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COMMUNIST YOUTH CONFERENCE A SUCCESS
By Kirk Michaelian
(This article is from the June 1-15/2000 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.)
"The youth are the future of the Party." The Communist Party of Canada began to translate the sentiments behind that oft-expressed opinion into action at the Communist Youth Conference called last month by its Youth and Student Commission.
About 20 delegates from most parts of English Canada met on May 5-7 in Toronto, with two goals: to assess the prospects for the foundation of a young communist organization (YCO), and to elect a preparatory committee to guide the work of communist youth to that end.
The conference was opened by Youth and Student Commission co-chair Pablo Vivanco. In the present world situation, he said, characterized by the rise of neo-liberal attacks on students and young workers, the necessity for a YCO makes itself felt more than ever.
CPC leader Miguel Figueroa addressed the delegates, stressing the importance of the conference and the Party's full support for its aims. The Young Communist League was liquidated in 1990 during the Party's internal crisis. Since then, said Figueroa, the lack of a YCO has hindered efforts to rebuild the CPC.
He went on to explain that the objective conditions facing the youth today call for a YCO. Young people are facing unemployment, decreased access to education, poverty, repression, and increased danger of being used as cannon-fodder in imperialist conflicts.
Young people are fighting back, said Figueroa, but a YCO is required to provide leadership: students and young workers need to "learn the theory of class struggle, in order to improve the practice of class struggle." Promising that the CPC as a whole will help and advise the youth as they build a YCO, he emphasized that it is up to them to do the job.
The opening session also heard international greetings, from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC - EP), the Communist Youth of Greece, the Communist Youth of Portugal, and the World Federation of Democratic Youth.
On the morning of May 6, the conference resumed with an address by Chris Frazer, YCL General Secretary from 1987 to 1990. Frazer reviewed the history of the YCL, describing some of the important gains it won in the past, and noting that such gains are possible in the future.
The afternoon session began with reports by delegates on the situations in their respective regions, followed by workshops on a variety of topics, including the building of a YCO at the country-wide and the local levels, internationalism and the communist youth movement, and the role of Rebel Youth magazine. On Saturday evening, the delegates enjoyed a lively social.
The conference reconvened the next morning with reports from the workshops. The plenary session voted on motions which set the general direction for building a YCO and Rebel Youth. A target date of the summer of 2002 was set for the founding convention of the YCO. In the meantime, Rebel Youth will appear quarterly, and local organizations of communist youth will be established, independent of the Party. These organizations will affiliate with the YCO preparatory committee on the basis of criteria adopted at the conference.
On Sunday afternoon, the conference elected a Preparatory Committee composed of one member from B.C., one from the prairies, and two from Ontario, and an alternate from each region. Members representing other parts of the country may be added as needed.
The Preparatory Committee will draft a plan of work for the next two years, covering theoretical and educational work, fundraising, the publication of materials, and international work, including the next World Festival of Youth and Students in 2001. The Committee will begin plans for the founding YCO convention, and will exercise editorial control over Rebel Youth.
The last decision of the conference was to adopt a special resolution in solidarity with the FARC-EP.
After singing the workers' anthem, the Internationale, delegates left with a feeling of optimism. Much work lies ahead, and many obstacles will have to be overcome, particularly in areas where youth membership is low. But the delegates were confident that, with discipline and hard work, and the necessary assistance from the CPC, young communists will form a YCO in the near future.
(The author is active in the student movement at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. For information on joining the campaign to build a Young Communist organization, contact the Preparatory Committee at the CPC's central office, 290A Danforth Ave., Toronto, M4K 1N6; tel. 416-469-2446; email pvoice@web.net)
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