August 15, 2009, Dawn Ceremony
CPC(M-L) Honours the Memory and Contribution of Party Members, Workers, Women and Youth

In the Party tradition, on Saturday August 15 a Dawn Ceremony was held at the Party Memorial in Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa, to honour the memory of the builders of CPC(M-L). This year, the thoughts of comrades and friends went to Comrade Bains on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of his birth as well as to three comrades whose passing was marked this year by adding their names to the Party Memorial: Kathy Bergen, France Tremblay, and Jasbir Malhi.

This year also marked the 20th anniversary of the historic meeting organized by CPC(M-L) at Chertsey, Quebec where, on behalf of CPC(M-L), Comrade Bains reaffirmed the Party's revolutionary path in the face of the treachery which was arising and was to become full blown after the fall of the Soviet Union and former people's democracies in 1990-1991.

The Ceremony began at 6:00 am as thirteen Party flags representing the ten provinces and three territories were solemnly carried to either side of the Memorial. The musicians sang The Dawn, followed by Our Founder, Our Leader, as well as Advance, Youth of the World, accompanied by violins, accordion and guitar. The songs, composed over years of revolutionary struggle, are now an integral part of the Dawn Ceremony.

The First Secretary of the Party Comrade Sandra L. Smith paid respects on behalf of CPC(M-L). She was accompanied by members of the Central Committee, representatives of Regional Committees from across Canada and representatives of the Party youth, as well as delegations from the United States Marxist- Leninist Organization, the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist), Textali of Mexico and the Communist Ghadar Party of India.

The Ceremony was held, as always, in the spirit of cherishing the spirit which imbued our comrades who have passed away, of fidelity to principle so as to turn words into deeds at each turn of the Party's history.

Like the sun rising over Beechwood Cemetery, the memorial is a living testament to the spirit of the Party to give life to the words of Comrade Bains engraved upon the Memorial:

Let the march go on for the road is clear
Let the modern human being make history
Something is calling now, Move on.