Communist Party candidates, 1988 Canadian federal election

The Communist Party of Canada fielded several candidates in the 1988 federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found on this page.

Ontario

Geoffrey Da Silva (Eglinton—Lawrence)

Da Silva received 208 votes (0.52%), finishing fifth against Liberal candidate Joe Volpe. He later became a cabinet minister in Guyana.

=Mike Phillips (Sudbury)=

Mike Phillips was a perennial candidate for the Communist Party at the federal and provincial levels. He was a 24-year-old electrician during his first campaign, and later worked as a labour reporter for the "Canadian Tribune". [Judith Timson, "Inflation worries low-income Davenport", "Toronto Star", 18 June 1974, B1; John Munch, "NDP still hurting over '74", "Toronto Star", 14 February 1980. See also [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Cresdetail&Election=9464 History of Federal Ridings since 1867: Sudbury (1988/11/21)] , Parliament of Canada, accessed 5 May 2008.]

John (Jack) C. Sweet (York West)

Sweet was a toolmaker, administrator and IBM clerk in private life, and was a perennial candidate for federal, provincial and municipal office in North York. ["Yorkview", "Toronto Star", 19 October 1971, 11; Dorothy Lipovenko and Howard Fluxgold, "13 new trustees join Toronto school board", "Globe and Mail", 14 November 1978, P5.] He joined the Communist Party at age eighteen and was a member for more than fifty years, working for a time in the organization's Toronto headquarters. [Kate Burbridge, "York West hopefuls court huge block of Italian voters", "Toronto Star", 21 August 1984, A7; Paul Waldie, "Communists up in arms over party property sale", "Globe and Mail", 21 October 1991, A4.]

Sweet contributed to "Canadian Aid for Russia" in 1943, during World War II. ["Canadian aid to Russia nears two million mark", "Toronto Star", 13 February 1943, p. 33.] He was president of Toronto's Tim Buck-Norman Bethune Education Centre during the 1980s. ["Communist offices vandalized", "Globe and Mail", 18 April 1987, A11.] A dedicated community activist, he was also president of the Humberlea Community Association and chairman of a Metro tax reform council. ["Metro area voters to decide 33 ridings", "Toronto Star", 18 November 1988, A11.] He opposed an expansion of Pearson International Airport in 1989. [Gary Webb-Proctor, "Residents oppose additional runways at crowded airport ", "Globe and Mail", 28 February 1999, A11.]

He was listed as sixty-six years old during the 1984 campaign. [Mary Gooderham, "In York West, main candidates are Italian", "Globe and Mail", 1 September 1984, P19.]

The closest he ever came to winning election was in 1978, when he was narrowly defeated for a North York school trustee position.

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