In response to a call-out from the Canada-wide Peace & Justice Network and the United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC) in the United States, more than a dozen rallies, pickets, and seminars are taking place this week (October 15-23) in nine cities across the country.
The unifying theme of these actions is to denounce the rising tide of militarization and war around the world, to bring public action to the increasing risk of direct confrontation between the major powers and the unthinkable possibility of a thermonuclear war, with all the consequences that will entail for the future of humanity.
Related to the above, these actions will underscore the massive resources are being funneled into a new arms race (and into the coffers of defence contractors and monopoly capital in general), at the expense of the social needs of the peoples around the world, their jobs and economic conditions, and the protection of the environment, halting and reversing climate change, etc.
The Canadian Peace Congress and its local affiliates across the country, together with a wide assortment of other peace and solidarity groups and organizations, are taking the lead in initiating and mobilizing for these important actions.
The Communist Party of Canada welcomes and supports these peace actions and calls on its members and supporters to join in these public actions for peace wherever they can. A full list of these actions is available at https://peaceandjusticenetwork.ca/fundpeacenotwar/.
In the view of our Party, the increase in local and regional wars and conflicts, and the dangerous deterioration in international relations in general, characterized by increasing militarization and a new Cold War against the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, threatens the future of humanity and the wholesale devastation of the global environment. This in turn reflects a sharp deepening of the contradictions embedded in the very fabric of global capitalism, and in particular by the desperate efforts of U.S. imperialism and its Western allies, including the Canadian State, to maintain its global hegemony at all costs, regardless of the costs to our planet and our shared future.
Sadly, this dangerous slide towards war and devastation is taking place when the global peace movement is weak and insufficiently united in common action. That is why it is absolutely essential to take steps to strengthen the peace movement internationally and across Canada, to forge stronger links with the labour movement and working class struggles, with the indigenous, youth, women’s and other people’s movements, and to broaden its reach and influence among the peoples of Canada as a whole. As part of this effort, we must increase our support for the anti-imperialist Canadian Peace Congress across the country, and for the World Peace Council, which will hold a vital World Assembly in Vietnam this coming November.
As the CPCon says in its recent statement – “Take Action for Peace Now – Tomorrow Will Be Too Late!”.
Central Committee, Communist Party of Canada
October 16, 2022