My name is Kiri Vadivelu and I am running to be the next mayor of Toronto. I am a social justice activist and a member of the Municipal Socialist Alliance MSA which ran 10 candidates across southern Ontario last October, receiving about 15,000 votes. I was the MSA candidate in Scarborough Centre ward 21 gaining 1,800 votes. I am the first Tamil-Canadian to seek the mayor’s office in Toronto.

I immigrated from Sri Lanka to escape genocide of Tamils as a child, and successfully resisted illegal eviction of my family at the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board during the 2020 emergency lock down. I believe good housing is a human right. I am a founding member of the Scarborough Tenants’ Union , a leading voice of Toronto Acorn , and a committed member of Justice for Workers. I was a shop steward in the United Steelworkers Union where I fought for better working conditions, and was the recipient of a 2019 union leadership award.

Toronto is in crisis, the product of a failed capitalist system. Only socialist measures offer solutions. The MSA and I call for immediate mass social housing construction, expropriation of giant landlords, and free public transit . We seek to repair our schools, and cut police budget by at least 50%. We demand a climate justice agenda, replacement of the "strong mayor" powers with a grassroots participatory budget process, and steep taxation of the properties of big business and the rich.

Premier Doug Ford says don’t vote for anyone who wants to cut the police budget. We say, don’t vote for anyone who voted for the police budget. Let’s build community power, working class power, from the bottom up. Vote socialist on June 26 to elect class conscious leadership who will exceed the demands of Toronto Resilience Strategy.

There are many ways you can contribute to our grass-roots campaign. Firstly, you can help us overcome the media blackout of the socialist campaign by sharing this message with your network online. Secondly, you can distribute our campaign flyers 1, 2, leaflets 1, 2 and posters 1 to community members in your proximity. In that way, those in your circles will know about our good work instead of relying on the political options featured by the corporate media. When the first two options are not feasible, you can donate $ to our campaign.

Regardless what support you decide to provide, I urge you to challenge the status quo that works primarily for the privileged few. Let's organize, fight, and win economic democracy for the vast majority, and put an end to oppression and exploitation forever.

In Solidarity,

Kiri Vadivelu