Clayton gets it! Listen to this video at the PSAC rally outside the Calgary convention of the Conservative Party of Canada. Here are his words from his full 11 minute speech: On the matter of Workers in the Extractive Industries Sector (Energy, Forestry & Mining): in my opinion this fight against #corporatepower is not about the workers...our people are in a state of economic blackmail by these companies and the policy approval, oversight and enforcement legal regime that they are self-managing due to a lack of government oversight, this is especially prevalent in places like the Alberta #tarsands and now everywhere in a post Bill C-45 era. If presented with options I do not believe our Peoples would choose to gain their livelihood from poisoning our water, earth, air and self ....they would rather have those sacred things remain healthy, so that they could continue be able to sustain our kids forever.I do think that the fight against #corporatepower should target the corporate CEOs, corporate boards, shareholders and the banks that finance them thru an economic paradigm that tell us its ok to sacrifice people, the commons, our values and everything under grandfather Sun at the alter of irresponsible resource development & economic policy. This economic system allows these individuals like individual/institutional shareholder, CEOs & their corporate boards most living thousands of miles away to continue to line their pockets. At the highest of levels of governance there are structural reinforcements that allow this uneven playing field to continue...(google whats wrong with Neo-Liberalism and the Free Market agenda)Our workers need and deserve a just transition to sustainable livelihood just as much as our First Nations deserve to be compensated for the harm externalized on their Peoples, air, water, lands and way of life and to have no meddling in our sovereignty & self determination over our lands, air and water...in the end what our movement is talking about is the radical redistribution of land and wealth. Land ownership and wealth that was amassed with stolen indian lands and slave labour thru gun boat diplomacy and in many instances outright genocide. Imagine what will happen when the workers of these lands they call Canada unite with the true owners (or in our view stewards) of these lands, Indigenous Peoples. Imagine what would happen when we converge the Collective rights of workers with our own considerable constitutionally protected collective rights & social movement tactical framework. Imagine the kind of political, economic, Social and spiritual/peoples power we could wield....Workers and Indigenous Nations And, finally, for those of us who are political junkies, consumed by the Senate spending scandals of the past few weeks and the recent revelations about Rob Fords pot scam, these are only symptoms of the political corruption that exists in our society today. Were going to have to dig a lot deeper if we want to find the real rot in our political system.Im talking here about the degree to which for-profit corporate power has crept into and has now captured our system of policy making and democratic governance in this country. All you have to do is to look at the policy making lobby system in Ottawa or the provincial capitals to see who really calls the shots in this country.Thats what happened with the two omnibus pieces of legislation --- Bills C-38 and C-45. During the crucial periods when these 2 super laws were winding their way through Parliament, the record shows that Big Oil companies like Suncor, pipeline companies like Enbridge, and their industry associations like CAPP were having high level meetings and communications with cabinet ministers and senior government personnel at a rate of 463 to 1 compared with environmental groups, let alone First Nations. Simply put, the system is politically corrupt. We dont live in a democratic state. Instead, were living in a corporate state or, more precisely, a petro state. Its time we recognized this together --- as Indigenous peoples, as workers, as environmentalists. Its time we realize that we cant fight and win these battles on our own. Its time we come out of our silos, link arms, and forge a common front against the tyranny of corporate power in this country.So, lets make a commitment here and now. Lets start building grassroots, community-based social movements to expose and confront the political corruption of corporate power that is undercutting, eroding and destroying the spirit of justice, sustainability and democracy in our common life. Let us begin Making Waves together with ever increasing power to bring about progressive social and system change! ~ Clayton Thomas-Muller ~
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 01:59:00 +0000
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