Across Ontario, workers, small business owners, and entire communities are being squeezed by rising costs, precarious work, and the devastating consequences of climate catastrophe. Doug Ford’s unapologetic corporate agenda of austerity and privatization is only accelerating the surging crises. Rather than equipping municipalities to meet growing needs, his government has cut their funding and stripped their ability to deliver the public services on which communities rely. Public services — from mass transit to libraries— are defunded and left to decline while the private sector waits to fill the gap at a price.
These conditions are not unique to Ontario. Provinces, territories and municipalities across Canada face the same conditions because they operate within the same political-economic order: capitalism– a global system controlled by capitalists that operates in their interests. The pursuit of private profit over public good pollutes the planet and neglects basic needs, blocking human, economic and ecological potential. The province-wide Municipal Socialist Alliance (MSA), together with Capitalism Can’t Be Fixed, is challenging this arrangement. Our mission is to expose the injustices of capitalism, hold its administrators and beneficiaries accountable, and propose a genuine socialist alternative in City Hall that puts working people, communities, and the environment first.
For the October 26 elections, MSA have finalized the endorsement of candidates. Below are quick summary of candidate profile, contact information and the reason why they standout from the noise yet ignored by the mainstream media.
Scarlett Gillespie for Mayor of Hamilton
My name is Scarlett Jelena Gillespie, also known as Jelena Vermilion. I am a 33 year-old Hamilton community leader, researcher, writer, artist, healthcare worker, organizer, and advocate. I am running for Mayor of Hamilton because I believe our city needs leadership that understands how municipal decisions affect people in their everyday lives. For too long, many residents have felt that City Hall listens most closely to those with the greatest wealth, influence, and access. Meanwhile, working-class people, disabled residents, tenants, seniors, newcomers, marginalized workers, and people living in public housing are too often expected to accept less. I am running to change that.
The MSA’s platform calls for housing justice, stronger tenant protections, more public, non-profit and co-operative housing, investment in public services, and a municipal government that puts working people and communities before private profit. Those principles intersect powerfully with my own platform.The MSA’s platform calls for housing justice, stronger tenant protections, more public, non-profit and co-operative housing, investment in public services, and a municipal government that puts working people and communities before private profit. Those principles intersect powerfully with my own platform.
Website: https://scarlettformayor.ca/
Email: scarlett4mayor@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarlett4mayor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarlett4mayor/
Twitter: https://x.com/ScarlettG4Mayor
Nathan Colquhoun for Sarnia City Councillor
Nathan Colquhoun is a former Sarnia city councillor (2018–2022) and independent candidate currently running council candidate for the 2026 Sarnia City Council election. Colquhoun, a small business owner and publisher of The Sarnia Journal, advocates for de-centralized housing, reform of police spending to fund paramedic programs, and electoral reforms such as term limits. He is also active in local civic discourse, publishing interviews with candidates for the upcoming 2026 Sarnia City Council election.
Sarnia is a city without wards, a unique setup where councillors aren’t tied to specific neighbourhoods. Theoretically, this means every councillor represents the whole city equally. But in practice, councillors inevitably bring perspectives from where they live and what they know best. That’s why it’s so baffling to see councillors stepping back from decisions affecting their own communities. Nathan is running to change that.
Website: https://nathancolquhoun.com/
Email: nathancolquhoun@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/nathan-colquhoun-63658415
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colquhounnathan/
Twitter: https://x.com/nathancolquhoun
Mark Freeland for Mississauga City Councillor
Mark Freeland was the Municipal Socialist Alliance (MSA) candidate for Ward 7 (Cooksville) in the 2022 Mississauga municipal election. A unionized construction worker and activist, he ran on a platform focused on working-class representation, advocating for free public transit, rent-geared-to-income housing, and redirecting police budgets to social services.
Freeland emphasized solidarity and community governance, noting his experience helping unionize workplaces like IATSE Local 58 and LIUNA 183. He criticized the city’s political establishment for being dominated by developers and careerist politicians, positioning himself as a genuine labor candidate who had no prior political experience but significant grassroots organizing background.
No public contact information available yet.
Dan Lovell for City Council, Ward 22, Scarborough North
Dan Lovell is a Scarborough-Agincourt resident and homeowner who cares deeply about the quality and affordability of life in our community. With 17 years of experience as a high school teacher, Dan has dedicated his career to supporting our youth and their families in the classroom and through extracurricular clubs and teams. As a husband, father, and activist with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, he understands the value of hard work, solidarity, and community involvement. Dan is ready to bring the perspective of working people in Scarborough to City Hall.
Website: https://www.danlovell.ca/
Twitter: https://x.com/DanLovell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanLovell4Ward22
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danlovellscarboroughagincourt/
In October 2022, the fledgling Municipal Socialist Alliance exceeded most expectations by garnering 14,870 votes across Ontario, despite getting almost zero coverage in the commercial mass media, amid a very low voter turnout to boot (about 29 percent in Toronto). Official Municipal Socialist Alliance candidates ran for city council in numerous wards across Toronto and in the Peel region, as well as in school boards in Toronto and Ottawa, and, in Guelph, for the office of mayor.
At MSA, our policies aim to improve the lives of workers and strengthen communities immediately. We fight for more public housing, expanded public transit, and insist that no one goes hungry in one of the richest and most developed countries in the world. While pursuing gains within the liberal capitalist system does not tackle problems at their roots and can only, at best, provide relief, socialists fight for every improvement that strengthens the working class and our communities. The MSA considers the attainment of elected office at city hall not as an end in itself, but as a platform on which to agitate for material gains, to organize and support popular movements, and to raise political class consciousness by exposing the inherent limitations of capitalism.
The comprehensive 12 page MSA platform at Socialist Alliance Website includes 34 policy areas grouped under 5 themes: Housing for All, Expand Public Services, Solve Social Problems through Social Services, Defend Democracy, Justice and Activism in Local Committees and We Can Afford a Better Future.
The Municipal Socialist Alliance (MSA) is a coalition of socialists, labour unionists, community organizations, and social justice activists, who are presenting a team of candidates to fight for the interests of workers, tenants, women, LGBTQIA2S+ folks, racialized people, seniors, and all who seek a city and world without exploitation and oppression.