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May Day 2015

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Solidarity and struggle against austerity

Statement by the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada

On this May First, the international workers’ day, the Communist Party of Canada sends greetings to all working people in our common struggle for a socialist future and for an end to capitalist exploitation and oppression. May Day is an important occasion to celebrate our historic victories, such as the 80th anniversary of the On to Ottawa Trek, which began in the spring of 1935 in Vancouver; the 70th anniversary of the May 1945 triumph over Hitler fascism; and the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Vietnam from U.S. imperialism on April 30, 1975.

This year, a new solidarity is forming across Canada. It is built on the strong foundation of working class experience, adapted to the present conditions. It showed strongly in the 2012 Quebec student strike, the Occupy movement, Idle No More and environment struggles. Solidarity was the pivot point of victory in the highly visible strikes by post-graduate education workers at the University of Toronto and York University in Ontario. This new solidarity reaches outward to recruit allies beyond the old labour solidarity which created it, making the unity of organized labour, social justice movements and the public a key ingredient in the formula for success. Today’s solidarity reflects changes in the working class itself, which is largely young, educated, street wise and precariously employed, and increasingly female and based in racialized communities. Most importantly, the new solidarity is unity in motion.

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Communists running in Alberta election

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Commentary by Naomi Rankin, leader of the Communist Party-Alberta

Visit the CP-Alberta election site at: www.communistparty-alberta.ca
It’s springtime and a whiff of change is in the air. For the first time in 44 years, the outcome of an Alberta provincial election is not a foregone conclusion. The Tory dynasty has survived in part by casting each new leader as a change, asking for and receiving a fresh start from the voters, setting aside the failed promises and accumulating scandals of the previous leader’s regime. Jim Prentice, recently elected as Tory leader and therefore premier, to replace the scandal-plagued Alison Redford, seems to have worn out his newness and freshness with remarkable speed. Some polls show the Tories behind the Wildrose and the surging NDP.

Of course, polls of decided voters don’t tell us what will be done by undecided voters. Loyal Conservatives who were polled may have claimed to support other parties as their only avenue to express frustration with their own party before finally voting as always. And a province gerrymandered to give disproportionate power to rural ridings, in addition to all the usual problems with the first-past-the-post system, could still give a substantial majority to the Conservatives even with a dwindling minority of the popular vote. An NDP sweep of Edmonton might be thwarted by the far-right Wildrose failing to run candidates in several key ridings, which could presumably give the combined Tory/Wildrose vote the majority.

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CPC Alberta enters election

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Commentary by CP-Alberta: www.communistparty-alberta.ca

Alberta politics are heating up this spring, with a May 5 provincial election now underway. While pundits differ in their readings of the past year, it has been something of a rollercoaster ride for the two big right-wing parties, the Conservatives and Wildrose, allowing new space for the Liberals and especially the New Democrats. On the left, the Communist Party-Alberta is also gearing up to run two candidates asking the main social and ecological question facing the province: who owns and controls the oil and gas sector of Alberta’s economy?

Just three years ago, Alison Redford helped win another re-election victory for the Conservatives. In power without interruption since 1971, the party has a proven track record of fully supporting its friends in big business. But in the last few years a new right-wing challenger emerged in the form of the Wildrose Party, whose ranks include Western regionalists, Christian fundamentalists, homophobes, libertarians as well as other far-right voices.
The Tory dynasty has also seen the two major cities, Edmonton and Calgary, increase in population and change in social character through immigration and the weakening of ties to Alberta’s agricultural roots. This is reflected in the relative strength of Liberal support in corporate headquarter Calgary, and NDP support in the somewhat more industrial Edmonton.

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No to the expanded Canadian military mission in Iraq and Syria

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The Communist Party of Canada condemns the Harper government’s one-year extension of Canada’s participation in the latest imperialist war in Iraq, which will expand this military mission into neighbouring Syria without the agreement of the elected government of that sovereign country. This is a clear violation of international law and the UN Charter. As with previous military actions in Korea, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Libya, this move is yet another undeclared war.

As our Party and others predicted last fall, this mission quickly went far beyond the so-called “bombing and training role” to include direct combat operations. Clearly, this extension shows that Canada is on the way to another disastrous Afghanistan-style war of occupation, ultimately costing billions of dollars and thousands of Iraqi and Syrian lives. The federal government recently claimed that the mission had cost $122 million as of February; this understated figure of about $30 million per month does not include many related expenses, but does indicate that the cost of the expanded mission can be expected to go far higher.

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Still no alternative: Scrap Bill C-51

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Visit our stop C-51 website

Growing public pressure has compelled the Harper Conservative government to make a handful of minor amendments to Bill C-51, while rejecting all changes proposed by the opposition parties in Parliament. This tactical retreat shows that further mass opposition outside Parliament can help slow the anti-democratic and pro-war “security state” agenda of this government. The Communist Party of Canada maintains that these amendments are completely inadequate, and that Bill C-51 remains fundamentally flawed and must be scrapped.

Until now, the Conservatives had denied any need to modify C-51. Clearly they did not expect such an impressive range of public opposition, including from significant parts of the ruling class who are uncomfortable with the Conservatives’ sharp shift towards authoritarianism.

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After a successful day of action — keep up the struggle to stop Bill C-51!

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Visit our stop Bill C-51 website!

Following last Saturday’s successful day of action against the Harper Conservative’s “police state” Bill C-51, the Communist Party of Canada is calling for continued united action to block and defeat the proposed legislation. Over 75 actions, from Halifax to Victoria to Yellowknife, took place drawing many thousands into the streets at marches and rallies.

“Every single day that passes, more and more people are coming out against Bill C-51”, Miguel Figueroa, leader of the Communist Party of Canada told the Winnipeg rally. “Notwithstanding the Conservatives’ bravado, they are scared,” he said, noting the breadth of opposition to C-51.

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Photo Gallery: CPC joins Stop C-51 protests

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This past weekend, actions mobilizing over 17,000 people took place in almost 80 cities across Canada. The Communist Party of Canada joined this movement with our full support, speaking in several places including Winnipeg (CPC leader Miguel Figueroa), Brampton (Elizabeth Rowley), Montreal (Pierre Fontaine) and Halifax (Jim Sacouman). Also pictured, rallies in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa. Visit our Stop Bill C-51 website here.

Winnipeg

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An unjust attack re-writing history: Ottawa’s Victims of Communism memorial

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The Communist Party of Canada welcomes the growing outcry against the planned “Monument to the Victims of Communism” monument to be constructed in front of the Supreme Court of Canada Building, in Ottawa. This project has been criticized for many reasons, including the fact that millions of federal funds have been poured into this partisan, anti-communist monument in order to advance the electoral interests of the Harper Conservative government.

Our Party was among the very first to condemn this project when it first sought approval from the National Capital Commission back in 2009. In a letter to the NCC on October 1st of that year, we noted the following:

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Venezuela’s failed coup: danger not yet over

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Communist Party Condemns U.S.-led Foiled Coup Attempt against the Elected Maduro Government in Venezuela

In the wake of the recent coup plot against the democratically-elected government of President Nicolas Maduro, the Communist Party of Canada restates our long-standing solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. We condemn the role of the Canadian state in this murderous plot, and in the wider imperialist assault against the sovereignty of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.

As the world knows, the coup was blocked when a retired Venezuelan Air Force general and 10 military and civilian opposition figures were arrested. They had planned to bomb the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly, Telesur TV network, the Defense Ministry and other Caracas sites on February 12, the one-year anniversary of violent anti-government attacks which caused 43 deaths.

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Venezuela : nous avertissons que le danger n’est pas disparu!

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Le Parti communiste condamne la tentative de coup d’État dirigée par les États-Unis contre le gouvernement élu de Maduro au Venezuela

Dans le sillage de la récente tentative de coup d’État contre le gouvernement démocratiquement élu du président Nicolas Maduro, le Parti communiste du Canada réaffirme sa solidarité de longue date avec la Révolution bolivarienne au Venezuela. Nous condamnons le rôle de l’État canadien dans ce complot meurtrier, et plus largement, l’agression impérialiste contre la souveraineté des peuples d’Amérique latine et des Caraïbes.

Comme tout le monde le sait, le coup a été déjoué lorsqu’un général à la retraite des forces aériennes vénézuéliennes et 10 autres personnalités de l’opposition, militaires et civiles, ont été arrêtées. Ils avaient prévu bombarder le Palais présidentiel, l’Assemblée nationale, le réseau de télévision Telesur, le ministère de la Défense ainsi que d’autres cibles à Caracas, le 12 Février, date du premier anniversaire de violentes attaques anti-gouvernementales qui avaient causé 43 décès.

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