New stage in Quebec

Need united labor party

By SAM WALSH

As Louis Laberge, president
of the Quebec Federation of La-
bor aptly said after the historic
events of Oct. 29, he learned
more that one night than from
10 years of education.

What are then, the lessons uf
that night of demonstrations, of
barricades, and of police bru-
tality?

There are many, but we are
going to deal with five of them
which seem to us the most im-
portant.

First, the breadth of the dem-
onstration, with over 15,000 par-
ticipants and this in spite of
the warnings of Mayor Drapeau
and the police, was due to the
unity and solidarity of the three
trade’ union centres in this
resolute action. This unity of
action should grow, become
permanent, and eventually lead
to organic unity. The La Presse
workers, on the one hand, pro-
vided a good example in refus-
ing to allow themselves to be
divided by the owners of the
paper and by insisting they ne-
gotiate jointly. For the owners,
while introducing new technol-
ogy, wanted to play off one
craft against the other in an
inter-union brawl for jobs. On
the other hand, the solidarity
of the journalists of La Presse
(from members of the Confed-
eration of National Trade
Unions) with the workers of the
craft’ unions (of the Quebec
Federation of Labor) created the
conditions for trade union unity.

Secondly, working class. unity
of action in defending the right
of workers to a say in the intro-
duction of new technology and
the democratic right of demon-
strating in the streets, won the
support of many students, pro-
fessors and others who joined
the demonstration. Only a uni-
ted working class can lead the
struggle for democracy with the
necessary force and discipline
that can attract the support of
other exploited and rebelling
sectors of our society.

Thirdly, thousands of work-
ers and others have begun to
lose the illusion, assiduously

spread by bourgedis and social- .

reformist ideologists, that the
state is a neutral arbiter be-
tween classes. The anti-demon-
stration law adopted by the
Drapeau, «administration was
clearly applied on behalf of the
owners and against the work-
ers. This municipal law has al-
ready been declared by the
Quebec Superior Court, ultra
vires. of the power of the city

of Montreal and therefore ille-
gal. But that decision did not
prevent Drapeau from applying
it, with the accord of Premier
Bourassa’s government, in order
to defend a large monopoly cor-
poration, while still waiting for
the results of an appeal against
the decision of the Supreme
Court.

Furthermore the police, ap-
pealed to by Louis Laberge as
trade union and class brothers,
showed whose side the servants
of the state are on. Not only
that their prime job is to de-
fend the interests of the bour-
geoisie, but the fact that hun-
dreds of policemen charged the
worker-demonstrators with such
savagery and sickening brutal-
ity, that the reformist blinkers
fell even from Laberge’s eyes.
Workers should never forget
this lesson. For, once having
won political power, they must
know what to do with these ex-
ploiters’ watchdogs — who are
incapable of changing masters
to become servants of the ex-
ploited.

Fourthly, this struggle to
make use of technological and
scientific development in the
workers’ interests comes smack
up against the nature of the
capitalist system whose moti-
vating force is the search for
profits for the capitalists and to
hell with the interests of the
people in general and of work-
ers in particular. The CNTU
grasped this essential point
even before these events, so
rich in their lessons. Only a few
weeks earlier the CNTU declar-
ed itself against the capitalist
system, and for socialism. La-
berge of the QFL was annoyed,
and repeated his thesis that

workers built the capitalist
system (which he confused with
the achievements of their work)
and are going to defend it. But
after this memorable night, he
announced that the QFL will no
longer lag behind the other
trade union centres. It is to be
hoped that the upcoming con-
vention of the QFL, which will
take place at the end of No-
vember, will prove that the La-
berges have learned this lesson
well.

Finally, the illusions shared
by a number of trade union
leaders that the Parti Québecois
is capable of representing the
interests of the working class
as well as those of the separa-
tist French-Canadian petit-bour-
geois were rudely shattered.

The Parti Québecois denounc-
ed the demonstration and the
trade union leaders who called
it, and its leader René Léves-
que asked the only PQ deputy
participating, Robert Burns, to
leave the party.

The necessity of a mass labor
party created by the working
class movement, and grouping
all the trade unions, the left
political parties (including the
Communist Party of Quebec)
and other progressive move-
ments together in a federated
party is without question on
the order of the day. Otherwise
the trade union leaders are
guilty of selling out the workers
to the bourgeois or nationalist
petit-bourgeois parties. Or to re-
ject independent political action,
in the fashion of anarchists,
amounts to the same. Such a
mass labor political party is in-
dispensable if workers are real-
ly going to “count on their own
strengths.” ;

Why bar Soviet women?

The following press release
has been received from the Con-
gress of Canadian Women:

We regret to announce that
Otto Lang, Minister of Manpow-
er and Immigration has refused
to issue visas for a 10-day Cana-
dian visit commencing Nov. 15
to two distinguished Soviet
wemen, Olga Ushakova, editor
and head of the English edition
of the magazine Soviet Women,
and Ludmila Tarasévitch-Skirl-
nikova, teacher of. history at the

“University of Moscow.

They were to meet with pro-
minent Canadian women in si-
milar spheres of activity in four
Canadian cities, Montreal, To-

legislation.

crop in the U.S.

Surtax hits farm goods too.

The Nixon surcharge is hitting agriculture: (a) Turkeys
are no longer exportable to ‘the U.S. The Canadian govern-
ment is buying up 3.6 million pounds of turkeys that are now
“surplus” and will be shipping it out under its foreign aid

(b) Potatoes have come under the surcharge. The federal
government is promising action to buy them up.

(c) For Alberta farmers, the following products can have
surcharges slapped on them any day:

Hogs: Alberta farmers export 62% of all Canadian hog
exports to the U.S. Can mean a loss of $1.5 million in
markets for every 90 days that the surcharge is on.

Cattle: Beef weighing more than 700 Ibs. is exempt. Under
700 lbs. comes under the surcharge. This means the huge
“cattle feeder” operation in Alberta can be wiped out. 35%
of Canada’s exports in this go from Alberta.

Barley: Alberta exports 48% of Canada’s total as animal
feed. Liable for the surcharge very soon because of the huge

Grass seed: Alberta ships $1.5 million of red clover seed;
$23 million of creeping red fescue; $300,000 of sweet clover.
Even a $3 million a year market in peat moss is in danger.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1971 —PAGE 8

rento, Winnipeg and Thunder
Bay.

Refusal to permit them to
step on Canadian soil and meet
eminent Canadian women is at
once a denial of the spirit of the
recent friendship and good
neighbourly agreements signed
between the Soviet Union and
Canada, and in a Parliament
composed of 99.9% men it is just
another stark example of rank
discrimination against women
by politicians voicing shallow
clichés of equality for women.

Visas were refused by Ottawa
on the excuse that the applica-
tion “did not meet with the non-
immigrant requirements.” When
queried as to what these re-
quirements were, the answer
was “that these could only be
discussed by the principals in-
volved.”

The Soviet women were infor-
med by Canadian officials that
“visas were refused for no of-
ficial reason.”

The Congress of Canadian
Women has enquired from the
prime minister and from Exter-
nal Affairs Minister Mitchell
Sharp to spell out plainly to
ourselves and the Soviet women
just exactly what is required to
obtain a 10-day visa. No one
seems to know...

We urge all our members and
supporters to write to their
Members of Parliament and in-
sist on democratic immigration
procedures, and ‘to protest the
veil of secrecy in which Ottawa
shrouds applications by non-
Canadians for short-term Cana-
dian visas.

AR, NEAVONONOS Badyrenos
ZA, AeNEDSys Mexorgr

44, Teowas "An Bavdpos a LOE!
AB. Yyoravens Wwerduos

Greek patriot prisoners —

appeal to Red Cross

Through the courtesy of Antonis Ambatielos, representativé a |
abroad of the Central Committee of the Patriotic AMY jh
dictatorship Front (PAM), the Tribune has received a phol0 jy
stat of the following memorandum from the Greek politi Et
exiles on the island of Kythera to the International p
mittee of the Red Cross in Geneva:

Dear Sirs,

Your Committee is acquainted with the problems 0
political exiles in Greece. For three years, a delegation 7
International Committee of the Red Cross was in our countty
and able to see for itself the violations of human rights wilt”
occurred and the various facets of the inhumanity and dé
structive regime operated against the political prisoners C
exiles and their families.

We are held illegally for the fifth year in succession
violation of all that is meant by justice and humanity —
virtue of stereotype decisions of the Security Commit
which are renewed each year. Having been arrested on Ap
21, 1967, to be exiled, in fact we are serving what is ta”
mount to a life sentence.

Under the pressure of Greek and _ international
opinion, the dictatorship government has been forced t
band the Leros and Oropos concentration camps. But
created new, if smaller ones, in isolated villages and cou? @
towns. These places of exile where opponents of the dictator”
ship are held and to which those arrested and exiled aré Ce
are: Kythera, Samothrace, Leros, Zacharo, Sparti, Mess
Agios, Nikolaos, Kynourias, Makrakomi, Trichonidos. | a

The regulations controlling our life are little different a
the regime in the concentration camps which your: deleg' pi
visited from time to time. Intolerable restrictions OV |,
movements. Restrictions over the hours we may cifél ot
Roll call. Censorship of letters; searching of our parcels., 0
timidation of local people even for saying ‘‘Good morning we f
us. Money orders sent to us from abroad are sent back
are not given letters sent us by our relatives but they ibe
returned marked “unknown”— because our relatives 4°"
ed us as “Political Exiles.” Our letters to our relatives ae of
turned to us for the same reason. From the financial PO the
view we are worse off. Now we are compelled becausé J t
inadequacy of the subsistence allowance to meet the 08!
rent, light, water, heating, cleaning and even drugs beca
as a general rule, the local medical station does not have”
ones we need for our diseases. ‘the

We are now entering on our fifth winter in exile and you
is little need for us to expand on what it means wie
know that no concern is shown for our needs by the cle
government. They even took away the blankets your de }
tion had sent us in the Leros concentration camps, Whe 3,3
loaded us on to the ships and sent us to these new camp"

Dear Sirs,

We are addressing ourselves to you to ask you,
pliance with the officially proclaimed humanitarian ai
the International Committee of the Red Cross, to an
your opposition to the blatant violation of human righ ;
the instance of the Greek political exiles and demam
abolition of the inhuman system of exiling, virtually
hostages — the release of the political exiles and all the?
tical prisoners of Greece.

With ‘respect,
The Political Exiles of Kythera

f the

— ae

1. Afalis Panayotis 9. Betzounis IoanniS
2. Demourtzidis Vasilios 10. Nikolaidis Nikolaos
3. Zamanos Stylianos 11. Roda Panayotis re |
4. Theofanidis Georgios 12. Stathopoulos Evang’

5. Iordanidis Isaak 13. Sepetidis Mihail

6. Kyzilis Kleanthis 14, Tsokas Alexandros

7. Kyriakidis Nikolaos 15, Ipsilantis Kyriakos

8. Katsaros Ioannis 16. Halvatzis Elefthe!”

1G, Karpar)je Erevdenros

Lh
miles *