With deepest sorrow the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) informs you that our comrade Robert Platt, known to most of us as Fred, passed away on the evening of March 26 in palliative care at the hospital in Gatineau, Quebec. He was diagnosed just one month ago with terminal kidney cancer which had already metastasized throughout his body.

Fred lived the last month of his life as he lived his entire life: to the fullest. Every day he was surrounded by his considerable extended family, music, conversations, laughter and the fortitude which bound him to the Party and its ideals ever since he joined it more than five decades ago.

Fred’s life was well lived. He never wavered when faced with the considerable challenges facing the Party and the class. He was known for standing steadfast in the shifting sands of this turning point in history.

All the generations whose lives Fred touched will be singing the content of Fred’s song throughout their lives.

On behalf of the Central Committee and the entire Party, we express our deepest condolences and sorrow to Marsha, Lila, Fred’s grandchildren he has lovingly cared for since their birth and to his entire family and extended family who were all there for him when he needed them.

Before he passed away, Fred dedicated this poem to all the Party comrades on the occasion of the 56th anniversary of the Party’s founding:

To My Party
Pablo Neruda
1946

You have given me a sense of brotherhood toward those I do not know.
You have endowed me with the strength of all who live.
You have given me back my homeland as if I were born anew.
You have given me the freedom lacked by those who walk alone.
You taught me to kindle kindness, like a fire.
You have given me the fortitude that a tree requires.
You taught me to see the unity and the differences among people.
You showed me how the pain of one being perishes in the victory of all.
You taught me to sleep on the hard beds of my brothers.
You have made me build upon reality as upon a rock.
You made me a foe of all that is wicked and a bastion against the chaotic.
You have shown me the lucidity of the world and the possibility of joy.
You have made me indestructible because with you I do not end in myself.

Tribute
Steve Rutchinski

Our lives were drawn together
from different places, different lands
like fingers of one hand
into a fist, thrust into the air
in answer to the call of history.
The necessity for change,
That strain of music
That rhythm of the heart
That touches a chord in us
Present!
Then. Now. Always.
Head unbowed and proud of it!
Red Salute Frederick! Red Salute!

Messages of sympathy and remembrance can be sent to the Party and Fred’s family at: remembrances@cpcml.ca.
(Translation of Neruda’s poem provided by CPC(M-L))