THE 36TH CENTRAL CONVENTION IN TORONTO

JUST BEFORE, A LITTLE TALK ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT

vol. 3, no. 1, January 2010, $ 1.00

si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/


FOREWORD: Many thanks to Tim Pelzer, tpelzer@shaw.ca who edited this article. Don't forget the link below to L'Humanité in English, selection of the daily communist newspaper published in Paris.

But why did they organize it so far away? After all, Copenhagen is not a suburb of Montréal. In November, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared in Singapore in relation with this meeting: “Everybody is looking for a convenient agreement that will not impose upon us a burden too heavy, that is the reason why negotiations are so difficult”. The conservative newspaper The Gazette chose to write in December that “oil and gas producers comprised the largest industry lobbying group from January through August 2009 with 24 companies and associations represented in Ottawa, according to the registry. These include all the major oil companies.” One of the lobbyists was Ken Boessenkooll, “a campaign adviser and a senior policy adviser to Harper when he was leader of the opposition.” Maybe it smells of oil, but it does not smell good at any rate... (Photo SolidNet: Anti-imperialist demonstration in Athens, 2009)

The French communist philosopher, Georges Gastaud, wrote recently on the topic and said: “If any “cut” ecological movement takes us away from anti-capitalistic class struggle, a responsible ecological and comprehensive implication carries us, on the contrary, to get involved now and not before another century in a new society free from capitalist depredations and class, without havoc by a handful of irresponsible elements looking for profits. We need a society supporting revolution in the world of science, of political power and relations of properties. We must collectivize for the benefit of everybody, knowledge and human products. In a nutshell, we call for a communist society.”

Sadly enough, the Chinese Communist Party delegation at the last International Meeting of Communist and Workers ‘Parties in New Delhi, India, concluded that: “no social order ever disappears before all the productive forces, for which there is room in it, have been developed; and new higher relation of production never appear before the material conditions of their existence have matured in the womb of the old society”. Thus “capitalism will remain more powerful than socialism for a certain period to come...” During the same meeting, the Vietnam delegation affirmed that their next convention will “map out the socio-economic development strategy for the next 10 years (2011-2020) with the targets of becoming a modern-industrial country by 2020 and strongly progressing to socialism in which people are wealthy; country is strong; society is equal, democratic and civilized.”

THE CANADIAN CONVENTION


From February 5th to 7th, delegates from all parts of Canada will gather in Toronto to attend the Central Convention of the Communist Party of Canada (CPC). As a backdrop, we can mention the struggles of the employees and journalists of Le journal de Montréal who are still locked out after almost one year. In November, elected Québec Solidaire member Amir Khadir introduced a motion in the Quebec National Assembly inviting both parties to negotiate so that “the rights of the workers be respected...” It was adopted unanimously. In October, Khadir, declared to Le Devoir, in relation with the situation in the construction industry, that, “I believe seriously enough that the Liberal Party of Québec could be sullied...” in an eventual public inquiry in this area.

(Photo SolidNet: Demonstration in Paraguay in support of democracy, 2009)

In October, Le Devoir reported that some Québec farmers were dissatisfied with their organization the Union of Farm Growers (Union des producteurs agricoles-UPA), established in 1972. The discontented members were not clear about whether they wanted to leave the UPA, only stating that “they want something else”.

During the CPC convention, discussions will take place on the role of the Party in relation with the people’s struggles. Another question being discussed is the Marxist concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Rebel Youth editor (magazine of the Young Communist League of Canada), Stephen Von Sychowski wrote: “When we talk about what people think of that particular theoretical aspect of Marxism-Leninism we are dealing with a relatively small segment of the people who are the more educated [...]. The reality is that most of people’s knowledge of revolutionary theory is based on anti-communist propaganda and a few tidbits of often questionable historical information.” (Discussion Bulletin, November 4th, 2009, no.2, p. 6).
La Vie Réelle in English shares the CPC´s point of view that the working class of Canada will have to exercise political power and defend any revolutionary measures once they win power. The political party of the workers will also have to raise the question of the toiling people in all regions. For instance before New Year 2010, AbitibiBowater, a US-based multinationals shuts down its operations in Beaupré and Clermont, near Québec City, dismissing hundreds of employees. The company also closed plants in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Alabama, according to Quebec City´s daily Le Soleil.

Speaking of Québec, the Communist Party shall reiterate its position for a new Canada where the two founding nations, Québec and English speaking Canada, will be equal and united, and Québec will enjoy the right to secession. It is the right moment since the Parti québécois (PQ) is trying again to mobilize the population to separate from Canada, taking advantage of anti-English sentiment caused by dissatisfaction with the federal conservative government.

(Photo SolidNet: Demonstration in Italy for the freedom of information, in 2009)

L'Humanité in English

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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!

si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/



On the occasion of the New Year 2010, La Vie Réelle in English wishes to all its readers Peace, Progress and Prosperity.


We wish you as well Health and Wellbeing.


We hope in a new Canada, a land of democracy and freedom for all, where French-Canadians and English-speaking Canadians will live in equality, with the right of Québec to self-determination as a nation, up and including secession if this is the will of the people; alongside with the rights of the First Nations and the immigrant communities.


We extend warm salutations to the Communist Party of Canada which will hold its 36th Central Convention in Toronto (Ontario), not so far away from Guelph where it was founded in 1921 by a group of some 20 people that garner rapidly the support of thousands of workers in our country for the right to a decent housing, job and more generally a Life with a Future, a socialist Canada.
(Photo: Daniel Paquet, editor; with a group of young french communists in Paris, Spring 2009)

We extend fraternal greetings to the International Communist Review published in Athens (Greece) by a collective of theoretical communist journals from all around the world, including Debate Abierto from the Communist party of Venezuela, in our hemisphere.


Finally, we salute the Canadian delegation to the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and wish them successes in the coming competitions.





Montréal, December 2009

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FRENCH-CANADIANS AND IMMIGRANTS

THE GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT

vol. 2, no.10, December 2009, $ 1.00
si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/

FOREWORD: Many thanks to Tim Pelzer, tpelzer@shaw.ca who edited this article. Don't forget the link below to L'Humanité in English, selection of the daily communist newspaper published in Paris.
___________________________________


Daniel Paquet*

Who knows? Maybe the book recently published by former Québec Premier Jacques Parizeau is going to crash.

At the moment the Parti Québécois (PQ) is trying by any means to kindle the light of separatism. The left leaning party Québec solidaire is also expecting to attract the nationalist vote, especially youth who reject the PQ’s conservative orientation. Actually, it looks like a child’s game of musical chairs: the music plays and when it stops, you better find a chair; otherwise you will be expelled from the game.

The PQ is the official opposition party in the National Assembly and plays on the federal government’s failure to recognize Québec’s French Canadian nation. Of course, the Stephen Harper conservative party recognized Québec as nation. But, in practice, it is like affirming officially and strongly that Toronto is in Ontario!

PQ leaders take profit from the French Canadian people’s dissatisfaction with the status quo. They believe that – especially in some parts of Montréal- you have to speak English in commercial outlets and restaurants now. This is partly true. But it is not a deliberate campaign by small business owners as they don’t feel that they are going to increase their customer base by recruiting more French speaking personnel. Nevertheless, French Canadians, especially the young, feel hurt by this. Their reaction is understandable, though exaggerated.
(Photo: once attended the catholic churches are now deserted by the French-Canadians)

The Communist Party of Canada (CPC) speaks the language of wisdom and democracy. They advocate recognizing the right of the French Canadian to self-determination up and including secession from Canada. They oppose, naturally, discrimination against French Canadians in La Belle Province wherever they work and live. Of course, they don’t believe immigrants and English Canadians should be forced to speak French but instead encouraged to learn and use the language.

It is obvious that in the future, the French Canadians will have to learn English, but it must not be mandatory. They must be encouraged to do it gradually without loosing the French language. Anyhow, today it is common for immigrant children to speak French and English as well as their parent’s language (Spanish, Arabic or Urdu).

In the past, the Communists associated themselves regularly with the PQ members on various issues, like peace campaigns, solidarity with the Chilean people or the defence of Cuba. Many PQ members are progressive, but they are fiercely obtuse on the national question. It is almost a psychological barrier. PQ members are active in people’s associations, unions and movements and they outnumber communist Party members in these movements. During elections they win easily. One must not make mistakes: the PQ is not like the New Democratic Party, a socialist party or a social-democrat party. Instead it is a coalition party with a left wing.
(Photo: big canadian companies benefit from the absence of a mass communist party in Canada)

However, the CPC has influence in the trade-unions. One of the Party’s mistakes during the 1990s was to recruit former nationalists to its ranks, nearly destroying the Party. The revolutionary “pessimism” was caused by the Soviet Union’s disappearance added to the Party’s near downfall. The communist movement in Québec overcame this mistake and is ready to form alliances with the PQ members but on an equal footing. Furthermore, the centrist Liberal Party led by Jean Charest adopts policies that are fair for the people, even though the PQ waits like a vulture to diminish the Liberals in the public eye.

Finally, the PQ has no newspaper in Québec like for instance the French Communist Party daily newspaper l’Humanité. Our readers should know that many journalists from the written and electronic press have attended courses at Montréal’s Québec University under the direction of the late professor Pierre Bourgault, former leader of the nationalist Rassemblement pour l’Indépendance Nationale (Rally for the National Independence –RIN). Bourgault liked to ridicule Greek, Italian and Jews, while he was smoking his eternal Gitanes at his classroom’s entrance. Of course, he could not ignore the progressive and dynamic role played by representatives of theses communities in the development of the communist movement in Montréal.
(Photo SolidNet: communist meeting in Greece)

The French Canadians workers realize now that you can deal about bread and butter and still ask for a Québec traditional product. Finally, one should be aware that communists are developing the embryo of a mass organization in Montréal’s eastend. One day, the French CBC anchorman, at an electoral soirée will announce that “if the trend keeps on going, the next government will be formed by the communist party…”


L'Humanité in English
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* (Daniel Paquet studied Communications at Montréal’s Québec University from 1993 to 1996, where he graduated in journalism with honours)



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ABOUT TRUTH AND VICTORY

vol. 2, no. 9, November 2009, $ 1.00

si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/

FOREWORD: Many thanks to Tim Pelzer, tpelzer@shaw.ca who edited this article. Don't forget the link below to L'Humanité in English, selection of the daily communist newspaper published in Paris.
______________________________

It’s all started with the last column that I wrote. My dear friend and editor, Tim, said to me: “Sometimes you can be overly abstract and theoretical to the point that I have trouble understanding what you are saying […] if I have trouble understanding what you are saying, I am sure that your readers will have the same problem.”

I read over the whole article. Tim is right. But why publish a newsletter in English if one cannot express himself properly? The reason is very basic: I am totally devoted to the Québec people and I want English speaking Canadians - and others - to know that we are not a bunch of angry, restless separatists, waiting for the next referendum to drag us out of Canada. Naturally, since this column is read by intellectuals and journalists, I did not want to give them the impression that La Vie Réelle in English was a simple read that could be labelled as a cheap piece of French Canadian communist writing. (Photo: a typical French-Canadian homestead in Québec City)

But Tim, very generously, added: “You can express yourself well in English. I know this because of our wonderful email conversations. Write as if you are writing your readers an email. Write in simple prose that is easy to grasp. This is important if you want to appeal to working class readers.” Not only was I touched, but it brought two things to mind: first that we have to persuade people in Québec that it is important to learn English and second it is important to learn the history of English speaking Canada. Even communists around the world have adopted English in their communications. For instance, SolidNet, the Communist and Worker's Parties central communication's bureau in Athens, Greece distributes documents and bulletins in Spanish, Italian, Russian, Portuguese and English. Few documents are in French. I believe that when the French communist party becomes more involved in world solidarity movements there will be more French publications. At the moment, even Québec communists use English to communicate with central party headquarters in Toronto.

Of course, main documents are translated from English to French. Those living in Vancouver, Halifax or Hamilton should know that there is a lively, flourishing French speaking culture in Québec. We have prominent and talented singers like Robert Charlesbois (Ordinaire) as well as new ones like Lynda Thalie (Une femme amoureuse), an immigrant from the Arab world. Well, the point is that we don’t eat pea soup, cretons and pâté chinois like in the past. We have changed. We go for sushi, couscous and souvlaki now. And there are even some who believe that God does not oppose French Canadians joining the communist party. C’est la vie… (Photo : a Montréal-born new Québécoise, Nile)

Even in the labour movement there are changes. For instance the Québec Centre of Trade Unions, formerly the Québec Teacher's Union, decided at its last convention in June 2009 to get involved in politics “so that we live in the type of society that we want to build”. We increased our solidarity with workers from other parts of the world. For instance, the Québec Federation of Labour (500 000 members) opposes the Free Trade Agreement that the Canadian government signed with Colombia because of the systematic violations of human rights in that country. The Union Centre invites its “member unions and regional councils to put pressure on conservative and liberal MPs…” And, the Confederation of National Trade Unions (300 000 members) will enlarge its support policy for striking workers. Recently, union members working at Le Journal de Québec decided to “give 1% of their salaries to the union representing 253 workers at Le Journal de Montréal”, who have been on lock-out for over 8 months.

Karl Marx in the article published under the title of Communism and the Augsburg Allgemeine Zeitung, concluded that: “ We are firmly convinced that the real danger lies not in practical attempts, but in the theoretical elaboration of communist ideas, for practical attempts, even mass attempts, can be answered by cannon as soon as they become dangerous, whereas ideas, which have conquered our intellect and taken possession of our minds, ideas to which reason has fettered our conscience, are chains from which one cannot free oneself without a broken heart…” (Collected Works, Vol. 1, International Publishers, New York, 1985, pp. 220-221)

As readers know, there is an older bulletin named La Vie Réelle (just in french). One of its readers wrote not long ago: “A very good issue. One reads it and can make up one’s own opinion. Articles are never aggressive, I appreciate it.” (Photo: a renovated catholic church in Québec City)

L'Humanité in English

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I LOVE THE SOVIET UNION

vol. 2, no. 8, October 2009, $ 1.00

si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/

FOREWORD: Many thanks to Tim Pelzer, tpelzer@shaw.ca who edited this article. Don't forget the link below to L'Humanité in English, selection of the daily communist newspaper published in Paris.

______________________________

In one of his tragedy: King Lear; Shakespeare wrote beautiful verses, witnessing the feeling of one daughter for his father. Goneril says to King Lear:

“Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter;
Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour;
As much as child e’er lov’d, or father found;
A love that makes breath poor and speech unable.
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.”

(Photo: Father and daughter, - Hervé and Peggy- at the 2009 May Day Demonstration in Paris)

These words express deeply my true feelings for the French Canadian working people, my people. These people, like others on earth deserves the best created by the brain and hands of the toiling people. As the saying goes in French: “il n‘y a rien de trop beau pour la classe ouvrière” (there is no such a too beautiful thing for the working class). But besides my own “family”, I felt deeply in love with former Soviet Union.

When I was a kid in Québec City, my grandfather once told me that we should build a monument to the Red Army. Later I learned about the heroic Red army soldiers that defeated the Nazi invaders in Stalingrad. Enemy at the Gates is a splendid US made movie that portrays this powerful Red Army victory. By the way, my grand-father perused the books forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church, notably those written by authors such as Léon Tolstoï.

In 1972, my father Donat embarked on a journey to Moscow to see the historic ice hockey tournament between Canada and USSR. When he returned, the parish priest, Mr. Giguère came and asked him a few questions, especially about the Soviet people’s commitment and belief in God. My father convincingly told the priest that apparently the people believe in something that was greater than them personally. It was the recognition of ordinary citizens, working hard to match the standards of well-being in countries like Canada with exception that everyone would share the benefits.

The following year, my mother visited the Soviet Union. She has fond memories of her stay in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital city, which to this day she recounts vividly.

The Party School

A few years later, in 1979, after I had joined the Communist party of Canada, I was invited to study in the Soviet Union. Initially, I thought that it was not a good idea, preferring to live with my girlfriend in Montréal. But she convinced me to go and for the next seven months, I studied at Moscow’s Institute of Social Studies. It was a renowned school, run by the Communist party. Sometimes a Central Committee member, comrade Zagladine, would visit the school to see if everything was working fine.

We had the cream of the cream of professors and directors at the Institute, also known as the Party School. The Principal was the former Soviet ambassador to France. Our philosophy teacher had been the Soviet ambassador to Unesco in Paris and the others were all either former delegates or diplomats in Canada, Africa and other parts of the world.

But what professors! Sad, because I was not receiving letters from my girlfriend, one of them gave me a few tips to encourage her to write me. Another one, the journalism instructor, helped me plan my week ends, suggesting places I should visit.

Speaking of visits, like ordinary Soviet citizen, I had the opportunity to go to the circus (the old and the new ones), operas, theatres, concerts and movie theatres.

I also had my share of frustrations. I wanted since the beginning of my adventure to learn if people were happy with the socialist system. But, how to do it without speaking Russian? My standard of living in Moscow was lower than in Montréal.

My readers will ask: did you free while studying in Moscow? I will repeat it many times, I felt free to study, read and express myself. I was happy in Moscow, spring was beautiful and the summer, a real treat…

When the rightwing counter-revolution started, everybody saluted the changes, thinking that they were moving in a real progress toward a Western style “democracy”. In the 1990s, I met some Russian trade-unionists on a tour in Montréal; one of them, a middle-aged woman stared at me sadly and repeated: “what did we do? What did we do?” The Soviets lost all the benefits they enjoyed under socialism such as full employment, job security and a wide range of social benefits, she explained.

Now, many former Soviet citizens who immigrated abroad for a better standard of living after the crisis, such as my friend Nikolaï – a welder who works in Montréal’s industrial belt- realize that life was better under socialism.

Nonetheless, the former Soviet Union still has friends and supporters around the world.

My only criticism of the former Soviet Union is that the Communist Party ended the class struggle within the society too early. And speaking of freedom, I will conclude with those words from Karl Marx: “It is not a question whether freedom of the press ought to exist, for it always exists. The question is whether freedom of the press is a privilege of particular individuals or whether it is a privilege of the human mind. The question is whether a right of one side ought to be a wrong for the other side.” (Collected Works, Volume 1, International Publishers, New York, 1976. p. 155).

L'Humanité in English

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DON'T WORRY, THEY STUDY

vol. 2, no. 7, September 2009, $1.00

si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/

NOTA BENE: Tim Pelzer, t.pelzer@shaw.ca, edited this bulletin. You will find at the bottom the link with l'Humanité in English, a selection of the french daily communist newspaper published in Paris.

And I judge, when I am happy
As a young student
That when the sky is darkest
The dawn is near.
(Antonio Guerrero, one of the Cuban Five)

Yes, eventually the students will study to know if a better world is possible. Right now, however, everything seems rather quiet, at least on the surface, in the times past turbulent province of Québec. One of the last demonstrations that took place was at the end of March in the streets of Montréal. According to the newspaper Métro, “hundreds of students, union activists and community organizers took to the streets in downtown Montréal, under the leadership of the Student’s Association, to show their opposition to private sector in public facilities”.

In Mid-April, The Gazette reported that “students at Université du Québec à Montréal will join the faculty in a “silent” march this morning to show continued support for a strike by professors that threatens to extend their winter semester by several weeks”. (Photo: karate course in Paris)

But -- there is a but-- Québec students have not built permanent and strong alliances with English speaking students in other provinces. Such unity could change the face of the Canadian politics. As Young Communist League General Secretary Johan Boyden puts it in the June issue of the People’s Voice: “Student activists have a choice: slide towards advocacy, or fuel up a militant Canada-wide campaign, with allies like labour, people’s forces, and parents –for ultimately our demand is raising living standards of the people as a whole.”

Last May, the half million strong Quebec Federation of Labour called upon the Québec students to participate in May Day events in the province along with the workers and community organizers. For many years, the student movement, such as the former Quebec National Association of Students, had a tradition of encouraging student involvement in May Day activities. After all, would they not be the future working class?

At the 55th Canadian Federation of Students' Convention (CFS) in May, as reported by the People’s Voice, delegates decided that “funding for aboriginal post-secondary education will be a top priority of the [CFS] together with campaigns to combat sky rocketing tuition fees in the upcoming 2009-2010 semester…” The article stressed that a special guest to the meeting came from the United States Student Association. What a beautiful idea!

The People’s Weekly World in June reports that: “The U.S. has already spent over $ 170 billion on the Afghan war to date; tens of billions more are included in the supplemental appropriation, and analysts say total costs could ultimately exceed the recent bailout of Wall St.” The Congressional progressive Caucus has called on President Obama to spend this money instead on education, health care and other social programs.
(Photo: a course of information technology at an union centre in Paris)

A new trend in Québec has emerged apparently. In the past, trade unions never officially supported a political party, at least openly, except the QFL for the socialist NDP previously. Now the province’s Central trade Union, which represents thousands of members working in the education system, decided at their June convention to urge members “to vote for candidates who could defend policies of the organization”.

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CUBA IN OUR HEARTS

Finally, in May, La Vie Réelle in English received a letter from Antonio Guerrero, one of the Cuban Five where he announced that: “Every month new friends write to us from the most distant corners of our planet, expressing their love to our people and its Revolution and their support demanding our freedom […] The International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five has launched an extraordinary campaign to send postcards to President Barack Obama […] If you would like to learn more about this campaign and other important activities for our cause, visit http://www.thecuban5.org/cuban5.org/ .If you want to order postcards, you can write to: info@thecuban5.org .”

(Photo: Demonstration in favour of the Five in the USA)

A few years ago, Antonio also wrote, while incarcerated in USA:

Suddenly one day they lock you up
With nights that only serve silence.
They make you feel sad, betrayed,
Strange, failed, absent.
They take you to a dark and cold place
Where everything is inalienably alien,
Rooms inhabited by hate
In which the air is indifferent.
But you know that one day the kisses will return,
The light will be covered with a sweet effluvium,
The doors will be shut with hips
And the heat will spread its mouth over you being
Pledging to you eternal spring.
Against love of the good, none can succeed.

(Antonio Guerrero, Poemas confidenciales, Letras Cubanas, 29/08/04, p. 16)

L'Humanité in English

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THE FRENCH COMMUNIST PARTY

vol. 2, no. 6, June 2009, $ 1.00

Some young french communists and Daniel Paquet

si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/


NOTA BENE: Tim Pelzer, t.pelzer@shaw.ca edited the bulletin. You will find at the end the link to L'Humanité in English, a selection of the french daily communist newspaper published in Paris. With this issue, we start to publish pictures.

Paris--“With communism waning and Western values suspect, Confucius is making a comeback.” This is the title of an article just published in the European edition of the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune. It is part of the vicious campaign against the French communist party (PCF). The author of this article, Daniel A. Bell, never tells us what are those Confucian values, except to say that they will eventually replace Marxism.

Today it is fashionable to criticize the PCF, from outside or inside the party. Sometimes, the attacks are rooted in the party’s setbacks in recent years, especially in the elections. True, the 200,000 strong party has lost part of its audience. Many intellectuals and petit bourgeois elements have joined the band wagon.

But one must take into account the amelioration of living standards. If you still think that the average Frenchman is wearing his eternal beret with a baguette under his arm, ready to go bowling, you are in the wrong country. Young people here, influenced by the US mass media, are adopting the North-American way of life.

However, working class people I met on various occasions during May Day in Paris demonstrated that the social forces for transformation of the country are still active. More than 1,600,000 people demonstrated in the streets against government policies that favour big business. During a trip I made to a municipality to meet the Communist Mayor, Catherine Margaté, I met five Young Communist League members collecting money to finance their trip to Cuba this summer. They were enthused to hear that Canadian and US Communists are fighting to free the Cuban 5, including my friend Antonio Guerrero.

The economic crisis is visible in this country of Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac and Jules Vallès. Unemployment, AIDS and poverty are a growing problem.

One should not be surprised that progressive elements gathered to form the Front de gauche (the Left Front), with the Gauche Unitaire (ex-trotskyst), Parti de la gauche (former socialist party members), the French communist party and some other movements. The leading figure in Ile de France Region, including Paris, is Patrick Le Hyaric, Director of the communist daily newspaper L’Humanité. This Front, that they are building, could become a permanent feature of French political life after the European elections of June 7th. While the PCF is a member of the Left Front, the party’s membership rejected the idea that the party should be dissolved to be replaced by a nebulous organization within this Front.

The Left Front closely resembles Vancouver’s municipal Committee of Progressive Electors and Québec Solidaire, which consist of diverse political forces.

French communists are still divided on such issues as the role of Stalin in the construction of Soviet Union. In private talks, many will tell you that they feel deeply for the people of the former Soviet Union who have suffered immensely since the return to Capitalism.

On the other hand, few are knowledgeable of other communist party’s policies or programs. For instance, there is a general ignorance about the Communist Party of Canada’s contribution to the national question in relation with French Canadian in Québec, or other topic such as NATO. But there is a willingness to learn, especially among youth. The French Young Communist League is eager to meet young Canadian Communists at an upcoming international meeting of solidarity with Cuban youth this summer. French communists also favour building new links with other communist Parties and organizing joint actions.

While some Canadians and Americans think that the PCF has drifted to the right, they should realize that in France, some people believe that the same thing has happened in North America. They believe that the CPC and CPUSA have withdrawn and become sects. Regular exchanges and discussions are vital to avoid such misunderstandings

Finally, the PCF is very dynamic and its members are involved in various solidarity movements with Algeria, Martinique and Viet Nam. Party members play an important role in French society, especially in the trade union movement. The widely read Communist daily L’Humanité, has English, Russian and Spanish editions. The party even manages to publish the glossy magazine L’Humanité Dimanche.

France is a developed country, wealthy and comparable to Canada and the USA. Like in Canada, the right wing tries to divide workers and the Left. In France, the right strives to weaken and undermine the 200,000 strong PCF and 15,000 strong YCL. As Madeleine and Jean-Jacques, both activist of the party, declared with passion and determination, after a sharp debate during a picnic: “We will never abandon our party, mark our word on it!”

L'Humanité in English

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ENEMY AT THE DOORS

vol. 2, no. 5, May 2009



si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/



NOTA BENE: Special thanks to Tim Pelzer, tpelzer@shaw.ca, for his precious help in editing this newsletter. Furthermore, dear readers, you will find at the end the link to L'Humanité in English which will allow you to read a selection of this french daily newspaper published in Paris.





According to Moldavia’s Central Electoral Commission, the Communist Party led by president Vladimir Voronine won the legislative elections with almost 50% of the vote, reported Associated Press on April 7th. This election took place in one of the 15 former republics of the late Soviet Union. However some refused to accept the election results and demonstrations followed.

Agence France-Presse reported on April 12th that “a large number of those who demonstrated in Chisinau (i.e. the capital city) were activists from the main opposition parties which did not win the elections. The young people, pretty much involved in the first days of the protest were very few […] The Commission approved on Saturday the final results giving 60 of the 101 seats in Parliament to the Communists […] Social difficulties in Moldavia, the poorest European country with a quarter of its population working in Europe or Russia and the lack of work opportunities for youth appear to be the main catalyst of the troubles.”

“Thousands of demonstrators gathered Saturday in Tbilissi for the third consecutive day to protest and call for Georgian president Mikheïl Saakachvili’s resignation […] His detractors, which include many former supporters, accuse Saakachvili of persecuting opponents, silencing the media and not doing enough to reduce poverty.”

As discussed at the Strasbourg meeting in April, western imperialist organizations would like to include Moldavia and Georgia in their efforts to isolate Russia as well as eliminate communist influence in each of these republics. In the case of Moldavia, there is a trend to push it towards the European Union while NATO would be more than delighted to capture Georgia.

At the same time in France, l’Humanité reports, in regards to the situation in the Middle-East, that “the surge in anti-Semitic hate crimes observed in January 2009 is a fact, but it does not mean that “anti-Semitism is back”. It has a specific circumstantial cause: the war in Gaza.” The newspaper explains that “those more hostile to Israel’s policies are often the less anti-Semitic.” It goes further in saying that both communities in France, Jewish and Muslim, should “work together to fight against prejudices and bigotry [and] the inalienable right of these two peoples to have their own land and sovereign State.” Forum Palestine testifies that at the end of January 2009, in Paris alone « 25 000 people (according to the organizers) took the street shouting “Stop the massacres. Sanctions against Israel”, “Gaza, we all stand with you” and “Israel is a murderer”.

What about the future?

Writer William Blum in his Anti-Empire Report, (April 2009) reports that in 1994, Mark Brzezinski (son of Zbigniew), a Fulbright Scholar teaching in Warsaw, wrote: “I asked my students to define democracy. Expecting a discussion on individual liberties and authentically elected institutions, I was surprised to hear my students respond that to them, democracy means a government [with the] obligation to maintain a certain standard of living and to provide health care, education and housing for all. In other words, socialism.”

It is not without irony that we observe that, even Barack Obama has fallen into the anti-communist trap. Let’s bear in mind that before the Organization of the American State’s Summit in April, he said, as mentioned by l’Agence France Presse, that the US would only normalize relations with the Cuban government if it frees all political prisoners and allows Cubans to freely express themselves, travel and attend church. “The U.S. administration has said that Mr. Obama was going to Trinidad and Tobago with the intention to rally the leaders to pressure Cuba.” But not a word about the Cuban 5, including Antonio Guerrero who corresponds with La Vie Réelle on a regular basis. Guerrero has rotted in prison on false charges for the last 10 years, in the United States.

However, this does not mean that all of Barack Obama’s policies are wrong. The People’s Weekly World reports that: “Obama’s budget allocates $ 115 billion next year in federal aid to education, nearly three times more than ex-President George W. Bush’s budget. For health care reform fund, Obama allocates $ 634 billion, and for alternative energy and green jobs, $ 150 billion.”

To conclude, I would like to remind readers what the third president of the USA, Thomas Jefferson once said: “I believe that banks are more dangerous to our liberties than whole armies ready to fight.” This was said in 1802.

L'Humanité in English

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THE PRESIDENT AND THE WORLD

vol. 2, no. 4, April 2009, $ 1.00

si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/


THE PRESIDENT AND THE WORLD

President of the United States of America since January 2009, Barack Obama was born in 1961. He graduated from Columbia University and the Harvard Law Faculty and then was later elected as a Senator from Illinois State, an office he held until November 2008. Recently, he visited Canada.

In 2006, he published his book The Audacity of Hope, advancing his thoughts on reclaiming the American dream. His writings have made the New York Time’s Bestsellers book list. One can understand the curiosity of this author to find this book in Montreal's east end, in the middle of this overwhelmingly French speaking city. The book is in English. (First Vintage Books Edition, Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, July 2008).

In his book, he reflects on decisions taken by past presidents, including Ronald Reagan. “Nevertheless, by promising to side with those who worked hard, obeyed the law, cared for their families, and loved their country, Reagan offered Americans a sense of a common purpose that liberals seemed no longer able to muster. And the more his critics carped, the more those critics played into the role he’d written for them –a band of out-of-touch, tax-and-spend, blame-America-first, politically correct elites.” (p. 39). Considering the necessity to levy huge amounts of money to remain in politics, Obama, notes that Democrats adopt policies keeping them not too far from the center. For instance, he named Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, who “believes in the virtues of capitalism.” (p. 47). He also wrote that “as difficult as the work may seem, I believe we have an obligation to engage in efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East, not only for the benefit of the people of the region, but for the safety and security of our own children as well.” (p. 381).

The whole book is interesting. It is an expose of an honest man, optimistic and ready to comply with necessities. But he is probably a little bit too enthusiastic. For instance, he writes: “Sixty years later, we can see the results of this massive postwar undertaking: a successful outcome to the Cold War, an avoidance of nuclear catastrophe, the effective end of conflict between the world’s great military powers, and an era of unprecedented economic growth at home and abroad.” (p. 337).

We all know today the deep crisis facing the USA and the world… Of course, the counter-revolution in the Soviet Union is not the cause of this recession. The People’s Republic of China is apparently adopting policies that will push the country through this difficult period without loosing too much of its financial capacities.


Mr. Obama is however very lucid on the foreign policies of previous US governments when he sadly recognizes that: “The Cold War techniques of secrecy, snooping, and misinformation, used against foreign governments and foreign populations, became tools of domestic politics, a means to harass critics, build support for questionable policies, or cover up blunders. The very ideals that we had promised to export overseas were being betrayed at home.” (p. 339).


He provides other examples of misguided foreign policy: “Occasionally, U.S. covert operations would engineer the removal of democratically elected leaders in countries like Iran –with seismic repercussions that haunt us to this day.” (p. 338). He goes further in affirming that “…the CIA, the “military-industrial complex,” and international institutions like the World Bank were all manifestations of American arrogance, jingoism, racism, capitalism and imperialism.” Those words could have been pronounced by a communist. For Obama, they were the wrong tools to fight against “godless communism”!

The President also rejects criticism of large corporations, stating: “I couldn’t be persuaded that U.S. multinationals and international terms of trade were single-handedly responsible for poverty around the world…” (p. 341).


The United States of America and the future

“[…] so long as a handful of rogue states are willing to attack other sovereign nations, as Saddam attacked Kuwait in 1991- there will be times when we must again play the role of the world’s reluctant sheriff. This will not change –nor should it.” (p. 362).

He adds: “Indeed, given the depletion of our forces after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we will probably need a somewhat higher budget in the immediate future just to restore readiness and replace equipment.” (pp. 362-363). And, obviously, China is seen as a challenge for the USA. Barack Obama, declares as well, that America values play a determinant role in the world arena. “The United States won the Cold War not simply because it outgunned the Soviet Union but because American values held sway in the court of international public opinion, which included those who lived within communist regimes.” He does not mention that North America did not suffer materially from WWII, and that the reconstruction of Europe gave a tremendous boost to its economy, just speaking in economic terms.

Many people condemn George W. Bush for his preemptive war doctrine. Let us say it bluntly: it was generally condemned. So, what does the President means when he writes: “we can and we should carry out preemptive strikes against [nation, group or individual] wherever we can?” (p. 365). He also stresses the importance of protecting US interests in the world, through military power “–interests in maintaining access to key energy sources, keeping financial markets stable…” (p. 366). In this sense, it is difficult to see a difference between Obama and previous administrations.

Finally, the book expresses the general idea that the world must adapt to the western world’s “language” and “popular culture”. Frankly speaking, it is audacious to impose US mass culture and threaten other cultures and languages. Is it not a democratic conquest for the whole world to be able to reflect on reclaiming the planetary dream?


In conclusion, the book deals also with values, the constitution, politics, opportunity, faith, race and family. It should interest everybody living as good neighbourhoods of the United States and wanting to understand the politics of the ruling elite of that country. After all, Obama could be in office for the next 8 years. The book demonstrates that Obama is neither reactionary nor conservative but that his whole life has been moulded by traditional US institutions that are difficult to break free from. This maybe harsh, but it is a friendly comment!

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___________________________________________________________________

Many thanks to Tim Pelzer, tpelzer@shaw.ca, for editing this bulletin in english.

http://humaniteinenglish.com/

L'Humanité in English

THE POLITICS OF CAPITALISM: DEADLOCK

vol. 2, no. 3, March 2009, $ 1.00

si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS to Tim Pelzer, tpelzer@shaw.ca, for his precious help in correcting this bulletin from a somehow written in english draft copy into a presentable publication. Tim, living in Vancouver (Canada), is also correspondent for People's Voice and People's Weekly World (USA).

How come more and more analysts turn to socialist ideas? “As Engels wrote, Marx told him on more than one occasion later that it was his study of the law on thefts of wood and of the condition of the Mosel peasant that prompted him to turn from pure politics to the study of economic relations and, thus, to socialism"(Collected Works, Karl Marx-Frederick Engels, volume 1, International Publishers, New York, 1976, Preface, p. XXX).

In Canada, the coalition opposed itself to the Conservatives until they introduced their new budget in January 2009. As the Communist party declared: “The Liberals under their new leader Michael Ignatieff have decided to support the budget, hoping to regain their position as the ‘favoured party’ of big capital. This decision finishes the Liberal-NDP coalition which millions of working people had hoped would defeat the most reactionary, pro-business, militaristic, sell-out government in Canadian history.”

The Québec Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN) criticized the new budget in the January 29th issue of Webdo Info because it does not include: a “change of direction towards a green economy, greater access to unemployment insurance; income protection for aging workers, fair equalisations’ payments for Québec; pay equity for women and free collective bargaining rights for public servants.”

The situation is even more critical when one looks at a recent study done by researchers at the University of Montréal revealing that 14 per cent of Canadian children live in chronic poverty. “Childhood poverty has been linked to more hospitalization and illness […] Other studies have shown consequences of childhood poverty in adults, who are also more at risk for chronic ills, from diabetes, to cardiovascular disease and dementia,” according to the study, reported in The Gazette of January 20th 2009.

Nevertheless, The Gazette concluded in an editorial at the beginning of December 2008 that “the proper way to choose a government for Canada is at the ballot box, not by cabal and closed-door deal. Yes we’re all tired of elections, and yes Harper brought this on himself.” The pro-big business Conservatives supported by the Montréal newspaper wanted to remain in office.

By January, the editorial board of this publication also started to temper public expectations after the election of Barack Obama. “Certainly, Obama’s accomplishments will not live up to the most optimistic of the expectations that are so sky-high in this country, and around the world.”

In contrast, the CSN’s Métro Montreal Central Council magazine Unité observed that “the election of Barack Obama to the American presidency […] shows that the power for changes is rooted in the strength of ideas supported by progressive people and the actions they take to enlarge the number of those who are soon going to believe in them.”

Crisis or no crisis

At the same time, The Gazette wrote that Bloc Québecois leader Gilles Duceppe and Parti Québecois leader Pauline Marois met and affirmed that, “despite a period of economic turmoil in which Quebecers are mostly concerned about bread-and-butter issues, cranking up the sovereignty machine now makes sense because they can show how much better off Quebec would be in a recession if it was not part of Canada…”

However, French Canadians are not gullible so much so as they think. At the same time, Gilles Duceppe had started a war of words with English speaking Canada. The majority of French Canadians do not stand for the separation from Canada. Quebec is a diverse province where opposites live together: rich people, workers, English speakers, and so on. Gilles Duceppe, who claimed in the past to be Marxist, should read what Lenin said: “We could not be, I think, more explicit: Marxists borrowed surely from Marx methods without which it is impossible to understand social relations: thus, their appreciation of these relations is not based on abstract schemes and other absurdities, but on the strict conformity with the reality.” (Works, Volume 1, Editions sociales, Paris, p. 211).

The 5 of Cuba

La Vie Réelle in English receives regularly news from Antonio Guerrero Rodriguez, one of the 5 of Cuba jailed in the USA under the alleged accusations of spying. Antonio is a poet. His poetry moves his readers and soothes our hearts and souls. In his letter of January 19, 2009, he claimed: “Let us sow peace for all times for all parts of the Earth, for the rivers and the seas for all love that join us. Let us come together to make a better world, pregnant with light… like the spring.” He added: “On behalf of the 5, I wish you, your family and friends peace, love and happiness today and forever.”


“Invitacion a la paz

A todos: ninos, hombres y mujeres
A lo ancho y a lo largo del planeta
Hago una invitacion, un grand llamado :
Por igual repartamos las riquezas!

To all men, women and children
Throughout the whole of the world
I make an invitation, a heartfelt call:
Let us share the wealth equally!”

As he underlined, “it is nice to hear that my poems touched you deeply. It means they are useful. They can give hope, joy and peace and, of course, love.”

Hoping to hear from you soon, Antonio!

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DIANA AND FRANK

vol. 2, no. 2, February 2009, $1.00


si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/

It may sound indecent to talk about something like love between a young Lebanese woman and an elderly Jewish man. But it is not something gross. It is in fact the virtual -in time- common passion by two human beings for understanding and peace as an upshot of deep and mutual respect.

I have known the young woman – Diana- in a coffee shop where she was acting as a supervisor and waitress for a well-known restaurant, outlet of a Canadian chain store. It was in the 2000s. She was keen and very curious to learn restlessly about just everything: the world; on one hand, the Middle East in general, on her motherland in particular; on the other hand, Venezuela (especially on Chavez that she heard of) and finally Cuba. We became acquainted and gradually I spoke to her with the words of a dear and passed away communist comrade whose name was Frank. He is this old man.

Frank came to Canada in 1921 from Poland. He was a garment worker and proud of it. He dedicated his life up to the last moment, sick and with a crippling age (I knew him in his 80s), to the cause of the working class of Canada and of Québec. Though he never learned French language, - the ups and downs of a hectic life of struggles hindered him to do so -, he was always amongst the firsts to attend meetings in Montréal of the communist party to support the right of Québec to self-determination up and including secession.

Once, he came to the bookstore of the communist party downtown of Montréal, looking for a car driver to help him in his weekly “run” to sale communist literature –from Poland, New York, Israel and Soviet Union- in the Jewish neighbourhoods of the metropolis. The author of these lines volunteered with his poor knowledge of the Jewish reality, himself born and educated in Québec City amidst a total French-Canadian society.

Prior to the beginning of this new adventure, Frank would lead: “turn right, turn left, go straight, stop here or there, etc.” After a few weeks, everything ran smoothly. Frank happily and smiling would call his partner: “good horse, you’re a good horse!”

One fine morning, he inquired: “what do you do, sonny, on Saturday evenings, before coming here on Sunday mornings?” - I have a couple or more of honest beer. I chuckled.
- Do you eat then?
- No, I’m not that hungry.
The Sunday soon after, he invited me to his house. His wife was there and she invited me right away to the kitchen: “So you’re Frank’s friend… Now, let’s eat." I ate more than enough and I called for “surrender”.
- Don’t be stingy, eat more, you’re young, young men must eat if they want to get stronger. Try this struddle, I made it especially for you.”

Frank poked his nose in the kitchen: “Yo, she made everything for you; you know old folks like us don’t eat much."

And for the week-ends to come, I started to enjoy typical Jewish goodies. I was no more hungerik and durshtik.

Diana

At least 25 years later, Diana was in her twenties, I sat at her place of work, with a pain in the stomach. She came to the table: “you don’t order anything today, Daniel?” - Oh no, ask my friends, as for me, I don’t feel too well." After a short while, she brought me herbal tea: “it’s mint, it is good for the stomach. It is on the house.”

But most of the time, since I was in a good shape, I told her when she was free what Frank taught me about Israel and Zionism: “you see it is poison, an ideology of domination whose aim is to destroy the Arabic people of Palestine. We must support this people in its struggle for a State in Palestine, in the Gaza Strip and the West Banks with the beautiful city of East Jerusalem as the capital. Naturally the dispossessed must be repaid. You see at least 10 millions Palestinians live abroad, almost five to six times more than those actually living in the territories.”

Furthermore, the State of Israel cannot speak on behalf of the whole of the Jewish people. It never spoke on behalf of Frank Goldman. Frank’s engagement was to the working people of Québec. One of the last days that I saw him; although he was very sick, he put his back over the sink in the kitchen and raised his body; he looked at me and declared: “you get this Daniel, the French-Canadian workers are a very good people, too good perhaps, but untidy. The day that they will act like one fist and better organized, they will conquer heaven, mark my words. ”

As for one, Karl Marx said in his time: “The working classes will have learned by experience that no lasting benefit whatever can be obtained for them by others, but that they must obtain it themselves by conquering, first of all, political power.” (Collected Works, Volume 10, International Publishers, New York, 1978, p. 275).

Frank Goldman, eyes open to the whole world is no more; Diana, blossoming, of different descendants, can bring this message to the young Arabs of the Middle East: “there in Canada, a middle-age French-Canadian communist told me about an old Jewish worker who cherished peace and loved all people until his last breath.” And he was not alone; in January 2009 only, many thousands from all corners of the world, Canada included, protested against the war the leadership of the Hebrew State wages against the people of Palestine living in Gaza; by the way 80 percent of its inhabitants are already refugees despoiled of territories during previous conquests conducted against them by the same Zionist invaders…

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