Quebec workers in struggle move to united labor part MONTREAL—The Parti Com- muniste du Quebec, which field- ed only one candidate in the previous federal election, is run- ning three in the coming poll as its contribution to the fight to elect a large bloc of progressives to Parliament. The convention of. the party, which is part of the Communist Party of Can- ada, on March 25-26 warmly up- held the election policy as pre- sented by Sam Walsh in the resolution on behalf of the na- tional executive of the PCQ. The coming election will have the question of Canadian inde- pendence as the central issue, the resolution states, relating this issue to politics in Quebec. Summarizing political devel- Opments during the past two years, the resolution declares that Quebec is undergoing poli- tical polarization “as the class Struggle asserts itself and breaks out into the open.” “There are important political forces to the right of Trudeau on this key question, despite the hesitations and the flagrant contradictions in his policy on this very question. That is why the Party cannot accept the idea Suggested by Claude Ryan, editor-in-chief of the Devoir, among others, that an alliance should be formed among Credi- tistes and Conservatives as well as with the separatists and the NDP to defeat Trudeau! Which does not mean at all that Tru- deau and the section of the monopolist bourgeoisie which he represents has the will or the ability to lead a consistent fight for genuine Canadian indepen- dence. “This task can only be accom- plished under the leadership of the united working class.” “The Union Nationale was smashed in the last provincial elections, for the big bour- geoisie had selected the Liberal party as its party, in view of the inability of the UN to rid it- self of its petty bourgeois, na- tionalist wing,” it stated. ‘The efforts of its new leader, Gabriel -Loucier, to regain the confi- dence of St. James St. by chang- ing the name -of the party to Unite-Quebec, and removing those who controlled the party’s treasury, have only revealed the crisis of impotence in this party which only a short while ago ruled Quebec.” As to the Liberal party, after criticizing the federal Trudeau government’s moves to the right, it dealt with the provin- cial Liberals: “Mr. Bourassa promised us - 100,000 new jobs, but the num- ber of unemployed has risen to 300,000 in the past two years, an increase of 50% ... “Desperate, in the wake of the October 1970 crisis, the Bourassa. government theatrical- ly announced his notorious James Bay project. This project demonstrates again that the government still orients on the exploitation of our natural re- sources for the development of US industries. _ Behind the smokescreen thrown up by Bourassa we can easily discern the fact that he is looking for the capital for this tremendous- ly costly project to the David » Rockefellers, accepting the con- dition that the electricity thus ‘generated will be delivered to Consolidated Edison of New York to feed power to the manufacturing industry there. Not only will this cost us $10 billion, but the jobs created will be minimal and for the most part temporary. Not to speak of the ruination of the Indian lands of the region and of the ecolog- ical dangers. “To meet the demands of our industry we can construct nuc- lear power plants enormously cheaper. without contracting to furnish electricity to U.S. in- dustry in long term contracts. “If we are prepared to invest up to $10 billion, the remainder can be invested in the manufac- turing industry, which really creates jobs not only in this sector of the economy, but also in primary and in tertiary (ser- vice) industry. “But the Bourassa govern- ment is busy running down pub- lic investment in the processing and manufacturing industry — closing doors of wood product plants in which the General In- vestment Corporation holds 50% of the shares, or selling them to U.S. companies — while throw- ing hundreds of workers on the street in many parts of Quebec. And all this while unemploy- ment is rising, and despite his. electoral, or rather, ephemeral, promise of 100,000 jobs. The large subsidies granted by the federal minister of regional de- velopment, Jean Marchand, to such huge monopolies as the ITT in order to help them to automate, have had the effect of throwing additional thou- sands of workers on the street. “The Liberal party is divided because of the perpetual dilem- ma confronting this party: how to be loyal to St. James St. and to the federal Liberal party and at the same time pretend to de- fend the interests of the people of Quebec.” After dealing with the split among the Creditistes, the reso- lution turned to the separatist Parti Quebecois and the NDP: “The Parti Quebecois has not escaped division either. The Oct. 29 demonstration revealed a serious crisis in its leadership between those, clearly in the minority, who wanted the PQ to be the vehicle for and the sup- Ses SARTRE banners on ‘Dorchester Street. ” PACIFIG. TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 1972—PAGE 6 300 James Bay Indians protestin SAM WALSH porter of the demands of the working class (and to whom Rene Levesque bruskly showed the door) and the petty bour- geois nationalist majority who. will never relinquish the reins of this party. “The NDP-Quebec finds itself in a very equivocal situation since the convention of the NDP-Canada rejected the right to self-determination for Que- bec. Their ‘compromise’ at bot- tom is an expression of classic ‘opportunism—that is, one pol- icy in English Canada, another in Quebec—until after the fed- eral elections! The gesture of David Lewis, in embracing Rene Levesque publicly at the anti- unemployment rally, illustrates perfectly the unprincipled op- portunism of both of them.” Tremendous developments have taken place in the labor - movement: “The October 1971 crisis gave birth to the Common Frent of the trade union centres, which in turn won the support of the NDP and of the Canadian Labor Congress. It was the unity of the working class of Canada which obliged the federal govern- ment, despite the pressure com- ing from the Quebec govern- ment and the Montreal city ad- ministration, to set aside the repressive laws. .“It was the need to unite against the hardening policy of the bosses and of the state who seek unrestrained exploitation free from all trade union con- trol, coupled with their policy of discrimination against and non-recognition of the French- 3 Canadian nation, which produc- ed a rapid deepening of class- consciousness in the trade union movement in Quebec. Without doubt this is the most remarkable social phenomenon of the 1970’s in Quebec. “Instead of carrying on fratri- cidal warfare, which was the norm not long before, the trade union centres, including the Quebec Corporation of Teach- ers, are becoming accustomed to work in a Common Front. In- stead of accepting the capitalist system as the undisputed frame- work for their existence and of their activity, all the trade union centres denounce this sys- tem and declare for socialism. Instead of preaching class col- laboration, which was general two years ago, it is the class struggle which is now the main doctrine. Instead of docilely ac- cepting discrimination . against the French-Canadian nation, we have declarations and struggles for national self-determination and equality. Instead of politi- cal neutrality, which in practise means leaving the workers to the mercy of the bourgeois and petty bourgeois parties, we are beginning to hear loud talk of the necessity for the working class to become politicized in- dependently of these parties. .. “Having experienced this rapid deepening of class politi- cal consciousness, an important section of the labor movement stands at a crossroad. Should the politicization of the working class be expressed in the sup- port of a petty bourgeois na- tionalist party on the provincial level, the PQ (in addition to supporting a social-democratic, reformist party on the federal level, the NDP)? Or should it be expressed in the creation of a mass federated party of labor independent of the parties of the big and of the petty bour- geoisie in Quebec?” Pointing out that some lead- ers still insist that the workers should limit themselves to the formation of political action committees, pressure committees on the elected representatives, discouraging the working class from forming its pwn mass party, the Communist policy Statement continues: “But what shall we say of those who preach support for the PQ provincially (and less strongly for the NDP federally)? 9 in Montreal last week against the James Bay project ‘burn their _shows the danger of letting ® How can they knowingly ® the workers to place thell tical fate in the hands of a such as the PQ, which ™ to consider itself a party @ working class (for fear of bourgeois votes) and whitlt one either by composition ® its policies. The very fach the leadership of the trade ™ movement took the bait lingualism dangled by Ref’; vesque immediately aftel Oct. 29 demonstration whittg condemned, and just befolt confrontation bet weet le 210,000 public service Wl, and the government of QU”) th ~ self be taken in tow ° nationalist petty bourge? a policy which is divisive “As for the NDP, it is 0m just to underline their Oia. tion to the War Measures but it is also only just 10 Fg to their opposition to thé to .self-determination f0F bec.” ie Pointing to the matu conditions for the formé? is ; a mass federated party of # i which the Communists hag, vocated for many yeals, “y solution discusses this P® tive: “Evidently such @ aos should be able to and shov i to unite all unions, coopel parties of the Left and left groups which are to work out a program 0) gle tngether, while pre’ their own maximum PP For example our Party WY abandon its Marxistl®) ji program, but we will ad participate actively in 4 “oh ted mass party of labor © yj a minimum program atl struggle decided upon JO” “Such a program can clude an orientation tow?" iW transformation of the ah 8 monopoly capitalist sya eh a socialist system, withoUr og too detailed either om tent of or on the path t ism. But such a mas should be based on struggle and not on clas boration. of “It should stand for ¥ 4 control over automation moving of plants; for thé oni ing of contracts with ™ | lies. d “Such a party should © for the right to sale . tion for Quebec withou way removing language "4 : tural rights, in a word not i ratic rights, from the me “Such a party shoult . all nationalist, exclusivis bourgeois tendencies, iby t solidarity and unity sish ‘ working class of Engl “i : ada, as a condition for of the struggle for 5 national emancipation. sf “In short, we ted 6, 5 i of labor, . to seat the cooperatives, f political parties of the oad f citizens’ committees a : ate, around a program ( gle against state-m' {ot uy! talism, for peace | right to national self-det® tion. Each organization tag its identity and its prob” 4 | vided it remains loy ett” the program decided * 8 t a \ creation of a federa wi , ( |