Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada - Political Ideology

Political Ideology

The Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada, like the Revolutionary Communist Party USA, denounces the traditional electoral system of Canada, claiming that it serves no other purpose than to further the agenda of what it calls bourgeois democracy. This has led the Party to be highly critical of what it calls reformist and revisionist electoral communist parties such as the Communist Party of Canada and the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist). They maintain that these electoral parties help prop up the system of ruling-class domination of Canadian politics. Instead, the RCP has claimed the need for a revolutionary movement in Canada to forcibly remove the ruling class from power and replace it with a socialist transitional system, and eventually a communist system, which will dissolve the apparatus of the state. The Party believes this can be done by following the ideology and examples of communist figures such as Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Mao Zedong. According to the Party's programme, Canada must be liberated from oppression through various violent and non-violent means, including civil insurrection and protracted people's war, though they stress the need for the creation of a strong vanguard Party and the gathering of support of the masses before this can occur. This differs from the tactics developed by other groups in the past as well as by similar movements, such as the Cuban 26th of July Movement and the Front de libération du Québec, in that those movements believed in propaganda of the deed, which stipulates that a movement need only a small nucleus of radical supporters willing to partake in dangerous and illegal activities in hopes of sparking the population into supporting their cause. The RCP disagrees with this tactic, regarding it as premature, preferring instead to operate only after sufficient time and effort has been placed in strengthening the Party.

Despite the similarities of the Canadian RCP and the RCP USA, there are also some notable differences. Most obvious is the lack of any high-profile leader in the Canadian RCP. Whether this is due to a more carefully orchestrated public image, or due to the lack of such a leader, is not known.

Although their ideological affiliation remains with Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, the RCP urges that one must take a critical and non-biased view of past revolutionary movements and socialist governments. Although they believe strongly that Mao was the most ideologically advanced of all Communist writers, they do not hesitate to criticize some of his actions and motives. In addition, like most Maoist organizations, the RCP is highly critical of modern Communist China, claiming that that country abandoned socialism with the death of Mao and has since adopted a policy of state capitalism.

Though the majority of the RCP's current supporters and members are French Quebecers, the RCP does not support the Quebec separatist movement like most other Communist organizations in Quebec. They view the separatist movement as a ploy by the Québécois ruling class, who wish to strengthen their position internationally by removing Canadian ruling class influence from Quebec. As such, they have been highly critical of other Communist parties, such as the Communist Party of Canada (and its offshoot, the Communist Party of Quebec) and the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), alleging that their support of the Quebec separatist movement is paramount to supporting pseudo-nationalism, and that the creation of yet another capitalist state goes against the principles of Marxism.

An in-depth explanation of the RCP's political ideology can be found in the Party's official Programme.