Miguel Figueroa
Encyclopedia
Miguel Figueroa has been the leader of the Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...

 since 1992.

Early political career

Figueroa was born in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, and has been a member of the CPC since 1977. He has held many positions within the CPC, including party organizer
Party organizer
A party organizer or local party organizer is a position in some political parties in charge of the establishing a party organization in a certain locality.Herbert Ames wrote in his 1911 article "Organization of Political Parties in Canada" :...

 in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 from 1978 to 1985, and leader of the party's Atlantic branch (based in Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

) from 1986 to 1992. While leader of the Atlantic branch, Figueroa chaired an organizing committee that signed up 800 part-time seasonal professors and teaching assistants at Dalhousie University, ultimately leading to membership in the Canadian Union of Public Employees
Canadian Union of Public Employees
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well...

.

The implosion of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 led to internal party weaknesses within the CPC. Under the leadership of general secretary
General secretary
-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...

 George Hewison
George Hewison
George Hewison is a former long-time member of the Communist Party of Canada and trade unionist. A second-generation member of the party, Hewison grew up selling the party press and joined the party at the age of 17...

 (1988–91), the leadership of the CPC and a segment of its general membership began to abandon Marxism-Leninism
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...

 as the basis of the Party's revolutionary perspective, and ultimately moved to liquidate the Party itself, seeking to replace it with a left, social democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...

 entity.

The protracted ideological and political crisis created much confusion and disorientation within the ranks of the Party, and paralysed both its independent and united front
United front
The united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.According to the theses of...

 work for over two years. Ultimately, the Hewison-led majority in the party voted to abandon Marxism-Leninism. An orthodox minority, led by Figueroa and former leader William Kashtan
William Kashtan
William Kashtan became general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada in January 1965, several months following the death of Leslie Morris. The delay in his assuming the position was due to the opposition of Tim Buck to his appointment....

, resisted this effort and, after being defeated at the party's 1992 convention, were expelled from the party. As a result, they took the Communist Party to court. An out-of-court settlement resulted in the Hewison leadership relinquishing the name "Communist Party of Canada" to the minority, while taking most of the old party's assets to the Cecil-Ross Society
Cecil-Ross Society
The Cecil-Ross Society was a revisionist educational foundation operated by some former members of the Communist Party of Canada after they were forced to terminate their association with the party in 1992 in a political and legal dispute following the fall of the Soviet Union...

, a publishing and educational foundation previously associated with the party.

A convention was held in December 1992 in which delegates declared themselves to be the continuation of the Communist Party (thus the meeting was titled the 30th CPC Convention). Delegates rejected the changes instituted by Hewison by reaffirming the CPC as a Marxist-Leninist organization. Since most of the old party's assets were now the property of the Hewison-led Cecil Ross Society, the CPC convention decided to launch a new newspaper, the People's Voice, to replace the old Canadian Tribune. The convention elected a new central committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...

 with Figueroa as the Party's leader.

The new party, with only a few hundred members, was much smaller than the old one and had lost a number of assets, including the party's headquarters at 24 Cecil Street in Toronto. The CPC was not in a position to run fifty candidates in the 1993 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...

, the number required to maintain official party status. As a result, the newly-relaunched CPC was deregistered by Elections Canada
Elections Canada
Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...

, and its remaining assets were seized by the government. A prolonged legal battle, Figueroa v. Canada
Figueroa v. Canada (Attorney General)
Figueroa v. Canada , [2003] 1 S.C.R. 912 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on the right to participate in a federal election under section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms...

ensued, resulting in a Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

 ruling in 2003 that overturned a provision in the Elections Act requiring fifty candidates for official party status (the number had been increased by an act of parliament in the intervening years). Earlier in the legal battle, the party had its deregistration overturned and its seized assets restored.

Figueroa has run in five Canadian general elections and at least two provincial elections:
  • British Columbia general election, 1979
    British Columbia general election, 1979
    The British Columbia general election of 1979 was the 32nd general election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 3, 1979...

    : Figueroa ran in the two-member riding of Vancouver Centre
    Vancouver Centre
    Vancouver Centre is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1917.-Geography:...

    , and finished eighth in a field of eight candidates with 237 votes. Gary Lauk and Emery Barnes
    Emery Barnes
    Emery Barnes, OBC was a Canadian football player and Canadian politician.Born in Louisiana and raised in Oregon, Barnes was a gifted athlete, and was an alternate hi-jumper for the 1952 US Olympic Track and Field team...

     of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia
    New Democratic Party of British Columbia
    The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...

     won.
  • Canadian federal election, 1984
    Canadian federal election, 1984
    The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...

    : Figueroa ran in the riding of Vancouver East, and finished last with 259 votes. Margaret Mitchell of the New Democratic Party
    New Democratic Party
    The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

     won.
  • Canadian federal election, 1988
    Canadian federal election, 1988
    The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....

    : Figueroa ran in the riding of Halifax, and finished 5th in a field of 7 candidates with 151 votes. Mary Clancy
    Mary Clancy
    Mary Catherine Clancy was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997. By career, she was a lawyer....

     of the Liberal Party of Canada
    Liberal Party of Canada
    The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

     won.
  • Canadian federal election, 1993
    Canadian federal election, 1993
    The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...

    : Figueroa ran as an independent in the riding of Parkdale—High Park, and finished 9th out of a field of 11 with 105 votes. Jesse Flis
    Jesse Flis
    Jesse Philip Flis is a former Canadian politician. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 1984, and from 1988 to 1997, as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.Flis was born in Fosston, Saskatchewan...

     of the Liberals won.
  • Ontario general election, 1995
    Ontario general election, 1995
    The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...

    : Figueroa ran in the riding of Beaches—Woodbine, and finished 5th in a field of six candidates with 169 votes. Frances Lankin
    Frances Lankin
    Frances Lankin, PC is a former president and CEO of United Way Toronto, and a former Ontario MPP and cabinet minister. On November 30, 2010, Frances Lankin was appointed by the province to co-chair, along with Dr. Munir Sheikh, a comprehensive review of social assistance in Ontario...

     of the New Democratic Party of Ontario won.
  • Canadian federal election, 1997
    Canadian federal election, 1997
    The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...

    : Figueroa ran as an independent in the riding of Davenport, and finished 7th in a field of 8 with 194 votes. Charles Caccia
    Charles Caccia
    Charles L. Caccia, PC was a Canadian politician.Caccia was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons. He represented the Toronto riding of Davenport between 1968 and 2004.Caccia was born in 1930 in Milan, Italy...

     of the Liberals won.
  • Canadian federal election, 2000
    Canadian federal election, 2000
    The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....

    : Figueroa ran in the riding of Toronto—Danforth, and finished 9th in a field of 10 with 129 votes. Dennis Mills
    Dennis Mills
    Dennis Joseph Mills is a Canadian businessman and former politician. He was a Liberal Member of Parliament for the riding of Toronto-Danforth in the east-end of downtown Toronto. He now sits on the board of directors of Magna International....

     of the Liberals won.
  • Canadian federal election, 2004
    Canadian federal election, 2004
    The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...

    : Figueroa ran in the riding of East York-Beaches in Toronto
    Toronto
    Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

    , and finished 7th in a field of 8 with 62 votes. Maria Minna
    Maria Minna
    Maria Minna, PC, MP is a Canadian politician who represented the Toronto riding of Beaches—East York in the House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Party from 1993 to 2011.-Background:...

     of the Liberals won.

Electoral record

>
2006 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...

: Davenport
Davenport (electoral district)
Davenport is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1935. Its population in 2001 was 111,705.-Geography:...

Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

(x)Mario Silva
Mario Silva
Mario Silva, is a Canadian politician and a former Canadian Member of Parliament. Silva is a former a Toronto City Councillor and acting mayor."Acting Mayor" is a non-elected position. For example, the sets out the duties and powers of their Acting Mayor. Other cities will no doubt have somewhat...

20,172 51.87
New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

Gord Perks
Gord Perks
Gord Perks is a Canadian environmentalist, political activist, writer and is the city councillor for the Toronto municipal electoral district of Parkdale—High Park, Ward 14.-Environmentalist:...

12,681 32.61
Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

Theresa Rodrigues 4,202 10.80
Green
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...

Mark O'Brien 1,440 3.70
Communist
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...

Miguel Figueroa 172 0.44
Canadian Action Party
Canadian Action Party
The Canadian Action Party is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1997. It promotes Canadian nationalism, monetary and electoral reform, and opposes neoliberal globalization and free trade agreements.- Background :The Canadian Action Party was founded by Paul T...

Wendy Forrest 122 0.31
Marxist-Leninist Sarah Thompson 103 0.26
Total valid votes 38,892 100.00
Total rejected ballots 240
Turnout 39,132

>
2004 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...

: Beaches—East York
Beaches—East York
Beaches—East York is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1988....

Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

(x)Maria Minna
Maria Minna
Maria Minna, PC, MP is a Canadian politician who represented the Toronto riding of Beaches—East York in the House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Party from 1993 to 2011.-Background:...

22,494 47.93 $70,615.94
New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

Peter Tabuns
Peter Tabuns
Peter Charles Tabuns is a Canadian politician. He is serving as a member of the Ontario Legislative Assembly where he represents the riding of Toronto-Danforth as a member of the New Democratic Party. He launched a bid to lead the party after the previous leader, Howard Hampton, resigned. A...

15,156 32.29 $55,897.43
Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

Nick Nikopoulos 6,603 14.07 $21,870.38
Green
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...

Peter Davison 2,127 4.53 $231.75
Marijuana
Marijuana Party of Canada
The Marijuana Party is a Canadian federal political party. Its agenda consists of ending prohibition of cannabis. With the exception of this one issue, the party does not have "official policy" in any other area...

Daniel Dufresne 365 0.78 $0.00
Ind. (Global Party) Edward Slota 80 0.17 $408.47
Communist
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...

Miguel Figueroa 62 0.13 $490.30
Marxist-Leninist Roger Carter 46 0.10 $15.53
Total valid votes 46,933 100.00
Total rejected ballots 204
Turnout 47,137 64.02

>
1993 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...

: Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979.Peggy Nash of the New Democratic Party was elected the Member of Parliament for the riding on May 2, 2011....

Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

(x)Jesse Flis
Jesse Flis
Jesse Philip Flis is a former Canadian politician. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 1984, and from 1988 to 1997, as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.Flis was born in Fosston, Saskatchewan...

22,358 54.36
Reform
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....

Lee Primeau 6,647 16.16
Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

Don Baker 5,668 13.78
New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

David Miller 3,855 9.37
National
National Party of Canada
The National Party of Canada was a short-lived Canadian political party that contested the 1993 federal election. The party should not be confused by an earlier and unrelated National Party that was founded in 1979.-Formation:...

Stephen A. Biega 1,320 3.21
Green
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...

Richard Roy 430 1.05
Natural Law
Natural Law Party of Canada
The Natural Law Party of Canada was the Canadian branch of the international Natural Law Party founded in 1992 by a group of educators, business leaders, and lawyers who practiced Transcendental Meditation....

Wanda Beaver 371 0.90
Libertarian
Libertarian Party of Canada
The Libertarian Party of Canada is a political party in Canada that subscribes to the tenets of the libertarian movement across Canada.-History:...

Haig Baronikian 264 0.64
Ind. (Communist
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...

)
Miguel Figueroa 105 0.26
Abolitionist
Abolitionist Party of Canada
The Abolitionist Party of Canada was a Canadian political party founded by perennial candidate John C. Turmel. The party ran on a platform of: monetary reform, including the abolition of interest rates and the income tax, the use of the local employment trading system of banking, and introducing a...

Thomas Earl Pennington 60 0.15
Marxist-Leninist
Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist)
The Communist Party of Canada is a Canadian federal Marxist–Leninist political party.The party is registered with Elections Canada as the Marxist–Leninist Party of Canada...

André Vachon 53 0.13
Total valid votes 41,131 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 416
Turnout 41,547 66.37
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