15 December 2007
Prior to October’s provincial election in Ontario, The Canadian Communist Party released their election manifesto, “A People’s Agenda For Canada”, which clearly showed that, if elected, they would do an excellent job of dealing with capitalism’s worst effects. A few examples will suffice to illustrate this.
“Cut the military budget by 50% - build homes not bombs.” So there would still be a military budget.
In the section devoted to energy, they proposed cutting residential rates by 50%. So there would still be residential rates.
Their policy for transportation would include “Full federal and provincial funding for public transit to reduce fares and increase ridership.” So there would still be fares.
One section is titled, “Civilian control over police and prisons.” This clearly indicates the so-called communist party wish to maintain a society that creates a need for police forces and prisons.
Another section is “Fight Racism.” This implies racism will still exist.
In the section on housing, they propose to “Legislate rent controls, roll back rents” and, “Fund emergency shelters and transition housing.” And how about this - “No evictions or utility cut-offs due to unemployment” Therefore, rent, homelessness, and unemployment would still exist in their brave new world! Boy, what a great group of revolutionaries!
And, how about this? “Tax the greedy” Ain’t that a beaut?! So, a society, the very nature of which creates greed, would still exist. And here’s another, “Raise corporate taxes, rescind corporate tax cuts.” Meaning, corporations and taxes would still be around.
Under “Jobs for All” we find a simple sentence which perfectly shows the CPC’s true colours; “Reduce the work week to 32 hours, with 40 hours take-home pay.” They have obviously never considered a society with no pay!
We could continue with extracts from their manifesto, but, by now, it should be abundantly clear that, in no way, do they suggest a fundamental change in society. For anyone wishing to know more, go to www.votecommunist.ca
The Communist Party is the ally, not the foe, of the Conservatives, Liberals, and the NDP. All of these parties, like the CPC, wish to introduce reform measures that would, they profess, make some of the harsh aspects of life under capitalism less harsh. Even when some reforms achieve a degree of success, they are, in a few years, obsolete or repealed by the next government. The Socialist Party of Canada isn’t interested in making life less harsh for anyone within capitalism, but in overthrowing an economic system that makes, and will continue to make, life harsh for the vast majority. We hold that the root cause of today’s social problems is that a tiny minority owns the tools of production and the world’s natural resources, and all political parties, except those of the World Socialist Movement, exist to maintain the status quo. We in the SPC and WSM advocate a society where the tools of production are owned by everyone and where all production is to satisfy need, not profit.
In such a society, there will be no military budget, in fact no military and no budget; no bombs, no taxes, no funding for anything; no fares, no prisons, no police, no racism, no rents, no homeless, no utility cut-offs, no corporations, no take-home pay - in fact, no money. A society based on common ownership, where all take what they require will eliminate buying and selling and has no need for money. It will be a case of “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.”
Some well-meaning people argue, “That sounds pretty good, but we still need reforms in the meantime.” “In the meantime” then becomes forever.
Socialism is there, waiting for you as soon as you want it. How do you get it? By joining with us in the SPC and its companion parties elsewhere to capture political power to enable the establishment of The Real Social Revolution.
