Letters/Commentary

Letters ~

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‘Truths’ of a generation challenged by history

Elgin Neish’s letter (“Negative views of
Stalinism questioned,” Tribune, Sept. 18,
1989) reminded me of an old British study
outline that I came across recently, entitled
“The Communist Party of the Soviet
Union. Syllabus for Six Lessons on the His-
tory of the CPSU.” Published by the Com-
munist Party of Great Britain in 1949, it was
written by professional tutors and it was
small enough to fit into a shirt pocket. The
history itself was published in hard cover
format in Canada in 1939, ten years before
the pamphlet.

In the introduction to the pamphlet I
found this; “By studying how the Bolshevik
party under the leadership of Lenin and
Stalin tackled the hundred and one prob-
lems that confronted them we can master
the method of solving our own problems.
But to do this effectively, we must be famil-
lar with the history, and know how to find
Our way about it.”

A whole generation of Communists
throughout the world, including Canada,
truly believed that this history was one of
the greatest treasures of Marxism-Leninism.
Now, we know better. It was a flawed, Stal-
inist version of the history of the CPSU. It is
no longer accepted as a major historical
product. It was written when the cult of
Stalin was firmly entrenched, when opposi-
tion to Stalin’s policies was equated with
crimes against socialism and humanity.
While there were enemies of socialism
within the Soviet Union in that period, their
strength was greatly exaggerated by Stalin
and his entourage, for self-serving purposes.

For example, in the introduction to the
history we are told that one of the sources of
strength in the CPSU was the unrelenting
struggle against persons in the party
referred to as ‘“Trotskyites, Bukharinites,
national deviators and other anti-Leninist
groups.”

But, in his address to a meeting held in
Moscow to commemorate the 70th anni-
versary of the 1917 Socialist Revolution,

Mikhail Gorbachev made this comment:

“At its 20th and 22nd Congress, the party
severely condemned the Stalin cult itself and
its consequences. We know now that the
political accusations and repressive mea-
sures against a number of party leaders and
statesmen, against many Communists and
non-party people, against economic execu-
tives and military men, against scientists
and cultural personalities were a result of
deliberate falsification. The Political Bureau
of the Central Committee has set up a
commission to comprehensively examine
new and already known facts pertaining to
these matters. Appropriate decisions will be
taken on the basis of the commission’s find-
ings.”

Already, many prominent Bolsheviks
who were executed after frame-up trials
have been posthumously rehabilitated, and
the process continues.

For those of my generation (children of
the Great Depression) who find it difficult
to accept what is being written about Stalin
now, and to those of succeeding generations
who still have a feeling that maybe the
crimes of Stalin can only be understood in
the light of historical necessity, I recom-
mend this passage from the Gorbachev
speech referred to above:

“There is now much discussion about the
role of Stalin in our history. His was an
extremely contradictory personality. To
remain faithful to historical truth we must
see both Stalin’s incontestable contribution
to the struggle for socialism, to the defence
of its gains, and the gross political errors,
and the abuses committed by him and those
around him, for which the people paid a
heavy price and which had grave conse-
quences for the life of our society. It is
sometimes said that Stalin did not know
about the instances of lawlessness. Docu-
ments at our disposal show this is not so.
The guilt of Stalin and his immediate ent-
ourage before the party and the people for
wholesale repressive measures and acts of

lawlessness is enormous and unforgivable.”

Every Communist, every socialist-minded
person in Canada should welcome the pro-
cess of restructuring and the extension of
socialist democracy which is taking place in
the Soviet Union. It is not an easy road they
have chosen and, inevitably, mistakes will
be made. But in the long run, socialism will
emerge stronger and will be more attractive
to the people of the world. Let us wish them

well in the Soviet Union and let us get on
with the task of re-evaluating the history of
the left in Canada, to extract what is positive
and to recognize what is negative. Above
all, let us seek to unite all socialist-minded
people in our country around policies that
will strengthen the movement for demo-
cratic advance and socialism.
Jack Phillips,
Vancouver

D.C. Scott put in context

Paul Ogresko’s commentary (“Ghost of
Scott still haunts Tory Indian Affairs,”
Tribune, Sept. 25, 1989) made me boil. His
coverage of the present situation comes as
no surprise. The Mulroney government —
which has permitted an increase of trade
with South Africa — is as manipulative as
voters will let it be.

But the now popular attack on one of
Canada’s best poets (who also worked for
the Department of Indian Affairs) is mis-
guided and wrong. It was Scott who wrote
about the “white men, servants of greed”’
who attacked innocent Indians. It is Scott
who wrote perhaps the best poetry about
the Indians written in North America. It is
the best because he respects, admires, empa-
thizes with Indian culture in his poetry.

He was a civil servant, working for
Indian Affairs from the age of about 16 or
17, at the turn of the century until he retired
in the 1930s. All the time he was at Indian
Affairs, the number of Indians was waning.
And he did not make Indian policy, being a
civil servant. Not only were the Indians
waning, but they were treated very badly.

Scott’s solution (far from terrible in the
historical context) was assimilation. He
believed that the Indians should receive jus-
tice, and he believed that the only way they
could get full justice was to assimilate. Such

a suggestion is heresy now, but it wasn’t
then.

People persistently attack Scott, who was
at the very highest level what we would now
calla deputy minister. The people who attack
him don’t attack the governments of the
day, the cabinet ministers who made policy,
or even the ministers of Indian Affairs. They
attack Duncan Campbell Scott. Strange.

It would be nice if things had improved,
but they haven’t improved a lot. Govern-
ments are still racist and enterprise-
oriented. What’s more, a lot of Canadians
are racist, too, about Indian peoples. There
are parts of Vancouver where those things
are so visibly true it hurts.

Looking at the human wrecks that are
the result, I think Scott’s suggestion doesn’t
seem so bad. He would laugh at his present
denigrators. They live in a Canada where
the human wrecks I see are comment
enough on any kind of self-righteousness
and contempt for D.C. Scott. He will last
because he is the one poet in North America
who insisted upon the nobility and the cul-
tural integrity of a people who he also
depicted brilliantly as being ravaged by
white “civilization.”

Robin Mathews
Vancouver

No room for poor in NPA’s ‘executive city’

The Non-Partisan Association majority
on city council has been extolling its so-
called initiatives to ease the housing crisis
in Vancouver, and especially its successes
in building the “executive city.” That
housing is being built for those with high
incomes cannot be denied. It must be rec-
ognized, however, that these are a minor-
ity of Vancouver residents.

Let me tell you something about the
other side of housing and just how severe
the problem is for some of our citizens.

Nelly Guyson is 78 years old. She is the
widow of a veteran and has lived in B.C.
all her life. Her income is $1,600 a month.
She rents rooms in the old Lee Building, a

slum dwelling for which she pays $489 a -

month.

It’s run by Aquilini Management. The
stove doesn’t work, there is no fridge, no
laundry facilities, washer or dryer, and
almost no maintenance. The hallways are
unlighted. The caretaker comes in only
once in a while. (Many tenants in Van-
couver, and city council too, know the
Aquilini name, notorious for the many
complaints by tenants about slum dwel-
lings, lack of repairs, lack of safety and
cleanliness, and high rents.)

Why can’t this poor woman be given a

_ decent place to live, one that’s clean and
safe, with lighted hallways and at least
minimum facilities?

My second example is a bag lady that I
frequently meet. All her. worldly posses-
sions are in two shopping carts. She
spends her nights who-knows-where.
She’s obviously in need of help, even if it’s
only a place to wash up, a decent room in
which to spend the night, and a sympa-
thetic ear to listen to her troubles. But our
society has no place for her.

Such cases rarely come before city .
council and little if anything is done about
them. There is no place for these people in
our executive city. Doing something for
them doesn’t grab the headlines for our
NPA politicians.

The May Wah hotel, a rooming house
for elderly Chinese, is about to close. The
rooms here are very small but the rent
averages only $160 a month. The facilities
are clean and many services are provided
by the landlords. But taxes on this building °
have jumped in one year from $28,000 to
$124,323. If it closes where will these
tenants go?

In the Kerrisdale area, as of the middle
of August, 10 apartment buildings with
359 affordable rental units were scheduled
to be demolished and replaced by 222 high

priced condos. No provision has been

made for the tenants who are being kicked

out.

In July of this year, in the Greater Van-
couver area, 723 new condos were up for

buildings and our homes!

sale. Of these, none were in the lower than
$110,000 range and more than half (393)
were in the over $300,000 range.

Let me quote from a leaflet addressed to
Mayor Gordon Campbell distributed by
an angry tenant about to be evicted:

“Where am I to move? I am a refugee in
my own city!

“T believe the city is far too slow in
relocating the seniors, and (must build)
affordable housing now! Not 1990 or
1991.

“We can scarcely afford to rent, let
alone purchase a residence. When do we
put the lid on Hong Kong investors?

“Is Vancouver only for the wealthy?

“Mayor Campbell — you keep saying
good investments. Investments for whom?
You and a few others who already have.

“It’s time Vancouver’s mayor and
council started serving the interests of citi-
zens and not developers.

“Keep affordable housing!

“Recognize people’s needs — keep our

“Stop this destruction!

“Stop selling our city to outside inter- °
ests not living in Canada.

“Keep Vancouver liveable for all
income levels!”

Pacific Tribune, October 2, 1989 ¢ 5

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