09) YOUNG COMMUNISTS HOLD SUCCESSFUL 26th CONVENTION

 

Special to People's Voice

 

    From May 23 to 25, young Communists from across the country convened in Toronto for the Young Communist League of Canada-Ligue de la jeunesse comuniste du Canada's 26th Central Convention. The purpose of the Convention was to elaborate the YCL-LJC's policy on important questions, debate updates to the constitution, set an organizational plan of work, elect a renewed central leadership, and develop a united, militant and activist strategy for the youth fightback. The slogan of the Convention was "with militancy and unity we will build the youth and student fightback".

 

Towards a counter-offensive

 

    The Political Report that was amended and adopted by the Convention outlined the collective analysis of the YCL-LJC. It expressed that "the most important new developments have been, on the one hand, the consolidation of the austerity `recovery' agenda by monopoly capitalism and, on the other hand, the uneven but dynamic uprisings and social explosions of protest". The Convention discussed many recent struggles such as the Occupy movement, the Quebec Student Strike, Idle No More and environmental struggles against pipelines and the Tar Sands. While recognizing that these examples have "enlivened and reclaimed our streets in protest", the Convention realized that much more is needed to be done: in order to reverse the attacks and shift to a counter-offensive it is necessary that these struggles develop further and move beyond spontaneous protest towards an even broader united, militant and organized extra-parliamentary fightback with the labour movement at its core.

 

    Delegates discussed the capitalist economic crisis, imperialist intervention and war globally, environmental crisis and climate change, the intensification of the attack on organized labour, youth unemployment/underemployment and precarious work, poverty wages, ableism, xenophobia and racism, the ongoing genocidal attack on Indigenous peoples, sexism, transphobia and homophobia, and the struggle for free, accessible, quality public education at all-levels.

 

    "The goal of the convention was to strengthen the collective of the YCL through analyzing all the different struggles the League, our clubs and members are involved in," said Marianne Breton Fontaine, leader of the LJC-Quebec. "Through this we can see that what connects these movements is their resistance to capital and capitalist governments across Canada."

 

Guests and allies

 

    The Convention welcomed greetings from a range of allies who also strengthened the discussions. The Consul General of Cuba talked about some of the Cuban experiences with principles of Communist leadership; Communist Party of Canada leader Miguel Figueroa gave greetings; a representative of the Raise the Minimum Wage Campaign detailed creative and dynamic work being done in Ontario to lift workers out of poverty; and representatives from the Solidarity Committee with the Communities Affected by Chevron and McMaster's Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement gave presentations and received support from the Convention. A speaker from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers talked about the campaign to "Save Canada Post" and the Convention passed a special resolution in solidarity with CUPW and to take action as the YCL-LJC to actively support the campaign.

 

    The Convention was attended by 27 delegates and 7 alternates from clubs across Canada, in addition to several observers. Delegates were elected by their clubs to attend the Convention in order to ensure equal representation of the League as a whole. The YCL-LJC has recruited and grown substantially, especially in British Columbia, and where clubs are most active in Ontario, which meant for many delegates this was their first Convention of the YCL-LJC. The 26th Convention was the largest since the re-founding of the YCL-LJC in 2007, representing new challenges and opportunities for the organization.

 

    Toronto YCL member Zidane Mohamed called the convention an "inspiring experience": "we hosted communist youth from all over the country, all eager to make positive change in their communities, and united under a common banner to end all oppression and exploitation."

 

    On Saturday night, almost 100 people gathered for a social event that saw author and activist Stephen Endicott talk about his time in the YCL in the 1950's. Progressive hip-hop artist Mohammad Ali ("Socialist Hip-Hop") and folk-singer and YCL member Zach Morgenstern performed at the event, which took place at the Steel Worker's Hall.

 

Challenges and renewed leadership

 

    Procedural challenges and confusion lead to some serious time constraints, however all work put before the Convention was finished by Sunday evening as comrades met well into the evening. Other challenges included ensuring collective and democratic discussion on the leadership of the YCL-LJC. Delegates openly addressed these shortcomings on the floor of the Convention, and ultimately rejected side-line conversations in favour of striving for a culture of open criticism and self-criticism necessary to build a healthy, fighting YCL-LJC, capable of solving collective problems.

 

    Gender-fraction meetings grappled with the reality of building a revolutionary youth organization in the midst of a patriarchal society, and the damaging effects that sexism has on our own organization.

 

    These discussions and the task of building the YCL-LJC's work in the women's movement will continue in the second annual "Women's School" to be held later in 2014.

 

    The 26th Convention elected a Central Committee of 13 committed young activists with a variety of links to working class and social movements in Canada, responding to the call from the Convention for the CC to become the "activist-core of the League".

 

    The Central Committee elected a Central Executive Committee of five members. Drew Garvie, a longtime member of the YCL-LJC, a student activist for a number of years in Guelph, and member of the outgoing CEC, was assigned the position of General Secretary.

 

    Marianne Breton Fontaine, also a longtime member of the YCL-LJC and the leader of the Ligue de la jeunesse comuniste du Quebec, will continue as the Central Treasurer. Comrade Zidane Mohamed, a leading member of the YCL Toronto was elected Central Organizer. Rozhin Emadi, the organizer of the YCL Vancouver club and a Cuba Solidarity activist was elected as an At-Large member of the Executive. Brent Jantzen, a young worker activist, and a leading member of the YCL Vancouver club was also elected as an At-Large member of the CEC.

 

    This Convention also marked the aging-out of several leading members. The Convention recognized comrade Johan Boyden's integral contribution to rebuilding the YCL since 2004, and through his main assignment as General Secretary since 2007. Thanks were also sent to Mark Hamilton, a long-time member, postal worker and Central Committee member from Nova Scotia, Philip Ford, a longtime organizer and leader in the YCL Toronto, and Drew Bowering from Alberta, who had been a member of the Central Committee since 2007.

 

A step forward for the YCL-LJC

 

    The 26th Convention, despite all the challenges of organizing a meeting of revolutionary youth in the context of capitalist reaction, marked a big step forward for the YCL-LJC. We have every indication that the biggest and most heroic struggles still to come.

 

    As the Convention stated: "The current economic and political conditions have caused more and more young workers and students to look for alternatives to cut-backs, privatization and austerity. We have answers to the questions that are now being raised. The case against war, poverty, misery, environmental devastation, unemployment, exploitation and oppression is really the case for socialism!"

 

    Conventions of the YCL-LJC aren't just a talkshop or a conference where socialist youth come together. The 26th Convention helped to reinforce the YCL-LJC in order to build the militancy and unity of the whole youth fightback. The real role of the YCL-LJC only comes to life in action, in this sense our latest Convention is still just the beginning!

(The above article is from the August 1-31, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)