Re: A question for Alan was Re: carol and lou on religion

["Alan Maki" <alanmaki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am the person who was eventually "deported" from Canada back to the United
States after a lengthy battle.

At the present time I am living in the United States and I have been
officially barred from ever re-entering Canada for three reasons that the
Minister of Immigration Canada has given:

1. That I lived in Canada illegally;

2. While living in Canada I participated in the struggles supporting Native
peoples by being elected to the board of the Manitoba Trappers' Association
and while holding this position became very vocal in speaking out against
the racist policies of the present Liberal government towards Native people.
The Minister stated, and I quote, "Maki has criss-crossed this country
articulating his Communist views and condemning this government in the
newspapers, on radio and on television when he was not supposed to be living
here. What can we expect this man to do if we allow him to stay?"

3. The Minister of Immigration cited me as a dangerous criminal based upon
some eighty arrests here in the United States... ranging from spitting on a
sidewalk while walking a picketline to an assault charge that resulted after
I was forced to take a rifle away from the head of the local Republican
Party in Michigan who first shot my dog and then shot me in the leg.

Not only did many Communist Parties from around the world including the
Communist Party of Canada and the USA support our right to remain in Canada
as political refugees from the United States, but many other organizations
and individuals were involved in this democratic struggle... including the
Canadian Labour Congress, many churches, politicians of every political
party, etc. I spent two years travelling across Canada fighting to be
recognized as a political refugee from the United States based upon the
activities of the FBI and Michigan State Police as they were directed at me.

Without the support of the Communist Party of Canada it would not have been
possible to wage the struggle we did.

In fact, the FBI admitted to having a dossier on me of some ten thousand
pages and Janet Reno refused several requests from the Canadian government
to release the dossier. The Minister of Immigration, the Canadian
Immigration and Refugee Board, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police each
made requests to Janet Reno asking that the file in its entirety without any
deletions be turned over to Canadian officials so that a determination could
be made as to whether or not I had the legal right to seek refuge in Canada
as a "political refugee from the United States". Janet Reno refused turned
down all of these requests, seeking to hide from the Canadian people and
ultimately from the American people and the world what the FBI does to not
only a Communist like myself, but to thousands of Americans who speak out
for peace and social justice.

You may be interested to know that Canada has never recognized a refugee
from the United States based upon political persecution.

There was such widespread support for us in Canada from the local community
we lived in and right across the country that we could have continued the
fight almost indefinitely... unfortunately such struggles take their toll on
families and the need to continually raise funds for legal fees and travel,
etc. made it necessary that a compromise be reached with the Canadian
government. In August of 1999 I met with the, then, newly appointed Minister
of Immigration, and it was agreed that in return for my leaving Canada my
children would be given "landed immigrant status with the option of applying
for Canadian citizenship" and be allowed to continue living in Canada.
(although I was stabbed in the back and only after I was out of the country
the Minister executed the deportation order officially banning me from ever
returning)... that was not a part of the agreement that was ever brought up
in the discussions by the Minister herself or her administrative aides.

While there was some disagreement,discussion, and criticism of my agreeing
to these terms that included my having to leave Canada; most of the people
who were supporting us understood the toll that this kind of thing takes on
a family and while not being completely satisfied with the terms were very
supportive.

My daughter has been granted landed immigrant status and my son should be
receiving the same shortly. My wife and I are in the process of getting
divorced and she continues living in Canada seeking landed immigrant status.

For background on the case there was a very lengthy article published by
Knight-Ridder newspapers here in the US, the Canadian Communist Party
newspaper- the Peoples' Voice had numerous articles as did the US Peoples'
Weekly World and most major newspapers across Canada. I would be happy to
scan selected articles and e-mail them to anyone interested.

At the present time I am involved with organizing in the sweatshops of the
"New South".

There are also at least two videos, one produced by C-PAC and another by an
Alberta TV station in which I "tell the story". For the cost of a vhs-tape
and the postage I will send them out to anyone who wants one or both.

And, once again, the only thing I meant by my remarks is that it seems to me
like Marxists should link their discussions to the world we live in and the
struggles taking place... I do enjoy the dialogue that this list offers...
it gets me thinking. Kewl!!!!!




>From: "Macdonald Stainsby" <mstainsby@xxxxxx>
>Reply-To: marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>To: <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re: A question for Alan was Re: carol and lou on religion
>Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 15:18:20 -0800
>
>
>
> > Hi Alan,
> >
> > Try this question on for size.
> >
> > "How can this guy can spend so much time in the library while peasants
>and
> > workers are starving to death etc?"
> >
> > regards
> >
> > Gary
> >
>
>Looks like a Bakunin polemic. At any rate, I would like to publicly ask Mr
>Maki if
>this is the man who the CPC has been trying to help for around at least
>five years?
>If so, I'd love to hear you tell the story.
>
>Macdonald
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > At 01:03  28/12/00 -0500, you wrote:
> > >I find it very difficult to understand how "marxists" can spend so much
> > >time on some of these topics while Leonard Peltier languishes in prison
> > >and workers in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada face one of the most difficult
> > >strikes in North America..... did anyone ever read in marx anything
>about
> > >"action"?
> > >
> > >Alan Maki
> > >
> > >
> > >>From: " George Snedeker" <snedeker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > >>Reply-To: marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > >>To: <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > >>Subject: carol and lou on religion
> > >>Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2000 14:01:49 -0500
> > >>
> > >>I think it was Cornel West who argued that Marxism had nothing to say
>about
> > >>the question of death. this is why he thought we still needed religion
>to
> > >>answer human needs for metaphysical questions. carol's and Lou's posts
>bring
> > >>this question to mind. personally, I don't think Marxism need answer
>all of
> > >>the questions in the universe. I have always thought religion  was
>more of a
> > >>problem than a solution to any human form of suffering. enter Freud
> > >>replacing Durkheim. I mean what is it that leads us to run to the
> > >>supernatural for help during hard times? is this need conditioned by
>modes
> > >>of production, or is it a basic human weakness? there is a
>relationship here
> > >>between the personal and the social. Marx might say that the personal
>is a
> > >>moment of the social since you can not have a personal without a
>social.
> > >>even Durkheim knew this quite well.
> > >>
> > >>I have a friend, a good atheist, who when her brother was under going
>open
> > >>heart surgery prayed for him. she told me that this was because she
>might be
> > >>wrong and why should he suffer?
> > >>George Snedeker
> > >
> > >_________________________________________________________________
> > >Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
>

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