Michael Laxer
| Michael Laxer | |
|---|---|
Michael Laxer
|
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| Born | 1970 (age 46–47) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Business Owner/Politician |
| Known for | Social Activism |
| Political party |
Socialist Party of Ontario (2011–present) New Democratic Party (?–2011) |
| Relatives |
Robert Laxer James Laxer |
Michael Laxer (born 1970) is a Canadian political activist and the chairperson of the Socialist Party of Ontario.
Laxer lives in the Toronto neighbourhood of Long Branch, in Etobicoke, where he and his wife own and operate a used book store, the only independent used bookstore in south Etobicoke. Michael Laxer is the son of writer, political scientist, professor and former NDP leadership candidate James Laxer and grandson of Robert Laxer.
He was a candidate for the New Democratic Party (NDP) in the 2000 federal election in the riding of Scarborough—Agincourt, and for the Ontario NDP during the 2003 provincial election in Scarborough Centre. Laxer was also an unsuccessful candidate for Toronto City Council in Ward 6 (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) in the 2010 municipal election.
In 2008, he criticized the $15,000 entrance fee for the Ontario NDP leadership election as being too high saying, "What you get by doing that is you manifestly limit the number of people who are outside the party establishment, and who have available big backers of one kind or another."
Laxer subsequently began the Ginger Project calling for the Ontario NDP to issue a comprehensive manifesto of polices and build support for their ideas rather than put all their resources into winning marginal ridings. In an open letter to ONDP leader Andrea Horwath, Laxer wrote: "Many party members had reservations relating to the 'push to win' strategy that prioritized certain ridings for party resources at the expense of others. We feel that this strategy should be abandoned, as it has failed to produce any tangible results during an election. The NDP should instead adopt a policy that ensures each riding association has the ability to reach every household in their riding at least once during an election campaign. We should force the other parties to have to engage us seriously in every riding in the province."
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Wikipedia