Margaret Villamizar, the Marxist-Leninist candidate in Windsor West, says her family didn't decide together to run in three area ridings. It just worked out that way.
That said, Villamizar isn't surprised her son and daughter-in-law have joined her as candidates in the upcoming federal election. Her son is running for the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada in the riding of Essex, while her daughter-in-law represents the party in Windsor-Tecumseh.
The family matriarch says she got involved in the party in the early 1970s, drawn to its pacifist message. Part of her party's platform would require a paradigm shift in foreign policy.
"Our party calls for an anti-war government," says Villamizar. "Canada would base itself on the policy of friendly relations among people, diplomatic solutions to conflicts when they do arise, and keeping its nose out of the affairs of other countries."
She also believes the Security Council has too much power over the United Nations and should be more democratic.
Villamizar is running against NDP incumbent Brian Masse, the Liberal Party's Dave Sundin, Henry Lau of the Conservative Party, and Green Party candidate Cora LaRussa.