By JOHN WEIR © celebrate Canada Day because : nfederation in 1867 did mark a new € in the history of our country. and of separate colonies ruled from a On (although since 1848 the gover- generals had signed legislation as Be ted by the Assemblies) there Now established the framework ra federated self-governing Canadian € uniting the British-held territories 7m the Atlantic to the Pacific. “anitePendence from colonial rule, aM of the country and democratic oa were then, as now, the lions that made possible the full- ia most rapid development of @S productive forces and our People’s a Progress. To the extent. that on €deration advanced those condi- | Brin. It was a historically progressive Gis. and those who claim that “we es to celebrate” are wrong. 347, 5© are the rah-rah patriots who a © recognize that the independence bliten Partial, the unity was built on @ evion of the Native Peoples and ~ 4, Of national rights to French ae while the democracy was in aDitali« enthronement of the Canadian ae Class—the big capitalists in | © and Montreal to be more exact the seats of power. E Th : “From the Top” I hais.,,.'e880n Confederation was this HB tess Way sort of thing lies in the de- : Proc: the popular movements. for ; their oN self-government that found / Uris; ighest expression in the 1837 | Negy, eS led by Mackenzie and Papi- a aeeic interests of the British Em- tinue Ombined with the wish to con- North &xploiting the northern half of - 8ore9 America compelled London to | to a deal with the Canadian mer- ts, bankers and young industrial- “ven to the extent of handing over ‘Te it latter the administration of the Ormed state (with certain limi- i rt “safeguards”) rather than lion now victorious Canadian revo- Piha or Yankee conquest. ‘Ate, ,°xPlains the conservative char- Bisic Canadian Constitution, and: the Vota! holdovers in our governmental ™, some of which remain to this angi’ explains why the newfledged Om a authority asserted _ itself atitim very inception by turning the BT 8 depra €s into what has amounted to | Of .,,-sed area, perpetuating vestiges tur, “dom in Quebec for half a cen- Com, buying out the Hudson Bay an "Pany claims to the vast northern “Bra fe ostern territories with fabulous Prairie the violent suppression of the Pacigg PeoPles, the coercion on the Sej Ss Coast, the orgy of wholesale Sure Of land, sale of natural re- Sup, _ 22d looting of the public trea- Practions the perpetuation of monopoly We Pay the Price } 0 pee Paid a heavy price for that : Pini ve side of Confederation. nea o2ds were built, the West was Bays Were delayed for decades, : M4 toll had to be doled out to the Or es and grafting politicians ys Step of the way, our economy Ww , (Ped to suit first British and Merican dominating interests, Sources were exploited ruthlessly “ : Tegard for the. future. es val circle that today owns and aenasts and grafters of previous Modem, NS» but at another stage. The iil the Oligarchy is a tight-knit group gf Whos, “°?poly-military-state complex, Ommanding heights are occu- ing the whole, either through. Of the B.N.A. Act, our made-in- - Nada is heir to those predatory reactionary in Canadian history, attack the On-to-Oftftawa unem : , . B. Bennett, the continuer of all that was ole ae ‘ had the "forces of law and order" ployed trekkers at Regina. Blood flowed but the resulting public revulsion toppled "Iron ‘Heel Ben- neft's regime. pied by U.S. monopoly. Continental- ism is not just to lease forest or min- eral lands for 99 years; it is to give away our power resources, our chances of building Canada in the future. The Trudeau Government goes far- ther than the former Establishment did. It says Canada as such is expendable in the imperialist war ventures of the U.S.A. It says Canadian industries must close down, a million Canadians must be idled, Canadian farmers must stop growing food... Truly, the end of a cycle. Canada’s development could have been different. The finest figures in our history fought for a democratic road ahead. They would have established an independent republic, as was already presaged in the Navy Island manifesto in 1838, an equal union of French and English nations such as existed in the CHORUS: | O Canada, O promised land, ; This is the dream our fathers planned, And tho! the rich have ravished you, We swear to make this dream come true! O lovely land whose mountains run From peak to peak to seek the sun, And where we take the sacred fire Of life and love to raise them higher. CHORUS: O lovely land where April rains And April suns break ancient chains, And where we too such bounties share, For ever free, and ever fair. CHORUS: QUUCEDEEEEEEEELEOEU APUUULAEOEAUEAAUSUGUTEUECOEEERAUAECUEDUOUGEOCUUEUORUECDSUOUEG US CECE HEN relations between the Patriotes and the Reformers in the two Canadas, the expropriation of the Family Compact, Hudson Bay and other monopolistic parasites, the opening of the West on democratic principles with full rights to the Métis, Indian and white inhabi- tants, the use of our natural resources to build Canadian industry. The forerunners of the workers—the lumberjacks in Quebec and “mechan- icks” in Ontario, were staunch fighters for that sort of democratic road for Canada. They were. ‘beaten down dur- ing the armed suppression of the peo- ple’s struggles in 1837-38. They did not have a say at Confederation. William Lyon Mackenzie had returned from exile and was bitterly opposed to the way in which Confederation was being railroaded through, but. his voice. went unheard. LULUCUOUOUOEOOOOUOHEUCUELERACOUCULEOOEOECOEGEOUEGEOUOOOEECEEOEOCEEOEEEL DHUUUUEEOQAUUUUREEOAQUUUUUEEOQOOUUUEETEENOALE O LOVELY LAND By J. S. WALLACE (Tune: The Red Flag) O lovely land whose fields unfold In league on league their cloth of gold, Where all who will may banquet there In royal ease on royal fare. AUSUEUOOOUODOSEODSOUUOOOOONCOUGEDODDODEGODUOQUUORODDSOOOOODEO0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000ES00000000000000000002000000000000000000000000000000000008 4 The decades immediately following Confederation were devoted by the workers to win from the Canadian ruling class—the “fathers of Confed- eration”—such elementary rights as to quit one job for another, to belong to a trade union, and to strike. The entire century since 1867 has been one of labor’s ceaseless struggle for human rights and decent living standards against Canadian and for- eign monopolists. It is amazing but a fact that we are told every minute of the day via the media today that labor and monopoly are equal partners, that labor must share in combating inflation, that labor must sacrifice “too” for the sake of the community, etc. But labor — the wage and salary workers — is the community! We are 85% of the population and moreover we are that section (together with the farmers) that produces all the wealth of Canada. There is no equality or partnership __ between the class that owns and man- ages the economy of the country for its private profit and the class that does all the work for whatever pittance it can wring from the bosses to live on. There is no reason why workers should sacrifice either by tightening their belts or shedding their blood to enable their bosses to vanquish com- petitors on the world markets and rake in yet greater super-profits. There is no reason why workers and farmers should suffer because its capi- talist rulers have brought the country to crisis. Fight for Canada The working class is profoundly con- scious of its responsibility as the most advanced section of the population in this period of growing crisis and chal- | lenge. In refuting the “austerity to fight in- flation” lie and refusing to accept wage guidelines and anti-labor restraints, the labor movement and Canadian workers as a whole are following a patriotic policy. Not closures of plants, not mass unemployment, not lower living stan- dards, not fallow fields are good for Canada, but full employment, building new industries, homes, schools and hospitals, growing food, increasing in- comes and the well-being of the people! Fighting for their economic demands and rights the workers are fighting for the good of the Canadian people, for Canada! ~ They are fighting in the tradition of the Canadian democrats of the 19th century and of the labor movement since its inception. The Great Challenge On this 103rd anniversary of Con- federation, Canada’s workers are fac- ing the savage onslaught of the em- ployers and Government on union rights and civil liberties, on jobs and living .standards. Firmly united, they will beat back that attack. On this Canada Day the vital ques- tions of war and peace, of U.S. domina- tion and monopoly control stand to the fore and will no longer be denied. Canadian workers wil! lead the fight for policies of peace, Canadian inde- pendence, and curbing the monopolies, together with all those forces that will join us in that fight. : And on this Canada Day - 1970 the workers and farmers will pledge to maintain and extend the democratic liberties won by a century of struggle, strive to attain the human, labor and national rights of all Canadians in a new made-in-Canada Constitution and move forward to the establishment of . workers’ power and the building of a socialist Canada of beauty and bounty —the true North strong and free.” PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JULY 3, 1970—Page 7