Canada: Imperialist Power or Economic Colony? • RED STAR COLLECTIVE Pamphlet #1 March 1977 rTo overlook the peculiarity of political and strategic relationships and to repeat indiscriminately word learned by rote, 'imperialism \ is anything but Marxism. " V.I. Lenin A Caricature of Marxism Foreword The Canadian working class has not had methods of developing those lines of many of the revolutionary leadership since the Communist groups in the movement. Dogmatism, particularly Party of Canada (CP) turned revisionist. Since the of the Canadian Communist League - Marxist-Le• CP took the path of parliamentary reform of ninist [CCL-ML], but also of In Struggle! and capitalism and of acting as apologists for others, presents a real obstacle to the correct Social-imperialism, there have been but a few application of Marxism-Leninism to Canada. We attempts to keep alive the spark of Marxism-Le• expect that through principled struggle this ninism in Canada. One recent notable example dogmatism as well as other errors of both the right was the Progressive Workers Movement of the and 'left' can be rectified and an ideological and late 1960's which, although unable to grow beyond political basis can be lain for the organizational the borders of British Columbia, worked with unity of the movement. This organization will have determination to develop and apply a revolution• as its task the consolidation of the vanguard of the ary strategy. working class into a new Communist Party. In the last couple of years a new Marxist-Le• We are continuing work on the development of ninist movement has emerged nationally. Made positions on other questions that face the up of groups, collectives, study circles and movement. We plan to issue other pamphlets in individuals, this movement is actively taking up the coming months. Political economy is the the task of creating a genuine proletarian subject of our first pamphlet because this question vanguard party. The movement is still young, is being taken up generally in the movement at inexperienced and disorganized. One of its main present and particularly in relation to the national weaknesses is a superficial understanding of the conference being organized by In Struggle! in actual conditions in Canada. It will require a great April of this year. We have included a summary of deal of investigation and debate before firm our position on the international situation at the positions can be taken on a whole range of back of this work in order to place our analysis of questions - such as what classes make up the Canada within a world context. revolutionary forces, what is Canada's role In this pamphlet the lines of CCL-ML are taken internationally, what is the nature of the various up in some depth. While the line of In Struggle! is mass organizations in Canada, and many others. also addressed, it is not to the same extent. This is because the third issue of Proletarian Unity, in The Red Star Collective began several years which In Struggle! gives a comprehensive ago as a study group (the Vancouver Study Group) statement on political economy for the first time, which had as its purpose to understand Canadian did not reach us until we had already begun the society from a Marxist perspective. We have since process of production of this pamphlet. developed into a collective committed to the While the French edition of this pamphlet will creation of a new Marxist-Leninist party in not be published in time for the conference, we Canada. consider this task to be a priority. We should note The area of political economy is central to the at this time that one of the weaknesses of our development of a revolutionary strategy. We put effort is that it is written solely from the forward this pamphlet as a contribution to the perspective of an English-Canadian group. By and debate on these questions. We hope to distribute large, we have not had the benefit of much of the it widely within the movement as well as to historical work which has been done in Quebec. progressives among the workers and allied Finally we would like to thank the October classes. We encourage criticism and struggle over Study Group as well as the May First Collective the lines we have advanced. We also encourage and the Long March Collective for their comradely people to make use of the pamphlet as a starting assistance in the production of this pamphlet. It point for further investigation of the many should be clear, however, that we alone are questions that have not been adequately address• accountable for the positions taken. ed. We find ourselves at present in sharp * Red Star Collective disagreement with not only the lines but the March/1977 Contents Introduction 6 Chapter One - The Development of Capitalism in Canada and the US 12 Chapter Two - The Canadian Political Economy in the Twentieth Century 26 Chapter Three - The Canadian Bourgeoisie - a Puppet of US Imperialism? 42 Chapter Four - Is Canada an Imperialist Power?54 Chapter Five- Criticisms of the Views of CCL-ML and In Struggle 64 Conclusion. Canada: an Economic Colony of the United States 72 Canada in the World Context 76 Introduction 6 Canada: Imperialist Power or Economic Colony? This pamphlet on the principal contradiction has its The Importance of the origins in our attempt to concretize our lines in response to the publication of Canadian Revolution and the beginnings Question of the Principal of the national debate amongst Marxist-Leninists. Initially we saw this as merely a summing up of our unity, but our Contradiction inability to do this revealed to us the backward and The growing Canadian Marxist-Leninist movement, while amateurish nature of our group. We had assumed still backward and having only primitive links with the agreement, particularly on the question of the principal working class, has begun to seriously turn its attention to the contradiction, when there was in fact little clarity on what question of the principal contradiction. This is a recognition exactly our position was. Since that time the RSC has of the fact that to develop a correct strategy for revolutionary progressed from a study group to become a politial collective struggle it is essential that the Marxist-Leninist party have a aand 'consensus' has been replaced with struggle over correct understanding of the principal contradiction. In order political line and the method of criticism, self-criticism. for unity on political line to advance and with it Development of our position on the principal contradiction organizational unity, this question must be taken up has continued both because our early historical studies, resolutely and thoroughly debated. although unconsolidated, led us to have major disagree• The principal contradiction describes the forces in ments with lines being put forward within the movement on opposition to each other throughout the period and is the this queston and because we saw it as key to the building of contradiction "whose existence and development determine a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary strategy for Canada. or influence the existence and development of the other In the process of our work on the principal contradiction, contradictions." [Mao Tse-tung,On Contradiction] Correctly we had to overcome several obstacles. Initially our methods defining the principal contradiction allows us to accurately were ridden with empiricism, and self-criticism was neces• assess who are allies, who are enemies and which class sary for us to rectify this style of work and the analysis it elements vacillate from one to the other. With this produced. At first the correction of this right opportunist understanding, Marxist-Leninists can create a strategy error was hindered by a defeatist attitude, one which saw which will strengthen their forces, making use of all possible the task of developing a position as being 'too big' to deal alliances, while isolating and weakening their enemies. with. We were also held back by the 'leftist' error of some Failure to grasp the principal contradiction means that comrades who felt that the only question that we should deal we would weaken our ranks, either by including enemies or with was 'methods of party building'. They failed to see the excluding friends. It would also result in failing to see the importance of the determination of the principal contradic• enemy where it really exists or branding potential allies as tion and its contribution to the struggle for unity amongst enemies and casting them into the enemies' camp. With an Canadian Marxist-Leninists. However, with self-criticism, incorrect analysis of the principal contradiction, defeat is our work continued. Our growth from study group to inevitable. collective, along with advancement of the national debate on Mao Tse-tung pointed out the crucial importance of the principal contradiction, made clearer the necessity of and recognizing friends and enemies in Analysis of the Classes the specific contribution our group could offer. in Chinese society: This paper is primarily an economic analysis, one aimed at analysing the fundamental nature of the Canadian "Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is a economy, at establishing the basis for the Canadian question of the first importance of the revolution. The basic bourgeoisie's existence and their relationship to imperial• reason why all previous revolutionary struggles in China ism. We have done an historical analysis of the Canadian achieved so little was their failure to unite with real friends political economy and in so doing have resolved questions in order to attack real enemies. A revolutionary party is the and seeming conflicts in analysis which cannot be guide of the masses, and no revolution ever succeeds when understood with only a study of the contemporary Canadian the revolutionary party leads them astray.