Statements

The Greek people have our whole-hearted solidarity

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The 3rd Memorandum debt refinancing pact signed between the Troika (European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank) and the Syriza-led government in Greece will have disastrous effects on the Greek working class and working people. It constitutes a monumental betrayal by the Syriza (social democratic) party of its previous promises to stand up to the European bankers and to end and reverse austerity imposed by previous bourgeois governments. The various attempts by Syriza (or its supporters abroad) to justify or excuse this sell-out agreement – or to deflect responsibility away from the Tsipras government in Athens – fail to alter that basic reality.

As the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) correctly noted in its recent statement, the government is essence is burdening the people with a new loan worth 86 billion € and savage measures that accompany it, such as the further reduction of the people’s income, the new heavy taxes, the maintenance of the new property tax, the significant increase of VAT on items of mass popular consumption, the reduction of pensions, the implementation of a new and worse social-security regime, the gradual abolition of supplementary assistance for poor pensioners, and the wholesale privatization of public assets.

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Le long chemin vers l’égalité LGBT: La prochaine étape – défaire Harper!

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Déclaration de la Fierté 2015 du Parti communiste du Canada et de la Ligue de la jeunesse communiste

Nous sommes à l’été, la saison de la Fierté, avec des centaines d’activités dans les villes, grandes comme petites, à travers le pays. Le Parti communiste du Canada affirme chaleureusement sa solidarité envers la communauté LGBT et ses alliés, et invite les électrices et les électeurs à se débarrasser des Conservateurs anti-égalité de Stephen Harper à l’occasion de la prochaine élection fédérale.

D’importantes victoires juridiques, politiques et culturelles en faveur des droits des LGBT ont été obtenues depuis les premiers défilés de la Fierté, grâce à des décennies d’efforts de la communauté LGBT et nos alliés. À l’échelle internationale, plus de pays reconnaissent désormais le droit fondamental à l’égalité, comme on a pu le voir avec le récent référendum irlandais sur le mariage.

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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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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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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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On the expanding “War on terror”: unite to defend democracy, peace and equality

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Since the terrible events of January 7 and beyond in Paris, politicians and the corporate media in the NATO countries, including Canada, are thundering that “we must all unite” in response to a so-called “declaration of war” by religious extremist groups. But under the cover of “safeguarding our freedom from terrorism”, the Harper and other Western governments are moving to escalate militarism and aggression abroad, and further erode democratic liberties – especially the right to dissent – at home.

To be clear, the Communist Party of Canada categorically condemns all terrorist acts, whether committed by individuals, movements or imperialist states. As we stated immediately after the 9/11 events, “acts of terrorism undermine the struggle for progressive change; they sideline and neutralize the mass movement, create fear and disorientation in the broad people’s fightback, and provide imperialism and reaction with a powerful pretext to intensify repression.”

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À propos de l’expansion de la « guerre au terrorisme » : Unissons-nous pour défendre la démocratie, la paix et l’égalité

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Depuis les terribles événements survenus à Paris le 7 Janvier et les jours suivants, politiciens et grands médias des pays membres de l’OTAN, dont le Canada, tonnent que «nous devons tous nous unir» en réponse à une soi-disant «déclaration de guerre» de groupes religieux extrémistes. Mais sous le couvert de «sauvegarder nos libertés contre le terrorisme», le gouvernement d’Harper et les autres gouvernements occidentaux se lancent dans une escalade de militarisme et d’agressions à l’étranger, et rognent davantage les libertés démocratiques – en particulier le droit à la dissidence – au pays.

Pour être clair, le Parti communiste du Canada condamne catégoriquement toutes les actions terroristes, qu’elles soient commises par des individus, des mouvements ou des États impérialistes. Comme nous l’avons dit immédiatement après les événements du 11 septembre 2001, «les actions terroristes sapent la lutte pour un changement progressiste; elles mettent sur la touche et neutralisent le mouvement des masses, créent la peur et désorientent la riposte populaire, et fournissent à l’impérialisme et à la réaction un puissant prétexte pour intensifier la répression».

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