May 20
Patriots’ Day 2024
On May 20, the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) celebrates Patriots’ Day. On this day the Party calls on members and supporters across the country to devote a period of time to honour our patriots, as is done in Quebec on this day. Choose a patriot you know and think about why this is the case. Don’t just choose the name of one of those promoted by the official circles linked to King and Empire, but choose one from the lived experience of this country Canada or the countries of origin of all the peoples who have taken up residency here, as well as the legendary personalities who fought against the genocide of the Indigenous Peoples.
Let us honour the memory of the Acadians, Québécois, Upper Canadian rebels and all those around the world whose resistance struggle against brutal empire builders since colonial times are the reason we are here today, still striving to humanize the natural and social environment and create a world fit for human beings.
On the occasion of Victoria Day 2023, CPC(M-L) called on Canadians to rename Victoria Day as Patriots’ Day and celebrate our patriots, not those of the empire-builders. This followed the death of Elizabeth II, Queen of England who was called Queen of Canada for some 70 years, and the ascendance to the throne of Charles III and his shameless official recognition by official circles in Canada as their king,
Official Canada celebrates Victoria Day on the Monday preceding May 24 to honour the birthday of a foreign monarch who died in 1901. It is a federal statutory holiday, as well as a holiday in six of Canada’s 10 provinces and all three of its territories. It is not observed as an official holiday in the United Kingdom. The aim of marking it here is to keep Canadians in the thrall of empire-building values and institutions called liberal democratic even though their entire purpose is to deprive the working class and people of representation in their own name, by authorizing others through the ballot box to represent them.
It is high time Canada adopts a modern and democratic commemoration instead.
In Quebec, National Patriots’ Day is an official holiday to honour those Canadians who rebelled against the British Crown and the institutions it imposed in Canada to maintain its rule over the people. It honours those who, in 1837 and 1838, organized to establish a modern and democratic republic which vested sovereignty in the people, not a monarch declared to be the supreme power.
On this occasion we salute those patriots, as well as the patriots in Upper Canada who also rose in rebellion against the brutal rule of the oligarchs. All of them were an integral part of the movements for independence across all of the Americas, and of the strivings to end the system of slavery and its atrocities and of nation-building in Europe. These rebellions were brutally suppressed in Canada by the British empire-builders who are lauded to this day, their system imposed without regard for its rejection by the people.
The Patriots the people hail are an integral part of their unstoppable movement for freedom, liberation, democracy and fraternity between peoples. Their example established the standard for what it means to be human in their own time and also today, at a time unspeakable crimes are being committed against humanity in the name of high ideals. Their actions, words and example represent what it means to be personalities we are proud to emulate.
Today let us speak their names. Let us recount their sacrifices and the contributions they made to their own peoples, their own societies, and to humankind.
Today, official circles sully the word patriot deliberately to trample on the memory of the Patriots sacrificing their lives today. In their sordid and petty minds, those who stand for their national independence and sovereignty in the face of imperialist dictate, blackmail and even genocide are labelled terrorists, violators of human rights, autocrats and much more. Meanwhile those who operate as global gangs of marauders and killers and love the kings and queens who parade their filthy wealth, power and privilege along with the oligarchs and trillionaires, are called scions of industry and civilization, protectors of the poor and destitute, and many other names which turn truth on its head and make fraud the name of the game.
The U.S. imperialists even gave the name Patriot to the offensive missile systems used to destroy Iraq in the 2003 Iraq War which it provides to its allies to destroy others. Nonetheless, try as they might, the resistance movements against these reactionary forces reveal who the genuine patriots are.
On this occasion, let us together celebrate the Patriots of all lands who put their own lives at the disposal of the demand of their peoples for independence, sovereignty, freedom and democracy! In Canada, let everyone rename Victoria Day, Patriots Day as a way to honour the legacy of our Patriots from around the world!
Canada is made up of the peoples of the world alongside the Indigenous Peoples of these lands. Honouring, learning about and sharing what the Patriots stand for not only in the past but most importantly today imbues our older generations with pride and encourages our younger generations to emulate them in today’s conditions, as they are doing by bravely condemning with their deeds the empire-building values the oligarchs celebrate.
Today on Patriots’ Day, let us say their names! Let us honour their deeds and their memory in our deeds today!
Long Live Our Patriots!
One Humanity! One Struggle!
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