By David MacGillivray
The Communist Party isn’t looking for a revolution, they just want to send a message to the wilting left wing of Ontario politics.
The Communist platform is the only one to offer a “qualitative” difference between the candidates, says Marvin Glass, the party’s Ottawa Centre candidate.
“Elections aren’t horse races,” says Glass. “They’re a chance for candidates to say what they stand for. We are offering a definitive rejection of the neo-conservative agenda.”
The Communist platform covers two of the most contentious issues in Ottawa Centre, health and education spending.
The Communists are promising to restore funding to healthcare, prevent private corporations from taking over home care and ambulance services, and to extend OHIP coverage to dental and eye care.
For education they are promising to keep schools open, create a universal public school board system, and eliminate university tuition fees.
“I used to think students were sleeping through my classes because I was boring. I discovered they were sleeping through my classes because they were working two jobs and taking classes full-time,” he says.
Also included in the platform are reduced work week legislation, increased funding for women’s shelters and programs, and giving unions huge powers to strike and picket.
To fund their promises the Communist Party intend to “tax the greedy, not the needy,” by creating a heavy tax burden for people and corporations making more than $40,000 a year.
Glass, 56, is a professor of Philosophy at Carleton University. He has run in two previous provincial elections and three federal elections since 1975. He sits on the steering committee of the Ottawa Disarmament Coalition and Ottawa-Cuba Connections.
Glass says he is enjoying more support than he’s seen before, and is hoping to double his previous results on election day.
He has never won more than 300 votes in previous attempts at a provincial seat. This time around, he says 700 votes wouldn’t be far-fetched.
“I’ve had five requests for lawn signs this year. I’ve never had requests for lawn signs before,” he laughs.
He ascribes the recent upswing in support as a result of people voting against the NDP and their platform. A platform that more resembles the Liberals than a party of the working class.
“Unless people start voting communist, working people are in big trouble. The NDP doesn’t protect their interests anymore. You have an NDP government in Manitoba taking away the right to strike for nurses for example. An N-D-P government,” he says incredulously.