Charter of the Communist Party of Canada

The Charter of the Communist Party of Canada (French: Charte du Parti communiste du Canada), officially the Political Rules and Regulations of the Canadian Proletariat (Règles et régulations politiques du Prolétariat canadien) and internally known by the informal title of Party Charter (Charte partisane/Charte du parti), is the foundational document and regulatory compendium of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist) (CPC-ML), the current ruling political party of the Canadian Republic. It governs both the main federal party and its 18 provincial/territorial branches, and as an official charter is entirely comprehensive, exhaustively listing all routine affairs of the Party and how they are to be conducted as well as virtually all possible extraordinary matters, as well as potential problems and their prescribed solutions and proscribed reactions.

The Party Charter was drafted by CPC–ML founder Hardial Bains between 1966 and 1968, with its final edited and proofread draft unveiled to and ratified by the 1st Party Congress of the CPC–ML in Montréal on 31 March 1970, which is considered the formal date of founding of the CPC–ML, according to an amendment to the Party Charter from 1977. The Party Charter was last amended on 10 June 1988, which included the addition of regulations prohibiting the discrimination of Party members and the refusal of Party membership to persons on the basis of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity; the original draft of the Party Charter already included a similar regulation prohibiting discrimination of actual or potential Party members on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, creed, national origin, or religion (or lack thereof). To date, all prospective members must be at least 18 years of age to be accepted into the ranks of the CPC–ML, although the party funds an affiliated youth group