j | | iC MY PHYLLIS CLARKE il Canada is being sub- | Roa’ of scare head- 1 ky editorials these 9 Vibe the “separatists” 6 There « It's reached the | tenent anybody who makes an that there should be ae Made in the rela- Hse French and Eng- | Hot ye 1S immediately ac- ph “ting two countries. { Bia Simple truths tioned eS of “separatism” det 9 obscure and they lang = €Xamined. French ODted the main have atism or nor spoken for PMs, «, What you mean by i aN that you are in Que sblishing an indepen- More 9. OWever, it is true Reber’ More spokesmen Mins OF all political per- IF "Ve raised the ques- | tions ®ed for a change in sles ‘between French and : bsicanl All the proposi- Mositie. revolve around AY of a Whether stated two Tecognition that Ming Nations in Canada, Se ‘ [ ft 8 all nations do, the Woy cetmination. iy (ally " Where nations are ai before s independence as HL BOs ey history it would Phas. Simplification to phat thi news purveyors Athetal 4.2 ‘started be- 9 Gaulle came to t eed Far Seq meer of years have te 4,” Xamples of the ‘ aa, the people of an of ‘that they become ica the industrial and ‘Canag eV Olution as me 8S. This means a Me, °" bilingualism or Al Peity: it involves i decide ones own a dl mn. mo pand has grown in *n the. has the determi- Blish.g Part of the Cana- bo prev Xing_establish- They vent any basic ithi ave their repre- <= a N Quebec itself, Col] woe A. Pa Fey ee ee as the exchange between Rene Levesque and Eric Kierns indi- cated. This determination to preserve the status quo upon confusing both English and French Cana- dians as to what really is being debated. Thus the cry of ‘“‘separ- atism” as the smear of every- one who proposes anything in the way of a new confederal pact. Of importance too, is the fact that, as the struggle for national recognition deepens the feeling grows that it must include some basic social and economic chang- es which need to be reflected in constitutional ones. That is why the Communist Party of Quebec says: “The Communist Party of Que- bec believes that the adoption of a Quebec Constitution can be the first vital step to solve the crisis in the relationships be- tween the French-Canadian and English-Canadian nations. “Such a Quebec Constitution must assert the control of the people of Quebec over their own state in all political, social, eco- nomic and cultural questions necessary for the free develop- ment of the French-Canadian na- tion. It must reject the limited concept of a provincial consti- tution proposed by the French- Canadian bourgeoisie. “Such a Constitution must contain a Bill of Rights which protects the rights.of the Eng- lish-speaking minority to schools and to free development of their culture in their own language. It must assure autonomous self- government to Indian and Eski- mo peoples in communities where they are concentrated. It must protect all the democratic rights including the use of lan- guage and culture to all ethnic groups. It must assure to the working people full freedom to organize, strike and picket, abol- ishing all anti-labor legislation, including that enacted by the present Johnson government. It must guarantee to all the right of gainful employment. ra js: “ eS ¥ ” ». ae a~ aw 8 i = (ry of ‘separatism’ Iscures simple truths “Tt must provide for the right to nationalize all monopolies in industry, transport, finance, es- pecially those that are foreign- owned, which are essential to the development of the economy free from outside domination.” Presumably that is also why Robert Cliche, leader of the New Democratic Party in Quebec, speaking to a seminar of 12 Que- bec Federation of Labor Unions, spoke of the need of accompany- ing constitutional changes with “social changes that will im- prove conditions.” He spoke also of the need of the masses being involved in the decision making process suggesting that the pos- sibility does not exist of repeat- ing the type of top level consti- tutional discussions as took place in the rural and isolated life of 1867. The workers in English Can- ada have to ask themselves whether following in the foot- steps of the establishment in their attitude to French Canada . is in their best interests. The deplorable positions taken by such labor spokesmen as Eu- gene Forsey of the Canadian La- bor Congress and_ Robert Strachan the NDP leader in Brit- ish Columbia are nothing but outright. English chauvinism. Their horror at the proposal that there should be two nations rec- ognized in Canada is like the po- sition of the English colonial overseers who deplored the com- ing of independence in the Afri- can, Asian and other British pre- serves. But there are others in the labor movement who boggle, if not so bombastically, as can be seen by the retreat of the NDP at its recent convention from the “two nations” position of two years ago to a poorly formulated proposal for “special status.” It is encouraging, however, to find that at least one section of the labor movement in English Canada has made some small nership to make their country a force for peace and progress throughout the world. ed oe 1 Se, family members, colleagues and friends on September 21 bid farewell to Dion She ™dn py.” Year old son Jorg who died in an air crash near Gander. Despite an urgent request eg MOcratic Republic for entry visas, Canadian authorities still refuse permission which ®gue Gabriel Trujullo (still in a Canadian hospital) be visited by her friends and Be be! Ge M Lesage. Johnson, Drapeau, Or said just about Lesage. These gentlemen talk A lot But say nothing. Down deep What matters Is the surface. Is, in any case, When we swim, This summer Has been A summer Not like the others. Everyone is in the water DE GAULLE IN QUEBEC By PIERRE VADEBONCOEUR Johnson is not very different from M. Drapeau, who is not very different from M. All of them said just about The opposite of what they seemed to say, like M. Each seems to say just about The opposite of what he said, like M. The opposite of what he said the day before Or will say tomorrow, like M. It’s a question of vocables It’s a question of vocation It’s a question of vocalism. It’s a question of conviction It’s a question of conversation It’s a question of conservation Because in the end everything is a question of accent. Which basically is a qustion of accident. Getting to the bottom of things, Remaining somewhat on the surface. The summer has been odd The summer has been hot. But no one is getting wet. —Reprinted from August issue Labour, CNTU Journal. progress. From a position in the September issue of the Miner’s Voice of the United Steelwork- ers, which said, “A great deal must be done to clarify precisely how Quebec can be given a spe- cial relationship in the confeder- ation without fatally weakening Canada as a nation” the October editorial is headed, “Two na- tions, one country?” It says in part: “A gulf has developed between English and French Canada which must somehow be bridged if Canada is to survive. “Confederation was a_ pact made freely among the people of what was in 1867, British North America. No pacts made among free people are made in perpetu- ity—forever. Confederation was an accord suited to the problems of the 19th century, “It appears obvious as the country enters its second cen- tury that Canada must produce a new constitution which can make possible the continuing co- existence of our two parent races —the French and the English. “At the moment we seem to be lost in the futile game of - word juggling. We are told the word nation means state or country in English and a people in French. These definitions seem irreconcilable .: . “The federal government should lose no time in assembl- ing a constitutional convention to revise the BNA Act or draft a completely new, Made-in-Can- ada fundamental law. “It may be the solutions are not so hard to find as some may think, nor so difficult to face as others fear. It may be that Cana- dians of all groups have more in common than we ever dared hope.” For the workers, above ll, there is much to be gained by am alliance with the workers#of» Octaber 13/'1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE_Page > Quebec for the right of self- determination of the French- Canadian nation. First, as said before, because in the struggle there is an increasing demand for social and economic changes in the direction of increased power and security for the work- ing people. Secondly, because in the unity of French and English Canada comes greater strength in halting, and indeed turning back, the great American take- over of Canada. Thirdly, as has been amply demonstrated by the postmen and the railway work- ers, unity of French and English workers is a necessary condition for the winning of the demands of either. Workers in English Canada can hardly expect unity in joint . struggle against the bosses if they join the bosses in trying to prevent the full assertion of the national rights of French Canada. The so-called “crisis over Que- bec” is a crisis of the establish- ment, no longer able to rule in the old way. This is how Canada is viewed by one English daily: “One nation, of two languages which are the bearer of two of the world’s richest cultures; one nation, with an opportunity that few have been granted to make a free, tolerant and just society; one nation, which might draw generously on its abundant wealth and talents to help a world stricken by want.” But for workers in English Canada to support this means to separate themselves from their French Canadian brothers. A more fruitful and exciting pro- spect for Canada and for its working people would be one country, with two nations which are the bearers of the world’s richest cultures; two nations whose people shall have every economic and social opportun- ity; two nations in ansequal part-