Canada out of Iraq: No new imperialist intervention

 Posted on September 24, 2014
Sep 242014
 

The Communist Party of Canada opposes the renewal of imperialism’s war in Iraq, under the pretext of fighting the Islamic State (IS), and calls for Canada’s immediate and complete withdrawal from the US‑led military intervention.

The doctrine of Responsibility to Protect is being fed to the people of Canada in order to justify a new war in Iraq. In this narrative, intervention is promoted as necessary to save the people of Iraq and Syria from IS terrorism.

But this argument obscures the fact that the main and most immediate threat to peace and to the people of the Middle East is from imperialism. It was the United States, together with its allies in NATO and Israel, who spearheaded the invasion of Iraq in 1990, and who carried out the murderous sanctions through the decade of the 1990s, and who again invaded and occupied the country from 2003 on. It is the imperialist states who have waged a terrorist war against the people of Syria, in which 100,000 people have died and millions displaced. It is imperialism that has supported Israel’s occupation of Palestine, the apartheid policies against the Palestinian people, and Israel’s repeated military strikes against Gaza. Continue reading »

Stop Israel’s massacre of the Palestinian people!

 Posted on July 15, 2014
Jul 152014
 

Communist Party calls for immediate end to airstrikes, for Baird to resign

The Communist Party of Canada condemns the murderous bombardment of Palestine by the Israeli Air Force, and calls for this aggression to end immediately. Israel’s attacks have already killed hundreds of people and left several thousand wounded and displaced. The Communist Party reiterates its support for the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation in their territories, and for their legitimate struggle for an independent Palestinian state.

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird, has once again taken a shameful position in this crisis, stating support for Israel’s attacks and criticizing the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights after she called for an immediate ceasefire and raised questions about the legality of Israel’s airstrikes. These comments are part of the effort by Baird and the Harper government to reduce Canada’s foreign policy to uncritical support for Israel, cloaking its aggressiveness in the language of “self-defense” and “anti-terrorism.” Continue reading »

Communist Party welcomes Tsilhqot’in land title victory

 Posted on June 27, 2014
Jun 272014
 

The Communist Party of Canada welcomes yesterday’s historic Supreme Court of Canada ruling, which upheld the Tsilhqot’in people’s title over their traditional territories.

This 25-year legal case arose from an attempt to conduct commercial logging on Tsilhqot’in lands without consent from the First Nation, which is among many in British Columbia which never ceded ownership of their territories since the arrival of the European colonisers. In fact, the Tsilhqot’in courageously maintained their rights since the beginnings of the occupation, despite the murder of six of their chiefs by the British colonizers in 1864. We salute the Tsilhqot’in for their generations of struggle and resistance, in the face of enormous obstacles.

As the Supreme Court recognized, the principles in this case have very wide implications for the recognition and affirmation of Aboriginal rights across Canada. Continue reading »

Fête nationale du Québec – solidarité aux travailleuses et aux travailleurs

 Posted on June 24, 2014
Jun 242014
 

Déclaration conjointe du Parti communiste du Québec (section du PCC) et de la Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Québec

Le Parti communiste du Québec et la Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Québec offrent leurs vœux de solidarité les plus chaleureux aux travailleuses et aux travailleurs du Québec à l’occasion de leur fête nationale.

Le peuple du Québec constitue une nation dont les droits sont niés au sein du Canada depuis la conquête de la Nouvelle-France par l’Angleterre en 1763, d’abord par les colonialistes britanniques et ensuite par la classe capitaliste canadienne. Comme la nation acadienne, les minorités canadiennes françaises des autres provinces, la nation métis, les Premières Nations et Inuit, la nation québécoise subit l’oppression nationale dans ce pays. Continue reading »

Stop Kiev’s bloody offensive against civilians!

 Posted on June 9, 2014
Jun 092014
 

Demand a negotiated political solution to the crisis in Ukraine

The crisis in Ukraine continues to deepen with every passing day, and the danger that this conflict could spread beyond its borders and spark a direct confrontation between the U.S./NATO forces and the Russian Federation – both with vast nuclear arsenals – is very real. It is absolutely vital therefore that the peace forces across Canada and around the world act in unison to demand that the NATO military build up in Eastern Europe, and in the Baltic and Black seas be stopped and reversed immediately. The peace forces must act to block the threat of a new Cold War, and to call for a negotiated political solution to the current crisis, to prevent any further escalation and to preserve world peace.

The conflict in Ukraine stems from the unconstitutional power grab which ousted the previous, elected government at the end of February. As our Party has already noted, the crisis was precipitated by an orchestrated campaign by right-wing opposition and neo-fascist forces inside Ukraine – with massive financial backing and guidance from Washington and other Western imperialist powers – to overthrow the government of President Yanukovich and seize power. Far from being a popular, pro democracy “people’s uprising”, this coup d’état was a highly organized operation, carried out with military precision, and masterminded from abroad, with the aim of bringing Ukraine entirely under the influence and domination of the Western imperialist centres. This has been a longstanding imperialist objective which, among other things, would weaken the Russian Federation economically and politically, and give US and NATO another firm foothold along Russia’s sensitive Southern flank, strengthening the military/strategic encirclement of this rival power. Continue reading »

On the Dangerous Developments in Ukraine

 Posted on March 13, 2014
Mar 132014
 

The deepening political crisis in Ukraine and the threat of regional conflict, possibly an even wider war erupting over the fate of Crimea, is extremely alarming. The ‘war of words’ emanating from Washington and Brussels is enflaming international tensions and could in turn provoke a global catastrophe. This crisis has been stoked by the ongoing imperialist strategy of the U.S. and NATO to encircle Russia, as seen in the installation of anti-missile systems in Poland, and the integration of Georgia into the NATO alliance. Their goal is to isolate Russia and China, neutralizing potential obstacles to the drive by transnational capital based in the NATO countries to exploit the resources and labour power of the entire planet.

It is appalling that the Harper Conservative government has been playing an active role in this dangerous escalation, and that the mainstream media continue to whip up lies and distortions around recent developments in Ukraine. The claim by right-wing forces that the March 16 referendum on the status of the Crimean Autonomous Republic is equivalent to the 1936 Nazi occupation of Sudetenland is particularly odious. The unchecked expansion of Hitler fascism led to World War Two, which killed some 60 million people, including over 27 million citizens of the USSR. As an autonomous republic, Crimea has the legal right to determine its status, free from all foreign interference. Continue reading »

NO to Counter-Revolution in Venezuela!

 Posted on March 13, 2014
Mar 132014
 

As violent, anti-democratic protests continue in Venezuela, the corporate media in Canada are deliberately spreading lies and confusion about the situation in that country. At this difficult time, the Communist Party of Canada expresses our full solidarity with the people of Venezuela and their freely elected government, and we condemn the vicious campaign of disinformation conducted by right-wing forces in this country against Venezuela.

It is not surprising that the Canadian ruling class joins with U.S. imperialism in supporting the latest attempt to impose a brutal “regime change” in Venezuela. The attitude of the Canadian government was shown clearly last year. At that time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a shocking, insulting statement hoping that the death of President Hugo Chavez would bring “a more promising future for the Venezuelan people… based on the principles of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.” Continue reading »

No to Harper’s attack against the right to self-determination of Quebec!

 Posted on October 27, 2013
Oct 272013
 

 The Communist Party of Canada strongly denounces the decision of the federal Conservative government to deny the right to self‑determination of the people of Québec, by intervening before the Québec Superior Court in support of the legal challenge to Bill 99 initiated by the former head of the Equality Party, Keith Henderson.

Bill 99 was adopted in 2000 in response to the federal government’s “Clarity Act,” which imposes the burden of more than a simple majority in response to a question deemed “clear” by the federal government, in order for Québec to be able to declare sovereignty. The “Clarity Act” is in fact an outright denial of the right to self‑determination of Québec. Continue reading »

Solidarity with Elsipogtog!

 Posted on October 22, 2013
Oct 222013
 

epis123

People’s Voice newspaper commentary

The shocking attack on Oct. 17 by RCMP officers against anti-fracking protesters in New Brunswick sends a clear signal that the Canadian state and the Harper Conservative government want to smash the growing resistance by Aboriginal peoples, environmentalists and other forces which oppose the destructive profiteering of transnational energy monopolies, such as the Houston-based Southwest Energy company (SWN).

People’s Voice and the Communist Party of Canada join with all democratic and progressive people in condemning this brutal police violence. The Oct. 21 decision by the Court of Queen’s Bench to lift SWN’s injunction, which had been filed to end the blockade protecting Mi’kmaq traditional territory from fracking, is a major victory, and makes clear that the RCMP attack was completely unjustified. Continue reading »

No to “Values Charter”

 Posted on September 25, 2013
Sep 252013
 

No to Divisions! Yes to working class unity!

Debates are raging in Québec over the “Charter of Québec Values” which the Parti Québécois government officially made public on Sept. 10, but whose content had been published for the most part by the media several days previously.

In all likelihood, the government itself orchestrated these leaks in the media, to evaluate the impact that the project would have with the electorate. Last May, the Government conducted a survey which showed the support of a majority of citizens for a framework of “reasonable accommodations”. On that occasion, the minister responsible, Bernard Drainville, announced that the “secular charter” promised during the previous election campaign would instead become one of “Québec values.”

MG0911003A_.inddEssentially, the project contains five propositions revolving around two principal aspects: the establishment of tags to manage requests for religious accommodations and, secondly, the declaration of neutrality of the State, in particular prohibiting all public employees from wearing “ostentatious” religious symbols.

In the latter case, it is proposed to allow CEGEPS, universities, health and social service establishments and municipalities to be exempt from this ban during a transitional period of two five-year terms. However, this aspect remains by far the most controversial because it violates fundamental rights. Continue reading »

 Newer Entries