The 18 men, arrested in June, “have already been found guilty by the media, and most have been denied bail,” Young said.

“If elected as mayor, what will you do to protect our legal rights and to stop the hatred and discrimination against us?” Azba Hathiyani, a 12th-grade student, asked all the candidates from the floor.

Young, a union meat packer, answered that bosses and their government use racism to try to divide workers. “Working people have a responsibility to fight against all discrimination and for the respect of all religious beliefs and cultures,” he said.

Disagreeing with the pro-capitalist mayoral candidates who argued that the cops should be strengthened, Young said, “The police are a repressive force for the rich.” He noted that over the last five and a half years, 34.5 percent of those fatally shot by the police in Ontario were Black, even though Blacks represent only 3.6 percent of the population.

Answering a question about homelessness, Young pointed to the Cuban Revolution as an example where workers and farmers have taken political power and organized to meet the social needs of the majority. “Homelessness is not a problem in Cuba as it is in capitalist countries,” he said.

During the campaign, the Communist League, which also ran Michel Dugré for city council in Ward 12 and Beverly Bernardo in Ward 14, put forward a working-class alternative to the pro-capitalist candidates. The Communist League candidates defended the right to strike of Toronto transit workers who are fighting to defend their contract and demanded the immediate withdrawal of all Canadian troops from Afghanistan. They championed the fight for Quebec independence.

Young received 2,264 votes, or 0.4 percent of the total, putting him in 11th place out of 38 mayoral candidates.  
 
 
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