Greetings to the CPUSA 29^th National Convention from the Communist Party of Canada

Dear Comrades,

On behalf of the Central Committee and the members of the Communist Party of Canada, we are pleased to convey our warm internationalist greetings to your 29th Convention, and to all the party delegates and members participating in its work.

Your convention takes place at a most critical historical conjuncture. Wars of aggression and environmental devastation exact an ever-growing toll in terms of human suffering and the liveability of our planet. Social inequalities and disparities between the rich, imperialist countries and the vast majority of other states, and between the 'haves' and 'have-nots' within every country, continue to swell to the breaking point. Indeed, the global imperialist system finds itself in a deepening, intractable crisis in which contradictions are maturing in virtually every sphere of life - cyclical, structural, political, environmental and cultural.

Today in Canada we witness an accelerating offensive by finance capital and their governments to make the working class and the people pay for the economic crisis. The current target is centred on the public sector and on the wages and benefits of its workers. The ruling corporate and financial circles want to further erode public services and the 'social wage', and gain greater access through another devastating round of privatizations into lucrative sectors like healthcare, education, and pensions. They also aim to drive down the wages and conditions of public sector workers, putting more downward pressure on the wages of all workers in both public and private sectors.

The stage is what we have dubbed 'Round Two" of the crisis, and of course this 'austerity' offensive is also finding sharp expression in Europe as well, and sparking intense and militant resistance, especially in Greece and Portugal, as well as elsewhere in Europe. Without doubt it finds reflection as well in the United States.

This situation in turn raises ever more sharply the unique role and responsibilities of the Communists not only to help organize and unite the labour and people's forces, but also to help deepen their class consciousness and to propagate a comprehensive alternative to militarism, oppression and exploitation - the alternative of socialism.

We have every confidence that the 29th Convention will prove pivotal in determining the future of your party and the struggle for socialism in your country.

Comradely yours,

Central Executive Committee