A message to Richard Trumka from casino workers…

I should have just told Richard Trumka to take all the new jobs in the hospitality industry he boasts that Democrats created to take them and shove them up his ass..

 

Alan L. Maki

If this was the Chinese government treating working people this way Richard Trumka would be screaming bloody murder... but, here in our own country where the Wall Street financed Democratic Party he supports created this mess for two-million casino workers just as they wage these dirty wars and deny the American people the right to a national public health care system and public child care, Trumka remains completely silent in the face of this massive injustice.
Casino workers are thoroughly fed up with Richard Trumka's and his Democratic Party's hypocrisy.
These mobsters who operate and manage the Indian Gaming Industry have bank-rolled Barack Obama's campaign to the tune of millions upon millions of dollars which has purchased silence surrounding the "Compacts" these same mobsters bribed politicians to get in the first place... "Compacts" intentionally designed by the Democrats intended to deny working people their rights and assure the bosses greater profits through poverty wages and unsafe an unhealthy working environments.
Let Richard Trumka go work in these smoke-filled casinos and see what great jobs are like that have been created by the Democrats in the "hospitality industry."
Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

Alan L. Maki

I have had a large number of private message responses to this post... I guess a lot of people do not feel comfortable addressing this issue publicly... let me provide everyone with what my combined responses amount to:
I have met with the p...residents and staff of the Minnesota AFL-CIO and John Sweeney when he was AFL-CIO President along with Andy Stern when he was head of national organizing for the AFL-CIO. All meetings took place at THEIR requests and they refused all assistance.
Further, the United Steelworker's national head of organizing threatened me if we didn't discontinue our organizing and stop the attacks on the Democrats and one of the top officers of the IAM sent me the most disgustingly racist letter imaginable... which I turned over to Jody Beaulieu, the archivist for the Red Lake Nation.
The AFL-CIO refuses to take a stand on any of this. In fact, several locals around Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan were warned by Trumka not to even allow me to speak at their union meetings.
On top of this we had three casino operations here in Minnesota ready to bargain with us--- Red Lake Gaming Enterprises, Fortune Bay Casino and Resort and Shooting Star Casino; both the Teamsters and SEIU moved in and told managements, "Don't bargain with those commies, we will give you a better deal."
On top of this, the AFL-CIO agreed to sweetheart deals (still maintained by both the AFL-CIO and CTW) that enables building trades unions' members jobs in casino construction where union members would get jobs working on these casinos as long as there would be:
1.) no signed contracts,
2.) no business managers allowed on the construction sites; and
3.) no attempts made to organize casino workers.
The Indian Gaming Industry is one web of corruption from beginning to end that the Democratic Party and the AFL-CIO along with Change To Win is mired in up to there noses and they are going to suffocate themselves in their own shit.
Mark Dayton got a good taste of the way we are going to be operating when we forced him to agree to take up our concerns and agree to the idea of building state-owned/state-managed casinos to compete with the Indian Gaming Industry. Dayton had to come begging to us for our support in order to win the Primary Election. Without our support Mark Dayton would not have won his very narrow Primary victory. Other politicians beware! We sunk the aspirations of Valorie Solem, Mike Hatch and Tom Bakk and we are going to continue our very unique organizing campaign exposing this corruption between the labor fakers, the politicians and organized crime which profits from these casino operations in the Indian Gaming Industry.
By the way... it was our efforts that forced Mark Dayton to take a public stand to declare that he would enforce affirmative action in Minnesota which is opposed by the Republicans and not being enforced pursuant to federal Executive Order #11246 by Obama and his Administration.
Our Organizing Committees and our Organizing Councils are very proud to be in the forefront of organized labor in taking firm stands on a number of very important issues on which if our voice was not being heard liberals, progressives and the left would have no voice at all because they have been too bamboozled by these crooked politicians and labor fakers who care more about their campaign contributions from the Indian Gaming Associations than they do about the rights and standard of living of working people across the board.
There is nothing difficult to understand that when there are two-million casino/hotel/restaurant/theme park/hospitality workers employed under these most despicable, unsafe and unhealthy working conditions at poverty wages and without any rights; these workers will be used as a club over the heads of all workers in this country as surely as any policeman's billy-club.
I further point out that the former President of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, Ray Waldron, upon inviting me to come talk to him in his office told me:
"I'm not going to let a bunch of Reds take over our state fed. Not a bunch of Indians. Not a bunch of Communists."
Racism and red-baiting truly is the refuge for all those scheming to deprive working people of a voice at work, their rights and livelihoods... one expects this from the bosses but not from those who claim to "lead" the labor movement.
Feel free to share my response with ANYONE.
Thanks for your concern---
Yours in solidarity and struggle,
Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

A new party is needed; what kind?

Alan L. Maki

I agree we need another party in this country... a political party that will advance the agenda of the historic liberal/progressive/left coalition that needs to be consolidated and strengthened right now around solving the problems of working people and the number one problem for working people is these wars which are killing our jobs just like they kill people while impoverishing us as people and a nation by robbing us of the resources we need for things like a national public health care system and a national public childcare system.

I'm not a fan of Dennis Kucinich... he is exploring possibilities of running with Ron Paul who is nothing but a racist bigot and John Bircher. Kucinich demonstrated to me, anyways, that he doesn't have the stamina to stand up under pressure when he caved to Obama on healthcare reform.

I voted for Cynthia McKinney and seeing how Obama has turned out I am glad I did.

Personally, I would like to see a 2012 slate of Cynthia McKinney and Cindy Sheehan... but whoever liberals, progressives and the left choose to run will be fine with me just so the candidates are going to stand up for peace.

As far as what kind of alternative party I think we need... I think liberals, progressives and the left would do well looking at the Canadian New Democratic Party as an example to follow--- a labor-based peoples' party. The best party working people in this country have ever had was the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party which elected two Socialist governors and Communist to Congress--- liberals, progressives and the left working together to solve the problems of working people is what I would like to see.

Tell Mark Dayton to defend democracy. We need some political courage. No more backing down to the Obama crowd.

Alan L. Maki It would be nice to see Mark Dayton speak out against these raids on peace activists and the subpoenas they received for this Grand Jury inquisition and for an end to the Minnesota "Red Squads" that are thwarting the right of people to participate in the political process in a way enabling them to solve their problems.... Other than this, tax the hell out of the rich; build a state-owned, state-operated and state-managed casino where workers can work in a safe and healthy smoke-free environment with real living wages as public employees and with all the rights and protections afforded workers under all state and federal labor laws; and the strict enforcement of affirmative action--- great program that should bring together the historic coalition of liberals, progressives and the left for which Minnesota is so well known.

Questions for Joe Biden… write them on your signs

Give Joe Biden the Welcome to Minnesota he deserves befitting a member of the Obama Administration that wages wars against innocent people then raids the homes of peace activists and serves them with subpoenas to appear at a secret Grand Jury inquisition:

 

Rally for a Better Minnesota

Time

Tuesday, October 5 · 9:00am - 11:30am

---

Location
Macalester College (Leonard Center Field House)

1600 Grand Ave

Saint Paul, MN

 

Alan L. Maki Hopefully someone will be asking Biden about the raids and subpoenas for this Grand Jury inquisition... it would be good to hear Mark Dayton speak out vigorously against these raids on peace activists and for abolishing the Minnesota "Red Squads" which conducted these raids.

Since when is peace a crime, and perpetrating wars acceptable?

Joe Biden's attack on progressives makes me sick.

I'm bringing a sign that asks:

How is Obama's war economy working for you?

Here in Minnesota these wars are making us poor; so poor social programs are being cut and public workers are under attack.

The other side of my sign will state:

Obama's wars kill jobs just like people.

 

You might want to join me by making signs that say:

 

Obama’s wars make us poor.

Money for jobs, not for war.

National Public Health Care, NOW!

Money for education, not for wars!

Tax the hell out of the rich.

Enforce affirmative action; EO #11246.

Hey, Joe Biden, you attack PROGRESSIVES and PEACE ACTIVISTS then you come to Minnesota looking for your votes.

We have the same message for you that Rahm gave us…

Will Biden campaigning for Dayton here in Minnesota harm Dayton’s chance to be elected Governor?

Alan L. Maki I hope Mark Dayton's chance to be elected is not going to be harmed by Biden's appearance here seeing as how he and Obama are slipping in the polls. This could be a huge mistake bringing Biden in to campaign for Mark Dayton who is a liberal with some progressive and left ideas... all ideas which have been attacked by Obama and Biden recently... along with peace makers.

Why no sense of urgency from liberals? Why hasn’t the Democratic Party endorsed the October 2 One Nation Working Together march and rally? Isn’t this kind of strange since they are manipulating and controlling this march and rally through Democratic Party National Convention CEO Leah Daughtry being placed in charge?

Alan L. Maki

I don't suggest I have the answer to your question. I have just kind of taken the position that I move on looking for other people who will do something in their communities, where they go to school and where they work.

Liberalism is probably the dominant ideology in the United States and Canada and I don't really see it as any kind of threat or obstacle to movement building. The liberals are usually on our side when it comes to problems; they share our concerns but it just takes them a while to agree to act with the left through progressive movements for social change.

I think these "leftists" you refer to probably fall more under the heading of "liberals" since liberals take quite a while to come to the realization they have to actually do something... that is kind of what distinguishes liberal from leftist; leftist try to do something about what liberals are still thinking is unjust but are holding off on action.

I have a lot of patience with liberals because I know at some point they are going to be joining with the left which will result in a massive progressive coalition for real social change.

Probably the more activists we recruit to the left is what will determine how quickly liberals come into action.

I have noticed though that many of the liberals you are talking about seem unusually "patient" in encouraging people suffering problems requiring urgent attention like saving their homes from foreclosure, figuring out where their next meal will come from and all the other problems resulting from poverty.

In my opinion those you refer to with this "progressive image life-style" have been far too patient with Barack Obama and the Democrats which is delaying the kind of urgent action required that it will take to solve a lot of very pressing problems... I guess it is just easier to be patient with the problems of other people.

Before you brought up George Lakoff's book, "Don't Think of an Elephant!"... thousands of people are, and have, read this book... in my opinion this book has become kind of the "Bible" for liberals pretending to be leftists and progressives because Lakoff teaches how to properly frame issues based upon concern and caring and then tells people real and specific solutions to problems should never be advocated... there are lots of other books that have been take-offs from Lakoff's ideas... you can find this kind of thinking very popular with any of the organizations funded by The Century Foundation... most notable is the Campaign for America's Future with the book by Robert Borosage and Roger Hickey "The Next Agenda." John Sweeney's book, "America Needs A Raise" fits into this category very well, too.

We are going to witness this "clash" between liberals, progressives and the left in the upcoming October 2 One Nation Working Together march and rally which the Democrats want to be a model of George Lakoff's thinking about framing issues properly just don't bring forward specific solutions like, don't suggest that "war makes us all poor" or ask questions like: "How is Obama's war economy working for you?"

I have found it very interesting how viciously the organizers of this march and rally attacked what I wrote in a letter to the editor published in "Labor World" where I suggested the way to put people to work was ending these dirty wars and using the money for building a national public health care system proving free health care for people while creating around ten million new jobs... apparently my suggestion was along the line of being too "specific" according to George Lakoff's theory and too radical for Leah Daughtry who has been placed in charge of the organizing of Oct 2 events by the heads of the AFL-CIO and the NAACP... Leah Daughtry is a classic example of what you describe; she was the CEO of the Democratic National Convention... now, I don't know if you and others have noticed but the Democratic Party wants to use this march and rally to mobilize (actually control and manipulate) working people who participate in this march and rally to become active in electing Democrats who have done nothing but hurt working people the last two years... and what I find most interesting is the Democratic Party isn't even among the endorsers of this event!!!!!!!!!

We on the left have a great opportunity in changing the character of this event from what the "progressive-image 'lifestyle'" Obama crowd have in mind.
I hope more people start asking the questions I have asked; especially how it is the Democratic Party wants to use working people involved in Oct 2 towards its ends of electing mostly Dumb Donkeys but won't even go on record as an endorser of this march and rally because even as vague as the "demands" are they are too specific for the Obama crowd.

What Obama could do but doesn’t…

 

Alan L. Maki This was posted as a comment by someone else on FaceBook... I think it is an excellent point about what Obama could do if he wanted to:

• Alan L. Maki

  Some people say that Obama WANTS to do the right thing, but those nasty Republicans in the House and Senate keep blocking him. Let me tell you ONE thing Obama could do that they COULD NOT block: Go on the radio and TV and EDUCATE the voters.... He could explain to them why there is NO need to do ANYTHING about Social Security this year. (just to cite one small example). He could do a Power Point presentation showing the projections that have been made and the assumptions on which those projections are based. But does he do that? No. He leads the public to believe that SOMETHING must be done, RIGHT AWAY, and thereby leaves the door open for Republicans to cripple or destroy Social Security -- while Democrats weep and moan and drag their heels, but EVENTUALLY (with a sigh) vote for a "compromise" that weakens Social Security but does not IMMEDIATELY destroy it entirely.

Vote for Mark Dayton for Governor… vote early

It would be nice to see Mark Dayton speak out against these raids on peace activists and the subpoenas they received for this Grand Jury inquisition and for an end to the Minnesota "Red Squads" that are thwarting the right of people to participate in the political process in a way enabling them to solve their problems. Other than this, tax the hell out of the rich; build a state-owned, state-operated and state-managed casino where workers can work in a safe and healthy smoke-free environment with real living wages as public employees and with all the rights and protections afforded workers under all state and federal labor laws; and the strict enforcement of affirmative action--- great program that should bring together the historic coalition of liberals, progressives and the left for which Minnesota is so well known.

An important observation and suggestion…

"I've got an opponent who believes that government should do nothing at all... Well if you don't believe in government, then don't try to run it."

 
Mark Dayton
Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party candidate for governor

I loathe Republicans… but---

I loathe the Republicans but they don't scare me; neither will calls pandering to fear scare or intimidate me into voting for worthless Democrats who are no better than Republicans.

I keep getting asked: Who are you voting for?

Here in Minnesota I will be voting for Democrat Mark Dayton for Governor and I will be voting early. I only wish I could vote often like they do in Chicago :)

I will vote for Mark Dayton but for no other candidates in this Election.

I will vote for Mark Dayton because he has stated... he will not attack public employees and use them as scapegoats for Minnesota's financial problems created by those representing the well-heeled and wealthy few of the Summit Hill Club who created the mess we are in.

Mark Dayton has brought forward into the political arena a real solution to this financial and economic mess we are in: Tax the rich. This makes perfectly good sense to tax those who made huge profits while creating this economic mess. "Tax the rich" is the primary way for us to begin the redistribution of wealth in our state as we defend and protect out social programs so many people require to survive.

I will vote for Mark Dayton for Governor of Minnesota because he has stood up and called for the creation of a state-owned and managed casino industry to compete with the thoroughly crooked and corrupt Indian Gaming Industry where over 40,000 Minnesotans are now forced to work in these loud, noisy, smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages without any rights under state or federal labor laws as the non-Indian owners of the slot machines run off with the wealth leaving the Native American people to languish in shameful poverty without one single representative in the Minnesota State House or Senate even though the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association spends tens of millions of dollars bribing politicians to maintain the injustices of this status quo.

More than anything I respect Mark Dayton's stand for equality for all peoples and the stand he has taken in defense of the strict enforcement of affirmatve action which will break the back of institutionalized racism in Minnesota once and for all.

Mark Dayton won a narrow primary victory over a run-of-the-mill big-business supported Democrat who was no different than any Republican, and he is in a tough race against two very pathetic politicians pandering to bigotry and fear using lies and deceit rather than any meaningful approach that includes real solutions to our many problems.

I would encourage every voter in Minnesota to take the time to listen to this brief speech Mark Dayton made before the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party's State Central Committee:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlipIaVskPc

I will not be voting for any other candidates--- Democrats or Republicans; I would never vote Republican unless Abe Lincoln were to rise from the grave. I will not vote for any of the other Democrats who will be on my ballot because they are no better than their Republican counterparts when it comes to solving the problems working people are experiencing--- in fact, they are part of our problem.

The one thing I would hope to see from Mark Dayton which he has remained silent on, is that he stands up and speaks out loudly and clearly in defense of democracy against these horrible raids and the issuance of subpoenas to peace activists ordering that they appear at a Grand Jury inquisition to answer questions one would expect from goose-stepping quislings of some two-bit, half-assed fascist dictatorship because our democracy is very fragile as it is after years of Palenty and Bush--- our democracy likely cannot survive being plunged into another era of McCarthyism.

Hopefully, Mark Dayton will be calling for the disbanding of the "Red Squads" in Minnesota which are destroying our most basic and fundamental human and constitutional rights by infiltrating organizations in order to thwart citizen participation in the democratic process that is basic and fundamental to democracy.

As for all of you pushing people to vote without thinking, here is something to consider:

If I were to vote for Democrat Colin Peterson for Congress I would be voting for a candidate more reactionary than any Republican because these are Colin Peterson's own words to the media:

"I am more conservative than any Republican."

The AFL-CIO has abandoned young workers employed in the Indian Gaming Industry so the Democratic Party can continue to reap huge campaign contributions from these casino managements

Alan L. Maki

Over two-million Americans, mostly young workers, are employed in the more than 350 loud, noisy, smoke-filled casinos of the Indian Gaming Industry strung out across this country where they are employed without any voice at work and without... any protections under state or federal labor laws compliments of the "Compacts" created by the Democrats in order to boost the profits at the expense of labor for the thoroughly crooked and corrupt violent mobsters who manage and operate these casinos using the Indian Nations as their "fronts."

Isn't it time that the AFL-CIO advise all working people to stop patronizing these casinos and spend a little money helping casino workers organize?
How many young workers including so many young women of child-bearing age, are going to experience heart and lung problems and cancers as a result of their first experiences in the working world before the AFL-CIO speaks up?

Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

A discussion crossing the U.S.-Canada border…

I will keep adding to this blog posting as the discussion continues:

Alan L. Maki This will be an election that everyone in North America will want to watch as the New Democratic Party in Manitoba, probably the best working class political party in North America, struggles against the huge corporations, big agri-business, the mining, forestry, banking and telecommunication industries to maintain pow...er:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/09/21/mb-conservatives-ndp-poll-manitoba.html#socialcomments
There is just over a year to go. United States government agencies and U.S. big-businesses have been trying for years to defeat the NDP.
This will be a campaign of the working people of Manitoba vs domestic and foreign capital. A lot is at stake.
Here is the Manitoba New Democratic Party web site:
http://www.mb.ndp.ca/

CBC News - Manitoba - NDP loses popularity in Manitoba: poll
www.cbc.ca
Manitoba's governing NDP is in danger of losing its grip on power in the province.

Wednesday at 2:07am ·

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  Harvey Smith and Susan Trevelyan-Syke like this.
  
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    Rita Burns Unfortunately, Canada is entering a period of conservatism. Not good for any country. At least, when you get tired of them, you can throw them out. We're stuck with them until the end of term.
    Wednesday at 2:10am ·
    
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    Susan Trevelyan-Syke I understand the Conservatives are taking orders from Likud.
    Wednesday at 2:39am ·
    
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    Alan L. Maki
    We shall see, Rita; I think you might be wrong. I tend to think we are witnessing in Canada the "quiet before the storm."
    I think the push will be to tax the hell out of the rich and the corporations--- especially the U.S. and other foreign... corporations that have been robbing Canada blind.
    I also think the Manitoba New Democratic Party is going to hold on to power and give the Conservatives the good whooping they so justly deserve--- again.
    The Manitoba New Democratic Party has two very important things going for it that no other political party in North America can claim--- openness and honesty in government.
    I have traveled very extensively in Canada and the one thing I noticed everyplace I went meeting with working people is that they are pretty fed up with capitalism and foreign corporations stealing the country's wealth.
    Among working people, the dominant ideological trend is in opposition to capitalism and in support of socialism.
    The Canadian Labour Congress is among the most forward thinking labour bodies in the world and the New Democratic Party is the party of organized labour.
    Richard Trumka and the leaders of organized labor here would do well to study what is taking place in Canadian labour... forget about Obama and the Democrats and put their resources into starting a labor-based peoples' party like the New Democratic Party.
    As the election draws near voters in Manitoba are going to start thinking about the corruption they got with the Conservative government of Gary Filmon and all the cuts made to social programs along with the privatization of the provincially owned and operated telephone company and the way the Conservatives ended the elementary school dental program that provided every school child with free dental care... courtesy of Howard Pawley's NDP government--- which by the way brought into existence the provincially owned and operated auto insurance company--- AutoPac which the Conservatives want to privative along with Manitoba Hydro.
    Wednesday at 2:48am ·
    
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    Judith Mongrain Manitoba needs to remember what they got with conservatives last time they were in power.
    Wednesday at 5:57am ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth oh my god, alan, i don't even know where to begin in responding to that...the NDP a "labour-based people's party", the CLC "among the most forward thinking labour bodies in the world"...wow...
    Wednesday at 7:26am ·
    
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    Judith Mongrain I guess it's all in where you come from John. In America they have so little in the way of socially progressive groups, workers' rights and no appreciable social safety net; so the NDP and CLC look like nirvana, even though in Canada, many of us feel we have a long way to go...it's not half the trip America has!
    Wednesday at 7:33am ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth
    This are some pretty big myths about Canada than span much of the American left. Some differences with regards to health care aside, what we are is a region within the centre of Empire. You should know that the NDP and Canadian electoralists of the "left" love the Obama Administration. Obama's campaign director spoke at the federal NDP's past convention. And the record of the actually existing NDP governments (across B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia at different points in time) was pretty mixed at best for working class people. (That really is giving too much credit.) No, these groups are pro-capitalist, tend to tow the state line on matters of "high politics", and are not even particularly "social democratic" (except occasionally in rhetoric). They are also profoundly hypocritical. Basically, the CLC and NDP have a relationship that matches that of the AFL-CIO and the Democratic Party.See More
    Wednesday at 7:57am ·
    
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    Max Monclair I agree with John. If we look at the NDP of the 60s as a model for a labor party in the US, we might have something. However, today's NDP looks more like Britain's "New Labor". In that case, you may as well be voting for the Liberal Party or the BQ.
    Wednesday at 8:28am ·
    
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    Rita Burns I hope you are right, Alan. I have always considered Canada left of the US. We wanted to move there in the 90's, went to Idaho instead. Wish we would have done Canada. At least we would have health care now.
    Wednesday at 8:36am ·
    
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    John Charles Wilson I've heard that Canada wasn't really left of the U.S. until U.S. draft dodgers moved there during Vietnam... of course I was told that by someone who thought it was a *bad* thing so he could've been biased.
    Wednesday at 9:41am ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth The right-wing in Canadian society and political culture is very similar ideologically and programatically to the right-wing in the U.S., including in relative size, weight and role. For example, we've long had our equivalent of tea-baggers up here. When down there they were called Free Republic, up here they were called Free Dominion.
    Wednesday at 9:52am ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth ‎(I should add, many of these myths about Canada are shared by the (state-loving) Canadian "left".)
    Wednesday at 9:53am ·
    
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    Alan L. Maki
    I stand by my comments about both the Manitoba NDP and the CLC. I think the most important thing to note about the Manitoba NDP and the CLC is that they are are very important in keeping Canada from moving further to the right as they push ...a pro-labour agenda forward.
    Another important point is that everyone has a right to put forward their ideas within both the Manitoba NDP and the CLC.
    Could, or should, either be pushed further left? That is up to the grassroots and the rank-and-file.
    I would challenge anyone to to name any government in the world which is more honest, and more open to citizen participation than the Manitoba New Democratic Party led government--- bar none.
    And, by the way... it is fairly easy and simple for any other party to attain ballot status in Manitoba.
    Make no mistake, I don't hold the Manitoba NDP led government up as a "lesser evil." The NDP led government is simply a very good and decent government.
    I sincerely doubt whether better public education or health care can be found anyplace in the world. With this said, yes, there are many problems... most of which are the result of foreign corporations stealing the province blind and the Progressive Conservative Party in Manitoba is the voice of foreign capital while most of the Liberals represent domestic capital and a number of foreign corporations--- however, even among the Liberal Party in Manitoba are to be found some very honest and competent politicians--- although these honest Liberals are few and far between.
    Poverty and racism are two very big problems in Manitoba--- however, what I would note that is of utmost importance is that the New Democratic Party led Manitoba government is not an obstacle to solving either problem but a force for change for the better.
    Has there been a socialist revolution in Manitoba? Of course not... anyone who thinks they have the answer to leading a socialist revolution, I would encourage them to have at it.
    I would note this: Manitoba has had the longest serving Communist Party elected public officials of any other country from time-to-time... most notably Jacob Penner and Joe Zuken. I have found nothing but respect towards both men, now dead, from anyone in the NDP.
    I am sure that as the Communist Party of Canada-Manitoba section gets more deeply involved in the political life of Manitoba we will see even greater things to come in this province.
    Quite frankly, it is my opinion, that one of the reasons Manitoba politics is so much further advanced than in other parts of Canada or in most countries is because the working class left, in spite of many differences of opinion with in it, has found ways to work together on many issues and this is most likely the very best lesson we can all learn from Manitoba politics. This is why I have posted this particular article about this poll... to hopefully encourage everyone to watch and learn as the Manitoba NDP struggles to maintain its very important position of influence and power.
    Yes, John; consider me a "state-loving member of the left." When you create a stateless society someplace in Ontario, let me know so I can avoid it when I cross the border from time-to-time. Perhaps you can explain how an "anti-statist" would approach the electoral arena :)
    My assessment of both the Manitoba NDP and the CLC is based upon ten years living in Manitoba... just so everyone understands my biases, I should declare that a great deal of my negative assessment of both the Progressive Conservative Party and the Liberal Party has a great deal to do with their dirty deeds to deport me... but, in stating this, I found many, many decent people who consider themselves Progressive Conservatives and Liberals... but, here again, I attribute this to the way the NDP "rubs off on people."
    Again, I would challenge anyone to come to my "Wall" here and voice any concerns or comments about what I have stated.
    I would encourage everyone to explore the ideas of the three "giants" of the Canadian left whose thinking has contributed to the success of the left in Manitoba:
    Tommy Douglas who led the NDP.
    Tim Buck, who led the Communist Party of Canada.
    Dr. Norman Bethune who was a true internationalist and humanitarian; a member of the Communist Party of Canada.
    There is a great movie produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation about the life and times of Tommy Douglas: Prairie Giant, The Tommy Douglas Story.
    No matter what anyone's personal political beliefs, all three of these left-wing leaders remain beloved and respected by the Canadian people.
    Manitoba is probably one of the left-wing's best kept secrets... shouldn't we be interested in discussing what is going on there? e might just all learn a little something... including an appreciation for how people on the left with some slightly different ideas can actually get along in a way where accomplishments of benefit to working people can be had.
    I do have a question for the critics of the New Democratic Party and the Canadian Labour Congress: What should they be doing that they aren't doing? Consider this an open invitation to one and all.
    Wednesday at 3:49pm ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth
    I think that we need to begin with an honest assessment, which I think is sorely lacking on your end, Alan. You can try and paint Gary Doer (former Manitoba NDP premier who is now Conservative PM Stephen Harper's Canadian ambassador to the ...USA) as Tommy Douglas all you want, or pretend that the relationship between the CLC and the NDP is somehow different than that between the AFL-CIO and the Democrats/Obama, but I'm calling you out as profoundly wrong and possibly a little deluded here.
    I have a lot more to share about the Manitoba NDP and the Manitoba Federation of Labour (MFL - a provincial affiliate of the CLC), and how the MFL has preferred to keep cosy with the party elites in the NDP rather than to keep the faith with striking MTS workers, so rest assured there will be more to follow in refutation of the above.See More
    Wednesday at 3:56pm ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth ‎1. Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) legislation - the racist and police state legislation pioneered in Gary Doer's Manitoba in 2002 that flouts constitutionally-protected rights. A model for many provincial jurisdictions across Canada!
    Wednesday at 4:01pm ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth ‎2. Corporate tax cuts and tuition fee increases in the last several provincial budgets.
    Wednesday at 4:02pm ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth ‎3. Federal NDP condemning the 2007 Security and Prosperity Partnership in the federal House of Commons while the Manitoba NDP was championing it and the trade corridor extending to Churchill in the far north of the province/ (Churchill is becoming quite strategically significant as a port as global warming increases and polar ice recedes. It was also sold for $1 to a developer.)
    Wednesday at 4:03pm ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth ‎4. Federal NDP members from Winnipeg - Judy Wasylycia-Leis and the inimitable Pat Martin - are/were members of the neo-McCarthyite Canadian Parliamentary Committee on Combating "Antisemitism" (aka campus-based events like Israeli Apartheid Week). (Judy was, but now she's running for mayor of Winnipeg.) Support for these kinds of positions have also come from the Winnipeg DLC and MFL at various conjunctures.
    Wednesday at 4:06pm ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth ‎(I'll leave it at that for now. I've invited my lefty friends from Manitoba to comment further.)
    Wednesday at 4:07pm ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth As for how the anti-statist left approaches the electoral arena, I guess that there are a variety of answers to that but I can assure you that it doesn't involve making excuses and running interference for corrupt pols.
    Wednesday at 4:09pm ·
    
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    Jay Gannon
    Myself, I argue for voting for the NDP come election time, but with a level of critical distance - I don't see any reason to spread the idea that it's somehow this great, entirely forward thinking, entirely working class party. It isn't - it's a party of the trade union bureaucrats who often happen to be in bed with management. That being said it does have at least some connection to organized labour as opposed to none whatsoever, and it does often take relatively progressive stances on various issues, at least as compared to the entirely-corporate alternatives of the Liberals and Tories...
    I guess I find myself somewhere in between what you're saying, John - your criticisms of the NDP are pretty valid - and what you're saying, Alan - I think they should be supported to some degree - but the difference we have is that said support should never come without illusions, and it should not come without conditions...
    Oh, and btw Alan, the "Progressive Conservative" party is long dead. It's now just the "Conservative Party" as it's taken up a whole host of social-reactionary issues that the old Tories had moved away from to some degree over the years (while never leaving them entirely behind, at least at election time)
    I prefer to call them the Republican Party of Canada.
    Wednesday at 4:22pm ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth What conditions are you proposing, Jay?
    Wednesday at 4:24pm ·
    
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    Jay Gannon
    there are plenty of more formal demands that we might bring up collectively.
    As for what I'd like to personally see? I can think of plenty, but just to stick to some that have actually been part of NDP policy at one time or another, seems l...ike a good starting point to me at least - abrogation of so called 'free trade' agreements, withdrawal from NATO, nationalization of the banking industry...just a few demands that the left should be making of the NDP in exchange for a vote, none of which is even outside the sphere of where the party has gone over the years in terms of official policy - but all of which have been underemphasized due to various factors that we likely don't need to go into at length here, they're pretty obvious.
    Wednesday at 4:32pm ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth
    OK, and what do you propose when they don't meet those conditions? Because from what I can see, the sad, pathetic reality of left electoralism is "do it all over again".
    Here's a comment from somebody who couldn't comment on Alan's FB: "all ...that stuff about control by foreign multi-nationals can be pretty problematic - it usually frames local and national corporations as somehow "the good guys" and the whole "anti-foreigner" line can also pretty quickly become anti-immigrant... and/or anti-anyone who is perceived as an outsider. also, where is the manitoba NDP on native issues? are they talking about returning stolen land and respecting aboriginal and treaty rights...beyond talking are they doing it? no manitoba on stolen native land. also, winnipeg has the largest population of urban indigenous people, many of whom experience extreme forms of racism as well as poverty, police brutality, etc."See More
    Wednesday at 4:35pm ·
    
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    Alan L. Maki
    First about Gary Doer; Harper apparently had some difficulty finding anyone intelligent enough in his own party to do the job... so he picked an intelligent person who respects all people and is able to get along with people. Gary Doer has not switched his political alliances as far as I know... do you have information to the contrary?
    I prefer to see free public education through university; with this said, how many places in North America can a less expensive university education be had than in Manitoba? I don't know; do you? I doubt many.
    As for the sale of the port in Churchill; I can't really remember much about this... but I am pretty sure the port was owned by the government of Canada and it was the federal government that must have sold it... how is the NDP responsible for this sale... obviously with Soviet grain trade no longer the main staple because the capitalist government in Russia no longer subsidizes cheap food gains and breads for the people... who was going to take care of this massive port; certainly you aren't implying that the provincial government of Manitoba should have undertaken this costly venture? No doubt, though, the Port of Churchill should have remained in Canadian government ownership.
    I know nothing about the other issues you are raising and from your lack of knowledge about the cost of university education and the Port of Churchill I would guess you know even less than me about these things.
    I think it would help if you explained what Federal NDP members from Winnipeg - Judy Wasylycia-Leis and Pat Martin did that you find so bad... I'm not familiar with this.
    The NDP for sure has been very weak on tax policy... they should take the suggestion from the Communist Party of Canada and just tax the hell out of the rich and their corporations. If I were you I would get involved in the NDP and push for this.
    Like I said, I think education at public universities should be free so you will get no argument from me that any tuition increases the NDP imposed on students was bad and wrong.
    The relationship between the CLC and NDP is most definitely a completely different kind of relationship than exists between the AFL-CIO and the Democratic Party--- this is very obvious to almost anyone. The former is a healthy relationship; the latter unhealthy.
    The Manitoba Telephone System (MTS) was a public provincial enterprise for years until Conservative Premier Gary Filmon, over the objections of the NDP, privatized it and MTS workers had problems ever since. Maybe you could organize some kind of movement in Manitoba to bring MTS back under provincial government ownership?
    There is no question the right-wing in Canada is every bit as dangerous as south of the border... but, certainly, you don't place responsibility for this hate at the doorstep of the NDP? Or do you?
    Wednesday at 4:45pm ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth
    No, but I will say that the given the choice between a government that fakes left and runs right (the NDP, the Obama administration, etc.) and the one that's the real deal, people generally go for the latter.
    Alan, here's what the latest Statscan data on average tuition by province tells us. While the Manitoba NDP does indeed have lower-than-average university tuition for Canada (increasing by 5.3% last year to $3,588 in 2010/11, a higher-than-average increase BTW), both Quebec ($2,415) and Newfoundland/Labrador ($2,624) have significantly lower fees. Again, nothing new here.
    As for the port of Churchill, my point wasn't about the NDP transferring sale/ownership - it was about the complete disconnect between the federal and provincial NDPs on the SPP and related continental strategy, and the ignorance/head-in-the-sand approach of party stalwarts to this kind of thing. A similar thing could be said for the NDP/state-loving left's pathetic bleats about proportional representation - which they call for in every jurisdiction EXCEPT where they would have the power to actually implement it (i.e. places like Manitoba).
    In light of this, perhaps you should look into my other claims.
    (BTW you sound like an Obamabot, except that you're running interference for the pseudo-left NDP. Scratch a Communist Party adherent these days, find a liberal state-lover.)
    Wednesday at 4:59pm ·
    
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    John Hollingsworth
    Sorry, Alan, I'll check my tone, and I appreciate you keeping things open for debate. I certainly didn't mean to suggest that you prevented somebody from posting to your wall - I forwarded a comment someone left on my wall for you because t...hey were unable to do so on yours.
    That said, I think that I've been pretty clear in answering your question about where lower university tuition can be found in North America. If anyone's being dishonest here, it ain't me! Notably, there has never been an NDP government in either Quebec or Newfoundland and Labrador, I would add.
    You are right though, my gripe is against the established wisdom that banging our head against the wall in the hopes that we break on through, aka electoralism, is a thoughtful and respectable "strategy". That said, people are free to do what moves them - I just want to point out when and where it goes wrong. On that note, I'm still hoping to hear from Jay what his response is to my question.
    p.s. Gary Doer was an NDP premier, not a "Progressive" Conservative. That said, you're right and I don't think that he changed his political affiliations even slightly - that's obviously unnecessary when liberal "democracy" comes in only so many shades of vanilla.
    Wednesday at 6:51pm ·
    
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    Alan L. Maki
    Sorry, I had to delete the original post before John's comment because John pointed out I made a terrible mistake in naming Gary Doer as a Progressive Conservative when it should have been Gary Filmon... sorry for this mistake. Thanks for pointing it out John.
    This is the sentence here:
    "...the NDP government of Howard Pawley had all kinds of programs in place designed to help end racism and the Progressive Conservative government of Gary Filmon abolished most of them."
    Gary Filmon was the culprit; not Gary Doer.
    John, first of all your name calling is unfair. You suggest that I prevented someone from posting on my "Wall;" this is a blatant lie. I have never restricted nor deleted posts from anyone.
    As to the most foolish statements from this anonymous poster claiming they couldn't post to my "Wall;" again, more groundless insinuation... the NDP government of Howard Pawley had all kinds of programs in place designed to help end racism and the Progressive Conservative government of Gary Filmon abolished most of them. Most of the problems in Manitoba stem directly from the federal government regarding the problems Aboriginal people are experiencing beginning with all the promises the federal government made regarding hydro-electric development and then reneged on.
    John, I'm not "running interference for anyone;" I posted an article about a poll trying to create some interest in people for what is going on north of the border.
    If I operated like the "Obamabots" and Democratic Party hacks I simply would have deleted your comments, but I didn't.
    That you didn't honestly state your claims about the NDP and tuition costs at universities initially, I see no reason to explore your other claims--- post the facts and then we can discuss these claims.
    Obviously your gripe isn't with only the NDP; it is with anyone on the left who engages in political/electoral work.
    Wednesday at 7:18pm ·
    
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    Jay Gannon
    I certainly don't propose the 'bang the head against the wall' strategy. It has been tried, and it has failed, time and time again, because it obviously doesn't work.
    If anything, that's absence of a coherent strategy...the obvious, rational..., sane strategy, to me at least, seems to be in building a widespread left alternative to the NDP, capable of moving beyond electoralism, but one that's at least willing to call upon the NDP when it's needed in the meantime, with certain demands like I've mentioned above and others - but what's utterly vital is that this force be sufficiently organized, large, and powerful enough to act in such a way so that when things do go wrong, it's capable of exposing the limitations of electoral politics to widespread layers of people, and it's also capable of winning more immediate reforms - both through continuous pressure on parties like the NDP as well as victories won through other means, including direct action, workplace organization, etc etc. I hate when people say 'things have to get worse before they get better' - the reality is, things have to get better in order to get better. You win small victories by exercising working class muscle, and it creates a level of self-confidence that wasn't there previously, to take bigger, more daring actions. I think calling for a critical vote for the NDP can be a part of that strategy especially where the worker's movement is powerful enough to exercise influence but not yet powerful enough to seize power on its own - but I don't think any special emphasis should be placed upon it...it's only one tactic among many that can be used.
    It's important to remember that electoral politics doesn't exist in a vacuum - it's a product of wider social forces - class forces - seeking to implement policies according to class interests. It's doubtful that the NDP, or any supposedly 'progressive' political party will maintain any sort of consistent, positive class orientation towards the working class as long as the working class, compared to the bosses, is relatively disorganized and scattered. That being said, I think at the very least, structurally, due to its composition and organizational structure - specifically the connection to the labour movement (which is different from the Democrats in the US - there, the unions just foolishly throw money at the party and promise a vote, usually in exchange for a few scraps - in the NDP, on the convention floor, labour is actually guaranteed a spot in the policy-building process. I think this gives a sort of breathing room to the left that the other parties completely lack - but what's important is what we do with it. Breathing room is no good whatsoever if we aren't sufficiently prepared to actually breathe as a coherent movement, and that's why organizing outside of the NDP, to the left of it, is the important thing...or at least that's how I see it.
    Wednesday at 9:24pm ·
    
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    Alan L. Maki This discussion is going on north of the border here:
    http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=528791540&ref=ts
    Yesterday at 12:32am ·
    
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    Sally Robbins Why don't people on both sides of the border have some kind of forum for the discussion on ideas like these? Maybe once a year. One time in Canada. One time in the United States. I am kind of ashamed that I know so little about what goes on in Canada. I visit on occasion as a tourist. People who are missing this exchange are missing out on a lot.
    

The discussion then continued on John Hollingsworth’s facebook page:

John Hollingsworth thinks it would be great if his left-wing friends from Manitoba had a look at the below-noted nonsense and replied to it either there or here

Wednesday at 3:58pm 

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    Marcella Adey ‎??? what below??

    Wednesday at 4:10pm · 
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    John Hollingsworth http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=528791540#!/profile.php?id=703206336&v=wall&story_fbid=110715708989308

    Wednesday at 4:10pm · 
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    Marcella Adey If I remember correctly, that shouldn't be surprising. Manitoba is an NDP or Conservative province, split mostly because of the farming community. Many constituencies are close races.

    Wednesday at 4:13pm · 
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    John Hollingsworth Sure, but read the comments to see what I'm getting at.

    Wednesday at 4:14pm · 
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    Marcella Adey ‎??? the pro-NDP or anti-NDP?

    Wednesday at 4:18pm · 
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    John Hollingsworth well, i'm a bit biased, but i consider the pro-NDP stuff to be the "below-noted nonsense". (of course, people could think that about my anti-NDP submissions, i suppose - but they would be wrong! lol)

    Wednesday at 4:20pm · 
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    Matthew Brown

    all that stuff about control my foreign multi-nationals can be pretty problematic - it usual frames local and national corporations as somehow "the good guys" and the whole "anti-foreigner" line can also pretty quickly become anti-immigrant... and/or anti-anyone who is perceived as an outsider. also, where in the manitoba NDP on native issues? are they talking about returning stolen land and respecting aboriginal and treaty rights...beyond talking are they doing it? no manitoba on stolen native land. also, winnipeg has the largest population of urban indigenous people, many of whom experience extreme forms of racism as well as poverty, police brutality, etc. couldn't post that on alan's thread...See More

    Wednesday at 4:30pm · 
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    Marcella Adey

    absolutely. but i think the issue is more the structure, of "democratic" centralized power structures, not who is in power. Yeah, Manitoba suffers under any government, and any governing party is not going to benefit the majority of people,... but we all know that's because there is a governing party. If you don't believe in that system, of course you can criticize everyone. But I do think that if the NDP were voted out, you would see a lot of negative changes. What would happen if the Conservatives came into power??See More

    Wednesday at 4:45pm · 
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    Len Bush

    i agree that Alan's rhetoric is a bit overblown but would also suggest that what amounts to knee-jerk denunciations of the NDP and CLC, and all the "institutional left", is just as exaggerated. but then this is the nature of sloganeering i...sn't it?
    
    Marcella is correct - the reality is that the NDP are better than the Conservatives and federally somewhat better than the Liberals. to suggest otherwise is patently false. are they as left as they once were or as much as we might like - no.
    
    also i think i know Alan well enough to know that he would be absolutely supportive of aboriginal struggles in Manitoba and would oppose racist fear-mongering.
    
    i am also under the impression that the province has initiated some progressive measures in it's dealings with the First Nations there. would be interested in hearing from someone who is involved in aboriginal struggles in Manitoba's opinion on it.See More

    Wednesday at 5:04pm · 
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    Matthew Brown

    i'll agree that the ND party is better than the liberal party or the conservative party...although to be more accurate i'd probably say that it is somewhat or slightly better on a number of issues, while being significantly worse on others....
    
    but i'd also differentiate between these political parties and the people who vote for them. i really feel small c conservatives distrust/dislike of the government and feel that on certain issues they're much closer and better (but not necessarily more "progressive") than what i hear from liberal or NDP activsts...
    
    the reality is also that none of these parties is even remotely satisfactory. the reality is that they never will be.
    
    in the case of the NDP it has played a significant role in the diminishing strength of the left. it's at the point, and probably has been for a long time, that it;s got to go. until then it will do what it has always done, seek to control the left and seek to destroy and demonize any section of the left that it doesn't control.See More

    Wednesday at 5:53pm ·
    
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    Matthew Brown

    finally, my comments were about the politics being put forward - no doubt alan is supportive of indigenous struggles for sovereignty and self-determination, and supports migrant justice - the point was that arguments that frame social problems as being the result of foreign multinationals, the bankers and finance capitalism can easily be and often are used to make local and national corporations look good, and is much more easily co-opted by the right wing pro-capitalists and xenophobes. in fact that particular line of argument is often put out by the right wing:
    
    My Enemy's Enemy: essays on globalization, fascism and the struggle against capitalism
    http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/books/myenemy.htmlSee More

    Wednesday at 6:18pm · 
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    Dave Hall

    I gave up on the NDP as a viable vehicle for radical social change some 25 years ago. But it does offer small benefits over the alternative parties and I vote for it occasionally without any qualms.
    
    More to the point, I do not see the NDP o...r Canadian Dimension or the CLC as my enemy. Capitalism is my enemy. The bourgeoisie are my enemy. Reformist organizations are misguided efforts to solve problems that I want to solve. Their members are the most likely to share my concerns, if not my solutions.
    
    So I tend not to spend much time putting them, or their supporters down. Just cannot see how that helps us move closer to the radical social change we need.
    
    So I think the fellow you linked to is more than a tad over optomistic about what the NDP has done and may do in the future. But he is not the person I want to attack or criticize. His neighbour that supports Republican union busting and imperial wars in the middle east - that's the guy I want to expose and denounce.See More

    Wednesday at 7:13pm · 
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    Matthew Brown

    i certainly take the point that white supremacist, capitalist heteropatriarchal society and state are the REAL enemies.
    
    at the same time i can't say that i feel like people and organizations that are denouncing the action of anarchists, the ...anarchist movement and the radical left more generally are exactly friends. never mind just denouncing but outright calling or people's arrests and to abolish the black bloc (which, fortunately, to their frustration, they're never going to be able to do).
    
    i also think that what you are saying is inaccurate in that the in-fighting between the communist left and the social democratic left was a weakness that existed in the left from around the 1920s until around the 1950s...and the social democrats sometimes successful attempts to purge communists and radicals had a profoundly negative effect on movements for social justice. not that the communists were simply innocent victims of social democratic aggression, but the soc dems, the NDP worked long and hard to destroy unions and organizations that they didn't control.
    
    if i saw the NDP acting like an ally to movements to social justice then i'm sure i'd think differently, but that is a long way from being the case.See More

    Wednesday at 7:54pm ·
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    Erik Davis hahaha! Oh, Maki; always the turd-stirrer.

    Wednesday at 8:38pm · 
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    Len Bush

    agree that it is important to recognize variations on specific policies. would still argue that on the whole the knee-dippers are probably more progressive on policy than the Libs or Cons. actually can't immediately think of a policy wher...e they would be worse than either of the other parties. not that policy is always adhered to - which is another issue.
    
    also agree that you cannot paint all party supporters with the same brush. there are definitely some small c conservative voters who could teach many of us a lesson in compassion and community. though the suspicion of government issue is one that you have to be careful of. suspect it is more often a commitment to free wheeling capitalism and a dislike of many of those policies that we would support (e.g. social assistance...).
    
    would argue that the lessons of inter-left relations in the 20's-50's is that strategic cooperation was far better for the working class than sectarian battles were. it is true that red-baiting was rife but the 'radical left' of the time was equally responsible for sectarian nonsense. that Stalinism and many marxist and anarchist tendencies played a highly damaging role in targeting social democrats mustn't be forgotten.
    
    finally, while social democrats should take some blame for being divisive in how they responded to the actions of the police and the 'black bloc' they are by no means the sole offenders in this. i have seen some pretty crappy and unfair comments made right back at them. and, to be candid, i feel that many in the 'anarchist or radical left' are quite unwilling to look critically at their own actions and behaviour. in defense of CD i have seen far more willingness to engage in a debate without name calling than i have from many of its critics.See More

    Wednesday at 8:51pm ·
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    John Hollingsworth what's wrong with a debate with a little name-calling? keeps things lively!

    Wednesday at 9:11pm · 
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    John Hollingsworth mostly, there is a fear of debate, and a fear of anything that can't be co-opted - hence the term "institutional left".

    Wednesday at 9:12pm · 
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    Dave Hall That which brings joy to your enemies is seldom good strategy.

    Wednesday at 10:13pm · 
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    Alan L. Maki

    I am glad I stirred up this debate although my intent wasn't to stir it up north of the border... lol! My intent was to try to get people down here in the States to take a look at what is going on in Canada.
    
    There is nothing in what I wrote ...that even insinuated all is perfect with the NDP... with that said, I shudder to think what Canada would be like today without the NDP.
    
    I am a Communist... a Marxist-Leninist. I don't think the problems of Canada or any other country in the world will ever be solved under capitalism.
    
    But, this does not mean that working people can't better their lives while finding their way to get rid of the rotten capitalist system.
    
    In my opinion, it does no good at all to attack the NDP. The only way to move the NDP more to the left is convincing Canadians that there isn't going to be any more forward progress for working people without raising questions of public ownership--- example: why didn't left organizations come together and press for continued government ownership of the port in Churchill? Whether the NDP supported such a position or not is completely irrelevant--- when they don't do something that should be done, then organizations independent of the NDP have to mount these campaigns in order to win Canadians to support these positions--- common sense tells you that the NDP is not an initiator of struggles but a follower. This is the nature of the New Democratic Party... what is wrong with that?
    
    I traveled Canada coast to coast from the U.S. border to the northern territories... anyone can see that where the NDP has real strength and power living conditions are better and social programs are administered in a way more conducive to helping working people get through their problems.
    
    The left can't simply criticize the NDP... the left has to build movements among working people to a point where the NDP can take more advanced positions.
    
    When Communists were more influential in Manitoba with people elected to city council and on the school board and were engaged in local community organizations while leading very significant reform movements like establishing the Mt. Carmel Clinic, etc., the NDP had to respond by moving further to the left. This is the way to move the NDP. One can look at the labour movement... the more militant and agressive labour becomes... the NDP (with some expected hesitation and even resistance follows).
    
    Quite frankly, neither John or anyone else commenting has mentioned a very important point I brought up, and that is that the NDP has brought incredibly open and honest government to Manitoba... again, I would challenge anyone to bring forward a more open and honest government--- socialist or capitalist.
    
    I am willing to bet there hasn't been one single member of the NDP among the members of the Manitoba provincial legislature who has ever taken a bribe.
    
    If one studies the NDP government of Howard Pawley in Manitoba you find a government that was completely committed to trying its darndest to overcome the worst of poverty and racist discrimination while providing quality public schools and quality health care.
    
    You know, the Pawley government did things in bits and pieces and stages... things like AutoPac; things like dental programs in the elementary schools; provincial parks and recreation programs were substantially improved. Workers' rights were religiously enforced. Maybe more important than many things... working people were treated with real respect and working peole had a seat in the decision-making process of government... limited as that decision-making process is as long as big-capital controls the economic power.
    
    Fighting corporate power, especially when that corporate power is multi-national corporations, is never easy... it isn't easy for workers in their daily lives on their jobs or in the communities where they live... the least littleproblem takes a struggle to win... how can it be any different for the NDP to fight corporate power than for a union to fight for the advancement of workers' rights on the shop floor or in a mine or out in the forests?
    
    At some point some basic common sense has to prevail when talking about the New Democratic Party... workers in almost any country in the world would love to have a labor-based peoples party like the NDP.
    
    It is like some people are mocking what working people have with the NDP and in doing this they are mocking the struggles of working people that gave birth to the CCF/NDP.
    
    You know, in our casino worker organizing campaigns down here we started pushing for smoke-free casinos... we have been pushing hard now for 8 years! I got a call one day from a friend of mine who is a union steward at McPhillips Station Casino in Winnipeg and she asked me, "How can we stop the smoking up here?" From the time I met with a few workers in Winnipegs two casinos until the time the Doer NDP government announced the casinos would be going smoke-free it wasn't even three months.
    
    Only a the most complete uncaring, muddle-headed "radical" would denounce a political party that would respond so quickly to the concerns of working people.
    
    When I tried to talk to Tim Pawlenty, the Governor of Minnesota about banning smoking in the casinos he had the police toss me out of his office after less than five minutes.
    
    After over eight years of struggling for union recognition in the casino industry in Minnesota, we just now got one politician, Democrat Mark Dayton, who after I forced a public discussion with him on this issue in front of 180 people, has agreed that the problems of casino workers, including ending smoking, will be addressed if he is elected governor.
    
    Quite frankly, it is very sad, when a party born out of the struggles of working people for justice gets attacked by the very people claiming a working class party is needed but there are no suggestions or initiatives for anything better. And what I see being advocated by the Socialist Project is just confusing working people.
    
    As far as the CLC and its affiliates... if you think there are problems like what exist down here with the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions I would bet that you have never attended very many union meetings down here in the States. Not that all is perfect in Canada... but I have been at over 180 local union meetings across Canada; at something like 60 some labour council meetings, some several times, and I can assure you that the democracy in Canadian Unions far surpasses anything at union meetings in this country and I have addressed something like 420 union locals in meetings across the Midwest in the last 8 years... most unions down here won't even let me in the door because I'm a "Communist."
    
    Because of the NDP, many, many unions in Canada participate in goverrnment at every level.
    
    In my very extensive travels across Canada, I found that working people, for the most part love and respect their New Democratic Party, and I can tell you this... any left organization that attacks the NDP--- and there is a difference between attacking and advancing issues or concerns the NDP is not taking up adequately or at all or engaging in dialog and debate--- is going to find themselves pretty well isolated from the working class.
    
    If only there was an "institutional left" in Canada or the United States. To have an "institutionalized left" would require what some on the left are opposed to--- working class political and economic power: socialism.See More

    Yesterday at 12:30am · 
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    Alan L. Maki

    As a note: I have cross posted this to my FaceBook "Wall" so anyone who wants to participate in this discussion from either side of the border can do so :)
    
    http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=528791540#!/profile.php?id=703206336&v=wall&st...ory_fbid=110715708989308See More

    Yesterday at 12:35am · 
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    Jay Gannon

    i guess i'll repost what i said over on Alan's wall here, if that's ok, at the risk of being somewhat repetitive, but it is an interesting strategic debate...
    
    I certainly don't propose the 'bang the head against the wall' strategy of just g...etting one's hopes up and then being disappointed over and over . It has been tried, and it has failed, time and time again, because it obviously doesn't work.
    
    If anything, that's absence of a coherent strategy...the obvious, rational..., sane strategy, to me at least, seems to be in building a widespread left alternative to the NDP, capable of moving beyond electoralism, but one that's at least willing to call upon the NDP when it's needed in the meantime, with certain demands like I've mentioned above and others - but what's utterly vital is that this force be sufficiently organized, large, and powerful enough to act in such a way so that when things do go wrong, it's capable of exposing the limitations of electoral politics to widespread layers of people, and it's also capable of winning more immediate reforms - both through continuous pressure on parties like the NDP as well as victories won through other means, including direct action, workplace organization, etc etc. I hate when people say 'things have to get worse before they get better' - the reality is, things have to get better in order to get better. You win small victories by exercising working class muscle, and it creates a level of self-confidence that wasn't there previously, to take bigger, more daring actions. I think calling for a critical vote for the NDP can be a part of that strategy especially where the worker's movement is powerful enough to exercise influence but not yet powerful enough to seize power on its own - but I don't think any special emphasis should be placed upon it...it's only one tactic among many that can be used.
    
    It's important to remember that electoral politics doesn't exist in a vacuum - it's a product of wider social forces - class forces - seeking to implement policies according to class interests. It's doubtful that the NDP, or any supposedly 'progressive' political party will maintain any sort of consistent, positive class orientation towards the working class as long as the working class, compared to the bosses, is relatively disorganized and scattered. That being said, I think at the very least, structurally, due to its composition and organizational structure - specifically the connection to the labour movement (which is different from the Democrats in the US - there, the unions just foolishly throw money at the party and promise a vote, usually in exchange for a few scraps - in the NDP, on the convention floor, labour is actually guaranteed a spot in the policy-building process. I think this gives a sort of breathing room to the left that the other parties completely lack - but what's important is what we do with it. Breathing room is no good whatsoever if we aren't sufficiently prepared to actually breathe as a coherent movement, and that's why organizing outside of the NDP, to the left of it, is the important thing...or at least that's how I see it.

    Yesterday at 12:37am · 
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    Alan L. Maki

    A better strategy in my opinion is to create a mass left base which enables, or pushes, (or maybe more appropriately, takes the NDP along with it). Why re-invent the wheel, so to speak, when you don't have to? I don't see where there is any... evidence that it is the intent of the NDP to hold the struggles of working people back.
    
    Ideologically, the Canadian working class is pretty much like the U.S. working class in that the dominant ideologies are liberalism, progressivism and leftism... in Canada the influence of the left is much more substantial wheras here in the U.S. it is liberalism that is dominant.
    
    Isn't it normal and natural and favorable that a party like the NDP should have all of these ideological currents in it and they will be contending with each other almost all the time? Isn't this what a mass labor-based people's party is supposed to be about?
    
    John doesn't mind a little name-calling and bashing of others ideas here on FaceBook, why would he mind the same level of debate in the NDP?
    
    If the focus is on building independent initiatives around solving specific problems working people are experiencing or in areas where the NDP is weak (anti-imperialism is one such area) than you build organizations to create this mass base that will move the NDP right along with the working class and the rest of society.
    
    I don't get it... how do you move people faster than they are prepared to move? If the people can't advance to a higher level of struggle through the NDP what makes anyone think some other organization/party is going to move things forward faster?
    
    If the NDP doesn't respond to mass sentiment it will die on its own... but, then the problem is how to replace it; and with what?See More

    Yesterday at 12:55am · 
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    Dave Hall

    Hi Alan. I agree about honest, competent government in Manitoba - a greater blessing than most on the left realize. I also agree that the NDP is at this point almost totally opportunistic - it will drift left or right based on where the v...otes are. But in the past, and future if required, it's leadership will harden up to oppose any radicalization taking roots inside the party - remember the Waffle movement'?
    
    And "I found that working people, for the most part love and respect their New Democratic Party"? At best they view the NDP like they view their union - as a useful, supportive organization exterior to their lives.
    
    Some of the differences here just reflect national differences. The NDP looks good to Americans and bad to Europeans because both judge it against what they have. But the NDP is part of the reason why unions are stronger and working class conditions are better in Canada than in the US.
    
    I'm old enough to remember the Sadlowski campaign when I was in the USWA. The only way the establishment leadership could win the Canadian votes it needed was to buy off the bureaucrats with some plum jobs and the membership with a promise to deliver IN CANADA on some of Sadlowski's key fight back demands. But not in the US. We managed to beat them back at Inco in Thompson, but they won most of Canada's votes. So we helped impose on the US rank and file a program that we refused to accept for Canada. The differences are real.
    
    John, you gotta stop hanging out with so many 'statists'. It's bad for your 'militant' reputation.See More

    Yesterday at 9:12am · 
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    Alan L. Maki

    ‎@Dave... I do not mean to imply that ALL is rosy in the NDP or CLC; in fact the left in general and add to this liberals and progressives are going through some very difficult times with people trying to sort through all that is going on i...n their communities, provinces/states and countries.
    
    The larger the organization/party the more difficult it usually is to adjust.
    
    For good or for bad, the leadership and legislators of the NDP are probably never going to be as "left" as most of us would like... but, that does not make them the enemy.
    
    I don't think the NDP is going to be hurt by attacks from the left; on the other hand, do such attacks do any good? Well, like they say, "It depends." It depends on how well the left has brought with it sizeable numbers of working people... what you view as "opportunist" (and probably something bad by how you wrote about this) I view this "opportunism" as very healthy because it means if sizeable numbers from the working class are moving on an issue, the NDP is probably and most likely going to move, too--- even if it belly-aches and complains some along the way.
    
    If the NDP did not include a very broad inclusion ranging from liberal, progressive, left, socialist, communist and yes social democrats (and it is the liberal and social democratic thinking that dominates because this is the majority of the thinking of where most working people are at although in Canada that has been quickly changing to more socialist) it is only common sense that the NDP is going to reflect this... and, when you look at the NDP very closely, it does reflect the thinking in of working class people very well... now, it would be nice if the NDP were to be a left-wing leader in ideological and organizational struggle... but, that is not its role in Canadian society and the political life of the country, it never was its role and it never will be... the unions will have to constantly keep nudging the NDP to be a bulwark against reaction and in advancing labour's demands--- but, most importantly--- and probably most people will not want to hear this, but the Communist Party of Canada will have to increase its influence among Canadian workers--- the organized and unorganized and this will push both organized labor and the NDP forward.
    
    In my opinion, it is very unfortunate that both Canada and the United States have such small Communist Parties--- although I understand that is welcome by many on the left who, ironically complain the NDP is not adequately addressing working class problems.
    
    Now, I also understand that in Canada, and this thinking is growing here in the United States, that the NDP needs to be replaced with some kind of party that is kind of a Communist Party but without the Leninist aspect and some I guess would kind of like to forget Marx, too, from what I am told and read. All I can say to my friends on the left who want to proceed is give it a try, but personally, I don't think it will work. They cite what is taking place in Venezuela as "proof" that they are on the right path... the problem is, things are far, far from resolved in Venezuela so we don't really know if this kind of socialism works and how well it is going to be able to progress and defend itself. I talk to my Canadian friends in the labour movement often... usually several times a week, plus I am the co-chair of kind of a unique and quite small Communist Club that includes people from Manitoba, Ontario and Minnesota whch includes union members and a few elected union leaders from each. We are well aware that this "new thinking" on the left surrounding the "Socialist Project" is probably the most influential trend, and largest, among the left in North America... but we think this is the wrong way to go.
    
    And again, I know many people participating in ths discussion and reading these thoughts might not want to hear this... but, join a Communist Party Club (or start one) and build a strong left presence by organizing around issues and solving the problems of working people... build grassroots networks and strong rank-and-file organizations... push progressive and left ideas to the forefront in the unions and in this way bring the NDP along with us... the way we Communists view things is we on the left, the unions and the NDP all need one another if the working class is going to advance.
    
    Create the organizations we need for some clear purpose that don't exist, don't waste time trying to re-invent the wheel just make the wheel roll along by giving it the proper amount of air and we will be all set to turn left off the capitalist road... no one said the road is going to be a nice flat surface all the way... there will be bump and dangerous curves and there wil be places where road signs don't exist... but, we will be on the road to socialism--- together.See More

    Yesterday at 10:09am · 
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    John Hollingsworth

    I am looking forward to responding to all this (and to do so patiently and without sarcasm or too much invective) later on, but the narrative is going to be long and I do have a job to do at the moment. In the meantime, I thank you Alan, Da...ve, Jay and Len for your thoughtful commentary as socialists. While I certainly cannot and do not speak for all class struggle anarchists (some of whose views may line up closer to yours on a number of these points than my own), I look forward to putting forward an anarchist alternative analysis and practice for consideration, based on my responses to these points and my own experiences/concerns.See More

    Yesterday at 10:33am · 
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    Alan L. Maki Great, John... looking forward to what you have to say.

    Yesterday at 10:35am · 
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    John Hollingsworth I will also throw in, as an added bonus, a set of related commentary about and response to the editorial in Canadian Dementia, and why this line (where it doesn't simply misrepresent facts on the ground) is such a problem.

    Yesterday at 10:38am · 
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    Alan L. Maki That wouldn't happen to be my commentary would it? :)

    Yesterday at 11:29am · 
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    John Hollingsworth Are you saying that you wrote the editorial?

    Yesterday at 11:32am · 
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    Alan L. Maki Oh. no... I thought maybe you were referring to some comments I made about an editorial... lol!

    Yesterday at 11:40am · 
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    Alan L. Maki All joking aside... here is an interesting viewpoint from Michael Parenti that in a way kind of addresses some of these issues:
    
    http://vimeo.com/11830789

    Yesterday at 11:41am · 
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    John Hollingsworth

    OK, I'm still trying to carve out some time - maybe tomorrow - but home renovations work after my paid job today have not left me with the time or energy. Working my way backwards from the theme evoked by the Canadian Dementia editorial, I ...really think that this blog posting is essential reading for that aspect of the question: http://sketchythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/07/g20-theories-debates-and-slander.html
    
    It really does cover a lot of the ground that I intended to (right down to the 'peace' movement antics in the 1980s which are described exactly as I remember them as a high school student activist). I could add some perspective on the J26 events as I was there and organized for them.
    
    I think that some of the points raised in this piece segue nicely into the crisis of social democracy (including socialist, Trotskyist and CPC variants) and of loyal oppositionism. I will focus on the state and the question of state power in liberal capitalist democracies in my response to the above strategies that are outlined, and lay out some alternatives. Stay tuned!See More

    15 hours ago · 
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    Jon Hunt John, that blog post is great.