On the weekend of October 26-28, the Ontario New Democratic Youth (ONDY) will be having their convention in Toronto. Coming after the failure of the NDP to make significant gains in the Ontario election, this convention marks an important opportunity for the youth to take stock of recent events and work out an action plan for the future. Fightback activists will be working hard at this convention to ensure that NDP youth adopt socialist policies that can unite working class youth and students in militant activism. These are the only policies that can build a strong ONDY that can act as a lever to turn the NDP away from narrow parliamentarism and towards becoming a mass movement.
There are two big ideas within social democracy. On the one side you have those who believe that you must moderate your ideas for fear of alienating the so-called middle classes. That it is sufficient to be one inch to the left of the Liberals and that politics only occurs in Parliament or during elections. A large bureaucracy has been built in order to service this aim. Some even join the party with the careerist plan of securing a position within this bureaucracy and one day maybe getting into the House of Commons where “politics” occurs.
On the other side are the people who look at the injustices of present society and are forced into political activity to right these wrongs. Paid positions are far less important than making real change in the lives of workers, youth, women, immigrants and other marginalized groups. These people join to end the war in Afghanistan, to fight for free education, to save working class communities from the jobs lost in the manufacturing crisis and to use militant methods to eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia. These people understand that real politics happens on the streets, in the communities, in schools and workplaces, and not just in the seat of government. Being able to mobilize thousands of people is the way for the people to end the injustices that afflict them.
“But you have to get elected to make any change!”
Such is the argument used against any socialist proposal that will significantly redistribute wealth and power. So-called, “moderates” fear that these demands will provoke the opposition of corporate interests and their paid representatives in the media. It is ironic that the chief proponents of this view, that have managed to gain control of the top posts in the party in the recent period, have been the least capable of winning electoral success. At the same time we have seen a rise in abstentionism, especially amongst youth, the poor and immigrants who would benefit the most from socialist policies. This is because watering down the ideas so they are inoffensive to almost everybody means that the people who could be mobilized by these ideas see no reason to get involved. The only way to win, even in the narrow electoral sphere, is to adopt socialist policies that mobilize masses of people. The NDP needs to stop being a parliamentary machine where all of the effort is used to bolster the parliamentary caucus that has all the power. Instead the NDP needs to be a mass movement, with the democratic power at the base united around real reforms such as free education, full employment, equal pay for work of equal value, etc. and the caucus needs to service the needs of the base and of the movement. If you look at history, the times when real change occurs are the times when millions come out on the streets to defend their point of view.
James Connolly, the Irish revolutionary hero and martyr, expressed this point very well almost 100 years ago:
“Yet, although it may seem a paradox to say so, there is no party so incapable of achieving practical results as an orthodox political party; and there is no party so certain of placing moderate reforms to its credit as an extreme – a revolutionary party.
“The possessing classes will and do laugh to scorn every scheme for the amelioration of the workers so long as those responsible for the initiation of the scheme admit as justifiable the ‘rights of property’; but when the public attention is directed towards questioning the justifiable nature of those ‘rights’ in themselves, then the master class, alarmed for the safety of their booty, yield reform after reform – in order to prevent revolution.
“Moral – Don’t be ‘practical’ in politics. To be practical in that sense means that you have schooled yourself to think along the lines, and in the grooves those who rob you would desire you to think.”
Delegates to the Ontario New Democratic Youth convention, as well as NDP youth across the country, have to ask themselves what kind of youth movement do they want. ONDY will either be a training ground for those who want to get positions in the party bureaucracy, and will never rock the boat for fear that this will endanger their future career prospects, or ONDY will reorganize itself on an activist basis, will take part in campaigns such as those against the Afghan war, for a living wage, to give power to marginalized youth (such as those at Jane and Finch and Regent Park), and for decent jobs for unemployed youth. Supporters of Fightback have proposed a number of resolutions at this year’s ONDY convention in order to begin a debate around the future direction of ONDY and the NDP. Those resolutions are on supporting the Venezuelan revolution, saving jobs threatened by the manufacturing crisis and most importantly for an activist NDP. We have also presented constitutional amendments designed to increase the involvement of working class youth in ONDY. We encourage all delegates to support these resolutions, but above all we encourage everybody to get active and put these resolutions into practice. Resolutions are just words on a page unless united with activism. Please join us in fighting for a socialist society which brings real change for workers and youth.
Cora James
Julian Benson
Adam Fulsom
Jennie Ernewein
Venezuela
Whereas the ONDY has previously stated its support for the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela and for the democratic mass movement of the people that is its basis
Whereas the formation of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) represents a major step forward for this mass movement and for the Revolution
Whereas the PSUV is a democratic and grassroots organization with a membership of 5.2 million Venezuelans and shows the ability of the ideas of democratic socialism to mobilize ordinary people to change society
Whereas Venezuela is also going through a constitutional amendment process that is set to drastically improve the lives of Venezuela workers by introducing a new series of reforms, including reducing the average working week to 32 hours
Therefore Be It Resolved that the ONDY recognize the PSUV as a fraternal organization and formally declare its solidarity with the organization in the form of a letter signed by the Co-chairs of the ONDY that can be delivered to a representative of the Bolivarian government
Be it Further Resolved that the ONDY also recognize and support the constitutional amendment process in Venezuela as being in the interests of democracy, socialism and the Venezuelan people
Be it Further Resolved that the ONDY reaffirm its support for the Hands Off Venezuela campaign that is working to defend and raise awareness about the Bolivarian Revolution
Save Manufacturing Jobs
Whereas, due to the machinations of the current economic system, almost 300,000 well paid, unionized jobs have been lost in the manufacturing sector in the province of Ontario in the last four years,
And whereas the loss of these jobs causes a severe blow to the standard of living (including the average wage) of all Ontario workers, both past and present,
And whereas the ability of Venezuelans to reverse the closure of hundreds of plants through workers’ control and nationalization, demonstrates the capability of the working class to run their own workplaces,
And whereas the Scarborough plant occupation, as well as the mass demonstrations in protest of the closures in Ontario, show the readiness of the Ontario working class to fight against the dictates of the market economy,
Therefore be it resolved that the ONDY give its support to these plant occupations and demonstrations by mobilizing youth, and sending messages of solidarity,
And therefore be it further resolved that the ONDY call on the NDP to adopt a policy that calls for the nationalization, under direct workers’ control, of all plants facing closure in an effort to save manufacturing jobs from a market economy that is no longer able to sustain them,
And therefore be it further resolved that the ONDY call on the NDP to adopt a policy that calls for any plants which are still in operation, and occupied by their workers, also to be nationalized under workers’ control to save them from being shut down.
For An Activist NDP
Whereas the NDP understands that the roots of democracy do not rest on parliamentary maneuvering, but in empowering regular people with political thought and action,
And whereas the NDP strives to be more than a mere political party, but rather a mass movement,
And whereas the best use of a parliamentary caucus by a party in opposition is not to make deals with other parties that have nothing in common with NDP values, but rather to act as a platform to voice the views of the NDP, and to act as a tool which allows working people to have their voices heard in parliament,
Therefore be it resolved that the ONDY work to actively link movements of protest, such as the anti-war movement, the movement against factory closures, and the environmental movement, with the NDP’s parliamentary caucus.
And therefore be it further resolved that, while the ONDY recognizes the importance of the parliamentary party, the caucus is secondary to the mass movement and should be made subject to the needs and voices of the wider movement of working people,
And therefore be it further resolved that the ONDY pressure the caucus to provide a voice to individuals who are left outside of parliamentary procedure, i.e. to establish grassroots activist forums, to draft bills that reflect the specific demands of the movement, and/or to allow for the democratic participation of rank-and-file party members in the actions of the caucus.
Comments on Proposed ONDY Constitutional Amendments by Supporters of Fightback (www.marxist.ca)
We, the undersigned supporters of Fightback (www.marxist.ca), support the general amendments, and the consultation process, that is being proposed for ONDYCON 2007. We believe that the proposal to build clubs and give more power to the council is an excellent step towards grassroots democracy. However, we also believe there has been a major oversight in the new, proposed structure of ONDY. Namely, student youth receive far more attention than working youth, and this oversight could exclude the majority of youth from major decisions and activity. There are multiple references to student youth and campus organizing in the preamble and the proposed amendments, but both of these sections hardly touch upon working youth (defined as youth earning a wage or youth seeking work). We are not opposed to organizing amongst students and we believe that this work should continue and be strengthened. However, let us not forget that while university students represent an important concentration of youth, they do not make up more than 40% of the youth population. The majority of young people are struggling in the labour force, and the ONDY also needs to be a voice of working class youth if there is to be any significant change in society. Therefore, we have drafted four recommendations:
1. The formation of a “Working Youth Coordinator” executive position.
2. The formation of a Working Youth Committee.
3. Equal time for Student and Working Youth issues at the annual Activist Conference.
4. Modification of the definition of Riding Club to enable more effective organizing amongst working youth.
RATIONALE
1. The formation of a “Working Youth Coordinator” executive position.
- The duties of the “Working Youth Coordinator,” supported by the Working Youth Committee, would be:
i. To organize both unionized and non-unionized youth
ii. To focus on issues particularly affecting working class youth, e.g. the minimum wage, shift work, health and safety, union organizing rights, etc.
iii. To build links between young workers, ONDY and the labour movement. - We propose that the position of “Working Youth Coordinator” spend considerable time on the needs of non-unionized youth (especially helping these youth to form or join unions) as only 10% of working youth are organized in trade unions. The position should also encompass the role of “Labour Liaison” present in other NDP Youth Executives (eg. NDYC/BCYND). In this way the position will represent the needs off all working youth and not just those in unions.
- One possible objection to the Working Youth Coordinator position is that it would make the executive too large. We do not believe that the bureaucratic question of the size of the ONDY executive should get in the way of the vitally important job of organizing the 60% of youth who work or are seeking work. We do not believe that adding this position will be an undue burden on the executive. However, if the ONDY membership decides that the addition of this position causes the executive to be too large, then we ask that the position of “Working Youth Coordinator” take precedence over other positions
2. The formation of a Working Youth Committee.
- We believe that working class youth do not have a decent amount of representation within the ONDY
- Therefore, the Working Youth Committee would exist to provide a place for working youth, or youth seeking work, to gather and discuss the issues that affect the working class, and to propose legislation that relates to working youth
3. Equal time for Student and Working Youth issues at the annual Activist Conference.
- The preamble for the proposed activist conference states that the conference will largely be devoted to campus organization. We believe this ignores the 60% of youth not in university and therefore propose that the Activist Conference should give equal time to the discussion of both on-campus and off-campus (i.e. workplace) organizing and activity
4. Modification of the definition of Riding Club to enable more effective organizing amongst working youth.
- At the moment, ONDY allows the following Riding Clubs: ethnic, campus, labour (labour councils and union locals) and riding. Riding clubs are the only clubs that the majority of non-union working youth can join and the constitution is silent on the question of whether multi-riding clubs are allowed
- Limiting the formation of riding clubs to one riding may hamper the activity of working youth, as they may be spread out across multiple risings within a single city or town
- Therefore, to aid the formation of these clubs, we propose that multi-riding clubs be allowed, which then may split into individual ridings as they grow in the future
AMENDMENTS
To be negated from Proposal #6:
To be replaced with:
This Activist conference would devote equal time towards student and working youth issues.
To be added to Article V:
To be added to Article VI:
i) To help organize unionized and non-unionized, young workers into ONDY clubs
ii) To help non-unionized, young workers in organizing or joining unions at their workplace
iii) To advocate specifically for working youth issues, e.g. the minimum wage, shift work, union organizing rights, etc.
iv) To act as the chairperson for the Working Youth Committee
To be added to Article VII:
See also:
- Ontario Liberals win big majority, but already on shaky ground by Camilo Cahis (12 Oct. 2007)
- Stéphane Dion: Just what the doctor ordered…for the NDP! by Fightback editorial board (27 Jan. 2007)
- Eyewitness report from NDP Federal Convention: Rank-and-file push leadership leftwards by Julian Benson (19 Sep. 2006)
- Militant action wins! A critical look at Ontario politics by Camilo Cahis (14 Sep. 2006)
- 2006 NDP Federal Convention: Activist, socialist NDP needed by Fightback editorial board (5 Sep. 2006)
- To defeat the Conservatives, the NDP must mobilize the working class by Fightback editorial board (4 May 2006)
