Smash G20 agenda! Demand Labour enquiry into repression!

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The mass movement for an independent, full-spectrum, public enquiry into G20 Summit policing continues. About 3000 rallied at Queen’s Park on Saturday, July 10. Then they marched and held a rally beside the CBC building, right across from the Metro Convention Centre, scene of the G20 elite gabfest two weeks earlier. On July 17 up to a thousand gathered again in front of the Ontario legislature. Many mocked the behaviour that prompted police to arrest 1070 people.

Proof of the still-mounting public pressure for government and police accountability, and the dropping of all charges, are the four enquiries reluctantly launched. Unfortunately, none of them is full, open, and independent. The Toronto Police Services Board, which includes the police chief alongside appointed city councillors and civilians, will operate within narrow and establishment-controlled confines. (Toronto City Council voted unanimously on July 7 to “commend the outstanding work” of Chief Bill Blair and his force. Rather than stand up against this outrage, cowardly social democratic councillors abstained or were absent.)

The Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin promises an enquiry, but only into the additional police powers secretly granted by the Ontario Liberal Cabinet prior to the G20 Summit. The Toronto Police and Ontario Provincial Police are conducting their own investigations—need we say more? And Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty have both rejected calls for a public inquiry.

Our view is that the labour organizations that endorsed the “July 10 Day of Action for Civil Liberties”, including the Canadian Labour Congress, the Ontario Federation of Labour, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Steelworkers’ Toronto Area Council, and the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, should initiate a truly full, open, and independent enquiry. It should be designed to get to the bottom of the wasteful expenditures on ‘security’ and the arbitrary and excessive use of force by police, as well as to expose the antihuman, eco-cidal agenda of the G20 political and corporate elites.

The crowd that coursed through Toronto’s downtown on July 10, under brilliant sunshine, was lively, boisterous— and yearning for truth and accountability. Thousands chanted, “Whose streets? Our streets!”, “This is what democracy looks like”, “No more police over-time. No more police state.” Ten individuals carried giant white letters to spell out “G20 ENQUIRY”. Huge walking puppets caricatured Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Hundreds of protesters sat down at the intersection of Queen and Spadina. There, on June 27, police kettled 300 innocent people during a two-hour driving rainstorm, arresting scores of them—just to show who’s boss.

Notwithstanding bitter recollections of police-state tactics, let’s not forget the global capitalist agenda that is the reason for all the G20-related deceit and repression. The richest countries’ bosses promised to cut their budgetary deficits in half by 2013, and to cap their cumulative debt as a proportion of GDP by 2016. If attempted, without taxing big corporations and the superrich, such actions would choke off jobs, services and investment in production. They would plunge economies into crisis, and billions into misery—which is to say nothing of the consequences of worsening pollution, climate change, and ongoing brutal wars of occupation.

The only way for humanity to change course, to avoid deeper catastrophes, is for the working class, in each country, to expropriate industry and plan the economy democratically, and ecologically. Instead of cutting vital services, increasing the age of retirement, slashing pensions, freezing wages, reducing supports for farmers, and hiking sales taxes, socialists say: Tax big business and the rich. Nationalize the banks. Rescind the war budget.

Dozens joined the Socialist Action contingent during the two-hour walka-thon on July 10. SA youths and supporters carried their own handmade signs that read: Resign Chief BLiar! For a FULL, independent, public enquiry !

Repeal the Public Works Protection Act!

Smash G20 agenda of Social Cuts! Money for Jobs and Education, not war and police repression! Fight for Socialism!

The NDP Socialist Caucus marched too with its banner held high. Supporters distributed copies of the SC tabloid “Turn Left”. Its headline proclaims, “Time to put Capitalism on trial”.

What a contrast to the many NDP politicians and labour leaders who wrung their hands over petty property damage for a fortnight, and now merely echo the cry for civil liberties and police accountability. Still, it is good that Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath backed the call for a full, open public enquiry at the July 10 gathering. Likewise, federal New Democrats are pushing for the House of Commons committee on public safety and national security to hold public hearings on a wide range of issues.

What’s next? Continue to build the mass movement for civil liberties. Challenge Labour and the NDP to fight the neo-liberal agenda of social cuts, privatization and environmental abuse, as well as state attacks on human rights.

This struggle is far from over.

Alone, one cannot do very much. But united, we can move mountains. Together we can win a world fit for humanity, in harmony with nature. — B.W.

or just to keep quiet. Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath’s comment was less than helpful too when she said it is important to ensure that Bay Street shares the same pain as M ain Street. Shifting the pain, rather than sharing it, is what working people really need.

Doing ‘whatever is necessary’ will definitely require extensive political education and massive job action. No one union, not even the entire public sector on its own, can win alone. There are lessons to absorb from the private sector, including where unions don’t cave, but fight back. Despite a valiant, year-long strike by 3100 United Steelworkers against Brazilian mining giant Vale SA, workers gave concessions on pensions for new hires.

The traditional bonus tied to the price of nickel is also reduced in a five-year deal that does contain wage improvements. Clearly, it would have been much worse had the miners not struck. But the point is that Labour as a whole should have actively joined the fight—instead of postponing the day of reckoning and further weakening the movement.

United, mass job action against the Duncan wage freeze, against the social and environmental cuts, against military expenditures, against the G20 austerity agenda is urgently needed. That is the concept that should be on the table everywhere in time for Labour Day, Sept. 6, 2010. n