Not all tyrants are communist

VIMY RIDGE, France -- In the March throne speech, Governor General Michaëlle Jean reported that the federal government will support a national monument for the victims of communism in Ottawa. The decision to establish this memorial merits further reflection by the people of Canada.

A national memorial, of course, is more than a sculpture. It is a symbol -- of an event or person worth remembering, or an ideal to be strived for. A national memorial unifies a nation in proclaiming the value of whatever is memorialized as deserving of commemoration for generations to come.

The establishment of any monument, therefore, should not be made lightly, but carefully planned to appropriately recognize past circumstance and encourage the establishment of a better future.

Undoubtedly, those who suffered at the hands of Josef Stalin and others like him deserve to be remembered. Millions of men, women, and children were killed due to the measures imposed by the Soviet regime and other national governing parties throughout the past century. Yet, modern history has, sadly, left us with countless similar instances where innocent people lost their lives or dignity because of the horrendous actions of others.

From the 16th to the 19th centuries, 12 million people were shipped as slaves to the Americas -- including Canada -- and forced to work under brutal conditions until death.

In the 20th century, leaders of various political stripes murdered and tortured their people. Military dictators and revolutionaries in Latin America struck down citizens in the millions, while the Middle East, Asia, and Africa have also seen their share of oppression. According to Human Rights Watch, the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, for example, saw the Hutu-dominated government kill more than 800,000 Tutsis--about 16 per cent of the Rwandan population at that time -- in just 100 days.

Native people in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australia were killed or interned repeatedly over hundreds of years of colonial rule. Globally, men and women continue to be abused because of their skin colour, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs. Indeed, it would be difficult to find even one country that has not dealt with some form of persecution inflicted on a group of its people simply for being different.

Whether ten people or ten million, those who suffered in all of these tragedies are equally deserving of individual tribute. Unfortunately, this is impossible. Any city would be overwhelmed if it attempted to erect a monument for each and every human-induced disaster of the recent past. We are, therefore, forced to become selective. We must choose which atrocities on this depressingly long list are most appropriate for Canadian commemoration.

As such, we perhaps ought to turn to our own past first, by building a memorial to the victims of colonialism or slavery, prior to looking outward and erecting a memorial to the victims of communism. In fact, with the federal government recently recognizing its role in the development of residential schools, a permanent monument acknowledging this dark chapter of our history would be quite fitting.

If we do eventually decide to commemorate those who lost their lives in Eastern Europe and Asia, however, we should accurately represent the cause of their deaths. Designing a memorial to the "victims of communism" is rather misleading, as the repressive and brutal regimes found in Eastern Europe and elsewhere from 1917 onward were not based on the ideals laid out by the early founders of communist ideology.

While Stalin used violent despotism, many contemporary communist-based policies are steeped in peaceful and respectful democratic processes. Council communism encourages workers' cooperatives and democratic workers' councils in running the economy, opposing any form of authoritarian planned economics. Similarly, Libertarian Marxism emphasizes the ability of workers to forge their own destiny without a revolutionary party or state.

Claiming communism as an idea was the cause of so much anguish is therefore akin to arguing that Christianity ought to be rejected because of the abuses made by people who hold its faith. While many have used God's word and law as grounds for repression and exploitation, the religion teaches tolerance and understanding.

Though both Christianity and communism have been used to justify numerous atrocities, the beliefs themselves should be separated from a denunciation of the people who distorted them for their own heinous purpose.

Still today, large numbers of people desire greater economic democracy and worker self-control. They would point out that true communism is about debating how best to provide such power to ordinary citizens, and to spurn this ideology in the abstract denies us the opportunity to explore its insight on positive ideals -- such as universal education or a progressive income tax system -- that many people, including Canadians, embrace.

Additionally, we might consider that some governments, most notably in China, still define themselves as communist. If we make the blanket implication that communism in all forms is to be loathed, we risk isolating those citizens and governing officials who believe in aspects of this ideological perspective -- making it difficult to work with them on issues such as human rights or development.

Faced with the above considerations, we must ask how best to build a monument that properly commemorates past events. If the decision is made to maintain a focus solely on remembering those who lost their lives under Soviet or Maoist rule, then at very least the title of the memorial should be clarified.

A superior approach, however, would be to erect an entirely different monument in Ottawa: the Canadian "memorial to the victims of crimes against humanity."

This all-encompassing entity would appropriately pay homage to all who have suffered at the hands of others. Furthermore, it would emphasize that ultimately it is not ideas which cause suffering, but the decisions and actions of those who wield them.

Done in such an unbiased manner, this national monument could be a symbol of humanity's common compassion in the pursuit of honest debate, thoughtful reflection, and universal social justice. If there is one thing we could use a little more of these days, it is a focus on what bonds us as a species.

A memorial to the victims of crimes against humanity could be a small but meaningful Canadian contribution to such an objective.

Benjamin M. Gillies, who graduated from the University of Manitoba with an advanced degree in global political economy, wrote this while working with Veterans Affairs Canada at Vimy Ridge National Historic Site in France.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 29, 2010 h11