Te TA

Free public transit may
be key to civic problems

By ALD. HARRY RANKIN

Now that Vancouver city
council is committed to a public
rapid transit system, we should
go one step further. We should
study the possibility of
providing fare free transit.

I know that to some this will
sound impractical, to others as a
threat .to our so-called “‘free

Peace is

_& the Voice of Women

much an issue in the present p

base being built at Masset on

event of nuclear war.
This question is of param

“the good life’ or anything

construction. Why dees he not

being discussed in Ottawa?

The reason why Bennett
program as well as its econo

to have publicly taken a stand
in Vietnam.

It is this U.S. military pr
which is responsible for the

U.S. military program, of
supporter.
This week is a good time

government which backs the U

EDITORIAL

he story which appears elsewhere on this page about

Victoria pointed questions about U.S. military bases on the
B.C. coast serves to point up the fact that peace is very

This fact was recognized by the women’s group in Victoria
which sent their questions to the Prime Minister, leaders of
federal opposition parties and to Vancouver Island MLAs.
Their questions are directed at getting answers about the giant

expresses concern over the very survival of the province in the

B.C. who are now less than three weeks away from a provincial
election. What is the point about promising a “‘just society,”’

promises are being made B.C. is being turned in to a nuclear
target by installations of U.S. bases on our territory which
threaten the very survival of the province and country?

Premier W.A.C. Bennett must have knowledge of the $25
million scheme moving ahead at Masset under USS.

or publicly ask Ottawa to do so? Is B.C. being considered as one
of the new sites for the Pentagon’s strategic bombers, now

This week the U.S. Senate is expected to make an historic
decision on whether to go ahead with the ABM system which
will pose grave threats to all of Canada including B.C., which
lies between Alaska and U.S. territory. Has Bennett any views
on this critical question, and why has he not expressed them?

Socred government he heads has fully backed the U.S. military

recalled that Bennett is the only provincial premier in Canada

From a policy of outright giveaway of resources to U.S.
monopolies and open advocacy of economic union with the U.S.
by cabinet members, it’s a straight line to support for the
military role of the U.S. in the world and to making B.C.
territory available to the Pentagon for military bases.

inflation with its serious consequences to the economic life of
the people of B.C. Not a single thing from building a school to
buying a loaf of bread can escape the higher costs due to the

importance of the fight to preserve peace. Exactly 24 years ago
— on August 6, 1945— the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on
Hiroshima, killing an estimated 200,000 people.

We must resolve never to let it happen again. A good place
to begin in B.C. would be to oust the Socred government— the

enterprise’ profit system, while
to still others it will .be
socialistic and revolutionary.
Revolutionary it probably is in
the sense that fare free public
transit would be a radical
departure from present
practices, but it could hardly be
called a threat to our profit-
oriented society. It is true that
the two major modern urban

an issue

in Victoria asking Ottawa and

rovincial election campaign.

the Queen Charlotte Islands, and

ount importance to the people of

else if at the very time these

disclose what is going on there

has been silent is because the
mic expansionism. It should be

of full support for the U.S. war

ogram and the war in Vietnam
arms race and the threat of

which Bennett is an ardent

to remind ourselves of the vital

.S. war program.

centres

pistes

Pacific Tribune

‘West Coast edition, Canadian Tribune

SSS

+1

Editor—TOM McEWEN — Associate Editor—MAURICE RUSH
Published weekly at Ford Bidg., Mezzonine No. 3, 193 E. Hastings St.,
Vancouver 4, B.C. Phone 685-5288.

Subscription Rate: Canada, $5.00 one year; $2.75 for six months.

: Second class mail r
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PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUGUST 8, 1969—PAGE 2

egistration number 1560,
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cheapest transportation in the
world are the socialist capitals
of Moscow and East Berlin.
There fares for travel by
subway, street cars, elevated or
buses are only 5¢ and the honor
system prevails — there are no
fare collectors.

..But curiously enough, it is in
the City of Commerce, adjacent
to Los Angeles, and in the heart
of the capital U.S.A. where the
public rides completely free on
all city buses. What’s more, it is
working out very well and is
welcomed by business men,
shoppers and workers.

Furthermore, the concept of
free public transportation is
gaining ground in both the U.S.
and Canada. It is based on the
sound and up-to-date philosophy
that in this age of mobility and
urban growth, public
transportation is a service to be
provided to people just like
education, hospitalization,
medicare and pensions, and that
the costs should be met.out of
general government revenues.

Public transit need not, and in
fact should not, be regarded as a
business that must make a profit
in the fare box. The growing use
of cars has in any case already
compelled recognition of the fact
that public transportation must
be subsidized.

Free public transit is one
means of providing economic
and social equality to the poor. in
‘our slums, the elderly, the
handicapped, the young and
other members of -our non-
motorized population.

A valuable by-product of free
public transit (even of a 5¢ fare)
would undoubtedly be that many
people going to work, shopping
or visiting would leave their cars
at home. This would ease the
growing traffic congestion in our
downtown area and bring. about
great savings in __ street
maintenance and other services
now provided to keep traffic
moving.

As I said, free public transit
might be revolutionary, but it
could be a good thing for
Vancouver. Don’t you think City
Council should give it a try?

What U.S. bases on B.C. coast?

The Victoria Voice of Women
have addressed a series of
questions to Prime Minister
Trudeau) and federal and
provincial leaders of political
parties expressing conern about
the increase of military activity
in the Vancouver Island-Queen
Charlottes area, and demanding
answers to pertinent questions.

Among the nine questions to
which an answer is sought, the
first one asks: ‘‘To what extent
is the U.S. involved in the
development of military
facilities on or near Vancouver
Island and the Queen
Charlottes?’’ The Victoria Voice
of Women also want to know the
location end purpose of each of
the facilities, as well as how
many American personnel are
stationed in B.C.

Another pointed question for
which an answer is asked is:
“‘Are there any nuclear weapons
in the B.€. area (a) under the

which provide the.

week.
_ The meeting, organized by the
Vancouver East Constituency of
the Communist Party for
candidates Nigel Morgan and
Ernest Crist, was held at Cassiar
and Napier Streets.

“Not only will the cost of such
a system increase the already
intolerable tax
working class homes, but it will
most certainly not resolve the
existing traffic problem in
Vancouver. Los Angeles and
other cities are a clear example
that it does not work,”’ he said.

“The freeway plans have been
drawn up for the benefit of the
big monopolies, including the
C.P.R., and with complete
disregard for the people. A
freeway go-ahead,’ Morgan
said, “would mean _ the

destruction of hundreds of homes..*
along the proposed routes, a”

boost in pollution far beyond the
permissable safety level and an
impossible environment for the
people in this City.

“The pouring of hundreds of
millions of dollars into endless
concrete slabs would take place
against a background of much
more urgent priorities such as
cheaper housing, a decrease in

taxes, hospitals, educational
facilities and public trans
portation.”

Crist charged that the Bennett
Government had no plan to fight
pollution. He said that ‘‘in the
propaganda material sent out by
the Socreds, not a single mention
of this-staggering problem had
been made. And this at a time,”’
he said, ‘“‘when — pollution is

control of any Canadian agency?
(b) under the control of any
American agency? (c) under the
control of any American-
Canadian agency?”’

In a press statement Mrs.
Dorcas Blair, acting President
of the Victoria Voice of Women,
says that “‘the apparent increase
of military activity and build-up
of military installations in the
Vancouver Island-Queens
Charlottes area continues _ to,
arouse considerable conern and
some anxiety.”

“The Voice of Women
sponsored a Hiroshima Day vigil
in front of the Parliament
Buildings Wednesday of this
week and held a public meeting
at the Crest Motel following the
vigil at which a major issue
discussed was the extent and
nature of military developments
in the Vancouver Island area and
how these installations are
controlled and ‘‘whether their

ELECTION

NEWS

Morgan, Crist speak —
at open air rally |

If the proposed freeway plans for the City of
Vancouver as worked out by Swan and Wooster are —
carried through, it will mean an additional tax increas€
of $101 per family home-in Vancouver for the next 20 ~
years, charged Nigel Morgan, Communist candidate for ~
Vancouver East at an open air rally in the East End, last

burden on.

attitude of

-the necessary: number of -highl¥”

rapidly shaping up as one of the
most urgent problems of our
time. Only in the last few days
have the Socreds begun to talk
about pollution.”’ “It is obvious

‘that the material they sent oul ~

was printed before: the SocredS.—
found out that pollution would be
an - important. . issue. 7
Crist also hit’ the existing -
the: ;
Government towards education. —
“The Socreds are treating the —
whole question of education as if
it were still a privilege instead of
an asset to society. Education
should be free and should include
stipends for needy students
because an investment~ 11.
education is the - cheapest
investment society can make for
the future. The advantages of the —
scientific technical . revolution —

‘can only: be-realized ifiwe ‘have® af

trained people,’ he said.’ » }*'"

“The Bennett. Government 1S
committing an unprecedente
crime against the young people
in this Province. Not only are -
they denying our young people
jobs by giving away our raw
materials and the jobs that 8°
with them, but many young —
people, particularly those %
working class background, are
unable to finish their studies —
because they cannot find jobs
during the summer months 1
finance their education.”’ ee
"Crist said, the Bennett
government: is a reactionary
government that does not
understand the 20th Century and
must be replaced.

presence may render the are@

more susceptible to attack
case of hostility.”

Recognizing that the serious
issue involved is not only 4

matter of the federal —
government, but also the —
provincial legislature, i

questionnaire has been sent to 2 1
Vancouver Island MLAs.
The Pacific Tribune has

carried two front page stories ® |

recent weeks calling on thé
Fedéral government to disclos€
the true nature of the giant bas¢
being built at Masset on
Queen Charlotte Island by a US:
firm. There is growing concel?
about this matter, as
questionnaire from the Victor!4
Voice of Women indicates.

The Vancouver Hiroshima Day
vigil takes place at the Court
House on Georgia St., starting #
4 p.m. this Friday, August 8. It}
being sponsored by the Peac
Action League.

Bennett) |