The 2026 edition of the Edmonton Communist Summer School was the best one yet. With over 200 in attendance for the weekend of July 4 and 5, this was the largest known Communist meeting in Alberta since at least the 1970s!
Attendees from Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, Medicine Hat, Abbotsford, Kelowna, Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg, Regina, Kingston, Toronto and many more packed into the community centre where the school was held.
And this should not be surprising. Capitalism is in a deep crisis. From the wars in the Middle East, to the poverty and austerity at home, young people and workers are looking for a way out of this system. With revolutions breaking out in country after country, this year’s school was dubbed “the School of Revolutions,” and included discussions on the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Chinese Revolution of 1925-27.
The school also featured discussions on the Role of the Individual in History, Marxism vs Anarchism, and the Communist approach to the question of Alberta separatism and Indigenous liberation. The discussions were lively with dozens of newer participants asking questions and contributing to the discussions.
The ultimate goal of this school was to empower those present with the understanding that they can play a role in history. In particular, the discussions on the Role of the Individual in history and the Russian Revolution helped participants understand the role that they as Communists need to play in order to ensure that we end this system once and for all.
The crisis of capitalism is creating the conditions for revolution all over the globe. In this sense, revolution is inevitable. But what we see throughout history is that the victory of the revolution is not. It is the job of Communists to build steeled cadres organized in a revolutionary party prior to the revolution, to lead the working masses to victory.
Every Communist present took this call to action seriously. From the presentations and discussions to the casual conversations at lunch and on breaks, the politics of revolution permeated the weekend. Participants understood that in order to rise to the challenge posed by history, they need to study the ideas of Marxism. It is therefore unsurprising that literature sales were more than double last year at $6700. We also collected merchandise sales of over $2600.
While many see Alberta as a conservative backwater, the Revolutionary Communist Party is proving that working class people are looking for a way out of the blind alley of capitalism everywhere. Marxists are the only ones that provide a clear explanation and a road forward. If you are a Communist in the prairies, reach out to us and help us build the party that will put an end to this system once and for all!
