LPP pre-convention discussion Slogan correct in Saskatchewan but was not clearly understood By NELSON CLARKE t 3 _-REGINA Is a contribution to the pre-convention discussion Comrade Alex Theodore raises a number of questions in connection with the slogan and tactical line of the LPP in the Saskatchewan June election. These questions demand serious consideration. aspects of the problem, with which I wish to deal. What were the main features of the political situation in Sas- katchewan prior to the election? First of all, there was a tre- mendous effort put forward by the - agents of monopoly capital in the Liberal and Tory parties to stage a comeback. This was the main danger. That it was a real danger was all to clearly proven by the gains made in the election. The CCF government had succeed- ed in carrying through part of its 1944 program on the basis of the relatively high income enjoyed by the people of the province during the period of its first term in office, The main spokesmen of the CCF in the province, and in par- ticular Douglas, had not yet come out clearly in support of the inter- national policies of the King gov- ernment, as is now the case. e. As a result there was little differentiation developing among the mass of CCF supporters on major questions of party policy. As a result, also, there was not even the beginning of a develop- ment in the direction of indepen- dent political action among either the organized farmers or organized workers of Saskatchewan. Coupled with this, we must also mention the limited strength of the LPP itself which was not able to undertake a campaign with its own candidates in any large num- ber of constituencies, even if such a course had been considered correct. Arising out of these factors, it must be clear that the job of the LPP was to conduct a campaign to help unite and bring into mo- tion the most progressive section of the electorate in order to guar- antee above all the defeat of the main danger — the Liberal-Tory gang-up — the coalition of the ag- ents of monopoly capital. This, in the objective situation then ob- taining, could only be achieved by a fight for unity at the polls to reject the CCF government—the only possible alternative to Liber- al-Tory reaction. It was at the same time very necessary that our cam- paign should not further heighten illusions about social democracy among the masses of progressive people. This pointed up the need for a strong independent campaign on the/part of our Party. This tactic was correctly ex- pressed in the slogan, “Defeat the old parties, unite at the polls to re-elect the CCF government.” Any other tactic would have been prac- tically irresponsible at that time, and would. have made it more dif- ficult for our Party to reach the people. : ; In carrying through. our tactic, _there were. serious weaknesses. Aside from our campaign in Pelly to elect Bill Berezowski, which was in general an excellent fighting campaign winning us substantially increased support, we had the task of conducting an independent cam- paign throughout the province to make our position clear. In the course of that campaign, we tried to do a number of things: (1) It appears taat Comrade Theodore has overlooked a number of | sharply emphasize the danger of the drive for power of the Liberals and Tories, (2) sharply criticize the CCF government for its failure to bring forward a constructive program for the next four years, for its failure to develop a fight against. the monopoly-dictated poli- cies of the King-St. Laurent-Gard- iner government, and for the red- baiting which was indulged in by certain CCF leaders. While we de- veloped these points in leaflets, ra- dio broadeasts, and some public meetings, we did not carry down to our membership a full, clear un- derstanding of what we were try- ing to achieve. As a result, there were a number of clubs which did not do independent work, and submerged themselves in the CCF. These weaknesses which reflect political and organizational weak- nesses of the provincial leadership of the Party, do not prove that the tactic or the slogan of the elec- tion campaign were incorrect. Since the election a number of important developments have tak- en place. The government has clearly gone into retreat before the heightened pressure of financing in ea period when provincial income is beginning to fall. This was re- flected in the doubling of the pro- vineial hospitalization tax which remains a’ regressive flat tax. It is reflected in the recent strike of the government insurance workers” which was brought about by the refusal of the government to make any counter-proposals to justified wage demands, and which was fin- ally setled through an unsatisfac- tory compromise. The government is making a des- perate bid to bring private capital into the province—the very point around which Tucker did so much talking in the election campaign. Douglas has been to England, Swe- den and Wall Street looking for capital to develop, among other things; the uranium’ resources of the province. Not one word is said about the obvious fact that this uranium will be used for the man- ufacture of atomic bombs. Finally, and in many ways most significant of all, since his return from Europe, Douglas has come out clearly in support of the Mar- shall Plan, the cold war, the Ber- lin air lift and generally of the whole war policy of American and Canadian _imperialism which has been espoused for some time by Coldwell, Lewis and the top lead- ership of the CCF. There is more and more evidence that these policies of betrayal are causing concern and unrest among the ranks of CCF,members and supporters. On this basis there is now a much better possibility of a real differentiation developing within the CCF as between its left and right wings. This differentiation will. of course, come about only as our Party develops greatly its own in- dependent work, brings forward its independent policies, and de- velops its independent criticism of the right-wing social democrats of Saskatchewan. : In ths connection, it is to be pointed out that our criticisms will ALWAYS. MEET AT... 4, oe <6. PENDER AUDITORIUM Renovated—Modernized—Hall Large and Small for Every Need DANCING - CONVENTIONS - MEETINGS Triple Mike P.A. System — Wired for Broadcasting ' — Excellent Acoustics — 339 WEST PENDER STREET BY carry more weight and will be bet- ter received by the CCF member- ship precisely because they know that in the last election we worked with them to defeat the old parties and to re-elect the CCF govern- ment, It is in the light of these con- siderations that we must work out the perspectives for the federal election in this province. The LPP must: work for the defeat of those two public enemies— Diefenbaker and Gardiner. : The LPP must further work to expose the traitorous policies of right-wing social democracy as ex- emplified particularly by men like Coldwell. We will have to develop a concrete criticism of these Ppoli- cies. At the same time, we will have to conduct a positive fight to en- courage as fully as possible every progressive tendency which dis- plays itself within the CCF. e@ We should not go into the feder- ‘al election with an overall slogan ealling for the election of all CCF candidates in Saskatchewan. In the present stage of development such a slogan would give rise to illu- sions. Rather we will have to con- duct a fight for the maximum un- ity between the CCF and LPP in the struggle for peace, and against the monopolies. We will have to ex- amine the record and statements of each CCF candidate before we can determine how in that constit- uency we. can best develop the struggle during the election cam- paign. We must keep in mind that the position of the CCF itself is not static but will be vitally af- fected by the kind of campaign we ourselves wage. Section on ‘not specific enough’ women By BRITA MICKLEBURGH —VANCOUVER HE Draft’ Resolution’s section dealing with Canada’s Women seems to me inadequate. It mentions that we must devote “more attention to the problems and struggles of the women’’; but apart from a mention of the price issue it is not nearly specific enough. Many of us whe canvassed for Effie Jones in the recent Vancou- ver civic election were met by the remark: “But Effie Jones is a wo- man. She wouldn’t make a good mayor.” This illustrates that dis- crimination against women has not disappeared simply because Cana- dian women today generally vote, can own. property, hold jobs, etc. Discrimination against women is a characteristic of our capitalist system and it takes many forms, some open, others subtle and hid- den. This fact must never be for- gotten in any discussion of wo- men’s work. It expains their poli- tical backwardness, their frequent reluctance to accept responsibility, their timidity to take part in ques- tions of theory and decisions of policy. The continual propaganda regarding women’s supposed. infer- iority and their dependence on the man for support has had its inevit- able effects. We must fight discrimination } ideologically by giving evidence of their contributions to the world’s working class movement, their courage, their devotion to the cause of socialism which alone will as- sure their complete ~emancipation. Let us examine some of the prob- lems of Canadian women and how ‘discrimination manifests itself. Take the housewife who has no other identity as a human being than as the appendage to a house. Lenin described it best when he said, “Women grow worn out in the petty monotonous household work, their minds growing narrow and stale, their hearts beating slowly, their will weakened Critical of style and phrasing in resolution By EF, R. D. > N my opmion, the content of the Draft Resolution in general repre- * sents a true analysis and evaluation of the Canadian and world situation and our part in it. A major criticism I would like to contribute, however, concerns the style and manner of writing in this document. I find, running through the en- tire resolution, numerous examples of loose terminology, mercilessly over-exploited phrases and state- ments that, through exaggeration or otherwise, convey an impression ‘different from that intended. I think that a criticism of style and terminology is not just a sec- ond-class matter for us. If we want this Draft Resolution to be pre- sentable to the Canadian people at large, it must speak in a language that is understood, analyze a diffi- cult situation with perfect clarity and simplicity and employ more complicated expressions only where this is quite necessary. Truly great works of literature are grasped by the mass of people, because of | their essential simplicity, as op- posed to poverty of style, however. (The people understood Shake- speare, yet is his style monoton- ous?) Political writing, such as the Draft Resolution, is in this re- spect. not different from a novel or play. If we need examples of how a complex situation can be analyzed in a factual yet vibrant, presentation, void of cliches, “let’s look at the “Communist Manifes- to” or “Canada: The Communist Viewpoint.” Furthermore, the Party member- ship itself needs a resolution that is clearcut and unbeclouded. We are the ones to carry its content to our fellow-Canadians, in dis- cussions, person-to-person contact, even print. Yet I doubt if I could make much of an impression, if I spouted terms such as “warmong- ers”, “monopolists” or ‘“finance- capital,” without at least explain- ing them. Moreover, a large num- ber of Canadians have been pre- conditioned by their press to think- ing of Communists as phoney (or even “unCanadian”) double-talk- ers. If we speak to them, cliche- armed, in a strange terminology, they will be so much more antagon- ized and believe the propaganda. Nor is such unclarity conducive to analytic thinking on our own part. My criticism covers three as- ‘pects of the style in the Draft Res- olution: a) Statements which tend to exaggerate or otherwise convey a wrong picture; b) Phrases that are outworn with use and sloppily applied; c) Subjective approaches in dealing with objective situations. a) In section V, paragraph 7, take: “Democratic Canadians see assur- ance of victory in the continuing and ever-extending triumphant ad- vance of the people’s forces all over the world, by the inspiring post-war achievements of Social- ism in the USSR.” I think this sen- tence ascribes to most Canadians an attitude that is, as yet, at best subconscious.. e é In the following paragraph, we read about “the ruthless exploita- tion and enslavement of their countries (England and Western Europe) by U.S. imperialism .. .” Essentially true, no doubt, yet I can't help picturing Simon Legree, whip in hand, standing over a (Continued on Page 7) See CRITICISM PACIFIC .TRIBUNE — The home life of the woman is a daily sacrifice to a thousand un- important trivialities.” To recognize the deep social value of childbearing and home- making does not change this fact any more than a worker's exploita- tion in the mill is lightened by the knowledge that he is being useful. Owing to the lack of day nurser- ies where good care of children is assured, many women with valu- able training and a preference for continuing in their jobs after mo- therhood are placed in a position of economic dependence on the man and spending their days do- ing work they have no inclination for. The bad living conditions caused by the housing shortage ac- centuate the restlessness of these young mothers. Those women who work outside the home are doubly exploited and insecure because they are paki lower wages for their work than men are, discriminated against in promotion and advancement, and wark constantly under the threat of dismissal in the event of mother- hood or marriage. In B.C, this year the B.C. Association of School Trus- tees introduced a resolution per- mitting school boards to dismiss women teachers when they marry. Nor is the problem solved by a job outside the home for the wife. Most of her earnings go to pay for child care and*the household tasks have to be attended to in the even- ings and days off. : We cannot be satisfied with our present work in the women’s field. There are far too few women in our Party. We must bring more wo- men into our Party and draw mass- es of non-Party women into the fight for peace and democratic rights. Here are some suggested propo- sals for improvement in our work among women. : 1. A thorough review of the functioning and activities of our Party Women’s Commissions should be made in order to deter- mine what mass work is being done and “what results have been ob- tained. These should be live po- litical bodies initiating their own campaigns and functions and. pro- gram, not as they too often are at present, the sponsors of an oc- casonal tea. 2. The Party should carry out educational work regarding the Marxist position on the woman question. These courses should be for women and men both. A great deal of misunderstanding and con- fusion exists in the minds of many cf our comrades on this particular question. Bourgeois ideology re- garding women permeates our Party and harms it. To root out every particle of “male superiority” ideology and feminism is also part of the fight for the Party. 3. The need for more afternoon meetings and activities should be recognized. I have actually heard comrades in our Party speaking of canvassing in the daytime be- ing useless because “only the wo- men are home.” This is actually the best time to reach women in their homes and discuss pressing needs of the day. 4. The problem of “baby-sitting” for women club membérs should be considered by club leadership. Too many club chairmen are satisfied to “write off’ women comrades once they have become mothers and “can’t get out.” 5. More participation by our women comrades in mass women’s organizations like the PTA, union auxiliaries, Consumer groups, pro- fessional groups, etc. But we must stress the need to give these wo- men political leadership and un- derstanding as members of these or- ganizations to assure that progres- sive policies are fought for, JANURY 21, 1949 — PAGE 6. -