Communist Party of Canada
Parti Communiste du Canada
(Federal)

LEADER / LE CHEF: Miguel Figueroa.

BRIEF HISTORY: The Communist Party of Canada (CPC) is a Marxist-Leninist party originally founded in 1921 as the Canadian section of the Comintern, and was thus similar to communist parties around the world. The party alternated between legality and illegality during the 1920s and 1930s -- and was again banned from 1941-1942. The CPC was initially an illegal entity, and created the Workers' Party of Canada in 1922 as its public face. After the CPC was legalized in 1924, and the Workers' Party ceased was dissolved. After supporters of Leon Trotsky were purged from the CPC, it was a steadfastly loyal to the policies of the Soviet Union from 1929 until the collapse of the USSR in 1988. Starting in 1988, the CPC adopted the reformist views espoused by Soviet President Mikhael Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika programs. This led to the CPC briefly abandoning radical Marxist-Leninist revolutionary ideology in favor of evolving into a more social democratic leftist party during the Hewiston period (1988-1991). Following the departure of the Hewiston faction, the remaining CPC members rededicated the party to "the principles of Marxism-Leninism, whose ultimate goal is the creation of a Canadian socialist society." The CPC regularly fields small slates of candidates in each federal elections. To date, Fred Rose is the only CPC candidate ever elected to the House of Commons (served 1943-1947).

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The CPC seeks to "resolve the systemic crisis of capitalism." The party says job creation and a shorter work week with no cut in pay is the top priority. Other positions advocated include repeal of NAFTA, "shift the tax burden onto the wealthy corporations, defend and improve universal social programs, ... democratic constitutional reform based on recognition of the full equality of Quebec with the rest of Canada, ... cut military spending by 50%, ... [adopt laws prohibiting] against racism, sexism and homophobia."

WEBSITES:
Communist-Party.ca
Young Communist League of Canada / Ligue des jeunesses communistes (YCL-LJC)
People's Voice (newspaper)
The Spark (theoretical journal)

FEDERAL PROVINCIAL & RIDING AFFILIATES:

• Communist Party of Canada - Alberta

• Communist Party of British Columbia

• Communist Party of Canada (Ontario)

• PCC-PCQ: Le Parti Communiste du Québec

• Communist Party of Canada in Saskatchewan