Celebrating the Birth of a Revolutionary Movement

Historic Anniversaries

"... we will march together and realize the tasks which we have set for the present time.
Watch us -- we will win!" - Hardial Bains

Hardial Bains

This week on August 15, we celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the birth of Comrade Hardial Bains (August 15, 1939 - August 24, 1997), the founder and leader of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist). We celebrate this anniversary by reaffirming the significance of the historic meeting the Party held in Chertsey, Quebec, 22 years ago, on August 19, 1989. That meeting was held to celebrate the Mass Party Press. A week-long social and political gathering was organized in which hundreds of CPC(M-L) members and supporters along with family and friends participated under the leadership of the Party's Central Committee and Comrade Hardial Bains himself. At that time, Comrade Bains responded to the attempt to make the celebrations about his own birthday by highlighting the revolutionary movement to which the Canadian working class and people had given birth. He presented a summation of the work to implement the decisions of the Party's 5th Congress and for the creation of the subjective conditions for revolution, saying:

"...This is a celebration of the birth of a movement which the Canadian working class and people gave rise to, and that movement is more than a quarter of a century old. I personally as an individual do not matter because individuals do not set the course of things. It is the social force. ... [H]istory has a cunning, anybody who rises above the masses today, history chops his or her head off, socially speaking, although sometimes it may happen physically as well! This is not the era of knights and individual heroes. It is an era of the collective work of the working class and its allies. It is the era of the Party, the era of imperialism and the social revolution of the proletariat, as Comrade Lenin said. So in this meeting we celebrate the developments, the progressive movement, the strengthening, stabilizing and consolidation of a political movement. And we have that political movement here, our Party, its allies, its mass organizations, especially the mass party press of which we are very proud."

This year, the First Secretary of the Party's Central Committee Sandra L. Smith, joined by the National Leader of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada Anna Di Carlo, other party officials, representatives of the Ottawa-Hull Party Committee and Party youth participating in the Hardial Bains Party School on Journalism, will visit the Party memorial in Beechwood Cemetery and pay respects to the memory of Comrade Bains and all the other Party comrades who have passed away and represent the revolutionary movement celebrated by the Chertsey meeting 22 years ago.

Significance of the Chertsey Meeting

The full significance of the Chertsey meeting becomes ever more evident with the passage of time.

At the time of the Chertsey speech the world was in a period of transition from flow of revolution to retreat of revolution. Within a short while the world saw many changes to the situation including the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the bi-polar division of the world. As Comrade Bains described five years later looking back on the Chertsey meeting, "A great movement of the peoples demanding deep going economic transformations was still in the making and was gaining momentum in various parts of the world, especially in Eastern Europe as well as in some other places. However, this movement turned against itself. It was manipulated by world imperialism and revisionism. From a flow of revolution, the situation turned into one of retreat in a matter of a few months after the Chertsey conference.... [T]he Chertsey conference was for us a statement on the part of CPC(M-L) that not only will the Party not be manipulated by world imperialism and revisionism but that it must continue to carry out its work."

Comrade Bains' elaboration of the nature of that period prepared the Canadian revolutionary forces for what was to come by analyzing precisely what was unfolding nationally and internationally at that crucial turning point. He spoke of the historic world victory led by the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin against Nazi-fascism and the social programs created by the socialist societies. He warned about the grave dangers posed by Anglo-American imperialism and world reaction and described the great tragedies unleashed on the world's people by U.S. imperialism -- the numerous wars, invasions, coups d'etat and medieval violence against the peoples striving for independence and social progress. He warned of greater tragedies to come.

The prediction of Hardial Bains that the anti-communist hysteria being whipped up by world reaction would bring about an assault on the peoples of the imperialist heartlands and elsewhere became a reality. The old world shouted with euphoria that "communism was dead" and "history had come to an end." He predicted that this euphoria would turn into darkest revenge and reaction which is what we are seeing and resisting today. He led CPC(M-L) to prepare for the treachery arising within all forces which persisted in acting in the old way, including within its own ranks. He led CPC(M-L) to stand steadfast and true.

In this regard, Comrade Bains militantly set out what the communists should do next to further build CPC(M-L) as the political party of the working class so as to realize the political unity of the people. Putting greatest emphasis on the need to elaborate theory as the summation of the working class movement for emancipation, he defended the modern communist world outlook as the necessary condition to usher in a human-centred society. He predicted with certainty that the youth, despite all of the anti-communism promoted by reaction, would answer the call of the communists to take a stand for a just cause. He declared, "We say very openly that we want the rule of the working class and no one else... because it is the working class which is the producing class and is the most thoroughgoing revolutionary class whose aims cannot be achieved without overthrowing capitalism through revolution.... Today it does not matter which question is taken up... the bourgeoisie cannot find a solution. Only the working class can find a solution. It is the working class which is at the centre, and our views are the views of the working class."

Comrade Bains pointed out that the most important problem in terms of specific work is to win the mass of workers over to the side of history. "One should go with a passion, like one goes towards a loved one because this beloved of ours, the working class, it is the only social force which can save the world, save humankind," he said.

Referring to the grave danger posed by Anglo-American imperialism and world reaction, Comrade Bains pointed out that there is no other way to save the world from the crisis which is looming. "The working class can lose battles but not the war," he said.

He addressed the communist spirit which imbues the revolutionary movement. This movement has given rise to a new personality, he said, because the party carries out its work consciously and with a plan.

Five years after the Chertsey meeting, speaking about the deed of the party, Comrade Bains pointed out, "On August 1989 on behalf of CPC(M-L) I had declared that new men and women have come into being on the soil of Canada. Who are these new persons, new human beings that came into being? Those who had lofty ideals, honesty and sincerity, a clear conscience and they sacrificed everything they had. They trail-blazed a new way of living under the conditions of capitalist decay. Such a colossal achievement is now coming under fire of those who want a part-time revolutionary lifestyle. They are telling us we are extreme to demand that one should watch one's words and deeds, that CPC(M-L) will not, in any shape or form, conciliate with the filth and rottenness capitalist society in its decay is bringing forth. They are trying to suggest that communists should divide their lives in two: one dealing with the way they carry out politics and the other with the way they live. If we degenerate into such a kind of 'communist' we will become two-faced, we will be a bourgeois decadent force and we are not going to become such a force. We have never recognized imbecility or sterility in terms of our overall work, nor do we accept impotency in the face of the situation. Our Party speaks with the deepest convictions on every front. There is no ocean in the world which is deeper than that. Its ideals are loftier than the highest peaks of the Himalayas and its resolve is such that nobody can yet define it."

Today, when both nationally and internationally treachery and betrayal have become a way of life for the Anglo-American imperialists and big powers of Old Europe, the Chertsey meeting is an event that assumes greater significance with each passing day. Chertsey stood then and stands larger still today as the symbol of strength, maturity and vitality of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist). The speech delivered by Comrade Bains provides crucial guidelines which enable modern human beings to take control over their lives. It provided the guidelines which allowed the Party to launch its nation-building Historic Initiative in 1995 and the plans of action to stepwise address its requirements. It led to the adoption of the program Stop Paying the Rich -- Increase Funding for Social Programs! in 1997 and, despite the monumental loss of Comrade Bains on August 24, 1997, to the success of the Party's 7th Congress held in 1998 and its 8th Congress held in 2008 under the theme "Laying the Foundations of the Mass Communist Party."

Comrade Bains concluded that historic meeting at Chertsey with the exclamation, "... we will march together and realize the tasks which we have set for the present time. Watch us -- we will win!"

CPC(M-L) Honours Party Members,
Workers, Women and Youth

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) invites you to visit the Party Memorial which honours the memory of Party members, workers, women and youth in Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa. The Party honours their memory by taking forward the revolutionary traditions they represent.

Hardial Bains
August 15, 1939 - August 24, 1997
Our Founder, Our Leader
Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)

David Danielson Thomas Boylan Anne Boylan David Hemingway John Campbell Aziz ul Huq Patsy Fineday Sockeye Fineday Sharon Stevenson Alfred Bingham Roger Ten Trey Lalit Panda Gurmej Dosanjh Julius Fridleifson Sukhdev Deepak Victor Feld  Bernard Papillon Aili Waldman Wayne Derrah Bela Singh Thandi Amrik Nahal Harchand Brar Claire Alston Catherine Commandeur Paul Dion Miriam Wilson Richard Anthony Marsha Forest Helmut Braun Edith Petersen Dale Woodyard Louise Dubois Cyprian C.L. Nongauza Thomas Burger Kathy Bergen France Tremblay Jasbir Malhi

The Party Memorial

The magnificent Party Memorial in Ottawa's Beechwood Cemetery is dedicated to the memory of Comrade Hardial Bains, Founder and Leader of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) and to other Party comrades who have passed away. The Party Memorial also pays deepest tribute to the working class of Canada and the fighting peoples of the entire world.

The proposal to erect a Party Memorial was first put forward by Comrade Bains in 1994, at the time of the death of Comrade Anne Boylan. CPC(M-L) had lost several comrades, some from old age and some in the prime of their life due to illness or tragedies of various kinds. These comrades represented the very best to which the Canadian working class has given rise. Nurtured by the Party, they represent the revolutionary qualities of those who, as a result of their revolutionary activity, saw the necessity to espouse the ideals of Marxism-Leninism and build the Marxist-Leninist Party of a new type. The Party Memorial would honour their memory and contribution to the creation of a new society in Canada, Comrade Bains said. The Central Committee nominated Comrades David Danielson, Thomas Boylan and Anne Boylan as outstanding veteran communists from the time of the Third International as names to place in honour on the Party Memorial. Comrade David Hemingway, who was a member of the Central Committee and a young man when he tragically died, was also accorded this mark of great respect.

To our deepest sorrow Comrade Bains himself passed away unexpectedly and tragically in 1997. The Central Committee of CPC(M-L) reaffirmed its decision to erect the Party Memorial in the spirit Comrade Bains had proposed. Plans for the design of the memorial, the site and fundraising went into gear with the active participation of comrades and friends. In June 1998, at the Second Plenum of the 7th Central Committee, First Secretary Sandra L. Smith highlighted the revolutionary spirit in which the Party Memorial was conceived. She pointed out that the Party Memorial is not intended to turn our beloved comrades into icons, but to immortalize their essence as those who showed the utmost fidelity to their principles and, at each stage of the Party's development, turned their words into deeds. The best way to pay tribute to our comrades, Sandra emphasized, is by building the Party as the necessary condition to turn the successes CPC(M-L) has achieved into historic victory.

The Party Memorial represents the red flag of modern communism flying over Canada. It measures 8' across and is 5'6" high. The red flag bears the hammer and sickle and star of CPC(M-L). On one side we read the inscription Workers of All Countries Unite! and on the other the Party's motto, The Issue is Not to Wave the Red Flag But to Show Our Colours Through Our Deeds. On the base, we read: Hardial Bains, August 15, 1939-August 24, 1997. Our Founder, Our Leader, Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist).The flowers of modern communism are carved on the bottom right hand corner of the base with the lines Vous êtes le rouge de notre drapeau -- Lal Salaam (You are the red of our flag -- Red Salute). On the flagstaff, the red spine of our Party, the names of our three veteran comrades from the time of the Third International are inscribed, Comrades David Danielson, Thomas Boylan and Anne Boylan followed by the name of David Hemingway. On the red flag at the back of the monument are the names of others who have since been added.

In the spirit of involving all who have contributed and continue to contribute to building CPC(M-L), proposals for those to be honoured on the Memorial are considered annually. To realize this important project, members of the Central Committee of CPC(M-L) involve the peers of the nominated comrades, their family members and the Party organizations to which they belonged.

In 1999, the Central Committee decided that all deceased comrades whose nominations are received and discussed amongst their peers and family members and accepted by the Central Committee would be honoured by having their names added to the Memorial on the glorious occasion of the celebration of the Party's 30th anniversary in 2000 and henceforth in August of every year.

The Party Memorial represents the revolutionary quality of fidelity to our cause proclaimed by our immortal teachers Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Workers of All Countries, Unite! You Have Nothing to Lose But Your Chains. You Have a World to Win. The red colour represents the blood of our martyrs the world over. The flag is made from granite quarried in Jhansi, south of Delhi, India. Jhansi itself is legendary in the history of the Indian people's struggle for liberation. Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi, was one of the leaders of the First War of Indian Independence in 1857. When the British tried to annex Jhansi in 1853, she assembled a volunteer army of 14,000 rebels to defend the city. During the British attack in March 1858, her valour was exemplary. An Indian ballad sings:

How valiantly fought she,
The Rani of Jhansi
On every parapet a gun she set
Raining fire of hell,
How well fought the Rani of Jhansi
How valiantly and well!

When Jhansi fell to the British, the Rani escaped; again she rallied the rebel forces, this time at the fortress in Kalpi, one hundred miles away. The Rani lost her life in the battle but her name and the cause for which she fought live on in the hearts, minds and revolutionary action of all those the world over whose commitment and sacrifice we honour with the dedication of the Party Memorial.

Throughout his life, Comrade Bains expressed the unfailing conviction that the working class, the peasantry and all the progressive and patriotic forces will carry their struggle irresistibly forward to victory. Enlightened public opinion will always take their side, he said. Revolution is inevitable. The peoples will march on and build the new society, the socialist society, which will satisfy their age old aspiration for freedom and prosperity.

In his book, The Call of the Martyrs, Comrade Bains wrote: "The call of the martyrs and the demand of the masses is for revolution. Let all the people unite as one and rise in a revolutionary storm to end this barbaric rule which has brought so much suffering and has committed such horrible crimes against the people. ... The people must unite from North to South and from East to West, raise the banner of the liberation of all the peoples and fight for the goal of establishing a new democratic state through the triumph of the revolution and embarking on the socialist road. Unite as one around the working class and its Party. Take up the ideas of Marxism-Leninism, the spiritual weapon which will make your unity unbreakable, your force invincible and your victory inevitable.
Rise up, for the times are calling for the settling of scores with the exploiters and oppressors of the people, both native and foreign."

A new world is being born, he said. He called on us to build that new world where the masses will find their freedom, a liberated place for all progressive humankind.

This is what the Party Memorial represents. It hoists the red flag, the banner of sacrifice and progress, the emblem of the overthrow of all exploiters and everything backward and oppressive.
Its colour represents the blood of the martyrs of all lands, of the toiling masses and the democratic and progressive forces.

The pledge of CPC(M-L) is to hoist the red flag every day to signal the dawn of the new world, a world that will eliminate exploitation and oppression, hunger and disease, fascism, aggression and war -- a beautiful world dedicated to the liberation of all humankind. The times are calling for the unity of the people to bring this world into being.

In 1999, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Hardial Bains and the 10th anniversary of the historic Chertsey gathering where Comrade Bains challenged the working class and people of the entire world to act in a new way, the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) dedicated the Party Memorial in Beechwood Cemetery, which is one of the oldest cemeteries in the national capital. This lovely location provides a place for all those who want to pay their respects to the memory of our Comrades, to the Party and what they stand for.

August 13, 2011 Bulletin • Return to Index • Write to: editor@cpcml.ca