SE re eee ss st. Tim Buck, a founding member of the Communist Party of Canada, who led it as its general secretary from 1929 until 1962 when he became chairman of its Central Committee, died on March 1/1, 1973. ° At the 24th Convention of the Com- munist Party in January of this year, Party leader William Kashtan paid tri- bute to the life and work of Tim Buck, a tribute warmly received by the delegates, fraternal delegates and observers at the convention, As we approach the seventh anniver- sary of Tim Buck’s death, we publish here a digest of that tribute. C omrade Tim Buck was elected Gen- eral Secretary of the Communist Party of Canada more than 50 years ago, a post he held with honor, courage, pas- sion and confidence until 1962, when he became Chairman of the Central Com- mittee of our Party. Tim was elected to the leading post at the 6th Convention in 1929, on the eve of the great crash of that year. Previously he had led the industrial and trade union work of the Party, and pioneered in the struggle for industrial unionism, for au- tonomy of the trade unions, and for one trade union centre on a local, provincial and all-Canada scale. On the eve of 1929-a sharp struggle developed in the Communist parties of Canada and the USA about the revision- ist and opportunist theory of ‘‘ American exceptionalism’’ advanced by the then general secretary of the CPUSA. This “theory’’ held that North American capitalism had overcome its inner contradictions and was immune from capitalist crises. Life smashed that and. other false theories, and helped prepare our Party for the economic crisis when it broke. It helped orient the Party as the leading organizing force of the working class, of farmers, women, and youth against the effects of the economic crisis. At the same time Tim was among those who led the fight against Trotsky- ism, which led to its defeat and the defeat of its supporters in the Communist Party. This struggle against opportunism from right and left, against reformism, nationalism and bourgeois ideology and Big labor, the biggest threat? A reader drew our attention to a re- cently released Gallup Poll which shows that 33% of those polled see big labor as posing the biggest threat to the country, 28% see big government as the biggest threat, and 22% see big business as the chief villain. The first thought that comes to mind is who saw what as a threat? The sec- ond thought about the poll is the fram- ing of the question. Suppose it had been put as ‘‘which serve Canada best" would the replies correspond? It’s worth thinking about. And, in so doing, one should keep in mind that organized labor has always been pictured by the powers that be as a threat to “peace, order and good government”’. * * . * As we read the poll we find it most enlightening for it points up the task facing those who work for working- class power and a socialist Canada. That task is one of the development of _ class consciousness on the part of the workers. And, if we assume as we must, that a good part of the 22% of those polled who identified big business (read monopoly) as the main threat are workers, then that is the base from which we must work. It is a modest base. Class consciousness is a product of class struggle. At the beginning it is, more or less spontaneous, waged for PACIFIC TRIBUNE— MARCH 14, 1980—Page 8 TIM BUCK for a consistent revolutionary position based on Marxism-Leninism typified Tim’s work as it typified the work of the Party. Imprisoned by Tories This clear-cut class position made Tim’ and the Party the target of monopoly at- tack during the crisis. The Ontario Tory - Government used Section 98 to arrest and imprison Tim and other leaders, and to declare the Communist Party illegal. The alleged crime was seditious con- spiracy; the real ‘‘crime’’ was the Party’s effective program advanced against the crisis policies of monopoly and _ its governments. In this situation the Com- munist Party grew and became a much stronger political force. (Section 98, an ‘amendment to the federal Criminal Code, was enacted by the Meighan government during the Winnipeg Gen- eral Strike.) Independent labor political action, and ways for the working class to free itself from the influence and support of capital- ist parties and ideology, received Tim’s particular attention. The trade union movement by itself, he knew, would not free the working class from capitalist politics. Comrade Buck fought for the concept A salute to Tim Buc of a federated farmer-labor party as an integral part of the process of helping the working class become conscious of itself as a class. He linked this to the Commu- nist Party’s task of bringing socialist con- sciousness into the working-class movement. He saw a dialectical unity between one and the other. It meant _ Strengthening the Party in the working class, the decisive force for fundamental social change. : Tim Buck focussed particular criti- cism on Canadian monopoly’s policy of continentalism, of subordinating Cana- da’s interests to the drive of U.S. imperialism for world hegemony. It is to the credit of Tim that he grasped.as the essential of this policy, the loss of Cana- dian sovereignty and independence; _which necessitated the fight by the work- ing class and democratic forces for Canadian independence and for peace. Peaceful Co-existence When U.S. atomic diplomacy and cold ~ war led to prospects of another world conflagration, the Communist Party and _ Comrade Buck led a consistent and many-sided mass campaign throughout the country to win support for a policy of peaceful co-existence of differing social systems, a policy of trade and friendship between Canada and the Soviet Union. Tim’s contributions on these fronts were considerable. No less significant were his contribu- — tions to solving the national question as it exists concretely in Canada today, ex- pressed in the demand for the right to self-determination and equality, and for the unity of the working class of the two nations against monopoly and for social progress... Above all, what characterized Tim’s work and leadership was his consistent patriotism and internationalism. Tim never saw them as being opposites, but as integrally related. His patriotism expressed itself in the struggle for a‘truly independent Canada, a socialist Canada. His internationalism expressed itself in solidarity with the struggle to unite working and oppressed peoples in the anti-imperialist struggle and for the revolutionary transformation of society. He fully understood the profound Marxism-Leninism in Today’s World improving the conditions of labor. It begins to assume an organized form when workers collectively set their de- mands and collectively act to achieve them. Every worker, no matter how little politically developed on a class basis, understands quite well the need to protect his immediate economic in- terests. The economic struggle offers definite possibilities of improving the lot of the workers concerned, and by that very token, of the class as a whole. Such awareness contains the seed of class consciousness. * * * Class-conscious workers have no fear of ** big labor’’. They work to make organized labor bigger and stronger. That is why they pay a lot of attention to the organization of trade unions and the economic struggle. This is so even though they know that such struggle does not affect the foundations of the capitalist system. They know also that the gains made cannot be made secure unless reinforced by political gains, That is why class-conscious workers consistently strive to win workers for political struggle against the class of capitalists. However, workers do not join the political struggle against the capitalist class or against capitalism as a system, until they become fully aware of their own class interests. Neither do workers arrive at such awareness automatically. This does not mean that they do not have a gut reaction against the owning class. But such feelings, taken in isolation, do not constitute class consciousness. : : : * * x : The political struggle of the working class embraces the whole sphere of so- cial and economic life in a class-divided society, closely connected with its at- titudes to other classes and social stra- ta. The latter is particularly important in respect to the capitalist state and its activities. Communists, while under- standing that the root cause of all con- flict between classes is material self- interests, single out the political strug- ’ gle as being paramount. They regard economic and ideological struggles, important as they are, as being subordi- nate to the workers’ political aims and » tasks. he tere . Communists see the political struggle as being the vehicle which alone can secure the basic economic need of the working class, namely, freedom from exploitation. To attain this aim the workers will be impelled to get into the lated to skills and incomes. The capital- . consider that.big business constitutes significance of the Great October Social: ist Revolution and its impact on worl politics. He fought consistently and inde fatigably to bring knowledge and aware ness of the achievements of the Soviet Union to the widest masses of the Cana dian people. He defended the Soviet Union against bourgeois and social fe formist attackers.. He fought those 1 side our Party and the internation Communist movement who denigrate ‘ these achievements by the Soviet Union and later the socialist system of stateS— the firm reliable base upon which an@ — around which’ the future of mankind would be decided. Comrade Buck saw the Soviet Union the vital decisive factot in the struggle for peace, independence — and socialism. Defence of the true national interests together with internationalism, this has been a major contribution of Tim tot | history and work of the Communist Par ty, as it has been a contribution to the — international Communist movement. — Valued Writings Tim fought to transform the Commu: nist Party into a mass party, able to le the working class at every stage of the — struggle. He started from reality with the goal of socialism always in sight. || The younger generation and future generations have much to learn from Tim. His books, articles and pamphletS are a source of inestimable value for all a those, young and old, who want to bring — an end to the exploitation of man by man, and build a new system of society base on public ownership under the political rule of the working class and its allies. In — their totality Tim’s writings constitute 4 — significant contribution to the creative | development of Marxism-Leninism an@ — its application to Canadian reality. | Marxism, as yet a minority view In — Canada, is on a world scale increasingly — becoming the majority view. There is 20 — reason to doubt that sooner or later it will become the majority view in Canada as well. 5 Tim, throughout a lifetime of activity, helped to lay the groundwork for this. He left a great heritage, a solid foundation upon which the revolutionary movement will continue to grow and develop in the — years to come. political struggle on their own behalf. And, for such struggle they need their own political party. A party indepen- dent of the capitalist class and willing and able to carry through the political - struggle to victory. : erg ke ss pk x The workers do not stand in splendid isolation from society as a whole. They are in daily contact with other sections — of the population as they go about their manifest obligations to ensure the livelihood of their families and their so- cial responsibilities. Their class is con- stantly .swelled by ‘recruits from the middle stratas of society that have been ruined by monopoly, especially farm — folk and. other self-employed. In addi- tion, the working class itself is not homogeneous. Besides its principle di- vision as between blue and white collar workers, there are other divisions re- | ists utilize all of these divisions and con- tacts to channel capitalist concepts and influence into the ranks of the working class. And they have a mighty in- strument at their disposal in the form of — the mass media. * * * Taking all of the above-mentioned factors into account, we reguard as: positive the fact that 22% of Canadians the biggest threat to Canada.