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﻿<title﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, The Election Is Over, Let the Action Begin - Editorial﻿</title>﻿
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﻿<b﻿>﻿The Election Is Over, Let the Action Begin
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﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, July - August 1997﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
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So the election is over, and little has changed. The Liberals are still in office, the opposition largely comes from the right, and the NDP remains marginalized and ineffective despite regaining official party status. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
If the government has its way, we can look forward to continued mass unemployment and cuts to social programs.
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
To make matters worse, the Harris government in Ontario - now in the vanguard of attacks on the poor, trade unions, and human rights - has launched another blistering assault. With its Bill 136 (discussed elsewhere in this issue of New Socialist) it will merge municipalities and school boards, close hospitals, lay off thousands of workers, dictate new contracts to those who remain and then effectively strip them of the right to strike for a matter of years.
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
So draconian is this attack that even the weak and divided leadership of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) has felt compelled to call for a Special Convention July 28 to plan a response to the Harris offensive.
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
Of course, this is the same OFL leadership which has demobilized the strike and protest movement against Harris - a movement which culminated in the Metro Days of Action in Toronto last October when over 200,000 people took to the streets. While important protests were subsequently held in Sudbury and Thunder Bay, little outside support was mobilized for these actions, and days of protest scheduled for Windsor in June were postponed as a result of the federal election.
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
Nevertheless, there are openings now to try to revive that movement. Anti-Harris days of action are planned for North Bay on September 26 and 27 and Windsor on October 17. The OFL has also called a mass demonstration against Bill 136 and other pieces of legislation for August 18 when the legislature reopens. In addition, activists in the left of the labour movement are campaigning for a day of province-wide strike action in November. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
These actions could serve to restart a largely stalled protest movement. For that reason, it is essential that trade unionists, femininsts, anti-racists, socialists and anti-poverty activists mobilize to build the protests scheduled for August 18, September 26-27 and October 17. 
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The election is over. Let the real action begin.
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