Fightback (Canada)
FightBack is a Canadian Marxist newspaper published by Trotskyists in the New Democratic Party. It is affiliated with the International Marxist Tendency (IMT).
It campaigns for the adoption by the NDP of a comprehensive socialist platform. Until 2004, The Newspaper was known as L'Humanité. Fightback is one of two IMT affiliated publications in Canada, the other being the French-language journal La Riposte.
In 2003, supporters of Fightback were elected to the National Executive of the New Democratic Youth. Additionally, the leadership of the British Columbian and Albertan provincial NDP Youth have been held by Fightback supporters. In 2009, Fightback supporters in British Columbia launched a broad campaign to "take back" the BC NDP for the working-class grassroots.
Fightback has been criticized for its support of the NDP by the Spartacist League and the International Bolshevik Tendency, who see the party as a left face for the interests of the Canadian ruling class.
The Spartacist League also criticizes Fightback's position on the Quebec national question because the newspaper, while recognizing Quebec's right to self-determination, opposes Quebec independence and says they would have called for a "no" vote in the last referendum. Leading IMT theorists Ted Grant and Alan Woods have written in regards to Quebec independence: "A Marxist would say to the Quebecois: yes, you have the right to self-determination. We will defend that right. But we consider that separation will be to the detriment of the Quebecois and all the people of Canada. If there is a referendum we will certainly agitate and vote against separation. We stand for a socialist Quebec in a socialist Canada with full respect for national right as the only solution to our problems."
The NDP Socialist Caucus claims Fightback opposes Quebec's Charter of the French Language (Bill 101). They also criticized Fightback supporters for the manner in which they act within the NDP, claiming that at the 2009 NDP convention in Halifax they "did not say a word in any debate".
The National Post has accused Fightback of promoting the same "Hardline Communism" which led to the death of millions in the Eastern Bloc However Fightback has repeatedly criticized the political model of the Soviet Union and agrees with Leon Trotsky's analysis that it was a degenerated workers' state and that the "Stalinist bureaucracy" were a counter-revolutionary force that only came to power by purging the Old Bolsheviks who led the October Revolution. The National Post also ridiculed Fightback, claiming they only had 20 people at their 2009 national conference in Montreal, Conversely, Fightback claims the number attending the conference is double the previous year and set a goal of reaching 100 active supporters in 2010.
The newspaper pushes a 13 point public agenda that is as follows:
- NDP to Power on a Socialist Program
- The right to strike, the right to Union representation and the right to collective bargaining
- Equality for the sexes
- An end to all forms of discrimination
- The right to self-determination for Quebec
- Socialist Internationalism
- Full employment and decent wages for all
- Free health care for all
- Action to protect the environment
- A socialized plan of production for the fisheries, timber and agriculture
- End to oppression against First Nations
- Nationalization of the top 150 banks and corporations
See also
- New Democratic Party
- International Marxist Tendency
- entrism
External links
fr:Fightback (Canada)