In: Economics
Provide a belief description of "Communist party". Based on Canada
Use the definition (Communism: political theory advocating the community ownership of property, with each member of a society working according to her capacity and receiving what is produced according to her needs. Value produced by workers is retained collectively by workers, for their use and benefit through democratically determined distribution. Example; The kibbutz system as it originally functioned in Israel, traditional native forms of communal land use and farming. See Karl Marx, Rosa Luxembourg, and many others.)
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada, founded in 1924 as the Canadian branch of the international Communist movement, is a fringe political party that advocates for a pure socialist society based on the ideas of Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx.
The Communist Party of Canada had its beginnings in 1921 at a secret meeting in a barn in Guelph, Ontario, attended by 21 Canadians and three representatives from Communist International — an organization dedicated to the creation of a global state led by the Soviet Union. This group established the Workers’ Party in February 1922. Two years later, the Workers’ Party was abolished and the organization was rebranded the Communist Party of Canada.
The party’s program was based on the socialist doctrine of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin. Lenin elaborated upon the Communist Manifesto, written by philosophers Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in 1848.
1930s: Trade Unions, Spain and Electoral Politics
Many members of the Communist Party became leaders of Canadian trade unions and organizers of new unions, especially among industrial and unskilled workers. During the 1930s, Communists in Canada and the United States were successful in organizing a number of industries under the new Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). They were also instrumental in organizing the On To Ottawa Trek and the Canadian Youth Congress.
Second World War and Cold War
The Canadian Communist Party supported the aims of the Second World War initially, but within 10 days, on orders from Moscow, reversed its position. As a result of its anti-war policy, the party was officially banned in Canada, and more than 100 leading members were imprisoned. On 22 June 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union, and war erupted across the European eastern front. This prompted the party to change its position again to support the war against Germany.
During this period, the party was renamed the Labour-Progressive Party of Canada.
In the fall of 1945, Igor Gouzenko, a clerk in the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, revealed that a number of prominent Canadians had been involved in providing information to the Soviets during the war. As a result, Communist leader Fred Rose was arrested and convicted of espionage and sentenced to six years in prison. Others, including Sam Carr, a leader of the party for many years, were also convicted. Most of those charged were released for lack of evidence.