Communist Party of Canada
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Communist Party of Canada
Parti communiste du Canada |
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|---|---|
| Active party | |
 |
|
| Central Leader | Liz Rowley |
| Founded | May 1921 |
| Headquarters | 290A Danforth Avenue Toronto, Ontario M4K 1N6 |
| Youth wing |
Young Communist League (ideologically aligned, but organizationally autonomous) |
| Ideology |
Communism Marxism–Leninism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| International affiliation |
Comintern (1921-1943), International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties |
| Colours | Red |
| Website | |
| www |
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The Communist Party of Canada (French: Parti communiste du Canada, CPC) is a communist political party in Canada founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality. Although it is now a political party without any elected political representation, the party's candidates have been elected to the Parliament of Canada, the Ontario Legislature, the Manitoba Legislature, and various municipal governments across the country. The party has also contributed significantly to trade union organizing and labour history in Canada, peace and anti-war activism, and many other social movements.
The Communist Party of Canada is the second oldest party after the Liberal Party of Canada (or the third if the Liberal-Conservative Party is considered the ancestor of the modern Tories). In 1993 the party was de-registered and had its assets seized, forcing it to begin a successful thirteen-year political and legal battle to maintain registration of small political parties in Canada. The campaign culminated with the final decision of Figueroa v. Canada, changing the legal definition of a political party in Canada Despite its continued presence as a registered political party, the CPC places the vast majority of its emphasis on extra-parliamentary activity what it terms "the labour and people's movements", as reflected in its programme "Canada's Future is Socialism".
The Canadian Communist Party began as an illegal organization in a rural barn near the town of Guelph, Ontario, on May 28 and 29, 1921. Many of its founding members had worked as labour organizers and as anti-war activists and had belonged to groups such as the Socialist Party of Canada, One Big Union, the Socialist Labor Party, the Industrial Workers of the World, and other socialist, Marxist, or Labour parties or clubs and organizations. The first members felt inspired by the Russian Revolution, and radicalised by the negative aftermath of World War I and the fight to improve living standards and labour rights, including the experience of the Winnipeg General Strike. The Comintern accepted the party affiliation as its Canadian section in December 1921, and thus it adopted a similar organizational structure and policy to Communist parties around the world.
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