CANADA

Manitoba NDP Convention:

Drift to right without rocking the boat

By PAULA FLETCHER

The recent New Democratic Party Convention in Manitoba had the air of a Pre-election rally as the government pre- Pares to send voters to the polls in the fall of this year or early next spring.

_It was a quiet gathering with little ob- Vious dissension coming from the floor, but the seeming unity was due more to the leadership's ability to convince dele- gates not to rock the pre-election boat, than to agreement on a political course. A tight rein was placed on proceedings as the right-of-centre leadership managed Once again to convince the membership that appearances are all important.

_ Noticeable was the on-going capitula- tion of the labor leaders in acquiescing to 80vernment measures which have hurt the movement. Just as apparent was the _ €Ontinued absence of a left presence Which could present alternative pro- 8rams and blunt the rightward shift in the Party.

Howard Pawley’s speech on day two of the convention could and should have

€n the much needed spark and focus of the discussion. The premier outlined the Positive achievements over the past three years of his government, highlight- Ing the province’s record for having the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

He hit hard at the present Tory cam- Paign to unseat the NDP. The former yon government’s record of

Misguided social and economic poli- Cles’’ was invoked. He called for the Party to keep ‘‘the people and forces dri- ven by right-wing ideology, a lust for Power, greed and disregard for the legitimate aspirations of ordinary people from returning this province to the state it was in 1980°’.

B.C. to Bay Street

Pawley forecast Tory preparations to unleash:a campaign ‘“‘the likes of which we have never seen before . .. supported by Tory governments across the country and bank-rolled in corporate towers from B.C. to Bay Street’’.

In contrast to Pawley’s tone and astute Political conclusions were the speeches delivered by British Columbia party leader Bob Skelley and federal leader Ed Broadbent.

After citing the two NDP by-election Wins against the Socreds, Skelley man- aged to speak for 20 minutes without once mentioning the massive extra- parliamentary actions by the BC Fed- eration of Labor, the Solidarity Coali- tion, his own party or the Communist Party, all of which contributed to the

P by-election victories.

Staying with the by-election victory theme, Broadbent contrasted all other provincial governments with Manitoba’s lone NDP holding, calling it the one pro- vincial government ‘‘that cares’’. How- ever there was nothing passing for analysis of the Mulroney government’s agenda; the sellout of Canada to U.S. interests or even Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars plan. In fact, the question of nu- clear war and related issues of foreign policy were completely absent from the 11 major convention addresses by NDP

leaders.

The burying of the peace question by ©

the leadership was in contrast to the number of delegates who sported anti- nuclear buttons and a brisk business was done by peace coalition booths in the convention lobby. Two resolutions were passed; one calling for Manitoba to be- come a nuclear weapons-free zone and the other congratulating New Zealand for its stand against the U.S.

Unlike previous conventions, a special place on the agends was given to long- range resolutions which almost served as policy papers for the party. It was around these statements that the real philo- sophical and concrete debate took place over the future direction of the NDP and social democracy itself.

Nationalization Key

The key questions of nationalization and public ownership were raised con- tinually from the floor as necessary to ensure any degree of success for the good-intentioned social policy of the par- ty. Voices were also raised to say the NDP must be committed to changing the rules of the game which now allow wealth and power to be concentrated in the hands of the few at the expense of the many. One delegate demanded to know how anyone could talk about ‘‘democracy”’ in Canada without chal- lenging the massive increases in military spending. ‘

Differing from the NDP Government. under former Premier Ed Schreyer (1969-1977) which brought McKenzie Seeds, Flyer Industries and automobile insurance under public ownership, the Pawley government has abandoned this economic approach altogether.

Instead, its direction — and this was mirrored in Ed Broadbent’s speech — has been a continued emphasis on the private sector, private-sector investment as the economic stimulus and co- operation among government, business and labor. This tripartite approach has been gradually developed over the past three years and has led to the proposed introduction of Final Offer Selection into labor legislation.

Final Offer Selection, in the words of Manitoba Federation of Labor leaders speaking at a pre-plenary panel, is an attempt to create ‘‘an alternative ap- proach to collective bargaining’’.

Under FOS, the employer or the union could apply for an ‘‘independent government arbitrator’ who would select either the contract proposed by the company or by the union. This final selection would be binding on both par- ties. Proponents say a safeguard in this process for workers is that the company must participate if the union chooses to go to FOS, while the union has the option to refuse if the company chooses this route.

But, opponents argue, not only does FOS emasculate the whole principle of collective bargaining which the labor movement has fought for and won, but a change of government would soon bring an end to any ‘‘safeguards”’ the NDP has put into place.

The championing of FOS by MFL leaders at the convention indicates the deep inroads tripartism has made into the labor movement during the Pawley administration and finds reflection in the fact there is no real fight for workers’ interests by the trade union leadership in Manitoba.

While finally agreeing to submit the FOS resolution to the plenary, the panel added a rider that FOS legislation should be introduced at a later session of the legislature. This would give a welcome chance for delegates to the bi-annual MEL convention this fall to actually de- cide their position on such major labor legislation surgery.

In a very routine fashion, and for the third consecutive convention since the NDP returned to power, a resolution for the government to bring in anti-strike- breaking legislation was again passed. Some delegates noted, in discussion, that if anti-scab legislation were introduced, there would be no need for FOS. Dele- gates also went on record as supporting the Eaton’s strike and calling for all NDP members to join the boycott against the retail giant.

The convention greeted plans by ag- riculture minister Bill Uruski for farm assistance and re-financing and the moratorium on farm debts and urged that this policy be taken out and explained in the countryside. The banks, said one delegate, would never follow through with threats to pull out of farm financing in retaliation for government assistance programs because, for them, it is too big and lucrative a business.

The crisis in the Winnipeg municipal wing of the NDP was kept hidden

throughout the convention. Insiders re- port that a plan to introduce Winnipeg city councillors and trustees and school trustees along with MLAs was shelved.

Pension Plan Support

Organizers were apparently afraid of negative response as NDP city council- lors had supported the greedy pension plan for councillors and the NDP school trustees spearheaded the move for the recent hefty salary hike for trustees of School Division No. 1.

The NDP’s disarray on the civic front is part of its rejection of unity with non- party reform sources.

Part of Pawley’s speech reinforced the NDP’s concept that reform includes only those who carry a party card when he outlined alliances as being based solely within the NDP itself — among its vari- ous sectors such as labor, women, etc.

The controversial abortion issue was addressed only by a resolution calling on the federal government to delete section 251 of the Criminal Code and deploring police action which endangers women’s health.

A second resolution on reproductive health clinics was shelved when an anti- choice delegate challenged the quorum late Sunday afternoon, and the conven- tion found itself with only 100 voting de- legates left out of more than 700. Not only was the clinic resolution left hanging but all business came to a rather abrupt and ignoble halt.

The convention was illustrative of the quandary in which social democracy finds itself today, when in government, of trying to administer a crisis-ridden capitalist system and play by its rules.

It has resulted in the Manitoba NDP steadily drifting to the right in its attempt to defeat Tory policy by occupying mid- dle ground as well as giving credence to © Broadbent’s federal election remark that the NDP is “‘trying to rid itself of its socialist baggage.’

With no viable Liberal Party presence in Manitoba, and no Liberal MLAs, this right drift of social democracy in power is reinforced.

The visible differences at the recent First Ministers’ Conference between those direct representatives of monopoly who sit around the table fighting for con- trol of Canadian economic interests and the Manitoba NDP government rep- resentatives who put forward positions of more benefit to the Canadian people, will have to be highlighted over and over again if Canada’s sole social -democratic government is to make it for another term.

Paul Fletcher is Manitoba leader of the Communist Party of Canada.

ene

in Reagan’s Star Wars project.

Clark, Nitze said the U.S. would not ru

the research involved.

a

U.S. confirms Canada’s role in Star Wars

U.S. arms control negotiator Paul Nitze has confirmed con-

Refused test, teacher suspended

cerns raised by the peace movement that Canada will be involved

In a surprise announcement following a meeting with Prime

inister Brian Mulroney and External Affairs Minister Joe

le out the possibility that the radar warning system in Canada’s North would become a Component in the Strategic Defence Initiative, or Star Wars. The U.S. statement contradicts repeated assurances given by the government that Canada will not in any way participate in the Plan, but has just agreed to support the research. Soon after taking office last September, the Conservatives agreed to support

The peace movement has raised fears that the modernization of the Distant Early Warning line under the Norad agreement would 8ive the U.S. a foot in the door in placing its nuclear weapons on Canadian soil and tie Canada to Star Wars.

TORONTO — Sheridan Col- lege is a stickler for enforcing the rules even if they endanger the health of their employees. In Oc- tober last year Sheridan sus- pended nursing teacher Alice Kolisnyk because she refused to have an annual chest x-ray to de- tect tuberculosis.

Her decision was not taken lightly. Medical evidence backs her contention that yearly chest x-rays are potentially dangerous and contribute to leukemia, breast and thyroid cancer, and diseases associated with aging.

The Ontario Hospital Associa-

tion no longer requires its mem- bers to have a yearly x-ray and doctors have never been required to take them. No employee has been suspended in the past for re- fusing to comply. In 1981 almost 2,000 workers refused the test. Kolisnyk has offered to have her doctor examine her for TB,

. take alternative tests, or sign a

waiver. Her union, the Ontario Public Service Employees, has filed a grievance on her behalf for reinstatement with full back pay and benefits. Her case is slated to be heard in the spring of this year. In the meantime, Kolisnyk, a

sole-support mother, has no means of support. She does not qualify for unemployment insur- ance because she is suspended — not fired.

Organized Working Women, a toronto-based trade union’s wo- men’s organization, has taken up Kolisnyk’s case and is circulating a petition demanding Sheridan re-instate her pending the out- come of the arbitration ruling. It has also established a defence fund on her behalf. OWW can be contacted at 366 Adelaide Street, East, Suite 426, Toronto, MSA 3X9,

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MARCH 13, 1985 e 5