Monday, August 24, 2009
On the day of today, the European Union is calling upon all European people to celebrate the so called “Europe- wide Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism”, following the anti-communist and anti- democratic
resolutions approved by the European Parliament.
This measure is, once again, a step towards the criminalization of the communist ideal and an attempt to make equivalent the fascist ideology to the ideology of peace, freedom and democracy, the communist ideology.
Furthermore, it is a complete hypocrisy for a structure as European Union to
raise the “flag of democracy”, when itself is imposing for the third time now an European Constitution that has already been rejected two times by the peoples; a structure as European Union that supports the role of NATO and aims to strengthen bounds with this international killing and destroying machine that over the last 60 years has supported all fascist regimes of Europe; a structure as European Union that has everyday stronger economical and political bounds with the Zionist state of Israel, that slaughters and humiliates the Palestinian people in their own land; a structure as European Union, that lets that in its inside there is a youth, democratic, peace loving organization be banned just because of their communist ideology (namely, the Communist Youth Union of Czech Republic).
To the Members of the European Parliament who approved this resolution and to all those who decide to join this dark celebration we remind that it was the Western European countries and USA (the so called “democratic countries”), who took no hesitation to bring back to power the high ranking officers of the former fascist armies.
Moreover, it is important to remind that two thirds of all battle fronts that
allowed the world to defeat Hitler’s army were on Eastern Europe and, most of them, conducted by the Soviet Union.
Such processes of comparing Fascist regimes to the socialist oriented societies, namely Soviet Union, are manoeuvres of deceiving and distraction from the agonizing imperialist powers.
Today, as in the past, imperialism is creating means, strategies and subjective conditions to persecute communist, progressive and anti-imperialist forces, particularly in the moment lived now, when the international financial crisis has brought up even more clearly the unsolvable contradictions of imperialism as an upper stage of the capitalist system. Imperialism knows that its survival, or the delay of its end, depends on confusing the youth and people of the world, preventing them to realize that only by struggling and rallying under the anti-imperialist organizations they can hope for a truly and long lasting peaceful and fair future.
WFDY draws the attention to the ongoing crimes and massacres against mankind that deserve not only analysis but concrete action from all possible democratic means, such as the massacre of the Palestinian and Saharan
people, the constant persecutions to all democrats in Colombia, Burma, Swaziland, Philippines and others as well as the completely outraging situation of coup d’état in Honduras.
WFDY calls upon all its member and friend organizations to denounce the anti-communist attack being launched and to continue their struggle for democracy and freedom, alongside with all elements that a constitute a truly democratic state, as universal access to education, employment, health, food, culture and sports, which is very far from being the reality inside the European Union member states and many others in the world.
Budapest, August 23, 2009
The CC/HQ of WFDY
August 13, 2009
Greetings to the Young New Democrats Convention
August 13, 2009
Dear New Democratic Youth of Canada Executive,
Greetings from the Young Communist Leauge – Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada, on the occasion of your HFX09 YOUTH, the NDP Federal Youth convention starting today!
We write to you in the spirit of cooperation and dialogue. In our view, your convention comes at a critical time for the youth and student movement across Canada. Our world’s environment is seriously threatened, our generation is undergoing the most intense and dangerous economic crisis we’ve ever seen, and an aggressively pro-big business government – the Harper Conservatives – is in power.
Tens of thousands of young people are unemployed. Many haven’t found a job this summer. Fewer still will obtain well-paying, meaningful, and safe full-time work. In Toronto, youth unemployment is pushing 20 per cent. Aboriginal youth, young women, youth of colour (especially Afro-Canadian youth) and non-status youth are severely hit. Employment Insurance denies most young applicants, including farm-worker youth, and is meagre at best.
In this crisis, have any of the municipal, provincial and federal governments moved to close the wage gap between women and men, massively build affordable housing, legislate a minimum wage above poverty, or make car insurance and public transit more accessible to youth? Student debt hit $13 billion this January. With the exception of Newfoundland, most provinces are increasing tuition and ancillary fees, while commercializing education. (Sadly that includes Gary Doer’s Manitoba, and Darrell Dexter’s provincial platform astoundingly called for tax cuts to students, not reduced tuition).
We are interested in your reflections; our experience is that the young workers and students across Canada genuinely resent being forced to pay for a crisis that we didn’t create – a crisis caused by capitalism. The also youth disagree with the billions of dollars wasted on the imperialist war in Afghanistan, and even the general direction of our largely US-written foreign policy (currently tacitly supporting the illegal Honduran coup).
For our part, we stand with all those who envision a new future without hunger, misery, ignorance, exploitation and suffering, without capitalism and imperialism. We know that we are not alone. Our organization’s perspective is for a socialist Canada, where the people own the economy and society is based on ecology and human need, not corporate greed. For us, this goal is urgently linked with the efforts of young people, with the labour and all people’s movements, to strive for a much better deal – not just in the Parliament but especially on the streets, in the schools, in workplaces. We think you would agree that way forward includes struggle and protests, requiring bold and energetic unity.
The YCL has great respect for the countless honest, good-hearted NDY’ers who are outstanding activists. Although occasionally – like the battle to de-federate Simon Fraser University from the Canadian Federation of Students – we find young NDPers are sadly both sides of the fight, the big picture of the NDP youth is an organization with many progressive militants working hard in the fight-back as individuals. It is our hope that the New Democratic Youth will deepen its participation as an organization in the many campaigns of English-speaking Canadian, Québécois, Aboriginal and Acadian youth.
We know many others agree that the movement would be made stronger if, with all the radical and spirited enthusiasm that burns within youth, the NDY consciously brought its membership into campaigns. Could the NDY dauntlessly and publicly support progressive causes like the immediate call for the restoration of democratically elected Honduran President Zelaya, or actions like the Troops Out of Afghanistan Now, against military recruitment, solidarity with Palestine and Haiti, to raise the minimum wage above the poverty line, expand and transform EI, for universal, public, quality childcare, or to immediately reduce and then eliminate tuition fees, and close the scandalous gap in Aboriginal education funding? This is not the place for a complete list of the youth struggles, but what possibilities exist for the NDY consciously helping movements, as an organization, to mobilize in unions and on campus?
The call for united action is all the more imperative give the renewed gross and anti-democratic attempts at manipulating student politics engendered by the Conservative Party youth.
Our local clubs are open to working with any youth organization, including the NDY, towards a progressive agenda. We warmly welcome any discussions, debate and joint action that builds a broader, more powerful youth and student movement. These debates and actions are not sufficiently comprehensive and pan-Canadian, but they are vigorous and on-going among the English-speaking Canadian, Québécois, Aboriginal and Acadian youth. In the face of such serious threats to our generation, to take a different approach than unity and struggle, we think, would be disastrous for the youth.
Again, on behalf of the Central Executive Committee of the Young Communist League of Canada – Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada, we wish your delegates and new executive best luck for a successful convention that is militant, dynamic, and committed to building a Canada of peace, democracy, ecology, employment, and full sovereignty – and a better world.
Yours in friendship and struggle,
Johan Boyden
General Secretary, YCL-LJC
Cc:
YND Co-Chair Rachel Gotthilf
YND Co-Chair Marie-Pier René
Secretary Meghan Mitchell
Treasurer Anand Sharma
Policy Director Erica Martin
Communications Director Bryan Young,
Outreach Director John Tzupa,
Francophone Director Jean-Francois Paradis,
Labour Director Erin Sikora,
Disability Rights Director Nathan Hauch,
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgendered and Queer Director Andrew Brett,
Women’s Director Fiona Shiells,
Aboriginal Director Mitchell Anderson
Dear New Democratic Youth of Canada Executive,
Greetings from the Young Communist Leauge – Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada, on the occasion of your HFX09 YOUTH, the NDP Federal Youth convention starting today!
We write to you in the spirit of cooperation and dialogue. In our view, your convention comes at a critical time for the youth and student movement across Canada. Our world’s environment is seriously threatened, our generation is undergoing the most intense and dangerous economic crisis we’ve ever seen, and an aggressively pro-big business government – the Harper Conservatives – is in power.
Tens of thousands of young people are unemployed. Many haven’t found a job this summer. Fewer still will obtain well-paying, meaningful, and safe full-time work. In Toronto, youth unemployment is pushing 20 per cent. Aboriginal youth, young women, youth of colour (especially Afro-Canadian youth) and non-status youth are severely hit. Employment Insurance denies most young applicants, including farm-worker youth, and is meagre at best.
In this crisis, have any of the municipal, provincial and federal governments moved to close the wage gap between women and men, massively build affordable housing, legislate a minimum wage above poverty, or make car insurance and public transit more accessible to youth? Student debt hit $13 billion this January. With the exception of Newfoundland, most provinces are increasing tuition and ancillary fees, while commercializing education. (Sadly that includes Gary Doer’s Manitoba, and Darrell Dexter’s provincial platform astoundingly called for tax cuts to students, not reduced tuition).
We are interested in your reflections; our experience is that the young workers and students across Canada genuinely resent being forced to pay for a crisis that we didn’t create – a crisis caused by capitalism. The also youth disagree with the billions of dollars wasted on the imperialist war in Afghanistan, and even the general direction of our largely US-written foreign policy (currently tacitly supporting the illegal Honduran coup).
For our part, we stand with all those who envision a new future without hunger, misery, ignorance, exploitation and suffering, without capitalism and imperialism. We know that we are not alone. Our organization’s perspective is for a socialist Canada, where the people own the economy and society is based on ecology and human need, not corporate greed. For us, this goal is urgently linked with the efforts of young people, with the labour and all people’s movements, to strive for a much better deal – not just in the Parliament but especially on the streets, in the schools, in workplaces. We think you would agree that way forward includes struggle and protests, requiring bold and energetic unity.
The YCL has great respect for the countless honest, good-hearted NDY’ers who are outstanding activists. Although occasionally – like the battle to de-federate Simon Fraser University from the Canadian Federation of Students – we find young NDPers are sadly both sides of the fight, the big picture of the NDP youth is an organization with many progressive militants working hard in the fight-back as individuals. It is our hope that the New Democratic Youth will deepen its participation as an organization in the many campaigns of English-speaking Canadian, Québécois, Aboriginal and Acadian youth.
We know many others agree that the movement would be made stronger if, with all the radical and spirited enthusiasm that burns within youth, the NDY consciously brought its membership into campaigns. Could the NDY dauntlessly and publicly support progressive causes like the immediate call for the restoration of democratically elected Honduran President Zelaya, or actions like the Troops Out of Afghanistan Now, against military recruitment, solidarity with Palestine and Haiti, to raise the minimum wage above the poverty line, expand and transform EI, for universal, public, quality childcare, or to immediately reduce and then eliminate tuition fees, and close the scandalous gap in Aboriginal education funding? This is not the place for a complete list of the youth struggles, but what possibilities exist for the NDY consciously helping movements, as an organization, to mobilize in unions and on campus?
The call for united action is all the more imperative give the renewed gross and anti-democratic attempts at manipulating student politics engendered by the Conservative Party youth.
Our local clubs are open to working with any youth organization, including the NDY, towards a progressive agenda. We warmly welcome any discussions, debate and joint action that builds a broader, more powerful youth and student movement. These debates and actions are not sufficiently comprehensive and pan-Canadian, but they are vigorous and on-going among the English-speaking Canadian, Québécois, Aboriginal and Acadian youth. In the face of such serious threats to our generation, to take a different approach than unity and struggle, we think, would be disastrous for the youth.
Again, on behalf of the Central Executive Committee of the Young Communist League of Canada – Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada, we wish your delegates and new executive best luck for a successful convention that is militant, dynamic, and committed to building a Canada of peace, democracy, ecology, employment, and full sovereignty – and a better world.
Yours in friendship and struggle,
Johan Boyden
General Secretary, YCL-LJC
Cc:
YND Co-Chair Rachel Gotthilf
YND Co-Chair Marie-Pier René
Secretary Meghan Mitchell
Treasurer Anand Sharma
Policy Director Erica Martin
Communications Director Bryan Young,
Outreach Director John Tzupa,
Francophone Director Jean-Francois Paradis,
Labour Director Erin Sikora,
Disability Rights Director Nathan Hauch,
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgendered and Queer Director Andrew Brett,
Women’s Director Fiona Shiells,
Aboriginal Director Mitchell Anderson
YCL Newsletter
YCL BC School a big hit!
The Sunshine Coast was a little more Red than usual this BC Day long
weekend as the Young Communist League (YCL) held their annual Summer
Camp in Sechelt. Over 20 youth from across the province attended the
camp this year where they learned, discussed, and had fun. It was the
largest event of its kind held since the YCL began to re-organize in
BC over five years ago.
“It can be hard to get young people out to a four day long event,”
said YCL BC Organizer Stephen Von Sychowski. “I think the growth can
be attributed to the increase in size and activity of the League in BC
as well as to the radicalization of youth in the face of war, student
debt and the capitalist economic crisis. Capitalism is again producing
its own gravediggers.” At least years Summer Camp, Trail was the
newest addition to the list of YCL Clubs being built up across Canada.
This year it was Kamloops. Both Clubs sent delegations to this years
Summer Camp.
Under the scorching hot sun the attendees studied a variety of topics
including the economic crisis and the fightback, the environmental
crisis, what socialism is and why it is necessary, current events in
Latin America, and more. But it wasn’t all study, there was also lots
of time for fun. After educational sessions were finished it was off
to the beach to relax, swim, and enjoy the rest of the day.
“I came here to learn about Marxism,” said one camp attendee, “but I
left not just with new knowledge but also with new friends and
memories of an awesome weekend.”
The East Coast camp in Antigonish has been postponed. Next week the
YCL Ontario will be holding its summer school, for more info:
ycl_ontario@ycl-ljc.ca
The Sunshine Coast was a little more Red than usual this BC Day long
weekend as the Young Communist League (YCL) held their annual Summer
Camp in Sechelt. Over 20 youth from across the province attended the
camp this year where they learned, discussed, and had fun. It was the
largest event of its kind held since the YCL began to re-organize in
BC over five years ago.
“It can be hard to get young people out to a four day long event,”
said YCL BC Organizer Stephen Von Sychowski. “I think the growth can
be attributed to the increase in size and activity of the League in BC
as well as to the radicalization of youth in the face of war, student
debt and the capitalist economic crisis. Capitalism is again producing
its own gravediggers.” At least years Summer Camp, Trail was the
newest addition to the list of YCL Clubs being built up across Canada.
This year it was Kamloops. Both Clubs sent delegations to this years
Summer Camp.
Under the scorching hot sun the attendees studied a variety of topics
including the economic crisis and the fightback, the environmental
crisis, what socialism is and why it is necessary, current events in
Latin America, and more. But it wasn’t all study, there was also lots
of time for fun. After educational sessions were finished it was off
to the beach to relax, swim, and enjoy the rest of the day.
“I came here to learn about Marxism,” said one camp attendee, “but I
left not just with new knowledge but also with new friends and
memories of an awesome weekend.”
The East Coast camp in Antigonish has been postponed. Next week the
YCL Ontario will be holding its summer school, for more info:
ycl_ontario@ycl-ljc.ca
August 10, 2009
On 64 years of the USA nuclear bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan)
Today is the 64th complete year of the launching of the first nuclear bomb in the History of mankind, in Nagasaki, Japan. This crime, which was soon after repeated in Nagasaki, demonstrated the inhuman and brutal character of imperialism, and its main interpreter over the last 64 years: the United States of America.
The launching of nuclear bombs over the already surrendered state of Japan was no more than a political and military sign of USA’s imperialist wish for worldwide domination.
Both the sign and the attempts of domination caused millions of wounded and dead, brought starvation, destruction and misery to many people, destroyed the right of millions of young people to have a school, a hospital, a job, a cultural centre or a sports pitch.
During this time the only thing that allowed mankind to stop the imperialist greed of USA, and later European Union and Japan (the main imperialist poles), was its organized struggle and resistance.
Only the resistance and struggle of the people have avoided even more brutal wars and even more militarization. Only the organized struggle of the people have made it possible for so many countries and peoples to be free, independent and sovereign, despite the continuous threats, blackmail and interventions of imperialism.
Today, more than ever, it is crucial a shift in the world’s policies. WFDY calls upon all its member and friend organizations to rally their efforts and unite their strengths to, with their struggle, make a real change possible for mankind, for a world where demilitarization is a fact and not rhetoric, where peace is a reality and not slogan, and where friendship and cooperation are honest between peoples and states, unlike the exploiting policies conducted by USA, European Union and Japan in its manipulation and despise of the United Nations and the International Law.
The CC/HQ of WFDY
Budapest, August 6, 2009
The launching of nuclear bombs over the already surrendered state of Japan was no more than a political and military sign of USA’s imperialist wish for worldwide domination.
Both the sign and the attempts of domination caused millions of wounded and dead, brought starvation, destruction and misery to many people, destroyed the right of millions of young people to have a school, a hospital, a job, a cultural centre or a sports pitch.
During this time the only thing that allowed mankind to stop the imperialist greed of USA, and later European Union and Japan (the main imperialist poles), was its organized struggle and resistance.
Only the resistance and struggle of the people have avoided even more brutal wars and even more militarization. Only the organized struggle of the people have made it possible for so many countries and peoples to be free, independent and sovereign, despite the continuous threats, blackmail and interventions of imperialism.
Today, more than ever, it is crucial a shift in the world’s policies. WFDY calls upon all its member and friend organizations to rally their efforts and unite their strengths to, with their struggle, make a real change possible for mankind, for a world where demilitarization is a fact and not rhetoric, where peace is a reality and not slogan, and where friendship and cooperation are honest between peoples and states, unlike the exploiting policies conducted by USA, European Union and Japan in its manipulation and despise of the United Nations and the International Law.
The CC/HQ of WFDY
Budapest, August 6, 2009
August 09, 2009
City of Guelph: put Nature and People before Profit!
STOP CRIMINALIZING ENVIRONMENTALISTS!
YCL-Guelph
On Monday July 27th at 6:30am, a group of protesters set up camp on the proposed Hanlon Creek Business Park development (HCBP), successfully shutting down construction on the site. This development has been subject to heated community debate since 1993 however, the City of Guelph has recently pushed ahead with the first phase of the construction.
Despite the broad public outcry, the City has not properly addressed warnings by environmentalists and community members. The land in question is home to one of Southern Ontario's last surviving Old Growth Forests and situated on the Paris-Galt Moraine which is essential to the integrity of the surrounding area's drinking water. The HCBP site contains provincially significant wetlands as well as protected species. Environmentalists, scientists and community members agree that the supposed precautions taken by the City are not stringent enough to ensure that significant damage is not done to the land, its resources and ecosystems. THE FAILURE OF THE CITY TO PROPERLY ADDRESS THESE CONCERNS WAS THE REAL CAUSE OF THE WORK STOPPAGE. Direct action was the only way to ensure that work was stopped and democratic debate about the development was continued.
The City and its corporate friends have continued to frame the opposition to the Business Park as opposition to providing jobs to the community. Guelph is facing a jobs crisis. We have lost over 2 000 manufacturing jobs in Guelph since the capitalist crisis hit last year. Guelph is a university town and the recession has also hit students hard and making secondary education even less accessible to working-class youth. This past Friday, Statistics Canada released figures showing that student unemployment hit 20.9 per cent in July — the highest jobless rate since the agency began collecting comparable data in 1977.
So does this mean that ecological destruction is necessary in order to pull us out of the recession/depression? THE HCBP IS NOT A SOLUTION FOR GUELPH'S WORKING CLASS, YOUTH AND STUDENTS. The tenants that the HCBP hopes to attract are biotechnology, agri-science firms, and other corporate evil-doers. It is unlikely that any of Guelph's recently unemployed manufacturing workers would be eligible for a research position in these offices and its industrial section will not be built up for years, if ever. Furthermore, Guelph has 175 brownfields that can be cleaned up and re-developed (former industrial/commercial sites that may be toxified and are now unused).
Unfortunately, Capital sees brownfields as less profitable than new development on a 'greenfield'. The municipality and other levels of government need to stand up to unrestrained capitalist greed and demand that development is done in a responsible way. YCL-Guelph affirms its support in the struggle for meaningful, decent paying jobs as well as for environmental sustainability and conservation.
PUT PEOPLE AND NATURE BEFORE PROFIT!
YCL-GUELPH STANDS IN FULL SOLIDARITY WITH THE LAND DEFENDERS AT THE HCBP SITE AND DEMANDS THAT THE CITY STOP IT'S EFFORTS AT INTIMIDATION AND CRIMINALIZATION. The City's attitude towards the protesters on the site has not been to negotiate towards a resolution but to use the threats of a 5 million dollar lawsuit, and charges of 'Nuisance', the ‘Criminal Offence of Mischief,’ the ‘Criminal Offence of Intimidation,’ the ‘Criminal Offence of Extortion,’ and ‘Inducing Breach of Contract’, to intimidate the peaceful protesters. These brave people have put themselves on the line in the struggle against anarchic and destructive capitalist development. Many of the people who have been singled out by the City and now face the 5 million dollar law-suit are friends and allies of the YCL.
Please join the friends of the "Land Defenders", community supporters and YCL-Guelph tomorrow, Monday August 10th.
@10 am - Superior Court (74 Woolwich St).
@ 6pm - Rally at city hall (1 Carden st.)
YCL-Guelph
On Monday July 27th at 6:30am, a group of protesters set up camp on the proposed Hanlon Creek Business Park development (HCBP), successfully shutting down construction on the site. This development has been subject to heated community debate since 1993 however, the City of Guelph has recently pushed ahead with the first phase of the construction.
Despite the broad public outcry, the City has not properly addressed warnings by environmentalists and community members. The land in question is home to one of Southern Ontario's last surviving Old Growth Forests and situated on the Paris-Galt Moraine which is essential to the integrity of the surrounding area's drinking water. The HCBP site contains provincially significant wetlands as well as protected species. Environmentalists, scientists and community members agree that the supposed precautions taken by the City are not stringent enough to ensure that significant damage is not done to the land, its resources and ecosystems. THE FAILURE OF THE CITY TO PROPERLY ADDRESS THESE CONCERNS WAS THE REAL CAUSE OF THE WORK STOPPAGE. Direct action was the only way to ensure that work was stopped and democratic debate about the development was continued.
The City and its corporate friends have continued to frame the opposition to the Business Park as opposition to providing jobs to the community. Guelph is facing a jobs crisis. We have lost over 2 000 manufacturing jobs in Guelph since the capitalist crisis hit last year. Guelph is a university town and the recession has also hit students hard and making secondary education even less accessible to working-class youth. This past Friday, Statistics Canada released figures showing that student unemployment hit 20.9 per cent in July — the highest jobless rate since the agency began collecting comparable data in 1977.
So does this mean that ecological destruction is necessary in order to pull us out of the recession/depression? THE HCBP IS NOT A SOLUTION FOR GUELPH'S WORKING CLASS, YOUTH AND STUDENTS. The tenants that the HCBP hopes to attract are biotechnology, agri-science firms, and other corporate evil-doers. It is unlikely that any of Guelph's recently unemployed manufacturing workers would be eligible for a research position in these offices and its industrial section will not be built up for years, if ever. Furthermore, Guelph has 175 brownfields that can be cleaned up and re-developed (former industrial/commercial sites that may be toxified and are now unused).
Unfortunately, Capital sees brownfields as less profitable than new development on a 'greenfield'. The municipality and other levels of government need to stand up to unrestrained capitalist greed and demand that development is done in a responsible way. YCL-Guelph affirms its support in the struggle for meaningful, decent paying jobs as well as for environmental sustainability and conservation.
PUT PEOPLE AND NATURE BEFORE PROFIT!
YCL-GUELPH STANDS IN FULL SOLIDARITY WITH THE LAND DEFENDERS AT THE HCBP SITE AND DEMANDS THAT THE CITY STOP IT'S EFFORTS AT INTIMIDATION AND CRIMINALIZATION. The City's attitude towards the protesters on the site has not been to negotiate towards a resolution but to use the threats of a 5 million dollar lawsuit, and charges of 'Nuisance', the ‘Criminal Offence of Mischief,’ the ‘Criminal Offence of Intimidation,’ the ‘Criminal Offence of Extortion,’ and ‘Inducing Breach of Contract’, to intimidate the peaceful protesters. These brave people have put themselves on the line in the struggle against anarchic and destructive capitalist development. Many of the people who have been singled out by the City and now face the 5 million dollar law-suit are friends and allies of the YCL.
Please join the friends of the "Land Defenders", community supporters and YCL-Guelph tomorrow, Monday August 10th.
@10 am - Superior Court (74 Woolwich St).
@ 6pm - Rally at city hall (1 Carden st.)
July 29, 2009
Celebrating 50 Years of Cuba Revolution!
This July 26, the Young Communist League of Canada - la Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada, sends its greetings and stands in solidarity with the people of Cuba. This "Moncada Day" has special meaning for Cubans and friends of Cuba everywhere, as it is the 50th anniversary of the victory of the Cuban Revolution. The movement that grew into the triumphant Revolution was born on the 26th of July, 1953 when Fidel and Raul Castro and around 160 other brave revolutionaries attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. This was the first armed resistance to the corrupt and brutal, US-backed, Batista regime, carried out by the "Movimiento 26 Julio".
The YCL-LJC Canada wishes to send a special greeting to the Youth of Cuba and to the Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas. We acknowledge the vanguard role the youth play in the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban people's struggle for socialism and against imperialism. This was no different 56 years ago when the attack on the Moncada barracks was carried out. The revolutionaries that participated were overwhelmingly young farmers, workers and students and in unity with the working-class. The average age was 26, the same age as their leader Fidel Castro. Today we salute the example set by those brave revolutionaries.
The Moncada attack was not an immediate victory for the Movimiento 26 Julio, but it was the first battle in a long people's struggle against the strangle-hold of imperialism. After Fidel was arrested and imprisoned, he published his famous defence speech entitled "History will Absolve Me". With 50 years of history written about the heroic Cuban Revolution, Castro and his Moncada comrades have been absolved one-thousand times over. By continuing to maintain friendly relations with Cuba, Canada affirms its sovereignty in foreign policy (which in all other areas is authored by Washington -- like Palestine, Colombia or Canada’s imperialist war in Afghanistan).
The bravery and heroism of their people continues, symbolized by the Cuba Five – five men unjustly imprisoned in US jails for fighting CIA-backed terrorism on their Island. We salute the Five, reaffirm our demand to free them, and cheer-on Cuba's achievements in education, health care and international solidarity which have shown the world that socialism is both possible and necessary to end war, environmental destruction and economic injustice.
The Young Communist League of Canada joins the friends of Cuba from around the world in saying:
"VIVA LA REVOLUCION CUBANA Y EL MOVIMIENTO DEL 26!"
YCL-LJC CEC
The YCL-LJC Canada wishes to send a special greeting to the Youth of Cuba and to the Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas. We acknowledge the vanguard role the youth play in the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban people's struggle for socialism and against imperialism. This was no different 56 years ago when the attack on the Moncada barracks was carried out. The revolutionaries that participated were overwhelmingly young farmers, workers and students and in unity with the working-class. The average age was 26, the same age as their leader Fidel Castro. Today we salute the example set by those brave revolutionaries.
The Moncada attack was not an immediate victory for the Movimiento 26 Julio, but it was the first battle in a long people's struggle against the strangle-hold of imperialism. After Fidel was arrested and imprisoned, he published his famous defence speech entitled "History will Absolve Me". With 50 years of history written about the heroic Cuban Revolution, Castro and his Moncada comrades have been absolved one-thousand times over. By continuing to maintain friendly relations with Cuba, Canada affirms its sovereignty in foreign policy (which in all other areas is authored by Washington -- like Palestine, Colombia or Canada’s imperialist war in Afghanistan).
The bravery and heroism of their people continues, symbolized by the Cuba Five – five men unjustly imprisoned in US jails for fighting CIA-backed terrorism on their Island. We salute the Five, reaffirm our demand to free them, and cheer-on Cuba's achievements in education, health care and international solidarity which have shown the world that socialism is both possible and necessary to end war, environmental destruction and economic injustice.
The Young Communist League of Canada joins the friends of Cuba from around the world in saying:
"VIVA LA REVOLUCION CUBANA Y EL MOVIMIENTO DEL 26!"
YCL-LJC CEC
July WFDY News
Dear Comrades and friends,
We are pleased to circulate the July 2009 newsletter of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, which can be downloaded at:
http://www.wfdy.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/wfdy-news-july-2009-digital.pdf
The newsletters main editorial follows.
- YCL-LJC
EDITORIAL - JULY 2009 - WFDY NEWS
July, the hot weather month is also a hot month for antiimperialist struggle. Around the world WFDY organizations started their summer plans including camps, festivals and youth events. In Cyprus EDON celebrated its festival with a new taste this time,
especially after the winning of presidency last year. New challenges face the movement now after being in power, but till now it proves to be fruitful with AKEL and the left forces taking more than 35 % of the votes in the European elections, thus improving their share of votes, and this only happened to a single party in power, that party is AKEL.
In Africa, this month celebrated the birth of the symbol of the liberation struggle Nilson Mandela, and our organizations across the continent continue their struggle with the same spirit of struggle towards complete independence from imperialist implications after getting liberated of its direct occupation in the past century.
WFDY also visited Asia, participating in an international forum of All China Youth Federation in Beijing and meeting many officials of the organization. WFDY also visited Vietnam, DPRK Korea and Japan in a series of meetings with our member organizations in this important region in the world. We expect this visit to come out with important results in the near future and further strengthen the relations and the anti-imperialist struggle in the region.
In the Middle East, the political situation is always tense and delicate, but this month carried a shameful declaration of the Kingdom of Bahrain expressing the will to open the relations with the Zionist state of Israel.
This is a very bad move that neglects the right of the Palestinian people to have an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, and the right of return of the refugees to their lands. Any compromise with Israel that doesn't include those rights of the Palestinian people is a betrayal that we condemn and refuse.
Elections in Lebanon was another form of political fraud, where the campaign of both coalitions, March8 and March
14, the pro-Syrian and pro-American groups did cost about 700 million dollars, almost the same amount of the campaign of the US elections knowing that Lebanon is 100 times less populated than US!! With huge funding from abroad, especially from Saudi Arabia, the March 14 coalition managed to get about 60,000 immigrants fully paid for travel and hotel for a full week to vote in the delicate and balanced regions and this led to their victory in the overall results. Lebanon will go again into 4 years of a pro-American government and a crippled “opposition” that only seeks compromises and shares in the government.
On the other hand, during the same month, the campaign to free Ahmad Saadat, General Secretary of PFLP detained in Israel, presented a statement in front of the UN General Secretary and asked the UN to take its responsibilities for the freedom of the Palestinian detainees. WFDY joined this campaign and issued a statement of solidarity earlier this month.
In Latin America, the movement against the illegal coup in Honduras is still rising and everyday there are more pressures on the military to quit and let the democratically elected leader to come back to power. WFDY continues its solidarity and close look for the situation and studies possible moves in solidarity with the Honduran people in the next months
We are pleased to circulate the July 2009 newsletter of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, which can be downloaded at:
http://www.wfdy.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/wfdy-news-july-2009-digital.pdf
The newsletters main editorial follows.
- YCL-LJC
EDITORIAL - JULY 2009 - WFDY NEWS
July, the hot weather month is also a hot month for antiimperialist struggle. Around the world WFDY organizations started their summer plans including camps, festivals and youth events. In Cyprus EDON celebrated its festival with a new taste this time,
especially after the winning of presidency last year. New challenges face the movement now after being in power, but till now it proves to be fruitful with AKEL and the left forces taking more than 35 % of the votes in the European elections, thus improving their share of votes, and this only happened to a single party in power, that party is AKEL.
In Africa, this month celebrated the birth of the symbol of the liberation struggle Nilson Mandela, and our organizations across the continent continue their struggle with the same spirit of struggle towards complete independence from imperialist implications after getting liberated of its direct occupation in the past century.
WFDY also visited Asia, participating in an international forum of All China Youth Federation in Beijing and meeting many officials of the organization. WFDY also visited Vietnam, DPRK Korea and Japan in a series of meetings with our member organizations in this important region in the world. We expect this visit to come out with important results in the near future and further strengthen the relations and the anti-imperialist struggle in the region.
In the Middle East, the political situation is always tense and delicate, but this month carried a shameful declaration of the Kingdom of Bahrain expressing the will to open the relations with the Zionist state of Israel.
This is a very bad move that neglects the right of the Palestinian people to have an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, and the right of return of the refugees to their lands. Any compromise with Israel that doesn't include those rights of the Palestinian people is a betrayal that we condemn and refuse.
Elections in Lebanon was another form of political fraud, where the campaign of both coalitions, March8 and March
14, the pro-Syrian and pro-American groups did cost about 700 million dollars, almost the same amount of the campaign of the US elections knowing that Lebanon is 100 times less populated than US!! With huge funding from abroad, especially from Saudi Arabia, the March 14 coalition managed to get about 60,000 immigrants fully paid for travel and hotel for a full week to vote in the delicate and balanced regions and this led to their victory in the overall results. Lebanon will go again into 4 years of a pro-American government and a crippled “opposition” that only seeks compromises and shares in the government.
On the other hand, during the same month, the campaign to free Ahmad Saadat, General Secretary of PFLP detained in Israel, presented a statement in front of the UN General Secretary and asked the UN to take its responsibilities for the freedom of the Palestinian detainees. WFDY joined this campaign and issued a statement of solidarity earlier this month.
In Latin America, the movement against the illegal coup in Honduras is still rising and everyday there are more pressures on the military to quit and let the democratically elected leader to come back to power. WFDY continues its solidarity and close look for the situation and studies possible moves in solidarity with the Honduran people in the next months
Happy Pride '09 Canada!
Joint Statement of the Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League
The Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League
proudly salute LGBTQ workers and activists, Egale and other community
advocates throughout Canada and in Quebec, safer queer-positive
schools, and corporate-free space on Pride Day!
We say: No Pride in the international criminalizing of sexual
orientation, sexual expression and gender identity! No Pride in War or
Corporate Plunder!
Pride events this summer are celebrating welcome progress towards
greater equality and social justice. Communists are active players in
Canada's various LGBTQ and queer* identified communities. Together we
stand proudly in solidarity with all LGBTQ allies and activists
marking Pride 2009.
Globally celebrations are marking the anniversary of the
"Stonewall Riots" in Manhattan. A show of working class resistance,
the first scuffles were reported to be initiated by local homeless and
unemployed queer youth - patrons of the Stonewall Inn. 40 years on we
are bombarded with both encouraging and alarming headlines:
* Many more queer-positive environments are available to us in the public realm.
* Initial but promising signs on the left to re-integrate the fight
for justice and the fight against homophobia.
* Increasing numbers of trade unions now have active Pride and LGBTQ caucuses.
* High schools are launching gay-straight alliances, safe school
spaces and "Pride proms".
* Sex-reassignment surgery is at least partially covered under some
provincial health insurance plans.
These legal, political and cultural victories are the hard-won
results of decades of efforts by the LGBTQ community and allies.
However,
* California has overturned the same-sex marriage ruling, despite
equality gains in other states and in Canada.
* The Harper Tories still hope to reverse queer rights if they win a
majority government.
* The Right continue to scapegoat the LGBTQ community and racialised
groups, to divide working class resistance against finance capital,
corporate bailouts and global environmental plunder.
* The politics of Pride events are skewed by corporate sponsorship,
and with a handful of notable exceptions, military opportunism
And there's more. Despite Canada's welcoming image,
* queer youth in Toronto and Montreal seeking asylum from persecution
in other countries are being extradited.
* HIV-positive men still face barriers to travel across the Canada-US border
* LGBTQ secondary students, (over two-thirds in a recent survey)
report feeling unsafe at school, (compared to 1 in 5 straight
students).
* Prosecutors are unwilling to prosecute vicious gay-bashings in
Vancouver as hate crimes.
Globally,
* violent public expressions of homophobia are on the rise.
* the struggle to end the decriminalization of sexual orientation and
sexual expression faces stubborn resistance.
* working class queer people suffer especially vicious discrimination,
and as women and racialized communities bear the severe brunt of
neoliberal economic and social policies.
* ILGA, the association of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersexed
peoples reports that 90 United Nations member states still criminalize
consensual same-sex acts among adults.
* In seven countries, legal punishment for homosexuality still
includes the death penalty.
* In many countries, such laws drive women, men and youth underground
to hide from fear of exposure and censure.
But important progress for LGBTQ equality is being achieved in
countries such as Cuba, South Africa and Nicaragua. The myth that
queer rights can only be won in wealthy capitalist countries is
shattered by these advances, and by the reality that homophobic and
racist concepts are exported from North America and Europe.
Despite the cultural and legal shift in favour of equality and
diversity, homophobia and transphobia remain tenaciously powerful
within the Canadian state. Behind his mask and 50s sweaters, Stephen
Harper's anti-equality positions are clear. The Tory leader:
* voted against same-sex marriage.
* has left his options open on abortion if he wins a majority.
* snubbed the 2007 international AIDS conference in Toronto.
* has appointed anti-choice, anti-gay judges to provincial courts.
* includes "Focus on the Family" zealots among top Tory advisors.
* pushes through regressive tax changes to promote the patriarchal family model.
* has gutted Status of Women Canada and bars the use of government
funding to promote equality.
* criminalized youth by raising the age of consent to 16 and limited
young people's access to condoms and abortions.
* allows Canada Customs to seize literature ordered by bookstores
which serve the LGBT community.
At a time when the so-called "war on terror" is used to remove
civil liberties for racialized communities, we need to remind each
other that "an injury to one is an injury to all." Just like racism,
sexism, and national chauvinism, homophobia and transphobia are
weapons to divide working people. Despite this effort, most Canadians
support equality and human rights. These must now be expanded to
include full legal and political protections for sexual orientation
and expression, and gender identity.
This demand is a vital part of the wider movement to drive the
Harper Tories out of power. Today the ruling class is using the
economic meltdown to carry out a vicious assault on working class and
unemployed queers and the entire labour movement. A cover as well to
reverse hard-won social equality gains. A broad democratic and social
resistance is going to be needed to block and reverse this corporate
agenda. Together, we must build a powerful coalition around a genuine
people's alternative to this crisis - a common front of Aboriginal
peoples, youth and students, women, seniors, immigrant and racialized
communities, environmentalists, labour, peace activists, the LGBTQ
community, farmers, and many other allies.
Ultimately, this struggle in our communities and workplaces, and
at the ballot box, will defeat the right and open the door to a
people's coalition government. The goal of the Communist Party is to
win fuller social freedom and genuine people's power in a socialist
Canada, where our economy will be owned by all and democratically
controlled. It will then become possible to eradicate the intersecting
forms of exploitation and oppression which we face today, while
defending our sovereignty and protecting our common environment.
(* a note on "queer": Queer is a term widely used by lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgendered, inter-sex, queer, questioning and
two-spirited communities to describe the richly diverse community as a
whole. The word unifies all the identities into one inclusive term. It
was meant to "take back" an otherwise derogatory, and formerly
spiteful word.)
The Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League
proudly salute LGBTQ workers and activists, Egale and other community
advocates throughout Canada and in Quebec, safer queer-positive
schools, and corporate-free space on Pride Day!
We say: No Pride in the international criminalizing of sexual
orientation, sexual expression and gender identity! No Pride in War or
Corporate Plunder!
Pride events this summer are celebrating welcome progress towards
greater equality and social justice. Communists are active players in
Canada's various LGBTQ and queer* identified communities. Together we
stand proudly in solidarity with all LGBTQ allies and activists
marking Pride 2009.
Globally celebrations are marking the anniversary of the
"Stonewall Riots" in Manhattan. A show of working class resistance,
the first scuffles were reported to be initiated by local homeless and
unemployed queer youth - patrons of the Stonewall Inn. 40 years on we
are bombarded with both encouraging and alarming headlines:
* Many more queer-positive environments are available to us in the public realm.
* Initial but promising signs on the left to re-integrate the fight
for justice and the fight against homophobia.
* Increasing numbers of trade unions now have active Pride and LGBTQ caucuses.
* High schools are launching gay-straight alliances, safe school
spaces and "Pride proms".
* Sex-reassignment surgery is at least partially covered under some
provincial health insurance plans.
These legal, political and cultural victories are the hard-won
results of decades of efforts by the LGBTQ community and allies.
However,
* California has overturned the same-sex marriage ruling, despite
equality gains in other states and in Canada.
* The Harper Tories still hope to reverse queer rights if they win a
majority government.
* The Right continue to scapegoat the LGBTQ community and racialised
groups, to divide working class resistance against finance capital,
corporate bailouts and global environmental plunder.
* The politics of Pride events are skewed by corporate sponsorship,
and with a handful of notable exceptions, military opportunism
And there's more. Despite Canada's welcoming image,
* queer youth in Toronto and Montreal seeking asylum from persecution
in other countries are being extradited.
* HIV-positive men still face barriers to travel across the Canada-US border
* LGBTQ secondary students, (over two-thirds in a recent survey)
report feeling unsafe at school, (compared to 1 in 5 straight
students).
* Prosecutors are unwilling to prosecute vicious gay-bashings in
Vancouver as hate crimes.
Globally,
* violent public expressions of homophobia are on the rise.
* the struggle to end the decriminalization of sexual orientation and
sexual expression faces stubborn resistance.
* working class queer people suffer especially vicious discrimination,
and as women and racialized communities bear the severe brunt of
neoliberal economic and social policies.
* ILGA, the association of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersexed
peoples reports that 90 United Nations member states still criminalize
consensual same-sex acts among adults.
* In seven countries, legal punishment for homosexuality still
includes the death penalty.
* In many countries, such laws drive women, men and youth underground
to hide from fear of exposure and censure.
But important progress for LGBTQ equality is being achieved in
countries such as Cuba, South Africa and Nicaragua. The myth that
queer rights can only be won in wealthy capitalist countries is
shattered by these advances, and by the reality that homophobic and
racist concepts are exported from North America and Europe.
Despite the cultural and legal shift in favour of equality and
diversity, homophobia and transphobia remain tenaciously powerful
within the Canadian state. Behind his mask and 50s sweaters, Stephen
Harper's anti-equality positions are clear. The Tory leader:
* voted against same-sex marriage.
* has left his options open on abortion if he wins a majority.
* snubbed the 2007 international AIDS conference in Toronto.
* has appointed anti-choice, anti-gay judges to provincial courts.
* includes "Focus on the Family" zealots among top Tory advisors.
* pushes through regressive tax changes to promote the patriarchal family model.
* has gutted Status of Women Canada and bars the use of government
funding to promote equality.
* criminalized youth by raising the age of consent to 16 and limited
young people's access to condoms and abortions.
* allows Canada Customs to seize literature ordered by bookstores
which serve the LGBT community.
At a time when the so-called "war on terror" is used to remove
civil liberties for racialized communities, we need to remind each
other that "an injury to one is an injury to all." Just like racism,
sexism, and national chauvinism, homophobia and transphobia are
weapons to divide working people. Despite this effort, most Canadians
support equality and human rights. These must now be expanded to
include full legal and political protections for sexual orientation
and expression, and gender identity.
This demand is a vital part of the wider movement to drive the
Harper Tories out of power. Today the ruling class is using the
economic meltdown to carry out a vicious assault on working class and
unemployed queers and the entire labour movement. A cover as well to
reverse hard-won social equality gains. A broad democratic and social
resistance is going to be needed to block and reverse this corporate
agenda. Together, we must build a powerful coalition around a genuine
people's alternative to this crisis - a common front of Aboriginal
peoples, youth and students, women, seniors, immigrant and racialized
communities, environmentalists, labour, peace activists, the LGBTQ
community, farmers, and many other allies.
Ultimately, this struggle in our communities and workplaces, and
at the ballot box, will defeat the right and open the door to a
people's coalition government. The goal of the Communist Party is to
win fuller social freedom and genuine people's power in a socialist
Canada, where our economy will be owned by all and democratically
controlled. It will then become possible to eradicate the intersecting
forms of exploitation and oppression which we face today, while
defending our sovereignty and protecting our common environment.
(* a note on "queer": Queer is a term widely used by lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgendered, inter-sex, queer, questioning and
two-spirited communities to describe the richly diverse community as a
whole. The word unifies all the identities into one inclusive term. It
was meant to "take back" an otherwise derogatory, and formerly
spiteful word.)
FÊTE NATIONALE DU QUÉBEC
GREETINGS TO THE QUEBEC WORKING CLASS
[For English scroll down]
FÊTE NATIONALE DU QUÉBEC:
BONNE FÊTE À LA CLASSE OUVRIÈRE DU QUÉBEC
24 juin 2009
Déclaration conjointe du parti communiste du Québec (section du PCC)
et de la Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada
Le Parti communiste du Québec et la Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du
Canada tiennent à offrir leurs vœux de solidarité les plus chaleureux
aux travailleuses et aux travailleurs du Québec à l’occasion de leur
fête nationale.
Cette année, les Québécoises et les Québécois vont célébrer leur fête
nationale dans le contexte de la plus grave crise économique mondiale
du capitalisme depuis les années 1930. L’OCDE composé d’une trentaine
de pays les plus riches sur la planète prévoit que d’ici 2010, 57
millions de personnes auront perdus leurs emplois dans ses
pays-membres et que la crise risque de s’approfondir et de perdurer
encore quelques années. On évalue que présentement, plus d’un milliard
de personnes dans le monde sont sous-alimentées à cause de cette
crise.
Au Québec aussi des dizaines de milliers de travailleuses et de
travailleurs perdent leurs emplois et sont réduits au chômage. Des
régions entières sont dévastées. Le gouvernement refuse malgré tout de
rendre plus accessible l’assurance-emploi. Les salaires et les
conditions de travail de celles et ceux qui ont encore un emploi sont
lourdement attaqués par les capitalistes voraces qui cherchent à
profiter de cette situation pour augmenter leurs taux de profit. La
jeunesse ouvrière est particulièrement victime de ces attaques
subissant historiquement des taux de chômage plus élevés et une plus
grande précarité en emploi.
La nécessité d’en finir avec le système capitaliste responsable de
tant de malheurs s’impose de plus en plus comme une évidence. Mais en
même temps, il se pose aussi au Québec, la question nationale.
Le peuple du Québec constitue une nation dont les droits sont niés
depuis la conquête de la Nouvelle-France par l’Angleterre en 1763,
d’abord par les colonialistes britanniques et ensuite par la
bourgeoisie canadienne.
La reconnaissance formelle l’année dernière du statut de nation par le
gouvernement conservateur de Harper ne fut qu’une manœuvre
électoraliste qui n’a rien réglé. Les Conservateurs l’ont d’ailleurs
prouvé eux-mêmes à l’automne 2008 lorsqu’ils se sont lancés dans une
campagne chauvine anti-Québec à travers le Canada pour attaquer la
coalition des partis d’opposition qui menaçaient de les renverser. Le
gouvernement canadien ne reconnaît toujours pas les droits nationaux
du Québec, dont celui de constituer un État indépendant et souverain.
À ses yeux, le Québec doit demeurer une province comme les autres.
Aujourd’hui, cette négation du droit du Québec à l’autodétermination
est l’essence de l’oppression nationale qu’il subi. Cette oppression
nationale soulève l’indignation du peuple québécois et a engendré
depuis les années 60 le mouvement souverainiste ou indépendantiste
dirigé par la bourgeoisie et la petite-bourgeoisie québécoise.
Cette bourgeoisie représentée politiquement principalement par le
Parti Québécois souhaite entraîner tout le peuple du Québec derrière
elle, en appui à sa solution de la question qui se résume à la
constitution d’un nouvel état capitaliste et impérialiste qu’elle
contrôlerait entièrement et qui maintiendrait, pour son plus grand
bénéfice, l’essentiel des manifestations d’oppression et
d’exploitation que subit la classe ouvrière québécoise.
Les communistes considèrent qu’embarquer dans la lutte de la
bourgeoisie québécoise pour faire un État séparé implique
nécessairement de reléguer au second plan et de laisser sur la glace
la lutte qui correspond véritablement aux intérêts de la classe
ouvrière, la lutte pour le socialisme c’est-à-dire une société dirigée
directement par la classe ouvrière pour le bénéfice de la grande
majorité du peuple travailleur.
La lutte pour le socialisme exige que la classe ouvrière, composée de
diverses nationalités au Canada, soit unie face à son ennemie, la
classe des capitalistes, canadiens, québécois et étrangers, pour lui
arracher le pouvoir d’État à la grandeur du pays. L’indépendance du
Québec non seulement affaiblirait cette lutte pour le socialisme mais
risquerait de renforcer la domination de l’impérialisme américain sur
le Québec et le reste du Canada.
C’est pour promouvoir cette unité nécessaire que les communistes
militent activement au sein de la classe ouvrière multinationale du
Canada en proposant un programme de réformes démocratiques et
constitutionnelles qui garantiraient la pleine égalité de toutes les
nations au Canada, notamment, une nouvelle constitution basée sur un
partenariat égal et volontaire du Québec et du Canada anglophone, et
garantissant les droits nationaux des peuples autochtones.
VIVE LA CLASSE OUVRIÈRE DU QUÉBEC !
VIVE LA LUTTE POUR LE SOCIALISME !
GREETINGS TO THE QUEBEC WORKING CLASS
Fête nationale du Québec
The Communist Party of Quebec and the League of Communist Youth of
Canada would like to extend their wishes of warm solidarity to the
workers in Quebec on the occasion of their National Day.
This year, Quebecers will celebrate their national holiday in the
context of the most serious economic crisis of global capitalism since
the 1930s. The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development consisting of thirty richest countries on the planet)
projects that by 2010, 57 million people will have lost their jobs in
its member countries and that the crisis could deepen and endure a few
more years. It is estimated that currently over one billion people
worldwide are malnourished because of this crisis.
In Quebec tens of thousands of workers have lost their jobs or have
reduced employment. Entire regions have been devastated. The federal
Harper Conservative government still refuses to make it more
accessible Employment Insurance. Wages and working conditions of those
who still have jobs are heavily attacked by greedy capitalists who
seek to take advantage of this situation to increase their rate of
profit. Young workers are a particular victim of these attacks
undergoing historically higher unemployment and greater job
insecurity.
The need to end the capitalist system which is responsible for this
misfortune is becoming very clear. But at the same time, the nation
question also arises in Quebec.
The people of Quebec are a nation whose rights have been denied since
the conquest of New France by England in 1763, first by the British
colonialists and later by the Canadian bourgeoisie.
The formal recognition last year of nationhood by the Harper
Conservative government was only an election manoeuvre that did not
settle anything. The Conservatives have also proven themselves in the
fall of 2008 when they embarked on a campaign chauvinistic anti-Quebec
in Canada to attack the coalition of opposition parties that
threatened to topple them. The Canadian government still does not
recognize the national rights of Quebec, including that of being a
sovereign and independent state. In their eyes, Quebec should remain a
province like the others.
Today, this denial of the right of Quebec to self-determination is the
essence of national oppression Quebec has suffered. This national
oppression raises the indignation of the people of Quebec; for 60
years the movement for independence or sovereignty has been led by the
Québécoise bourgeoisie and the petty-bourgeoisie.
The bourgeoisie politically represented, mainly, by the Parti
Québécois wants to lead all the people of Quebec behind it, to support
the solution of the question that boils down to building a new state –
capitalist and imperialist – they control and to continue, to its
greatest benefit, most of the manifestations of oppression and
exploitation suffered by the working class in Quebec.
The Communists considers that to embark on the fight of the
bourgeoisie to make Quebec a separate country necessarily relegates to
second place and leaves “on ice” the fight that truly interests of the
working class, the struggle for socialism – a society directed by the
working class for the benefit of the vast majority of working people.
The struggle for socialism requires that the working class, composed
of various nationalities in Canada, united against the enemy, the
capitalist class, Canadian, Quebec and abroad, for state power across
the country. The independence of Quebec not only weakens the struggle
for socialism, but could strengthen the dominance of U.S. imperialism
on Quebec and the rest of Canada.
To promote this necessary unity that the Communists are active in the
multinational working class in Canada offering a program of democratic
and constitutional reforms that would guarantee full equality of all
nations in Canada, including a new constitution based on an equal and
voluntary union Quebec and English Canada, including the right to
separate, and guaranteeing the national rights of Aborignal nations.
Long live the working class of Quebec!
LONG LIVE THE STRUGGLE FOR SOCIALISM!
Communist Party of Quebec (section of the CPC-PCC)
Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Quebec
Young Communist Leauge of Canada - Central Executive
[For English scroll down]
FÊTE NATIONALE DU QUÉBEC:
BONNE FÊTE À LA CLASSE OUVRIÈRE DU QUÉBEC
24 juin 2009
Déclaration conjointe du parti communiste du Québec (section du PCC)
et de la Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada
Le Parti communiste du Québec et la Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du
Canada tiennent à offrir leurs vœux de solidarité les plus chaleureux
aux travailleuses et aux travailleurs du Québec à l’occasion de leur
fête nationale.
Cette année, les Québécoises et les Québécois vont célébrer leur fête
nationale dans le contexte de la plus grave crise économique mondiale
du capitalisme depuis les années 1930. L’OCDE composé d’une trentaine
de pays les plus riches sur la planète prévoit que d’ici 2010, 57
millions de personnes auront perdus leurs emplois dans ses
pays-membres et que la crise risque de s’approfondir et de perdurer
encore quelques années. On évalue que présentement, plus d’un milliard
de personnes dans le monde sont sous-alimentées à cause de cette
crise.
Au Québec aussi des dizaines de milliers de travailleuses et de
travailleurs perdent leurs emplois et sont réduits au chômage. Des
régions entières sont dévastées. Le gouvernement refuse malgré tout de
rendre plus accessible l’assurance-emploi. Les salaires et les
conditions de travail de celles et ceux qui ont encore un emploi sont
lourdement attaqués par les capitalistes voraces qui cherchent à
profiter de cette situation pour augmenter leurs taux de profit. La
jeunesse ouvrière est particulièrement victime de ces attaques
subissant historiquement des taux de chômage plus élevés et une plus
grande précarité en emploi.
La nécessité d’en finir avec le système capitaliste responsable de
tant de malheurs s’impose de plus en plus comme une évidence. Mais en
même temps, il se pose aussi au Québec, la question nationale.
Le peuple du Québec constitue une nation dont les droits sont niés
depuis la conquête de la Nouvelle-France par l’Angleterre en 1763,
d’abord par les colonialistes britanniques et ensuite par la
bourgeoisie canadienne.
La reconnaissance formelle l’année dernière du statut de nation par le
gouvernement conservateur de Harper ne fut qu’une manœuvre
électoraliste qui n’a rien réglé. Les Conservateurs l’ont d’ailleurs
prouvé eux-mêmes à l’automne 2008 lorsqu’ils se sont lancés dans une
campagne chauvine anti-Québec à travers le Canada pour attaquer la
coalition des partis d’opposition qui menaçaient de les renverser. Le
gouvernement canadien ne reconnaît toujours pas les droits nationaux
du Québec, dont celui de constituer un État indépendant et souverain.
À ses yeux, le Québec doit demeurer une province comme les autres.
Aujourd’hui, cette négation du droit du Québec à l’autodétermination
est l’essence de l’oppression nationale qu’il subi. Cette oppression
nationale soulève l’indignation du peuple québécois et a engendré
depuis les années 60 le mouvement souverainiste ou indépendantiste
dirigé par la bourgeoisie et la petite-bourgeoisie québécoise.
Cette bourgeoisie représentée politiquement principalement par le
Parti Québécois souhaite entraîner tout le peuple du Québec derrière
elle, en appui à sa solution de la question qui se résume à la
constitution d’un nouvel état capitaliste et impérialiste qu’elle
contrôlerait entièrement et qui maintiendrait, pour son plus grand
bénéfice, l’essentiel des manifestations d’oppression et
d’exploitation que subit la classe ouvrière québécoise.
Les communistes considèrent qu’embarquer dans la lutte de la
bourgeoisie québécoise pour faire un État séparé implique
nécessairement de reléguer au second plan et de laisser sur la glace
la lutte qui correspond véritablement aux intérêts de la classe
ouvrière, la lutte pour le socialisme c’est-à-dire une société dirigée
directement par la classe ouvrière pour le bénéfice de la grande
majorité du peuple travailleur.
La lutte pour le socialisme exige que la classe ouvrière, composée de
diverses nationalités au Canada, soit unie face à son ennemie, la
classe des capitalistes, canadiens, québécois et étrangers, pour lui
arracher le pouvoir d’État à la grandeur du pays. L’indépendance du
Québec non seulement affaiblirait cette lutte pour le socialisme mais
risquerait de renforcer la domination de l’impérialisme américain sur
le Québec et le reste du Canada.
C’est pour promouvoir cette unité nécessaire que les communistes
militent activement au sein de la classe ouvrière multinationale du
Canada en proposant un programme de réformes démocratiques et
constitutionnelles qui garantiraient la pleine égalité de toutes les
nations au Canada, notamment, une nouvelle constitution basée sur un
partenariat égal et volontaire du Québec et du Canada anglophone, et
garantissant les droits nationaux des peuples autochtones.
VIVE LA CLASSE OUVRIÈRE DU QUÉBEC !
VIVE LA LUTTE POUR LE SOCIALISME !
GREETINGS TO THE QUEBEC WORKING CLASS
Fête nationale du Québec
The Communist Party of Quebec and the League of Communist Youth of
Canada would like to extend their wishes of warm solidarity to the
workers in Quebec on the occasion of their National Day.
This year, Quebecers will celebrate their national holiday in the
context of the most serious economic crisis of global capitalism since
the 1930s. The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development consisting of thirty richest countries on the planet)
projects that by 2010, 57 million people will have lost their jobs in
its member countries and that the crisis could deepen and endure a few
more years. It is estimated that currently over one billion people
worldwide are malnourished because of this crisis.
In Quebec tens of thousands of workers have lost their jobs or have
reduced employment. Entire regions have been devastated. The federal
Harper Conservative government still refuses to make it more
accessible Employment Insurance. Wages and working conditions of those
who still have jobs are heavily attacked by greedy capitalists who
seek to take advantage of this situation to increase their rate of
profit. Young workers are a particular victim of these attacks
undergoing historically higher unemployment and greater job
insecurity.
The need to end the capitalist system which is responsible for this
misfortune is becoming very clear. But at the same time, the nation
question also arises in Quebec.
The people of Quebec are a nation whose rights have been denied since
the conquest of New France by England in 1763, first by the British
colonialists and later by the Canadian bourgeoisie.
The formal recognition last year of nationhood by the Harper
Conservative government was only an election manoeuvre that did not
settle anything. The Conservatives have also proven themselves in the
fall of 2008 when they embarked on a campaign chauvinistic anti-Quebec
in Canada to attack the coalition of opposition parties that
threatened to topple them. The Canadian government still does not
recognize the national rights of Quebec, including that of being a
sovereign and independent state. In their eyes, Quebec should remain a
province like the others.
Today, this denial of the right of Quebec to self-determination is the
essence of national oppression Quebec has suffered. This national
oppression raises the indignation of the people of Quebec; for 60
years the movement for independence or sovereignty has been led by the
Québécoise bourgeoisie and the petty-bourgeoisie.
The bourgeoisie politically represented, mainly, by the Parti
Québécois wants to lead all the people of Quebec behind it, to support
the solution of the question that boils down to building a new state –
capitalist and imperialist – they control and to continue, to its
greatest benefit, most of the manifestations of oppression and
exploitation suffered by the working class in Quebec.
The Communists considers that to embark on the fight of the
bourgeoisie to make Quebec a separate country necessarily relegates to
second place and leaves “on ice” the fight that truly interests of the
working class, the struggle for socialism – a society directed by the
working class for the benefit of the vast majority of working people.
The struggle for socialism requires that the working class, composed
of various nationalities in Canada, united against the enemy, the
capitalist class, Canadian, Quebec and abroad, for state power across
the country. The independence of Quebec not only weakens the struggle
for socialism, but could strengthen the dominance of U.S. imperialism
on Quebec and the rest of Canada.
To promote this necessary unity that the Communists are active in the
multinational working class in Canada offering a program of democratic
and constitutional reforms that would guarantee full equality of all
nations in Canada, including a new constitution based on an equal and
voluntary union Quebec and English Canada, including the right to
separate, and guaranteeing the national rights of Aborignal nations.
Long live the working class of Quebec!
LONG LIVE THE STRUGGLE FOR SOCIALISM!
Communist Party of Quebec (section of the CPC-PCC)
Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Quebec
Young Communist Leauge of Canada - Central Executive
On World Environment Day
Central Executive Committee of the YCL-LJC
The Young Communist League of Canada - La Ligue de la Jeunesse communiste du
Canada draws attention to World Environment Day, organized by the United
Nations since 1972 and celebrated on June 5 in more than 100 countries.
As the youth realize, there is now no doubt we are experiencing a grave
ecological crisis characterized by climate change. In fifty years, the
capitalist system has managed to load the air with gas emissions because of
an economy dependent on oil, clear-cut forests, pollute almost all water
systems with pesticides because of agro-industry, and transformer large
territories into garbage dumps because of the wasteful market. Imperialist
war has caused ecocide.
The first victims of the global ecological crisis are the poor, women,
Indigenous peoples, and the labouring masses. The poor suffer more from
this crisis because their livelihoods are linked more closely to local
ecosystems. Women and indigenous peoples often live under very precarious
conditions which makes them even more vulnerable.
Also for workers. According to a 2001 World Bank report "Among the direct
effects (climate change) is the increase in diseases and deaths related to
temperature. Waves of intense heat and long duration, associated with
moisture, could raise the rates of morbidity and mortality, particularly
among the urban poor and the elderly. Another direct effect is the increase
in the number of deaths and injuries caused by extreme events such as
floods, landslides or storms. In recent years, over 96% of deaths caused by
disasters occurred in developing countries."
We reject the idea that "everyone is to blame also for the environmental
crisis,” which obscures the class-essence of the problem. Canadian companies
and their state are complicit in the destruction of the environment; ie.,
Canadian mining companies in Latin America. As Naomi Klein and others have
documented, imperialism has transformed these ecological disasters into a
source of profits.
The ecosystems now under threat are at the base of all economies. Capitalism
has only one watchword: the maximum profit. Demanding the preservation of
our environment, youth today combat the serious consequences of this rotten
system. Increasing numbers of young people support "green jobs,” public
transport, strict regulations against corporate pollution, nationalization
of energy, and peace. But the capitalist system can not be reformed enough
to integrate environmental sustainability into its production and
administration. We need the democratic planning of society for the benefit
of the people. This is a mass struggle requiring unity among those who fight
for the environment and the working class, which leads inevitably to
socialism!
------------------------------------
À propos de la journée mondiale de l'environnement
Comité exécutif central de la YCL-LJC
The Young Communist League of Canada - La Ligue de la Jeunesse communiste du
Canada souligne la journée mondiale de l'environnement organisée par les
Nations unies depuis 1972 et célébrée le 5 juin chaque année dans plus de
100 pays.
Comme les jeunes le réalise, il n'y a aujourd'hui plus de doute pour
personne, nous traversons une grave crise écologique caractérisée par les
changements climatiques. En cinquante ans, le système capitaliste a réussi à
charger l'air de gaz a effet de serre avec une économie dépendante du
pétrole, à raser une grande partie de nos forêts, à polluer quasiment la
totalité des cours d'eau avec des pesticides pour une agriculture de masse
plus productive et a transformer de larges territoires en dépotoir au nom
d'une consommation toujours plus grande. De plus, les guerres imprérialiste
ont causé un véritable écocide.
Les premières victimes de la crise écologique globale sont les masses
pauvres, les femmes, les ouvriers et les peuples autochtones. Les plus
pauvres souffrent davantage de cette crise car leurs moyens de subsistances
sont liés de façon plus étroite aux écosystèmes locaux. Les femmes et les
peuples autochtones vivent souvent sous des conditions déjà très précaires
ce qui les rend encore plus vulnérables.
Selon un rapport de la Banque mondiale en 2001 «Parmi les effets directs
(des changements climatiques) figure la hausse des maladies et des décès
liés à la température. Des vagues de chaleur intenses et de longue durée,
associées à l'humidité, pourraient faire monter les taux de morbidité et de
mortalité, particulièrement parmi les pauvres des villes et les personnes
âgées. Un autre effet direct est l'augmentation du nombre de décès et de
blessures causés par des événements extrêmes tels que des inondations, des
glissements de terrain ou des tempêtes. Au cours des dernières années, plus
de 96 % des décès dus à des catastrophes naturelles ont eu lieu dans des
pays en développement . »
Nous rejetons l'idée qui veut que « chacun est à blâmer également » pour la
crise environnemental, ce qui voile le fond du problème, la question de
classe. Les compagnies canadiennes et l'État canadien sont complices dans la
destruction de l'environnement, comme par exemple, les compagnies
d'extraction minière canadiennes en Amérique latine. Ainsi que Naomi Klein
et d'autres l'ont documenté, l'impérialisme a transformé ces désastres
écologiques en source de profits.
Ces écosystèmes aujourd'hui en danger sont à la base de toutes économies.
Mais le système capitalisme n'a qu'un seul mot d'ordre : le profit maximum.
En exigeant la sauvegarde de notre environnement, la jeunesse d'aujourd'hui
combat les conséquences graves de ce système pourri. De plus en plus de
jeunes supporte l'idée d'avoir plus «d'emplois verts», plus de transports
collectifs, une règlementation sévère contre la pollution des compagnies, la
paix et la nationalisation des ressources énergétique. Mais jamais le
système capitaliste ne se reformera suffisamment pour intégrer la pérennité
de l'environnement dans sa façon de produire et d'exploiter. Il faut
maintenant que la société prennent démocratiquement en main l'économie
mondiale et qu'elle la planifie pour le bénéfice du peuple. C'est une lutte
de masse exigeant l'unité entre ceux et celles qui luttent pour
l'environnement et la classe ouvrière, et qui mènera inévitablement au
socialisme.
The Young Communist League of Canada - La Ligue de la Jeunesse communiste du
Canada draws attention to World Environment Day, organized by the United
Nations since 1972 and celebrated on June 5 in more than 100 countries.
As the youth realize, there is now no doubt we are experiencing a grave
ecological crisis characterized by climate change. In fifty years, the
capitalist system has managed to load the air with gas emissions because of
an economy dependent on oil, clear-cut forests, pollute almost all water
systems with pesticides because of agro-industry, and transformer large
territories into garbage dumps because of the wasteful market. Imperialist
war has caused ecocide.
The first victims of the global ecological crisis are the poor, women,
Indigenous peoples, and the labouring masses. The poor suffer more from
this crisis because their livelihoods are linked more closely to local
ecosystems. Women and indigenous peoples often live under very precarious
conditions which makes them even more vulnerable.
Also for workers. According to a 2001 World Bank report "Among the direct
effects (climate change) is the increase in diseases and deaths related to
temperature. Waves of intense heat and long duration, associated with
moisture, could raise the rates of morbidity and mortality, particularly
among the urban poor and the elderly. Another direct effect is the increase
in the number of deaths and injuries caused by extreme events such as
floods, landslides or storms. In recent years, over 96% of deaths caused by
disasters occurred in developing countries."
We reject the idea that "everyone is to blame also for the environmental
crisis,” which obscures the class-essence of the problem. Canadian companies
and their state are complicit in the destruction of the environment; ie.,
Canadian mining companies in Latin America. As Naomi Klein and others have
documented, imperialism has transformed these ecological disasters into a
source of profits.
The ecosystems now under threat are at the base of all economies. Capitalism
has only one watchword: the maximum profit. Demanding the preservation of
our environment, youth today combat the serious consequences of this rotten
system. Increasing numbers of young people support "green jobs,” public
transport, strict regulations against corporate pollution, nationalization
of energy, and peace. But the capitalist system can not be reformed enough
to integrate environmental sustainability into its production and
administration. We need the democratic planning of society for the benefit
of the people. This is a mass struggle requiring unity among those who fight
for the environment and the working class, which leads inevitably to
socialism!
------------------------------------
À propos de la journée mondiale de l'environnement
Comité exécutif central de la YCL-LJC
The Young Communist League of Canada - La Ligue de la Jeunesse communiste du
Canada souligne la journée mondiale de l'environnement organisée par les
Nations unies depuis 1972 et célébrée le 5 juin chaque année dans plus de
100 pays.
Comme les jeunes le réalise, il n'y a aujourd'hui plus de doute pour
personne, nous traversons une grave crise écologique caractérisée par les
changements climatiques. En cinquante ans, le système capitaliste a réussi à
charger l'air de gaz a effet de serre avec une économie dépendante du
pétrole, à raser une grande partie de nos forêts, à polluer quasiment la
totalité des cours d'eau avec des pesticides pour une agriculture de masse
plus productive et a transformer de larges territoires en dépotoir au nom
d'une consommation toujours plus grande. De plus, les guerres imprérialiste
ont causé un véritable écocide.
Les premières victimes de la crise écologique globale sont les masses
pauvres, les femmes, les ouvriers et les peuples autochtones. Les plus
pauvres souffrent davantage de cette crise car leurs moyens de subsistances
sont liés de façon plus étroite aux écosystèmes locaux. Les femmes et les
peuples autochtones vivent souvent sous des conditions déjà très précaires
ce qui les rend encore plus vulnérables.
Selon un rapport de la Banque mondiale en 2001 «Parmi les effets directs
(des changements climatiques) figure la hausse des maladies et des décès
liés à la température. Des vagues de chaleur intenses et de longue durée,
associées à l'humidité, pourraient faire monter les taux de morbidité et de
mortalité, particulièrement parmi les pauvres des villes et les personnes
âgées. Un autre effet direct est l'augmentation du nombre de décès et de
blessures causés par des événements extrêmes tels que des inondations, des
glissements de terrain ou des tempêtes. Au cours des dernières années, plus
de 96 % des décès dus à des catastrophes naturelles ont eu lieu dans des
pays en développement . »
Nous rejetons l'idée qui veut que « chacun est à blâmer également » pour la
crise environnemental, ce qui voile le fond du problème, la question de
classe. Les compagnies canadiennes et l'État canadien sont complices dans la
destruction de l'environnement, comme par exemple, les compagnies
d'extraction minière canadiennes en Amérique latine. Ainsi que Naomi Klein
et d'autres l'ont documenté, l'impérialisme a transformé ces désastres
écologiques en source de profits.
Ces écosystèmes aujourd'hui en danger sont à la base de toutes économies.
Mais le système capitalisme n'a qu'un seul mot d'ordre : le profit maximum.
En exigeant la sauvegarde de notre environnement, la jeunesse d'aujourd'hui
combat les conséquences graves de ce système pourri. De plus en plus de
jeunes supporte l'idée d'avoir plus «d'emplois verts», plus de transports
collectifs, une règlementation sévère contre la pollution des compagnies, la
paix et la nationalisation des ressources énergétique. Mais jamais le
système capitaliste ne se reformera suffisamment pour intégrer la pérennité
de l'environnement dans sa façon de produire et d'exploiter. Il faut
maintenant que la société prennent démocratiquement en main l'économie
mondiale et qu'elle la planifie pour le bénéfice du peuple. C'est une lutte
de masse exigeant l'unité entre ceux et celles qui luttent pour
l'environnement et la classe ouvrière, et qui mènera inévitablement au
socialisme.
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