Bill C-59, the Liberals’ new national security legislation, is a cleaned up continuation of the Tories’ infamous and draconian Bill C-51, which the Liberals promised to significantly amend if elected in 2015. In fact they voted for C-51 despite mass country-wide protests against the Bill before and during the election. Their promises to amend it were widely understood to mean they would rewrite it to expunge the dangerously authoritarian, repressive and anti-democratic core of the legislation. Two years later, the Liberals have produced C-59, the twin brother of C-51, cleaned-up, but no less dangerous to Canadians’ civil, labour and democratic rights.
Civil and Democratic rights
Pride 2017: An Injury to One is an Injury to All!
Pride 2017 Statement from the Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League
In 2017, Pride events across Canada take place in a much different context than one short year ago. The election of Donald Trump has encouraged fascists and other reactionaries to emerge from their dark corners and to openly promote hatred in the form of homophobia and transphobia, as well as Islamophobia, racism, misogyny and sexism – all of which are intended to roll-back the hard-won rights of oppressed peoples, including the LGBTQ2SIA community. Signs of this appeared last summer, when the shootings at the Pulse gay club in Florida seemed to galvanize the Pride season, and focused attention on the backlash against the gains made by the LGBTQ2SIA movement in the USA, where reactionary forces have been resisting the extension of civil rights for LGBTQ2SIA people, and actively attempting to roll-back rights already won. In this context, it is necessary to remember that Pride is not only a celebration of the rainbow community, but also a reminder that our gains are the result of a political defense of our community and a political struggle for our rights.
Mobilize to defeat the racist agenda
The Communist Party of Canada condemns the escalation of activities by racist and neo-fascist movements across the country, such as the March 4 anti-Muslim rallies in over 60 cities and towns called by the “Canadian Coalition of Concerned Citizens”. While the CCCC pose as advocates of “fairness”, in reality they play upon the fears of working people who face the impact of capitalist economic crisis, unemployment, and austerity social cuts, to promote their true agenda of white supremacy.
The current wave of violent xenophobia has been fanned by recent events in the US, but it is also true that the Canadian capitalist state was founded on the basis of colonial genocide against indigenous peoples, brutal exploitation of immigrant workers, and the racist goal of creating a “white man’s country.”
Mobilisons-nous contre la montée du racisme
Le Parti communiste du Canada condamne la montée des actions dirigées par les groupes racistes et néofascistes à travers le pays, telles que les rassemblements anti-musulmans du 4 mars, organisés par la Coalition canadienne des citoyens inquiets (Canadian Coalition of Concerned Citizens – CCCC) dans plus de 60 villes canadiennes. Alors que ce groupe se dit en faveur de la justice, en réalité, il joue sur la peur des travailleurs et des travailleuses qui font face aux impacts de la crise économique capitaliste, au chômage, à l’austérité et aux coupures dans les services sociaux, afin de promouvoir leur véritable agenda suprématiste blanc.
La vague actuelle de violence xénophobe a été attisée par les récents événements aux États-Unis, mais il ne faut pas oublier que l’État capitaliste canadien a été fondé sur le génocide des peuples autochtones, l’exploitation des travailleuses et des travailleurs migrant-e-s et dans le but raciste de créer « un pays pour l’homme blanc ».
Communists Demand Electoral Reform and Legislation to Enact MMP
The Communist Party of Canada has condemned the Liberal government’s decision to abandon its promise to introduce electoral reform, calling it self-serving and anti-democratic.
“The PM says there ‘s no consensus in the country for electoral reform”, said Communist leader Liz Rowley, “but that’s not true. Seventy percent of electors cast votes for parties that campaigned for electoral reform, including the NDP, Greens, Communists, and the Liberals who promised to make every vote count and to do it in time for the next election. That’s a clear mandate.
Communists Demand Immediate Government Action on US-inspired Hate Crime in Quebec
The Communist Party of Canada today condemned the deadly attack by a masked gunman with assault weapons which killed 6 people and injured 19 more, who were at prayers in the Grand Mosque in St. Foy, Quebec Sunday night.
The Party’s Executive Committee expressed deepest sympathy to the families of those killed and injured in this heinous act of hate, and expressed its determination to unite Canadians to oppose and defeat the racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia being whipped up in the US, Europe and Canada today.
Repeal C-51, Scrap CSIS: Brief to the House Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security
Brief to the House Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security
Consultation on Canada’s National Security Framework, including Bill C-51
Communist Party of Canada, December 2016
The following Brief outlines the position of the Communist Party of Canada regarding former five-part omnibus Bill C-51, (the Anti-terrorism Act, passed by the Harper Conservative government in 2015) and the threat that the renewed “War on Terror” posses to fundamental human rights, security and peace.
Unite against Trump’s ultra-right racists!
Statement on the U.S. election, Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, Nov. 10, 2016
The election of Donald Trump marks an extremely dangerous shift, that threatens peace, democracy and sovereignty abroad, and labour, civil, social, and equality rights in the U.S. As the de facto leader of a fascist movement, Trump has been compared to Silvio Berlusconi, the fascist leader of the Italian People of Freedom Party. The Republicans now control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the executive branch, with power to make crucial appointments to the Supreme Court.
S’unir contre les racistes d’extrême-droite de Trump
Déclaration sur les élections américaines, Comité exécutif central, Parti communiste du Canada, 10 novembre 2016
L’élection de Donald Trump marque un changement extrêmement dangereux qui menace la paix, la démocratie et la souveraineté à l’extérieur des États-Unis, et les droits civils et sociaux, ainsi que le droit à l’égalité aux États-Unis mêmes. En tant que chef de facto d’un mouvement fasciste, Trump a été comparé à Silvio Berlusconi, le dirigeant fasciste du parti italien Le peuple de la liberté. Les Républicains contrôlent maintenant la Chambre des représentants, le Sénat et le pouvoir exécutif, avec le pouvoir de faire des nominations cruciales à la Cour suprême.
Brief to the Special Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reform
The Communist Party of Canada is a registered political party with a 95 year history of fighting for peace, democracy, and socialism. Our party was the first political party in Canada to call for proportional representation. We maintain that any discussion about electoral reform should begin with scrapping the anti-democratic “Un-Fair Elections Act” imposed by the Harper Conservative government, and building from the principle of making every vote count.
In convening the Special Committee on Electoral Reform, Parliament mandated the committee to (1) “study of viable alternate voting systems to replace the first-past-the-post system”; (2) “examine mandatory voting and online voting”; and (3) “assess the extent to which the options identified” would advance democratic principles. This brief presents the perspective of the Communist Party of Canada towards these questions and associated matters, and our policy on electoral reform.