The 32-year-old freelance baker had tried volunteering for the NDP, but was disappointed to be tasked with helping fundraise instead of "doing anything to benefit the community."

sadge.

Cheriyan, who joined the party last fall, identifies as trans, and says the death in the U.S. of George Floyd and racial justice more generally motivated them to get involved in politics, as did seeing the growth of homelessness and encampments — especially among the transgender community...Cheriyan has worked as a line cook in several local restaurants, but now divides their time between Hamilton and Toronto. They're also the president of a housing co-op and an astrophysics student at the University of Toronto.

Unironically, the best goddamn candidate in the entire election.

While Cheriyan says members hope to be elected, the party may also have some other goals for its campaign, says Peter Graefe, a McMaster University political scientist...Graefe notes people are more receptive to hearing political ideas during an election campaign, so any group that can organize as a party and run candidates has an easier platform on which to share its beliefs....the Communist Party could see this as part of a longer-term effort to educate the working class... another strategy for small parties is to organize a voting bloc around a particular issue, in order to push larger parties to incorporate it in their platforms to gain votes....their strategy [could be] developing a sense of working-class consciousness by making these issues central.

Pretty good idea on how to engage in bourgeois elections, tbh.