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‘COMMUNIST YOUTH CONFERENCE

Toward a united organization

of radical, progressive youth

By ALF STENBERG
Youth Secretary, Communist Party

RISING militancy and social awareness among

young people has been a notable feature of po-
litical and social life in Canada in recent years.

Young people are in the forefront of activities in op- .

position to U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Students are

increasingly active around demands for “universal ac-

cessability” to higher education and the democratiza-
tion of the entire educational system. Young workers
have become a dynamic factor in the trade union
movement and have been driving force in many of the
recent strike struggles.

“Fundamental social change” and “social revolu-
tion” have become the subject of discussion among
ever wider sections of youth. The static political cli-
mate of the worst of the cold years has disappeared
and we are seeing the emergence of a broad move-
ment of young people actively involved on the side
ef progressive social change.

The development of this movement and the role of
Communists within it was the subject of a conference
convened by the Communist Party at Camp Kebeca,
near Montreal, May 20-22. The 75 young people in

attendance included representatives from Quebec and
from all regions in English Canada, from Vancouver
to Halifax. A notable feature of the conference was
the number of non-Communist participants, particu-
larly from Quebec. :

The conference, while noting the increasing social
awareness of youth, found a weakness in the left-wing
movement in its failure thus far to develop a suitable
organizational expression to give it voice and direc-
tion. Where several such organizations have emerged
in the United States, thus far in Canada no organiza-
tion has appeared that has been able to win the sup-
port and allegiance of large numbers of radical, pro-
gressive minded youth. This absence increasingly
stands as an obstacle to the further growth and deve-
lopment of the movement. The conference placed the
task of creating such an organization as one of para-
mount importance. for youth.

What sort of organization should it be, and how .

can it be created? On these questions the difference in
the level of development between Quebec and English
Canada became apparent.

Participants from Quebec included representatives
from the Parti Socialiste du Quebec, the New Demo-
cratic Youth, unaffiliated Marxists as well as young

members of the Parti Communiste dU oF yo
young people met in a separate session ited

perspectives towards the creation
of Marxist youth in Quebec. The

at the conference.

: bi
Progress in English Canada will ml ye
ization
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ceed more slowly. The conference

outlining the need for such an organ

ing a number of aims for discussio

to see as its objectives. The statemen
circulated and Communist youth wl
the subject of wide discussion

munity.

Issuing the statement is but the fir

the creation of the new organizat

progressive-minded youth will have to nt rea
to its discussion and the widest agreeme™ iit)
to the need for and the basis of the 0f8"

The exact nature of the organization, | ef
and organizational basis, will, of COU vig ¥
mined as the organization comes into by the Oe
fundamental to the concept advanced its Om

toward

ence is the need to proceed now
on the broadest possible basis.

pet

of aU {0
teps
first s ert!

the creation of such a youth organizalioh

draft

n

The discussion and debate at
the conference in which most
of the young people attending
participated, covered a wide
range of topics. Following are
some of those who took part
and brief excerpts ‘from what
they said:

Denise Gregoire, youth leader
of the Parti Communiste du Que-
bec, opened the ‘conference by
saying: “What is needed in all
of Canada is the unity of left-
thinking young people, both in
the nation. of Quebec and in that
of English-Canada. Our purpose
is to project those policies which
will meet the needs of our young
compatriots and unite them in
common action.”

Marquis Provost, member of
the executive, Parti Socialiste

The statement of the confer-
ence advances the proposal for
a youth organization that “will
work radically and relevantly to
achieve the social changes ne-
cessary in this new period.” It
then urges the youth community
to consider and discuss a num-
ber of proposed basic aims and
objectives as an outline for the
program of such an organiza-
tion:

e An independent youth orga-
nization, which sees Canada’s
future being one of socialism,
where the wealth produced by
the working people shall belong
to the people.

e We want a peaceful world.
Peace is a prerequisite to pro-
gress, and as humans we must
stop the inhumanity of war. We
oppose the American aggression
against Vietnam, and see it as a
major ihreat to world peace. The

WIDE-RANGING DEBATE

du Quebec: “I am happy to be
present and to participate in this
conference. I think there are
good possibilities for develop-
ing working relations between
all left-thinking youth in Que-
bec.”

Gaston Baudet, student from
Universite de Montreal, said uni-
ty between the working people
of both Quebec and Canada was
necessary to win back our inde-
pendence from U.S. control.

Don Currie, of Winnipeg,
member of the central commit-
tee of the Communist Party
after describing the exodus of
young people from Manitoba
because of its underdevelopment
due to U.S. exploitation of the
province’s natural resources:
“The struggle of Quebec youth

AIMS

war must be stopped, and the
rights of the Vietnamese people
must be defended. Canada should
adopt an independent foreign
policy with peace and interna-
tional understanding as its cor-
nerstone.

e We see the fight for Cana-

dian unity dependent upon the
full equality of the two nations.

e We believe that full job
training opportunities must and
can be provided for young work-
ers with the guaranteed right to
organize for the defense and ad-
vancement of wages and work-
ing conditions, including the
right to strike and picket, and
an end to the threat of unem-
ployment. Automation should
be democratically implemented
through participation of the
workers in their interests.

e We stand for full and mean-
ingful educational opportunities

for the independence of their
nation is similar to ours; both
nations suffer from the domina-
tion by U.S. capital.”

Dave Yorke, member of the
student’s council at Simon Fra-
zer University in B.C.: “The fact
that our student body was pre-
pared to go on strike to prevent
the sacking of five teaching-
assistants reflects the new mi-
litancy among -Canadian stu-
dents.”

Charles Boylan, of Vancouver,
out-going vice-president of the
17,000-member student union at
the University of B.C.: “Most
students avoid structures and
are skeptical of politics; the task
is to relate general social prob-
lems within a frame of reference
that will unite students in action

for peace, a humanist education

and better facilities.”

Tom Morris, editor of the
Communist youth magazine,
Scan: “We must find ways and
means of uniting all Canadians,
French and. English, young and
old, Marxist and non-Marxist, to
speak out for an independent
Canadian foreign policy. That
Walter Gordon, president of

Privy Council should be damned ~

for speaking his mind empha-
sizes the hypocrisy of the Pear-
son government. Canadians must
say with one voice, Stop the
Bombing.”

William Kashtan, general sec-
retary of the Communist Party:
“You are the future of our party.
What you discuss and decide
will have important repercus-

& OBJECTIVES

as a right for everyone at all
levels of education; education
which prepares people for a full
and constructive life and teaches
the young generation basic hu-
man values so necessary in a
developing social community.

e We stand for equal oppor:
tunities for women to jobs and
education with equal pay for
equal work and for fully ade-
quate social provisions for work-
ing mothers.

e We stand for the fullest par-
ticipation of the Canadian peo-
ple in all aspects of public life
and call for an extension of de-
mocracy in all Canadian institu-
tions and an end to the privi-
leged position of the minority
rich.

e We want the shameful treat-
ment of the Indian and Eskimo
peoples ended; their discrimina-
tion and subjugation cannot be
tolerated. They must be allowed

to decide their own affairs, and

must be given the means to begin the develOF ts if
enter the mainstream of our try in the ints disti™ of
country’s life on a basis they dians. We wan ant in
choose, The forced assimilation — tural develop™ jist”
of these people into the rest of recognizing our that i 4
Canadian society must be ended. many cultures count
The preservation and develop- tributed to our atté } "
ment of their cultures must be e We oppor ity ar)
assured. Canadian comport of il
e The powers of police must fundamental HB" jppel ig
be limited to guarantee rights of independence | ig, B
speech, assembly, dress, and as- especially i? it
sociation. There must be no Latin America in re
powers of arbitrary search or e We belie" com il
arrest. We want the right to live and the fulles hr 0le
our lives free from the fear of young people wi We if
police harassment. world which ificl Ke
e We want an independent down the art nd here
Canada. The American penetra- the cold wat pen
tion of our country’s life has efforts to buil if
meant the stifling of our cultural community: re-e™ inh
and political development. We We strongly | ava™ i
want Canada to regain the con- fact that we a
trol of her own affairs. We must proposed aims
end the domination of our eco- consideration f
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