William Kashtan (27 June 1909 – 1993) was the

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the

Communist Party of Canada The Communist Party of Canada (french: Parti communiste du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality. Although it does not currently have any parliamentary representation, the party's can ...

for 23 years beginning in January 1965, several months following the death of

Leslie Morris Leslie Tom Morris (October 10, 1904 – November 13, 1964) was a Welsh-Canadian politician, journalist and longtime member of the Communist Party of Canada and, its front group, the Labor-Progressive Party. He was leader of the Ontario Labor-P ...

, until his retirement in 1988. The delay in his assuming of the position was due to the opposition of

Tim Buck Timothy Buck (January 6, 1891 – March 11, 1973) was the general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada (known as the Labor-Progressive Party from 1943 to 1959) from 1929 until 1962. Together with Ernst Thälmann of Germany, Maurice Tho ...

to his appointment. Kashtan was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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 ...

in 1909. In 1927, at the age of 18, he joined the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of Y ...

. Two years later, he moved to southern Ontario to organize for the YCL there and then became the League's general secretary in 1930. In 1936, he helped found the Canadian Youth Congress which, at its peak, had over 400,000 members.Archives Canada biography
/ref> He visited Spain early in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

and on his return helped organize the

Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion The Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion or Mac-Paps were a battalion of Canadians who fought as part of the XV International Brigade on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. Except for France, no other country had a greater p ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served as Toronto organizer of the

Labor-Progressive Party The Labor-Progressive Party (french: Parti ouvrier-progressiste) was the legal Front organization, front of the Communist Party of Canada from 1943 to 1959. Origins and initial success In the 1940 Canadian federal election, 1940 federal elect ...

, as the Communist Party was known from 1943 to 1959, and served subsequently as industrial director, labour secretary and central organizer. He was a perennial candidate for the Labor-Progressive Party and then the

and became general secretary of the party in 1965, despite the opposition of party chairman and longtime leader

. Kashtan never succeeded in winning election to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

, and retired in 1988. He was an orthodox, pro-

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and consistently supported the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

through various shifts in policy at the Kremlin. Kashtan opposed

Eurocommunism Eurocommunism, also referred to as democratic communism or neocommunism, was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more rel ...

in the 1970s when many other Communist Parties in the west embraced it. In 1970, Kashtan spoke out against the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) group in

, describing it as a terrorist organization and claiming that its methods were not consistent with genuine revolutionary behaviour. In 1971, on behalf of the CPC, he suggested

James Gareth Endicott James Gareth Endicott (December 24, 1898 – November 27, 1993) was a Canadian Christian minister, missionary, and socialist. Family and early life Endicott was born in Sichuan Province, China, the third of five children to a Methodist mis ...

resign as president of the

Canadian Peace Congress The Canadian Peace Congress (abbr. CPCon) is an anti-imperialist group founded in 1949 by Canadian minister James Gareth Endicott in response to the new dangers to peace posed because of the Cold War. It described itself as "a place where people ...

because he had drawn anti-Soviet and pro-

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

views, to which Endicott consented. Kashtan retired as party leader in 1988 and was replaced by

George Hewison George Hewison (born 1944) is a Canadian folk singer, trade unionist and former politician. He was formerly a long-time member of the Communist Party of Canada and served as the party's general secretary from 1988 to 1992. Early life Hewison's ...

. In the early 1990s, following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, Hewison and his supporters attempted to move the Communist Party away from Marxism-Leninism and towards

social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

in light of the failure of Soviet-style Communism. Kashtan came out of retirement to fight the changes, along with future Party leader and then member of the Central Executive,

Elizabeth Rowley Elizabeth Rowley (born c. 1949) is the current leader of the Communist Party of Canada. A long-time politician, writer, and political activist, Rowley served as a school trustee in the former Toronto borough of East York. Before becoming leader ...

. His views on the Soviet-Afghan war can be summarized in his 1980 speech at

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

The Soviet Union's involvement Afghanistan was not an act of
aggression Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reacti ...
or intervention ... Rather, the Soviet Union was honoring a 1978 treaty with Afghanistan, which stipulated that Afghanistan could ask the U.S.S.R. for military aid ... He cited resistance to the revolution by the land-owning and capitalist classes as an internal factor. And continuing interference in the affairs of Afghanistan by Cpina 'recte''_China.html"_;"title="China.html"_;"title="'recte''_China">'recte''_China">China.html"_;"title="'recte''_China">'recte''_
'recte''_China.html"_;"title="China.html"_;"title="'recte''_China">'recte''_China">China.html"_;"title="'recte''_China">'recte''_China_Pakistan">China">'recte''_China.html"_;"title="China.html"_;"title="'recte''_China">'recte''_China">China.html"_;"title="'recte''_China">'recte''_China_Pakistan,_as_well_as_the_Central_Intelligence_Agency.html" "title="China_Pakistan.html" ;"title="China">'recte''_China.html" ;"title="China.html" ;"title="'recte'' China">'recte'' China">China.html" ;"title="'recte'' China">'recte'' China Pakistan">China">'recte''_China.html" ;"title="China.html" ;"title="'recte'' China">'recte'' China">China.html" ;"title="'recte'' China">'recte'' China Pakistan, as well as the Central Intelligence Agency">CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
, is an external reason mentioned by Kashtan.

Electoral record

References