04) ONTARIO COMMUNISTS GEAR UP FOR OCTOBER ELECTION
PV Ontario Bureau
The Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) is kicking off a campaign to help block Tim Hudak's Tories from winning the October 6 provincial election. The Tories are "by far the greatest threat to democracy, to labour and to working people in this province," warns CPC(O) leader Liz Rowley, who notes that working people are also "extremely angry at the McGuinty Liberals, and rightfully so."
Meanwhile, the Ontario NDP remains "an unpredictable and weak partner for labour at a time when strength, dependability and durability are key assets," says Rowley, adding that "how the NDP defines the main target in the election will determine a lot."
"The Communist Party will advise working people that the best outcome in this election would be a minority government reliant on a strong progressive bloc in the Legislature and subject to mass public pressure from a people's coalition of forces outside the Legislature," Rowley says. "Electing Communists would fundamentally change politics for the better and qualitatively strengthen the fight for democratic and progressive change in this province,"
The CPC (Ontario) is the only party fighting to repeal the Harmonized Sales Tax and replace it by doubling the corporate income tax rate, cancelling corporate tax cuts, restoring the capital tax, collecting deferred corporate taxes, and introducing wealth and inheritance taxes on estates over $750,000.
"We need a progressive tax system based on ability to pay," says Guelph candidate Drew Garvie, campaigning to make post-secondary education accessible to students by eliminating tuition fees.
The Communist Party is fighting for full employment policies to put Ontario back to work, with plant closure legislation and a plan to protect and expand secondary industry and manufacturing.
The Party calls to nationalize US Steel operations in Ontario, to develop a publicly owned basic steel industry, and to take over the Canadian operations of GM, Chrysler and Ford. It advocates nationalization and regulation of Ontario's natural and energy resources, and investment in solar, wind and thermal energy, while closing down nuclear and coal-fired operations.
The Communist platform urges action to restore worker pensions, and to build a Canadian car that is small, affordable, fuel-efficient and environmentally sustainable.
On social issues, the CPC (Ontario) is campaigning for social housing, real rent controls, public child care at a cost of $7 per child, per day, a guaranteed annual income above the poverty line, and substantially increased funding for health, education, and social programs. The Party urges immediate action to raise living standards and quality of life of Aboriginal Peoples living on and off reserve, and a just and early settlement of land claims.
"Aboriginal People's have the same rights to clean water, good housing, quality public and post‑secondary education, and quality of life as everyone else. The province must act to deliver it now," says Hamilton candidate Rick Gunderman.
The Communists sharply oppose the proposed two‑strikes law that will greatly increase the rate of incarceration in provincial super‑jails, the proposed lifetime ban on those convicted of welfare fraud; the one year ban on welfare eligibility for those moving into the province, and special new police powers to end Aboriginal land reclamations and to aggressively intervene on reserve.
The Party supports a new financial deal to municipalities, uploading costs of health, housing, transportation, welfare, delivering needs‑based statutory grants, and transferring 50% of road user taxes to cities. The Party would also remove education from the property tax.
The CPC (Ontario) is fighting for a $19 minimum wage, universal pay and employment equity, and labour legislation to protect workers and workers' rights including anti‑scab laws. Other platform points include improved health and safety laws, a shorter work week with no loss in take‑home pay, early voluntary retirement at 60 with substantially increased pensions, a ban on two‑tier wages and benefits, and a Labour Bill of Rights guaranteeing the right to free collective bargaining, the right to strike, picket and organize.
Saleh Waziruddin, candidate in the Peninsula, says "Low wages and part‑time casual work are killing the future for youth. Young, and not‑so‑young workers need good jobs with good wages. That's the road to real economic recovery in Ontario."
The full program, and the list of candidates will appear on the CPC (Ontario) website.
(The above article is from the August 1-31, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)