CanadaFifth Congress of the Revolutionary Student Movement

Update!!! The RSM Coordinating Committee has made the decision to postpone the upcoming Congress to the weekend of October 31-November 1. This will give everyone–the Coordinating Committee, the sections, groups outside of the RSM, etc.–more time to prepare in order to ensure that the Congress is a success. See you in October!
The Revolutionary Student Movement (RSM) is pleased to announce that we will be holding our Fifth Pan-Canadian Congress in Ottawa on October 31-November 1! The RSM is the Canada-wide organization of revolutionary and anti-capitalist youth and students. We first came together as a collection of small groups from Ontario and Quebec in December of 2012. We now exist in every major region of the country, with over 10 different sections. We organize in CEGEPS, colleges, high-schools, and universities. We are against exploitation, alienation, and oppression in all its forms; in short, our goal is to contribute to the struggle against capitalism by organizing working-class students towards revolution.
Since our last Congress in late 2014, a lot has changed. We have several new chapters, including for the first time ever a section in Atlantic Canada. As a result, in two and a half years the RSM has grown to be the largest left-wing student organization in Canada. This shows that working-class students are radicalizing as austerity grows ever uglier and attacks our already crumbling living standards. These students are looking for real solutions to their problems; not simply the tired platitudes and failed strategies of the reformist student movement.
At our last Congress we decided to organize a Pan-Canadian Day of Action against austerity and in solidarity with the student strike in Quebec. This came to fruition on March 24 when 12,000 students in 15 different cities across Canada responded to our call. Actions included a large “night demonstration” in Montreal in support of striking students, as well as an historic “long march” from York to the University of Toronto in support of striking academic workers at both schools. For the first time ever, rather than simply responding to events as they arose, the RSM took the lead and pushed the struggle forward across Canada. This represents an important advance in our influence and practice.
Going into our Fifth Congress, our work is far from over. Austerity continues to undermine the living standards of students and workers across Canada. The labour movement is unable to respond to capital’s renewed assault on even the smallest concessions won by workers. Indigenous peoples continue to be brutalized by an ongoing process of colonialism, which not only results in a total lack of self-determination, but also deplorable living conditions–even after the government has finally admitted to genocide! Rising tensions internationally between various imperialisms–principally American and Chinese, but Canadian imperialism as well–raise the spectre of another massive war for the first time in generations. The student movement in Quebec appears to be in temporary retreat, and the bureaucratic “student movement” in the rest of Canada continues to stagnate. Now more than ever the necessity of a revolutionary and militant student movement is clear.
With this in mind, we have set the following goals for our upcoming Congress:

• Advance and strengthen our anti-settler colonial, anti-imperialist, and anti-capitalist political perspectives on the situation of youth and students in Canada;
• Further develop our analysis of the role of revolutionary students in advancing the indigenous struggle for self-determination;
• Establish a plan to develop a Pan-Canadian platform that encompasses the revolutionary demands of students from across Canada;
• Develop a comprehensive plan to create the conditions for student strikes across Canada;
• Unify revolutionary students into the RSM, especially in Western Canada.

To this end, we invite all sections of the RSM to prepare resolutions, dealing with these themes or others, and submit them for discussion at the Congress.
We invite all RSM sections to send delegates to the Congress. Details will follow regarding delegate selection procedures.
We invite all supporters of the RSM to form new sections before the upcoming Congress, and apply to send delegates.
We invite existing groups to vote on joining the RSM to participate in the upcoming Congress, so as to strengthen the movement of revolutionary students.
And finally, we invite anyone who is interested in our practice and political line to send observers to the Fifth Congress, so as to better understand what we’re about.
The development of the revolutionary movement in Canada–both among students and among workers more broadly–is advancing by leaps and bounds. We invite you to become a part of the struggle.
If you or your organization is interested in participating, email: info@mer-rsm.ca.
See you in Ottawa!