=

Can't entrench rights

in old BNA act .

N attempt to entrench a bill

North America Act is doom-
ed to failure, Nelson Clarke,
Organizer of the Communist Par-
ty of Canada told a press con-
ference in Montreal last week.

It is first of all necessary,
Clarke emphasized, for the sov-
ereignty of the French Canadian
People in Quebec ‘to be recog-
nized. This would create the

_ Possibility of the two nations of

Canada negotiating a new con-
Stitution on the basis of mutual
agreement.

Asked by one reporter, in what
Tespect the position. of the Com-
Munists differed from that of
Rene Levesque, Clarke replied
that there is no difference with
Levesque on the right of the
French Canadan nation in Que-
bec to sovereignty, but that the
Communist Party does not as-
Sume that the exercise of sov-
ereignty can only be expressed
through an associate state ar-
Tangement. It is quite possible

that once the two nations are

Placed on a completely equal
footing that they would find it

‘in their mutual interest to as-

Sign powers to a central govern-
ment that would go well beyond
& common market arrangement,
he said.

This point was underlined by
Jeannette Walsh, organizer of
the Communist Party of Quebec,
who emphasized that the move-

* ment for liberation of the French

Canadian nation cannot be left
to the petty bourgeois forces re-
Presented by Levesque. It is es-
Sential that the working class
€nter fully into this struggle and
ive it guidance in a progressive
direction.

Clarke released to the press in
Montreal and Ottawa copies of
the statement on the Crisis of
Confederation issued by the re-
cent meeting of the Communist
Party’s Central’ Committee (see
Canadian Tribune, January 26).
This statement has been sent to
the Prime Minister of Canada,
the provincial’ premiers: and
Members of parliament together

‘with a covering letter signed by

Party leader William Kashtan,
dealing with the issues before

-. the Constitutional Conference.

The letter after restating the
basic positions of the: Commun-:

ist Party on the present crisis,
Says, “We hold that the Con-

* stitutional. Conference if it is

to’ make any meaningful’ pro-
gress, must first of all address
itself to the establishment of
those .forms of consultation

_ which will make it possible for

the English speaking Canadian
to negotiate as an entity with
Quebec.” It emphasizes the in-
terest of English speaking Cana-
da in this matter because pre-
Sent proposals to meet: the de-
mands: of Quebec by extension
of “provincial rights” to all pro-
Vinces only assists monopoly
Capitalism in its obstruction. of
Such measures as medicare.

The letter continues with the
following statement on a Bill of
Rights:

Having made “the above
points, which we consider to be
fundamental!to’ the work of the
Constitutional ‘Conference, we
would add that we are strongly
in favor of the principle of con-
Stitutional’ entrenchment of a
Bill of Rights. This principle is
contained in the call of the Com-

munist Party of Quebec for the
adoption of a constitution for
Quebec and it should be applied
to any new constitution that will
arise out of negotiations between

_the two nations of Canada.

“Such an-entrenched Bill of
Rights in addition to guarantee-
ing democratic rights of all Ca-
nadians (right to organize, strike
and picket, freedom of speech,
press and assembly, right of
habeas corpus, trial by jury, pro-
tection of religious beliefs, a
truly independent judiciary
should also include the right to
a job, and to a guaranteed in-
come for working people and
farmers.

“The Bill of Rights should out-
law all forms of discrimination
on the .basis of ethnic and na-
tional origin, and should guaran-
tee the rights of all ethnic groups

to enjoyment and free develop-
ment of their cultural heritage.

“Furthermore, as our attach-
ed statement declares: “‘Consist-
ent strengthening of democracy
in the state structure requires
that the linguistic and cultural
rights of the French Canadian
minorities outside Quebec be
safeguarded, on an equal footing
with those now enjoyed by the
English speaking minority in
Quebec.”

“In conclusion, we are pro-
foundly convinced that the poli-
cies here outlined and elaborated
on in our accompanying policy
statement are in accord with the
best interests. of the two Cana-
dian nations, and will serve to
advance their concerted strug-
gle against the domination of
both by the United States of
America.”

NO INCREASE

HE increase in Toronto Hy-
-dro rates for home own-
ers and others who use a
minimal amount of power, while
large industrial and other. users
are actually receiving a cut in
their rates, is a matter that needs
investigation. Charges made by
organized labor — notably the
International Union of Operat-
ing Engineers, Local 796 — that
management of the Toronto
Hydro is guilty of inefficiency,
paternalism and discriminatory
methods of operation, appear to
be justified in view of what is
happening.

Hydro is a public utility
which, like all utilities of this
nature, has as a main purpose
to serve public needs at cost.
This does not mean that they
must operate at a loss. It means
that democratic and efficient
management must be guaranteed
at all times.

Unfortunately, Ontario’ Hydro
has become very much an in-
separable part of the private

capitalist establishment, operat-
ing the utility in the most bu-
reaucratic manner. The empha-
sis seems to be on persecution
of labor and a squeeze on the
public to open the way for the
greatest possible economic con-

cessions to big business and the

industrial -giants.

Now, after “Big Daddy” Gar-
diner has told us. about the for-
midable but somewhat dwindling
profits of the Toronto Hydro
after Ontario Hydro squeezed
another 6 percent increase in its
wholesale rate for power, Mayor
Dennison comes back and talks
about reserves being used up
to cover deficits. Mr. Dennison,
who is one of the three Commis-
sioners and an elected spokes-
men for all Toronto citizens, ad-
mits that he did not oppose the
9 percent increase in rates to
small and medium power users
in Toronto. But what about the
cut in rates for large industrial
users? Clearly he did not oppose
that either.

‘Student as nigger’ controversy

By CHARLES BOYLAN

Jerry Farber teaches English
in Los Angeles. Today he is the
centre of a movement by Eng-
lish-Canadian university student
editors to assert student rights
against blue-nosed, public-image-
conscious university administra-
tors.

The movement, part of an
over-all struggle for student
power, began when The Ubyssey,
student journal at UBC, re-print-
ed an article by Farber called,
“The Student As Nigger.” He
argues Students are relegated by
monopoly-capital to the same
role as America’s black popula-
tion, sub-humans who are sup-

-posed to passively accept the

dictates of “Mr. Charlie.” |

“Students don’t ask that or-
ders make sense,” Farber writes.
“They give up expecting things
to make sense long before they
leave elementary school. Things
are true because the teacher says
they’re true .. . Back in kinder-
garten, you found out that teach-
ers only love children who stand
in nice straight lines.”

Farber then vividly describes
what every university student
knows. The degrading senseless
system of exams, the meaning-
less ritual. of subservience ne-
cessary to beat the system, is
lauded in phoney convocation
exercises as. “education.”

Farber. claims teachers. them-

selves perpetuate this system...

“Professors were no different
when I was an undergraduate at
UCLA during the McCarthy era;
it was like a: cattle stampede as
they rushed to cop out. And in
more recent years, I found that
my being arrested in sit-ins
brought from my colleagues not
so much approval or condemna-
tion as open-mouthed astonish-
ment: “You could lose your
job!” : :
“Now, of course, there’s the
Vietnamese war. It gets some
opposition from a few teachers.
Some support it. But a vast num-
ber of professors, who know
perfectly well what’s happening,
are copping out again. And in
the high’schools you can forget
ate :

“T’m not sure why teachers are
so chickenshit. It could be that
academic training -itself forces
a split between thought and ac-
tion. It might also be that the
tenured security of a teaching

job attracts timid persons who
are unsure of: themselves and
need weapons and other external
trappings of authority.

“At any rate teachers are
short on balls.”
_ Farber’s comments about the
U.S. university system are just
as relevant to Canada. The domi-
nation of universities by big-
business Boards of Governors,
the fragmented specialized ap-
proach to learning devoid of
humanist content, the insidious
infiltration of military money
into scientific research and the
attendent “master-slave” rela-
tionships between teachers and
students are common phenomena
in Anglo-American universities.

Small wonder then that other
English-Canadian student papers
picked up’ “The Student As Nig-
ger” from The Ubyssey. Nor was
it too surprising that at Windsor
university, the administration
discipline committee met two
hours after the article was pub-
lished in the student paper, The
Lance. Windsor President, John
Leddy, condemned “the morbid
obsession with squalid vulgarity”
of co-editor John Lalor. After
all, Farber uses four-letter words
in his article. The Canadian Uni-
versity Press came to Lalor’s de-
fense; so did Windsor students,

-and. they won a partial victory.

The Lance issue encouraged
others to print “The Student As
Nigger.” Not only did it make
good copy, it symbolized now a
struggle of the “niggers” against
their masters. Since then Alan
Remoin, editor of the Argosy
Weekly at Mount Allison Univer-
sity was fired. because he tried

dent of the Congre
Canadian Women is attend-
ing the session of the Sta-
tus of Women Commission |
of the United Nations Eco- |
nomic and Social Council,
as the representative of the
Womens International De-
mocratic Federation. — :

The Womens Internatio-
nal Democratic Federation
has received ‘B’ Status on
the Economic and. Social
Council at the United Na-
tions. :

unsuccessfully to reprint it.
Eight Maritime printers have
-refused to touch it. And the ad-
ministration refused students
permission to use the university
Gestetner machine. Kevin Peter-
son, student editor at Calgary,
also had his printer refuse to
publish the article. He ran a
mimeo‘copy. .

_In the meantime, over a dozen
campus papers have run it with-
out interference. It would appear

_ not every administration is pre-
pared to confront the growing
radicalization of their students.

That a radical teachers’ jour-
nal, This Magazine Is About
Schools, should publish the ar-
ticle in their last issue, makes
it obvious not only students are
concerned about the ineptitude
of our education system.

Unfortunately, there are still
lots of “Uncle Toms” on campus
clamoring for “student responsi-
bility,” i.e., passive obedience.
It’s just possible, however, if
students in the coming campus
elections vote for “student pow-
er” candidates, the days of stu-
dent as “nigger” are numbered.

Canada-GDR

Society

Ernest Crist, president of the
new Canada-GDR Society, has
this to say about the new or-
ganization: The GDR is a fact.
This State exists and only a war
could change this—but ‘war
must be avoided under all cir-
cumstances, ;

That the GDR is a reality is
expressed in figures better than
in words. This one-time back-
ward and largely agrarian part
of Germany is now one of the
most important industrial coun-
tries in the world. It produced
- in 1964 as much as all of Ger-
many did.in 1936,

This was accomplished under
the most difficult circumstances.
But today, wrote a Western re-
porter, after returning from the
GDR, the citizens of the GDR
reap an ever-greater degree of
the fruits of their labor and are
proud of their accomplishments.

That it is in the interests of
peace to recognize the existence
of this State has been under-
stood by thinking people for a
long time. A forceful solution of
the German question could only
lead to atomic war. That would
mean not only the total annihi-
lation of the German people but

_ humanity as a whole. To respon-

sible people, such a course is
unthinkable.

World peace, however, is not
a gift from the heavens. The al-

formed

ternative to war in Germany is
normalization. That means first
of all recognition of the GDR on
the basis of equality as a pre-
condition to the solution of
other problems.

It is also in Canada’s interests
to establish friendly relations
with the GDR. That country con-
stitutes an important potential

‘trade partner for Canada. Pro-.

ducts which we export are. in de-
mand in the GDR. Many pro-
ducts exported by the GDR,

such as machinery, optical in-

struments and chemicals are of
the highest quality.

That the GDR has a right to
be treated with respect is shown
by its policy of peace. The eco-
nomic and social life of that
State makes the preservation of
world peace one of its first
needs. The GDR has no territo-
rial claims on its neighbors and
because of this acts in the spirit
of the United Nations, of which
Canada is a memnber.

Achievements in the cultural
field in that country match its
successes in the material field.

It is high time that we in Can-
ada establish relations with the
people of the GDR, with its
scientists, artists and writers.

Recognizing this, a group of
Canadians have formed an or-
ganization with the above stated
aims which will become known
as the Canadian-GDR Society.

FEBRUARY 16, 1968—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 3

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