Ontario Students March for Free Education and Against the ‘Student Choice Initiative’

By Ivan Byard - organiser of the Toronto YCL-LJC

While students are getting ready for an Ontario-wide rally against OSAP cuts on February 19th, here is a report on the last student demonstration that took place on January 25th in Toronto.

On January 25th thousands of students, faculty, organized labour members, and their community allies gathered in Toronto to demonstrate their outrage against the provincial tory attack on public education. The march was a spontaneous response to the January 17th announcement from the Doug Ford government that a 10% reduction in tuition fees was a ‘bait-and-switch’ swindle that would be paid for with devastating cuts to the Ontario Student Assistance Plan (OSAP) and universities and colleges institutional funding.

Unite for Free Education and Against Ford's Anti-Democratic Attacks

YCL-LJC at the Rally in Toronto on January 18th

By Peter Miller 

In light of the recent announcement from the Ford Government, which includes continued unregulated international tuition fee costs, cuts to student grants, cuts to public investment in Post-Secondary Education, and voluntary payment of fees for student-run organizations, there is no doubt the student movement needs to build as militant and united a student movement as possible.

It all started on Friday with a large contingent of people making their voices heard against Doug Ford’s attacks against students. The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario organized the rally and took time out of their general meeting to protest with other students and labour allies.

Women’s March Act 3 : All out on Saturday, January 19th

Special to RY

For a third year, women are mobilising for their annual march throughout North America. It all started in January 2017, when millions of women throughout North America gathered to oppose Donald Trump’s election, playing a crucial role in the opposition to this warmonger, misogynist, transphobic and homophobic, racist and xenophobic, fascist-friendly US President.

The last two marches are credited as counting among the biggest women rights events in the recent years. Last year, the march was linked to the #MeToo movement, a movement followed by millions of women across the world denouncing gendered violence. More than a simple hashtag, this movement showed that women throughout the world are willing to mobilise and play a role in the global fightback against patriarchy and misogyny in a time where right-wing populist and fascistic movements on the rise keep perpetrating these ideas. Embedded in these ideas is also racism and xenophobia to further attacks on the youth, progressive movements and on the working class.

The Challenge of Socialism: Cuba and the new Constitution

By Eric Tweel, Co-Organiser of the YCL-LJC in Vancouver 

On December 24, 2018, we sat down with Yamil Marero to discuss Cuba’s ongoing process of writing a new Constitution. Yamil is a Senior Officer with the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples, or ICAP. Created in December 1960, this public organization promotes and cultivates friendship among nations. It is a place where friends of different cultures come to discuss and reflect on the situation in Cuba and the rest of the world. Yamil spoke to us about how the new Constitution is being drafted and its main implications for Cuba’s future.

Day of Action for Democracy on Campus is just the beginning

Banner drop on Nov. 29th in Windsor

By Peter Miller, coordinator of the YCL-LJC in Ontario and Chair of the Student Commission

YCL Ontario students and allies organized a Day of Action for Democracy on Campus on November 29th to protest against the implementation of Doug Ford's "free speech" directive on Ontario college and university campuses. We came together in opposition to this directive, which instead of encouraging free speech, has the goal to stifle it for marginalized and activist groups while emboldening the hate speech of far-right and fascist groups trying to increase their presence amongst youth.

Ford's directive attacks democracy on campus by forcing campuses which already follow academic freedom to include a free speech policy. Most outrageously, his policy attacks democracy by threatening student activists with discipline for organizing protests against hate groups speaking on campus.

90 Communist and Workers' Parties conclude a successful meeting in Athens

Over 173 delegates from 90 Communist and Workers Parties gather in Athens
for the 20th IMCWP

By Clara Sorrenti

In 1999, a 78-day NATO bombing campaign devastated the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and killed hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent civilians. The NATO bombing campaign on Yugoslavia marked the second major combat operation in its history, following the 1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It was also the first time that NATO had used military force without the approval of the UN Security Council. As a response to the International crisis in Yugoslavia, The International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties was established at the Initiative of Communist Party of Greece. From the 21st to the 23rd of May 1999, 55 Communist and Workers’ Parties from 46 countries gathered in Athens, Greece. The theme of the first IMCWP was “The capitalist crisis, globalisation and the response of the labour movement”. It marked the first major meeting of Communist and Workers Parties’ since a counter-revolution lead to the dissolution of USSR in 1991.

95th Anniversary of the YCL-LJC celebrated by the World Federation of Democratic Youth

Special to RY

This article was published in the Bulletin of the Commission of Europe and North America of the World Federation of Democratic youth. The bulletin can be found here. In addition to this article on the 95th Anniversary of the YCL-LJC Canada, you can read articles about the 100th Anniversary of the November Revolution in Germany, the rise of repression against popular movements in Spain, a well-informed picture of the situation of the youth in Russia and many other topics related to the youth struggles written by anti-imperialist and communist youth organizations of Europe and North America. 

This year, as we celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Young Communist League, it is important to outline the relevance of this organization. The YCL-LJC is a unique organization that aims to convince the young generation of the urgent need to fight for a better world, a socialist world. Today, we can say that it is the first time since 1945 that youth face a more precarious future than their parents, and all this is to say why we need to organize youth as an entity of its own. Lenin said “frequently the middle aged and the aged do not know how to approach youth in the proper way. Youth must come to socialism in different ways by other paths, in other forms under other circumstances than their parents.”

Solidarité avec les Franco-Ontariens

Special to RY

Exceptionnally, to show our support to the Franco-Ontarien resistance movement that mobilized over 14,000 people on Saturday, December 1st, we publish an article in French. The English version of this YCL-LJC statement can be found here. Franco-Ontarians are mobilized since November 15th, "Francophonie's Black Thursday", when Doug Ford announced he would get rid of the French Language Services Commissioner and that his government would stop funding Ontario's French language university that was supposed to open in 2020. We encourage our readers to follow the developments as it is clear that the fight has just begun. Already, Franco-Ontarien students are working on a large demonstration after the holidays. 

Day of action against Doug Ford’s “Free Speech” directive: find out what is happening today

Today is the Ontario Day of Action for democracy on campus. This event is aimed at denouncing Doug Ford’s so-called ‘free speech’ directive, a directive that has nothing to do with free speech, but that is aimed at targeting progressive voices on campus, as explained in previous articles published on this blog.

For this occasion, actions are being held throughout the province, ranging from rallies, banner drops and information tables; but there should also be some activity online through the hashtag #SilencedbyFord dedicated to this Day of Action.

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 world votes on the UN's resolution to lift US blockade on Cuba

On Wednesday, October 31st, the General Assembly of the UN will be called to vote on a resolution condemning the US criminal blockade imposed to the Cuban people since 1961. Since 1992, the vast majority of the world’s countries votes in favour of the resolution calling to end this blockade, the longest one in contemporary history. The two countries voting against the motion are the US and Israel, although in 2016, in an effort of rapprochement between the two countries, the US abstained. With Trump in office since 2017, Washington is back to its old practice.

Over 3000 people march against racism in Montréal

Adrien Welsh 

On Sunday, October, 7th, over 3000 progressive and anti-racist people representing 60 different organisations took the streets of Montréal opposing racism, islamophobia and xenophobia. The rally was organised less than a week after the far-right CAQ, led by François Legault who is now the designated Prime Minister, was elected during the last Québec elections. Protesters upheld clear anti-Legault and anti-CAQ slogans, with this party being associated with racist and reactionary ideas.

Young Communists prepare for conferences on free education

Special to RY 

As the school year is about to start, thousands of students across the country are looking at their bank statements sparing any penny to make it through the year without getting too much into debt simply to go to school to eventually find a job. Young communists in the meantime issued a call-out to convene student and young progressive activists to attend two unique conferences on free education.

Organised under the theme "The fight for free education, a Communist Perspective", the conferences will be organised in Toronto and Vancouver on September 15-16 and 28-29 respectively. Exact locations will be made public shortly.

The Bienfait Miners' Strike: Book Review

Peter Miller

For anyone in the labour movement, it’s good to take time to read some inspiring labour history to give you some fire to get organizing! Endicott’s book is perfect for this inspiration.

The book analyzes the Saskatchewan miners’ struggle of 1931, organized with support from the Workers Unity League. The Mine Workers’ Union of Canada, affiliated to the Worker’ Unity League, was connected with the Red International of Labour Unions. It’s main organizers were inspired by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and were militants in a labour central focused on class struggle, instead of collaboration with the bosses and their governments. The union organized workers based on industry instead of craft, and combined political demands for things like non-contributory unemployment insurance, with bread-and-butter economic demands for working members. The union was also much more democratic than other unions at the time, with regular mass meetings and democratically elected strike committees.