Naturally, Guelph has a Communist Candidate

When we say "Naturally, Guelph has a Communist Candidate," we mean it. The Communist Party of Canada began in a barn in what was once rural Guelph in 1921, and with another Federal race officially underway, it would be almost unnatural if no one locally came forward to carry the pink (o) flag. Now, following in the footsteps of Drew Garvie and Juanita Burnett, Tristan Dineen will be representing Guelph Communists in 2015.

As reported by the Guelph Mercury, Dineen has officially joined the race, making him the first non-mainstream party candidate to join the ballot in Guelph. (Marijuana candidate Kornelis Klevering has announced his intention to run, but has not yet filed his papers.) Dineen is a local activist, a University of Guelph student, and has worked for the Central Student Association at the U of G as Chief Electoral Officer.

 "There's a pretty amazing consensus with regards to mainstream parties when it comes to things like tax cuts for business or energy, things like pipeline construction," Dineen told the Mercury. "We are basically trying to put forward the idea that working people in this country need something more."

 In order to give those working people more, Dineen has a real uphill climb. Garvie won 104 votes in 2011, which was a better showing than 2008 where he only got 77; Marxist-Lenninist did split the vote in '08 though. Scott Gilbert had the best ever showing from a Communist candidate in recent memory in 2006 with 111 votes.

Conservative Gloria Kovach, Liberal Lloyd Longfield, Green Gord Miller, and NDP Andrew Seagram are the other candidates in the race so far. The final day to submit nomination papers is September 28.