William Kashtan became general secretary

General secretary

-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...

 of the Communist Party of Canada

Communist Party of Canada

The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...

 in January 1965, several months following the death of Leslie Morris

Leslie Morris

Leslie Tim Morris was a Welsh-Canadian politician, journalist and long time member of the Communist Party of Canada and, its front group, the Labour-Progressive Party....

. The delay in his assuming the position was due to the opposition of Tim Buck

Tim Buck

Timothy "Tim" Buck was a long-time leader of the Communist Party of Canada...

 to his appointment.
Kashtan never succeeded in winning election to the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

, and retired in 1988. He was an orthodox, pro-Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 Communist and consistently supported the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 through various shifts in policy at the Kremlin. Kashtan opposed Eurocommunism

Eurocommunism

Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties to develop a theory and practice of social transformation that was more relevant in a Western European democracy and less aligned to the influence or control of the Communist Party of the Soviet...

 in the 1970s when many other Communist Parties in the west embraced it.

In 1970, Kashtan spoke out against the Front de libération du Québec

Front de libération du Québec

The Front de libération du Québec was a left-wing Quebecois nationalist and Marxist-Leninist paramilitary group in Quebec, Canada. It was active between 1963 and 1970, and was regarded as a terrorist organization for its violent methods of action...

 (FLQ) group in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, describing it as a terrorist organization and claiming that its methods were not consistent with genuine revolutionary behaviour.

In 1971 he asked James Gareth Endicott

James Gareth Endicott

James Gareth Endicott was a Canadian clergyman, Christian missionary and socialist.- Family and early life :Endicott was born in Szechuan Province, China, the third of five children to a Methodist missionary family and became fluent in Chinese. His family returned to Canada in 1910...

 to resign as president of the Canadian Peace Congress

Canadian Peace Congress

The Canadian Peace Congress is an anti-imperialist group founded in 1949 by Canadian minister James Gareth Endicott in response to the new dangers to peace posed because of the Cold War. It described itself as "a place were people of different views and faiths can meet and discuss world affairs.....

 accusing him of having anti-Soviet and pro-China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 views.

Kashtan retired as party leader in 1988 and was replaced by George Hewison

George Hewison

George Hewison is a former long-time member of the Communist Party of Canada and trade unionist. A second-generation member of the party, Hewison grew up selling the party press and joined the party at the age of 17...

. In the early 1990s, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...

, Hewison and his supporters attempted to move the Communist Party away from Marxism-Leninism

Marxism-Leninism

Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...

 in light of the failure of Soviet-style Communism. Kashtan came out of retirement to fight the changes.