YCL-LJC Stands in Solidarity with Youth Land Defenders! The Canadian State Must Recognize the Right to Self-Determination

YCL-LJC Central Executive Committee, November 15, 2020

The Young Communist League—Ligue de la jeunesse communiste stands in solidarity with  Indigenous youth and their allies in the struggle for the inalienable Right to Self-Determination of their peoples. In the past weeks, from the Secwepemc nation to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, to Mi’kma’ki and beyond, young people have bravely stood up to the ongoing assault by the State and exploitative resource extraction and land development corporations.

Over the winter of 2019-2020, a series of increasingly successful examples of resistance to Candian imperialist projects exploded into unprecedented large-scale demonstrations of solidarity in nearly every major city.

The COVID-19 Pandemic shuttered the many solidarity blockades and mobilisations; however, it did not stop Capital and its armed apparati from its relentless drive for profit through exploiting both the resources and people. The spontaneous uprising against anti-Black racism and police brutality across North America has forged links in the fight for peace and justice and has brought renewal to the broader solidarity movement.

Currently there are more than 100 drinking water advisories in First Nations across Canada. Further to that, substandard housing and infrastructure for First Nations communities continues to be an ongoing struggle for those living on and away from their community.

Given the history of high rates of infectious disease in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, it is very possible that COVID-19 could be devastating, according report from Yellowhead Institute authored by Hayden King, the organization’s executive director, with support from Ryerson student Josephine Slaughter.

The denial of the sovereignty, self-determination, and social and economic well-being of Indigenous peoples in the name of Canadian state and corporate interests began long before the outbreak of COVID-19 — in fact, this “necessity” has expressed itself consistently since Confederation.

The cost of enforcing the Coastal GasLink pipeline construction in Sovereign unceded land between January 2019 and March 2020 was more than $13 million, according to documents obtained by CBC News. However on the east coast, the RCMP has stood by onsite while violent mobs have attacked and attempted to intimidate Mi’kmaq communities from enacting their Sovereign rights.

This is the approach by Canadian capital: resource extraction for private profit enforced at gunpoint.

A 2019 report on Canada to the UN Human Rights Council by the UN Special Rapporteur for Violence Against Women Dubravka Šimonović specifically names high rates of child apprehension by police, the over-incarceration of Indigenous women, and coerced sterilization and sexualized violence by police and corrections officers as issues related to what she refers to as “gendered colonization”.

All attempts to violate the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples must stop. The Federal Government must negotiate with the recognition of the Sovereignty of Indigenous peoples as well as the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Federal Government must negotiate a just and peaceful resolution with all land claims.

There are clear reports with recommendations that are being neglected by the Federal Government, including the 440 recommendations of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the 231 Calls for Justice from the Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, among numerous other reports. Now is the time for action.

From coast to coast, all young people have one common enemy: the ruling Capitalist Class. This is the basis of unity in the struggle for a Socialist society where the wellbeing of all people and the environment is the priority instead of the private accumulation of property by an exploitative minority. 

The YCL-LJC calls for the broadest possible unity in solidarity with Youth Land Defenders. The YCL-LJC fights for a socialist Canada, based on an equal and voluntary partnership of all nations, including First Nations, Inuit, the Métis, Quebec, English Canada, and Acadia. This can only be achieved through the struggle for the full sovereignty and self-determination of all nations.

75 Years of the World Federation of Democratic Youth: A Legacy of Peace, Anti-Imperialism, and International Friendship

YCL-LJC Central Executive Committee, November 10, 2020

November 10th, 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY). Taking place in Budapest, Hungary among the still-burning embers of the Second World War, the 1945 World Youth Conference sought to unite youth against the forces of fascism and war, and to fight for a brighter future for the young people of the world. This initial conference, just a small taste of what was to come, included representatives across ethnicities, nations, religions, and backgrounds from 63 different countries. Pledging to fight for peace and international solidarity, WFDY quickly expanded, earning itself consultative status with the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council, being presented with the Peace Messenger Award by the UN General Secretary in 1987, and soon representing youth and students from nearly 100 different countries. 

WFDY has also organized the World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) since its inauguration in 1947. Held regularly since its debut in Prague, Czechoslovakia, the Festival has historically served as a meeting place for progressive youth from around the world, hosting participants from all corners of the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia and organizing large cross-cultural actions against imperialism and for peace. WFYS, like the World Federation of Democratic Youth, was built from young peoples’ commitment to peace and class-conscious solidarity following the global devastation of WWII, and has always sought to reject war, fascism, and racism, and to forge strong connections across the world. The most recent WFYS took place in Sochi, Russia, in 2017 and included 30,000 participants from 185 countries; it carried the slogan “For peace, solidarity and social justice, we struggle against imperialism. Honouring our past, we build the future!” Before 2017, the biggest Festival by countries participating was the 13th, which took place in Pyongyang, DPR Korea in 1989, and included 22,000 participants from 177 different countries, including a large delegation headed by the YCL-LJC.

Five YCLers hold up the banner of the Pan-Canadian Delegation at 2017's World Festival of Youth and Students in Sochi. General Secretary Ivan Byard raises his fist. The banner is blue and reads "19th WFYS/19e FMJE: Délegation Pancanadienne" Behind them are many young people, most holding red flags. Also in the background are a large group of Cuban and Vietnamese flags and a mountain range.
YCLers at the 2017 World Festival of Youth and Students in Sochi, Russia

As a long-time member of WFDY, the YCL-LJC has been responsible for organizing a Pan-Canadian delegation to the World Festival of Youth and Students. These Pan-Canadian delegations are, crucially, representative not only of Anglo-Canada, but of the numerous national minorities within Canada: from Indigenous and First Nations to Franco-Canadian minorities and Quebec. These broad delegations have sought to unite youth from all nations across Canada who strive for peace, international solidarity, and justice, and to exchange knowledge with other international delegations at the Festival. This long-standing YCL-LJC tradition has, at each Festival, made its impact: in the Rebel Youth report-back from the 1989 WFYS in Pyongyang, one Canadian delegate noted that, of the 20,000 delegates to the Festival, the largest, loudest, and most visible centre of Indigenous participation was the Pan-Canadian delegation. Of course, YCL-LJC participation extends far outside the scope of the WFYS: most recently, at WFDY’s 20th Assembly in Cyprus (2019), the YCL-LJC was elected as sole representative from North America on the Federation’s General Council, joining 35 other progressive youth organizations from across the world.

Member organizations of the World Federation of Democratic Youth have been making great strides in the realm of peace and solidarity. Over the past few months, youth in Bangladesh, India, and elsewhere have been securing and distributing food and PPE to those affected by COVID-19, and have even been working in healthcare. Recently, comrades in Lebanon, Turkey, Britain, and elsewhere have been fundraising and participating in on-the-ground relief work following the explosion in Beirut and the earthquake that shook Greece and Turkey. These actions are in addition to the regular schools, local actions, and solidarity efforts undertaken by young comrades worldwide.

The World Federation of Democratic Youth continues to be an essential force in today’s international political landscape. As the forces of imperialism, racism, and capitalism grow stronger, WFDY youth band together to strengthen the call for peace. The YCL-LJC is proud to be a WFDY member, and to work with a diverse, unified, and bellicose group of youth carrying the banner of peace, justice, and solidarity. We, along with the progressive youth of the world, affirm our commitment to anti-imperialism and peace on this 75th anniversary of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, and look forward to a future of further WFDY work, more militant and joyous meetings at the World Festival of Youth and Students, and many more years of fighting for a better future for young people. Youth unite for lasting peace!

To celebrate their 75th anniversary, the World Federation of Democratic Youth hosted an online panel and webinar. It can be watched in full here.

La YCL-LJC en solidarité avec les jeunes manifestant-e-s à Lesbos: Fermer les camps de concentration et libérer tou-te-s les détenu-e-s!

Comité exécutif central, 20 septembre 2020

Le Comité central de la YCL-LJC exprime sa plus grande solidarité avec les jeunes manifestant-e-s au Centre d’accueil et d’identification (CAI) sur l’île de Lesbos. Le récent incendie du camp du CAI a dévasté à la fois les résident-e-s de Lesbos et les réfugié-e-s et immigrant-e-s détenu-e-s. Le projet de l’Union européenne (UE) visant à reloger les détenu-e-s dans un autre CAI inhumain et dangereux doit être rejeté.

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The YCL-LJC is in Solidarity with the Youth Protesters on Lesbos: Close the Concentration Camps and Safely Release all Detainees!

The Central Committee of the YCL-LJC expresses utmost solidarity with the youth protesters at the Reception and Identification Centre (RIC) on the island of Lesbos. The recent fire at the RIC camp has devastated both the residents of Lesbos and the detained refugees and immigrants. The plan of the EU to relocate the detainees to another dangerous and inhumane RIC must be rejected.

 The reactionary plan of the European Union (EU) to turn the islands in the Aegean Sea into permanent concentration camps for refugees and immigrants must be exposed to young people and students. In the struggle for democratic immigration reform in Canada, we need to confront the Canadian states military and diplomatic role in the humanitarian crisis and their violations of the 1951 Refugee Convention, 1967 Protocol, and the fundamental tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

The YCL-LJC takes up the demands of our comrades, the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) for the immediate safe release of all refugees and immigrants from Lesbos. The camp must be closed and no other RIC, closed or open, must be created.

Since 2016 the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has participated in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) Operation Sea Guardian in coordination with the EU’s Frontex border patrol. Refugees and immigrants have been placed into concentration camps on islands in the Aegean sea. Thousands of people have been stripped of their rights and forced into inhumane conditions, only exacerbated by the pandemic. 

The Canadian government and the CAF’s criminal involvement in the devastation of Afghanistan, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere has greatly contributed to the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean region. Canadian businesses, in particular mining corporations and the resource extraction industry, have contributed greatly to the global warming crisis which between 2008 and 2014, displaced an average of 26.4 million people per year by disasters brought on by natural hazards. This is the equivalent to one person being displaced every second. Since 2014 the Mediterranean sea has tragically become Imperialism’s graveyard for refugees and immigrants as more than 20 000 people have perished.

The entire region has been under the shadow of an escalation in competition over hydrocarbons by NATO members. Nationalist governments in Ankara and Athens are both rattling their sabres over long standing maritime disputes now renewed in the fight for gas reservoirs. As the title of the joint statement from TKP and KKE says, The people of the two countries can and must claim their right to live in peace! In a visit to Cyprus this month, US secretary of State Mike Pompeo lifted a 33- year arms embargo on the Republic in order to ‘deepen security co-operation’ between the two states. The heightening of tensions in the region brings urgency to de-escalation efforts in Cyprus. International law and the resolutions of the United Nations provide the framework for dialogue on a solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of bi-communal, bi-zonal federation. 

Like the European Union, Canada Border Services Agency arbitrarily detains thousands of permanent residents and foreign nationals, including children, every year at Immigration Holding Centres and provincial jails. We call on the Federal Government to scrap the ‘Safe Third Country Agreement’ and all other xenophobic and racist immigration policies such as the temporary foreign workers program. 

In Canada as in the EU, there is a growing danger of racist and xenophobic reactionary groups. These groups and their dangerous ideas must be denounced and rejected at our places of work and study and anywhere else. Racism is a poison of the mind that divides young people and only benefits the bourgeoisie. Our basis of unity is always against prejudice and bigotry; we are united by our common interests.    

Peace and solidarity are needed now more than ever. As young communists we need to bring young people into the struggle against imperialist conflict that only benefits the ruling class and bring a proletarian internationalist vantage point to the struggles of young people. 

With students heading back to school, young communists ask what happened to the Liberals’ Student Service Grant?

The $900 million Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) was announced as part of the $9 billion emergency benefit package for students announced in May. As of yet, not a single student has received a single dollar from the CSSG. 

The CSSG has been critiqued by the bourgeois press and bourgeois political parties for being a crony deal for Prime Minister Trudeau and former Finance Minister Morneau’s families and political allies. Little has been written about the actual content of the program, however, the CSSG offered students a maximum grant of $5000 in exchange for 500 hours of service. This amount is below the minimum wage and cost of living, and less than the amount for full-time tuition for the majority of post secondary students. The CSSG program was announced when young workers and students were in desperate positions and potentially willing to take below minimum wage, as the unemployment rate for people under 25 was nearly 30% and the rate for returning students was nearing 40%. We reject the proposal by NDP whip Rachel Blaney which would turn over the $900 million to private businesses as part of the Liberals wage subsidy program that has failed the working class and lined the pockets of the ruling class. This failed Liberal exploitation project is proof as to why young workers need a federal Workers’ Bill of Rights and students need a federal Right to Education Act akin to the Canada Health Act to enforce gains made by students and workers and guarantee decent work and quality education for all. 

The Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) program is now coming to a close just as post-secondary instruction begins in the fall semester. We have made our position as students and young workers clear: the CESB was not enough to cover the cost of living or full-time tuition for the vast majority of students. Furthermore, this $9 billion program proves that the long-standing narrative of federal governments that education funding is an exclusively provincial matter is false. The total amount of grants from this benefit could have easily been distributed in a more just and effective way through the establishment of universal programs. This $9 billion in short term emergency benefits was only $1 billion short of the annual cost of completely removing tuition fees and fully funding a public post-secondary education system for all post-secondary students in Canada, and enforcing crown education treaty obligations to First Nations. 

It is necessary for students to take a leadership role in the fight for universal public social services. Many workers in the post-secondary industry have been laid off or furloughed, and this loss of employment for workers is also a loss of services for students. Too many students will be forced to withdraw from their studies this fall for purely financial reasons. Thus, it is now more than ever time to fight for universal, completely publicly-funded quality education. 

Central Executive Committee , September 2020

YCL-LJC co-organizes webinar with Evo Morales on National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21)

The Young Communist League of Canada is proud to announce the broadcast of a webinar featuring Evo Morales, ex-President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, this Sunday, June 21 at 2 p.m. (EDT) on the occasion of the National Indigenous Peoples’ Day here in Canada, and the Andean and Amazonic New Year in Bolivia. The seminar will be held under the title “From Canada to Bolivia, Indigenous Resistance Against Militarism and Imperialism”.

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Canada has no Place on the U.N.S.C.

Central Executive Committee, June 2020

The YCL-LJC condemns the Canadian States bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. As a Pan-Canadian and working class internationalist organisation we will always remain committed to building the movement for peace and solidarity. Since our 27th Central Convention unmasking the Canadian States growing role in NATO Imperialism and helping build Solidarity movements have been prioritized. 

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Pierre Fontaine: une inspiration pour la jeunesse en lutte pour le socialisme

La YCL-LJC salue la mémoire d’un camarade, mentor et ami de la YCL-LJC: Pierre Fontaine. Chef du Parti communiste du Québec depuis 15 ans, puis membre du Comité exécutif central du Parti communiste du Canada, Pierre est décédé le 27 mai dernier des suites d’une crise cardiaque. 

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