YCL BC Convention 2010 - Discussion Bulletin #1

The first discussion bulletin for our upcoming BC Provincial Convention is out now! Check out the following link to read the bulletin. In this bulletin you will find the Call to Convention and other convention discussion documents such as the Political Report and the Plan of Work.

The Provincial Committee encourages all YCLers to read these documents, to discuss them in
their clubs, and to submit to the upcoming bulletins. Submissions to the discussion bulletin can be changes, or additions to the convention documents, resolutions for discussion/adoption at convention, or simply your thoughts on a topic that you would like to see League.

Submissions should be sent to ycl_bc@ycl-ljc.ca

Finally, now is the time to start thinking about your attendance at convention. This year convention is followed up immediately by our annual summer camp at the same location. Members are encouraged to do whatever they can to make sure they are able to attend these events. E-mail us if you have concerns or need assistance to help ensure you can attend. Guests are also welcome to attend both events by invite. If you are interested in attending, please contact us to register.

Read Bulletin #1 here!
http://www.ycl-ljc.ca/images/bcconvention2010/bulletin1.pdf

May 2010 eBulletin

Follow the link to this months YCL BC eBulletin. So be added to the list, e-mail ycl_bc@ycl-ljc.ca

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/445432/1adc218ff5/1623005193/6c0c9d641e/

Militant Greetings for May Day 2010

Central Executive Committee, Young Communist League of Canada

The Young Communist League of Canada extends greetings of solidarity to the working people of Canada, and especially to young workers, on May 1st – International Workers Day, which commemorates the anniversary of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, when police opened fire on workers protesting for an eight hour working day.

Today young workers must consider what kind of future is offered to them by our current capitalist socio-economic system.

Late last year, youth unemployment hit a 30 year high. While media reports trumpet “economic recovery,” in reality there is recovery for the capitalists but not for the vast majority of youth, women, aboriginal peoples, and workers. Unemployment remains high and those jobs which do exist are increasingly “McJobs” with minimal pay, no benefits or job security, and part time or casual hours. The process of deindustrialization is worsening this situation rapidly, while eroding Canadian sovereignty. Major ecological problems, especially global warming, are getting worse. And if the solution gets in the way of the drive for profits, it is not considered.

To the unemployed and underemployed youth, the government offers no jobs except the dangerous lure of military recruitment for education or a career. Canadian involvement in the disastrous imperialist occupation of Afghanistan has cost well over $18 billion dollars while Canada’s military budget is expected to run over $21 billion this year alone. 142 Canadian soldiers have died as have well over 32,000 Afghans. War is no solution to the problems faced by young workers.

Meanwhile, Federal and Provincial governments continue to carry out an all-out offensive on working and living conditions at the behests of their corporate masters. The recent Harper budget is a case-in-point. The Harper Conservative budget, passed with the complicity of the Liberals, provides for more of the same – tax breaks for the rich, and more spending on war, while cutting social programs, and ignoring the need for spending on education, environmental protection, job creation and other needs of working people.

All this part of a general offensive of capitalism against the interests of the working class, aimed at maximizing profits and salvaging this decrepit and crisis-ridden system through imperialist adventures abroad, lowering of working and living conditions at home, and eliminating the hard won victories of the past. In other words, this is an offensive against the future of the youth.

As in 1886, today the only path forward is struggle. All other paths lead only to an ever-worsening future for the country, and the world, that today’s youth will inherit. We salute the struggle of workers and students in Quebec, where protests have sprung up against the reactionary Charest Liberal budget, including one demo of 75,00 workers and another of 15,000 people including many students. We support the growing demand for a general strike. We stand in solidarity with workers who are fighting for their livelihood, such as the Sudbury Steelworkers who are defending their jobs from the union breaking efforts of Vale Inco. We note the efforts of young workers who have fought in campaigns for increased minimum wages, better on the job safety, and more.

What is needed is to unite all the various threads of resistance against the anti-worker offensive, to defeat it, and to reverse it in order to go on the offensive for progressive reforms which will benefit the working class including young workers.

Ultimately, we stand firm in our analysis that the capitalist system cannot be made to serve the interests of working people. It cannot cherish nature. Only socialism, a system in which the working people hold all economic and political power, can provide a real future for youth and students in Canada and the world. This is the future we fight for.

Jobs not bombs!
People not profits!
The youth are the future, the future is socialism!

YCL BC eBulletin April 2010

To read the April 2010 eBulletin online, visit http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/445432/1f210aafcf/1623005047/6c0c9d641e/

Please e-mail ycl_bc@ycl-ljc.ca to subscribe.

Reject the 2010 BC Liberal budget! Raise the minimum wage and reduce tuition fees!

March 2010

The BC Liberal government released its budget on March 2nd, a budget that leaves much to be desired from the working people of British Columbia. Finance Minister Colin Hansen’s remark that “This budget is about families” must have been referring to their disenfranchisement at the hands of the most destructive Provincial government in the lifetime of young people today. Young families, students, and young workers all face a heightened financial threat because of the backwards fiscal planning of Gordon Campbell and his cronies.

For families already pushed well below the poverty line there are spending cuts across the board from low-income housing to medical services. BC Hydro rates will go up 9.11 percent this year and are scheduled to increase by similar amounts over the next three years regardless of the fact that the BC Liberal government sells energy the United States of America for a reduced rate. With the incoming HST working families cannot escape massive cost increases, cost increase which will sink the people of BC into further debt. The privatization of power must be reversed and Oil and Gas must be nationalized for the benefit of all British Columbians!

Young workers continue to see no movement on the minimum wage. BC now has the lowest minimum wage of any province or territory in Canada. Increased user fees in transit and other government programs further push the cost of the capitalist economic crisis and the Olympic party for the rich onto working people. The YCL calls for reduction of user fees and increased transit services!

Students saw a 28% hit to StudentAid BC after BC Liberal election promises not to do just that. This year the government revenue from tuition fees will exceed corporate income tax by 200 million dollars. BC was already ranked the lowest for non-refundable student financial assistance in the country. Drop fees, education shouldn’t be a debt sentence!

The Young Communist League calls for the immediate reversal of the imposition of the Harmonized Sales Tax and the BC Hydro rate hikes. Minimum wage must be set to $16 and marked to inflation to ensure a living wage for all British Columbians. The so-called training wage must be abolished. Tuition fees must be reduced and a provincial system of grants must replace the backwards student loan system costing Canadians over 13 billion dollars in debt.

These policies are not just pipe dreams if workers, youth, and students are willing to stand up and fight to make them reality. The massive resistance to the anti-people measures of the social democratic PASOK government in Greece, which have included cuts aimed at workers wages, holidays, bonuses, and other benefits, demonstrate the way forward for all those who wish to protect and improve the quality of life of working people. The global offensive aimed at making us pay for the global capitalist economic crisis can only be stopped by mass, united, militant struggle in which youth and students must be a key component.

YCL Vancouver upcoming events

1. Anti-Racist Demo March 21st.
2. Left Film Night - Capitalism: A Love Story
3. Discussion meeting for 25th Central Convention documents
4. Cultural Night Fundraiser
5. Educational: Historical Materialism


1. Anti-Racist Demo March 21st

For the first time in almost a decade neo-nazi racists will attempt to hold a march in the lower mainland. The YCL adds its voice to all those who are calling for participation in a counter-demonstration against this despicable affront to the rights and interests of our multi-national, ethnically diverse people. The YCL will be participating in the demonstration against the nazis and will be issuing a statement on the issue. For more information please read on. The first message below is from local anti-racist activists while the second one is the call to the neo-nazi march from Tavis Annan of "Advocates for White Civil Rights."

------------------------------------------

For the first time in about ten years, a white racist neo-Nazi group is
planning to hold a public march in the Vancouver area. This "White Pride
March" will take place on Sunday, March 21, which is also the
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The
United Nations declared this date in 1966, to mark the sixth anniversary
of the Sharpeville massacre of anti-apartheid demonstrators by South
African police and troops. White racist groups in North America have
tried in recent years to claim this date for their own purposes. In
Calgary, the "Aryan Guard" group has held rallies on this date for the
past 3-4 years, usually with a couple of dozen participants. Opposing
groups have been much larger, but the Aryan Guard has been protected by
the Calgary police at these rallies. The Aryan Guard is linked to
serious crimes, such as an attempted firebombing of the home of two
leading Anti-Racist Action members in Calgary, physical attacks against
members of racialized communites, etc. The Aryan Guard has recently
divided; one leading member (Kyle McKee) is charged with attempted
murder after throwing a pipe bomb into the home of two other members.

Here in the Vancouver area, there have been several recent cases of men
wearing Nazi and racist items who have attacked people on the street. It
is possible that these incidents are linked to the sudden emergence of
this "white pride" group.

The first message below is from a neo-Nazi Facebook group which is being
used to organize the racist march. Anti-racists are seeking more
detailed information about the exact times and places. But it appears
that the "White Pride" event will begin at 11 am, March 21, from the
Braid Skytrain station in New Westminster.
The message at the bottom is from a local Anti-Racist Action Facebook
group, giving details of a "fun, safe and positive"
counter-demonstration at the same time and place.

***********
White Pride Day March Through 3 Cities
Take part in the biggest White Pride March BC has ever seen
Date: Sunday, 21 March 2010
Time: 12:00 - 22:00
Location: Coquitlam-Burnaby-Vancouver BC Canada
Email: travis_annan@live.ca l.peacock@live.ca

We will march through Coquitlam, Burnaby and Vancouver on MArch/ 21st/
2010. This has never been done before, so we will make it an event to
remember. Everybody who believes in White Civil Rights are welcome to
join in on the beginning of the revolution. There are far too many
details for me to list on the group page, some I dont wish to divulge on
the internet, so e-mail me and I will make certain that you receive all
the information you require. After the March we will feast and celebrate
The one holiday devoted to the Beautiful, Wonderful, Masterful White Race.

For more info, Check out our website http://webstarts.com/WalkforWhitePride

Thank you Ahead of time.
Our Race Needs you.
Travis Annan

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=left+film+night&init=quick#!/event.php?eid=361527732338

2. Left Film Night - Capitalism: A Love Story

LEFT FILM NIGHT

Sunday, March 21, 7 pm
Centre for Socialist Education, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver
(Note: Pasta Dinner at 5 pm, see below for details)

"CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY"

In Michael Moore’s latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, political, corporate, and financial elites combine forces to channel obscene wealth to the rich at the expense of the working class. Moore focuses on the bailout of the U.S. financial sector by taxpayers, and scandals such as “dead peasant” life insurance policies taken out by corporations on their own workers. The pillaging by the U.S. ruling class is revealed in bleak, stunning, even hilarious detail. Those who missed the film during its short run in the theatres last fall have another chance to catch it at Left Film Night.

No admission charge, but contributions towards our costs are welcome. Coffee and refreshments available.

Our annual Left Film Night Pasta Dinner will take place before the Left Film Night on Sunday, March 21 (not the last Sunday of the month, for a change). Doors open at 5, dinner (vegetarian option available) will be served at 5:30, tickets $12, proceeds to the People's Voice Fund Drive. The film will be screened at 7 pm following the dinner.

Left Film Nights are presented by the Centre for Socialist Education, Young Communist League, and the Latino and Vancouver East Clubs of the Communist Party of Canada. Call 604-255-2041 or email for further information.

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=left+film+night&init=quick#!/group.php?gid=8947029929&ref=tshttp://www.facebook.com/search/?q=left+film+night&init=quick#!/group.php?gid=8947029929&ref=ts


3. Discussion meeting for 25th Central Convention documents

Join us for a special meeting of the Vancouver YCL aimed at opening up discussion on the documents of our upcoming 25th Central Convention to be held this May in Toronto.

March 26th, 6pm, Centre for Socialist Education (706 Clark Dr.)

For the full draft political documents please visit: http://www.ycl-ljc.ca/index.php/en/ideas/central-convention/25th-central-convention.html

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/edit/index.php?eid=368683309783#!/event.php?eid=368683309783


4. Cultural Night Fundraiser

Come join us for a night of working class culture and fun at the Centre for Socialist Education on April 16th. Live music, food, drink, and good company!

A fundraiser for the Young Communist League of Canada, Vancouver Club. More details to come as they are finalized closer to the event.

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=170610470581#!/event.php?eid=365693458193&ref=mf


5. Educational: Historical Materialism

Join us for the first of our upcoming sessions looking at historical materialism. Reading material will be Historical Materialism by Maurice Cornforth.

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

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=170610470581#!/event.php?eid=365078538223&ref=mf

All out to stop fascism in BC!

YCL BC Committee, March 2010

On March 21st, 1960, South African police opened fire on a peaceful demonstration against the apartheid pass law. Sixty nine protesters were killed. In 1966, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was established by the United Nations General Assembly and has been observed around the world ever since on March 21st.

This year, a white supremacist neo-nazi group calling itself “Advocates for White Civil Rights” will attempt to hijack this day for the purposes of purveying their racist ideology. For the first time in almost a decade, fascists will be marching in the lower mainland. The YCL BC calls attention to the dangerous precedent that may be set if this despicable display is not stopped resolutely. For example, in Calgary, another racist organization call the “Aryan Guard” has been responsible for hate demonstrations and even violence against anti-racist activists, Communist Party members, and its own former members. We call on youth and students to join in the counter-demonstration being organized against this affront to the rights and interests of the people of Canada, a multi-national, ethnically diverse country.

The YCL opposes all manifestations of racism, national chauvinism, and xenophobia. We recognize that these manifestations are part and parcel of the capitalist system which perpetuates and utilizes these and other divisions within the working class to maximize profits and maintain their class rule. We fight for a socialist Canada where these social ills can finally be eliminated once and for all. We also call for the following immediate reforms:

• A ban on racist, chauvinist, and xenophobic propaganda

• The enactment of legislation to outlaw neo-nazi, white supremacist and fascist organizations

• Ensure the enforcement of affirmative action programs in employment and education

• Provide employment for all, regardless of nationality or ethnicity

• Eliminate racist immigration and temporary foreign worker policies

• All government agencies and businesses which turn a blind eye to, or promote, discriminatory practices must be severely punished

This March 21st, the YCL BC remembers the many young Canadians who courageously fought against racism, national chauvinism, and fascism both here at home, and overseas in conflicts such as the Spanish Civil War and World War Two. We note the efforts of youth and students across Canada who campaigned for an end to the apartheid system in South Africa, and who fight today against Israeli apartheid and for freedom for the Palestinian people. It is clear that the struggle against racism and fascism has not yet been won and must go on. All out to stop racism and fascism! For unity of the working class, youth, and students, across all national and ethnic lines!