Winnipeg South Centre – Cam Scott

My name is Cam Scott, and I’m a poet, musician, and local organizer. I’m honoured to stand as the Communist Party of Canada candidate for Winnipeg South Centre, where I worked in retail for the better part of two decades.

These are politicizing times. In the last year we’ve weathered a global health crisis, during an economic crisis, during a climate crisis—all against the backdrop of the constant disaster of capitalism. But this year also encompasses many of the largest movements for Black liberation and Indigenous sovereignty in my lifetime; a dramatic uptake in unionization and the political activation of organized labour; and a clarified sense of community across all sectors of a too-often divided working class, as people have pulled together to endure both a global pandemic and the deadly negligence of the capitalist state. 

 

The hubris of this election call cannot be overstated, and as the Liberals attempt to shore their power, we should scrutinize their values. The most recent Liberal budget uses the climate crisis as a pretence for massive tax cuts to giant corporations, ostensibly encouraging “clean tech,” while offering billions of additional dollars to the arms industry. When we look at all that is lacking from this budget—paid sick days, universal pharmacare, a guaranteed livable income, high-quality social housing—it’s clear that the Liberals mean for working people to pay for endless foreign interventions, while offsetting the ecological devastation wrought by the capitalist class at home. 

These priorities require the ongoing occupation of Indigenous land, and Canadian capitalism remains a genocidal project. As Trudeau’s government fights the survivors of residential schools in court, Child and Family Services continues to apprehend Indigenous children from their families and communities—more than were captive of residential schools at any point during their operation. The recent call to Cancel Canada Day marks a day of mourning and action, as it indicates a fully-fledged crisis of the colonial state and its constitution, based in the racist Doctrine of Discovery and the denial of Indigenous sovereignty. The Communist Party of Canada fully affirms the self-determination of Indigenous nations and their rights over their lands. Where any political program is concerned, I consider this a pass-or-fail test.

A vote for the Communist Party of Canada is a vote on principle—a refusal of cynicism and of compromise with a profit system that threatens all life on earth. I’m honoured to stand for these values in Winnipeg South Centre and for the many communities that meet here.