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THE OKANAGAN-COQUIHALLA BYELECTION
(This editorial is from the Sept. 1-15/2000 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.)
CANADIAN ALLIANCE LEADER Stockwell Day is seeking election in Okanagan-Coquihalla, where his extreme right-wing views are shared by a significant number of voters. The decision by the Liberals and Tories not to nominate candidates in the Sept. 11 byelection gave him another boost.
But even in the south Okanagan, many voters are solidly opposed to the bigoted, reactionary ideology of Day and his party. From the moment the byelection was announced, residents of the area have spoken out for the rights of women, First Nations, working people, and other targets of the Canadian Alliance. The byelection has already proved that Stock and his gang - the most dangerous force among the big business parties - will face a rough ride whenever a federal election is called.
We congratulate the progressive activists and movements who mobilized quickly in Okanagan-Coquihalla to reveal the Alliance's real political agenda. And we urge voters in the riding to cast a ballot for one of the candidates running against Day.
The best of these is clearly Joan Russow, leader of the Green Party of Canada, a long-time campaigner for human rights, labour, social justice, the environment, and peace issues.
In the spring of 1999, while the federal NDP was supporting NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia, Russow was helping to rally Canadians against this shameful imperialist war, and demanding that NATO be dismantled. She has been a powerful opponent of the so-called "trade agreements" driven by the transnational corporations. Under her leadership, the Green Party has been active in fighting NAFTA, the MAI, the WTO and other "globalization" treaties and bodies.
Russow correctly warns that religious fundamentalists such as Day pose a threat to reproductive rights and the right of women to work outside the home. She wants the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect sexual orientation, gender identity, and form of family.
Unfortunately, Canada's "first-past-the-post" electoral system is stacked against progressive, smaller political parties. Working people would be far better served by combining the election of individual MPs with some form of proportional representation. Such a change would increase the chances of electing Joan Russow or Communist Party leader Miguel Figueroa to Parliament, greatly strengthening the movements to put working people and the environment ahead of corporate greed. The byelection campaign is a perfect opportunity to expose the Canadian Alliance bigots, to win support for the idea of a broad alliance for progressive change, and to call for proportional representation and other democratic reforms.
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