Change is coming to B.C. on May 14— but will it be the kind of change we need to protect people and the environment? Dumping Christy Clark's Liberals would be a welcome result. After all, this government is responsible for attacking labour and women's equality rights, starving social programs and public education, and shifting billions of dollars from working people to the corporations and the wealthy. Across the capitalist world, similar right-wing policies have meant economic chaos, brutal attacks against working people, and impending climate change catastrophe. These are the real issues facing voters in North Vancouver-Lonsdale, a riding where incomes are lower than the B.C. average, and where most voters are deeply concerned about falling living standards and environmental degradation.
 
Unfortunately, the NDP's approach of "small improvements" will do little to change this disastrous course. A vote for Communist Party of B.C. candidates in this election is a vote for a fundamental new direction, for policies that put people's needs ahead of corporate greed. It's a vote for the socialist alternative which the NDP has abandoned, and which the Greens refuse to consider.
 
We call for urgent measures to reverse the damage inflicted by the B.C. Liberals, starting with a rollback of all the tax breaks handed to the rich and big business by Gordon Campbell. These giveaways made B.C. one of the lowest corporate tax jurisdictions in North America, but the provincial treasury was robbed of some $2 billion annually. These funds should be used to  launch a massive program of low income housing, to raise social assistance rates by 50 percent, to restore $250 million annually to the public education system, and to expand the public transit system and institute a $1 single-zone fare in the Greater Vancouver Region.
 
Instead of extracting and exporting raw materials for the profits of private owners, we need to put natural resources under democratic public ownership. This is the only way to begin using our energy and forestry wealth to create long-lasting jobs and to achieve a radical strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And not least, public ownership opens the door to a just and comprehensive agreement to end the colonial theft of unceded indigenous territories in British Columbia, based on full recognition of inherent, traditional aboriginal rights.
 
Your vote on May 14th is—use it to say “No” to the Liberals, and to vote Communist where we are on the ballot. But no matter who is elected, we need to unite for real change, not just for minor adjustments to the broken machine of capitalist exploitation. We are the party that fights for the working class and the environment—join the Communist Party to help fight for our future!

If you agree that a socialist alternative is needed, call us at 604-254-9836, and check our website at www.communist-party.ca.