Socialist Action
Ligue pour l'Action socialiste
AbbreviationSA/LAS
Federal SecretaryBarry Weisleder
Founded1994 (1994)
Split fromSocialist Challenge
NewspaperSocialist Action
Ideology
Political positionLeft-wing to far-left
National affiliationNew Democratic Party, Socialist Caucus
Website
www.socialistaction.ca

Socialist Action (French: Ligue pour l'Action socialiste, lit. 'League for Socialist Action') is a democratic socialist political organization in Canada. Its members write for and distribute the North American monthly newspaper, Socialist Action, published in San Francisco. It has a youth affiliate called Youth for Socialist Action (YSA),.[1]

Origins and international solidarity

SA/LAS was formed in 1994 by a group of socialists expelled from, or who quit Socialist Challenge/Gauche Socialiste when the latter renounced the Leninist strategy of revolutionary party building. In June 1995, SA/LAS was recognized by the Fourth International at its Fourteenth World Congress, as an "organization of partisans of the FI in the Canadian state". The Quebec-based Gauche Socialiste is the official FI section in Quebec. Socialist Challenge, its former component in English Canada, dissolved in 1995 into the New Socialist Group where it formed the Fourth International Caucus which was recognized as the FI's official section in English Canada.

Work in the New Democratic Party

SA/LAS members and supporters play a leading role in the New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus (SC). Socialist Action federal secretary Barry Weisleder has served as chairperson of the Socialist Caucus since its inception. The Socialist Caucus seeks to turn the labour-based party sharply to the left.[2] SA/LAS and the SC played a significant role in stopping removal of the term “socialist” from the NDP constitution at its federal convention in Vancouver, B.C. in June 2011.[3][4] In September 2011, Socialist Action federal secretary Barry Weisleder won the nomination to be the Ontario NDP's candidate in Thornhill in the 2011 provincial election. Within 48 hours, the party's provincial secretary rescinded the nomination without explanation.[3][4]

Political programme

SA/LAS is active in the labour, anti-war, feminist, queer liberation, environmental protection, anti-poverty and international communist movements.[5] Supporting the Palestinian people striving for a unified, democratic-secular homeland is also a claimed goal of this Marxist group.[6][7] SA/LAS demands an end to the wars of occupation in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Libya, restoration of diplomatic relations between Canada and Iran, and that Canada leave NATO.[2]

The Quebec question

SA/LAS supports Quebec's right to national self-determination, and upholds the right to self-government of aboriginal peoples.[8] In Quebec, LAS members participate in the mass leftist party Quebec Solidaire, which stands for Quebec independence and opposes the neo-liberal business agenda.[9]

Labour movement

SA/LAS supports the transformation of today's unions into militant, democratic labour organizations that oppose employers' plans for labour concessions and government austerity policies .[10] The organization supports public ownership of the major sectors of the economy under workers' and community democratic control.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "YSA". September 1, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "The NDP Convention: Got a resolution | National Post". June 16, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  3. 1 2 "NDP to debate dropping word 'socialism' from party constitution". June 19, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Socialist in name, for now - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca.
  5. ↑ "Our Program". April 8, 2012.
  6. ↑ "NDP socialists make waves". June 18, 2011.
  7. ↑ News; Canada (September 7, 2011). "Thornhill candidate with views critical of Israel dropped by Ontario NDP - National Post". {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  8. ↑ "Québec Solidaire Opts for Independence/Sovereignty - Socialist Voice".
  9. ↑ Ritscher, Adam (August 6, 2011). "Ligue pour l'Action socialiste: Le Québec, les Acadiens et les peuples autochtones : la question nationale dans l'État canadien".
  10. ↑ "Why have unions failed in this recession?". www.mediacoop.ca. November 5, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Northern Lights". www.laborstandard.org.
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