August 16th 2015
The Communist Party of Canada released its 21-point federal election platform this week and announced that it will field 28 candidates in selected ridings across the country, from the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland, to Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Party leader Miguel Figueroa said that the party’s platform is very comprehensive in scope, covering such matters as defence and foreign policy issues, and the fate of the global environment, to the state of the domestic economy, the need for quality, full-time jobs, and the future of Canada’s public health, the CPP and other social programs and services.
The Communist Party is also concerned about the sharpening attack on civil, labour and democratic rights, the equality of women, and the need for fundamental constitutional change in Canada to recognize the full equality of Aboriginal peoples and Quebec in a new, equal and voluntary partnership.
“There is one unifying theme that runs through all of our platform positions and demands, however,” stated the CP leader. “And that is the need for fundamental – not cosmetic – change; one which will take our country in a new, progressive direction, based on putting people’s needs before corporate greed.”
“We are also very enthusiastic about the team of candidates which we’re presenting in this campaign, including a number of Aboriginal workers, youth and student activists and trade union militants.”
Figueroa said that this reflects the regeneration and growth of the Communist Party in recent years, as capitalism in Canada and internationally goes into a deepening crisis and more people are searching for a systemic alternative.
“Everywhere, the income/wealth gap between the vast majority of working people and a handful of the super-rich continues to widen. Today, the top 1% own and control 50% of the entire wealth of our planet, while billions go hungry. Racism and intolerance are spreading, and the threat of fascism is rearing its ugly head. This global crisis is not only about government policies – it is about capitalism itself.”
Figueroa notes that his party and candidates face an uphill battle to win public attention and garner votes in the campaign, because of the massive resources of the Conservatives and the ‘mainstream opposition’ parties, the marginalization of the Communists and other smaller parties by the corporate media, and the ‘first-past-the-post’ electoral system which herds voters to cast their ballots for the lesser of two evils, rather than what they really want.
“But we are confident that our policies and our candidates will have a bigger impact on the campaign this time around,” the Communist leader said, “because more and more people are now dismissing old-style anti-communism and are seriously considering the socialist alternative.”
“Voting Communist sends a clear and unmistakable message that another Canada – and a better world – is necessary, urgent and worth fighting for. We invite all those convinced of the need for fundamental change to join us in the struggle for a better future – on October 19th and afterward!”
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For more information, visit the Communist Party’s website at www.communist-party.ca, or contact our main office at 290A Danforth Ave., Toronto, ON M4K 1N6; 416-469-2446; or info@cpc-pcc.ca.