August 2018
Acts of Remembrance
Acts of remembrance play an important role for the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist). For us, they bring to the fore the historic contributions the working class and people, their leaders, Communist Parties, heroic personalities and unsung heroes have given rise to. The Party has dedicated a Memorial in Beechwood Cemetery to its founder and leader, Hardial Bains who passed away in 1997, and to all the Party comrades who answered the call of the Party to join its ranks to fight for the New.
The photo above was taken on August 15 as visits to the Memorial began this year. It was taken in the early hours of the day, the sun rising to the east.
Historic Anniversaries
Every year in August the Party engages in specific acts of remembrance to appreciate its achievements, rekindle its revolutionary drive and celebrate the profound mass democratic and revolutionary spirit which imbues its life and work.
One of the important anniversaries the Party marks every year is the historic meeting held in Chertsey, Quebec from August 15-19, 1989. At the time the Chertsey meeting took place, 29 years ago, the world was on the eve of being plunged into the brutal period we are still undergoing today. The retreat of revolution settled in with a vengeance with the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the regimes in Eastern Europe just one year later. The Chertsey meeting affirmed the orientation the Party had adopted in 1985 when it predicted that no individual, collective or social force could act in the old way because all old arrangements would be done away with. The Party found its bearings and set a course for itself to open society’s path to progress within the new circumstances. In Chertsey, on behalf of the Party, its leader Hardial Bains boldly reaffirmed the character of CPC(M-L) to march on courageously under all conditions and circumstances as it has always done, despite whatever treachery and betrayal should rear its head. Since then, despite the untimely loss of Hardial Bains, CPC(M-L) has consistently shown its convictions through its deeds, its constant work to strengthen its links with the working class and people, its determination to elaborate Modern Communism as the conditions demand and its ability to put its organization on par with the demands of the times.
August 15 also marks the anniversary of the historic Necessity for Change Conference held in London, England 51 years ago. That conference provided the Necessity for Change analysis on the basis of which CPC(M-L) was founded. The Necessity for Change analysis begins with a determined and thoroughgoing offensive against ideological subversion and block to development through social forms. It does so by giving the most revolutionary call, “understanding requires an act of conscious participation of the individual, an act of finding out,” placing action in the first place and understanding in its service.
The Necessity for Change analysis opened a way forward for the youth and student movement at that time allowing it to become a worthy contingent of the communist and workers’ movement. The conclusions reached at the Necessity for Change Conference led to the reorganization of the Internationalists as a Marxist-Leninist youth and student movement and, subsequently, to the founding of CPC(M-L) in Montreal on March 31, 1970.
The celebrations this year have included two seminars further elaborating the conclusions of Necessity for Change, one under the theme “Breaking with the Past, the Need of Our Times” was held on June 30-July 1. The second on “The History of Political Parties and the Source of Power” was held from August 5-10. Both contributed to the elaboration of the Necessity for Change analysis and Modern Communism to enable the advanced forces to sort out what is what on the basis of a proletarian outlook and provide themselves with guides to action in the form of practical ways to intervene in the situation, no matter how unfavourable, in a manner which empowers them in the here and the now. The seminars also involve the younger generation in developing an enlightenment movement which they and society require to build a bright future.
Those who take up the study and discussion of the Necessity for Change and Modern Communism do so in concrete practical ways. Opening society’s path to progress requires enlightened theory to illuminate the way forward within the complex situation we are living through today.
Another important anniversary the Party celebrates at this time is the establishment and further development of the Party and Non-Party Press to serve the work for democratic renewal. On this occasion, the Party published reviews of its work to develop new journalism and it is leading by example.
The acts of remembrance include the birth anniversaries of Fidel Castro Ruz on August 13, Hardial Bains on August 15 and, unfortunately, many tragedies and losses, including in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945. By organizing acts of remembrance, the organizations of CPC(M-L) appreciate the significance of the work which, since 1963, has made CPC(M-L) the kind of Party it is today.
On the occasion of these historic events and acts of remembrance, the Central Committee of CPC(M-L) sends its revolutionary greetings to all the Party organizations, members and friends across the country, and to all those involved in the crucial work to open society’s path to progress. Across the country, Party members and activists are preparing for the battles which lie ahead by intervening in the here and the now. This imbues them with confidence. Never has their contribution to making new breakthroughs been more important. Never have they been better served by the model set by CPC(M-L) and its leader Hardial Bains who declared: The Issue Is Not to Wave the Red Flag but to Show Our Colours Through Our Deeds! Workers of All Countries, Unite!
