i rs be = simare hel POan 1h PaRnernee Wy Pemew Oy Ries aE a A are os Re Wn Pee ree POO TI | wT a * The fight for POLICY in We publish below the second of a series of articles by lead- |: ing members of the Communist Party dealing with problems related to the New Party. Other articles will appear in forth- coming issues of the Pacific Tribune, By WILLIAM KASHTAN The New. Party which will be established this summer a@pens up great new possibili- ties for advance by the work- ing class on the _ political @rena, particularly if it is firmly based upon the trade Wnions and is able to rally @round it the urban middle @lass and professionals, as well ‘Ws farm and cooperative orga- fRizations. On such a basis it could in- @eed become an effective @emocratic, parliamentary al- ternative to the oldline parties @nd challenge: their position ®n the federal, provincial and @hunicipal arenas. The growing attacks lev- @lled against the New Party By sections of the . capitalist press and by capitalist politi- @ians and, not least, the pro- posed legislative measures @gainst the check-off in Brit- ish Columbia, all mirror the @rowing fear. in capitalist cir- les that the New.Party might e able to make considerable headway in the. immediate Period ahead and undermine #he base of support presently njoyed by the parties of mon- poly. That fear is well based. There is a growing restless- fess among the Canadian peo- le, who are faced with dan- ®er of world thermo-nuclear war, the growing U.S. domin- tion over our country and an |. ®conoOmic crisis -with large- Scale unemployment, are seek- Wg a way out of the impasse Hmposed on them by monopoly and its capitalist parties. WIDE SUPPORT POSSIBLE _ In this situation the New Party, by ‘boldly ‘ advancing few national policies arising from new world relationships ‘and the challenge and oppor- tunities it creates, could rally Widespread support for its aims. The right wing within the New Party, however, is not @nterested in advancing such thew policies and continues to peddle the same old program which events have discredited and made bankrupt. This is Mirrored in the developing @ebate among the two main Sectors in the formation of the New Party—the CCF and €LC— over questions of for- ®@ign policy, U.S.-Canadian re- ations 4nd economic policy, ®s well as the role and rela- Rionship of the working class to the New Party. ‘the prospects These are not abstract ques- tions. They have to do with and future of the New Party. At its last ‘ convention, the CCF adopted by a’slim major- ity a resolution calling for Canada’s withdrawal from NATO and NORAD.» Without spelling it out the CCF in ef- fect adopted a position in fa- |. vor. of Canadian neutrality. This marked an important break with the bipartisan cold war policy the right wing had inflicted: upon the CCF. Dé- spite the convention decision, however, the Canadian Gait- skellites—the Lewises, Brew- ins, Knowles and Douglases— declared they would not be bound and continued to speak out in support of NATO ‘and the continuation of the cold war. PEACE POLICY DEBATED On the other hand, the offi- cers of the Canadian Labor Congress, without the endorsa- tion of the CLC convention last year and without the sanc- tion. or support of the trade union membership throughout the country, declared them- selves unalterably opposed to a policy of Canadian neutral- ity and called for continued support of NATO and NORAD —both U.S.-controlled military blocks directed against social- ism, the national liberation movement, disarmament and world peace, both infringing WILLIAM KASHTAN upon Canadian soverignty, both based on the so-called nuclear. deterrent. when there is no deterrent to world nuclear war except peaceful coexistence and total and uni- versal disarmament. Thus two policies are being advanced -for the founding convention of the New Party to adopt. One proposes to keep Canada and its people tied hand and foot to U.S. imperial- ism and its aggressive aims; the other would enable our country to begin-the -process of disengaging. itself from such a dangerous and provoca- tive course and make it an ac- tive force for peace, disarma- ment and Canadian neutrality. MEMBERSHIP IGNORED The capitalist press has cre- ated the. impression that in this debate over foreign pol- icy, in which the survival of our country and people is at stake, the trade union move- ‘ment stands on one side while IN BRITAIN. Large numbers of trade unions are taking an active part in the fight for peace. The last Labor Party conference called for withdrawal from NATO, as the recent CCF national convention did. The example of the British trade unionists needs to be followed in Canada’s trade union movement. the New Party} the New Party clubs and CCF stand on the other. Superfically this may © ap- pear to be the case. In fact this is not. the case at all. Messrs. Jodoin and Co. have chosen to speak for the trade union membership but — the trade ‘union. members. have yet to. speak for themselves and join itheir. voices with - all. -those ‘who support the New Party in ithe. .determination - thatthe ;cornerstone of its policy will ibe: -firmly- grounded in support. ‘of peace, disarmament, Cana- ‘thermo-nuclear war, For should the New Party founding convention. méake support of NATO and NORAD the’ -touchstone -of its foreign policy “it. could. do nothing else but inflict: serious. harm on the fortunes of the New Party. U.S. DOMINATION The debate which -has cen- tered on foreign policy finds its counterpart in the sum total of economic. policies the founding convention should adopt. _ The right. wing within the CCF: and CLC. suggest that Canada’s future is inextricably ‘tied up with support of poli- cies leading to the integration of the Canadian and USS. economies. Yet, as events have shown, it is precisely this policy of integration that has opened the. doors of our country to greater U.S. dom-= ination over its economic, pol- itical and military affairs, has stood in the way of the all- dian trade with all countries, particularly the newly-liber- ated countries and the social- ist world system, has hindered the growth of secondary in- dustry, and, not least, has ag- gravated. the economic crisis and its effects upon the Cana- dian people. ‘ It is.this policy of integra- tion the right-wing wishes the New: Party founding conven- tion to adopt. But, no matter how it is presented, integra- tion can have no other result than to further strengthen U.S. domination over our country. It can have no other consequence than to tighten U.S.-and Canadian monopoly control over the Canadian economy with all the evil con- sequences for the Canadian people, Integration is a dead-end street. What is needed are policies leading: to the inde- pendent economic develop- ment of the country;. policies which .would free our -country from U.S. domination and the grip of the monopolies, which: would nationalize. the US. March 31, 1961—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page ‘reaching measures “of demo- ‘dian neutrality, and - against. sided development of Cana-. plants: in. Canada> and make — | them serve the interests of the Canadian people, which would extend trade with all coun= tries, An independent Canadian foreign policy and independ- ent economic development of the country, including: far- cratic-..reform—these — consti tute the elements of a. program which .could ‘make the. New Party ‘a genuine expression the people's desire - for .. peace ‘and © security, rather than @ ‘competitor. of the old-line pa ‘ties within the arena of present. capitalist policiés. They could become the means. of breaking the stranglehold of the old-line partiés. in the. coming elections,. opening uP the perspective of a great elec: toral advance. : AN ALL- INCLUSIVE PARTY ; ~ Not least, if the full poten- ‘tiality of the New Porty is to — to all organizations and indiv iduals—that . accept gram: and -work to elect. its’ candidates. erated all-inclusive party can” it develop the capacity to become a demo- cratic alternative to the par — ties of monopoly. ‘ All those who see the. need — which, has thrown road blocks in thé» way of making it an all-inclu-” sive party and have placed affiliated and. will yet affilic ate, in a numerically ‘inferi position “as regards their v0 New Party. tiny, with a view to ensuring | that affiliated organizations — ferences of the those whom they wish to reP” resent them and to nominate candidates for election with: out any interference from thé party’s leading bodies, Ifthe democratic righis: of affiliated bodies and of indi* vidual ‘members are-not fully upheld, if'instead of becoming — a democratic parliament alternative to the parties % monopoly the New Party, a5 ® bases itself on anti-Commut ism, it will destroy both is ‘unity and its polical effective an ness. ; . See KASHTAN, next PS be realized it should be- opel © its pro- = By the trade unions; which havé | ing ‘strength and role in: ABS ] The structure and constitu | tion of the New Party should | therefore receive careful scru’ } have the democratic right, elect to the councils and col & New ParlY | Tesult, of right-wing policy: ES Only on such. a basis. only ae by striving to become a fed- a strength and : “ir a for this will have to combat , : the policies of the right-wing; § since the-idea of the |. New Party was first advanced; 9 1»)