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Youth 4j

Mal se¢

the thr

atyeRONTO — “The most cre-
a Satisfying future for-

C In struggle for a so-
lalist Canada,” said YCL gen-
Oenin Tetary Liz Hill in her
Boia Temarks to the 18th
oon of the Young Com-

n League held here over
e-day holiday weekend.
Young Convention gathered
Can, ae vple from all parts of
Ding pend, in addition to map-
for ‘the Betas and policies

ae of Young Communist
this country and struggle in

Binizae building a mass or-
Noted ©n of communist youth,
oven mn’ the working-class

st me Said Hill. “We
Neegs cond. to the immediate

farm .°! Working, student and

help Feats work with them,

tion 3a to move into united

their rights. We must

Mective for the socialist per-
an sed on the progam

Party vlicies of the Communist

Youth ;.
th in. a Changing World

jepest and its fine work
Utlineg x national arena, Hill
strupele CL support for the
Nam, S of the youth of Viet-
She rears and Cambodia. Here
standin, Med that one of the out-
Camp ee achievements was the
ing of to help in the build-
Nort, 4 children’s hospital in
Was Taiseg Over $24,000
Yor, = d in Canada and the
“for, ~* instrumental in this

“tailing |
we ae the role of the YCL

The
Ontinyer CL Pledged itself to

Of the w tS Work as a
Meratig orld Federation of. De.
Matigncuth and increase its
all initia Mal role in support of
derstand’ for peace and un-
Pe ng a
% mong young peo-
FA Point Against Monopoly
IANS argo cut that young Cana-
“ Monopole ene the hardest hit
ny People ys attack on work-
of then, “Hill said that “ma-
te ' buy hou! afford families,
int housing nes OF afford de-
to debt "D8, are forced to go
: for furniture or live

€xt period, celebrated -

Wm convention . . .

develop close and lasting ties -

without it..The YCL is the only
youth organization that has con-
sistently fought for jobs, link-
ing it to the battle for Canadian
independence.” She outlined a
four-point program that the
League has been working for as
the only way to create the three
million new jobs needed in the
seven years.

e Stop the sellout; national-
ize natural resources, develop
Canadian industry.

e Create useful, creative jobs;
build homes, schools, hospitals,
build a merchant marine, deve-
lop the north, increase govern-

“ment grants for scientific re-

search. ‘

e Increase opportunity; up
the minimum wage to $3-50 per
hour, no lower minimum wage
for part-time workers under 18
years of age, shorten the work
week to 32 hours without loss
of pay, voluntary retirement at
60 years of age.

e Alleviate affects of unem-

ployment; insurance for full

period of unemployment to all
unemployed youth, free job
training. é

- Educational Opportunities

Educational activities for
working-class young people
have also been curtailed by in-
flation and unemployment, said
Hill. Cut-backs in education
spending, increased tuition, lack
of summer jobs, and dismal job
prospects for graduates all con-
tribute to the decline in the
number of students. .

The YCL, she said, must sup-
port the initiatives of the Na-
tional Union of Students in its
demands to change the Student
Loan Plan, and work for its fur-
ther consolidation. The YCL
must also tap the potential for
growth existing among high
school students, which means
working in the students’ coun-
cil and for students’ rights
towards the organization of
unions in high schools.

The problems of farm youth
and Native youth were dis-
cussed, and it was emphasized
that the YCL needs to go be-
yond simply support for the
rights of Native people, but to

with Native youth movements.
Youth and Ideology

“The ruling class uses the
educational system, the media,
culture, everything it has at its
disposal to hide or distort its
true nature, and to prevent peo-
ple from challenging the sys-
tem. Much of this is directed
‘against young people... ,”
said Hill, pointing out that one
of the main tasks of the YCL is

to show young people that so-—

cial change can be achieved

through mass political action.
The fight “against the sys-

tem,” she said, was being ham-

pered by the ultra-left and their.

theorists, who deny the objec-
tive situation. To overcome both
this idea and the idea that mon-
opoly cannot be beaten, it was
necessary to organize young
people around issues close at
hand.

Hill mentioned the fight
against racism and for demo-
cratic rights as ripe areas for
YCL activities. “The YCL is
faced with the challenge to ac-
tivate young people and their
specific needs, to organize them
against monopoly.”

The Bill of Rights for Youth
is a goal under which particular
issues can be fought for and
given direction, she continued.
The advancing of the concept is
a united front position for the
YCL and inseparable from its
independent work. It was point-
ed out both by Liz Hill and dur-
ing the later discussion, that a
Bill of Rights for Youth is not
‘the exclusive property of the
left, but of all youth, and has
to be fought for by all. In this
way,” Hill said, ‘“‘we not only
raise the rights to opportunity,
put also fight for the opportun-
ities for youth.” -

Forward With the YCL

Hill made mention of the past
work of the YCL and the suc-
cesses it achieved. Peace work,
she said; has been most consist-
ent, especially in the truggle
against the war in Vietnam.

She called on members of the
YCL to step up their activities
in the labor movement together
with the Communist Party, in
order to win new young people
to the YCL. —

- “We have learned,” said Hill,
“that we must go where young
people are rather than where. we
want them to be. There are
young people in church groups,
cultural groups... that we
have not even considered mak-
ing contact with, but who can be
brought into activity on Issues
that affect them and can be a-
tracted to our ranks if we at-
tempt to reach and win them.”

Greeting the convention on
behalf of the Central Executive
of the Communist Party, its
general secretary, William Kash-
tan expressed appreciation for
the work of the YCL. “You are
meeting at a good time,” he
told the delegates, congratulat-
ing the League on its 50th an-
niversary. “The YCL has an
outstanding history of working
class struggle in Canada, and
has contributed, to deepening
the anti-imperialist, anti-mono-
poly and anti-capitalist trends.
“It has strengthened socialist
understanding for reorganiza-
tion of society and has helped
the Communist Party to reach
out to the young generation and

Delegates from the Quebec YCL—Ligue des Jeunesses Communis-

PHOTO—SHANE PARKHILL

tes—applaud the main report given by Elizabeth Hill.

strengthen its influence.”

The Communist leader empha-
sized that the role ahead for the
YCL is the same—to help unite
youth against capitalism and for
socialism, to help make the
young generation an important
ally of the working class and
socialist movement. “Your main
task is to strengthen and -ex-
pand,” said Kashtan, “and to
popularize the Communist pro-
gram for socialism in Canada.”

Kashtan told of the Party’s
appreciation for the work being
done by the Young Communist
League in the present election
battle. “Sixteen candidates of
our Party are YCLers,” he said.
“As well, the League is doing
outstanding work in other im-
portant election fields. We ask
you, upon return home after
this convention, to keep up
‘your fine work during the last
week of the campaign.”

Kashtan spoke of the improv-
ing international scene and the
struggle being waged by the
world communist movement
and other progressive forces to
make detente irreversible. ‘The
Party and YCL are a part of
this struggle which opens up
better conditions for the anti-
monopoly fight and work for
Party: The role of the Commu-
nist Party and the Young Com-

-munist League increasingly be-

comes decisive in the fight for
peace, independence and social-
ism,” he concluded.

The 53 delegates from across
the country then launched into
a thorough-going debate on the
main resolution and, others, in-
cluding Youth and Sports, Hous-
ing, NATO, NORAD and Disar-
mament, Women, End Canada’s
Complicity in Indochina, Solid-
arity with the People and Youth
of Chile.

Discussion On Young Worker

Presenting the report on the
Young Worker, editor Dan
Hammond said that in four
years more than 100,000 copies

have been circulated and char-

acterized the work of the paper
as one of “steady growth and
success under difficult condi-
tions.”

Several steps were agreed to
by the convention to overcome
the problems of consistency and
news coverage from across the
country. In the discussion that
followed, every speaker support-
ed the report and added sugges-
tions to build a better paper.
The convention also expressed

its appreciation to the editorial -

board for producing such a fine
paper under difficult technical
and financial conditions.
Greeeings from fraternal youth
organizations’ from around the
world punctuated the discusion,
and pointed to the bonds of in-
ternationalism which the YCL
has with other youth organiza-
tions. Greetings were read from
Swedish YCL, the Democratic
Youth of Finland, Democratic
Youth. of Japan, Czechoslovak
Youth, Vietnamese Youth, Guy-
ana, German Democratic Re-

public, USSR, West Germany
and Danish YCL.

Fraternal delegates from the
Young Workers Liberation
League of the United States and

‘the World Federation of Demo-

cratic Youth also attended the
convention. /
International Solidarity

Speaking on behalf of the
YWLL, Paula Smith spoke of

“the need for international solid--

arity against U.S: imperialist ag-
gression and economic domina-
tion of other countries... be-
cause of the extent of U.S. eco-
nomis domination of ‘Canada,
our struggles have common
grounds.”

She paid tribute to the work
of the YCL over the past years,
and said she “was honored to be
here, to share the warmth of the'
most committed youth for free-
dom—the YCL.” She concluded
with the words of Angela Davis
which were pertinent to all Com-
munist struggle: “We have the
answer; we have found the key.
The solution is unity, unity,
struggle, and more unity.”

Naomi Chessman, who came
to attend the convention from
Budapest as the representative
of the World Federation of De-
mocratic Youth, congratulated
the YCL on its solidarity ac-
tions, especially in the children’s
hospital campaign, and its work
in solidarity with the people and
youth of Chile.

“Despite the growth of the
progressive forces throughout
the world,” she said, “imperial-
ism still reaches out like the
beast it is — and nowhere like
in Chile.

“But our solidarity has had a

effect, and the YCL is’ an im-

portant part of this. Just eight .

days ago, Gladys Marin, general
secretary of the Communist
Youth of Chile, was granted- a

-safe-conduct, and is now out-

side the country, safe in Europe.
That is due to the YCL’s efforts,
along with those of all youth
organizations - affiliated to the
WFDY.”

A new Central Council of 26
members was elected by the
delegates. At a brief CC meeting
before the close of the conven-
tion, Elizabeth Hill was unan-
imuously re-elected YCL general
secretary.

In her closing remarks, which
echoed the sentiment of all the
delegates, Elizabeth Hill said
that “it is very clear that we are
going to go from this conven-
tion right into action, and it’s
being started right now.

We've completed our conven-
tion, and it’s been one of the
best ones we've ever had...

“But there’s something that
really stands out at this conven-
tion — the YCL is here to stay.
Now we are an organization.
Now we are a Young Communist
League. And everyone here, I
am sure, will leave in the con-
viction that he and she will do
the best they can to make the
YCL grow so that our next con-
vention will be even better.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE-FRIDAY, JULY 5, 1974—PAGE 5