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Vol. 80/No. 21 May 30, 2016
(Communist League statement)
Wildfire disaster a product of capitalism
The following statement was issued May 17 by Joseph Young, chairperson
of the Communist League in Calgary, Alberta.
A massive and still-burning wild fire has destroyed a major part of Fort
McMurray, Alberta, and forced the emergency evacuation of the entire
population. While there are hundreds of fires in the region every year,
the social catastrophe in Fort McMurray today is not caused by nature,
but is a product of the profit-driven capitalist system. Some 2,400
homes and other buildings were destroyed, more than 10 percent of the
total. And 8,000 more workers were ordered out of the area May 16 when
the fire threatened 19 oil work camps north of the city.
In recent years Fort McMurray’s population mushroomed as bosses seeking
to profit from exploitation of the oil sands brought in thousands of
workers. Despite the well-known fire danger, the bosses’ government paid
little attention to the safety of the city’s residents.
As the spreading fire threatened the city May 1, authorities did
nothing. They waited two more days before ordering an evacuation, giving
residents only minutes’ notice. The only highway out of the city rapidly
became gridlocked. While the need for a second highway had been
discussed for a decade, it never fit into the profit-driven priorities
of the rulers.
Workers in Fort McMurray had already been hard hit by layoffs with the
worldwide downturn in the oil industry. Almost 10 percent of workers in
Fort McMurray were already unemployed, and home foreclosures were on the
rise.
As workers flocked to the area, developers built houses right up against
the tree line or even into the forest. Fire breaks to protect the city
were never built.
The financial press cheered the resulting rise of oil prices, ignoring
the human toll. “Oil price rises as Canada wildfire disrupts supply,”
the May 5 Financial Times said.
In a massive outpouring of solidarity, working people lined the 270-mile
highway to Edmonton to offer gas canisters, food, water, diapers and
other necessities to evacuees. In sharp contrast to the bosses’
indifference, this shows how our class is capable of organizing to
defend workers’ safety and well-being.
The provincial government made a one-time payment of $1,250 to adults
and $500 for children, an amount utterly inadequate to meet people’s
needs. At the same time, the government is rushing to help the oil
bosses restore production.
Many evacuees are eager to clean up and rebuild. Tens of thousands of
workers with all kinds of skills are unemployed. The Communist League in
Canada calls on our unions to demand the government organize and fund a
massive public works program at union rates of pay to rebuild Fort
McMurray.
When Santiago de Cuba, Cuba’s second largest city, was hit by Hurricane
Sandy in 2012, the revolutionary government organized an orderly
evacuation of those at risk and volunteers were mobilized to begin
rebuilding immediately. The difference between Alberta and Cuba? Cuban
working people made a socialist revolution in 1959. They took political
power and the self-confidence and self-worth they have conquered through
their revolution gives them the capacity to run Cuba based on human
needs, not profit.
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