Michael Laxer (born 1970) is a
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
political
activist
Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...
and the former chairperson of the
Socialist Party of Ontario.
Background
Laxer lives in the Toronto neighbourhood of
Long Branch, in
Etobicoke
Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...
, where he and his wife own and operate a used
book store, the only independent used bookstore in south Etobicoke until it closed its bricks and mortar operation at the end of 2015, becoming an online bookstore.
He is the son of writer, political scientist, professor, and former
NDP leadership candidate James Laxer
James Robert Laxer (22 December 1941 – 23 February 2018), also known as Jim Laxer, was a Canadian political economist, historian, public intellectual, and political activist who served as a professor at York University. Best known as co-f ...
and grandson of
Robert Laxer.
Politics
He was a candidate for the
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
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(NDP) in the
2000 federal election in the
riding of
Scarborough—Agincourt, and for the
Ontario NDP
The Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP; , NPD) is a social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Ontario, political party in Ontario, Canada. The party sits on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. I ...
during the
2003 provincial election in
Scarborough Centre.
Laxer was also an unsuccessful candidate for
Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The Toronto City Council 2022–2026, current term began on Nove ...
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 (ONDP) to issue a comprehensive
manifesto
A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...
of policies 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
Andrea Lynn Horwath (; born October 24, 1962) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 58th List of mayors of Hamilton, Ontario, mayor of Hamilton since 2022. Horwath served as the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) from 200 ...
, Laxer wrote:
He and the Ginger Project left the NDP in 2011 due to its cancellation of a policy convention and what they viewed as the silencing of left-wingers telling the ''Toronto Star'', "I was surprised that they would not have a policy convention prior to an election."
Laxer was one of two official spokespersons of the
Socialist Party of Ontario from 2011 to 2012 and was the party's chairperson.
In 2010 and 2014 Laxer ran for City Councillor in Toronto's Ward 6 Etobicoke—Lakeshore receiving 717 votes in his first effort and 305 in his second.
Laxer is a social activist who opposes men's rights groups because he believes men's rights movement is a vocal opponent of feminism.
In 2015, he told the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division.
...
'' he had been encouraging people to fight the
Canadian Association for Equality
The Canadian Association for Equality (CAFE) is a Canadian non-profit organization. CAFE has frequently been characterized as a men's rights group by sources, though the organization denies this.
In March 2014 the Canadian Association for Equal ...
's inclusion at the
LGBT Pride parade, because he believed allowing men’s rights groups to walk would "legitimize them and mainstream misogyny".
[
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Election results
References
External links
Michael Laxer's Ward 6 City Councillor 2014 election websiteThe Left Chapter
Michael Laxer's blog
Michael Laxer's Blog
at rabble.ca
rabble.ca is an independent, non profit, English-language Canadian online magazine founded in 2001. It features podcasts, videos and a discussion board called ''babble''.
History
Judy Rebick and Mark Surman founded rabble.ca on April 18, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laxer, Michael
1970 births
21st-century Canadian businesspeople
21st-century Canadian politicians
Activists from Toronto
Businesspeople from Toronto
Canadian activists
Canadian booksellers
Canadian socialists
Candidates in the 2000 Canadian federal election
Living people
Ontario municipal politicians
Ontario New Democratic Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections
Ontario political party leaders
People from Etobicoke
Politicians from Toronto