Kimball was born on Treaty Six territory in Saskatchewan. Growing up in a very conservative area of central Alberta, he became a revolutionary anti-war activist by the age of sixteen. His family heritage includes immigrants from Ireland and Norway, as well as ancestors from the historic Red River Metis nation. He joined the Communist Party as a student at the University of Alberta, and was later elected as the Party’s Saskatchewan leader for a decade, before moving to Vancouver in 1993. Now a proudly radical senior, he remains a fierce critic of the violent system of imperialism and colonialism, and an outspoken advocate for socialism. He condemns Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people, and the brutal US blockades against Cuba and other countries. Kimball extends his deepest solidarity to all those in our community engaged in the common struggle for a better world. As he says, “a vote for a Communist candidate is a vote for a future of true liberation, where our children and grandchildren can live in harmony, without fear of capitalist exploitation, poverty, war, and  environmental devastation.”

ROBERT CROOKS for VANCOUVER STRATHCONA
Robert Crooks was elected to be the leader of the Communist Party of BC in 2025. Originally from Treaty 1, Robert first became active in politics as a tenant organizer in the West Broadway neighbourhood of Winnipeg. From this work came the understanding that the issue of housing is not about supply or building costs, but is symptomatic of a socioeconomic system that prioritizes profit over people’s needs.

After becoming involved with the Communist Party, Robert began to spread his political activity into anti-imperialist peace organizing. He is currently serving his third consecutive term as an executive member of the Canadian Network on Cuba, an organization that collects material aid for Cubans and runs political campaigns to counter the misinformation prevalent in the corporate media regarding the island and its leadership.

Community is central to Robert’s work. In Winnipeg, he volunteered to help teach English to newcomers and served on multiple boards of directors for different arts and cultural institutions. Until taking on his current role with the Communist Party of BC, he worked as a front line worker and then as the development coordinator for a youth-serving community organization in Winnipeg’s Point Douglas, a neighbourhood with some of the highest child poverty rates in Canada.

Now living in the Vancouver Strathcona riding, Robert is doing his best to contribute to the great work that has been and continues to be done in the neighbourhood. 

“This riding is home to the Downtown Eastside, where the misanthropic tendencies of capitalism and colonialism are on full display,” said Robert. “This neighbourhood is also known for its amazing, caring people who treat one another with respect and love regardless of differences. The problems we face here are the same as in neighbourhoods all over Canada, and all across the world. Homelessness, deteriorating social services, food insecurity, inaccessible healthcare and the attempt to address these issues with more police aren’t unique to Vancouver Strathcona. They are the symptoms of the moribund capitalist system. The only way we can defeat it is to work together to solidify the power of the people through organization, to take on the developers, the investors, the six-figure politicians and overpaid cops to win our rights through political struggle.”

PEPPER SALTMAN for NANAIMO-LANTZVILLE
Pepper Saltman is a recent computer science graduate with a history of advocacy for the working class and solidarity with oppressed nations. Pepper, 41, has an economics degree from UNBC in Prince George and an accounting diploma and computer science degree from VIU in Nanaimo. Her 15 years in food service and hospital housekeeping led Pepper to recognize exploitation and class struggle as the daily reality of the worker. She has volunteered with the Communist Party since 2019 to help the working class overcome capitalist exploitation, war, and ecological crisis.

James has been to Cuba twice on the Che Guevara Volunteer Work Brigade run by the Canadian Network on Cuba, most recently in May. There he visited Cuban farms, schools, and community projects; listening to locals and learning about the challenges the island nation faces due to increased US sanctions and how they are able to survive under it.

Currently, James is active with several grassroots organizations in the Cowichan Valley that are involved with countering transphobia, promoting democratic participation, and solidarity with Palestine. He is an activist who tries to support as many struggles that align with his convictions as he can while building community.

James is running for the Communist Party because it offers an alternative to capitalism, the root of many of the issues we are faced with today such as poverty, racism, and war. That alternative is socialism, a system that puts people and the planet before profit.