Hearing what often-unheard voices have to say
The afternoon of Thursday, May 5, was spent in the company of Elizabeth Rowley, the current leader of the Communist Party of Ontario, and Juanita Burnett, the city of Guelph’s Communist candidate for the upcoming election. The discussion that spanned over an hour focused on a multitude of critical political issues, the investigation of the Communist platform and how Rowley and Burnett became a part of the political world. The items discussed included: the current state of health care, the education system, environmental sustainability, the Canadian economy and labour sector, womens’ reproductive rights, aboriginal rights, and the importance of having a voice and the ability to vote.
A major concern regarding the election process that is often brought up by voters – is that they do not have anyone to vote for, that they do not feel connected to the big candidates running or believe in the party’s ability to create any change that they are suggesting. Rowley described this as “…the public’s right to hear and to know who the candidate are, what the choices are, what they all stand for and then to make their own decision without being prescreened,” and expressed great disapproval by stating “no, you can’t hear from this one, you can’t hear from that one,” and believes this “happens all the time.” Rowley believes that it is necessary for the people of the country to hear from all of the parties, not just the ones that are favoured by the media, Rowley stated that “If you are a registered party, that means you qualify [to be heard], and we are a registered party.” Rowley not only spoke on behalf of the Communist party, but as well as the Green Party, who was left out of the legislative debate earlier in this election. Rowley, in response to the concern of many voters, confidently stated, “if there were other voices heard, there would be more choice[s].”
Earlier this month, Cutten Fields held a debate for the big four candidates, the Communist party was not invited, whereas at the social justice debate, all six Guelph candidates were invited, “five of us came, and it was a good debate” stated Burnett.
In response to the lack of coverage and invitation the Communist party receives, Rowley said that “one of the arguments we hear is we don’t have enough votes, but […] how are we going to get any votes if people don’t know who we are or what we [have] to say? You need to have some exposure for people to decide [whether or not] they agree with you.” Rowley also brought up that “the other [thing] to question here is that democracy is the people’s right to vote…it’s really worrisome when they cut, cut, cut, cut, cut and it’s down to three parties who have the right to be heard.”
“We [the communist party] complained about this and we were told by elections Ontario that it’s the way it is. That these are private organizations organizing these debates […] but [we know] that elections are not private events – they are public events, that’s the essence of what an election is” stated Rowley. Both Rowley and Burnett expressed concern in regards to the lack of options voters are given in the way the elections are run in Ontario in opposition to how they believe they should be run – for every voice to be heard.
The interview continued by investigating key issues of the Communist platform. The Communist party’s slogan is “People’s needs not corporate greed,” and their support of unions, reimburses this idea. Rowley stated that “unionization is a very important victory […] there are rights that exists for workers in this country,” and that it would “take us back to a period in Canadian history where workers had no rights” if they were abolished. Rowley went on to say that it would be “chaos” and “a very reactionary, right wing, and dangerous thing to do.” Burnett added to this point of view by saying that “so many of the labour laws we have because of unions [related to] racism, sexism, homophobia, health and safety issues […] would begin to go down, because wages would go down,” and expressed the fear that “people would be working harder just to get by, never mind [doing their jobs properly].”
In terms of the current state of the Ontario health care system, Rowley expressed the need to revert “P3” or “alternatively funded hospitals” back to public hospitals. Burnett added that something ought to exist in Ontario’s health care system is “dental care” and thinks that “…more and more research is showing that dental issues are causing a lot of other health issues, never mind employment issues […] as people are [less likely] to hire you [if you have bad, or are missing teeth]. Burnett also believes that “long term care is a big issue” and that “public health care should be servicing the public.” Rowley stated that the Communist party wants the health care and education systems to “have the money they need to perform the tasks the public wants them to do” and expressed that they do not want privatization of what are now public services.
The education system was the next topic up for discussion and Rowley shared that the Communist Party, like the Green Party is for “a singular, secular system of public education […] that would be open to all.” Rowley described the way this would take place in a “phased way” so that as little disruption as possible would be incurred by both staff and students. Both Rowley and Burnett touched on the importance of “real Canadian history” and making sure Canadian history would be taught in schools without leaving things out that the Canadian government and those who create the curriculums are not proud of. Rowley, in regards to aboriginal rights stated that “land claims are a very central issue” and that the Communist party “support[s] the demand for a public inquiry of the missing and murdered aboriginal women.” Rowley also said that “[the government] were involved in some very ugly things […] and now are denying a public inquiry, I wonder why?” Burnett expressed that these matters are “important” and that Canadians need to “be aware of what has been lost and what has been stolen from people.”
Burnett, a librarian at the University of Guelph, said that she has already noticed, “jobs lost from attrition here…” in regards to what could happen if the Conservatives get elected. Burnett also spoke of the rise of tuition and how regularly it goes up, “not according to inflation” and expressed the concern that “tuition is paying for more and more of the University costs” and is also concerned about “corporations funding the research.”
The Communist Party’s platform supports a progressive taxation plan to support changes that they want made throughout Canada. A taxation system that would be devised to tax those who earn a higher income (would be charged more income tax) and those who make below forty thousand dollars income tax would not be charged income tax. This would mean implementing more tax brackets so people would be taxed fairly.
Rowley, in regards to being environmentally sustainable stated that the first thing that needs to be done is “close the Alberta Tar Sands” stating that “this is a big cause of climate change [globally]” and that “we need a government that is willing to take on the Petrochemical industry and the oil industry” and continued by saying that “that is who funds Harper, so he isn’t the one to take this on.” Rowley expressed major concern in regards to line 9 and the detrimental effect it would have on “the great lakes and species,” Rowley went on to say that “people are becoming endangered species with these policies.”
When asked to explain a bit about themselves and how they got into politics, both Burnett and Rowley were more than happy to share. Burnett said that she “came to Guelph in 1994, as a student and a single parent…just in time for Harris to be elected [and his plans to cut] daycare. I think that was the first political awakening I had. Through the Harris education crisis, I became more political […] I needed to strengthen my voice.” Burnett went on to say that “growing up in my family, I was taught – if it’s going to cause an argument, keep quiet” and said that her university education enabled her to use her voice.
Rowley shared the view that “it’s not enough to be against something – you have to be for something. Of course, we are for socialism. Problems keep recurring […] when I was at University, there was a big debate for reproduction rights for women […] the problem of unemployment keeps surfacing in new conditions […] the one constant is that we are facing right wing, reactionary governments, and exceedingly powerful multinational corporations, and that is why I am for socialism – I don’t want my children and my grandchildren to keep fighting the same battles.” Rowley went on to say that she came from a “very progressive family” and that her “mother was a very strong woman [who would take her to] anti-war protests in the 60s and 70s.” Rowley said that “It was time when change seemed very possible, and if people wanted to make change they could get together and make change. You could stop wars, you could [put an end to] racism and sexism […] it was a time of great hope.”
Rowley expressed that there has been some change, but urged, “we need more progress” and thinks that the socialism is the next way to create change.