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BUILDING PEOPLES MOVEMENT THE KEY: ONTARIO CP LEADER
(This article is from the July/August 1999 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.)
People's Voice spoke to Ontario Communist leader Hassan Husseini about the campaign and ways to move forward under the "new conditions" created by Harris' re-election.
PV: With another Tory majority, albeit a smaller one, what is in store for the working class of Ontario?
Husseini: It is certain that the Tories will continue implementing their neo-conservative, corporate-driven agenda, and move into the second stage of its implementation. This will mean further de-regulation and privatization of key sectors of the economy, as well as natural resources and public institutions.
At the top of their list however, will be the corporatization of health care and education. Unless there is a concerted struggle, we will definitely see more school closures, layoffs, attacks on teachers and other education workers, vouchers and charter schools, further de-regulation and increased tuition fees. There is no doubt that the Tories have the privatization of health care on their agenda, a process which started in their first term but is sure to accelerate in the next couple of years. It is also no secret that the Tories plan to further attack the working poor, unions, tenants, women, youth and those on social assistance. In short, what's in store for working people in Ontario are more attacks on their hard won gains.
PV: Do you think that there will be a return to the "Days of Action"? Did they make a difference, or do we need something else?
Husseini: The Tory corporate agenda will be even more vicious this term, so a period of sharpening struggle and polarization is ahead. People will realize that voting once every 4 or 5 years is not what democracy is really about, and seeing their rights disappear will spur them to action.
But the fightback must not be left to spontaneity. It must become organized and focused, it has to escalate rather than stand still. Unity of the forces fighting neo-conservatism remains a paramount task in the period ahead, and this unity must be based on a broad alternative platform to halt the right. Before and during this election, the Communist Party offered its People's Alternative program as a basis of discussion to arrive at such unity, and we offer it again for the period ahead.
The Days of Action showed the strength of the movement fighting Harris and his backers. But they were not allowed to live up to their full potential to make the necessary impact. This was very short-sighted. We still believe that had the fightback movement been more unified and militant in its actions and demands, the outcome on election might have been different, especially for the NDP and the left.
PV: How did the CPC (Ontario) do and what does this reflect?
Husseini: Communists were active across the province, not only in areas where we ran candidates. We were fighting the Tories and all other candidates advancing the neo-con agenda, and we were calling for the building of a people's movement on the extra-parliamentary level. That resonated with people. We made a lot of friends and contacts during the election. Having registered Party status also gave us more exposure on radio and TV, although not nearly enough. This also resulted in calls to our office for more information and interest in joining our ranks. Our experience at the doors was very positive, especially as we were the only ones speaking out for peace and against the NATO war against Yugoslavia.
PV: Any final comments?
Husseini: The fact that the Tories won another majority should never damper our resolve to fight on and to pursue the crucial task of building a people's movement. This task would still have been faced us if the Liberals or even the NDP had come to power.
What's different now is the fact that objectively, polarization and spontaneous acts of resistance will surely intensify. What is missing and urgently needed is a united fightback people's movement to link all these struggles together in province-wide actions around a common platform. You can count on the Ontario Communists to be there every step of the way, doing our best to build such a movement and an alternative.
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Editor: Kimball Cariou |
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