p I think that the question of democracy is a very deep one and the communist parties have to look at in the new situation that we find ourselves in now. I think that the way we looked at question of democracy in the past has proved to be limited although a great work was done in the past that has been proved to be very useful to us. But nevertheless, that is one of the reasons why I raised the question of social democracy. Hie Communist Party of Canada thinks the same way as has been described by comrades from France. We speak from a position, not of a mass party but a very small party, with minimum influence in the mass movement of the people in Canada. Something we want to rectify. But the question is how we do that in the concrete. We think that the struggle for democracy is in fact a part of the struggle for socialism in our country, perhaps the pre-condition for achieving socialism in our country.

p For example, if we look at the situation in North America - the Canadian communists, American communists and comrades in Mexico are having to face with the North American free trade agreement, following on the heels of the Canada-US trade agreement, if we took a position that this was an issue, concerning only those who want fundamental social changes in Canada, we would never have able to mobilise the vast mass of the Canadian people who were unable to defeat the Canada-US treaty, but who were mobilised in our position. We can just say that in 1988 when we began to campaign with the progressive and democratic forces in Canada, the labour movement began to campaign against the Canada-US trade agreement, we started of with a situation where 367 only 20 percent of Canadians understood that free trade deal was a bad deal for Canada, for Canadian sovereignty, for Canadian workers, Canadian social programmes, and we were able in a very short period of time, in few months, to turn the situation around to where it was about 50:50. It was very important. If we had taken the struggle from the point of view of, only the communists, it would not have had the same results. Now that almost half of the Canadians are aware of what the free trade deal really is, not the bourgeois/translational propaganda about it, we are in a position to raise the issue when the elections take place later this summer or early in the fall. But the trade agreement will be passed in Canada in June. So they are doing the same thing ,the neo-Conservatives did in 1988 when they go to the people with a fait accompli - that it is done.

p There are other questions. Defence of the rights of working people on a mass scale around which, in our view a democratic question, anti-racism, anti-fascism in particular. We have a situation in Canada, as I indicated yesterday, where there is a very rapid growth of dearly racist and fascist organisations like Ku Klux Man, most people think that it is a American phenomenon but it is a Canadian phenomenon as well. The anti-French Heritage Front, the racist anti-immigrant and so on down the line. We have to mobilise the mass of the people on these issues as well.

p The question of the Social Democratic Parties. To us in Canada, this is a very important strategic question. We are not in a position, nor do I think it will be correct for us to pose the communist party alone as the only force which stands for progress in Canada. It is not the case. But the question of the social democrats, is the crucial question because we have always seen strategically social democracy asa part of those forces which as we used to say open the door to socialism in Canada. I think we need to have a much deeper look into the question than we had in the past. Also the question of democratic demands, the question of socialist democracy, the question of democratising certainly our Party, as a part of the process of the renewal we are undertaking now, I do not mean renewal in the revisionist sense, I mean genuine revolutionary renewal within our party is overdue and we are trying to carry it with a view to making ourselves stronger and to be in a better position to address the questions that are before us.

I haven’t addressed this question to afl comrades but I think it is a very important question for our movement and for our progress. It is very good for us to exchange opinions amongst ourselves and do more theoretical work.