For the right to disruptive Protest

By Everett Newland 

We enter an age where far-right movements and overt fascism gain increasing traction within the public discourse. The Ontario government has sought to legitimize these movements on campuses through an underhanded “free speech” directive for Ontario campuses. Yet the rising visibility of reactionary and oppressive movements also gives us the opportunity to build a powerful fightback against them, and empower ourselves to pursue a socialist future. This opportunity begins with the Day of Action scheduled for this coming November 29, 2018!

"Free speech policy" is an attack against democracy, says the YCL-LJC Canada

Special to RY

The Young Communist League – Ligue de la jeunesse communiste (YCL-LJC) issued a statement last week, which denounces the so-called “free speech” directive passed by Doug Ford’s provincial government and urges all progressive and democratic students to oppose and resist this directive by all means possible. It also encourages young people and students across Canada to show support and solidarity with their Ontarian counterparts.

The Fight Against C-51 Continues: Day of Action Saturday, May 30th

Special to RY

As the Senate in Ottawa gets set to vote on Bill C-51, democratic forces in Canada are organizing for a third cross-Canada day of action to take place Saturday, May 30th. The Senate will resume Third Reading proceedings on Tuesday, June 2nd.

The rallies and marches are demanding the government withdraw/repeal C-51, affirm and uphold the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, honour the treaties with First Nations and the Rights of Indigenous People, honour First Nations’ right to be consulted (section 35), and that the government stop racist legislation and fear mongering.

C-51 has rightly been identified as the most serious attack on democratic rights and civil liberties in Canada since the War Measures Act. The Bill would give sweeping new powers to CSIS, effectively legalizing its role as a secret political police.

Momentum builds for cross-Canada actions against Bill C-51

Special to Rebel Youth

Right across Canada, momentum is building against Bill C-51. People are discovering what this bill really means. Contrary to the stated purpose of the bill; “fighting terrorism”, the legislation creates new police state laws, attacks the civil liberties and democratic rights of everyone in Canada, and elevates CSIS to a police force with sweeping new powers that can and will be directed against environmentalists, Indigenous communities, trade unionists, and other people’s movements. C-51 opens the door to a suspension of Habeas Corpus and to the collective punishment of communities based on racism or political ideology.

Rebel Youth helped to sound the alarm early on. Now resistance has grown to include unions, civil liberties organizations, Indigenous groups, anti-Tar Sands activists, most political parties besides the Conservatives and the Liberals, and even some sections of the corporate owned media.

This Saturday, March 14th, major actions are planned in more than 40 cities across Canada. This cross-Canada day of action was initiated by Lead Now, Open Media, the BC Government Employees Union as well as the BC Civil Liberties Association, but the list of participants and endorsing organizations keeps growing! The Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League of Canada support the call to action and will be taking part in demonstrations across the country.

Harper’s “anti-terrorism” legislation promises to increase repression

by Brendan Campisi

  On Friday, the Harper government announced a wave of “anti-terrorism” legislation which will dramatically increase the power of the country's repressive forces. Supposedly justified by the shootings on Parliament Hill last year, the new laws will give CSIS the power to “intervene and disrupt threats to national security at home and abroad”, restrict the movements of suspected 'terrorists', stop them from boarding a flight, disrupt money transfers or electronic communications, allow government agencies to share information like passport applications with intelligence agencies, increase the amount of time suspected 'terrorists' can be detained without charge, and allow courts to order the removal of material deemed “terrorist propaganda” from websites registered in Canada. It will also create a new offence, 'promoting terrorism', which will not require the advocacy of any particular act.

C-24 Expands Tory Attack on Human Rights

By Kimball Cariou - Reposted from People's Voice Newspaper

Anti-C24 rally in early July 2014, Vancouver

Passed in June by the House of Commons, Bill C‑24, the new "Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act (SCCA)," imposes new requirements to obtain citizenship, and makes it easier for the government to revoke it.

            Human rights groups are planning a legal challenge to the SCCA, which effectively creates two classes of Canadian citizens, each with very different sets of rights. The Bill allows the federal government to strip the Canadian citizenship from dual nationals convicted of some offences. The law could apply in cases where Canadians are convicted in foreign courts, and even to people born in Canada if they also have citizenship elsewhere, such as through their parents.

            Amnesty International, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association say that giving the government the power to revoke people's citizenship is the same as banishing them into exile. They argue the legislation does not include enough safeguards to protect Canadians. Opposition MPs and other advocacy groups, including the Canadian Bar Association, have also objected to the bill.

            The new revocation provisions are "divisive and buy into and promote false and xenophobic narratives about `true' Canadians and others, which equate foreignness with terrorism," says an analysis released by Amnesty International Canada.

The class question and the democratic question

This article is part of an seven-part series of short quotes Rebel Youth is issuing about class struggle, revolution, civil-war, and parliamentary democracy. See also: Lenin on elections; the Communist Party of Canada on a counter-offensive against capitalism; Engels on voting and street fighting; Lenin on Democracy and Class struggle; Communist and Worker's parties on the struggle for socialism; and Lenin on tactics and guerilla war; theCommunist Party of Canada on force, and a peaceful transition to socialism.

The right to divorce, by Lenin
August-October, 1916

[...] This question of divorce is a striking illustration of the fact that one cannot be a democrat and a socialist without immediately demanding full freedom of divorce, for the absence of such freedom is an additional burden on the oppressed sex, woman--although it is not at all difficult to understand that the recognition of the right of women to leave their husbands is not an invitation to all wives to do so! [...] Under capitalism it is usually the case, and not the exception, that the oppressed classes cannot "exercise" their democratic rights. In most cases the right to divorce is not exercised under capitalism, because the oppressed sex is crushed economically; because, no matter how democratic the state may be, the woman remains a "domestic slave" under capitalism, a slave of the bedroom, nursery and kitchen. The right to elect "our" judges, public officials, teachers, jurors, etc., cannot be exercised under capitalism, in the majority of cases, because the workers and peasants are economically downtrodden. The same is true of a democratic republic. Our programme "proclaims" the republic as "the sovereignty of the people" although every Social-Democrat knows perfectly well that under capitalism the most democratic republic leads merely to the bribery of the officials by the bourgeoisie and to an alliance between the Stock Exchange and the government.

Only those who are totally incapable of thinking, or those who are entirely unfamiliar with Marxism, will conclude that, therefore, a republic is of no use, that freedom of divorce is of no use, that democracy is of no use, that self-determination of nations is of no use! Marxists know that democracy does not abolish class oppression, but only makes the class struggle clearer, broader, more open and sharper; and this is what we want. The more complete freedom of divorce is, the clearer will it be to the woman that the source of her "domestic slavery" is not the lack of rights, but capitalism. The more democratic the system of government is, the clearer it will be to the workers that the root of the evil is not the lack of rights, but capitalism. The more complete national equality is (and it is not complete without freedom of secession), the clearer will it be to the workers of the oppressed nation that it is not a question of lack of rights, but of capitalism. And so on. [...]

[T]he right to divorce, like all democratic rights under capitalism without exception, is difficult to exercise, is conventional, restricted, formal and narrow. Nevertheless, no respectable Social-Democrat would consider any one who repudiated this right a democrat, let alone a socialist. This is the whole point. "Democracy" is nothing but the proclaiming and exercising of "rights" that are very little and very conventionally exercised under capitalism. But unless these rights are proclaimed, unless a struggle for immediate rights is waged, unless the masses are educated in the spirit of such a struggle, socialism is impossible.

Discussion questions

1. What are Lenin's main point or points in this short quote? What do you think of the claim that just because we call for the right of something, does not mean we necessarily advocate for it?

2. In the past the Young Communist League has divided its educational work into two parts: the class question and the democratic question. What would be examples of "class questions"? what about "democratic questions"? How are they related and/or separate? Could they be opposites? Could they be connected?

3. Lenin claims that without a struggle for immediate rights and democracy being waged, socialism is impossible. Why do you think he makes this claim? What do you think? Is the argument correct or mistaken? How?


Reading more

You can find the original full statement by Lenin From A Caricature of Marxism and Imperialist Economism.

The topic of capitalist democracy is also discussed by Lenin in Chapter 7, "Should we participate in bourgeoisie parliaments?", of his book Left-wing Communism an Infantile disorder.

The connection between democracy and economic struggle, which can be read as a direct comparison with the above article on divorce is found in another short work by Lenin, "Reply to P. Kievsky," especially the section from paragraph 9 "Imperialism is highly developed..." to the end of paragraph 14 "...surrender to opportunism."

The YCL-LJC Canada, "Youth and the Trans-Canada fightback," in the 24th Central Convention Documents of the YCL uses this perspective and connects it with the struggle for reform and revolution. Another Rebel Youth article similar to this theme is Building broad and powerful youth struggles, which we ran back in 2011.

Another good read is State and Revolution by Lenin, particularly Chapter 1 and Chapter 4, section 5.