BY MARIA ISABEL LEBLANC AND VICKY MARSHAL
MONTREAL - The day after the founding convention of the Young Socialists in Canada, held here from October 31 to November 2, YS members joined a student action in Quebec City to protest massive cuts in the education system. Others headed back to the picket lines of the 126,000 teachers in Ontario who are entering their second week of strike action against the provincial government for the same reason.

The convention registered the progress the YS has made in consolidating a revolutionary communist youth organization in Canada. Today, the YS in Canada is made up of 27 members with three active chapters in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, along with individuals in Quebec City and Woodstock, Ontario.

Including the 11 delegates from the three chapters, 58 people registered for the convention. The international character of the Young Socialists came across in the gathering, with the participation of fraternal delegates and observers from France, Iceland, Sweden, and the United States. Greetings from the international delegates, the Political Committee of the Communist League in Canada, and the Union of Young Communists in Cuba were read at the convention.

Three documents on the political principles, rules of membership and organization, and a security policy were put before the delegates for discussion and vote. These documents were discussed and debated out in all three chapters during the seven weeks leading up to the convention.

In his report to the convention on "Working-Class Resistance and the Crisis of Imperialism: Building the Young Socialists," YS leader Carlos Cornejo explained that under the impact of the deepening crisis of capitalism in the world, more young people are radicalizing and moving into action. They organize walkouts against cutbacks in education and participate in the Ontario Federation of Labor "Days of Action" protests in Ontario, they march for immigrant rights in New York City, and young workers in St-Hubert, Quebec, fight to organize a union at McDonald's.

"The Young Socialists were born out of this resistance in Canada, the United States, and around the world," said Cornejo. "They were attracted to the example of Che Guevara, the Cuban and Russian revolutions, and they felt the need to read books by Fidel Castro, Malcolm X, Thomas Sankara, Lenin, and Marx."

Quebec and socialist revolution
"Addressing the national question in Canada is crucial in the fight for the unity of the working class, and for constructing a communist youth organization based on equals," explained Cornejo. One of the principles adopted by the YS states, "We join in the fight for Quebec independence."

"The Canadian government would like us to believe that it is more humane than the others," the YS leader noted. "In the meantime, it is the main military force behind the occupation of Haiti and its forces are stationed in Yugoslavia, as well as other countries.

"It is the same government that militarily occupied Quebec during the 1970s to crush the fight against national oppression of the Quebecois - a struggle that continues to mobilize thousands of workers and youth against Ottawa today. The same rulers sent in an occupation force against Natives in Kanesatake in 1990 as they fought for their land. And Canadian banks continue to plunder Latin America."

Delegates also discussed the importance of supporting the right to self-determination for all oppressed nationalities, including the Native peoples in Canada.

Cornejo explained that the YS seeks to "orient ourselves toward the working-class and its vanguard party, the Communist League in Canada, with the goal of participating in leading the working class to take power in Canada. It is in this framework that we must understand the importance of the fight for Quebec independence."

A good deal of discussion took place on the historical continuity between the Russian and Cuban revolutions. Members discussed experiences in meetings commemorating the political legacy of Ernesto Che Guevara. "Reconquering the lessons born out of the 1917 Bolshevik-led revolution in Russia is part of explaining the communist Che was, how he fits into the communist continuity of Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, V.I. Lenin, and Leon Trotsky," said Mick McDonald, YS leader from Toronto and member of the United Steelworkers of America. As part of this effort, one of the classes held during the convention was on the history of the Russian Revolution. Other popular classes were on the fight for Quebec independence and on political developments in Cuba today by Militant reporter Martín Koppel.

There was also ample discussion on the point in the political principles that outlined the Young Socialists' opposition to all imperialist trade and military pacts, including NATO and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) pact. A delegate from Vancouver described the YS's participation in the NO! to APEC Coalition, which is organizing protests against the imperialist-dominated trade forum.

Other questions delegates took up were how the YS works with others to broaden participation in social protest actions and the importance of the security policy that members have no involvement with illegal drugs. This policy is needed to defend a revolutionary youth organization in today's world of police brutality and increasing attacks on democratic rights. Xochitl Punal from Vancouver said, "We should try to convince other organizations we collaborate with why they need a policy like ours."

An important task of the delegates was to elect a Central Committee responsible for leading the YS between conventions. After some discussion on where the Central Executive Committee of the CC should be located, members decided it must be in Montreal. The decision was based on the understanding of the Quebecois struggle against national oppression being at the heart of the fight against the imperialist state of Canada. In this way, the YS would be in the best position to strengthen its strategy to unify the working class to fight for a workers and farmers government in Canada.

Patricia O'Beirne presented the second report to the convention, titled, "Propaganda Axis and the Tasks of the Young Socialists." It laid out a plan of action for the YS to organize in the coming months to reach out to young fighters with revolutionary books and periodicals.

"There are more openings today to win youth to seeing the revolutionary potential of the working class," she said. But to do this "they have to come into contact with communist ideas, either through meeting up with members of communist organizations, or coming across a book that explains world politics from a communist perspective."

The delegates voted to join in a campaign alongside the Communist League to sell The Changing Face of U.S. Politics: Working-Class Politics and the Trade Unions - which is available now in English, French, and Spanish - between November 1 and January 1, through participating in labor struggles, protest actions, literature tables, and by approaching co-workers on the job.

The main public event of the convention was the launching of Le visage changeant de la politique aux États-Unis - la politique ouvriere et les syndicats, the French translation of The Changing Face of U.S. Politics. Rafik Benali, a member of the Young Socialists in France, said, "Our central axis is recruitment of young fighters, and building a proletarian party. The Changing Face is a handbook for that."

Those attending the convention bought 12 copies of the book in French and two in English. Among them were two high school students who decided to put their money together so they could get a copy of the book in French.

Over the last year, a growing number of YS members have decided to get jobs in industrial work sites along with members of the Communist League in order to carry out effective communist political work on the job. A third of the YS members are trade unionists, and others plan to get into industry.

Another important step made at the convention included launching a national fund campaign of CAN$3,000 as an essential part of building a self-financed organization that can act in politics. Among other activities over the next month, YS members plan to attend the demonstration for women's rights in Quebec City on November 15, the November 17-22 anti-APEC events in Vancouver, and an antifascist book fair in Gardanne, France, in November.

The convention closed with the announcement of the newly elected Central Committee. Its regular members are Carlos Cornejo, Jacob Gavin, Maria Isabel Le Blanc, Mick McDonald, and Patricia O'Beirne. The three alternate members are Christian Cornejo, Vuk Krcmar Grkavac, and Elssa Martínez.  
 
 
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