Metro mobilizations
200,000 march in Toronto to protest cuts
* Canada October saw strikes and a demonstration of about 200,000 people in Toronto to protest cuts to jobs and social programs in Ontario, Canada's largest province. These "Metro Days of Action" were among the most significant mass protests in Ontario history, and in recent Canadian history outside Julia Barnett and David McNally THE METRO DAYS OF ACTION WERE organized by the Metro Toronto Labour Council and the Metro Network for Social Justice. First Nations ("Indians"), social justice, anti-racist, feminist, student, and youth activists turned out, alongside trade unionists, parents, teachers, the unemployed and members of community-based organizations to participate in the two days of striking, picketing, leafleting and demonstrations.
At 2 AM on Friday, October 25th protesters gathered outside the Toronto Transit Commission yards and stations to shut down the transit system in defiance of a court injunction designed to limit effective picketing. This militant show of solidarity meant that by 7:00 AM management was forced to close down the system. By this time some 300 picket lines had been set up across the city at government offices, postal stations, universities and colleges, boards of education and other unionized workplaces. There was even a taxi cab convoy along Toronto's busiest highway slowing traffic to a halting speed. The streets of Toronto were empty as hundreds of thousands stayed away from work and school. Across Metro [the Toronto region] demonstrations occurred in several municipalities led by local "Fight Back Coalitions" which organized thousands of
By noon thousands of people gathered outside the Toronto Stock Exchange to voice their anger at the main backers of the Conservative government's ideological and economic agenda — big business. Hundreds of protesters stormed the Stock Exchange building, only to be greeted by the riot police and organized labour marshals. After speeches and chanting against a system that Socialist Challenge Fall 1996 • $3 • Activism in the women's movement • Quebec government maneuvres to co-opt labour movement • Defend the Cuban revolution from US hawks, not Canada's right to trade • Ontario's Harris govt. • /Box 4955, MPO, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B 4A6 <rbanner@ web.net> 20 International Viewpoint puts profits before people, protesters marched through Toronto's financial district in a marvellous display of self-organization. This march - without a show of central leadership or marshalling - - culminated in a major rally gathered at the Ministry of Education and Training where thousands showed up to voice their anger against cuts to education.
The following day over 850 buses brought protestors in from all over the province to join hundreds of community organizations and labour unions for a long and vibrant march. First Nations people and community groups led the way and for three hours a human chain with banners and placards filled a five kilometre march route making its way to Queen's Park, the seat of the Conservative (Tory) government. The mood was militant, empowering, festive and
If ever proof was needed that we have an opportunity to build a new mass protest movement, it was provided during the Metro Days of Action. Not just because of the large numbers of protests and rallies. Also through the upsurge of grassroots organizing that took place across Metro, as in community activists, workers, students, parents and others came together to organize and mobilize for strikes, rallies and demonstrations. These local committees and fightback coalitions represented the beginning of a new kind of rank and file democracy and solidarity as people discovered a sense of their own collective power.
Since the success of the Metro Days of Action, a major split has emerged in the Ontario labour movement. A group of unions (the "Pink Paper" group) has called for labour to abandon mass actions in favour of simple electoral support for the NDP, the social-democratic party in English-speaking Canada. These unions' mistrust mass labourcommunity mobilizations they do not control and wish to return to more traditional forms
The unions whose leaders want to continue some form of mass mobilization include the Canadian Auto Workers (which recently waged a largely successful strike against General Motors of Canada), the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and teachers unions, which have mobilized massively in the face of huge cuts to education.
But even these union leaderships have failed to offer a perspective for grassroots organizing and rank and file action intentions. The leaders of these unions still use bureaucratic methods that discourage selforganization. The far left argues for a sustained fight back that goes beyond calling people out every tew months (as the labour leadership has done so far). We need an escalating campaign built at the rank and file level and designed to culminate in a province wide general strike.
For this reason, many activists are trying to find ways to continue to build the grassroots committees that emerged in October. One promising initiative in this area has been the development of a group know as the Committee for a General Strike (CGS).
The CGS first came together in early October after labour activists and anti-cuts activists received a message advertising an upcoming meeting that said "Please answer the following question: Is the fight against the Harris government being waged in order to A. Get the Tories to understand the error of their ways and soften their agenda somewhat; or B. Create a vast social mobilization that renders Ontario ungovernable and forces them out of office well before their term expires. If you answered 'A' then this meeting is not for you. You just wouldn't enjoy it. If you answered 'B', however, it's right up your street and you should make every effort to be there."
The 35 activists who gathered on October 5th in response to this call decided to launch the CGS and to use the Metro Days of Action to publicize a founding meeting. Two subsequent meetings have pulled together the begınnings of a network of activists who are organizing around three main demands: • That unions and social movements commit themselves to trying to defeat the Harris government before its mandate ends. • That the labour movement should set a date for a province-wide general strike. • That a broad based Solidarity Congress of union and social movement activists should convene to build the grassroots leadership network that will be necessary for a suc-
At this point it is not clear if the CGS will be able to bring together a significant enough layer of community and union activists to build meaningful support for its main demands. For the moment, however it is the only grass roots alternative for activists who wish to push forward the anti-Harris movement in Ontario. The coming months will be crucial in the fight against the Harris government. It will be vital to keep building coalitions and rank and file networks that can sustain some of the energy and hope that emerged during the Metro Days of Action in order to prepare for the battles ahead. * 1. United Steel Workers Union of America, Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Service Employees International Union, the International Association of Machinists, and the Power Workers Union (a non-official split union of the Canadian Union of Public Employees).