BY VICTORIA MARSHAL
This column is written and edited by the Young Socialists (YS), an international organization of young workers, students, and other youth fighting for socialism. For more information about the YS write to: Young Socialists, 1573 N. Milwaukee, P.O. Box #478, Chicago, Ill. 60622. Tel: (773) 772-0551. Compuserve: 105162,605

TORONTO - "We need more Cubas around the world," explained Evelyn Encalada during a discussion on Ernesto Che Guevara and the Cuban revolution at York University in Toronto. Cosponsored by LACSA (Latin American and Caribbean Studies Association) and the Young Socialists, the meeting on October 16 featured Young Socialists leader Maria Isabel LeBlanc, from Montreal, who is on tour in Toronto to build the upcoming founding convention of the Young Socialists from October 31 - November 2 in Montreal.

A student who is a teacher's assistant and member of CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) picked up a subscription to the Militant at the York meeting to follow developments in Cuba and the labor movement. The YS and Communist League set up literature tables on campus in the days leading up to the meeting where several students signed up for more information on the YS and bought two Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions, one Militant subscription, a copy of the Marxist magazine New International no. 8 on Che Guevara, and a copy of Pombo: A man of Che's `Guerrilla.'

The next day YS members participated in the Day of Action labor protest in Windsor, Ontario. This was one of a series of actions organized by the Ontario Federation of Labor (OFL) are to protest the cuts by the provincial government. This time some 20,000 workers and youth mobilized on October 17 to shutdown three major auto plants, post offices, bus service, and schools.

On the following night, two YS leaders, LeBlanc and Mick O'Donnell, spoke at a Militant Labor Forum preceded by a successful benefit dinner that raised more than $200 for the tour. LeBlanc began the forum stating that "in just 13 days, the YS will be having their founding convention... One of the key questions before the convention will be the fight for Quebec independence and its place in the struggle for a workers and farmers government in Canada."

After the forum, Fabian García, who had met the YS at the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students in Havana this summer, asked to join the YS because, "I want to learn more about socialism and get more involved. You can't just wait for freedom to get here. You have to be active and do something." In addition to García, three other young people at the forum signed up to go to the convention, including Kevin Austin, a high school student and YS member in Woodstock, Ontario.

On October 19 the YS organized a class on the struggle for Quebec independence and the socialist revolution in Canada. After the class, Andrew Souran, another high school student from Woodstock, joined the YS.

The tour in Toronto is part of three convention-building regional tours organized by the YS in Canada to recruit young fighters to communism and participate in the YS convention.

A regional tour took place in Vancouver October 11 - 13 where the YS chapter organized a class on a section of the book The Changing Face of U.S. Politics: Working-Class Politics and the Trade Unions, by Jack Barnes.

They also participated in a rally on the border between the United States and Canada where 150 demonstrators demanded freedom and justice for Native American fighter Leonard Peltier who has been in prison since the late 1970s on framed- up charges. A subscription to the Militant and a pamphlet on Genocide against the Indians were sold at the rally.

YS members have participated in several conferences taking place in commemoration of the political legacy of Che Guevara. Sixty people came to one conference in Quebec City. Carlos Catalán, a YS leader from Montreal, spoke alongside a student leader from Coalition Y (a student group for the right to education), a representative of the Federation of Cuban Women on tour in Quebec, and speakers from Latin American countries now living in Quebec.

Many youth visited the YS literature table during the conference, buying more than 20 copies of the Militant, Perspectiva Mundial, and several pamphlets on Cuba, An Action Program to Confront the Coming Economic Crisis, and Lenin's The Right of Nations to Self-Determination. Several are interested in attending the convention. Three young people are interested in joining the YS there, including two Quebecois.

Conetl Tonatiuh García Ramírez, a YS member in Quebec- City who helped organize the conference, also organized a YS class on Che Guevara the following day.

The final regional tour is scheduled for Montreal and Quebec City on the weekend of October 24 - October 26.  
 
 
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