Important
Anniversaries
Revisiting the Significance of the Historic Conference Held in Chertsey, Quebec
On August 19, 1989, the Communist Party of Canada
(Marxist-Leninist) held a historic conference in Chertsey, Quebec.
Hundreds of CPC(M-L) members and supporters along with family and
friends participated in a week-long social and political gathering in
Chertsey held to celebrate the work of CPC(M-L) and discuss unfolding
events. The events were presided over by the beloved National Leader and
First Secretary of the Party's Central Committee Hardial Bains.
More than three decades have passed since then and, to our great sorrow,
Comrade Bains himself passed away on August 24, 1997.
Nevertheless, the significance of the Chertsey meeting remains and
becomes more evident with the passing time. The national and
international developments which have unfolded since the Chertsey
conference confirm the retrogression and dark reaction predicted by
Comrade Bains at that time and, equally, the determined resistance of
the working class and people all over the world and the inescapable need
for revolutionary political leadership, organization and theory to
realize the aims of the movement.
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, including the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of
the bi-polar division of the world.
"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.... the 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 said five years
after the gathering in Chertsey.
Hardial Bains addresses
the historic 1989 meeting of CPC(M-L) in Chertsey, Quebec.
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 of the social
programs created by the socialist societies. He warned about the grave
dangers posed by Anglo-American imperialism and described the great
tragedies unleashed on the world's people by U.S. imperialism, the
numerous wars, invasions, coups d'état 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
reaction would bring about an assault on the peoples of Europe and
elsewhere became a reality. The old world shouted with euphoria that
"communism is dead" and "history has come to an end." He predicted
that this euphoria would turn into darkest
revenge and reaction. He led CPC(M-L) to prepare for the treachery
arising within all forces which persisted in acting in the old way,
including within our own ranks. He led CPC(M-L) to stand steadfast and
true.
With the 5th Congress having been held a year
earlier, Comrade Bains gave a summation of the work being carried out
by the Party to implement the Congress decisions and the consistent
work of the Party to create the subjective conditions for revolution.
"...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. You see, history 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."
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. 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 declared, "The most important
problem in terms
of specific work is to win the mass of workers over to the side of the
Party.... 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. With the grave
danger posed by Anglo-American imperialism, Russian and world reaction,
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."
"A new communist has come into being on this soil
of Canada
which is nurtured by the Marxist-Leninist spirit of our party. With
such a new personality they think they can smash us, destroy us?! I say
to you... we will become millions, you watch us -- because we represent
what the working class wants, we represent what the oppressed
masses of people on the world scale want. We are people without
prejudice of any kind. We do not divide ourselves on the basis of race,
on the basis of religion, on the basis of national background or gender
or lifestyle. We unite ourselves on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, a
common ideology for the working class of all lands. We unite
ourselves on the basis of proletarian internationalism with the working
people of all countries."
This new personality was
not left to chance. To make sure a modern democratic personality
emerges from the work to settle scores with the old conscience of
society, achieving this was put on the agenda, a line of march was set
to nurture it and the task was taken up to carry out everything
consciously and with a plan.
Addressing the deed of
the party five years after the Chertsey Conference, Comrade Bains
pointed out, "In 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
define it."
In the period following the 1989-91
counter revolution, there were not a few parties that collapsed, unable
to find their bearings within the new and complex conditions. The
Chertsey conference is an event that assumes greater significance with
each passing year. 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 Historic Initiative and its first five-year plan of action to be
launched in 1995 and subsequent plans of action since then, year after
year identifying the crucial task
to be accomplished in order to achieve the aims the party set for
itself. It led to the adoption of the program Stop Paying the Rich --
Increase Funding for Social Programs! in 1997 and, in spite of the
monumental loss of Comrade Bains on August 24, 1997, to the success of
the 7th Congress held in 1998 which adopted the Historic Initiative and
its line of march and the 8th Congress held in 2008 under the theme
"Laying the Foundations of the Mass Communist Party."
Comrade
Bains concluded that historic conference 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!"
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 30 - August 15, 2020
Article Link:
Important
Anniversaries: Revisiting the Significance of the Historic Conference Held in Chertsey, Quebec
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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