Anti-monopoly unity key to advance in °77 Following its 23rd Convention last October, the Communist Party addressed an appeal to the New Democratic Party; an appeal which was rejected by the NDP. The Communist Party appeal cal- led for cooperation of the two par- ties around a mutually agreed program of action for a demo- cratic alternative to the crisis policies of monopoly capital. In its letter to the NDP, the CPC proposed that a democratic al- liance, powerful enough to stop the drive to the right in Canadian politics, should be the aim. The Communist Party proposed that such major forces as the trade unions, farm organizations, the New Democratic Party and the Communist Party should come together and jointly work out an action program. The need for such unity in ac- tion of the working class and democratic forces is becoming more and more a matter of urgent necessity. Labor and the NDP Further evidence of this has come to light in an interview on January 5 between the press and Dennis McDermott, Canadian di- ‘rector of the UAW and vice- president of the Canadian Labor Congress. In this interview Mr. McDermott linked labor’s aim of getting rid of wage controls with the need to put labor’s own house in order and to establish a new relationship with the New Demo- cratic Party. Calling for more clearly defined common goals Mr. McDermott was quoted as critical of the NDP governments in Man- itoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia as having no business accepting the controls program that labor opposed. ““We have to define more clearly our relation- ship with the NDP in terms of common goals. We can’t have a second-class relationship under which we have the privilege of paying the bills and organizing support, only to have our friends turn their: backs on us in a crmunch.”’ McDermott’s valid criticism was not well received by the editor of. such a well known house-organ of big business as the Toronto Star. In an editorial with the caption: ‘‘NDPis not a tool for big unions’’, a call was made on Ed Broadbent, leader of the fed- eral NDP and Stephen Lewis, leader of the Ontario NDP, to waste no time repudiating Mr. McDermott. ‘‘No special group has the right to dictate in this way to a political party’’ ... (That right is, of course reserved for the capitalist monopolies and _ their mouthpieces, such as the Toronto Star). Formation of NDP In this connection it may be well to recapitulate a bit of history behind the formation of the pre- sent New Democratic Party. In its early days the fore-runner of the NDP, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) fought for things the people were demanding, such as old age pensions and unemploy- ment insurance, side-by-side with organized labor and the Com- munist Party in the left political ‘spectrum. But in later years, un- der control of right-wing leaders, the CCF abandoned the ‘‘federa- tion’’ concept, only to become a mere election machine that went down the line with the capitalist parties on such main issues as NATO, NORAD, the ‘‘cold war’’ foreign policy, big armaments, and the ‘‘integration’’ of the Canadian economy with the U.S. economy in the interest of the capitalist monopolies. In April, 1958, shocked by the re-election of a Tory government for the first time since the Hungry Thirties, the CLC at its Winnipeg Convention adopted a _ historic resolution on independent labor political action: — ‘*This Convention believes that the imperative need of the Cana- dian political scene today is the creation of an effective alterna- tive political force based on the needs of workers, farmers and similar groups, financed and con- trolled by the people and their or- ganizations. ‘‘The time has come for a fundamental realignment of polit- ical forces in Canada. There is need for a broadly based people’s political movement, which em- braces the CCF, the labor move- ment, farm organizations, profes- sional people and other liberal- minded persons interested in basic social reform and recon- struction through our parliamen- tary system of government. Communist Excluded But the right-wing CCF-CLC joint committee established to set in motion the organization of the “‘broadly based people’s political movement” showed their cold- war prejudices by excluding the Communist Party. Besides taking away from the members of the NDP the right to discuss the communist viewpoint on Canada and the world at large, this was also a violation of a precious democratic right of every Cana- dian. It reflected a refusal to face up to monopoly capital and. to challenge the capitalist system. It showed an orientation on capital- ist parliamentary exclusiveness, a desire to monopolize and control -the political activities of the or- ganized labor movement. It exp- lains the failure of the NDP to at- tack monopoly power, and to seek cooperation of all working people to curb and eventually eliminate that power. The discrriminatory approach towards the party of the working class and scientific socialism in Canada was also reflected in un- democratic constitutional provi- sions with respect to the trade unions and their role in determin- ing the policies of the New Demo- cratic Party. As the Communist Party em- phasized at the time, it was objec- tively inevitable that at some point or other the Canadian work- ing class would be catapulted into a struggle that would bring the trade union movement into the very heart of the people’s resis- tance to, and struggle against monopoly power in this country. By the same token it will be the working people that have to bear the brunt of the struggle to unite the working class of both French and English-speaking Canada, to unite Canada in a new con- federation by means of a made in Canada constitution based on the right of self-determination for both nations, and to take Canada out of the hands of the U.S. im- perialist monopolies and their junior Canadian partners. All this demands a grass roots mass political movement, not a private political elite. It is this dif- ference that has to be resolved. The success or failure of the NDP . depends upon its stand on this question. It is the capitalist monopolies and their kept politicians that must be defeated. It is this that calls for: ‘‘an effective alternative political force based on the needs of the workers, farmers and simi- lar groups, financed by, and con- trolled by the people and their organizations’. CLC calls conference onthe fishing industry OTTAWA — A two day con- ference dealing with Canada’s new 200 mile fishing limit and the fishing quotas established under the limits was held here Jan. 13-14 sponsored by the Canadian Labor Congress. In what CLC secretary-- treasurer Donald Montgomery described as a congress move to give workers in the fishing indus- try a national voice, representa- tives of affiliated unions and other organizations involved in the fishing industry met with officials from, the fisheries department, marine service, and environment Canada during the two day con- ference. ‘“‘Thousands of Canadian workers earn their livelihood from fishing’, Montgomery said. ‘‘They must be assured of having” an input in decisions that will di- rectly affect their lives and the lives of their families.” - The CLC treasurer pointed out that the quotas of the east coast under the agreements worked out through the International Com- mission for the North-West At- lantic Fisheries (ICNAF) apply only to the end of 1977. ‘*The people who earn their liv- ing fishing must have a say in the quota allotments to be set for 1978 on the east coast. West coast fishermen must also have an input into the quotas being negotiated in bilateral agreements with the Correction In last week’s Labor Scene, Bruce Magnuson discussed the economic crisis and put for- ward the following solution, ‘_.. it ought to be obvious that only a program of increasingly extensive nationalization of industry, resources and financial institutions, and their placing under democratic con- trol,, will make country-wide economic planning a realistic possibility.’’ The head for the column unfortunately did not convey this message. Fishing quota allotments and the new 200 mile limit will be the maintopics at a conference on the fishing industry sponsored by the - CLC. foreign countries fishing in those countries. ‘“‘Recommendations to the government will carry’ more weight if they are made in a coor- dinated fashion that has the en- © dorsation of all the workers’ or- © ganizations involved. This con- — ference on the fishing industry — will be the kick off to the ongoing — process which will result m a strengthened voice for workers employed in all aspects of the fishing industry’’, eal ee said. Company policy? OTTAWA — Loblaws, the big — grocery retailer was fined $1,000 © in provincial court for false and — misleading labelling of meat — in which the expensive cuts shown on the label were mixed with meat which sold for much less. ‘‘It may — very well be company policy,” — said the prosecutor, noting that © } Loblaws was fined for a similar offense a few months earlier. Demonstrators picket Reed Paper art exhibit By DAVID WALLIS CALGARY. — Reed Paper Co., anxious to promote a good corporate image, is sponsoring an art show on a Canada-wide tour in Calgary Dec. 16 to Jan. 23, 1977. Reed’s art exhibition, ironically named ‘‘Changing Visions The Canadian Landscapes ‘“‘has met with opposition in all centres in Canada. The true side of Reed is clear — a corporation dedicated not to Canadian Landscapes, but to their destruction along with the destruction of the livelihood of - many people. It will take more than an art exhibition to cover up Reed’s Greed in pursuit of monopoly domination and super-profits. The ‘Calgary Committee against Reed’s Greed’ is asking Calgarians to boycott Reed’s hyprocrisy. Reed Paper, through Dryden, one of its subsidiaries, is respon- sible for much of the mercury contamination of the English and PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JANUARY 21, 1977—Page 8 Wabigoon river systems in On- tario. The Native peoples of this area through Reed’s complicity with the Ontario government were informed that there was no danger in eating the fish from these waters; yet white fisher- men were repeatedly warned. of the risk. Little has been done by Reed on the questions of reducing the pollution and destruction of the environment or that of adequately compensating the native people for the effects of mercury poison- ing and the ending of their way of life. Reetl Paper has been involved in secret negotiations with the On- tario government for an additional 19,000 square miles of Northern Ontario timber rights. This last timber stand, not yet under license, is facing total destruc- tion. Reed is planning to harvest this area of black spruce with the most sophisticated modern Demonstrators outside art by Reed Paper. equipment available, a capital in- tensive operation that will reduce the area to a barren wasteland. This is an operation that will provide few local jobs, if any, ina part of Canada that already boasts 80% unemployment; an operation that will destroy the traditional hunting, trapping, and fishing exhibition in Calgary sponsored | grounds of over 20,000 native 7 people. Reed is a multi-million dollar British-based conglomerate with — Canadian assets of $413,400,000 — and 1975 net profits of © $12,300,000, and is the 53rd _ largest company in Canada (ex- — cluding banks).