PROGRAM
OF THE MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY OF CANADA
Stop Paying
the Rich
--
Increase Funding for Social Programs!
The
Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada believes that all aspects of
political, economic and social life in Canada need renewal. This can be
brought about only if the people are sovereign. They can exercise their
sovereignty only if the fundamental law of the land vests sovereignty
in the people and if the institutions and laws of Canada guarantee it.
Canadians have expressed their wish for modern arrangements on many
occasions, as they did clearly during the Spicer Commission hearings.
They have repeatedly said that they need to take measures and begin
working towards affirming their sovereignty and creating the required
renewed institutions. They also see the need to take the same approach
towards the problems of the economy which is in deep crisis. This
crisis has become chronic, creating a jobless recovery and general
insecurity. The same is the case with the political process which
marginalizes the people and reduces them to the role of voting cattle.
The
people of Canada must deal also with the problems of culture and
national sovereignty: working for the formation of a free and equal
union between the nation of Quebec, the nations of the Aboriginal
peoples and the rest of Canada, and building a truly multicultural
society in which the languages and cultures of all Canadians are given
official recognition and are encouraged to flourish.
The
principle that all people have claims on the society by virtue of being
human must be held as the overriding principle of the society, along
with gender equality and freedom of conscience and lifestyle. A new,
modern, truly democratic society in which people are sovereign is the
urgent requirement for Canadians to free themselves of the legacy of
the country's 19th century colonial foundation.
The
creation of such a society is the immediate aim of the MLPC, consistent
with its long-term aim of creating a socialist society as the
transition to communism, which will usher in a classless society.
I
● Stop Paying the Rich --
Increase
Funding
for Social Programs
Like
everything in a modern society, planning is indispensable to its
overall functioning. The first step towards a planned modern society is
the economic and political program to Stop
Paying the Rich -- Increase Funding for Social Programs.
It
is a political program because its starting point is the harmonization
of the individual interests of the members of society with those of
their collectives, and of their collective interests with the general
interests of society.
It
is an economic program which would ensure that people have the
financial resources in their own hands to plan and build the economic
foundation of a new and modern society. This economic program will
immediately:
●
Stop Paying the Rich -- Increase Funding for Social Programs.
● Impose a
moratorium
on the debt.
●
Nationalize all
banks and other financial institutions.
● Increase
fiscal and
budgetary requisitions for health, education and other social programs
in order to immediately assist the most vulnerable sections of the
society.
II
● Democratic Renewal
In
order for the people to exercise their sovereignty and govern
themselves, there is an immediate need to: PROCLAIM A NEW AND MODERN
CONSTITUTION
This
new and modern constitution must enshrine:
● The rights
and
duties of all citizens without any discrimination on the basis of
language, race, national origin, religion, gender, lifestyle, ability,
age, wealth or on any other basis;
● The right
of Quebec
to self-determination, up to and including secession;
● The
hereditary
rights of the Aboriginal peoples; the injustices of the past and the
harm done to them must be redressed through the provision of indemnity
payments;
● The rights
of the
national minorities of Canada, including the recognition of the
equality of all languages and cultures and the creation of conditions
for their flourishing;
● The
vesting of
sovereignty in the people.
To
enable the people of Canada to exercise their sovereignty, this new and
modern constitution must lay down as a fundamental principle that there
can be:
● No
Election Without
Selection.
Under
the fundamental law that elected representatives and all institutions
must be subordinate to the electorate, the constitution must enshrine:
● The Right
to an
Informed Vote;
● The Right
to Recall;
● The Right
to
Initiate Legislation.
These
laws must be turned into reality through the creation of institutions
which enable the electors to exercise their right to elect and to be
elected and facilitate their maximum participation in governance. A
Canada-Wide Electoral Commission, as well as Electoral Committees in
each constituency would be bodies to replace Elections Canada. The
finances and facilities currently provided to Elections Canada and to
Members of Parliament to operate their constituency offices would be
reallocated to fund the functioning of the Canada-Wide Electoral
Commission and Electoral Committees. The Members of Parliament would
conduct their affairs through the Electoral Committees to which they
would be subordinate.
The
Canada-Wide Electoral Commission and the Electoral Committees would be
entrusted with two key tasks: (1) Guaranteeing that all electors can
exercise their right to elect and be elected; and (2) Ensuring that the
elected representatives are subordinate to the electors and serve their
interests. These bodies would involve a large number of people,
especially in the task of ensuring the subordination of the elected to
the electors.
The
new and modern constitution must establish:
● The rights
of all
citizens and residents by virtue of being human.
In
providing a guarantee to these rights, the constitution must hold the
society, and the governments which represent that society, responsible
to provide people with the highest possible standard of living within
the existing conditions. It must also set out the aim of raising this
standard to higher levels, consistent with the development of society,
so as to meet the ever-increasing needs of the people for healthcare,
education, culture and other necessities of life. The constitution must
guarantee the recognition of the claims of all people on society by
virtue of being human, as well as the claims based on the conditions of
their collectivity in the case of women, youth, workers and all other
collectives in the society.
III
● Renewal of International
Relations
In
the sphere of international relations, the renewal of Canada requires a
foreign policy which bases itself on:
● Support
for all
peoples fighting for their rights;
● Relations
of
equality and mutual benefit amongst sovereign nations based on peaceful
coexistence;
●
Non-interference in
the internal affairs of sovereign nations.
The plan
for the
modernization of Canada's foreign relations would include immediate
withdrawal from all economic and military blocs. This entails:
● Immediate
withdrawal
of Canada from the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC);
● Immediate
withdrawal
of Canada from NORAD and NATO;
● Immediate
democratization of the United Nations based on the principle that all
nations, big or small, have an equal say;
● Upholding
the right
of all nations to decide upon their own system and opposing the efforts
of any country or group of countries to dictate what kind of system a
country can or cannot have; opposing the Paris Charter and the
Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe; and opposing the
blockades against the Republic of Cuba, the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea and similar pressures exerted against other
countries.
|