Socialist Action (french: Ligue pour l'Action socialiste, lit=League for Socialist Action) is a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...

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),.

Origins and international solidarity

SA/LAS was formed in 1994 by a group of socialists expelled from, or who quit Socialist Challenge/

Gauche Socialiste Gauche Socialiste is an officially recognised faction within the political party Quebec solidaire and an affiliate of the reunified Fourth International. Origins It was formed in 1983 by Trotskyists who left or were expelled from the Revoluti ...

when the latter renounced the

Leninist Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishme ...

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 The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

Socialist Caucus The New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus is an unofficial left-wing faction within Canada's New Democratic Party. Its manifesto maintains that the New Democratic Party has moved too far to the right, and is in danger of becoming indistinguishabl ...

(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. 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. 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.

Political programme

SA/LAS is active in the labour,

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

queer liberation The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoffman, 2007, pp.xi-xiii. ...

environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

anti-poverty Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics clas ...

and international communist movements. Supporting the

Palestinian people Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

striving for a unified, democratic-secular homeland is also a claimed goal of this Marxist group. SA/LAS demands an end to the wars of occupation in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, restoration of diplomatic relations between Canada and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, and that Canada leave

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

The Quebec question

SA/LAS supports

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

's right to national

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

, and upholds the right to

self-government __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...

aboriginal peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. In Quebec, LAS members participate in the mass leftist party

Quebec Solidaire Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

, which stands for

Quebec independence The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision of ...

and opposes the

neo-liberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

business agenda.

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 Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

policies . The organization supports public ownership of the major sectors of the economy under workers' and community democratic control.

References

External links

SA/LA WebsiteYSA WebpageSocialist Action (US)The Fourth International
{{Authority control 1994 establishments in Canada Communist parties in Canada Far-left politics in Canada Fourth International (post-reunification) New Democratic Party (Canada) Political parties established in 1994 Socialist parties in Canada Trotskyist organizations in Canada