The Dominion - economy

Ghost Town

Tim McSorley — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:43:55 +0000

From Potlatch to Welfare

Moira Peters — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:18:09 +0000

Lutz on historical "dialogue" and the subordination of Indigenous economies in the Pacific Northwest

Makuk: A New History of Aboriginal-White Relations
John Sutton Lutz
Vancouver: UBC Press, 2008

TRADITIONAL TERRITORY OF SNUNEYMUXW FIRST NATION (NANAIMO, B.C.)—Captain James Cook and the crew of the HMS Resolution encountered the Mowachat people and Chief Maquinna at Yuquot. The Mowachat said to the visitors, “Makuk.” Makuk conveyed various meanings. It was an invitation to trade; it was an indication of confidence; and it signified a request for communication between cultures. University of Victoria history professor John Sutton Lutz chose makúk as the starting point to examine how dialogue, or lack of it, could explain the history of the relationship between Europeans and the Original Peoples of the Pacific Northwest.

The story, according to Lutz, is one of “an international process—the displacement of Aboriginal Peoples from control of resources, the resettlement of land by people of European descent, and the partial incorporation of Aboriginal peoples into the new Euro-Canadian economy and into the modern welfare state.” The Europeans would later settle on the territories of First Nations, sometimes with their approval (as with the Lekwungen), at other times without (as with the Tsilhqot'in). The colonies became a basis for extraterritorial encroachments by the colonists which eventually led them to claim all First Nations territories, waterways and resources.

****

Labour, writes Lutz, is how Europeans “valued themselves.” Eurocentric views about labour were seized upon to create the myth of the “lazy Indian”—and justified the Europeans in dispossessing of the Original Peoples of their land.

BC Supreme Court Chief Justice Allen McEachern echoed this stereotype in his 1991 judgment of the Delgamuukw case. He held that Original Peoples were unable to compete with the “relentless energy” of conquering Europeans.

Some fur traders called Indians “indolent” because they didn't need European goods and they enjoyed much leisure, “meaning a lack of interest in a European form of labour subordination.”

Many colonists contradict this portrayal. Lutz quotes fur trader Gabriele Franchere: “They possess, to an eminent degree, the qualities opposed to indolence, improvidence, and stupidity...” He draws upon many examples from Original Peoples demonstrating that laziness was anathema to them, noting their heavy involvement in the capitalist economy across myriad occupations, drawing on colonial accounts that contradict the myth, and explaining First Nations culture, where “everyone was expected to contribute in accordance with their abilities and place in society.”

Historical media accounts complained of Indians being too industrious and thus preventing White men from getting work. Moreover, Lutz points out that leisure time was essential to the Original Peoples's economy—spirituality and economy were not separate. Wsanec Chief David Latasse, who lived to be well past 100, revealed the secret of his long life: “I like work.”

****

Around the estuary of the N'ch-ĩwana (Columbia River) lived the Chinook people. A patois form of their language, known as Chinook, or wawa, became the basis for trade and communication among the peoples of the Pacific Northwest, offshore traders, and colonists. The Original Peoples, relates Lutz, considered wawa a White man's language, and colonists thought of it as “speaking Indian.”

Despite participating in the capitalist economy, Original Peoples maintained their subsistence and prestige economies, forming an interdependence among these systems. By selling their labour Original Peoples could expand their prestige economy. Lutz calls this combination of capitalist, subsistence and prestige economies a “moditional economy.”

However, Lutz points to a power imbalance in the dialogue between colonists and Original Peoples, expressed through wage work and dependence on welfare. With the dispossession of territory and resources from Original Peoples, they were cut off from their subsistence economy. Racist hiring practices locked Original Peoples outside the workforce. Alienated from their own economies and the wage economy, Original Peoples were forced onto welfare. Reports of Indian agents, persons granted fiduciary power over First Nations by the federal government, classify working Indians as “good” and non-working or Potlatching Indians as “some good” or “no good.”

By incorporating Original Peoples in their Eurocentric economy of labour, colonists often successfully dispossessed them of their territory and their culture. Lutz calls this dispossession a “peaceable subordination”—a subordination without subjugation.

****

Lutz notes that Original Peoples vanished from historical records between 1885 and 1970. He tries to explain this by looking at the Lekwungen (Songhees and Esquimalt peoples near present-day Victoria) and the Tsilhqot'in, situated in the remote Chilcotin plateau in the province of British Columbia.

Lekwungen society was hierarchical, with a gender-based division of labor, slavery, property ownership and wealth accumulation. Wealth was not hoarded for oneself; it was to be given away in Potlatch (wawa for “giving away”)—an important part of Pacific Northwest First Nations culture, particular to each nation. Potlaches were gatherings which celebrated special occasions (rights of passage, marriages, funerals, etc), repaid debts and declared status.

Most of “British Columbia" is still unceded, unsurrendered Indigenous territory. Only a few treaties have been signed; some of those by Vancouver Island Governor James Douglas when he started a “new regime of property relations” by signing treaties with six Lekwungen families for land. Initially, the Lekwungen became very wealthy from the sale of land. They helped build Fort Victoria and believed their assistance had given them a stake in the fort. Lutz notes, “In light of the consequences for the Lekwungen, it seems ironic that they welcomed, and assisted with, the building of Fort Victoria.”

The Lekwungen “participated in the capitalist economy...to participate more fully in their own.” Potlatches grew more elaborate. But a demise was nearing. The Potlatch would be outlawed by the federal government in 1885. This targeted the heart of Indigenous culture and society, with the intention of assimilation. Without Potlatch, there was little incentive to work.

Then came hitherto-unknown deadly infectious diseases, the scourge of alcoholism, racism, joblessness, the disempowering Indian Act, and the specter of starvation. The Lekwungen came to be seen by prominent colonists as a blight to be removed from the city core. The Lekwungen staunchly resisted for many years.

With the completion of CP Railway, a surfeit of Chinese workers came onto the labour market, which, along with a preference for White workers, displaced Original Peoples from jobs.

Original Peoples began to work in less skilled jobs, were paid less, received less in relief payments, and had a “disturbingly high rate of unemployment.” Kathleen Mooney's research of 1952-71 shows Indigenous men to be eight times more likely to be unemployed than non-Indigenous men.

The situation became so bad that in 1961 the Colonist warned of imminent starvation to a people who had never known hunger. Surrounded by abundant game, it was, in fact, legislated starvation.

****

The Tsilhqot'in were a “poorer,” egalitarian, non-hierarchical society. Remotely situated, the Tsilhqot'in had less contact with Europeans, resisted European encroachment onto their territory, and retained much more of their culture longer than did the Lekwungen.

In 1862, politician-turned-businessman Alfred Waddington led a push to build a road from the Bute Inlet across Tsilhqot'in territory into the goldfields at Barkerville. The Tsilhqot'in opposed the road through their territory, and in one incident, eight Tsilhqot'in men attacked one of Waddington's work camps, killing 14 road workers.

The colonial administration sent a militia after the defenders of Tsilhqot'in sovereignty. Lutz notes: “The only way the colony captured any Tsilhqot'in was by luring them to a peace talk and then clapping them in irons and trying them as murderers—a practice so unethical it made the presiding officials squirm.” Presiding Judge Matthew Begbie (to be remembered by his nickname 'The Hanging Judge') found that the captured Tsilhqot'in had been “most injudiciously treated.” He concluded that if the Tsilhqot'in people had been treated well, the “outrage would not have been perpetrated.” Nevertheless, six Tsilhqot'in were hanged for attacks on the work crew and others, leaving a black mark on BC history.

Despite the formidable growing conditions on the plateau, the province sought to “civilize” the Tsilhqot'in by turning them away from game hunting and toward farming. Authorities wanted to limit their traditional subsistence economy by enacting game laws. Eventually, the Tsilhqot'in—unable to hunt game, and displaced by White ranchers—migrated and became fishers of salmon. But the government also sought to protect commercial fisheries, and the salmon season was was eventually closed. This was even though Indian Agent E. McCleod had warned that a closed season on salmon created such a hardship that it sent a number of Tsilhqot'in into their graves.

Finally, a lack of jobs and available capital or collateral to receive financing, along with the crash of the cash economy after WWII, brought the welfare economy to the Original Peoples.

****

Lutz notes that “European 'settlement' was, in fact, a period of depopulation.” There was a great drop in population of Original Peoples between 1861 and 1871 (from 60,000 people to 37,000). Even so, 73.6 per cent of BC's population was Indigenous. These “lazy Indians” had been involved in many industries, such as trapping, mining, fishing, sealing, forestry, hop picking and the fish canneries.

During these years, trapping and fur trade became regulated by authorities; traditional Tsilhqot'in traplines were registered to non-Indigenous people. In the coal mines Original Peoples were displaced by Chinese; in the canneries they were displaced by Japanese. In forestry, Original Peoples were denied harvesting rights in 1910. The BC Forest Service's unwritten policy allocated only marginal timber lands to Original Peoples. Traditional methods of reef net fishing were outlawed. Original Peoples required permission from colonists to fish for food. The BC government sought to limit the size of the commercial fishery through a small boat buyback, disadvantaging the Original Peoples and favoring corporate fishers. As Lutz writes, the province “attempt[ed] to make fishing a 'white man's' industry.” After confederation, the federal government claimed the sea and the resources in it.

Original Peoples were prohibited from holding purse seiner—the most lucrative form of commercial fishing—licenses. Nuu-chah-nulth Peter Webster commented, “I think a lot of us became 'criminals' without really knowing the reason.”

During the years 1885-1970, Original Peoples were “vanished” from censuses, voting lists, annual reports, and other records. Statistics focused on formal capitalist economies. Massive immigration of other Europeans, Japanese, and Chinese to BC caused even further displacement. Game and fishing regulations pressured Original Peoples out of their subsistence economies and forced them into the wage economy and to eat White man's food, “as that was the only way to stay alive.” This caused Nuu-chah-nulth Charles Jones to lament in 1976: “I think all they do is dream up new laws against the Indians.”

****

Lutz writes that it was settlement, not contact, which marked the demise of Indigenous culture and history. History, he contends, has mainly been the monologue of colonists. “What histories would have been written had we asked Aboriginal People?” he asks.

Original Peoples talked about a “White Problem.” That "Problem" outlawed their Potlatches; instituted racism in hiring; enacted legislation that disenfranchised them; treated them as minors under law; declared their reserves to be crown land, unmortgageable; deprived them of their land and resources despite no surrender, and despite treaty rights; forbade their entrance into restaurants and other public facilities in the 1960s; sought labour solidarity along racial lines as unions were white-dominated; instituted compulsory schooling that broke up family economy; and forced Original Peoples onto relief.

Even relief (at a far lower level that that for Whites) was a Catch 22; Lutz writes: “That relief was based on the principle that it would be supplemented by subsistence foods, which they could no longer obtain!”

“By 1936, per capita relief spending for registered Indians was one-third that for other Canadians.” And still, Indians had to beg for relief cheques. Relief was not shameful; the Lekwungen called the Indian Agent “siem/leader of the Indian people” and it was the “siem's responsibility ...[of] providing for his/her people.”

Stó:lō Rena Peters said, “I'm going to take the welfare but I'm not going to call it welfare, I'm going to call it spirit money.” Some people might call it reparations.

Makúk was originally a way for Original Peoples to enrich their own economies. Lutz reminds us that “Prior to the establishment of white settlement, the Aboriginal peoples of present day British Columbia were among the richest and best-fed societies in the world.”

* In October 1999, the BC government officially apologized for the hangings of the Tsilhqot'in chiefs defending their territory, and erected a plaque describing the injustice and honoring the hanged. Judge Begbie is honored eponymously with buildings, mountains, a street, a school and a larger-than-life sized statue at the entrance to the BC Parliament buildings.

Kim Petersen is Original Peoples editor at The Dominion.

OP Makuk Cover

Bendable Business

Moira Peters — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:18:58 +0000

Cooperatives less likely to break in economic crises

OTTAWA—Mondragon Internacional (MCC), the world’s largest worker cooperative, has been the focus of a lot of media coverage in recent months, inciting discussion on how worker cooperatives have been affected by, and are responding to, the global economic crisis.

On October 27, 2009 the United Steelworkers announced a framework agreement with Mondragon to develop unionized worker cooperatives in the manufacturing sector in the US. Under the agreement, both parties have pledged to develop a model that combines the collective bargaining system with the “one worker, one vote” hallmark of cooperatives. While it will not be the first time worker cooperatives have looked to unionization, the scale and formal partnership of the Mondragon-Steelworkers proposal is without precedent and could signal a way for cooperatives and unions to work collaboratively in weathering economic storms.

Perhaps even more surprising, The Economist recently published an article on how Mondragon is coping with the current economic crisis. According to the article, cooperatives can react more quickly to such a crisis because workers decide themselves to cut wages or take unpaid leave, avoiding the delays of formal negotiations with labour unions.

Mondragon is the world’s largest worker cooperative, located in the Basque region of Spain. Started in 1956 by five workers, and inspired by the work of local priest Don José María Arizmendiarrieta, it has grown into a complex of over a hundred worker cooperatives, a cooperative bank, and housing and social cooperatives. It now employs approximately 34,000 people and is one of the largest producers of domestic appliances, machine tools and automotive parts in Spain.

However, Mondragon is not your average worker cooperative, and not everyone thinks that it is a great model to look to. While many people on the left assert that the prospering Mondragon is an example of how cooperatives present an alternative business model that puts its workers above profits (it is referred to as an “empire of egalitarianism” in a September, 2009 article by Kelly and Massena in Yes Magazine), there is also growing criticism that Mondragon is straying from its cooperative principles by centralizing decision-making, developing partnerships with capitalist firms and hiring more non-member workers.

So, beyond the mammoth Mondragon, how are smaller, less powerful worker cooperatives weathering the economic crisis?

The International Organization of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers’ Co-operatives (CICOPA) reported that cooperatives have been more resilient in the face of the economic crisis than other business models. Based on a survey it conducted of its members, CICOPA found that while cooperatives have experienced a downturn in production and sales, they have experience almost no job losses, focusing instead on adaptation measures such as a reduction in hours or wages.

CICOPA attributes this resilience to the combination of flexibility and security of the worker cooperative model. Participating in decisions about the future of their workplace, workers—who are also owners—collectively decide what they are willing to sacrifice for the long-term viability of the business, and ensure that this is achieved equitably. By contrast, in a traditional capitalist businesses, managers and owners may simply inform workers of a decision to cut wages or hours, lay off staff or force labour concessions to save profits, leaving workers outside the decision-making but front and center in the effects of re-structuring.

The fundamental goal of cooperatives is to provide employment for members, as opposed to other business models, which seek profits or return on investments above all.

Three worker cooperatives in Ottawa and Kingston have come up with creative ways to make ends meet. Though they were not easily made, these choices have kept their cooperatives alive and, in some cases, stronger.

***

A recent addition to Ottawa’s Centertown neighborhood, the Umi Cafe, is a cooperatively-run coffee shop, selling light meals and drinks, as well as hosting music and political events in the evenings.

Sergio Guerra, one of the directors of Umi, says the shop was hit hardest by the recession about a year ago when the Ottawa bus drivers strike made the economic situation all the more difficult, grinding the entire downtown to a halt. Without public transit, Umi saw fewer people coming through their door. During the worst of it—late fall and winter of last year—the worker-members faced the choice of either shutting down the business or not getting paid. Guerra says Umi didn’t loose a single worker; everyone stayed, even with low wages, because they were committed to the cooperative and their investment.

They also drew on the neighbourhood and called a meeting where they presented the coffee shop’s financial situation as well as what they needed to stay afloat. The community responded, raising the necessary funds to keep Umi alive, a testament to the solidarity built between the cafe and the neighborhood. For its part, Umi has increased the variety of its products to entice passersby into the cafe.

According to Guerra, the cooperative model—with its commitment to outreach and solidarity—was invaluable during the difficult economic times. Without support from the neighbourhood the cafe’s survival was uncertain.

They also consulted other cooperatives and received advice and support that might be unlikely from traditional competitive businesses. “Without that help and solidarity we wouldn’t have been able to do it, in other businesses it's all about competition,” says Guerra.

Also, as a co-op, it is in Umi’s interest to educate and empower its members; in return, members are committed to the survival of the business. The cooperative model helps to ensure that the perspectives of members are incorporated into the very direction the co-op takes.

Sergio says they’ve come a long way in a year: “We’ve proven that we can exist and we can grow.”

He finds humour in their difficulties, saying sometimes it feels like they are on the set of a sitcom: “We’re in season two, and its been very entertaining, not only thinking about the bottom line.”

La Siembra Cooperative, another worker co-op, manufactures and distributes organic fair trade chocolate and sugar products. La Siembra has twice been awarded the Worldwide Democratic Workplace Award by WorldBlu, a not-for-profit social enterprise offering programs, services and awards for democratic workplaces. Cailtin Peeling, the cooperative’s Marketing Communications Manager, reports that while La Siembra has been facing some challenging times, they’ve been able to use the challenges as an opportunity to explore new products and re-affirm their commitment to supporting their production partners in the South.

La Siembra was facing declining sales and stalled growth and was hit hard by the fluctuating US exchange rate. The co-op reacted by focusing its energy on areas where it was still seeing strong sales: baking products. La Siembra found that people still wanted to support organic fair trade products, but were doing so in a more affordable way.

That focus led several of their producer co-op partners to increase manufacturing capacity, allowing them to sell a higher value-added product instead of the raw materials. A producer co-op in Peru now manufactures chocolate chips to send to La Siembra, as opposed to the raw cocoa powder, allowing more of the revenue to stay with the producer in Peru. During the most difficult period, many of the workers at La Siembra took a voluntary reduction in hours.

Peeling says La Siembra has been able to use the tough economic situation to deepen its commitment to its values, not dilute them, by connecting with producer cooperative partners in new ways, and supporting the increased capacity of these co-ops to manufacture their own products. She says, “It's been a tough time but we’ve been really motivated for a longer–term vision.”

The Sleepless Goat, a worker cooperative cafe in downtown Kingston, has gone through a difficult year. While it hasn’t seen a reduction in overall sales, rising food costs and a realization that some menu items were in fact losing money, the Goat had to increase prices. Dave Burling, a worker-owner, says that while the cafe wants to keep menu prices accessible, without the increase the Goat likely would have gone out of business.

It has also been forced to make modest reductions in the number of staff working particular shifts, and has canceled its contract with overnight cleaners.

A sole owner of a business may decide it is in her interest to close up shop; however, the workers at the Sleepless Goat were committed to keeping their doors open, acting in their own collective self-interest to keep themselves employed. “Frankly, if the Goat had been a capitalist business it probably would have closed six months ago,” says Burling.

While difficult, the plan seems to have paid off: the Goat has recovered from the economic shock of last year. The cafe foresees some hurdles, including planned street closures due to construction, and the upcoming increase in minimum wage. Nevertheless, Burling is optimistic, saying that experience has shown that the cooperative model can adapt to change.

Worker cooperatives, like any businesses, are not immune to crises in the economy. They do seem to be surviving better than other business models, however. While every worker cooperative is different, the structure provides more freedom and control to adapt to a changing economic environment. What a cooperative does with that flexibility depends on its values and commitments and the strength of its community. At the very least, the cooperative structure gives workers choices in how to address the challenges they face, allowing them to take their fate into their own hands.

Amanda Wilson lives in Ottawa. She is interested in questions of alternative organizations of work and non-capitalist production and exchange models. She has an MA in Labour Studies.

Bendable Business

Finance Minister Rejects Push for "Tobin Tax"

Geordie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:17:02 +0000

A proposal by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown for a global tax on financial transactions to fund bank bailouts has been rejected by Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, according to the CBC.

"That’s not something that we would want to do. We’re not in the business of raising taxes," said Flaherty.

A a global tax on financial transactions (also known as a Tobin Tax) was first proposed by economist James Tobin as a means of regulating out-of-control speculation in financial markets.

Brown's proposal was also rejected by the US.

Toronto Housing Crisis

Tim McSorley — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:03:57 +0000

TORONTO-The City of Toronto is struggling to cope with an ongoing housing crisis, according to The Toronto Report Card on Housing and Homelessness, published by the City of Toronto. The study reveals that 550,000 residents are living in poverty—that’s roughly 25% of the city’s population. With few options available to them, thousands find themselves living on the streets. In 2002, 32,000 people stayed in Toronto’s emergency shelters; 4,779 of these were children. Well-over 500 people have died on the streets as a result of being homeless. With the financial crisis being felt around the world, there are no indications the situation is improving. For one of the wealthiest cities in the world, how is this allowed to happen?

The following photos tell the stories of a few of the people who have found themselves losing control over their lives, living in government housing or on the streets, as well as some people who are raising questions about the City’s priorities and looking for solutions themselves.

Abandonment Issues is a coalition of housing activists fighting to have abandoned buildings converted into affordable housing. According to the group, "Toronto is in the throes of an affordable housing crisis that has seen thousands of citizens made homeless [...] Property that could house people is going to waste.

"When communities assert a collective right to their own neighborhoods, municipal policy should support them, not oppose them."

Allan Lissner is an independent photojournalist based in Toronto, Canada. Some of the organizations Allan has done work with include Amnesty International, GlobalAware Independent Media, Oxfam Canada and Make Poverty History.

On the map with Avi Lewis

Van Ferrier — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:18:37 +0000

Oil. Canada has it and the US craves it. But what are the implications of treating Alberta's tar sands as America's security blanket?

If AIG Goes Down...Yikes!

Geordie — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:48:25 +0000

Fours days before receiving a second bailout to the tune of $30 Billion, AIG issued a confidential internal memo regarding what could happen if the insurance company failed.

Doomsday scenarios included:

The potential for cascading failure of US insurance companies
The potential that US companies in foreign companies could be permanently lost to nationalization
A run on the US dollar
Destroy US retirement savings
General economic meltdown similar to that of Lehman Brothers

Happy reading!

February Economic Armageddon: Recap

Geordie — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:47:23 +0000

The meltdown of the economy is becoming so common and widespread it has been hard to keep track of everything that is going on. Briefly:

In Canada, media empires including
CTV, Torstar, Quebecor and Canwest continue to flounder along with a whole host of other media outlets across the continent.
At the same time, Canadian pension funds, most of the big banks, Nortel, Walmart Canada, GM and a number of agricultural and mining industries are being hit with massive losses.

South of the border, thing are looking a little rough for the folks in the halls of power.

Barack Obama is strutting out the biggest budget in US history which looks to (supposedly) raise taxes on the upper classes, cut Medicare to give more people health care and rip into Pentagon spending, military contractors and agri-business. The US economy meanwhile contracted 6.2% in the last 3 months of 2008.
The "Sage of Omaha", Warren Buffet is sage-no-more having admitted to $11.5 billion in losses.