‘Communist movement’ hiding in NDP, Mammoliti warns

Showing no sign of backing down, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti continued the war of words that has erupted since he vowed to ban “communists” from a Facebook page designed to elicit input on balancing the city’s books.

Calling up the National Post on Thursday to respond to comments made by a Marxist, Mr. Mammoliti read out three definitions of communism, including the one in Oxford Dictionary which describes it as “a theory or system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.”

“I’m going to say something that might be very controversial for the city, but it’s my view that the communist movement in Toronto is hidden, and it’s hidden through one of its major parties, and I used to belong to that party,” said Mr. Mammoliti, who was an MPP for the NDP party during the 90s.

“It’s very clear to me, many of the directions that the former City of Toronto took in planning was done in a very intelligent way that brought policies closer to the objectives of the Communist Party.”

And it’s because of that, Mr. Mammoliti maintains, that the Ford administration is encountering opposition to its cost-cutting agenda.

He wants to “weed out the communists in this city and one of them has surfaced. I’d like to know how many more there are.”

When asked to clarify, he said that everyone has a right to live in the city, and advocate their positions, “but they should be doing it publicly and not hiding behind a political party that very clearly disguises itself as a social democratic party.”

Earlier this week, in response to Mr. Mammoliti’s vow to block communists from his Facebook page, one self-described Marxist called the councillor’s comments “profoundly offensive” and “ignorant.”

Jordy Cummings, who is studying towards a PhD in political theory at York University, said Mr. Mammoliti “doesn’t realize the impact of this kind of rhetoric,” which has the hallmarks of the “red baiting” that occurred during the McCarthy years in the United States.

“Mr. Mammoliti is ignoring the fact that people who have described themselves as communists, socialists and anti-capitalists helped to build the city of Toronto.”

Origin
Source: National Post