BASICS Free Community Newsletter Artwork: Noaman Ali
THEY DON’T DESERVE OUR VOTE! LET’S ORGANIZE! •
INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’ DAY MARCH AND RALLY Sunday, May 1, 1pm - Christie Pits FREE COMMUNITY FESTIVAL April 30, 12-5pm SEE PG 4 & 8 FOR DETAILS
BASICSnews.ca
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Ford’s Move to Privatize Social Housing Special TCHC Housing Issue: • An Appeal to TCHC Tenants >>PG. 1 • Ford’s City Hall Moves to Attack Social Housing >>PG. 2 • TCHC Tenants: Watch out for ‘Public Interest’ >>PG. 2 • Bill 140: Opening the door to TCHC privatization >>PG. 3
What is to be done? effectively An Appeal to TCHC Tenants City-Wide can launch a massive
Shafiqullah aziz TCHC Resident, Cataraqui As the current situation with TCHC unfolds – Bill 140 threatening to throw open the door to the privatization of social housing, the firing of all members of the former TCHC board, the approval by Ootes to sell 22 units, with a one-man TCHC board occupied by Case Ootes, among many other actions – it is clear that the working class tenants of TCHC housing are being bombarded from all sides by provincial and municipal governments. So the question arises, what should we do about this? What
should the working poor TCHC tenants do about the possible privatization of the management and ownership of their homes? The answer lies in the tested, tried, and true method of grass-roots community organizing, led by tenants, for tenants, and to the benefit of the greatest amount of tenants as possible. Not only is this one of the only methods that can be effectively used by tenants throughout the city, it is by far the strongest. What does grass-roots community organizing actually mean? It basically follows the idea that we as tenants, as individuals separate from any existing NGOs or governmental bodies,
DUDLEY LAWS
1934-2011 Dr. Chris Harris a.k.a.Wasun When I reflect on the life of my comrade and elder, Dudley Laws, two words come to mind: professional revolutionary. One of the reasons I have become so dedicated to the revolutionary struggle to transform Canadian society is because I worked so closely with Dudley from 2000 to 2009. In the tradition of Marcus Garvey, Harriet Tubman, and Malcolm X, Dudley was an extraordinary figure, a monu-
mental historical personality of Black working-class origin. Dudley was a Black Garveyite leader who dedicated his life to the struggle for the liberation of all African people in the PanAfrican world. As a Jamaican emigrant to London, England in the 1950s, Dudley was an anti-racist, fighting white supremacist groups, such as the Teddy Boys, in the streets. The Teddy Boys were a fascist gang responsible for the 1958 Notting Hill Race Riots against Caribbean immigrants
campaign to bring the threat of privatization of our homes to a grinding halt. There are many ways that this may come about, and the key principle here is to empower ourselves to take control of matters that will directly affect our lives. Currently there are approximately 165,000 tenants living in TCHC housing, and with numbers of this size, there is a lot of progress that tenants can make by working together in one large, united collective. Essentially, tenants would reach out to their neighbours, family and friends who all live in TCHC housing to stop the possible privatization of our homes.
This approach must be used in as many communities as possible throughout the city. Spreading the word by going door to door, carrying conversations with community members, posting agitational materials throughout your neighbourhood, urging tenants to join in the struggle to keep our homes from being privatized are all tactics that may be used to gain support and solidify the power of the tenants. These efforts and strategies must be guided by an organization whose general membership and leadership is comprised of TCHC tenants. Here are some guidelines to think about for the creation of such an organization: 1. The organization must have >> continued, Pg. 3
to “keep Britain White.” As an immigrant to Canada in 1965, he became a leader of the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Toronto during the Canadian Black Power movement. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Dudley will forever be remembered as the man who single-handedly took on the Metropolitan Toronto Police force in solidarity with hundreds of African-Canadians and our allies in other oppressed communities. Thanks to Dudley’s leadership of the struggle against police brutality in Toronto, there was a significant decline in the number of police shootings and murders of civilians in the 1990s. Despite the recent escalation of the police murder of civilians, particularly Black working-class youth in the past five years, new youth-led organizations, inspired by Dudley’s example, have emerged to challenge police brutality in Toronto, including Justice4Alwy, BASICS, and Toronto InPDUM (International People’s Democratic Uhuru
Movement). Dudley’s contribution in the struggle for African-Canadian liberation was in part his recognition that the struggle must continue through the youth. That is why he dedicated the last decade of his life to mentoring Black Action Defense Committee (BADC) youth activists such as myself, so we could carry the struggle forward. From 2008 to 2009, Dudley implemented a weekly discussion group at the BADC office called “Intellectual Discussions” to help facilitate the “Battle of Ideas” necessary to cultivate vanguard leaders who could continue the anti-racist work to which he dedicated his life. I remember how during Intellectual Discussions we would argue over the legitimacy of U.S. President Barrack Obama. Dudley maintained a more bourgeois Black-Nationalist political outlook throughout his life, so he ended up supporting the election of Obama, whereas I was against Obama, a pro-
BASICS #25 APR / MAY 2011
May 2, 2011 Federal Elections
Can Voting Bring Real Change?
When in power, provincially or federally, the three main electoral parties have led anti-worker offensives and have disregarded Indigenous peoples’ treaty rights. All these leaders support the wars in Afghanistan and Libya. By voting for different shades of antipeople parties, are working-class Canadians just legitimizing a bankrupt political system?
Louise Jones As the election nears, Canada’s three major parties (in Anglophone Canada) all claim they’ll take action that will help workers and their families. But the track record of these parties tells a drastically different story. The Conservative Party One of the first things the Harper minor>> continued, pg. 6
We need a universal childcare system Manena D.
When today’s families struggle to make ends meet, the option of having a stay-at-home parent is a luxury that is almost extinct. There are 3.1 million children under twelve years old with mothers in the paid workforce in Canada. “A lot of women in the non-profit sector have been laid off recently. And the cuts that Ford is making to public sector workers will predominantly affect women” says Carolina Crewe, mother >> continued, pg. 7
No to NATO war in Libya Steve da Silva
As Canadians approach yet another Federal election, here’s another central issue that won’t be featured in the debates amongst the contenders for control over the Canadian state: Yet another imperialist aggression against a sovereign country. On March 21, 2011, as the four parliamentary parties braced themselves for an electoral campaign, all the parties found unity around the bombing of Libya. In fact, >> continued, pg. 2 >> continued, pg. 5
BASICS is a community media project that requires your involvement to grow. We the people will never see a newspaper that speaks honestly about our interests until we the people build and control that media! We are a people’s organization. Write with us, distribute with us, join us! For more information, contact: E-mail: basics.canada@gmail.com Web Site: BASICSnews.ca
Local
BASICS #25 APR / MAY 2011
Ford’s City Hall Moves to Attack Social Housing in Toronto—TCHC tenants and market-rate tenants alike. When BASICS asked one tenant what they thought the effects of privatization would be, she stated, “The city is going to go broke. You’ve got disabilities of all kinds, our hospital bills are going to up, our OHIP is going to go up, and places for [tenants] to live is not going to be suitable […] So why are you going to go out and privatize when you know the bill is going to come back next year triple the size?” Another tenant predicted, “There is potential for a lot more homeless people and for crime rates to go up. We’re now spending money on prisons at a level that has never been done before, yet they are creating the social conditions
housing already stands at a record of 76,549 people. This number will continue to skyrocket with On March 10, 2011 Toronto privatization. Mayor Rob Ford launched his In combination with Ford’s plans attack on social housing in Toronto, to drastically cut beds at homeless adding to the list of other attacks shelters, privatization will deal a that Ford’s City Hall is making on second blow to the most vulnerable working people. After scandalizing sections of the working poor, the the Toronto Community Housing aged, and people with special Corporation (TCHC) when details needs. As one tenant remarked were released about misspending when talking with BASICS, “I by TCHC bureaucrats, City Hall think that we are going to have a moved to dismantle the TCHC lot of less [rent-geared to income] Board of Directors. The TCHC units at a time when we have a lot board was replaced with one man: more people who are coming into ex-councilor Case Ootes, who need because of age. I think that’s will act as the interim managing going to spell disaster.” director and the lone board Although Ford’s brother, Doug member of the Corporation. Ford, has stated that Ootes is “not With no oversight, Ootes will being brought in to sell off public be able to unilaterally make housing,” the assurances are drastic changes to TCHC not re-assuring. On April 6, over the next three months. Case Ootes announced the sale Ford has stated, “This is the of 22 TCHC-owned houses, first step taken to restore commonly referred to as confidence back in Toronto “scattered units”. Some have Community Housing and pointed out the Social Housing tenants are going to be happy.” Reform Act 2000 will not allow Sure, revelations about the for the privatizations that Ford The one-man-show at TCHC, Case Ootes, announced TCHC bureaucrats spending on April 6, 2011 that TCHC would be selling 22 wants. However, the Ontario thousands of dollars on “scattered units”. The sale of the units is being provincial government has candies and retreats should justified as a means to address the $600 million already introduced a bill at repairs backlog, the result of chronic underfunding. outrage people. But let’s not Is the sale a sign of more sell-offs to come? Queen’s Park that would confuse Ford’s rhetoric about give Ford the green light to fighting the “gravy train” for a mass sell-off (see article his attacks on working people and that will drive the crime rates up.” on Bill 140, next page). The prothe poor. The former is a not-soThe sale of public housing developer Councilors at City Hall subtle justification for the latter. would direct a large portion of the are salivating like wolves. The real scandal in TCHC is the incomes of working people right Both Councilors Doug Ford deplorable living conditions that into the pockets of big developers and Michael Thompson—who tenants are being forced to endure. and private landlords who stand voted to dismantle the TCHC There is anywhere from $300 to gain from privatization. Private Board—sit on the Board of to $600 million in outstanding landlords, as capitalists, will seek Directors of Build Toronto—a real repairs due in Toronto’s social to make their profits from our estate development corporation housing stock, with some 2,000+ monthly rents. responsible for developing and units sitting vacant because of Also, because Toronto’s private selling off Toronto’s surplus being in such a state of disrepair. rental market is shrinking, the lands and property assets. The The crisis of chronic underfunding privatization of social housing will board of Build Toronto is packed is the result of downloading the certainly drive up rent in Toronto. with those who have a vested responsibility for housing to From 2009-2010, the number of interest in developers and those municipalities with the passage available rental units in Toronto financially connected to real estate of the Social Reform Housing Act dropped by one-third from almost organizations. As one tenant put in December 2000. This crisis 8000 to about 5500. it, “It’s just about profits for them is the result of all three levels of In Canada, with the shift towards again. It is not about tenants and government, and the people have more precarious employment their well being. At the end of the to fight to prevent privatization (part-time, temporary, no-benefits, day, in that sense, tax payers are from becoming the solution to this low-pay jobs), people will be unable not getting value for their dollar problem. to afford housing in Toronto, like we keep hearing.” The privatization of social making the lives of most of us more The privatization of TCHC housing would be devastating and more desperate. In Toronto, must be seen as part of the for the vast majority of people the waiting list for affordable >> continued, ‘Ford’ Pg. 7
M. Lau & Steve da Silva
TCHC Tenants: Watch out for ‘Public Interest’ Steve da Silva Many TCHC residents of Regent Park and Lawrence Heights will recognize the name ‘Public Interest’. Public Interest Strategy and Communications was the consulting firm that was hired by TCHC to conduct the bogus “consultation” processes with residents about ‘Revitalization’ (a.k.a. Gentrification). In essence, these consultations were about selling the idea of “redevelopment” to the people, managing people’s dissidence when it arose, and channeling tenant opposition into harmless forms of community engagement. On Sunday, March 13, 2011, a citywide organizing meeting was held in Lawrence Heights to organize a tenant opposition to the threat of privatization. Public
Interest (alongside one of the two purged TCHC ‘Tenant Rep’ Board members Catherine Wilkinson) immediately thrust themselves into the center of the organizing initiative. No one voted for their leadership, but some did question it. One Lawrence Heights resident saw the conflict of interest and when she demanded Public Interest be excluded from the meeting: “How could these people be here if they’ve been the ones promoting the “revitalization” of our communities?” Can a TCHCcontracted consulting firm be in a position to provide genuine leadership to the tenant opposition to privatization? Or are they merely concerned about losing their hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts once TCHC is privatized?
As for Wilkinson, one look at her bio on the TCHC website would have most tenants seriously questioning their “representation” at TCHC: a Board Member of the Innisfil Chamber of Commerce and formerly an Auxiliary Police Constable are only a few of the highlights of Wilkinson’s resumé that distinguish her from about 99% of TCHC residents. Public Interest’s Sean Meagher (President) and Effie Vlachoyannacos (employee) have also established a series of other non-tenant led “community outreach and engagement programs”, including ‘Save Our Structures’. It’s also no secret that Meagher, Vlachoyannacos, and the work of Public Interest as a whole is very close to the NDP some have called it a “front”. Tenants haven’t forgotten >> continued, Pg. 8
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Ford’s Push to Privatization
Garbage First Herman Rosenfeld
The Ford administration has wasted little time in moving towards privatization, selling off key city services to the private sector. The president of the outside municipal workers union , CUPE 416, noted that Ford, his brother and their allies have cut the vehicle registration tax and are looking to starve the city of needed revenue. On that basis, Ford can cut services, attack the gains of public sector workers and privatize “anything that is not nailed down” (in the words of Doug Ford, Rob’s senior advisor and ‘the brains behind the outfit’). In February, the mayor announced plans to hold a city council vote to privatize garbage collection in the west side of the city in May. This is the first of a number of plans, which are said to include parks cleaners, maintenance, recreation centres, community housing, and possibly others. Three million dollars will be spent on hiring an army of consultants, looking for suggestions of things to cut and privatize. Ford has begun with the garbage collectors, because they are seen as a relatively easy ta,rget. Even though thousands of inside and outside CUPE workers were on strike two summers ago, many people remember the garbage workers, and the inconvenience associated with that experience. Moreover, the propaganda coming from the rightwing, media, business and even the previous Miller administration tended to demonize these workers, with claims that their historic contractual gains somehow constituted “privileges.” One of the rights that CUPE 416 workers have gained is some protection against layoffs, due to privatization. This allows people to find other jobs in the municipality,
even if their original jobs have been sold off to the private sector. It remains an important protection for the workers. But, Ford and his friends call this “jobs for life” and this is one gain that they absolutely hate. The local union’s contract is up at the end of 2011 and this is sure to be a target for Ford and the city administration. Ford and his allies claim that privatizing garbage collection would save the city money and would prevent strikes. But CUPE cites study after study which shows that the overall cost of garbage collection is cheaper in Toronto’s public system. One study shows that Toronto residents paid 30% less for trash collection than neighbouring private systems. This issue of strikes is not the reason for the push towards privatization. Workers can strike whether the service is public or private, and whether strikes are legal or illegal. The reality is that workers have fewer rights in privately owned systems, and wage and benefit levels are lower in the private companies that are looking to replace public garbage pickup in Toronto. Public systems have the capacity to change the technology, tools, and methods of garbage pickup to meet the needs of the public. The public system can also respond to the democratically decided-upon desire of communities to change the way solid waste is sorted and collected without regard to maintaining profit levels. CUPE Local 416 has learned the lessons of past struggles. This time, they are working to engage, educate and mobilize their members as well as others in the community. They are leading the campaign against privatization and in defence of public services. Among other things, the campaign includes organizing members to educate their neighbours, families and social contacts; pressuring city councillors; and developing and popularizing educational materials, videos, websites, speakers and advertisements in public places and in the media. Defending public services, public sector workers and the recipients of public services are key elements in building a strategy of resistance to privatization and the larger austerity-inspired attacks on working people in the city.
« Dudley Laws, from PG. 1 imperialist leader in a Black face, as I knew he would help facilitate the further oppression of Black and oppressed people. After a visit to see Dudley in the hospital on Saturday, March 19, a few days before his passing, one of the final words he said on his deathbed to a fellow comrade was “Libya”. The concern he expressed for the bombing of Libya leads me to speculate that Dudley Laws, in his final days, came down against that black spokesman for American imperialism, Obama. Even if, from time to time, Dudley found himself on the side of bourgeois nationalist politics, it’s Dudley’s life and practice that we gotta take inspiration from. Dudley Laws was an exemplar, and like I said at the beginning of this obitu-
ary, a “professional revolutionary.” Dudley spent his entire life fighting and struggling against police brutality, keeping BADC going when many others had moved on to pursue their careers. For that, he lived a life of deep economic hardship. Dudley’s unrelenting commitment to the liberation of working-class African people, and not just the upliftment of a miniscule black middle-class, is what makes him an exemplar, a figure to be emulated. On behalf of all my revolutionary comrades in Toronto, I can certainly say your revolutionary spirit is alive in all of us. Building on your contributions, Dudley, we will continue to advance the struggle against the Canadian imperialist ruling class in the 21st century.
Provincial
BASICS #25 APR / MAY 2011
The McGuinty-Ford Offensive
The agenda:
Bill 140: Attacks on social housing Bill 150: Attack on public sector workers Bill 150 Herman Rosenfeld
By the end of March, the Ontario Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty will have passed Bill 150. It declares the TTC to be an essential service and denies Toronto public transit workers – members of the Amalgamated Transit Workers Union (ATU) Local 113 – the right to strike. The attack on the transit workers was one of the first things
that the newly elected rightwing populist Mayor of Toronto did this winter. Ford built on the memory of a short transit stoppage and the municipal workers strike from a couple of summers ago to demonize public sector workers, isolate all unions and weaken the collective gains of working people. (In fact, the ATU has walked out a total of 75 days since 1921). Ford packed the Toronto Transit Commission with his allies (as he did all other
administrative bodies in the city government), and pushed through a resolution calling on the Provincial government to pass legislation affirming this attack on union rights. Only the provincial government has the power to take away these workers’ right to strike by designating their jobs as “essential.” No sooner had Ford declared his intentions, the McGuinty Liberal publicly agreed to put forward a law to make it reality. Bill 150
was sponsored by the provincial government and is scheduled to pass just before the expiry of the current collective agreement between the government and the ATU. It eliminates their right to strike and provides for binding arbitration, should negotiations fail to reach agreement. That the Liberals agreed to pass this law reflects their electoral opportunism and their unwillingness to challenge the Ford administration’s gross hatred of organized workers. It also flies in the face of their half-hearted efforts to appear as neutral friends of the labour movement. McGuinty and his government have defended Bill 150 by claiming that public transit is essential. Considering that they have refused to fund the TTC and supplement the transit needs of Toronto’s people, it is hard to take them seriously. In reality, this has nothing to do with making sure that people have access to essential services. As John Cartwright, the President of the Toronto Labour Council noted, “Declarations of essential service are supposed to be defined by risks to public health and safety, not convenience.” Instead, it is meant to undermine the rights of unionized public sector workers and eventually, all workers, as part of a growing agenda of austerity. Unfortunately, in contrast to the incredibly inspiring fightback of
unionized workers in Wisconsin to defend their rights to collectively bargain and survive as a movement, the Toronto and Ontario union movement – and the ATU Toronto Local – did not organize any real resistance, as the provincial Liberals cravenly agreed to attack their union. The ATU opposed the legislation, but acted defensively. The union president offered to settle its upcoming contract through arbitration, regardless of the law. He publicly criticized the bogus arguments of both the city and the province, while requesting that they take more time to allow people to consider the merits of the law. While it is understandable to be cautious about the public’s perception of the union, the lack of any effort to build a campaign of opposition or resistance – which could connect this unjust law to the larger attack on the living standards and rights of working people and the users of social services – represents a major defeat for labour in Toronto and province. Labour organizers need to consolidate their own membership about why the right to strike is so important and do educational work with the riders and the general public. We need to build a fightback movement to respond to the storm of attacks coming from Ford and McGuinty.
Bill 140: Opening the door to TCHC privatization « Appeal to TCHC Tenants, from PG. 1 M. Lau & Diamond Wisdom Timing was everything when it came down to Ford’s rush decision to dismantle TCHC’s Board of Directors and replace it with a one-man-operation, Case Ootes. The provincial government is currently working to pass Bill 140: Strong Communities Through Affordable Housing Act 2011. Bill 140 will enact the Housing Services Act 2010, and repeal the Social Housing Reform Act 2000. If Bill 140 passes, it will have disastrous consequences for those reliant on social housing in Ontario. With over 300,000 names on housing waiting lists across Ontario—a list that can take up to 21 years to wait through—there is no mention of new funding to address the backlog of repairs or any plans to create more truly affordable housing stock. One tenant told BASICS that she felt that the provincial plan for social housing was to let it crumble to the point where the city could use the excuse of “unmanageable deterioration” to justify privatizing management or selling off more of its housing stock. For instance, while just a few months ago, the backlog of TCHC repairs was reported to be standing at $300 million, mainstream press recently began reporting that the number currently stands at $600 million. It is unclear where these numbers come from as there has been no such transparent reporting / documentation of these numbers. In any case, City Hall is trying to steer the crisis of social housing into support for privatization, as if that were the only solution. Under Bill 140, the supervisory manager – now Case Ootes – will be given new powers to essentially
do what he wants. Under Section 95(16), “The housing provider is deemed to ratify and confirm what the supervisory manager does during the supervisory manager’s appointment, but this subsection applies only to things done in accordance with this Act.” During this time, Case Ootes will be able to “carry on the business of the housing provider,” “to improve the governance of the housing provider,” and “to stabilize or improve the financial situation of the housing provider”—legal-speak for taking the wrecking ball to TCHC. As it stands, Bill 140 effectively removes (the currently existing) provincial oversight in the selling off of local housing corporation assets. Under Section 161(2), “A person may transfer, mortgage or develop the real property only with the written consent of the service manager in whose service area the real property is located.” Under Section 162(2), “The housing provider may transfer or mortgage the housing project or the land where it is located only with the written consent of the service manager in whose service area the housing project is located.” Since the service manager of the TCHC is the City of Toronto, Bill 140 would effectively allow the City of Toronto to privatize / sell off the current stock of housing. While the passing of Bill 140 paves the way for privatization, it fails to address the real crisis of social housing. For TCHC tenants, the Bill fails to address the systemic problems caused by the structure of the Corporation in alleviating poverty and truly helping to improve the lives of poor people across the city in an era of instability. It also fails to address existing issues such as punitive Rent-Geared-Income
rules (which removes protection and increases the instability and stress of tenants transitioning into the workforce through unfair rent increases); lack of protection and fairness for tenants (for instance, in rent subsidy disputes or unfair evictions) due to a lack of an independent review process; a lack of inclusionary housing policies; the list goes on. For non-profit housing providers, such as the 550 housing cooperatives across Ontario, Bill 140 would effectively remove the protections of these co-ops that existed under the Social Housing Reform Act 2000. The new legislation would allow service managers to take control of and potentially sell off co-ops under “a triggering event,” including if the housing provider accumulates a deficit that is “substantial.” With a provincial election approaching for October 2011, it is not at all surprising that Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty has aligned himself with Toronto’s rightwing mayor Rob Ford for a combined Provincial-Municipal offensive against affordable housing in particular and against working-people and the poor in general. Working people are coming under attack from all levels. There’s never been a more important time for residents and working people to organize themselves against the “austerity” offensive. The rich are getting richer because of the attacks being waged on working people and the programs they rely on. Tenants require a truly independent tenants organization to defend against privatization and advance the struggle, made up of and truly led by TCHC residents. Contact tchc.residents@gmail. com to get involved.
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an authentic TCHC tenant leadership that represents the interests of the vast majority and not of a few individuals. 2. Meetings, discussions, town halls, etc., must be held in a manner that will respect the voices and concerns of the people; any disrespectful facilitators and rogue leadership that may lead the people astray must be questioned, and if necessary recalled, to avoid the division of our collective efforts. 3. Those tenants who volunteer and are elected to take on a leadership position must be embraced and not excluded from the activities of this tenant-organizing group (especially women of colour, youth, queer and transgendered people, and other marginalized peoples representing various segments of our diverse population). 4. The leadership of such an organization must be subordinate to the greater general body of tenants within the organization; the leadership is only in place to carry out the wishes and demands of the tenants, which must be approved by and can be overturned by majority votes during meetings. 5. Individuals or groups which have a vested interest or may
financially/politically gain from defending the former TCHC board and maintaining the former corrupt system, must not be allowed to co-opt the movement for their own personal benefit. We tenants need an organization of our own. The time for the mass mobilization of TCHC tenants is now! We must use our strength as a unified force of tenants to exercise our democratic rights, and refuse the privatization of our homes. If we are not able to organize at this point in time, or homes and communities face privatization, leading to the selling off of our homes, massive increases in rent, unaccountable management, and the general deterioration in the quality of our homes as private owners aim to increase profits, not serve the people. We must fight to attain control of our homes and our lives. No longer will we be idle as Rob Ford, Case Ootes and City Hall sells off our social housing. Contact us at tchc.residents@ gmail.com to start organizing around these issues. FOR PUBLIC HOUSING! FOR TENANT POWER! TCHC HOMES-NOT FOR SALE!
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May 1 is May DaY M1M May Day Statement
Working people around the world are facing increasing attacks on our rights and our lives. We are seeing a coordinated implementation of budget cuts, austerity measures, around the globe from Europe, to Asia to our own City. In Toronto, all three levels of government are pushing through plans for privatizations and cuts to social services and programs including: • Increased transit costs and reduction of services • Decreased social assistance benefits • Freezing of the minimum wage • Decreased money for shelters serving vulnerable populations • Forcing wage freezes on public sector workers • Privatization of social housing and contracting out of municipal services; and many others. Bargaining rights are being actively rolled-back and antiworker / anti-poor rhetoric is becoming an increasing part of the vocabulary of politicians such as the new Mayor in Toronto. At this same time, the Canadian government continues to pour money into the security apparatus, spending over $1 billion to host business and political elite while violently arresting demonstrators. The money denied to communities, transportation, housing and services is never lacking for security and policing, with the $900 million police budget in our City increasing again this year. The federal government spends increasing amounts in its continued occupation of Afghanistan and its participation in another armed misadventure, this time in North Africa. While speaking about democracy
abroad, Canada continues to prop up dubious regimes in Honduras, Colombia and others. Around the world, we see the same things occurring. Our sisters and brothers around the globe in Europe, in Asia, in Latin America and most recently in North Africa have shown that in times like this there is no option but to struggle for justice and that there is no better vehicle for this struggle than solidarity. Its time that we bring this same spirit of struggle that we have seen this year in Athens, Cairo, Kathmandu, London and Madison, Wisconsin to Toronto. May 1st, International Workers Day is a day when all the issues faced by working people – forced migration, precarious status, poverty, unsafe work conditions and countless others – can come together on the streets into a single call for true peace, true democracy and social justice. May 1st is celebrated everywhere in the world as the day for workers. Everywhere, on that day, people celebrate the accomplishments of working people everywhere towards justice, true peace and liberation. Everywhere that is, but here in Canada and in the United States. The unity and coordination among social and community organizations along with organized labour are vital at this time where capital is on the offensive against working people. Join us this May 1! Importantly, this year’s International Workers’ Day march will also converge with the ‘Status for All’ May Day of Action organized by No One is Illegal. Any support is appreciated and welcome. Letters of endorsement or solidarity can be sent to may1. toronto@gmail.com.
May 1st Movement Speaks For our May Day issue, BASICS interviewed several of the representatives of the mass organizations that make up the M1M coalition. The interviews are below. -Martin Giroux-Cook, Chairperson / Editor-in-Chief Barrio Nuevo // Pablo Vivanco We are an organization comprised of people of Latin American descent. We see a commonality between our people in terms of cultural heritage, but also with our conditions here as immigrants, as working class people. We feel that the answer to the systemic oppression of the Latin community lies not in asking the government to do everything,but in trying to bring our community together to talk and to find those solutions ourselves. We’ve worked on campaigns around issues of police brutality and around why so many Latin American youth drop out of school. We’re involved in M1M not only because of the significance it has for people back in Latin America, but because we feel at a time when we are starting to see an unprecedented attack on every sector of working people
(immigrant, non-status, unionized, and even those with historically the most protection and privilege). May Day is a day when all those groups can come together and realize that we all have commonalities and that we have a common adversary. It’s our time to come together to go out into the streets, just like people in Egypt, Palestine, Venezuela, Nepal and other places have been doing. CASA Salvador Allende // Manena D. We are a grassroots non-profit organization that works primarily with the Chilean community. It was created honouring Salvador Allende’s legacy of envisioning a world focused on social change, a world where there is justice for all. Right now, we are participating in a community education project in response to the shortage of resources and programs available to the Latin American community. The project aims to provide an artsbased education program for youth originating from Latin America. We promote solidarity activities for the respect of human rights, social justice and democracy in Chile and the world. There is a lot
BASICS #25 APR / MAY 2011
No to
Imperialist War Privatization Poverty Climate Change Deportations
Yes to
True Peace Public Services Wealth Distribution Eco-justice Secure Status
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M AY
International Workers’ Day
Sunday, May 1, 1pm Christie Pits Park (Bloor and Christie)
International Workers Day
Free Community Festival Saturday, April 30 SEE BACK PAGE FOR DETAILS
w w w. m a y - 1 . o r g of social injustice in Chile. There are a lot of people that have been displaced due to the earthquake. Yet, after the earthquake, corporations have benefited from incentives to rebuild their enterprises and have made a profit at the expense of the marginalized population. We have started a watchdog movement where we are keeping tabs on what is happening Chile. It is very important for CASA Salvador Allende to be a part of M1M. For Chileans, May Day is a very important day when we celebrate workers’ accomplishments and we reflect on the struggles yet to be resolved. United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Canada Local 1000A // Leanne Wilkins We have 30,000 members and about half of them belong to the Loblaw’s group. Our members face a constant demand by the employers for concessions in their collective agreements: wages; benefits; schedule language; and control over health and safety. Loblaws’ point of view is: we don’t care about you as a worker, we care about our bottom line—we pay you too much compared to our nonunion competitors like Wal-Mart and Sobeys. Instead of lowering
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wages for members, we are trying to get out there to unionize the non-unionized retail grocery store workers. International workers’ day should be celebrated by all workers, regardless of whether you are unionized or not. We find that workers are often pitted against each other—organized unionized against non-union, full-time versus part -time, all of those things and
instead of bowing to that divide and conquer attitude, we should all be coming together. And so being involved in the M1M coalition is definitely one way of doing that. Women United Against Imperialism (WUAI) // Ashley M. We are a women’s collective comprised mostly of working women. Many of the members of our >> continued, Pg. 8
International
BASICS #25 APR / MAY 2011
Haiti Elections Boycotted: The Rejection of Dependency vealed that the United States and Brazilian governments feared that the return of Aristide to Haiti would threaten the emergence of popular democracy, stating that “all efforts must be made to keep Aristide from returning to Haiti or influencing the political process.” Upon his return, Aristide condemned the exclusion of the country’s most popular political party, Fanmi Lavalas. Maryse Narcisse, the spokesperson for Fanmi Lavalas called for a general boycott of the elections – and from all appearances the Haitian people listened. The reason for the continuing popularity of Fanmi Lavalas and Aristide is that they refused to bow to the pressure of the Haitian elite and the international community. Aristide and Lavalas did the unthinkable; they called upon the Haitian elite to pay their taxes, refused further privatization of the Haitian state, invested in public health and education and called for a $5 daily minimum wage. In response to the horrific conditions in the tent camps and failed relief efforts, the vast number of problems has led to a revitalized popular mobilization against human rights abuses, foreign occupation and a reconstruction process which has marginalized both the voices and rights of the Haitian people. On March 24, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti released a damning report which highlighted the role of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in committing
human rights abuses. The “peacekeeping” force has been routinely acThe Haitian people are cused of engaging in sexfed up and will not stand ual abuse and exploitaidly by as the international tion, introducing cholera community attempts to ininto Haiti, and engaging stall a puppet government in extrajudicial killings. and continues a deeply On April 1, 40 popular flawed and self serving reHaitian organizations construction program. called for the dissolution The March 20, 2011 of the Haiti Interim Represidential elections construction Committee were an attempt by the (HIRC), the organization international community in charge of “building to give some legitimacy to Haiti back better.” The an electoral process that reason for their statement had been widely discreditis that after more than a ed and tarnished by masyear of promised reconsive fraud and the exclustruction and billions of sion of 15 political parties. dollars pledged, “nothing The election, popularly resignificant has really been ferred to as a “selection”, undertaken.” The orgawas between two right nizations go on to state wing candidates attemptthat “Our analysis and ing to portray themselves evidence leads us to conas “the people’s choice.” clude that Haitian society The voter turnout proved continues to be locked into that they are anything the same traps of exclubut. Haiti Liberté has sion, dependency, and igreported that the voter norance of our strengths, turnout for the March 20 our resources, our idenelections was at a paltry tity… The structures of 17.7%, evidence of a popudomination and depenlar boycott. Similarly, the dence have been reprofirst round of elections duced and reinforced by held on November 28 only the constellation of agenmanaged to draw out 23% cies including MINUSof the population – a reTAH, the HIRC and large cord low for both Haiti international NGOs.” and all of Latin America, Despite the mainstream since recordkeeping beportrayal of the Haitian gan 60 years ago. people waiting to be helped Much to the dismay of by handouts, the reality is the two presidential canthat the Haitian people didates, the electoral mashave never stopped orgaquerade was largely overnizing their communities. shadowed by the return Despite the mounting obof former president, Jean stacles they face, they are Bertrand Aristide – who in competition with forhad spent the past seven eign NGOs which siphon years in exile due to a coup away funding that could d’état orchestrated by the potentially support their United States, Canada, projects. However, the sad France and the Haitian truth is that the popular elite. Recently released Haitian organizations are cables via Wikileaks readvocating against the deepening dependency, putting them at odds with the goals of the major donor countries, multinational corporations and Haitian elite who stand to profit handsomely The voter turnout for the March 20 elections was a paltry 17.7%, evifrom the stadence of a popular boycott in Haiti. This front page image from the March tus quo. 16-22, 2011 Edition of Haiti Liberté reads: “The People Must Say No”
Kevin Edmonds
« Libya Bombings, from PG. 1 the Liberals, the NDP, and the Bloc Quebecois found the Conservatives in contempt of Parliament in part for not revealing details about their spending on fighter jets, amongst other programs. So while they offer up their nominal criticisms about spending tens of billions of dollars on new fighter jets, all the parties enthusiastically supported Canada’s deployment of 7 CF-100s to participate in the assa ult. In
the last ten years, Canada has breached the sovereignty of and attacked the former Yugoslavia (1999), Afghanistan (2001), Haiti (2004), and now Libya. Behind the “humanitarian” rhetoric of NATO mission is a campaign to remove the Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi and replace him with an even more reliable regime, which would enable the imperialist forces to once again have total access to
Attention Youth! Ages 14-18, Gr. 9-12
Free Summer Program Exciting news for youth this summer!
The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples at York University invites youth ages 14-18 (or grade 9 to grade 12) to participate in its Student Summer Programme. Youth will participate in daily activities (art, dance, creative writing, sport, storytelling, graffiti, music, workshops, trips and classes) that will give them an overview of the contributions of African peoples and cultures to the historical development of the world. Experienced educators, facilitators, volunteers and students from York University will deliver all the sessions. The programme will run from July 4-15th at York University and will be at no cost to the youth selected to participate: there are about 35 spaces available. Meals (breakfast and lunch) as well as transportation (bus tickets) will be provided. The application form for the Harriet Tubman Student Summer Programme will be available as of April 11, 2011 on the Tubman Institute’s website: http://harriet.tubman.yorku.ca The youth will have the opportunity to accumulate community hours and an official certificate from the Harriet Tubman Institute at York University will be awarded to students on completion of the programme. This is a unique opportunity! Summer’s around the corner, so join us and make sure you have a great one!
321 York Lanes, York University 4700 Keele St., Toronto, Ontario Canada, M3J 1P3 Telephone: 416-736-2100 ext 33058 Fax: 416-650-8173 Email: tubman@yorku.ca
Libya’s vast oil fields. Canadian corporations have huge investments in Libya. Canada’s largest oil company, Suncor, has drilling contracts in Libya; and the Quebec-based construction and engineering firm SNC-Lavalin had contracts for the construction of the Benghazi airport, a prison in Tripoli, and the massive Great Man-Made River Project (see image above). The NATO-led group of imperial-
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ist countries are looking to seize the initiative in the wave of destabilization of regimes in the Middle East and northern Africa, and reimpose their own will upon the peoples of the region. What the imperialists have planned for Libya will look nothing like the aspirations for liberation that the peoples of the region have been fighting for in the opening months of 2011. We must reject the unity of all the electoral parties to embroil Canada
in yet another bloody imperialist war. This is war for big Canadian capitalists, pure and simple. If you disagree with Canada waging yet another war, then reject all the parties in the upcoming May 2 Federal Elections. Give the whole electoral system a vote of non-confidence. Let’s refuse to support a regime right here in Canada that knows nothing but war and conquest.
FEDERAL
BASICS #25 APR / MAY 2011
April 28 Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job
“Remember the dead and fight like hell for the living”
On Christmas Eve 2010, a couple hundred mourners gathered outside the Kipling Ave. apartment building where four workers fell to their death.
Jessica Ponting Every year, people from nearly 100 countries around the world stand together on April 28 to mourn and demand justice for those who were killed or injured as a result of their labour. This April 28, there are many to mourn and there is much to fight for. Still fresh in many people’s memories are the deaths of Alexander Bondorev, Aleksey Blumberg, Fayzullo Fazilov and Vladimir Korostin, the migrant workers who
were killed when the scaffolding they were working on collapsed on Christmas Eve 2009. Their deaths sparked demands from community members to ensure full immigration status, workplace protections, health benefits and just workers’ compensation for all workers, particularly those without full status. Paul Roach and Ralston White will also be remembered. On September 10, 2010 the two workers died working at a farm near Owen Sound. One worker was repairing a broken pump in a cider tank and
was overwhelmed by the fumes. The second worker tried to save his comrade, but he too was overwhelmed by the fumes. Both men died before they could be rescued. Roach and White had been coming to rural Ontario from Jamaica annually as part of the federal government’s Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). The program has been widely criticized for preventing labour mobility through employerspecific work permits and because the employer is able to threaten
workers with deportation. Despite numerous requests following the deaths of White and Roach, there has been no indication that the government will conduct a Coroner’s Inquest and no changes have been made to the migration program that contributed to their deaths. According to the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, the number of workers who have died because of their jobs, both provincially and nationally, has been increasing since the early 1990s. The stories above are only 6 of the approximately 500 reported, and the countless unreported, stories of workers who die every year as a result of their jobs in Ontario. In Canada, 3 people die each day because of their work. While we mourn these workers, we also fight to change the political-economic structures responsible for their deaths. Also deeply unjust, is the situation faced by injured workers. Once injured, workers often lose their jobs and must rely on what little protection they receive from the workers’ compensation system. The current workers’ compensation system is problematic for workers: it takes employers at their word and presumes injured workers are dishonest; it incentivizes employers to go to lengths to hide workplace injuries; and it cuts off injured workers’ compensation at every
« Federal Elections, from PG.1 ity government did when it came to power in 2006 was to withdraw billions of dollars from Aboriginal communities, even though the Kelowna agreement guaranteed these funds. His government also eliminated the Status of Women Canada, a federal agency focused on pro Does the steady decline of voter turnout suggest that more and more Canadians don’t see their interests represented in any of the parties?
moting women’s equality, illegally defunded KAIROS, a faith-based charity organization critical of Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza and spent more than one billion dollars to violently quash dissent in Toronto during the G20 protests. And that’s just to name a few of the current government’s memorable moments. These symbolic manoeuvres fall in line with the larger conservative policy trend to divert taxpayers money away from social programs. This money is instead spent on security at home, to better protect the political and economic elite, and abroad, where a handful of corporations make a literal killing from imperialist occupations. The current conservative government allocates $30 billion for fighter jets and $13 billion for what mainstream media have termed “US-style mega prisons.” While it was a Liberal government that first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, the Conservatives extended the mission two times, most recently saying Canadian soldiers will remain in the country in a “training capacity” until 2014. Testimony from Afghani people and Wikileaks documents revealed that NATO forces fund warlords and even the Taliban
themselves as they attempt to establish a west-friendly regime in a land rich with minerals.
The Liberal Party Historically, the Liberals have dominated parliamentary politics in Canada. The Liberal Party was in power for 17 of the last 30 years alone. During this time, the richest one per cent of Canadians nearly doubled their wealth, from 7.7 per cent in the late 1970s to 13.8 per cent today, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Meanwhile, according to the United Way of Greater Toronto, the number of those living in poverty in Toronto has doubled since 1990, to nearly 30% of all families. How did the Liberals facilitate this massive shift of wealth from the poor to the rich? Like the Conservatives, they cut taxes on corporations, privatized state assets and axed social spending. Paul Martin slashed corporate tax rates from 28 per cent to 21 per cent when he was in government and as leader of the party in the 1990s, Jean Chrétien severely restricted access to unemployment insurance and privatized CN Rail and Petro Canada. The Liberals, as with the NDP, portray themselves more progressively in opposition than when they act in power. For example, Michael Ignatieff’s announcement of a $500 million childcare plan is a stripped down version of unfulfilled pledges for national childcare programs that Liberal leaders have made since the 1980s. (On the childcare note, despite repeated calls from women’s and anti-racist organizations, neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives have bothered to address the abysmally low pay,
While the rich get richer and the vast majority get poorer, does the steady decline of voter turnout suggest that more and more Canadians fail to see their interests represented by liberal democracy?
exhausting hours and violence faced by the overwhelmingly Filipino women in the federal Live-In Caregiver (LCP) program.) The New Democratic Party The NDP has never won at a federal level but the party has won many provincial elections across Canada. Although the party tends to oppose corporate tax cuts during campaign time, NDP leaders have actually given corporations tax breaks at the provincial level. In the last decade, NDP’er Lorne Calvert reduced the corporate income tax rate from 17 per cent to 12 per cent in Saskatchewan and Gary Doer, the former NDP premier of Manitoba, cut the rate by nearly 30 per cent to “provide business with a competitive environment,” as he put it. Despite being the party of choice for major unions like the Canadian Auto Workers, the NDP does not treat the working class radically different than other parties. When
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Chrétien cut 45,000 public sector jobs, current NDP leader in Ontario Andrea Horwath responded by saying, “everyone knows that times are tough…[public sector workers] have to do their part as well.” Bob Rae, the NDP premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, imposed a wage freeze on public sector unions. Michael Harcourt, who ran the BC government in the 1990s, cut off welfare to some of the province’s most impoverished, referring to them as “deadbeats and varmints.” Although the NDP has introduced some legislation that aims to cushion the blow of capitalist exploitation, the response of the NDP to the pressures to promote economic growth is to fall in line with the other two parties, by cutting corporate taxes and social spending. From a foreign policy standpoint, the NDP is now critical of the war in Afghanistan but the party didn’t raise any objections until 2006, when the occupation was more than four years old. In
available opportunity. The workers most affected are those who do the most dirty, dangerous and difficult jobs. Moreover, these workers frequently face additional political and legal barriers to obtaining justice. In the case of migrant workers, for example, this includes deportation and little access to health care. As one injured migrant worker explains, “Recently I [had] an accident. That means I was suffering badly, but the boss and the liaison service officer wanted to deport me, and its lucky for me people I know stand up and say I can’t go because ‘you were injured here’.” Migrant workers with workplace injuries and illness are frequently deported, often without workers’ compensation and without money to pay for healthcare in the home country. Many workers end up taking their children out of school because they cannot pay the education fees and eventually lose their ability to pay for basic necessities like housing. The same worker gives a call to action, “And that’s why we’re here today, standing up fighting, just for a better tomorrow….We can make a difference for our kids and also our grandkids if we stand up and fight...I keep faith.” There is a saying within the international injured workers movement – “Remember the dead and fight like hell for the living.”
Nova Scotia, the provincial NDP government has partnered with Lockheed Martin in energy development and frequently praises the company for employing Atlantic Canadians in producing military technology. Lockheed Martin is one of the biggest military contractors in Afghanistan and the Palestinian occupied territories. Like the other two parties, the NDP responds to pro-Israeli lobbyists in Canada. NDP MP Svend Robinson was stripped of his Middle East portfolio when he accused Israel of war crimes and many NDP condemned the use of the term “apartheid” to describe the gross injustice Palestinians face. Most recently, on March 20, 2011, the NDP lined up with the other parties in supporting the imperialist military aggression against Libya. Vote with your feet? None of the parliamentary parties in Canada truly represent the people as they all prioritize the needs of investors and so-called “security” over the needs of the people, both in Canada and abroad. In a true democracy, we should be able to actually influence the economic, environmental and education policies that affect our everyday lives. Instead, we’re given the option to vote for one of a handful of procapitalist parties every four years. For this reason, a coalition of anti-capitalist groups has launched a boycott campaign to draw attention to the lack of real democracy in Canada and inspire a conversation about how we can fight for a truly egalitarian and democratic society. After 150 years of this so-called democratic system, the boycott campaign is calling on Canadians to organize for real people’s power. For more information, visit: Boycott2011.ca.
FEDERAL
BASICS #25 APR / MAY 2011
International Women’s Day 2011, Toronto Photo: M. Luciano
Love and Coercion: Precarious Work and Women’s Migration Meg. M. On February 27, 2011, Women United Against Imperialism (WUAI) hosted the community forum Confronting Precarious Work in the Era of Imperialism to educate and organize around the theme of precarious work for the upcoming International Women’s Day events in early March. Petrolina Cleto began the forum by sharing her poem titled “A Place” with the group (see end of article for poem). Her words set the tone for the discussion ahead, about the sacrifices women make under global imperialism, as they migrate to foreign places for their families’ survival and the love behind migrant women’s work. Cleto explained, “working with the community of women migrant workers in Toronto has deepened my understanding of forced migration and the effects of imperialism on the majority of women in the world today. I now clearly see their courage. I also see what is often taken for granted… the great love with which they do their sacrifices, is also what they give to the people they work for.” The first speaker, Brigitte Dangay, shared with the group that she arrived in Canada in 2006 and has
since been separated from her four children in the Philippines while caring for Canadian families as a temporary foreign worker under Canada’s Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP). LCP caregivers are required to complete 24 months of live-in domestic work within four years of arrival in Canada. On completion of this requirement they become eligible for permanent residency. While Dang-ay has spent years caring for Canadian families to support her family back in the Philippines she explained, “[my family] seems to have lost interest in me, but as long as they are happy it is okay.” Dang-ay’s story exemplifies a mother’s sacrifice. This is a sacrifice that she is not alone in making. More than 20,000 live-in caregiver positions in Canada are filled each year by people who leave their families behind to migrate as temporary foreign workers under the LCP, most of whom are women from the Philippines. Whether daughters or mothers, these women are part of hundreds of thousands of Filipino overseas workers who remit their earnings back to the Philippines to support their families. While remittances
help families survive, there are social costs to family separation. In this global system, government economies benefit from remittances and inexpensive migrant labour, while migrant workers and their families pay the price of forced family separation, often leading to family breakdown. Dang-ay explained that one of the greatest difficulties women face under the LCP is the long period of family separation. Evelyn Encalada Grez, a founding member of Justice for Migrant Workers, continued the forum by sharing her experiences working with migrant farm workers in Canada. The workers could not be at the forum to share their struggles due to the structural barriers they face as migrant workers in rural communities, but Encalada Grez was at the forum to speak as an organizer to raise awareness. According to Encalada Grez, 3-4% of migrant farm workers entering Canada each year under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program are women and they face particular challenges such as sexual harassment in workplaces, the pressure to outperform their male co-workers to prove their productive abilities, and social stigma
« UNIVERSAL DAYCARE from PG.1 « Ford, from PG.2 of two and teacher at York University. Many who worked for the non-profit sector are finding it hard to find jobs due to the large funding cuts we just experienced in the public sector. Families will be forced to take their kids out of daycare, losing their daycare space, while they search for a new job and struggle to survive on EI, if they qualify. “Unemployment numbers point to a decrease in unemployment, yet the families I meet day-to-day, are still unemployed” says Crewe. In the midst of high unemployment, chronic provincial underfunding has caused a widespread shortage of subsidies for low- and moderateincome parents, and sent child care fees soaring to between $10,000 and $15,000 a year. Yet, the McGuinty plan for full-day kindergarten is only available in particular neighbourhoods right now. Lower income neighbourhoods with
schools that struggle for funding, are missing out. This is where these programs are badly needed. Parents are struggling to make ends meet. In addition, the McGuinty government failed to recognize the value of early childhood educators by establishing a two tier wage system for equal responsibilities within a classroom, wedging teachers against early childhood educators. Ontario has too many qualified teachers who cannot find work, but, too few qualified early learning educators. They do not choose the profession because of the low salary. The McGuinty government is going to have a difficult time recruiting and maintaining staff to fill the pre-k teaching responsibilities at the few Ontario schools where early kindergarten is available. There has never been a more compelling need for a truly universal child care system.
decades-long “neoliberal” assault against the working class by the Canadian state and the rich to dismantle the welfare state—the “social pact” made between labour and capital in the aftermath of the Second World War. The rich, served by the Canadian state, have made it clear that the era of “welfare” capitalism is long gone. But working people have yet to reorganize themselves, even after 30 years of neoliberal assaults. TCHC residents need an unprecedented upsurge in mobilization and organization if we’re going to beat back the privatization offensive, let alone win any new concessions for improving and expanding social housing. Without a struggle, yet another defeat is certain. But with a struggle, we stand so much more to gain than the defense of the status quo. Let’s build an independent tenants organization to defend and advance the interests of TCHC residents and working people! If you’re interested in organizing, contact tchc.residents@gmail.com.
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for leaving their family behind to work abroad. Encalada Grez explained that love is a form of coercion used against women who migrate to support their families. Migrant women are hanging onto precarious jobs in the agriculture sector to the detriment of their well-being because they must provide for their children. She further explained that as families are forced to restructure themselves under global restructuring, family separation occurs. Migrant parents then commodify their love by replacing their physical presence in their children’s lives with material objects. The stories shared by the forum speakers highlight a broader trend in the era of imperialist globalization; people must perform precarious work with a precarious immigration status in order to survive. But women are fighting back by organizing to claim their rights at work and in the new places they find themselves as a result of their migration. Brigitte Dang-ay is a member
of IWWorkers (the Association of the Filipino Women Workers of Canada). IWWorkers was founded by Juana Tejada, an LCP caregiver who fought for her right to permanent resident status and to abolish the second medical examination required for caregivers applying for permanent residency in Canada. As a result of this campaign the Juana Tejada Law was passed, reducing the barriers that LCP caregivers face in becoming permanent residents on completion of the LCP. Similarly, Justice for Migrant Workers organizes in rural communities to create spaces for migrant agricultural workers to make their struggles known. Working with the United Food and Commercial Workers they have brought several issues to court, including the right of agricultural workers to unionize. Many migrant women are at the forefront of making change to the precarious work they perform so those who follow in their footsteps will have a better future.
Defying the Tomb Selected Prison Writings and Art of Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, New Afrikan Black Panther Party Minister of Defense, Featuring Exchanges With an Outlaw Your mission (should you decide to accept it) is to buy multiple copies of this book, read it carefully, and then get it into the hands of as many prisoners as possible. I am aware of no prisoner-written book more important than this one, at least not since George Jackson’s Blood In My Eye. Revolutionaries and those considering the path of progress will find Kevin “Rashid” Johnson’s Defying The Tomb an important contribution to their political development. (Ed Mead, former political prisoner, George Jackson Brigade) foreword by Russell “Maroon” Shoats introduction by Tom Big Warrior
Defying the Tomb Selected Prison Writings and Art of Kevin “Rashid” Johnson Featuring Exchanges with an Outlaw
afterword by Sundiata Acoli $20.00 co-published in 2010 by Kersplebedeb iSBN 978-1-894946-39-1 paperback 386 pages
Kersplebedeb
Publishing and distribution
www.leftwingbooks.net “With a non-exclusive focus on anti-patriarchal and anti-imperialist politics, framed within an anti-capitalist perspective. A special priority is given to writings regarding armed struggle in the metropole, and the continuing struggles of political prisoners and prisoners of war.” kersplebedeb, cp 63560, cccp van horne, montreal, quebec, canada h3w 3h8
Community events & Listings
BASICS #25 APR / MAY 2011
The M1M presents
A Free Community Festival
in celebration of International Workers’ Day 2011 Music, dance, story telling, and activities for children will be available. Food and drink will be served by the San Lorenzo Church. All proceeds will go to the ‘Caravan of Hope’ to help purchase ambulances for El Salvador.
Saturday April 30th, 12pm-5pm San Lorenzo Community Centre 22 Wenderly Drive (Dufferin and Lawrence)
See P.4 for more details
« May Day speaks from PG.1 organization are migrant workers and working class women with issues with status, precarious work, state repression, and policies that negatively affect our community here in Canada. We organize under an anti-imperialist feminist lens. Our focus over the course of the past few months has been on violence against women (in regards to state and personal) and our last forum was focused on confronting precarious work. We continue to focus on these issues and building alliances with different communities locally and internationally. We joined M1M because we are a working class women’s collective and wanted to highlight the importance of recognizing international workers’ day
as a day of solidarity with other workers. Migrante Ontario // Marco Luciano We work with Filipino migrants and immigrants on migration and settlement issues. A lot of our members are caregivers here in the greater Toronto area. We work on the changes to the Live-in Caregiver Program and also in the bigger Temporary Foreign Worker Program. One of the projects we have is the unionization of care givers in Ontario. Another important aspect of our work is to help Filipinos form their organizations and affiliate with Migrante. To affiliate with Migrante, you must work to address the rights and welfare of Filipinos here and also understand the
« Public Interest from PG.2 that it was the NDP Mayor David Miller who oversaw the deterioration of social housing in Toronto and the unpopular “revitalization” schemes. Yes, higher levels of government need to take some of the blame. But the NDP at the level of municipal politics in Toronto have done little to address the problems in social
root causes of migration – that migration here is not a choice, but we are forced out of our country. Filipinos are here today because of economic conditions in the Philippines: lack of jobs; lack of industries where people can work; lack of subsistence farms. Currently there are almost 4,000 Filipinos leaving the Philippines everyday. In the history of our struggles in the Philippines, we are brought up understanding that May 1 came out of the struggle of international working people. People come out not because it is not a working day, but because it is a time where the people’s issues are really brought out. People take to the streets because there are demands by the people. See BASICSnews.ca for the full responses from these organizations and others.
housing and everything to hold back the self-organizing of tenants at a time when what we really need is a massive organizing and mobilizing initiative. Since the March 13 meeting, the Public Interest-Wilkinson duo have been dominating and directing what has developed into a grouping called “Tenants for Social Housing: We are not
for sale!”. They have struggled hard to ensure that the work of this grouping would be restricted to lobbying politicians, petitioning, and struggling to get tenant representation (read: Catherine Wilkinson) back onto the TCHC Board of Directors. If Public Interest and Wilkinson are against privatization, good
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on them. The people need their allies. But TCHC residents had no shortage of problems under the former Board of Directors and under the NDP-oriented City Hall of David Miller; and things are certainly about to get a hell of a lot worse with Mayor Rob Ford. At this time, tenants need
a truly independent, citywide tenant organization to fight against privatization, fight for the long-overdue repairs, and build truly democratic tenant-led movement in our communities. Contact tchc.residents@ gmail.com to get this project underway.