Dedication of the Regional Conference to Comrade Hardial Bains

The delegates to the Manitoba Regional Conference of CPC(M-L), held in Winnipeg from December 11, 1999 to January 15, 2000 hereby dedicate this Conference to Comrade Hardial Bains, the founder and leader of our Party who passed away on August 24, 1997, and to the party which he built, the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist).

Comrade Bains was not just the First Secretary and National Leader of CPC(M-L). He was a leader in the true sense of the word. He was a revolutionary, communist thinker and theoretician. He was a patient teacher who led by example. His insights into Canadian psychology, history and political economy and his grasp of the needs of the movement were invaluable. He was also a dear friend to many of the comrades of our Branch.

From the mid-1980s until his untimely death Comrade Bains personally led the work of our Branch. Through the course of countless meetings and discussions he taught the comrades of our Branch to be fearless tribunes of the working class. He refused to accept easy agreement from yes-men and yes-women and insisted that we should do our own thinking, find our own bearings and have the courage of our own convictions. He consistently refused to set the work of our Branch for us, pointing out that if we based ourselves on our own work and analyzed the real world around us then the necessary work for the next period would reveal itself to us. At the same time he never failed to nudge us in the right direction.

One of the most important lessons that Comrade Bains taught us was that the issue of being right or wrong or understanding the line of the Party was not the key issue facing our Branch. Rather, he constantly emphasized that the key to the success and ultimate survival of the Manitoba Branch was to plunge into the movement and become practical organizers. Although it took many years for us to fully appreciate what he was telling us, our Branch eventually put his advice into practice. In a few short years this has resulted in our Branch becoming an unshakeable fortress of communism. Our comrades are at the heart of the movement, not as ideologues, but as practical organizers and servants of the movement, providing coherency and a vision to the movement, while assisting it to achieve its own aims.

If our Branch did not have its feet planted firmly in the working class and in the movement, and if it did not have the benefit of over a decade of close personal guidance from Comrade Bains, it would not have been capable of finding its bearings when it lost its great friend and mentor. In a very real sense, the victories that the Manitoba Branch has achieved in its work over the past several years and the position of strength in which it finds itself today, are a tribute to the legacy of Comrade Hardial Bains. His wise leadership provided our comrades with the strength and courage to carry on our work and to overcome every difficulty and obstacle placed in our way.

For these reasons, the delegates to this Regional Conference of the Manitoba Branch of CPC(M-L) consider it most fitting that we dedicate this Conference to the life and work of Comrade Hardial Bains and the great Party which he built. We pledge to carry on the legacy that he left us with the courage and dignity befitting members of our Party.

(Adopted unanimously, January 15, 2000)