samedi 1 juillet 2017


JULY 1st: CANADA DAY

A Marxist approach to the 150th anniversary of Canada (July 1st, 1867-2017)

By Daniel Paquet                           dpaquet1871@gmail.com                                                                               

What really occurred on July 1st 1867?  Well, a meeting of merchants, bankers and people of liberal professions took place in Fredericton (capital city of Prince-Edward Island).  They decided to establish a common market, more or less independent from Great Britain, that continued to incorporate the new Canada in the Commonwealth and gave it protection.  Nowadays, it is a day of celebrations; but it has nothing to do for instance with July 14th in France, when in 1789, the French people seized the political power, abolished monarchy and proclaimed a Republic, with notably the ideas of the Lumières.  For instance Robespierre, one of the leaders of this Revolution was especially inspired by Le Contrat social, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.  In Canada (which could mean in one of the several  Amerindian languages:  the small village); nothing of the sort happened.  It was rather quiet.

In paradox, the working people around the world gave themselves a day of remembrance for past struggles and a day of festivities to always keep in mind the historical battles of the proletariat. As says the Russian leader, Lenin:  “the trade unions were a tremendous step forward for the working class in the early days of capitalist development, inasmuch as they  marked a transition from the workers’ disunity and helplessness to the rudiments of class organization…” [1] This special day is called May Day and it takes place on May the First.  In a nutshell, Canadian Confederation Day of British colonies had no people’s content, while May Day has a specific international struggle’s significance.  But we can say that Canadian Communists gave a particular meaning to the peoples of Canada later on, as the need to break the unequal union between English-speaking Canada and Québec (and it goes as well with the Native peoples, immigrants, etc.  For Québec, the Communists claim the right of the French-Canadian nation to self-determination up and including the right to secede if such is the will of the Québec people.

So, a new party emerged in 1921, the Communist Party of Canada and as said one of its past General Secretary, Tim Buck, in 1965:  “… We will build the Communist party, strengthen the Party, and extend our influence in preparation for the change which I know is going to come.”[2]

Now as for those who believe and especially  endeavour so that the workers stay away from this revolutionary party, let’s remember Lenin’s word:    Class political consciousness can be brought to the workers only from without, that is only from outside of the economic struggle, from outside of the sphere of relations between workers and employers.”[3]

Could we not have a last word on the State which calls in a viewpoint of its realization in Canada?  “The State is, therefore by no means a power forced on society from without ; just as little is it, the reality , of the ethical idea,’ ‘the image and reality of reason,’ as Hegel maintains.  Rather, it is a product  of society at a certain stage of development.; it s the admission that this society has become entangled in an insoluble contradiction with itself, that it is cleft into irreconcilable antagonisms, cases with conflicting economic interest, might not consume themselves and society  in sterile struggle, a power seemingly standing above society became necessary for the purpose of moderating the conflict of keeping it within the bounds of ‘order’; and this power, arisen out of society, but placing itself above it, and increasingly alienating itself from it, is the state.” [4]  The Manifesto of the Communist Party, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels develops this thesis fully; as well as the brochure published by Lenin, whose name is The State and Revolution.

Nevertheless, Canadian people are kind and open.  While Canada is ranking second for its size, after Russia; the population is rather small:  34 millions, with a national minority (the Québécois), of around 8, 6 millions.  Personally, I don’t support the idea of separation; I sincerely believe that we can come to an arrangement with the English-speaking people.  Both nations would have a lot to lose politically and economically being independent one from the other.

 

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[1] Lenin, On the Organizational Principles of a Proletarian Party, Novosti Press Agency Publishing House, Moscow, 1972, page 271).
[2] Reminiscences of Tim Buck, Yours in the Struggle, NC Press Limited, Toronto, 1977, page 405).
[3] Lenin, V.I., What is to be done, Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1973¬Reprinted by Red Star Publishers, U.S.A., 2014, page 73).
[4] Edited by Robert C. Tucker, The Marx-Engels Reader, W. W. Norton & Company, New York – London, 1978, page 752).

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