work and farmers to farm, that ~ living standards must increase as pro- ductive capacity makes possible, that we must march forward, not back. There is no physical reason why we should have depression, unemployment, lower living standards. We have every- thing in our country that is needed to produce and provide our people with the good things of life. We have the plant, the equipment, the land, the raw materials, the means of transportation — and above all, a talented and indus- trious people. What is it then that stands in our : way? Who is it that says we must not operate our industries and resources, that we must not produce the things we need, that we must not enjoy a good life? : a What stands in the way 1s an out- worn system that is based on private The Communist Party of Can- ada expresses its deep sorrow on the death of A. A. MacLeod, an outstanding and widely re- spected Canadian patriot, and courageous advocate of the cause of the working people of Canada. The Communist Party extends its deepest sympathy to his family on this sad occasion. A. A. MacLeod, or “Mac” as he preferred to be called, was a member of the Communist Party for many years. He played an important and leading role in the struggles of the working people during the Thir- | ties and the immediate post- war period. He was a leading figure in the League Against War and Fascism. He played an A. A. MACLEOD ownership by a handful of nati foreign billionaires of our aere eee and our natural resources. They and their Trudeau Government tell us that we are not needed — that our plants ‘must close, the machinery rust, the land overgrow with weeds ple waste away... eta ce oe To the monopolists our industries are investments” out of which they “make money” simply because they have gain- ed possession of them — although they were built by generations of workers on are manned by workers. they cannot make a profit (not be- cause the people don’t need at cone but because they can’t afford to buy them) these coupon-clipping owners shut them down. They do it too when they want to re-tool without having to keep the workers on pay, when they want to drive wages, pensions and so- cial services down in order to compete better with other sharks on the world market, when they want to smash unions and cow workers in order to keep raising monopoly prices. They bring the welfare of the people and the nation’s interest as a sacrifice to their abominable greed. . For the workers, for the people of the country its industries are their heritage and the means by which they make a livelihood and create the nation’s wealth. To close down plants, to lay off work- ers, to let land lie fallow is a -crime against the people, against the country. The Government has the duty to pro- tect the right to work. No enterprise should be permitted to stop or cut down operations without a thorough investi- gation in which labor should be fully represented. The Government should compel employers to maintain opera- tions — and if they refuse, it should be prepared to establish Crown Companies to run them. The right to work must be established as the inalienable right of every Cana- ian. working people, for peace, Ca- nadian independence and demo- cracy. In the late 1950’s McLeod _ withdrew from the Communist Party and from active political life. : As a fearless and _ talented champion of the needs of the people, he earned the grudging admiration of his enemies. It is a tribute to his record as a true Canadian patriot that the capi- talist press, on his death, gave much prominence to him, and that leading capitalist politicians stated they considered. him a “personal friend.” The effort of the capitalist press to claim him as their own is further proof of his outstanding contribution to social progress. Re thed weekly at Ford Bldg., Mezzanine No. 3, 193 E. Ho Couver 4, B.C. Phone 685-5288. Subscription Rate: Canada, $5.00 one year; $2.75 for six months. $6.00 one year. Ort! i i filer South America and Commonwealth countries, er countries, $7.00 one year Second class mail registration number 156! outstanding role in organizing the Canadian Committee in Aid of Spanish Democracy, and the MacKenzie - Papineau Battalion. A. A. MacLeod was founder and first editor of the Canadian Tri- ~ bune. As a leading member of the ~ then Labor Progressive Party he was elected MLA for Bellwoods. During his ten-year term of of- fice he earned the reputation as a skillful parliamentarian, cham- pioning the urgent needs of the ee The young Canadians today who are fighting for peace, pro- gress and socialism are con- tinulng the cause for which he fought so well. Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 20, 1970—Page 3 ahi