Endorsement: Julian Ichim, Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada

Julian Ichim is an anti-poverty activist from the Kitchener area. He is dedicated to democratic renewal and community-based politics. Ichim opposes cuts to social programs and education. Education is a right and no one should have to go into debt in order to afford an education. Harper and the Tory government would rather see money from these programs go to building more jails.

By sending Ichim to Ottawa you are putting a voice of the marginalized in Parliament. Ichim has made a name for himself in the Southern Ontario community as a well-known activist who has been an integral part of multiple successful campaigns and is adamant that if elected he can enact even more positive changes from inside Parliament.

The current political system excludes everyday people from the decision-making process and stops them from exercising power over their own lives. If the people were allowed to set the political agenda, we could see the creation of neighborhood committees where we could elect our own peers to represent our politics and be removed if they do not properly represent us. Societal problems could be sorted out through dialogue and discussion and the issues that affect our lives would be put forward. There is a severe need for regular people in Parliament to represent us rather than professional politicians.

Read Peter Braid’s endorsement

Read Bill Brown’s endorsement

Read Cathy MacLellan’s endorsement

Read Steven Bradley Scott’s endorsement

Read Andrew Telegdi’s endorsement

Read Richard Walsh-Bowers’ endorsement

Student voices are extremely important and should not be ignored. All people have basic rights by virtue of being human, education is one of those rights and cannot be ignored. Access to education is only available to those with means to afford it, which is unacceptable. Tuition to post-secondary institutions is a barrier that blocks people from exercising that right, hence tuition should be abolished. The youth are the future and it would save society a lot of money to invest in the future now, to give people the skills that they need to fulfill their potential as opposed to building more jails where the government will house those that don’t have the skills to participate in society.

Ichim has recently been active in a campaign against the provincial cuts to special diet funding which through a petitioning campaign and a variety of other methods, they won a temporary stop to the expected cuts. Only by empowering the people and making regular people the decision-makers can we sort out the problems we are facing in society.

Sterling Stutz a member of AW@L, a community-based direct action group and third-year student at Wilfrid Laurier University
global studies student