Evan Engering is running in the municipal election in Mississauga wards 3 and 5. Read the campaign platform here
ELECT EVAN ENGERING
SOCIALIST ACTION – SCHOOL TRUSTEE CANDIDATE –
Mississauga WARDS 3 & 4
I am a student, labour activist and have been a resident of Mississauga for 24 years. My family has a long history of learning at, and working for the Peel District School Board. I care deeply about our public school system. From the fight against Bill 160 in the Conservative Mike Harris years, to the most recent dispute with the McGuinty/Wynne Liberal government, I have walked the picket line with teachers, defending their right to decent wages and collective bargaining. As a student, I have taken part in demonstrations in Ontario and Quebec in favour of free, quality post-secondary education for everyone.
This municipal election is full of liberals, conservatives, and other candidates who have no plans to change the status quo, or to make Mississauga a better place in which to live. With land development firms making bigger campaign contributions than any other entity – while public services shrink — it’s clear who’s calling the shots and who’s getting left behind.
The school trustee races are particularly lacking in policy platforms. Most candidates seem content to run on vague slogans and platitudes, rather than advance clear ideas, let alone good ones. This is why it is time for a change. We need real working class candidates to stand up for our public services and to offer a bold direction, to fight for radical change, to ensure that everyone is guaranteed free and equal access to quality public services.
- For free secular public education, with one school system in English, and one in French. No public funding for religious, separate or private schools.
- End standardized testing. End streaming of students into dead-end courses.
- No cutbacks. No school closures.
- For free collective bargaining for all education workers. For decent pay, benefits and job security for teachers, substitute teachers, hall monitors, lunch room attendants and school office staff.
- Elimination of property tax on primary residences.
- For steeply progressive taxation of land developers, big corporations and banks, religious institutions and the rich.
- A new needs-based funding formula to cover the real costs of public education.
- Smaller class sizes in every grade; more teachers and support staff.
- Give students a greater range of subjects and make improvements in culture, arts, music, sports and environmental studies.
- Increasing funding for Adult Education and English as a Second Language (ESL) program’s.
- Voting rights in civic elections for permanent residents.
Endorsed by Mississauga New Democratic Youth