ABSTRACT
The Communist Party of Canada, founded in 1921, initially spent little time focusing on anti-imperialism or Canada’s place in the world. By 1925, led by Tim Buck and Stewart Smith, it began to call for Canadian independence from the British Empire, while reflecting on its country’s geographical proximity to the United States. When the Comintern redefined Canada as a “secondary imperialist nation” in the Third Period, Smith and Buck questioned the new classification and resisted. It led to a yearlong row and came to define the party as after the party fell into line, the CPC largely parroted Comintern edicts. Furthermore, the CPC had to deal with a predominantly non-English or French Canadian membership that wanted language and cultural autonomy within the party. The party struggled to gain a foothold in French Canada, and refused to recognize self-determination for French Canadians until the Second World War. This revised approach did not mesh with the Comintern’s tactics. The party also had no real platform for Indigenous peoples. This case study shows that the CPC had some freedom to develop its own solutions, but largely followed Comintern edicts and did little more. Smith and his supporters, however, maintained a commitment to Canadian independence and revived their slogan, despite the Comintern’s disagreement, during the Second World War. Only after the Comintern dissolved did the CPC “correct” its tactics again.
