The Communist Party launched its election campaign with a bold proposal to tax 100% of capital gains, arguing that even a single Communist in Parliament could curb the influence of capitalism.
"Capitalism, militarism, and far-right populist and fascist movements are driving towards conventional and nuclear war, genocide, and escalating climate change," stated the Party's platform, A People’s Agenda For Peace, Jobs And Democracy.
Blacklock's Reporter says the party asserted that electing even one Communist could help counteract the political shift to the right.
"Communists working together with labour and social movements now and after the election can fight for a people’s agenda," the statement read.
If elected, the Communist Party pledged to legislate a 32-hour workweek, raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour, double the federal corporate tax rate to 76%, and impose a 100% tax on capital gains.
Additionally, the platform included restoring inheritance taxes that were eliminated in 1972.
Other key policies included withdrawing from NATO, abolishing all military alliances, and cutting the national defence budget by 75%. The party also proposed dismantling the RCMP, eliminating the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and significantly reducing police budgets.
In the 2021 election, the Communist Party received 4,700 votes out of 17 million cast, with most support coming from Ontario and Québec. The Marxist-Leninist Party, a rival leftist group, garnered 4,532 votes.
The party emphasized historical Communist representation in Parliament but provided no details.
The last known Communist MP, Fred Rose (Cartier, Que.), was named as a Soviet spy in a 1946 Royal Commission and later jailed before being deported to Poland.
Another former Communist MP, Dorise Nielsen (North Battleford, Sask.), lost re-election in 1945 but remained under RCMP surveillance until defecting to Maoist China.
Declassified reports from 2020 revealed Nielsen’s admiration for Soviet policies, particularly regarding children and workers. She reportedly praised life in Stalinist Russia, claiming she hoped "each boy and girl in Canada" could experience Moscow.
According to one RCMP report, Nielsen described a play in which Russian children wept over the struggles of an African American character named Snowball, meant to depict hardships under capitalism.
The party did not elaborate on its current electoral prospects or provide further historical context on past Communist contributions to Parliament.
