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Reconciliation means acknowledging genocide and taking action to end colonialism

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Resolution adopted by the Central Committee, Communist Party of Canada, June 13-14, 2015, Toronto

The report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission chaired by Justice Murray Sinclair is an important milestone in the struggle to achieve reconciliation and to overcome the legacy of racist colonial policies imposed upon Aboriginal peoples by the European imperialist powers and later by the Canadian capitalist state. The Communist Party of Canada welcomes the TRC report and pledges our support for its 94 recommendations, which would be a significant step towards full equality, and social justice for Aboriginal peoples. We also express full support for demands to extend the truth and reconciliation process to include the impact of the “day schools” attended by thousands of Metis and First Nations children.

As the summary report of the TRC states:

For over a century, the central goals of Canada’s Aboriginal policy were to eliminate Aboriginal governments; ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities in Canada. The establishment and operation of residential schools were a central element of this policy, which can best be described as “cultural genocide.”

This conclusion is firmly based on the facts and on international law, which recognizes several categories of genocide, including the mass killing of members of a targeted group (physical genocide); and destruction of structures and practices that allow the group to continue as a group (cultural genocide).

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80th anniversary of the On To Ottawa Trek: Mass struggle is still the key to victory!

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Special Resolution on the 80th anniversary of the On to Ottawa Trek, adopted by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada, June 13-14, 2015

This meeting of the Central Committee CPC salutes the 80th anniversary of the 1935 On to Ottawa Trek – one of the most iconic episodes in the history of the working class struggle in Canada. On this occasion, we pay tribute to the leaders of the Trek – Arthur “Slim” Evans, Robert “Doc” Savage and other working class heroes who fearlessly took on the bosses, the police, the military, and right-wing politicians.

At the same time, we stress the need to understand the lessons of the past in today’s context.

The On to Ottawa Trek was initiated by the communist-led Relief Camp Workers Union at the height of the Great Depression, after five years of vicious ruling class attacks on the living standards and rights of the working class across the country. Today we are experiencing another period of economic crisis for the capitalist system, which has seen a rebound of corporate profits since 2008, but no real economic recovery for working people. Once again, the gap between the ultra-wealthy and the mass of the people has increased sharply, reflecting the intensified exploitation of workers as bosses use the “reserve army of labour” to drive down wages and impose austerity cuts.

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CPC running over twenty candidates in federal election

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From People’s Voice newspaper

Meeting over the June 13-14 weekend in Toronto, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada reviewed a recent upsurge of membership recruiting, and stepped up plans for the federal election expected on October 19. The CC meeting also set the ball rolling for the party’s 38th Central Convention, planned for May 2016.
CPC leader Miguel Figueroa opened the gathering with a wide-ranging report on the international situation, and on political developments in Canada.

Figueroa warned that “the main feature today is the dramatic escalation in militarism and the drive to war by U.S. imperialism and its allies… by growing interference in the domestic affairs of other countries, and by outright intervention to overturn states and governments perceived to be hostile to its regional or global interests…. (and by) an all-sided offensive to roll back the social and economic gains of the working class and working people generally, and sharpened attacks on labour, democratic and civil rights.”

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Confronting racism and facism

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Seemingly unconnected events sometimes reveal patterns which are not immediately obvious. One such pattern is the re-emergence of racist and fascist ideas which had been consigned to history.

South of the border, the mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston – the historic church of slave revolt hero Denmark Vesey – was not the act of a disturbed individual. The killer openly upheld the centuries-long “tradition” of white supremacy, which includes countless murders, rapes, lynchings and police killings against Black Americans. The Civil War victory over the southern slavocrats was not enough to root out their inhuman ideology, which survives in a modern United States where corporate profits are boosted by the exploitation and oppression of racialized minorities.

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Celebrate Pride, defeat Harper!

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People’s Voice Editorial

As the summer season of LBGTTQ+ Pride events kicks off, People’s Voice sends warm greetings to all those taking part in celebrations, parades, picnics and other activities over the next few months.

Many historic legal, political and cultural victories for equality rights have been gained since the first Pride parades were held. And more progress is being achieved around the world, as seen in the recent Irish referendum on same-sex marriage rights. Another breakthrough over the past year has been the growing movement to end all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender expression/identity, such as the welcome action by many School Boards to make schools safer and more welcoming for trans* students.

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Miguel Figueroa on ISIS, BRICS, and US imperialism

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Miguel Figueroa, Leader of the Communist Party of Canada discusses the rise of ISIS and how imperial powers are attempting to us ISIS for their own political advantage.This talk was recorded in March 2015, in Edmonton, Alberta and was part of a coast-to-coast multi-city tour against Bill C-51 by the Communist Party of Canada in March and April which visited Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, North Vancouver, Surrey, Kelowna, Kamloops, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Guelph, London, Montreal, 

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On the Iran Nuclear “Deal”

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Cautious optimism, but a mass movement for disarmament is needed

The Communist Party of Canada welcomes the interim nuclear deal, the Joint Plan of Action (JPA,) between Iran and the P5+1 countries (US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany), noting that it is a small step in a positive direction on the issue of peace in the Middle East. However, the CPC also warns that the deal avoids many of the underlying issues that have contributed to insecurity, conflict and war in the region.

The negotiations and deal have sparked an increase in international attention on the issue of nuclear disarmament. The Communist Party calls on all peace-supporting groups in Canada to reinvigorate the global disarmament movement, as the most important factor that will force governments to pursue genuine and lasting peace in the Middle East and throughout the world. It is critical, however, that peace activists maintain a focus on the provocations, interference and interventions by the imperialist countries – in particular the United States and its NATO allies – as the primary factors leading to aggression, nuclear weapons proliferation and war.

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Video: the Political Conditions of Bill C-51

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Miguel Figueroa, Leader of the Communist Party of Canada, discusses the larger political context of Bill C-51 and other ‘anti-terror’ legislation around the world and its relationship to the ongoing crisis of capitalism.

This talk was recorded in March 2015, in Edmonton, Alberta and was part of a coast-to-coast multi-city tour against Bill C-51 by the Communist Party of Canada in March and April which visited Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, North Vancouver, Surrey, Kelowna, Kamloops, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Guelph, London, Montreal, Westville and Halifax.

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70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi-fascism

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Joint Resolution adopted by Communist and Workers’ Parties, May, 2015

The liberation of Berlin by Soviet troops in May of 1945 marks the victory of the peoples in World War II and the defeat of Nazi-fascism – the most violent form of class domination generated by capitalism and the direct cause of the war and of the death of tens of millions of human beings.

The decisive role in the victory of May 9, 1945 was played by the Soviet Union, its people and Red Army, under the leadership of its Communist Party. It was on the Eastern Front that the major battles which determined the outcome of World War II were fought. To mark the 70th anniversary of the Victory is to recall and celebrate the heroism, the courage and determination of millions of Soviet men and women who, at the cost of enormous sacrifice and of over 27 million dead, resisted and fought, giving a decisive contribution to the defeat of the Nazi-fascist barbarity. To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Victory is to remember and praise the heroism, courage and determination of millions of other resistance fighters and anti-fascist strugglers from all over the world who dedicated and committed their lives to the struggle for Victory.

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Video: Naomi Rankin, CP-Alberta leader, answers student questions

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In these four video clips, Naomi Rankin, leader of the Communist Party – Alberta, answers questions from high school students for the programme Student Vote.

The questions addressed funding for health and education, floor crossing, student access to jobs and training, as well as a better future for youth.

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