CANADA _

Communist stand in workers’ struggle: | |

‘Hold gains,

TORONTO — The Central Com-
_Mittee of the Communist Party of
Canada, meeting on the May 6-8
weekend, voiced severe criticism of
the federal government’s failure to
cope with the economic crisis and
condemned its collaboration in the
USA’s nuclear blackmail against both
its allies and the socialist community
of countries.

The committee heard a hard-hitting
report by party leader William
Kashtan, which led off a thorough-
going discussion among the members

from various regions of Canada, on.

recent developments and projected
party work.

The report, entitled, The Further
Development of the Mass Move-
ments, and the Coming Federal Elec-
tions, dealt in large part with the stead-
ily increasing opposition to nuclear
war and to the testing of the Cruise
missile in Canada, and with the fight-
back of the working people against
mass unemployment and social cut-
backs.

Charging that the U.S. Govern-
ment, in its crusade against socialism
“is preparing for war against the
Soviet Union,”’ the report pointed to
U.S. imperialism as the source of the
war danger. This arises from both the
impenalist drive for markets and raw
material and from the U.S. program
for world military domination.

Soviet Offers
The report quoted Soviet leader
Yuri, Andropoy's recent. offer to re-

basis with the West. ‘‘The Soviet
Union expresses its readiness not to
have in Europe a single missile, a
single plane more than the NATO
countries now possess ... not more
missiles and warheads on them ...””
Andropov had said. The report cited
previous offers of the Soviet Union
and the Warsaw Treaty states, which
could lead to substantial steps in dis-
armament. And it condemned the
U.S. intention to deploy Cruise and
Pershing II missiles in western
Europe.

The Trudeau government has en-
dangered the security of Canada, the
report said, by allowing U.S. imperial-
ism ‘‘to tie Canada ever more tightly
to the U.S. military machine and first
strike nuclear strategy.” It challenges
the PM’s statement that his readiness
to test the Cruise missile is a NATO
duty. It is, in fact, a deal with the
USA, the Communist Party states.
But, to be certain where Canadian
foreign policy is made, it asks: **
isn’t it time for Canada to extricate
itself from NATO and pursue a policy
of non alignment?”

The report — and the discussion —
lauded the upsurge in the peace
movement, and vowed to combat the
idea of the inevitability of war spread
by U.S. imperialism, and the false
idea that the USA and the Soviet
Union are ‘equally responsible’’ for
the nuclear war danger.

In a section dealing with Central
America, and subsequently with the
Middle East and Indochina, the report
urged ‘‘the solidarity of the people of
Canada,”’ in support of the struggles
of the people of Nicaragua, Cuba,
Grenada, and those in El Salvador
battling U.S. imperialism.

Anti-monopoly Alliances

Predicting a sharpening of the social
and political struggle, on the back-
ground of two million unemployed,
the report charged that the govern-
ment “thas no solutions to present-day
unemployment,”’ and cited Employ-
ment Minister Axworthy’s admission
that we ‘‘may have to accept 8 to 10
per cent unemployment as _ full
employment’’.

“The working people’s Struggle to
defend gains is now a daily task in the
face of the continuing monopoly of-
fensive,”’ the report said, adding that
“there can be no real recovery with-
out full employment.” __

The Communist Party considers it
of utmost importance to build al-
liances ‘‘against the crisis policies of
government,” alliances of trade
unionists, New Democrats, Com-

- ; 2°, .....munists, the national and democratic
“duce nucléar warheads Oran edirat 7°

forces in’ Quebec, and other forces in-
cluding the Catholic Church, to Carry
out an anti-monopoly program.
‘“Economic revival is possible but
only by ending U.S. control over the
Canadian economy, the expansion of
the home market by increasing
purchasing power of the working
people through increased wages, a re-
duction of hours of work with no re-
duction in take home pay, the further
expansion of social programs such as
pensions and unemployment in-
surance, democratic tax reform,
affordable public housing, a vast pub-

‘lic works program, a- reduction in

arms spending, curbing the profits of
the corporations and banks, and by
nationalization of key sectors of the
economy,”’ the report said.

Mobilizing the Youth

The meeting dealt as well with prob-
lems of Canada’s farmers, and,
condemning the so-called ‘‘com-

promise’’ proposal by Transport _
Minister Jean-Luc Pepin on the

Crowsnest Pass Freight Rates,
unanimously passed a_ resolution
demanding retention of the Crow

TRIBUNE PHOTO — MIKE PHILLIPS

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 20, 1983—Page 10

win jobs, peace’ |

rates, and nationalization of Canadian
Pacific Railways under democratic .
control. wv

The report highlighted the plight of
unemployed youth, people 15 to 24,
who make up more than 35 per cent of
Canada’s jobless. The Communist
Party puts forward a number of prop-
osals for education, training and assis-
tance to jobless youth.

In a resolution unanimously
adopted, which greets. the 60th
anniversary of the Young Communist
League of Canada, the meeting agreed
to assist the YCL in ‘‘the urgent tasks
of organizing and mobilizing young
people in the fight for their rights.”’

In its discussion on preparations for
the next federal election, the meeting
condemned the Trudeau govem-
ment’s policies which enhance the
anti-labor, and anti-democratic
character of the system itself. It esti-
mated that a Tory victory in the next
election would ‘‘represent a shift to
the right in Canadian politics’’.
Commenting on the New Democratic
Party, the report said that the new
manifesto to be discussed at the July
NDP convention ‘‘does not indicate
that the NDP is breaking new ground.
Indeed the NDP appears to be shifting
more to the centre rather than to the
left.

“The draft of the (NDP) left caucus
manifesto takes a different direction.
It opts for socialism, for public owner-
ship, for the right to  self-deter-
mination in Quebec,”’ said the Com-
munist. Party. report. Which will win
out at the convention remains to be
seen. Meanwhile, with growing dis-
Satisfaction with the NDP in the trade
union movement, there exists the
view that ‘‘the trade union movement
should give critical, not unqualified
support to the NDP. This is a soundly
based point of view,’’ the report

Save the
Crow rate,
Communist
Party
resolution
demands

The Central Committee of the Com-
munist Party of Canada calls on the
Canadian people to reject the phony
‘‘compromise’’ freight rate plan offered
by Transport Minister Jean-Luc Pepin.
Acting on its long term goal of replacing
the family farm with corporate farming in.
the name of ‘“‘efficiency’’, the federal
Liberal government is determined to
scrap the historic statutory Crow rate.

The new proposals, which would tie
freight rates to grain prices in an un-
specified way, and pay the ‘“‘Crow sub-
sidy’’ to the railways, would leave in
place the prospect of variable rates and a
31.1 million tonne cap on subsidized
grain movements.

These manoeuvres are aimed at split-
ting the overwhelming consensus against
the original Pepin plan. Whatever the de-
tails of any bargain finally reached over
the protests of the large majority of far-
mers, the federal government will have

» peace are inseparable.”

- which has fought longest and hardest 0#

WILLIAM KASHTAN

“What is clear,” it says, ‘‘is that the
NDP has failed to establish itself as a
clear alternative to the old line parties.
Its basic direction is to manage
capitalism.’’ This view was enlarged
upon during discussion of the B.C.
election.

In his closing remarks, Party leader
William Kashtan referred to a concept
which received considerable attention
during the meeting, the existence
among working people of ‘‘a desire for
change, and at the same time a fear of
change. This tends to build up a
contradictory situation of timidity, of
retreat, and at the same time a situa-
tion of militancy and anger.

“It would be wrong to conclude
from all this that the working class is
demoralized,”’ he said. ‘The working
class is fighting to hold onto what it
has won,’’and doing so *‘is a victory at
this time.

“We fight to help the working class
unite their forces to hold onto what
they've achieved,”’ he said, ‘‘at the
same time as we go on the offensive
for new economic policies. Jobs and

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achieved its aim of killing the Crow. Thé
door will be open for ever higher freigh! —
costs in the future. Only the railways all
coal and resource companies will benefit
if this comes to pass. We call for stepped
up struggle to keep the Crow, to refuse ue
be diverted by phony compromises.

In this struggle, the Communist Party
will continue to give full support to everY
initiative to save the Crow Rate, whethe!
raised by the National Farmers Unio#

this vital issue, or by other farm and Jabot
organizaticns, local municipalities an
other forces in both English Canada and
Quebec.

We demand: Keep the Crow statutory
rates. Nationalize the CPR under demo
cratic control. Use the massive profits 0!
the railways, not the hardearned dollars
of farmers, to upgrade the grain transpot i
system and create jobs in the process. _