The Working Class Must Fight For Its Own,
Independent Politics
Statement of the Manitoba Regional Committee of CPC(M-L), May 1, 2000
On the occasion of May First, International Working Class Day, the Manitoba Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) sends its revolutionary greetings to all workers in Canada and around the world who are fighting for emancipation and to all peoples fighting for sovereignty, justice and social progress.
We also hail all those individuals and organizations in Manitoba who have worked hard during the past several years to build the unity of the working class and of the revolutionary movement. This work is of the utmost importance to the cause of the working class and people. It has not only created conditions for the successful May Day activities organized in Winnipeg and other cities this year, but has also opened the path for many future victories, as well.
As is the case with the rest of the world, Canada has entered a period of deep, all-sided crisis - economic, social and political. It is a period in which old arrangements will fall and new ones will be established. Youth around the globe have already taken to the streets to declare their opposition to globalization and the domination of the world by monopolies and multinationals, and this movement is rapidly escalating. There are growing indications that working people are no longer content to let others decide for them; they are demanding the power to decide for themselves. These are signs that suggest that the period of retreat of revolution is nearing an end and revolution will once again go into flow.
The task facing the working class and the revolutionary forces is to prepare for the challenges of the future. We must ensure that the working class emerges from this period with its own agenda, its own program of action, its own theory and its own means of communication. In other words, the working class must forge itself into an effective force for social change. It must give rise to a vision for the entire society and to those organization required to provide leadership to the movement of the peoples.
The lesson of the 20th century is that the people must be their own liberators; they can not rely on others to fight their battles for them. This is a lesson which has been learned through countless tragedies and setbacks. As we enter the 21st century, it is a lesson which must be kept firmly in mind. The working class has its own interests, aims and objectives. It must wage a complicated political struggle to achieve those aims and open a path for social progress. This is a struggle which the working class must wage for itself. It cannot afford to leave it in the hands of some "condescending saviours" and professional politicians. The working class must enter all fields of struggle - economic, cultural and political - as an independent force, as a class of itself and for itself, rather than as a supporter of someone else's political agenda. This is the challenge facing the Canadian working class on the occasion of May Day 2000.
Hail May First, International Working Class Day!
Workers of All Countries, Unite!