New Canadian accord spells trouble for working

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12 SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 1987 Meech Lake Accord represents no meaningful change. Although it states that Quebec will be "recognized as a distinct society within Canada," it does not spell out what that means. Nor does it say what powers it confers on the government of Quebec "to preserve and promote Quebec's distinct identity."

The Amendment goes on to say that although "the English-speaking population is concentrated outside Quebec, it is also present within Quebec," and vice-versa for Francophones-the classical rationale for Ottawa's hypocritical policy of official bilingualism.

Because big business speaks English in North America, Quebecois workers suffer systematic discrimination at work, in education and healthcare, in department stores and restaurants-even where francophones are the overwhelming majority.

Strong labor opposition

The new accord was opposed by the three Quebec union federations, the farmers' union, the Mouvement Quebec Francais, the Parti Quebecois, and even the Quebec New Democratic Party (Canada's labor party).

So, why did Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa, a member of the Liberal Party, sign the Accord? Certainly not because of minor concessions to Quebec in the areas of immigration, the appointment of Supreme Court judges, or financial compensation for opting out of federal/provincial shared-cost programs.

The real motivation, one that Bourassa shares with Prime Minister Mulroney and most capitalists across Canada, is to destroy the national aspirations of the May'D '4' 1, 55 si INSIDE: SOUTH AFRICA TURKEY Subscribe to International Viewpoint!

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3435 Army #308, S.F. CA 94110. Quebecois. Canada's rulers hope that this new Accord, which has "brought Quebec back into the Canadian family," will once and for all put an end to the struggle for Quebecois liberation.

An oppressed nation Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau recently denounced the Accord, alleging that it weakens federal power in relation to the provinces. But Mulroney and the majority of the ruling class are prepared to pay this price to coopt Quebec, whereas Trudeau and the more centralist (protectionist) wing of the capitalist class would prefer a more rigid stance.

Quebec is not a province like the others. It is an oppressed nation with its own distinct language, culture, history, and territory. The refusal to recognize this fact constitutes a central contradiction at the heart of the confederal state.

This problem is not confined to the capitalists and their state. It is one shared by the working-class organizations in English Canada and their political arm, the NDP, which has upheld a federalist perspective consistently hostile to the aspirations of the Quebecois workers.

This accounts for the lack of significant support for the NDP in Quebec until very recently. And now, due to pressure from By W. I. MOHAREB HARTFORD, Conn.--Over five thousand people marched in Hartford and San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Aug. 30 in defense of 15 Puerto Rican political prisoners who are facing trial here. They are charged with participation in the robbery of a Wells Fargo depot in Connecticut. Their real "crime," however, is that they all advocate independence for Puerto Rico.

Juan Palmer and Filiberto Rios have been held in "preventive detention" for the past two years. Most defendants were jailed for 16 months before they were finally released on bail. To this date none of the 15 have been tried. This is because of government delays and misconduct at every level.

The Hartford demonstration was called around such demands as moving the trial of the defendants to Puerto Rico, for an end to preventive detention, and for the right to bail. The demonstrators also called for the removal of all military forces from Puerto Rico and for an end to the naval shelling of the island of Vieques.

Demonstrators came from as far as Quebecois workers, the Quebec NDP has broken with the federal party line to oppose the Accord.

Obstacles to social change But in supporting the Accord, the federal NDP (and the NDP government of Manitoba) not only betray the interests of workers in Quebec. They also place new obstacles in the path of progressive social change in English Canada.

The rights of native peoples and residents of the northern territories are frozen out of this constitutional agreement. There's nothing in it for women. There's no improvement in union liberties and other collective rights that have been severely undermined by recent Supreme Court decisions.

But more fundamentally, in structural terms, the clause that permits a province to receive financial compensation if it opts out of a shared-cost program in a provincial jurisdiction may put an end to future universal social services.

Louise Dulude, president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, warns that the Amendment could paralyze a national plan for chila care. "Ottawa could make proposals but say they have to wait until the legislatures make their will known. That alone could take Portland, Maine, and Washington, D.C. The march through a Puerto Rican neighborhood clearly had considerable support from the residents, many of whom waved Puerto Rican flags. Banners and chants at the rally also raised the cases of other Puerto Rican political prisoners. One banner tied the defense of the 15 to the case of the eight Palestinians held for deportation in Los Angeles, Calif.

Yvonne Melendez, one of the original defendants, (charges against her were dropped for lack of evidence) addressed the rally. She reviewed some of the facts of U.S. imperialist oppression of Puerto Rico. At one point during the Vietnam War nearly 40 percent of the combat troops in the field were of Puerto Rican origin. "We are forced to be the cannon fodder of imperialism," she pointed out.

Forty percent of the labor force in Puerto Rico is unemployed. Wages are half those in the United States, although the cost of living on the island is 25 percent higher. Puerto Rico has been devastated economically and environmentally because of American domination.

The island of Vieques is used for target Alliance Box 12082 Edmonton, Alliance P.O. Box 7t Vancouver, V5R 5T3 three years."

"The need for child care is urgent," said. "We can't afford to wait."

Another obstacle may take shape in the form of a rejuvenated Senate. The Senate now has constitutional power to block legislation passed by the Commons. Because it is an appointed body of bourgeois party bagmen and retired political hacks, however, it lacks the necessary credibility to exercise this power.

Under a proposed system of provincial nominations, even though still subjected to federal choice, the Senate may attempt to exercise power as an assembly representing "regional (i.e. capitalist) interests."

Socialists demand abolition of the Senate, not its reform! This too is the official position of the NDP—a position overlooked by Leader Ed Broadbent, who has been caught up in the enthusiasm for the Accord expressed in Parliament and the media.

But the working class, in English Canada and especially in Quebec, has a more reserved, skeptical, and even critical approach to the Accord. Socialists should work to deepen that criticism. Meech Lake represents the worse of both worlds-the drowning of Quebec rights and the paralysis of future social change initiatives within the framework of the existing state.

practice and is under constant naval bombardment. Puerto Rico was a testing ground for Agent Orange as well as a training ground for the invasions of Grenada and the Dominican Republic, Melendez said.

Other speakers included Dennis Rivera, a vice president of Local 1199 of the hospital workers union, and Bob Gustafson, a member of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee.

The militancy of both the Hartford and San Juan events reflects a growing radicalization among the Puerto Rican workers and oppressed.

Distributors of Socialist Action in Canada:

Alliance for Socialist Action 229 College St., Suite 208 Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R4 (416) 535-8779 Alliance for Socialist Action Box 2728 Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 4B3 for Socialist Alberta for Socialist ;916 Station S British Columbia

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festivities around the anniversa of the signing of the U.S.

made of the class antagonisms among the revolutionary forces.

This second of a three-part series examines how committee!

led the struggle for democracy During last month's month official HAMILTON

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