4-02-06, 8:55 am
IN THE WAKE of the narrow Conservative federal election victory, the Communist Party of Canada's Central Committee met in Toronto over the March 11-12 weekend to assess the current political situation in the country.
The meeting opened with a political report by CPC leader Miguel Figueroa, who reviewed the developments which led to the defeat of the Martin Liberals by a Conservative minority under Stephen Harper. The temporary concessions on several issues granted by the Liberals, he noted, were most unwelcome in right-wing corporate circles, which threw their support behind the Conservatives and pressed hard for an early election.
As soon as the Liberals faltered during the campaign, Figueroa pointed out, 'monopoly support moved decisively to the Tories in all parts of Canada, including Quebec. This shift, combined with the absence of a cogent and united working class and democratic alternative, created the conditions for the Tory victory, although it was not as decisive as monopoly had hoped for.'
The tightly-scripted Conservative campaign, Figueroa said, took advantage of a widespread desire for 'change' while hiding their true agenda. Even so, the Conservative popular vote increased only a few points, to 36.5%, and the Tories were shut out in most urban centres. The unexpected Tory gains in Quebec came largely as a result of Harper's offer that Quebec could name a representative to UNESCO and similar bodies, which helped pull votes from dissatisfied Liberals and 'soft' Bloc Québecois supporters. Overall, however, the results do not indicate any clear mandate for Harper's drive to the right.
Figueroa's report and the discussion by the Central Committee went into some detail about the election campaign waged by the NDP. 'While welcoming the electoral gains achieved,' he noted, 'labour and social activists, including those carrying NDP membership cards, were dismayed by the rightward shift in party policy.'
Some examples of this shift included Layton's apparent tolerance of private health clinics; the failure to promise increased taxes on corporations and the wealthy; support for the chauvinist Clarity Act, which denies Quebec's right to self-determination; support for increased military spending and for Canada's military presence in Afghanistan; and pandering to the right-wing campaign to 'get tough' on gun violence and youth crime.
On a strategic level, the NDP leadership focused its attack on the Martin Liberals, doing little to warn against the Conservative danger.
'While frustration and disappointment with the NDP's opportunistic policy is fully justified,' said Figueroa, he stressed that the larger NDP federal caucus can be a useful ally in resisting the Tory/big business onslaught, if it can be pressed to play a stronger supportive role in the extra-parliamentary fightback.
Turning to the role of labour and social movements in the election, the Central Committee noted the weakness of both the CAW strategy (calling the Liberals 'friends of labour') and the failure of the Canadian Labour Congress to go beyond raising 'labour's issues' in the campaign.
Despite the willingness of organized workers to engage in major struggles, such as last fall's teachers' strike in British Columbia and a near-general strike in Quebec, it appears that class collaborationism and business unionism at the top level are resulting in 'a retreat to political passivity,' Figueroa noted. His report stressed the need for coordinated political action by the entire trade union movement, and more initiative along these lines by the left forces within labour.
One such initiative will be the circulation of an 'Open Letter' from the Communist Party, calling upon the trade union movement and all democratic forces to build united resistance against the Harper Tories. The campaign around this appeal will be featured prominently in upcoming issues of People's Voice.
The CC meeting adopted a special resolution on the upcoming 85th anniversary of the CPC, calling for a series of activities and plans to build the party. Despite some difficulties last year, in particular the divisions in Quebec created by former PCQ leader Andre Parizeau, recruitment is on the rise again in recent months, including during the election. The CC voted to hold the 35th Central Convention of the CPC on the weekend of Feb. 2-4, 2007.
In a related development, concrete steps are being taken by the CPC to assist the refounding of the Young Communist League of Canada.
The Central Committee meeting also discussed the dangerous international situation, especially the renewed threats by US imperialism in Asia and the Middle East. A special resolution was adopted for circulation at the March 18-19 anti-war actions across Canada, calling for a turn away from support for the US war drive, towards an independent foreign policy of peace and disarmament. Another resolution gave full support to the struggle against the Czech Republic's move to make the Czech Communist Youth illegal, one of several indications of a rising wave of anti-communism in Europe.
The full documents of the Central Committee meeting will be available shortly on the CPC's website: .
From People's Voice
