1970-2025
55th
Anniversary of CPC(M-L)
Party-Building in 2025
A feature of the kind
of party that the Communist Party of Canada
(Marxist-Leninist) has created is that while it fully
participates in
the movements of the people for peace, justice, democratic
renewal and
the dignity of labour and of all the peoples who make up this
vast
land, it does so by
always pursuing the central task of strengthening the Party's
leadership on the basis of its method of maximum ideological and
political mobilization, both inside the Party and in its work
amongst
the working class and people.
Mass democracy is the key to our successes in all the work the Party carries out -- from the consolidation of the mass Party and mass non-Party press to our interventions in the mass movements of the working class and people on all crucial matters. In 2024, upholding the unity of purpose of the support for the Palestinian Resistance has been a major part of this work.
In 2025, CPC(M-L) will continue to pay first-rate attention to Party-building, ensuring that the quality of the Party is further strengthened.
Whether to favour quality or quantity is an age-old human dilemma. Quality, in the objective sense, can be transformed into quantity, and an increase in quantity can give rise to a qualitative change. Which one to favour and at what time is an ongoing concern of the people.
Neither quality nor quantity remain the same. Time affects both. In other words, a quality which exists under certain circumstances may not remain under other circumstances. Quantity may decrease or increase, depending on circumstances as well. For CPC(M-L), the concern on matters related to quality is deep and ongoing. As the vanguard of the working class, CPC(M-L) has to fight for quality. Only if a quality exists can it be transformed in quantity.
In this regard, CPC(M-L) is engaged in bringing a Mass Communist Party into being based on implementing the method of mass ideological and political mobilization. The Party engages Party members and the working people in taking the decisions which affect their lives and it is this engagement which gives rise to the modern democratic personality of both the Party and its members.
CPC(M-L) can grow, become stronger and increase in numbers as a political party only if its communist quality is defended. The Party can grow only if all its organizations carry out their functions by implementing the method of mass ideological and political mobilization. Basic organizations, as one of the forms of Party organization established wherever there is work of the Party, are the organs of class struggle at that level. People join the work of CPC(M-L) through the basic organizations, which are also responsible for the training of new members. If a basic organization does not function by implementing the method of mass ideological and political mobilization, then both the quality and the quantity of the membership suffer.
On September 1, 2024, on the occasion of the anniversary of the mass Party press and mass non-Party press and the decision taken in 1985 that no force could continue to act in the old way, the Central Committee of the Party called on all Party organizations to not permit the lowering of the level of discussion within the polity.
Besides raising the level of the Party's ideological and political work, this included giving a new kick start to the constant work of the basic organizations taking concrete measures to refresh their links with members, sympathizers and all those interested in lending a hand to the work of political renewal.
This is a matter of fighting for the rights of all by opposing the neo-liberal anti-social offensive which is destroying the social fabric of society and endangering the natural environment and by working to make Canada a zone for peace. Specific attention must be paid to making sure the ruling elite are not able to occupy the political vacuum by imposing more police powers. The rulers themselves create this vacuum as a result of their own internecine warfare and inability to provide solutions to any problems the society faces. The Party must make sure the working people and youth are involved further to make way for renewal.
Crucial to success is the work to collectively set the task in each area and oversee its implementation. It requires paying attention to forms of organization which put the human factor/social consciousness in first place.
In the trial of strength with the bourgeoisie over the question of its very existence, CPC(M-L) pays first-rate attention to its mass quality. For CPC(M-L) mass is not "more." It is not a quantity but a quality, the mass democratic quality of participating in arriving at collective decisions and implementing them, reviewing the results and drawing warranted conclusions in the form of guides to action.
There is always pressure to increase the numbers of Party members at the cost of quality. Many people come and go but the mass character of CPC(M-L) cannot be guaranteed if the quality is given up.
The question of the Party's quality is directly linked with the question of its class composition. It is often said that the modern proletariat is the most thoroughgoing revolutionary class. Why has the modern proletariat always been described in this way? Because objectively, the modern proletariat cannot emancipate itself without overthrowing all forms of exploitation. Other sections of society, such as the petty bourgeoisie and the middle strata, are revolutionary only to a certain extent. They fight the capitalist system primarily to improve their lot within it. They threaten to overthrow it only when they fail to get what they want within the system. In the final analysis, the working class can only emancipate itself by replacing the capitalist system with a system which puts human beings at the centre of its concerns, and this is why it is the most thoroughgoing revolutionary class.
The most important criterion to determine the quality of a communist is whether the person wages class struggle or not. This depends on his or her class background and on whether the person is enlightened and broad-minded, modest and ready to practice criticism and self-criticism. Criticism and self-criticism refers to evaluating the work carried out and establishing the ways to improve it, correct mistakes and move forward. It is not a matter of self-flagellation or personalizing behaviour as the anti-communist stereotype would have people believe.
The creation of a modern democratic personality is the most important task of this period and this requires that the Party pay attention to the creation of its communist personality and the communist quality of its members.
How can a communist be created? A person can be educated about communism with formal education, but this does not make a communist. The greatest education comes from waging class struggle and implementing the plan set by CPC(M-L). It is a matter of deeds, not words. Practical ideas do not come out of ideas and books, but from participating in changing the conditions on the basis of a plan set collectively. Finding out what is going on and how to do things is a matter of participating in acts of finding out, not empty chatter.
Better Fewer, But Better means, in the final analysis, choosing people who implement and assist in implementing the plan. CPC(M-L) creates, on this basis, professional communists, local communists, communists engaged in the party apparatuses and those involved in assisting the communist work in various ways. There is really no room in CPC(M-L) for the sort of communist who merely agrees with decisions proposed by others and does not fight for their implementation.
When CPC(M-L) prepared to launch its Historic Initiative thirty years ago, all basic organizations had to organize their ranks for the implementation of the Five-Year Plan of Action it gave rise to at that time and the subsequent Plans of Action it adopts year after year. Regional committees were given the task of ensuring that this work was carried out, and that they reported to the CC about it in a timely fashion. With thirty years of experience implementing its Historic Initiative, this method of work has been extended by making sure programs are put in place which enable working people and youth to empower themselves by participating in the democratic renewal of the political process.
In this period of the retreat of revolution, there are many pressures to dislodge the work of the Party, especially on the decisive question of Better Fewer, But Better. The answer to these pressures is provided by implementing the Party's Historic Initiative.
Difficulties can be overcome if the path set by the Historic Initiative is taken. Conciliation with liberal hypocrisy is unacceptable, as is falling prey to anarchism and extremism. Under all conditions and circumstances, a flexible approach is taken tactically -- an approach which unites people in action to realize a plan. The key thing is to fill the space where change takes place by activating the human factor/social consciousness. Everyone acting in their own name is fundamental to the mass democracy CPC(M-L) espouses.
CPC(M-L) has established its basic work in the midst of consolidating it on a planned basis. This work serves as the organizing and guiding force for all the work carried out by all organizations of the Party. As the new year 2025 begins, a positive climate exists for advance, and all efforts must be made to consolidate it.
Under conditions when degeneration and retrogression are being pushed and promoted, the slogan Better Fewer, But Better is a principle. The quality of a communist is decisive, and this quality cannot be enhanced without waging class struggle. The same applies to the quality of the work of all branches and other organizations of the Party.
When attention is paid to quality and carrying out highest quality work on time is given pride of place, the entire CPC(M-L) and its work are energized. The Party becomes visibly stronger, as does all its work along with the activists who carry it out.
What is required at this time in terms of party-building is to pay utmost attention to quality. Any wavering or indifference on this question leads to the liquidation of the work of CPC(M-L).
All schools of opportunism put the issue of quality in second and third place. They work on the basis of the lowest common denominator under the hoax of appealing to what they call "the average person." They think that only by appealing to the most backward can they get support for their cause.
CPC(M-L) appeals to the most advanced forces in the society -- those who show what they stand for by making the claims on society which belong to them by right. These forces demand the highest quality society is able to provide, not the lowest. In terms of numbers, for CPC(M-L) the word mass does not mean "more." It is a quality brought into being on the basis of the work of those who engage their peers to empower themselves. This is what CPC(M-L) means when it adheres to the principle Better Fewer, But Better.
This period of retreat of revolution provides an excellent opportunity to stick to the principle Better Fewer, But Better as one of the ways to get rid of the dross, the waverers and the saboteurs. Better Fewer, But Better also ensures that CPC(M-L) remains the highest form of organization of the class, the vanguard of the class and its general staff.
This article was published in
Volume 55
Number 1 - January 2025
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2025/Articles/MS55012.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca