BY STEVE PENNER AND HEIDI ROSE
TORONTO - "Ottawa's chauvinist offensive against Quebec is not only directed against the right of Quebecois to freely decide their own future. It is also aimed at deepening divisions between working people in predominantly French-speaking Quebec and those in the rest of Canada. This would strengthen the capitalist rulers' offensive against the wages, social programs, and democratic rights of working people," explained Michel Dugré, a Montreal garment worker and member of the Central Committee of the Communist League. He was addressing the Militant Labor Forum here October 13, where he was the featured speaker.
Dugré pointed to the massive propaganda campaign unleashed by the federalist forces in Canada. In Quebec the campaign aims to make working people fear the consequences of voting yes in the October 30 referendum, which calls for giving Quebec "exclusive powers to pass its laws, levy all its taxes, and conclude all its treaties" in the framework of a "new economic and political partnership" with the rest of Canada.
Full-page ads warn workers that a "yes" vote would mean 90,000 workers losing their jobs.
In the rest of Canada, workers are incited against Quebec as the big-business press hammers away at the theme that a yes vote will lead to the breakup of the country and a severe economic crisis. Dugré pointed to articles blaming Quebec for everything from the falling Canadian dollar to stock market instability.
He explained that Quebecois were being scapegoated for an economic crisis which, far from being a consequence of the referendum, is a result of the deepening worldwide depression of the capitalist system. Workers in Quebec are facing the same assault on their living conditions as other working people across the country, he pointed out. Moreover, some of the biggest protests against hospital closings, tuition fee increases, and attacks on democratic rights have taken place in Quebec.
"That's because the fight in defense of workers' rights in Quebec is completely intertwined with the fight against the national oppression of Quebecois. It's a fight for dignity, justice, and equality. The referendum reflects the continuing desire of working people and youth across Quebec to end the discrimination and injustice they face as a nationality," Dugré stated.
This systematic discrimination is completely hidden in the debate on the referendum among capitalist politicians. French-speaking Quebecois have been oppressed for more than 150 years on the basis of language, and continue to face discrimination in jobs, education, and health care.
"For example," Dugré said, "despite major gains by Quebecois over the past half century in closing the wage gap with workers whose first language is English, they still earn 16 percent less. Quebec has the greatest numbers living below the poverty line of any province, and the highest level of illiteracy. The infant mortality rate is higher among those whose mother tongue is French.
"The Canadian constitution imposes a school system in Quebec that is divided along religious lines and is profoundly undemocratic" he noted.
One participant asked whether the Quebec government gaining greater powers "would be a blow against national oppression, given that the Quebec government is capitalist and has no perspective for fighting against national oppression."
Dugré argued that working people should support a yes vote, regardless of the character of Quebec's current government. "Firstly, it's a question of the right of Quebecois, an oppressed nation, to have the powers needed to combat national oppression, regardless of the character or intentions of the current government. Moreover, the decades- long fight by Quebecois to win these powers is at the center of the fight against national oppression, and is the concrete expression today of the fight for national self- determination. Winning these demands won't bring national oppression to an end. But it will unquestionably strengthen the fight to do so."
Dugré urged participants at the meeting to campaign to get out the truth about the Quebec referendum, and win support for the "yes" vote in workplaces, neighborhoods, and political meetings.
Heidi Rose is a member of International Association of Machinists Local 1295. Steve Penner is a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 5338.