As per usual with an election campaign, the party leaders are coming through town for a visit: Kathleen Wynne's been here, so has Tim Hudak and Andrea Horwath, and Micke Shreiner's been here the whole time. Next up is Liz Rowley, leader of the Communist Party of Ontario. She always stops by in the course of the campaign, and the 2014 race is no exception with a visit to the University of Guelph campus, and Guelph candidate Juanita Burnett, tomorrow night.
The press release from the CPO campaign is below, and if you're interested, you can listed to my podcast interview with Rowley during the 2011 Provincial campaign here.
This provincial election is an important one for working people. Federal and provincial austerity policies are driving Ontario into another deep economic crisis. There is a huge gap between the rich and the rest. Poverty is on the rise and unemployment remains staggeringly high. Austerity policies are the order of the day for all the parties in the Legislature. The Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) and their leader Elizabeth Rowley are telling Ontarians that fundamental change is “both possible and urgently needed”.
Elizabeth Rowley is visiting Guelph on June 5th and will be meeting with supporters and community members at 6 pm in University Centre room 442 at the University of Guelph. Rowley is visiting seven cities across Ontario where her party is running eleven candidates.
“The Liberals sorry record starts with their broken promises to reverse the destructive legacy of the last Tory government, while in fact they’ve continued down the same pro-corporate path of privatization and belt-tightening,” said Elizabeth Rowley, Provincial leader of the Communist Party of Canada (Ontario).
While many Ontarians are justifiably angry with the Liberals, the main danger is the possible election of a Tim Hudak Conservative Government. “Their agenda is no secret, and it starts with 100,000 lay-offs in the public sector, slashing wages, demolishing public services, healthcare and education, smashing labour and democratic rights and turning the clock back 75 years,” stated Rowley.
Meanwhile the NDP has raced to the right on issues such as the minimum wage, taxation and government spending. The Communist Party is offering a fundamentally different set of policies “to deliver an agenda that serves people’s needs and curbs corporate greed”.
Rowley described the Communist election campaign as providing an alternative that many people are responding warmly to: “We need a real break with austerity governments in order to create good jobs and raise wages and living standards for working people in Ontario. We need MPPs who will join with unions and people’s movements and fight to curb corporate power and implement a progressive agenda.”
The Communist Party candidates will fight for a People’s Agenda for Ontario:
The Communist Party is running 11 candidates in Ontario:
- Good jobs, better pensions, a livable minimum wage
- An industrial and manufacturing strategy for Ontario
- Affordable housing and rent controls
- Quality public services, healthcare and hospitals
- One universal, quality, secular education system
- A quality, affordable public childcare system
- A healthy, sustainable environment
- Public auto insurance & improved public transit
- Public power and lower rates
- Strong labour, democratic and equality rights
- Democratic electoral reform
- Tax relief for working people – tax corporations and the wealthy
- Brampton Springdale – Elizabeth Hill
- Guelph – Juanita Burnett
- Hamilton Centre – Bob Mann
- London North Centre – Dave McKee
- Ottawa Centre – Larry Wasslen
- Ottawa South – Espoir Manirambona
- St. Catharines – Saleh Waziruddin
- Toronto Centre – Drew Garvie
- Toronto Danforth – Elizabeth Rowley
- Davenport – Mariam Ahmad
- Don Valley West – Dimitrios (Jim) Kabitsis
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