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sinianiieh AeA

_ Winnipeg citizens

isecotaary indu stries needed
to give youth job and future

Why must our

youth suffer in a

land as richly

endowed as B.C.?' The challenge facing all people in B.C.
is to provide opportunity for our young people through

a bold program of. economic development.

This article

points out some of the things which can be done. Other
articles will’ follow dealing with other aspects of the

problems of youth.

By B.C. Youth Commission

Communist Party

HRONIC unemployment
C has become a_ growing
blight on Canadian life. Hard-
est hit are young people.

The Dominion Bureau of
Statistics reported in April,
1962, “Unemployment rates
have also been consistently
much higher for young peo-
ple than for people in older
age groups.” In the under-19
age group, unemployment
rates in 1961 were double the
National average for a stag-
gering 16.6 per cent. In the
20-24 age group the rate was
40 per cent above the national
figure.

Thousands of young people
in B.C. face a future without
Work. For many, unemploy-
Ment insurance has run out
or is not available due to re-
cent graduation from high
School. Hundreds of others
are on social assistance. Many
more will be this winter.

Why? Why should this be,
in One of the richest areas in
the world in terms of natural
wealth. The answer can be
found by looking at the de-
velopment of these resources.
NEED SECONDARY

INDUSTRY,
B.C.’s'economy is based on
Primary industries whose

Products. are mainly for ex-
port. Such an economy can-

-not provide jobs for the 300,-

000 to 350,000 young people
Who will come on the labor
Market in B.C. in the next
10 years. Export of raw ma-
terials means export of jobs.

e must not continue to ship
the future of our young peo-
Ple away with every boat-
load of iron ore, with every
Unprocessed ingot, with every
barge of raw pulp, and with
Sellout treaties and foreign
control.

B.C. needs a new plan of
€conomic development. Our
future security lies in the es-

of Canada

tablishment of secondary in-
dustry to make maximum use
of our resources.

B.C.’s present position is
shameful. The Gordon Com-
mission on Canada’s_ Eco-
nomic Prospects indicated our
plight. In the period 1926-
1953 B.C. led all ower Cana-
dian regions in the increase

in value of products from
basic industries with a 74.4
per cent gain. In the same

period we trailed all regions,
even the Prairies and Mari-
times, in the increase in value
of products of secondary in-
dustries. Our 25.3 per cent
was less than half of the na-
tional figure, which showed
a 56.8 percent rise.

Cheap power is the key to
modern industry. B.C. has
vast reserves of coal, oil,
natural gas and above ll,
hydro. Of more than 30 mil-
lion horsepower hydro poten-
tial only a little over 3 mil-
lion has been developed. Key
among these untapped rivers
is the Columbia river — the
greatest undeveloped source
of hydro in North America.
PUT POWER TO WORK

Full development of power
sites in Canada would prc-
vide many millions of horse-
power. How could we use
such output? What new in-
dustries could be developed
with their thousands of new
jobs?

1. A modern steel industry
capable of producing 500,000
tons per year would meet
B.C.’s estimated present re-
quirements of 300,000 tons.
The remainder would go to
construction of secondary in-
dustries and for export. The
lower mainland or Vancou-
ver Island would be the best
location in terms of raw ma-
terials and markets. Coast
steel plus Columbia power
means jobs in a score of sec-

ondary industries.
2. B.C. has one of

the
world’s greatest potentials for
development of a chemical in-
dustry. Modern plastics,  fi-

bres, fertilizers and so on
come from oil, gas, coal and
wood. Our oil reserves are
now over 100 million barrels.
Peace River natural gas fields
contain some 6 trillion cubic
feet, our coal reserves now
lying unused, are conserva-
tively set at 7 billion tons,
our forests rank among the
world’s greatest.

A chemical complex and
related industries in the Co-
lumbia basin and another on
the coast could employ 20-30
thousand people. Synthetic
textiles and garments, con-
struction and home plastics,
synthetic rubber, dyes, drugs,
and medicines, and many
more such products could
transform our _ province’s
economy. Skilled workers,
technicians, and university
graduates would be attracted
to B.C. — a reversal of the
current trend.

OUR FOREST INDUSTRY

Almost one-half of B.C.’s
income is from our. forest.
Today this greatest resource
is under foreign control. U.S.

monopolies have been grant-
ed vast tracts under forest
management licences. These
firms are exporting increas-
ing amounts of raw _ pulp,
craft paper, and even raw
logs. With these exports go
jobs by the tens of thousands.
“The.fact« that “B:C. is not
getting full value from its
forests has long been recog-
nized.”’ (Labor Progressive
Party brief to the B.C. Royal
Commission on Forestry —
1955).

The uses of wood are grow-
ing rapidly. In “Forest Re-
sources of B.C.” the late Com-
missioner of Forests, Gordon
Sloan, said, “someone in the
U.S. Forestry Service, with-
out exhausting the list, noted
4,500 commercial and indus-
trial uses of wood, ranging
from the heaviest structural
timber to sheer rayon.”

We need a new forest pol-
icy based on nationalization
of the giant monopolies and
planned development.

EXPAND MINING

4. Copper, silver, lead, zinc,
cadmium, gold, and a dozen
more minerals are produced
in large quantities in B.C.
The great Trail smelter and

numerous mills export con-
centrates and ingots to the
U.S. and other foreign coun-

tries in huge amounts.

Development of large scale
secondary industry in BC.
would require lead, zinc and
copper in a multitude of
forms. A variety of process-
ing plants in the Kootenay
area would turn out copper
wire, batteries, piants, gal-
vanized metal products, in-
secticides, brass, castings and
a number of other goods for

industry. Once again jobs
would be created for B.C.
youth.

5. During the war years
B.C. became a world famous
ship building centre. Canada
was a Major maritime power.
As part of the post war sell-
out to American policy our
merchant fleet disappeared
and our shipyards dwindled.

A new economic policy for
B.C. means trade. This would
demand a new merchant mar-
ine and a rejuvenated ship
building industry.

Vancouver’s port facilities
would be reconstructed and
developed as a part of a gen-
eral economic plan.

The maritime industry
could provide ten thousand
new jobs.

These are but a few of the
province - building projects
that can ensure the future for
our young people. At present
our provinces resources are
in the hands of huge US.
monopolies. The Provincial
Government pursues policies
designed to accelerate for-
eign domination. The result
for our youth is unemploy-
ment, insecurity, or emigra-
tion.

B.C. needs at least 100,000
new jobs. Only through the
development of secondary in-
dustries, the nationalization
of American owned corpora-
tions, expanded trade, and a
planned program of economic
growth can these jobs be
created. The future of our
Province’s 800,000 young peo-
ple — half our population —
is at stake!

Orlikow

By DON CURRIE

Manitoba Organizer, CPC

HE high sounding phrases,

“freedom of the individ-
ual,” “freedom of conscience”’
and ‘‘academic freedom,” etc.
Stuck in the throats .and
burned the ears of scores of
the past
few weeks as they were given
@ rude and jarring lesson in
democracy.

Beginning with a visit by
a group of American students
to Communist Party head-
Quarters in Winnipeg, organ-
ized by a local high school
teacher, Lionel Orlikow, as
Part of an extensive tour of
the city, the incident quickly
mushroomed into a national

affair becoming

involving the minister

issue
of justice, the RCMP, Cath-
olic spokesmen, the New

Democratic Party and many
prominent Winnipeg citizens
and organizations.
* * *

Orlikow was the recipient
of a $5,000 school board schol-
arship to take up studies at
Harvard University in the
United States. This was the
pretext for a character as-
sasination attempt by Dr.
Andrew Moore, a member of
the Winnipeg School Board,

who introduced a motion to.

withhold the scholarship on
the grounds - that Orlikow
had been investigated by the
RCMP for organizing the visit

DON CURRIE

‘cause celebre’

to the Communist headquart-
ers.

Many people were suspi-
cious of Dr. Moore’s motives
and public support for Or-
likow mounted rapidly until
the issue came to a head at
the Jan. 2 meeting of the

‘school board when’ over 200

people packed the board
chambers in support of Or-
likow and to condemn Dr.
Moore’s_ witch-hunting with
hoots and boos.

A petition bearing more
than 1,000 signatures, includ-
ing the name of the former
provincial premier Douglas

~ Campbell, was presented by

Professor W. L. Morton of the
University of Manitoba on be-

half of several other uni-
versity professors in support
of Orlikow.

ae = =

Prof. Morton told the board
that if the motion were pas-
sed by the board, “any teach-
ers . .. might well ask what
activity, what statement,
what reported word, might
not get them into trouble
with the board?”

Prof. . Morton’s' remarks
were taken a step forward in
the brief presented by the
Manitoba Teachers Society.

The teachers’ brief demand-
ed the fullest academic free-
dom to expose their students
“to all kinds of social and
See ORLIKOW AFFAIR, pg. 8

Jan, 18, 1963—PACIFIC, TRIBUNE—Page 5