The Communist Party of Canada-Ontario is running 12 candidates in the provincial election that began May 4. Several of these are in Toronto with others in Ottawa, Guelph, Waterloo, Kingston, St. Catharines and Hamilton. Provincial party leader Drew Garvie is representing them in Toronto's Beaches-East York race.
Full candidate list: Candidates - Ontario Election 2022 - Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) (communistpartyontario.ca)
The Communist platform proposes a number of important and radical policies in areas related to job creation, raising wages and incomes, progressive tax reform, a massive expansion of public services, a new deal for cities, climate and environmental justice, public ownership and democratic control of the economy, justice for Indigenous peoples, equality rights and others.
For their full platform see: Platform: A People's Alternative for Ontario - Communist Party of Canada (Ontario)
Their opening election message notes the damage that the reactionary Ford government has done to the province.
Ontario cannot afford more Ford. For four years the working class has been under sharp attack by one of the most right-wing governments in Ontario’s history. This has had a detrimental impact on working people’s wages and living standards and has accelerated environmental destruction and the growth of inequality, racism and hate. The backdrop to this is the pandemic which has resulted in the deaths of well over 12,000 people in Ontario, including more than 4,000 residents of long-term care. We have begun to see a renewed fightback, including strikes for higher wages and calls to put LTC under public ownership. It’s time to put people and the planet before profit.
They warn that:
The Ford government represents Big Business in the province and if re-elected it will double down on austerity to ensure that working class people, especially Indigenous peoples, women, seniors, and racialized communities, will continue to pay for increased corporate profits. The Conservatives must be defeated in order to achieve any meaningful improvements to the lives of working people.
Often people will ask what voting Communist will accomplish given that it is unlikely a Communist candidate will win in Ontario at the moment. But it sends a very clear message rejecting capitalism and the mainstream parties which all embrace it.
As the party puts it:
Voting Communist sends the clearest message in favor of a People’s Alternative for Ontario, which contains policies that are desperately needed.
However, these policies on their own won’t solve the fundamental problem of capitalism. It is clear that the capitalist system and the genocidal legacy of colonialism offer no future. Only socialism can build a society where the needs of people and the environment are in harmony and where working people are in the driver’s seat. Socialism is the aim of the Communist Party. Your support helps build a stronger movement for socialism.