THE SUDBURY STAR, 14 Jan, 2010
By Carol Mulligan
Striking Steelworkers in Sudbury are drawing a line in the sand with their fierce fight against foreign-owned companies such as Vale Inco Ltd., says MP Charlie Angus.
With that line drawn, politicians like the Timmins-James Bay New Democrat are going after Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government for its policies on foreign ownership of Canada’s natural resources.
The fight in Sudbury is not just about a contract, said Angus, a guest at Wednesday’s mass rally to mark the sixth-month anniversary of USW’s strike against Vale Inco in Sudbury and Port Colborne.
It is a fight with the federal government about establishing basic principles regarding foreign ownership of Canadian resources.
“These are our resources, these are our communities and we have a right to be respected by these foreign capitalists (who are) trying to turn us into a third world,” said Angus.
It’s the same battle in Timmins “against Xstrata as here against Vale Inco,” said the New Democrat of the scheduled closure by Xstrata Copper Canada of its copper and zinc metallurgical plants at the Kidd Metallurgical Site on May 1 of this year.
“I am inviting everyone here to come to Timmins as well as to join in our fight to take on the foreign capitalists of Xstrata and what they’re doing in the City of Timmins.”
Angus said he could understand the frustration Sudburians are feeling. He urged young people in particular to be proud. “You are making history. You will be able to tell your children and your grandchildren that you helped redefine the laws of Canada.”
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