(The following article is from the May 1-15, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

PV Vancouver Bureau

In our April 16-30 issue, People's Voice profiled Zach Crispin, the organizer of the Young Communist League club in Trail. Crispin is a candidate for the Communist Party of British Columbia in the May 12 provincial election.

     This time, we report on two Communist candidates in the Lower Mainland area, both of them long-time activists in the labour and peoples' movements.

     Surrey‑Newton candidate George Gidora is 54 years old and the leader of the Communist Party of BC. He grew up in Surrey, attending T.E. Scott Elementary and Newton Junior High School, and graduated in 1972 from Lord Tweedsmuir High in Cloverdale. Trained as a computer professional, he has worked for the Surrey and Delta School Districts, and is currently employed by the Coast Mountain Bus Company. He is a CAW member, belongs to the Fraser Valley Peace Council, and is interested in environmental and social issues.

     "I have witnessed the development of Surrey from a rural environment to the present urban landscape," says George. "Growth must be controlled with the best interests of the residents and the environment in mind. Our priority must be to protect greenspace and put infrastructure in place before development.

     "We need a transit system that does more than funnel commuters in and out of Vancouver or from mall to mall. That means more buses, adequate shelters at bus stops, and washroom facilities at accessible places along the system. These improvements will encourage more use of transit and reduce cars on the road.

     "We call for adequate funding for health care, social services, and public schools, and to stop giving taxpayer dollars to private schools. We need a worker‑centered economic stimulus to keep our basic industries and to protect jobs. Instead of rewarding executives of failed corporations, government funds should be used to create publicly owned and democratically‑controlled resource and financial sectors.

     "Socialism must be on the agenda if we are to survive in this world. Socialism has proven its strength in poor countries such as Cuba. Imagine what we could accomplish if Canada had an economy for people's needs, not corporate greed."

     Vancouver-Mount Pleasant candidate Peter Marcus is a retired health worker and active in the Hospital Employees Union. He is committed to fight for improving the lives of working class people in the riding, which contains the poorest urban postal code in Canada

     "In the Downtown Eastside, the situation is worsening due to the capitalist economic crisis," says Marcus. "We need a public housing program, better public social and health services, improved inexpensive public transit and living wage union jobs. We need to preserve and enhance our local industries. We must support our public education system and improve our recreation services. And we must finance this by taxes based on the ability to pay.

     "Public ownership of major industries is longstanding Communist policy. Big Business parties, like the Campbell Liberals, on behalf of their corporate masters, create wars, economic catastrophes and environmental destruction. Our party has a way out. A vote for a Communist candidate is a vote for a clear alternative to capitalist politics."

     To contact the Communist Party of BC candidates, call 605-254-9836, or drop by the campaign office at 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver.