Vol. 73/No. 38      October 5, 2009

The event, a commemoration of the thousands of Tamils killed by the Sri Lankan army last spring, was organized by Tamil organizations here. It featured expositions on the history of the struggle of the Tamil people against national oppression and for self-determination.

“On behalf of Michel Prairie, the Communist League candidate for mayor of Montreal, and myself, I call on Ottawa to open its doors to the thousands of Tamils being held in virtual concentration camps in Sri Lanka today,” said Bernardo.

The next day Bernardo joined Prairie at a campaign rally and celebration of the opening of the Communist League’s new campaign headquarters in central Montreal. The election takes place November 1.

“The talk of recovery by government spokespeople, central bankers, and economists doesn’t square with the reality that hundreds of thousands of working people are living through,” said Bernardo, describing the growing loss of jobs in manufacturing, construction, and the forest industry.

“There are important examples of resistance to these worsening conditions,” she said, pointing to the major strike by 3,000 nickel miners centered in Sudbury against the huge Vale Inco company, the recent one-day strike by 5,000 Montreal blue collar city workers, and the determination of locked-out newspaper workers at the Journal de Montréal after months on the picket line.

“Ottawa is putting enormous resources into the imperialist war in Afghanistan with the support of all parties in Parliament under the guise of defending women’s rights there and so-called Canadian values,” said Prairie. “Domestically this war drive is reflected in intensifying attacks against the democratic rights of working people through increased use of imprisonment without charges, secret courts, electronic monitoring, house arrests, and other measures—all justified by their ‘war on terrorism.’”

“Our campaign calls for the immediate withdrawal of Canada’s imperialist troops from Afghanistan,” he said. “Working people need to take political power in order to reorganize society from top to bottom in the interests of workers and working farmers.”

Norton Sandler, a leader of the Socialist Workers Party in the United States, also spoke.

Over the September 19-20 weekend, campaign supporters successfully completed getting signatures for ballot status for Prairie and Bernardo, collecting more than double the number required.  
 
 
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