Revolutionary Communist Party (Canada)

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Revolutionary Communist Party Parti communiste révolutionnaire
Party logo since 2020
Abbreviation	PCR-RCP
Founded	January 28, 2007; 14 years ago (2007-01-28)
Preceded by	Revolutionary Communist Party (Organizing Committees)
Newspaper	Cause ouvrière (since 2021) ISKRA (since 2018) Le drapeau rouge (2007–2017)
Student wing	Revolutionary Student Movement (until 2021)
Youth wing	Red Youth Front (until 2017)
Ideology	Communism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Anti-revisionism Revolutionary socialism
Website
pcr-canada.com
Politics of Canada Political parties Elections

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The Revolutionary Communist Party (French: Parti communiste révolutionnaire; abbr. PCR-RCP) is a communist party in Canada oriented around Marxism–Leninism–Maoism. It is not registered with Elections Canada because the party rejects what it calls the "bourgeois electoral system" and does not seek recognition by the government.

The creation of the organizational stage of the party was adopted at what was called the Revolutionary Communist Conference, which was held in Montreal, Quebec, in November 2000 by activists and former members of the labour union movements and youth organizations of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, who felt that the revolutionary situation in Canada warranted the creation of a party dedicated to a communist revolution. The party originated from the Revolutionary Communist Party (Organizing Committees). Participants at this conference adopted the party's first draft programme. Because of the location of the conference, the majority of the founding members were French-speaking Quebecers, and the party began an extensive effort to reach out to the rest of Canada, starting with the Canadian Revolutionary Congress held in November 2006 in Toronto.

The party suffered an internal split in 2017, resulting in two competing factions: the PCR-RCP (Central Committee) and the PCR-RCP (Historical Direction). The former dissolved itself on November 5, 2021.

Ideology[]

The Revolutionary Communist Party denounces the traditional electoral system of Canada, claiming that it serves no other purpose than to further the agenda of what it calls bourgeois democracy. This has led the party to be highly critical of what it calls reformist and revisionist electoral communist parties such as the Communist Party of Canada and the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist). They maintain that these electoral parties help prop up the system of ruling-class domination of Canadian politics. Instead, the PCR-RCP has claimed the need for a revolutionary movement in Canada to forcibly remove the ruling class from power and replace it with a socialist transitional system, and eventually a communist system, which will dissolve the apparatus of the state. The party believes this can be done by following the ideology and examples of communist figures such as Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Mao Zedong. According to the party's programme, Canada must be liberated from oppression through various violent and non-violent means, including civil insurrection and protracted people's war, though they stress the need for the creation of a strong vanguard party and the gathering of support of the masses before this can occur. This differs from the tactics developed by other groups in the past as well as by similar movements, such as the Cuban 26th of July Movement and the Front de libération du Québec, in that those movements believed in propaganda of the deed, which stipulates that a movement need only a small nucleus of radical supporters willing to partake in dangerous and illegal activities in hopes of sparking the population into supporting their cause. The PCR-RCP disagrees with this tactic, regarding it as premature, preferring instead to operate only after sufficient time and effort has been placed in strengthening the party.

Although their ideological affiliation remains with Marxism–Leninism–Maoism, the PCR-RCP urges that one must take a critical and non-biased view of past revolutionary movements and socialist governments. Although they believe strongly that Mao was the most ideologically advanced of all communist writers, they do not hesitate to criticize some of his actions and motives. In addition, like most Maoist organizations, the PCR-RCP is highly critical of modern China, claiming that that country abandoned socialism with the death of Mao and has since adopted a policy of state capitalism.

Though the majority of the PCR-RCP's current supporters and members are French Quebecers, the PCR-RCP does not support the Quebec separatist movement like most other communist organizations in Quebec. They view the separatist movement as a ploy by the Québécois ruling class, who wish to strengthen their position internationally by removing Canadian ruling class influence from Quebec. As such, they have been highly critical of other communist parties active in Quebec, such as the Communist Party of Quebec (Communist Party of Canada affiliate) and the Marxist–Leninist Party of Quebec (Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist) affiliate), alleging that their support of the Quebec separatist movement is paramount to supporting pseudo-nationalism, and that the creation of yet another capitalist state goes against the principles of Marxism.

An in-depth explanation of the PCR-RCP's political ideology can be found in the party's official programme.^[1]

Affiliates[]

The PCR-RCP is affiliated with several other organizations and publications. The PCR-RCP published a monthly newspaper called The Red Flag, or Le drapeau rouge, from 2007 to 2017.

The party is affiliated with the Committee for a Canadian Red Aid Organization.

Internationally, the party has close ties to the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement and its member organizations, although to date the party is not a member. The party also has contact with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

In addition, the PCR-RCP has formed its own communist youth organization known as the Revolutionary Student Movement (MER-RSM), which as of 2014 has created chapters at several secondary and post-secondary institutions in Ontario, Quebec, and western Canada.

History[]

PCR-RCP members at the 2010 G20 Toronto summit protests

Founding congress[]

In late November 2006 the Revolutionary Communist Party (Organizing Committees) held a national congress which saw nearly 100 members and supporters from across Canada participate. This congress is seen as a critically important milestone for the party. Several supporting committees and organizations made speeches at the congress, including activists from as far west as Manitoba. In addition, a variety of international organizations and parties sent messages of solidarity, including the Committee of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (CoRIM), the Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan, the Communist Workers Union of Colombia, Marxist–Leninist Revolutionaries of Iraq, the Communist Party of Iran (Marxist–Leninist–Maoist), and the Communist Party of the Philippines. All were messages of support, urging the RCP(OC) to develop the revolutionary situation in Canada while maintaining a proper critical outlook on the historical conditions of past and present communist movements.

In addition to the various messages received from external organizations, the RCP(OC) introduced several resolutions for popular vote on the assembly floor. The four resolutions were:

• Resolution to support the founding of the Revolutionary Communist Party
• Resolution to support the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement
• Resolution to support the revolutionary struggle in Nepal
• Resolution to hold a second Canadian Revolutionary Congress in Toronto

All resolutions were passed unanimously. An immediate consequence of the Canadian Revolutionary Congress was the creation of the Revolutionary Communist Party proper and the dropping of the Organizing Committees tag from the party's name.

Split[]

On March 4, 2017, a book launch for J. Moufawad-Paul's Continuity and Rupture was held at the Maison Norman Bethune. During the event, four party members of the Montreal branch entered the bookstore and forcefully removed three other party members they deemed "anti-party elements".^[2] This prompted the central committee to expel the former four, and in retaliation, and citing other criticisms of the central committee, the Montreal and Valleyfield cells of the party took full control of the party's website and finances. These cells declared themselves to be the real Revolutionary Communist Party, defending it from the "opportunist clique" in control of the central committee.^[3] On May 2, 2017, the central committee announced the expulsion of the party cells in Montreal and Valleyfield.^[4]

The party subsequently split into the PCR-RCP (Central Committee) and PCR-RCP (Historical Direction). The PCR-RCP (Central Committee) retained control over fronts such as the Revolutionary Student Movement, as well as the rest of the party membership. Following the split, the PCR-RCP (Central Committee) set up a new website, leading to two competing websites of similar names.

The PCR-RCP (Central Committee) announced its dissolution on November 5, 2021.^[5]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• ISKRA website