Why even the polls put out by NDP'ers show "strategic voting" makes NO sense for St Catharines

Many St Catharines NDP supporters are publicizing a poll/projection which claims a 7.6% lead for the NDP over the PC candidate in St Catharines, and both far ahead of the Liberal incumbent. This is so far over the margin of error of 3.9% that it makes no sense to vote "strategically" if you don't agree with the NDP as you'll be wasting your vote, they don't need it! To make your vote truly count vote for what you believe in. But don't just take my word for it, take a look at what St Catharines NDP supporters were saying about so-called "strategic voting" just 3 years ago! https://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/news-story/8183384--people-are-voting-for-what-they-don-t-want-/

An inspiring and re-energizing text message from a voter

An example of many text messages and phone calls I have received in the campaign which confirm how worthwhile it is to run as a Communist!

St Catharines Standard profile for Communist Party Candidate in St Catharines Riding

The St Catharines Standard profile by Grant LaFleche for Saleh Waziruddin, Communist candidate in the St Catharines riding

https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/8653287-st-catharines-riding-profile/

Saleh Waziruddin, Communist

Age: 40

Occupation: Unemployed

Family: Parents and two adult sisters

Previous political experience: Two years' management experience in a small municipal government, ran twice before, provincially and federally

Community work: Activist in $15 minimum wage and Cuba, Indigenous and Palestine solidarity groups. Past volunteer English teacher to seasonal farmworkers.

Top issue: Defending and extending the new minimum wage and labour standards, e.g. bring back part-timers' holiday pay gains.

Why are you running: To represent those conscripted into poverty and unemployment, defending and extended new labour rights.

Why should voters choose you: If you agree with my platform then voting Communist is the best way to make your vote count, anything else is a wasted vote.

Contact info:Saleh@communistpartyontario.ca, 289-990-7683, website: http://communistpartyontario.ca/candidates/vote-saleh-waziruddin-in-st-catharines and Niagaracommunists.blogspot.com, Twitter: @Communist4StCat

St Catharines Canvassing Team Distributes 800 Communist Party Leaflets

Congratulations to the St Catharines Communist Party campaign canvassing duo for distributing an amazing 800 election leaflets this afternoon!

Radio interview with Tom McConnell of CKTB 610 AM Newstalk radio

Here is an audio clip of my interview on Thursday, May 31, 2018 shortly after noon with Tom McConnell of CKTB 610 AM NewsTalk radio

Success in entering Chamber of Commerce debate, best audience response

After a social media, email and phone-in campaign succeeded in getting the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce to include me in their St Catharines candidates debate after initially excluding me, the St Catharines Standard reported that I got the best audience response:

"Waziruddin got the most enthusiastic response from the small audience when he said the Tories' health care plan is like Donald Trump tax returns: "It might never be released.""

From https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/8640455-few-attend-lackluster-st-catharines-riding-debate/

I am grateful to the Chamber for agreeing to include me in the debate. The Chambers of Commerce of the neighboring Niagara ridings have always included all candidates and St Catharines voters are entitled to the same.

Communist party represented in St. Catharines riding

From https://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/8637564-communist-party-represented-in-st-catharines-riding/

12:45 PM by Scott Rosts Niagara This Week - St. Catharines

Saleh Waziruddin will once again be carrying the Communist party banner in St. Catharines.

The St. Catharines resident has previously ran twice in the riding provincially and federally, and continues to be passionate about the party’s platform and advocate or change.

“I am running because we need MPPs who represent the majority of us conscripted into poverty and unemployment, starting with defending and extending the new minimum wage and labour standards” said Waziruddin.

“The Liberal government has already taken away holiday pay from part-time workers, saying it's not fair to full timers, but that's not true — it doesn't affect full-timers,” he added. “If you work you should be paid for the holiday, that's the point of having stat holidays.”

He is also advocating for the elimination of “deeming” deductions of minimum wage from injured workers' compensation because they are assumed or “deemed” to working a minimum-wage job.

Waziruddin has also set his sights on reform to the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority board. He says the board should be replaced, part of a special resolution the Communist party called for in June 2017.

“They're supposed to be protecting the environment,” he said, adding they appear more focused on economic development. “They're giving away land which will choke off the few remaining wetlands we have left in the world. By treaty obligations there is supposed to more consultation with First Nations, which has not been done.”

Waziruddin encourages residents to familiarize themselves with the party’s plan at http://communistpartyontario.ca. From electoral reform job creation, to expanding health care to include full coverage of services such as dental care, vision care, pharmacare, mental health care and long-term care, to developing a new funding program for a proposed, single, secular public school system, he said there are many planks that appeal to electors in Ontario. There is also a pledge to build 200,000 affordable housing units over four years, the introduction of free public child care available 24 hours a day, transit expansion and enhanced municipal funding.

The party, he said, will finance its platform through doubling the corporate tax rate, which Waziruddin said would still be low for industrialized countries, and restoring the corporate capital tax which was dropped to zero in 2010.

“Instead of giving away the wealth we create to corporations which were sitting on the money instead of investing it, we should take it back for our basic needs,” he said.

Waziruddin says he hopes residents will see the benefits of a Communist choice at Queen’s Park.

“Look at our platform. It’s policies which take care of all peoples’ needs,” he said, adding voters who want to “make their vote count” should look to the Communists.

Great day putting up lawn signs in Niagara

It was a great day canvassing and putting up Vote Communist signs in Niagara!

MEDIA RELEASE: Saleh Waziruddin is the Communist Party candidate for St. Catharines, Running to Defend and Extend new Minimum Wage and Labour Standards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 19, 2018

MEDIA RELEASE: Saleh Waziruddin is the Communist Party candidate for St. Catharines, Running to Defend and Extend new Minimum Wage and Labour Standards

ST CATHARINES, ON – Saleh Waziruddin is the Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) candidate for the St. Catharines riding, one of 12 candidates the party is running in the Ontario election. “I am running because we need MPP's who represent the majority of us conscripted into poverty and unemployment, starting with defending and extending the new minimum wage and labour standards” said Saleh Waziruddin.

“The Liberal government has already taken away holiday pay from part time workers saying it's not fair to full timers, but that's not true it doesn't effect full timers. If you work you should be paid for the holiday, that's the point of having stat holidays!” said Saleh.

“Autoworkers, including people who make parts or store them in warehouses, are excluded from getting 10 sick days without expensive doctor's notes because the government is telling us autoworkers have it made. That's just not true, they've made lots of concession and now we have 2^nd and 3^rd tier workers who won't even make a regular wage for 10 years.”

Saleh also wants to get rid of “deeming” where the minimum wage is deducted from injured workers' compensation because they are assumed or “deemed” to working a minimum wage job. “Working a minimum wage job often makes the injuries worse, as we've seen from cases right here in St. Catharines” Saleh argued.

Saleh is also campaigning to replace the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority board, which the Communist Party called for in a special resolution on June 11, 2017 (http://communistpartyontario.ca/special-resolution-on-the-niagara-peninsula-conservation-authority/). “They're supposed to be protecting the environment but instead they say their job is economic development which is not what the law says. They're giving away land which will choke off the few remaining wetlands we have left in the world. By treaty obligations there is supposed to more consultation with First Nations which has not been done” complained Saleh.

The Communist Party, Canada's second oldest party, has elected two Ontario MPP's before, and will finance its platform through doubling the corporate tax rate, which would still be low for industrialized countries, and restoring the corporate capital tax which was dropped to zero in 2010. “Instead of giving away the wealth we create to corporations which were sitting on the money instead of investing it, we should take it back for our basic needs” Saleh explained.

Saleh Waziruddin lives in St. Catharines where he previously worked at a call centre for nine years. Saleh has run twice in the riding provincially and federally. He has two years of management experience in municipal government and has an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering and Public Policy & Management from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the executive committees of the Canadian Network on Cuba and Canadian Peace Congress, and has been involved in local campaigns for raising the minimum wage and labour standards, as well as for Indigenous and Palestine solidarity.

Today I pledge to Fix Our Schools and Not a Second Longer to improve health care

Today I was the first St Catharines MPP to sign the pledge to Fix Our Schools, and also signed the pledge for Not a Second Longer for fully funded health care: fully public health care expanded to dental, vision, pharma, and mental health and long term care matched to needs not what's left over after giving over corporate tax cuts to the rich.

My 2 minute spot on YourTV Niagara after the debate

YourTV Niagara (formerly Cogeco) excluded me again from the main debate after including me in an earlier election. They gave me a 2 minute spot which aired immediately after the debate where I was able to raise many of the issues I am campaigning on.

The 2 minute clip is also on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYtSyjHImEE&t=45s

I am officially nominated!

I am grateful to comrades, supporters, friends, and voters in the St. Catharines for nominating me for the ballot!

Success in getting included in health care debate after being initially excluded!

Although every other (8) health coalition in Ontario is inviting "ALL" candidates, the local health coalition, together with the local Council of Canadians, Retired Teachers of Ontario, and CARP (formerly Canadian Association of Retired Persons) groups, decided to exclude me. I was included earlier in 2015 and also in 2011, although after campaigning after being initially excluded. My campaign leafletted the meeting and I protested as the meeting was starting, and won overwhelming support from the attendees as well as the other candidates. After doing a vote count the organizers agreed to include me! I am grateful to attendees, voters, and candidates for your support.

St Catharines Standard profile

 I missed the deadline for the profile but here are my answers:

 

Name: Saleh Waziruddin

 

Party: Communist Party of Canada

 

Age: 37

 

Occupation: Call centre worker

 

Family: parents and two sisters

 

Lives: Niagara Falls, work in St. Catharines and in the process of moving

 

Political experience: two years experience as manager of two departments in a municipal government, past federal and provincial candidate and campaign manager, Canada-wide executive committee member of Canadian Peace Congress and Canadian Network on Cuba

 

Contact:

 

289 697 9169

 

saleh@votecommunist.ca

 

web site http://communist-party.ca/SalehWaziruddin

 

twitter and instagram: @Communist4StCat

 

Facebook.com/SalehWaziruddin

 

mail:

 

5 Carriage Rd #705

St. Catharines, ON L2P 3K2

 

Why I am seeking office:

 

Rick Dykstra doesn't have anything real to show for the last decade he has been in office.  He brings in grants but they don't lead to any sustainable jobs.  Last election he touted millions of dollars for Silicon Knights which we were told was going to be the next GM, but after the election it went bust and laid off staff.  One grant he brought in did create jobs, which was for BUILT (Bulding Up Individuals through Learning and Teamwork) which found work for people suffering from mental health problems. But even though it was more than paying for itself Dykstra couldn't save it from the Conversative government's chopping block because there wasn't enough money to cover needs.  We needed him then but he failed us.

 

Instead of trying get corporations to invest, which they won't do in a recession because they can't profit, through giving away tax breaks by cutting public services we need, we use the lost revenue for public investment.  This is the only way to get sustainable good jobs.  I am the only candidate offering this solution.

 

Instead of letting companies pack up because workers won't take 50% pay cuts, like in London, we should use state power to prevent closures of viable plants and run them ourselves if the corporations won't.

 

Instead of voting for something you don't want just to block someone else, vote for what you want.  Voting Communist puts everyone else on notice that you want fundamental change from today's destructive policies.

Bullet News Niagara profile

Bullet News Niagara profile

Saleh Waziruddin, Communist, STC

By Bullet News October 2, 2015

Share

NIAGARA - Bullet News asked our local federal election candidates to complete a questionnaire.
In no specific order, we present the candidates' answers for you here.
Today’s profile: Saleh Waziruddin, Communist Party candidate for St. Catharines riding.
* Name: Saleh Waziruddin
* Age: 37
* Occupation: Call centre worker, I fix cable boxes over the phone so people can watch TV.

 

* Federal Riding: St. Catharines

* Political Party: Communist Party of Canada

* Political Experience: Party activist for over a decade including on provincial and federal leading committees. Two years municipal government experience at the department head-level in a small town. On the Canada-level executive committees of the Canadian Peace Congress and the Canadian Network on Cuba.

* Why do you want to serve as an MP for your riding?
All our MP Rick Dykstra has to show after 10 years of representing us is superficial grants that haven't created sustainable quality jobs. In the last election he touted a $4 million dollar grant for the video game company Silicon Knights, which we were told was going to be the next GM, to make a video game, but after the election it laid off most of the staff and went bankrupt. In this election Dykstra's told us GM is making a big announcement, which has turned out to be investment in the plant but again without any jobs to show for it.
Instead, I want to use the power of an MP to bring public investment which will bring good jobs for the foreseeable future, and to use legislation to stop profitable plants from closing just because the workers won't take 50% pay cuts or have two-tiered pensions.

* What personal attributes will help you in serving as an MP?
I don't accept glib answers at face value and dig inquisitively until I find the truth. When our MP Rick Dykstra defended cuts to refugee applicants' health care as fair because, he told us, it is more than what Canadian citizens get, I found out that many refugee applicants don't have the right to work so it's not a fair comparison. The Supreme Court agreed and called these cuts cruel and unusual and forced the government to restore some of the health care.

* What led you to join your political party as opposed to any other party?
At my first party meeting I saw that the Communist Party is where working class people who believe in revolution and organization are. I realized right away I was “home” and decided to join that day.

* Why should voters trust your party leader and party to deliver on its promises?
Despite many opportunities to back down from fighting for the working class over many years the Communist Party and Miguel Figueroa have not given in or given up. When the government de-registered us and other smaller parties to prevent us from running in elections our Party under Miguel Figueroa didn't back down, but went all the way to the Supreme Court, and the Communist Party's victory there makes it possible for you and I to have more choices in our elections, to vote for and run for what we believe in.

* What about your party’s leader do you admire most?
Miguel Figueroa has a talent for finding simple, straight-forward ways to debunk the spin of pro-rich politicians. Check out some of his talks on Youtube!

* Name three specific issues affecting voters at the Niagara level and say what you and your party would do to address these issues.
1. Lack of and loss of good jobs: corporations don't invest when the economy is in recession so public investment is needed to create good jobs which will last. This can be funded by taxing corporations their fair share instead of giving them tax breaks they are just sitting on and not investing. Don't let corporations shut down profitable plants just because workers won't take 50 per cent pay cuts or take quality pensions away from younger/newer workers. If the companies don't want to run the plans, then we will.

2. Poverty: Enact a guaranteed minimum income above the poverty line and implement a Canada-wide housing strategy funded by 1 per cent of the budget going to public and social housing. Instead of holding back the EI fund and forcing the unemployed to take the first job they find even if it's far away from home, fund all job-seekers at 90 per cent of previous or average earnings for the duration of unemployment. In addition, there should be full pay equity for women so all can enjoy access to good jobs.

3. Immigration, specifically migrant labour and refugees: Farm workers who have been coming to Niagara seasonally and have worked here for more years than I have are being forcibly deported under the Conservative government's 4-in-4-out rule, where workers who have worked for more than four years must wait four more years before trying to work in Canada again. There should be a path to permanent residency and citizenship for everyone, if you are good enough to work here you are good enough to stay here.
Niagara residents want to sponsor refugees, but are prevented by catch-22 style barriers the Conservative government has placed like the ones which prevented the Kurdi family from being here today instead of being almost wiped out by drowning, as shown in a letter sent by their aunt to Citizenship and Immigration Canada about why they couldn't fulfil impossible requirements. Refugees should be welcome and the government should do everything it can to fulfil its international treaty obligations to be a safe haven for people fleeing for their lives, instead of demonizing refugees as security threats or freeloaders.

* Name three federal issues affecting the nation and say how you and your party would address these issues.
1. Post-secondary tuition fees: Increase funding to provinces and territories to make post-secondary education free with living-cost stipends for students. Many capitalist countries, including poor ones, already do this. Lift the cap on funding for Aboriginal post-secondary education.

2. Health Care: Re-establish the Canada Health Accord which was allowed to lapse by the Conservative government so provinces, territories, and the federal government can work towards fully meeting our health care needs. Enforce the Canada Health Act to stop the creeping privatization of our health care. Nationalize the pharmaceutical industry so drug prices fund research and not profits.

3. Climate change: Instead of withdrawing from global climate change agreements we need emergency legislation to slash greenhouse emissions and we need a massive expansion of public transit including high-speed rail. We need to provide reparations to countries suffering from climate change we have caused.

* Name one issue you feel is important, but has been overlooked by the media during the campaign and discuss why this issue needs more attention.
The wars. The world is marching closer and closer to World War III, and the Conservative government's latest reckless adventures in the Middle East, North Africa, and Ukraine are entangling us further and further. In Ukraine we are giving military equipment to a government less popular than fascists. In Syria, we aren't told what Canadian ground troops are doing or how they die, and in Iraq our airstrikes have killed at least 27 civilians including children, but the government says there is no duty to investigate.
By being entangled in NATO we are signed-on to a reckless nuclear-first-strike policy.
The government has pursued basing rights in several countries. A secret base in the United Arab Emirates was only exposed because of a business disagreement.
We need to get out of this track taking us all straight to world-scale death and destruction. World Wars I and II should have been a lesson enough, if our interventions in Afghanistan and Libya haven't taught us anything.

* Transparency in government has been cited by voters as an issue at all levels of government in recent years. What measures would you and your party do to make government open, accessible and transparent?
All proposed laws changing our rights should be preceded by public hearings and meetings in both large and small urban and rural locations. No hiding laws in Omnibus bills to avoid debate or rushing laws like Bill C51 with only minimal hearings.
All negotiations, including trade negotiations, should have the text released to the public at the earliest possible opportunity and at every stage of negotiation. Canadians got the text of the CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) trade deal text only from a German television station!

Abolish secret detention without trials, secret trials, and “security certificates” so that defendants have transparency on why they are being detained and can hold law enforcement accountable. Remove the immunities granted to CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) immediately, then abolish CSIS and CSE (Communications Security Establishment) which are political police that operate in secret.
Have parliamentary control over the armed forces. The Conservative government won't even tell parliament how a Canadian soldier died in Syria or even what exactly the ground troops are doing there.

Place direct civilian control with enforcement powers, or “teeth,” over the RCMP.
Defend and expand online privacy rights. Don't allow telecommunications companies to voluntary turn over customer records to the government.

* Should Members of Parliament be allowed more power to vote against party lines, introduce private members legislation, etc.? Explain.
Members of Parliament should vote their conscience but should be held accountable to the voters at all times, not just on election day and even then only as part of a limited choice. This can be done by the right to recall MP's, a right Canadians outside British Columbia do not have, but despite stereotypes we've been told about Communist governments, exists in Cuba and North Korea, and existed in the Soviet Union, where voters used it often to recall deputies right from meetings at their workplaces (over 500 elected officials recalled in 1984 alone!). This tradition dates back to the Paris Commune in France and even before then to ancient Greece. The right to recall will make MP's more responsive and responsible with the power we invest in them.

Proportional representation will also make parliament more reflective of the choices of the voters.

* What additional message would you like to share with voters?
Instead of voting for something you don't want and getting it because of “strategic” (tactical) voting to block this or that party, vote for something you want and you might get it. If you agree that the Communist Party's policies put the broader interests of the working class ahead of the few who own the country's wealth but have been acting in their own narrow interests, vote Communist. Your vote will get noticed and is part of announcing fundamental change is coming to Canada. Put the capitalists, who are driving us to disaster, on notice.

MEDIA RELEASE: Saleh Waziruddin is Communist Party candidate for St. Catharines MP, running against Rick Dykstra's record

Communist Party of Canada – Parti Communiste du Canada

Saleh Waziruddin, Communist for St Catharines

(289) 697 9169

saleh@votecommunist.ca

5 Carriage Rd #705

St. Catharines, ON L2P 3K2

@Communist4StCat

http://communist-party.ca/SalehWaziruddin

September 22, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA RELEASE: Saleh Waziruddin is Communist Party candidate for St. Catharines MP, running against Rick Dykstra's record

ST. CATHARINES, ON – Saleh Waziruddin formally announced he is the Communist Party of Canada candidate for the St. Catharines riding in the federal election.  Saleh expects to be officially nominated later today and is campaigning against the dismal decade-long record of the incumbent.

Saleh blasts Rick Dykstra's record saying “every time there is an election Rick Dykstra shows off new grants but then after the election there are no jobs to show for them.  Last election Dykstra promoted $4 million he got for Silicon Knights, which we were told would be the next GM, but after the election they laid off most staff and went out of business.  This election he promised a big announcement from GM, which turned out to be investment in the plant without any new jobs.”

Saleh concedes “Dykstra did bring in one good grant which created jobs, which was for BUILT (Building Up Individuals with Learning and Teamwork), a St. Catharines-based organization which more than paid for itself through finding jobs Canada-wide for people suffering from poor mental health.  However even here Dykstra could not deliver because in 2011 BUILT had to shut down when their grant was suddenly not renewed because there was not enough money to fund all needs.  When Dykstra's power to deliver was tested he failed the people of this riding.”

Saleh has participated in recent “Refugees Welcome” protests, saying Rick Dykstra is “out of step with Canadians when he publicly defended cutting health care for refugee applicants as 'fair and reasonable', which the Supreme Court said were 'cruel and unusual' and forced the government to restore in part.”  

Saleh Waziruddin is a 37 year old call centre worker and has two years management-level experience in municipal government at a small municipality.  He has a degree in Chemical Engineering and Public Policy & Management from Carnegie Mellon University.  He is active at the Canada-wide executive level in the Canadian Peace Congress and the Canadian Network on Cuba.  He has previously run in one federal and two provincial elections in St. Catharines.

The Communist Party of Canada is running 28 candidates for fundamental change from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island.  The Party has previously elected two MP's, two MPP's in Ontario, and has had members elected to public office almost every year since 1933.  It is Canada's second-oldest party and its victory in the Supreme Court case Figueroa vs Canada (2003) makes it possible for parties with less than 50 candidates to register and run in federal elections.  The Communist Party was the first to propose universal public healthcare and is running on a comprehensive platform to put people's needs ahead of corporate greed, the full platform is available at http://communist-party.ca/platform 

Authorized by Chief Agent (CPC)

Post-election message to voters, friends, comrades, and supporters

Dear Voters, Friends, Comrades and Supporters,

We made a big impact even before the vote considering our size.  In the final results we came close to breaking 100 votes, which is 44% higher than our previous vote.  In the Student Vote however we got 10% of the vote (327 votes), and came in 2nd place at St. Catharines Collegiate.

We got extensive media coverage this election despite still being excluded from the St. Catharines Standard debate, who claimed their studio did not have enough space even though they didn't call me when the 4th candidate cancelled and even though next door the Welland Tribune, with fewer resources, had a debate with 5 candidates.

We got a 400 word column which was printed in the St.. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Wellland Tribune, Ft. Erie Times, and Niagara Advance:

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2014/06/10/column-communist-party-offers-new-solutions

For this election we tried a new advertising option by buying space at the St Catharines downtown videoscreen terminal where we had a flash animation ad:

Some still shots:

Ontario leader Liz Rowley's visit (see poster below) was covered by Niagara This Week:

http://www.muskokaregion.com/community-story/4573155-communists-striving-for-change/

The visit included a morning interview on 610 KDKA's Tom McConnell show:

https://soundcloud.com/communistpartyontario/communist-candidate-saleh-waziruddin-and-provincial-leader-elizabeth-rowley-interviewed-on-610-ckbt

I was also on the radio debating the Conservative and NDP candidate at Brock CFBU's The LGBTQI Hour, where our platform was the only one to include LGBTQI issues:

http://thelgbtqhour.com/podcasts/files/Show18/KNSLGBTQHour-Show18-Podcast.mp3

Other debates included

- an all-candidates forum at the Denis Morris Catholic Secondary School, where we got 13% of the Student Vote

- the Niagara Health Coalition and the Retired Teachers of Ontario Branch 14 all-candidates debate

- and the live televized TV Cogeco all-candidates debate as part of the "Behind the Ballot Niagara" program which was covered in Niagara This Week:

http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/4562003-a-healthy-debate/

This campaign also included the systematic canvassing of targetted buildings, and Vote Communist signs were placed at strategic locations including within view of the GM plant entrance.

Please keep following this blog for more about the Communist Party in Niagara for after the election.

Niagara Advance column: Communist party offers new solutions

The following column appeared in the Niagara Advance on June 10, 2012

http://www.niagaraadvance.ca/2014/06/10/column-communist-party-offers-new-solutions?fb_action_ids=10100454206702969&fb_action_types=og.recommends

Provincial election

COLUMN: Communist party offers new solutions

Tuesday, June 10, 2014 10:40:54 EDT PM

EDITOR'S NOTE: Saleh Waziruddin, the Communist Party candidate for St. Catharines, was not part of the online candidates’ debate organized by the Standard recently. For that reason, we offer his column today.

SALEH WAZIRUDDIN

Communist Party

The job creation solutions offered by other parties, which amount to giveaways to corporations through tax cuts/grants/lower costs, won’t work because companies don’t invest when the economy is down.

They haven’t been creating jobs, despite the lowest corporate tax rates in the industrialized world (don’t take my word for it, this is according to the Ontario government). They are instead pulling equipment out of plants unless workers give up pensions and take 50% pay cuts.

The first step to addressing the problem is to hold onto the jobs we have through plant closure legislation. The province should take over profitable plants that owners want to shut down only because of the rat race to the bottom they’ve created.

The Communist Party is the only party offering this solution.

Because we keep throwing public money at corporations without any result (even the Bank of Canada governor scolded them for sitting on profits without investing it), we’re forced to make do with not enough when it comes to public services like hospitals, schools and social assistance.

Recently, a 77-year-old man was discharged from the St Catharines hospital in the middle of a blizzard before his friends could come to pick him up, and the mayor of Wainfleet’s son had to wait 36 hours to get his broken leg treated. The hospital says it has to prioritize, but it would have more to prioritize with if we funded public services based on needs and not what’s left over.

For a start, we should restore all the hospital beds, staff and services cut in the Harris years instead of closing more local services.

We need to at least double the social assistance rates to catch up with earlier freezes while waiting for jobs that haven’t been coming. We are slowly starving those conscripted into poverty.

We could fund this through taking back corporate tax cuts, which would still be lower than the U.S.

Some are afraid to vote Communist because they think it’s wasting their vote. But voting for the “lesser evil” leads to having to choose between two increasingly bad “evils.”

In Alberta, we had the spectacle of NDPers urging a Conservative vote to block the Wild Rose party. We can avoid this nightmare by using our vote to send a message. Voting Communist is not just a vote, it’s a declaration of an emancipation on the way.

News Talk Radio interview with Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) leader Liz Rowley and candidate Saleh Waziruddin

Please listen to a recording from CKTB 610's Tom McConnell's show interview with Liz Rowley, the leader of the Communist Party of Canada (Ontario), and myself on Monday June 2nd.

http://communistpartyontario.ca/?p=357

Meet Liz Rowley leader of the Communist Party of Ontario on our alternative for this election

Hear the Communist Party's alternative to the pro-business agenda which has slashed jobs, wages, and public services.

Monday, June 2nd
7 pm, Niagara Artists Centre
354 St. Paul St. (at Bond St.)
St. Catharines (downtown)

Let's discuss how we can fight back for a better Ontario!

Please download and spread the poster and invite friends to the Facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/628092313936069/