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I send you warm socialist greetings to the Socialist Party Ontario Conference from the Socialist Party inIreland and the Committee for a Workers International (CWI).

I am very pleased to have been invited to address your conference and I wish you every success.

You are meeting at a time of extraordinary world events. This year began with the heroic revolutionary wave thatswept Tunisia and Egypt and which continues to shake corrupt and repressive dictators across Middle East and NorthAfrica. Workers across the world have been inspired to struggle by these events, including in Wisconsin in the USA.The mass youth revolt taking place in Spain, against unemployment and social cuts carried out by a supposedlysocialist government, were directly inspired by Tahrir Square. Similar youth protests are spreading to France, Italy ,Greece and other European countries, where youth face mass joblessnessand no future under capitalism.

These events show that every country in the world is tied together in acapitalist economic system that staggers from crisis to crisis. Since 2007,when the US banking system collapse threatened global economicmeltdown, a massive bail-out of the bankers has been accompanied by aneven sharper attack on the living standards of workers and the poor.

But working people and youth are fighting back! Greece and Portugal haveseen several general strikes against draconian austerity policies; half amillion people demonstrated against cuts in London on March 26 and overthe last few days shipyard workers in Italy took action against mass firings.

Election shocks

The great discontent and frustration of working people has resulted in election shocks, including in Ireland followingyears of economic crises and brutal austerity cuts by the former Fianna Fail government. Working class anger at

having to pay for the bankers crisis, led to the heavy defeat of Fianna Fail, the traditional party of the Establishment,during the February 2011 general election.

Important gains were made for the Irish Left. Along with Clare Daly, I was privileged to be re-elected by workingpeople to the Dail (Irish Parliament) for the Socialist Party. Along with three other TDs (MPs), we make up the newUnited Left Alliance (ULA) parliamentary group. The Socialist Party also has a Member of the European Parliament,Paul Murphy, representing Dublin.

We followed with great interest the recent federal elections in Canada - the dramatic collapse in support for theLiberals and Bloc Qubcois and the spectacular gains for the NDP.

The election outcomes in Ireland and Canada showed voter opposition to neo-liberalism and a search by millions for

an alternative to the pro-market status quo. Yet Stephen Harper will want to press ahead with his right-wing, pro-market policies in Canada. In Ireland, the new Fine Gael/ Labour Party coalition government is intent on continuingausterity cuts that wreck working class lives. The Labour Party, in particular, kneels before the ditaks of the EU/IMFand arrogantly lectures working class people on the need to accept cuts.

Message from Joe Higgins,TD (Member of Irish Parliament) and the CWI

To the Socialist Party Ontario Conference

May 28, 2011 Dear Sisters and Brothers,

One thing is for sure, workingpeople and youth will oppose cutspolicies, on the streets, inworkplaces, communities andcampuses. But the lesson fromIreland is that to be successful,working people need democraticcontrol of their movement,accountable and bold leadershipthat is prepared to resist all cuts,and a socialist alternative to thebosses mantra of the need forcuts.

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One thing is for sure, working people and youth will oppose cuts policies, on the streets, in workplaces, communitiesand campuses. But the lesson from Ireland is that to be successful, working people need democratic control of theirmovement, accountable and bold leadership that is prepared to resist all cuts, and a socialist alternative to the bossesmantra of the need for cuts.

Under the last Fianna Fail government in Ireland, large demonstrations of workers and students took place againstcuts. Working people were clearly ready to fight to stop all cuts. But the union leaders and opposition Labour Party which for decades were in pro- market social partnership pacts with the bosses - refused to develop the mass struggle,

allowing the government to the carry out the worst cuts in the Republics history.

Building a Left alternative

This is the background to the establishment of the United Left Alliance (ULA) in Ireland. As well as the impact of fiveULA TDs in the Dail (Irish parliament), to develop a strong left alternative the ULA needs a clear campaigning andfighting profile outside the Dail, on the key issues of unemployment and jobs, the attacks on pay and the housing andmortgage crisis etc . As mass opposition grows against the Fine Gael/Labour coalition governments cuts policies, in

particularly against the sell -out of Labour, the ground can be prepared for the launching of a new broader partyrepresenting working people and youth.

There is, of course, discussion and debate inside the ULA on its programme and policies. There is general agreementon taxing the rich and rejecting the capitalist market. But to build a new party that will attract the most fighting andpolitically aware workers and young people, the ULA needs to show that it represents a real alternative. The SocialistParty emphasises the need for the ULA to call for a big hike in corporation tax and for the democratic publicownership, control and management, of the key wealth and resources in society, for the benefit of all.

I look forward to hearing your conference discussion and deliberations on the SPOs policies and programme, as theworking class throughout Canada move to resist Tory attacks and to defend their hard won social gains. I understandthat although the NDP made big electoral gains, on key issues, such as supporting NATO attacks on Libya,environmental issues, the economy, law and order, there is little difference between the NDP and the main parties.This, I believe, underlines the vital importance of building a clear socialist alternative.

While in Ireland we expect that a future party for working people will mainly be made up of workers and youthentering activity for the first time, we also think that disillusioned voters and members of the Irish Labour Party can beattracted to a principled, strong socialist alternative. As well as providing an alternative for the large numbers of poor,working people and students who have never supported any party, we believe that a growing socialist opposition canbecome a pole of attraction to many NDP voters and members, who will be disappointed at the NDP leaders continuing rightward path. I understand that an important part of the SPO is already made up of former NDPmembers. In Ireland, the ULA discusses and debates how best to approach, work with and try to win over rank andfile Labour members who oppose their leaderships cuts policies. The Socialist Party is prepared to collaborate inbroad work with Labour Party members and indeed anyone who is against cuts all cuts while of coursemaintaining our socialist banner and our right to make criticisms of Labours policies. No doubt, the SPO will discusssimilar questions concerning NDP members who oppose cuts, taking into account what I understand are somedifferences in the character of the NDP in various Canadian provinces.

Although the process of creating a strong socialist alternative is not straightforward, as we havelearned over years in Ireland, I believe it is inevitable that working class people and youth, forced toresist the cuts agenda of the main parties, will start to search for an alternative that represents theirclass interests. Instead of parties that represent the interests of the big corporations, the bankers, theIMF and World Bank, the poor, the youth and the disadvantaged need their own party, based on anindependent political programme for socialist change.

The Socialist Party (Ireland) and Socialist Alternative (Canada), are both part of the Committee for a Workers'International (CWI) - a campaigning international socialist organisation, based in over forty countries. We have members inAfrica, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, including Russia, and Latin and North America.

The CWI participates in workers' and youth struggles, as well as campaigning against imperialism, oppression and injustice.We call for fighting and democratic trade unions and new mass parties of the working class, as part of the fight for a newsociety based on the needs of ordinary people instead of capitalist profit.

Find out more about the Committee for a Workers' Internationalweb: www.socialistworld.net email: cwicanada@gmail.com ph: 416-597-2740