Two important events tomorrow (June 23rd)!

First - A one-hour picket at the Polish Consulate from 11 am to noon. This will protest the new law in Poland which bans any symbols associated with communism. Similar protests have been held across Europe and in Toronto. Organized by the Communist Party in solidarity with the Polish communists and others in eastern Europe who are facing growing repression.

The address is 1177 West Hastings - this is between Bute and Thurlow. We will have leaflets to hand out, and some of the "illegal" symbols. Please Kimball know (by email or 604-255-2041) if you can join us.

Second - the International Trade Union Confederation is holding its global conference this week at the Convention Centre. This will include a rally starting at 12:30 tomorrow, on the theme "Now the people - from the crisis to global justice." The Communist Party/Young Communist League will be present with a banner and materials. It's just a couple of blocks from the Polish Consulate to the Convention Centre.

Defend Public Education! Oppose Bill 20!

Young Communist League of Canada, BC Committee

As students are beginning their summer break the B.C. Liberal government is hard at work to further strip them of privacy and proper education for the next semester. Bill 20, which had its first reading on April 30, would allow individual School Boards the ability to mandate surveillance equipment such as cameras in public schools. This comes as part of a larger attack on the democratic institution of School Boards and the entire public school system.

This carte blanche dictate is limited by very few rules. No restrictions on where cameras are deployed, how they should be used, how students' privacy rights will be safeguarded, and in which places they are inappropriate. There is no requirement to limit access to the images caught on school cameras.

All this expensive surveillance equipment has been given the green light at a time when School Boards face serious budget limitations due to inadequate provincial funding. In most schools in British Columbia text books have gone over twenty years without being replaced. Also, school councilors and support workers have been cut out of the budget which means that real problems, which a camera will not catch, will go unresolved.

The Vancouver School Board has come under heavy fire from the B.C. Liberal government for its vocal refusal to compromise standards to pay for tax breaks and the Corporate Olympic Circus. An expensive inquiry into the governance practices of the VSB by the Provincial Government accused the School Board of poor planning; however, the budget suggestions from the B.C. Liberals include only negative reactionary cuts such as layoffs and privatization.

Educators are taking a stance against the bill as well. The BC Teachers Federation has slammed the bill saying it doesn’t address the learning needs of students and further undermines the democratic governance of public education. Teachers are also concerned about the privatization of public schools, as the bill allows for the collection of user fees and even the conversion of schools into “specialty academies” by a vote of as few as three parents and the Principal.

The attack on students and School Boards is another step towards the privatization of schools that has always been the goal of the B.C. Liberals. Reduction of provincial funding is intentional to stress the ability of democratic bodies to govern the education system. Moves such as Bill 20, in which students are put under heavier surveillance, are intended to force resolvable school issues into the public eye in attempts to slander the public education system, and violate the rights of students and staff alike.

Support the Vancouver School Board!
Demand fully funded public education!
No surveillance cameras in our schools!

RAISE THE RED FLAG OF RESISTANCE! FOR A YOUTH AND STUDENT AGENDA

RAISE THE RED FLAG OF RESISTANCE! FOR A YOUTH AND STUDENT AGENDA

CALL TO ACTION BY THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE OF CANADA

"Bloodsuckers, pirates, cannibals, murders, psychopaths, traitors, thugs, vultures, gangsters and terrorists!"

For centuries, these labels have been placed on everyone -- aboriginal peoples, workers, youth, women, racialized communities and countless more -- who dared resist the agenda of the ruling class. But isn't the truth the opposite from what we have been sold?

These words best describe the G8 and their host -- the Harper Conservative regime, the bankers, big business men, government leaders and the imperialist system they represent, meeting behind billion-dollar iron bars.

FLASH-POINT

The G8-G20 is flash-point for the peoples resistance. We fully support all those seeking to expose, denounce, confront and overcome the plans of the G8-G20 -- and bring about an alternative agenda for the people, by the people!

The capitalists’ plans are secret. They could not even stand the heat of public, democratic review. Unprecedented costly security operations hide the proceedings. We condemn the shut-down of the University of Toronto and the use of the "sonic cannon" weapon. And there is no such thing as a "Free Speech Zone" -- other than the world itself.

Major topics of discussion and the full decisions will likely never be revealed. Yet these decisions will impact millions across Canada, and billions of people around the world. These dangerous measures show imperialism’s fear of the people.

FOR A YOUTH AND PEOPLE'S AGENDA

The G8-G20 police brutality, the lack of democracy -- this is a crime. It is only one crime in many. Consider the Harper's remarks that global warming is a 'side-show' ; or Canada's decision to exclude abortion
from its global maternal health commitment and the Conservative Senator's "shut the fuck up" response to dissent.

In our view, this meeting has a special context, 'Round two' of the economic crisis: giant transfers of wealth to the corporations are now being paid for by the people. This is the main attack on the youth and the people today. Therefore we call for a youth agenda:

1. Books not bombs!
- No more $22 billions for the war in Afghanistan
- Troops out now, cut the military budget by half
- Ban military recruitment from schools

2. Make a job a right!
- No more poverty wages and union busting
- Raise minimum wage to $16, for shorter work week
- Massive job creation for youth -- start with build affordable, green housing

3. Climate justice
- No more supporting the tar sands
- Legislate emergency action to surpass Kyoto
- Nationalize energy -- shift to conservation and renewables

4. Free Education
- Eliminate tuition fees, grants not loans
- Reverse all school privatization and cutbacks
- National public, accessible childcare
- Protect free speech on campuses

5. Full equality now!
- Strengthen employment equity for Aboriginal youth, young women, racialized youth, youth with (dis)abilities
- Enshrine a women’s right to choice, close the wage gap
- Restore and expand all funding to programmes for women and girls
- Ban neo-fascist groups

6. Sovereignty and self-determination
- Justice for Aboriginal peoples and Quebec
- For a foreign policy of peace and disarmament

7. Democracy!
-
- No One Is Illegal -- democratic immigration policy
- Defend and expand the right of youth to leisure, sports and recreation

Now is the time to make a sharp break with the agenda of the Harper Conservatives and imperialism. If these meetings had even an ounce of integrity, the world ’leaders’ would redirect their energy and trillions (our trillions!) to the global crisis of unemployment, food, health care, education and childcare and ending imperialist war. They would immediately condemn the brutality of the Israeli regime and support a Palestinian state.

But capitalism is fundamentally driven by profits. Therefore all its activities will forever be morally bankrupt by any humanist measure. More and more youth will continue to reject capitalism and imperialism.

YOUTH RISE UP!

We appeal to all young people to join the mobilizations against the G8-G20. The YCL denounce Harper’s so-called 'youth-summit' of careerist children and stand with all our courageous sisters and brothers on the streets, who represent the real spirit of our generation. The fear-tactics of the Toronto police -- who have told parents "Your parenting has to be a key role" against demonstrators, "Ask your children to avoid the downtown core" -- will fail, rejected by the youth and parents together.

For inspiration, we look to Cuba and Latin America, and to the resistance in Greek workers today. The needs of the broad majority of the youth can never be divided from those of the working class and the people on the road to a better world. Provocation and other attempts to fracture the vital militancy and unity of the people can not reverse the fact that, on a global scale, the working class and progressive forces are strengthening.

These meetings are a historically developed strategy of imperialism, especially US imperialism. History, however, is not on the side of the oppressors. It is on the side of freedom, peace, ecology, and the people. We remain committed to joining with all those in the struggle on the streets, in our workplaces, schools, and communities, today while bravely championing a better future.

THE YOUTH ARE THE FUTURE, THE FUTURE IS SOCIALISM!

Central Committee, YCL-LJC
June 2010

YCL events this month

1. Red Star Club discussion of Provincial Convention documents
2. 17th WFYS meeting
3. Historical Materialism Pt. 2 - CHANGED DATE!
4. YCL BC Summer Camp
5. Strike solidarity
6. Slam the Gate on the G8
7. Left Film Night: Plunder, The Crime of Our Time


1. Red Star Club discussion of Provincial Convention documents - TONIGHT

The Vancouver YCL (Red Star Club) will meet on June 21st to discuss the documents of the upcoming Provincial Convention which will be held on July 30th.

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126087964092238

Convention Documents: http://www.ycl-ljc.ca/images/bcconvention2010/bulletin1.pdf

Facebook Convention event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109441745747202

2. 17th WFYS meeting

The 17th World Festival of Youth and Students will be held this December 13-21 in Pretoria, South Africa!

The World Festival of Youth and Students is the biggest gathering of anti-imperialist youth in the world. It is organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth and the International Union of Students. The last festival brought together over 16,000 youth for a week of workshops, forums, cultural performances, music festivals, and more.

The second meeting of the Vancouver Festival Preparatory Committee will be on June 24th, 7pm, at 706 Clark. Dr.

If you are interested in attending the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students this December in South Africa, please attend, or contact us for more information.

3. Historical Materialism Pt. 2

Part two of our study groups on historical materialism will be June 25th at 7pm at the Centre for Socialist Education (706 Clark Dr.). If you couldn't make it to part one, fear not, you can still join us for part two and get caught up. Reading material will be Historical Materialism by Maurice Cornforth.

Read Historical Materialism for free online: http://leninist.biz/en/1971/HM147/index.html

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/?sk=events&s=1#!/event.php?eid=119955984703471

4. YCL BC Summer Camp

Once again this year the YCL will hold its annual summer camp on the sunshine coast, from July 31-August 2. Last year the camp was the largest yet since efforts began to re-found the YCL several years ago.

The camp is open to both YCL members and other youth who are interested in learning about the YCL, and about socialism. Participants will enjoys both education and fun at our beautiful Sechelt location near the beach.

This year the camp will be preceded by our BC Provincial Convention (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?invites&eid=109441745747202) at the same location on July 30th. All members are encouraged to attend and guests are welcome.

Educational topics this year include:
- Capitalism, the environment & climate change. Why working class power is the only solution to environmental crisis.

- Racism & the national question in Canada.

- Reform & revolution: what is social democracy, communism, revolution, and the role of the state.

Further information including camp program will be available shortly. If you would like to attend the camp or want more info, e-mail ycl_bc@ycl-ljc.ca

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126087964092238#!/event.php?eid=104877929547930&ref=mf

5. Strike solidarity

The Vancouver & District Labour Council Young Workers Committee is planning another strike solidarity events this month. We encourage young workers including our members to attend and show solidarity with their sisters and brothers on strike at Extra Foods in Maple Ridge. Please see the link below for details.

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126087964092238#!/event.php?eid=106541796059751&ref=mf

6. Slam the Gate on the G8!

The YCL endorses the following event:

A Rally & March in Opposition to the G8/G20 Summits

******************************************
Saturday, June 26th, 2010 @ Noon
Grandview Park

(Commercial Drive, between William and Charles St.)

Bring noise makers, banners, water and friends!
******************************************

Come join us as we march in solidarity with the thousands protesting the G8/G20 Summits in Toronto and around the world. Let’s send a loud and clear message to the G8/G20 elite that we wholly reject their unaccountable meetings. We know their decisions will only lead to further economic and social disparity, promote exploitation environmental degradation and colonization.

From June 25 to 27th, the so-called ‘leaders’ and bankers of the twenty richest countries are gathering in Huntsville and Toronto for closed door meetings. The outcome of this summit is predictable: more of the same. More trade deals that benefit only multinational corporations. More threats to the existence of the worlds most vulnerable. More impoverishment. More addiction to the consumption of energy – dirty or clean. More economic policies that value profit and expansion over community and health. These are the policies that brought us to the crisis now facing the world economically, politically, environmentally and socially.



We say NO! We say that a better world is possible, there is an alternative! Add your presence and voice to the thousands in Toronto and millions around the world demanding a new vision of social and environmental justice. Change the System, not the Climate!


Organized by the Vancouver Community Mobilization Network Contact: van.mobilize@gmail.com

On the web: http://vcmn.resist.ca/

SEE OUR PROMOTION VIDEO here: http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/video/3636


Endorsed by: Friends of UBC Farm, UBC Social Justice Center, Vancouver Climate Justice, Purple Thistle, Justicia for Migrant Workers, No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, Ugnayan ng kabataang Pilipino sa Canada (Filipino-Canadian youth alliance), SIKLAB (Overseas Filipino workers organization), Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group, Council of Canadians - Delta Richmond chapter, Streams of Justice, VANACT, Solidarity with Anti-Olympic Convergence Arrestees, Young Communist League.


7. Left Film Night: Plunder, The Crime of Our Time

Next Left Film Night: Sunday, June 27, 7 pm, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver

"Plunder: The Crime of Our Time" (directed by Danny Schecter, USA, 2010, 100 minutes) explores how the financial crisis was built on a foundation of criminal activity, uncovering the connection between the collapse of the housing market and the economic catastrophe that followed. It argues that the wrong doing committed by a few individuals distracts from the real story, implicating the institutions that financed and profited from fraudulent sub prime lending. These firms recklessly put trillions of dollars and the world economy at risk.

No war with Korea! For a made-in-Canada foreign policy of peace!

Central Executive Committee, Young Communist League of Canada
May 2010

Canadian youth and students should be quick to reject and denounce the war mongering stance taken by the Harper Conservative government with regards to the crisis forming between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea since the Mach 26th sinking of the Cheonan naval vessel.

In a statement released on May 24th, Harper announced the government’s intention to impose harsh sanctions, to support South Korea in a “decisive response,” which did not rule out military action. The statement also condemned the DPRK for “egregious violation of international law,” and “blatant disregard for international law,” statements are darkly ironic coming from a Prime Minister and a government implicated in war crimes and torture in Afghanistan.

Harper’s hypocrisy becomes further evident when considering the recent attack by apartheid Israel against the Freedom Flotilla which left several dead and dozens more wounded. The attack on the Flotilla, a group of unarmed boats bringing desperately needed humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, has incited no condemnation from the Conservative government. While quick to condemn supposed attacks and violations of international law by the DPRK, Harper is unwilling to criticize violations by Israel against the Palestinian people or their supporters.

Little evidence exists to implicate the DPRK in the sinking of the Cheonan. In fact South Korean sources, including the Defense Ministry, have made statements that no North Korean vessels in the area at the time of the attack. Despite this, the South Korean regime, backed by Washington, have presented the case as open and shut with the DPRK implicated in the crime.
The current Korean crisis is part and parcel of the cold war waged by US imperialism, South Korean ruling class, and their allies against the DPRK since the armistice which “ended” the Korean War in 1953. The demonization of the DPRK as part of an “Axis of Evil,” and as a “threat,” is ludicrous when placed beside the reality of the DPRK, a poor country struggling for survival against hostility and economic sabotage by the US and its allies. The goal of this campaign is to achieve the total collapse of the socio-economic system in place in the DPRK and the reunification of Korean on a capitalist basis under US hegemony. It is also interesting to note that fortunes are to be made in arms contracts by keeping tensions high in the region, and that these tensions provide the only excuse for the presence of thousands of US troops in the region including in South Korea and Japan.

Harper’s slavish parroting of Washington’s warmongering threatens to entangle Canada in a new military conflagration on the Korean peninsula. Such a conflagration would be an imperialist war for the benefit of multinational corporations and arms dealers which could cost innumerable lives.

The Canadian working class, youth and students, must categorically reject Canadian involvement in aggression towards the DPRK as they rejected Canadian involvement in the invasion of Iraq. What is needed is an independent and made-in-Canada foreign policy based on peace, disarmament, friendship, and sovereignty. It’s time to run the war mongering Harper Tories out of office and to fight for a new future for youth which is not based on imperialist war and plunder.

YCL BC eBulletin June 2010

To read the June 2010 eBulletin click here.

To subscribe to the eBulletin e-mail ycl_bc@ycl-ljc.ca