The Central Committee (CC) of the Revolutionary Communist Party met on March 22–23 to kick off preparations for the second party congress. The meeting took place amid the existential crisis of Canadian capitalism, accelerated by Trump and his trade war.
The CC debated the key economic and political trends, and their implications for the party’s work. Documents passed by the CC on these subjects will serve as the foundation for the discussions at the congress.
The whole party will now orient toward political preparation for congress. For revolutionary communists, the annual congress is always a pivotal part of the year. But amidst profound crisis, this congress has a special importance.
Many of our members will be attending their first congress. It’s therefore worth examining what a congress is. The congress is the highest authority of the party, the cornerstone of the party’s democracy. It’s where hundreds of representatives from all party cells get together, hash out the big political questions, draw the conclusions flowing from this for our work, and elect a leadership.
Ideas
The main purpose of a congress is always Marxist ideas and analysis—to bring the party together to debate, discuss, and understand the situation facing capitalism.
Through this process, we forge the best possible analysis. That is why we always begin the congress with a discussion of World Perspectives, and follow that up with a discussion of Canadian Perspectives.
Congress is also a school. It brings comrades together from across the country for the highest level Marxist discussion of the year, raising the collective understanding of the whole party. This gives them the arguments to win others to communism.
And this is no ordinary congress. As the Central Committee discussed, what we see is a profound crisis, the end of a long period of relative stability. Ordinary people hate the status quo. This mood demands an anti-establishment voice for the working class—a party proposing bold solutions to show the way out of the blind alley of capitalism. Yet, at the same time, the left has never been more politically bankrupt. History demands that we fill this void, and the coming congress will help us rise to the challenge.
Organization
Our goal is not just to understand the world. We aim to change it. Therefore a key point of our analysis is to understand how events affect consciousness. As the CC discussed, the crisis is smashing all illusions that capitalism can offer a decent standard of living. The plans of Carney or Poilievre will not solve the deep problems facing working class people and therefore it will be a government in crisis. The burning anger in society will inevitably produce a revolutionary crisis as the situation worsens.
Faced with this, it could not be more clear that the working class needs a revolutionary voice. There is an urgent need to build the party as quickly as possible.
So, the congress will also be discussing “The Road to 1,000 Members”—our roadmap to recruit and train hundreds more communists. We’ll hear reports on different areas of work, educational initiatives, and lay plans for future work. By applying these lessons to their work, comrades will be able to take the next step of growth. Reaching 1,000 members is the beginning of building a party of thousands that can play a role in events. And the road is wide open—thousands of people are open to communism.
The party also needs to expand its professional staff. So the congress will discuss the party finances, proposals to build the apparatus of the party and a financial collection to make these advances a reality.
This is our biggest fundraiser of the year. The Central Committee has set the target of raising $250,000 to take the party to the next level. Based on our track record of previous congresses, we are confident that we’ll not only meet, but greatly surpass our target. Finally, on the basis of all of this, the congress will elect a new Central Committee to lead us through the year to come.
Preparing for congress
For all these reasons, the upcoming congress is a momentous occasion for the party—the most important of the year. It will be the foundation for the growth of communism in the coming period. By making it successful, we will take a giant step toward building the communist party the working class needs.
That’s why the whole party is now orienting toward pre-congress preparations. This prepares us to have the best, highest level congress. Comrades must therefore read and reflect on the congress documents. In every party cell, the documents will be discussed and any amendments will be debated and voted on. Delegates will be elected. Then at congress we will all come together for the weekend of May 17–19 in Toronto to debate and discuss all these key questions. This congress is occuring at a pivotal time and will be vital in preparing us for the titanic class struggles to come.
