In the 2021 federal election, Communist Party candidate Jeremy Fisher received 100 votes in his riding, Saskatoon, University. Since then he’s had time to reflect on the election and his future in Saskatchewan politics.
Fisher recalled the times when he faced opposition on his campaign trail, but feels optimistic despite being told to ‘burn in hell’ by a man.
“I think we kind of exceeded expectations.” Said Fisher, “that got us a little bit of notoriety. Our membership has grown and given more interest, and people actually know that we exist now.”
The motivation for Fisher to run came from not wanting to stand idly after living in Saskatchewan his entire life. According to Fisher, people are suffering the consequences of the poor leadership in the province. One of these instances is the government’s treatment of the Covid-19 pandemic and healthcare.
“I can’t just be idle, while our healthcare gets privatized, you know, piecemeal every year.” Said Fisher. “Scott Moe and Paul Merriman, I think they’re criminal, really, and they have blood on their hands.”
For Fisher, it’s important that he or another member of the party is running to represent the working class of Saskatchewan in some form, whether that be for city council, provincial, or federal elections.
“Remind the working class who fought for us to have weekends or eight-hour workdays, and it should be shorter than eight hours,” Said Fisher, “but a lot of people fought and lost their lives, fighting for those changes in Canada. We need to remind people what it means to really have worker’s rights.”
Fisher co-founded the Louis Riel Club in Saskatoon with other communists. The club aims to help expand the party’s membership and support the community.
Riel was a Metis revolutionary who stood up for the Metis people and territory. He was largely responsible for bringing Manitoba into Confederation and for the 1885 resistance, in which he was later found treasonous and executed.
“We raised $400 for land defenders, so that’s not nothing.” Said Fisher. “We collect donations, and we donate to the Riversdale community fridge once a month, we do it the first Sunday of every month.”
Community work like food drives and standing for Indigenous sovereignty is at the core of the club’s beliefs according to Fisher.
“[We] get out into our community [to] remind people that, you know, the C-word of communism isn’t scary.” Said Fisher.
The Riel club realizes a key to solidarity in this province is to branch out into the more rural areas and reservations.
“Expanding what we’ve done in Saskatoon once we have a strong base of operations and reaching out to the more rural communities, so they don’t feel like they’re forgotten by us because we don’t forget them.” Said Fisher.
