September 18-December 18 2002.
Three short months have passed since the re-formation of the Prince George club of the Communist Party of Canada. It is a club that is small in numbers, but growing, in a short while it has begun to make
a name for itself here in Prince George. This has been, and is being, achieved by organizing events, a particularly good way to make a clubs existence known. And when other’s having organized the events, our club has made our presence known there as well. The P.G. club has been in the news paper, on the radio, and on the streets to
protest the war on Iraq, and corporate greed.
Our first task was given to members of our club, and performed before we were even in existence as a club. It was the organization of George Gidora, the B.C. party leaders, speech at CNC (College of New Caledonia). After the speech we had our first meeting, at which our club was formed, on September 18, 2002. We got right to work, our first event that was organized as an official club, was a protest against the war on Iraq, on October 26th. There was a relatively small crowd present for the event, but it was a protest nonetheless.
Despite that protests meager turnout, we were not discouraged; we planned another rally for November 16th, in solidarity with the international protests on that day. This time we had help from the Popular Front for defense of the community. The crowd grew with our second protest, it was clear that the word was starting to get out. At both protest plenty of party literature was distributed to the protestors, who seemed to be open, more or less, to our ideas. This protest was reported on in our local mainstream news paper, the Citizen.
November was a month of war related-protest and events. There was a symposium on war which was attended by members of our club, who were sure to have the Communist point of view on the causes of war presented to the public. The Prince George Public Interest Research Group (PGPIRG) organized a march for peace on November 23rd, which had a larger crowd yet again; it seemed the people of our city were slowly becoming more interested in attending such events. The protest was once again attended by member of the Prince George club and speeches and poetry were performed by some protestors at the rally which followed the march.
But war wasn’t the only thing to protest in November. Sadly, the new Prince George Wal Mart location opened its doors in that same month. But not without some protest. Members of the Prince George collective, along with other concerned citizens, attended the opening. After sneaking into the V.I.P opening ceremony, which was meant for fat-cats only, and being removed from the building. The protestors proceeded to perform a mock funeral for small business, workers rights, and the economy. A reporter from the CBC interviewed the protestors, and the interview was aired on CBC that same day. There were also two independent protestors at the openings of the Wal Mart parking lot, with signs which read “Remember soft wood tariffs, buy Canadian, and don’t shop at Wal Mart”.
Also in November, Prince George was lucky enough (sarcasm) to have a visit from our beloved (yea right) Premier, Gordon Campbell. He came for the opening of the new medical center at UNBC. The Prince George club of the CPC was again present, along with a crowd of about 200 protestors. The protestors were outraged by the Liberal government’s policies which have attacked the health care and education systems, the elderly, the disabled, the unemployed, First Nations people, and basically everyone with the exception of corporate fat cats. One protestor was arrested, and the rest were just avoided and ignored as much as possible by the Premier, and watched carefully by the police. The Prince George club was also interviewed on CBC for its controversial posters, opposing the re-election of Mayor Colin Kinsley, because of his homophobic policies, i.e. refusal to proclaim gay pride day year after year. The club was interview on CFUR, the local University radio station. It was written about and quoted in the UNBC newspaper, and members of the P.G. club have had their voice’s heard frequently through letters to the editor in our local papers about issues from corporate involvement in schools, to Wal Mart and so on. The club has constructed its own web site, featuring statements from the club, articles by club members, and information on the party. The club has also distributed party literature to the local union buildings and begun a poster campaign to promote itself. Future plan include setting up and info booth at UNBC to attract interested students.
The P.G. club has also taken the liberty of beginning its own fundraising campaign, as well as selling party merchandise such as shirts and calendars; the P.G. club has begun producing “Marx-pads”, mouse pads for computers featuring various Communist leaders. The pads went over well when first introduced for sale, and are still up for sale by the club for $10.
The reader is probably now thinking, to her/his self that the P.G. club is also a bunch of braggers. And the reader is fully correct to think this, for that was the purpose of the article in a sense. To make a statement, that those who say our party are full of “armchair revolutionaries” who do nothing, are fooling nobody but themselves. We have an active party, not just in Prince George, but around Canada. All the comrades we have met have been involved in many different, very worthwhile, activities. We must all keep in mind, at all times, that we can never cease to actively work for a better world, we need to get out there, or continue to get out there in most cases, and make ourselves seen. If we are unseen we will not attract more support for our party. Indifference and laziness are not the attributes of a good Communist! So our club commends all the good Communists of the CPC who get out there and work in whichever way to better the party, their community, and the world as a whole. Good work Comrades, keep it up! If more people see that these sorts of things are being done, perhaps they will become more interested in being a part of it.