The following is a statement released by the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) on October 5, 1973 in response to the public letter sent by a comrade to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) on September 11, 1973. The full text of the letter follows this statement.
This Comrade is one of the many Canadian youth who joined the Communist Party of Canada at an early age (17 years of age in spite of the fact that the age for admission to the Party was 18 years) with a strong desire to overthrow the capitalist system and build socialism under the dictatorship of the proletariat. This Comrade is also one of the many Canadian youth who were misled by modern revisionism and whose revolutionary mission to overthrow the capitalist system was betrayed. This comrade is further one of the many Canadian youth who split with modern revisionism in order to advance and join the Communist Party of Canada, the Party where the modern revisionist leadership was overthrown, the Marxist-Leninist leadership restored and the Party renamed as the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) for the purpose of distinguishing it from the modern revisionist party calling itself “Communist” Party.
Instead of mobilising this Comrade for proletarian revolution, the modern revisionists mobilised him to fill a hack job and oppose proletarian revolution. Within a short period of time, this Comrade was installed as the “leader” of the youth and students and editor of the modern revisionist newpaper for youth called <Scan. He was finally nominated to the Central Committee of the “Communist” Party of Canada in 1966 and this Comrade retained both the position of editor of Scan and the membership of the Central Committee until December 1968 when he left the modern revisionist party and sought revolutionary alternatives outside modern revisionism.
After leaving the modern revisionists, the Comrade, like several hundreds of progressive people who left modern revisionism, looked towards alternatives in other individuals and groups. After several years of experience of organising without a Party, this Comrade has finally overcome subjectivism and sectarianism towards the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) and has come forward to sum up his historical experience and has applied to join the Party. The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) warmly welcomes this comrade into the Party based on Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought which he so much wanted to join in the first place. This example of the Comrade of joining the modern revisionists at the beginning of the great debate against modern-revisionism (in the early sixties), reaching a high position in the party within a short period of time with definite possibilities of “advancing” further, and through his own experience seeing through the modern revisionist line, denouncing it and moving forward to join CPC(M-L) concretely proves that the trend led by Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought is the leading and flourishing trend, while the modern revisionist trend is merely a downward, misleading and dying trend. Several genuine Marxist-Leninists have traversed thesame course, and we are convinced that many more will follow the same road forward.
Now that this Comrade has written to us and has come forward to unite with other genuine Marxist-Leninists, he has brought with him the negative experience of modern revisionism and deep and burning hatred for it. During the discussions with the leading comrades, he detailed the treacheries and betrayals of the modern revisionists and pointed out that modern revisionism is against overthrowing the capitalist system as a first principle and as a second principle, they are for the liquidation of the proletarian Party based on Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism. This concretely has also been the experience of another Comrade who left the modern revisionists in the 1960’s and of another Comrade who opposed them in the sixties. Just this year two comrades who were connected with the modern revisionists in Guelph angrily came forward to denounce modern revisionism and join the Party. Right from the time of the great polemic against modern revisionism initiated and led by the Communist Party of China and the Albanian Party of Labour in the late fifties and early sixties, hundreds of genuine Marxist-Leninists have overthrown modern revisionism and split with them. While in the early sixties the Marxist-Leninist centre in Canada was weak, the modern revisionists ran wild opposing and gesticulating against Marxist-Leninists and revolution. But now the trend has been reversed. The modern revisionists are a disintegrating force while the Marxist-Leninists are a growing and united force. The influence of Marxism-Leninism is growing in the four corners of Canada while modern revisionism is in retreat and diminishing in influence. The split by this comrade with modern revisionism is a further blow to modern revisionism.
The Comrade has communicated through his letter that, “For over one year the influence of Jack Scott’s neo-revisionist ideas kept me away from the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)” which goes to show that modern revisionism in open form is rejected by the masses and has very little currency in the genuinely progressive and revolutionary circles, but modern revisionism in hidden form is still rampant and is poisoning the revolutionary movement with its anti-Party and anti-working class activities. The revolutionary forces are growing, Marxist-Leninists are uniting and the revolutionary masses are gaining experience in differentiating genuine Marxism-Leninism from sham Marxism-Leninism. This entire process is leading the revisionists into a frenzy and making them panic-stricken.
By splitting with modern revisionism and joining CPC(M-L), this Comrade has made an enormous contribution to the growing unity of the genuine Marxist-Leninists. The fact that he has been able to see through the struggle between the two lines in the left-wing movement from the 1960’s to date is a great encouragement to the communist revolutionaries who have come forward to develop further the growing unity amongst the genuine Marxist-Leninists.
We are already passing through an era of defeat of modern revisionism and victory of Marxism-Leninism. The theoretical foundations of Marxism-Leninism are re-instated and the revolutionary content of Marxism-Leninism restored. Communist revolutionaries are coming forward in large numbers to take up the task of building the Party and leading the masses. In this era, no genuine Marxist-Leninists can forever remain away from the Party and from plunging into the revolutionary mass movement. It is our firm conviction that the majority of communist revolutionaries support Marxism-Leninism and oppose modern revisionism. Sooner of later they are all going to unite around one banner, one Party and one proletarian revolution. The decision by this Comrade to split with modern revisionism and join CPC(M-L) reflects the growing trend of unity amongst the genuine Marxist-Leninists. The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) warmly welcomes the Comrade into its ranks and calls upon all comrades and friends to continue forging close links with those like this Comrade for the purpose of continuing the trend of uniting the genuine Marxist-Leninists. Struggle on the front of winning over those who are Marxist-Leninists but are not yet in the Party is an important struggle and we should strive hard to continue winning victories on that front.
DOWN WITH MODERN REVISIONISM! DOWN WITH NEO-COLONIALISM!
LONG LIVE THE GROWING TREND OF UNITY AMONGST GENUINE MARXIST-LENINISTS!
LONG LIVE THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA (MARXIST-LENINIST)!
(This article first appeared in People’s Canada Daily News, Vol. 3, No. 289, October 8, 1973)