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Lo IEEYTA TILL Ih Lt IL

Jim Quail (i), Bruce Yorke, Wes Knapp .. .
conference Monday.

at COPE press

— Fred Wilson photo

COPE will fight 1980
election on ward issue

Continued from page 1
ward system and the partial system
proposed by the commission.

The prediction was rather easily
made as mayor Jack Volrich at a
press conference Monday proposed
that and stated further than a 60
percent majority would be
necessary for any one of the options
to carry.

Such a plebiscite would be. ‘‘rigg-
ed’? and designed specifically to
split pro-ward votes and ensure the
continuation of the at large system,
COPE president Bruce Yorke
responded in a second press con;
fernece at city hall Monday. :

Yorke, who dubbed the commis-
sion, the ‘‘ward obstruction com-
mission,”’ said that COPE will
“fight the 1980 election on the issue

of the immediate implementation of .

a democratic, full ward system, no
matter what action or inaction is
taken on the report by the mayor.”’

COPE will work towards a broad
electoral alliance for the 1980 elec-
tions, he said, ‘“‘It is obvious that
there will be no ward system until
we get rid of the NPA majority.”’

The prospect of another
plebiscite, however, looms large as
the mayor and the NPA majority’s
obvious strategy is to exploit the
confusing recommendations of the
Eckardt commission to deal a
decisive blow to the movement for a
ward system.

The move for a plebiscite in the
1980 elections can be expected in
the spring, following a series of

public meetings to discuss the com-
mission’s report.

Eckardt is an ‘“‘expert in ger-
rymandering’’, Yorke told the city
hall conference, and the boundaries
for the proposed wards in the par-
tial ward system, to be patterned
after provincial constituencies, have
already been ‘“‘previously ger-
rymandered to a fine degree’’ by
Eckardt himself; who headed a
commission two years ago to
redistribute provincial ridings.

Eckardt’s redistribution wiped
out two NDP seats and laid the
basis for an increase in representa-
tion for the Socreds in Vancouver
from 50 to 60 percent, despite a
large reduction in popular vote.
Those gerrymandered boundaries,
plus the remaining at-large features
of the proposed new system would
guarantee the continued rule of the
““old NPA gang”’,. Yorke:said.

In a related matter. that came
before city council Tuesday, the
NPA indicated that it will oppose a
motion from COPE alderman
Rankin to modify voting pro-
cedures to allow voters left off the
voters list to swear an affidavit at
the polling booth and vote. At pre-
sent, the affidavit ballot will only be
counted if the person was on a
previous voters’ list.

Rankin’s motion pointed out that
no such proviso exists in the
Municipal Act governing elections
in other municipalities in B.C., nor
does it exist in federal or provincial
elections, where all affidavit ballots
are counted.

By ALD. HARRY RANKIN

‘*Well done, thou good and faith-
ful political hacks!”’

That’s the kindest thing that one
can say about this piece of political
hackery called the Report of the Ci-
ty of Vancouver Governmental Re-
view Commission.

In case this awesome sounding ti-
tle doesn’t strike a bell, that’s the
commission set up by mayor Jack
Volrich earlier this year to review
the question of a ward system.

You will remember that last Nov-
ember the majority of the voters in
Vancouver opted for a full ward
system. But this wasn’t acceptable
to our mayor and the NPA majority
on council, all of which had cam-
paigned actively against a ward sys-
tem.

So they set up a commission to
review the whole issue once more.
They wanted this commission of
five appointed people to come up
with a report that would negate the
vote of 47,830 voters that supported
a full ward system.

The commission brought in the
kind of report that was expected of
it by those who appointed it. It also
brought in the kind of report that
we who oppose it expected.

It recommended that Vancouver
establish, not the full ward system
that the electors voted for, but a
partial ward system that the voters
don’t want. Their reasoning on this
issue was curious to say the least;
they said that a referendum is not
binding on city council! Which is
another way of saying that what the
majority wants doesn’t matter.

The commission also recom-
mended that civic elections be held
only every three years and that the
powers of mayor be extended to
such things as the right to person-
ally appoint all standing committees
of city council.

The commission was highly criti-
cal of the people who presented
briefs for a full ward system, claim-
ing that they were ‘‘highly emo-
tional, but not supported by facts.”’
The commission had made up its

here is still a long road ahead for American Indian

Movement activist Leonard Peltier but defence
lawyers for Peltier scored at least one victory when:the
escape trial opened in Los Angeles Nov. 14.

Readers may remember that Peltier sought, along
with two others, to escape from Lompoc federal prison
in June. One of them, Dallas Thunder Shield, was shot
and the other, Bobby Gene Garcia, was recaptured
almost immediately. Arrested with him was Rocque
Duenas who was charged with aiding and abetting the
escape attempt. Peltier eluded police for five days but
was later arrested near Santa Barbara.

When the escape trial for the three opened, how-
ever, the defence was successful in winning the right to
““Defence by Duress and Justification.”

That right, which has only been granted three times
in U.S. judicial history, will enable the defence to in-
troduce evidence showing the reasons for Peltier’s and
the others’ escape attempt.

More than anything, it will enable the defence to.

back the contention that there was a conspiracy to
murder Peltier which involved federal officials, includ-
ing the chief correctional officer at Marion federal
prison.
* * - * *
f like us, you’ve been getting a thick wad of flyers
through the door every day, you may have noticed
that those peddling Radio Shack products have been
especially prominent in recent weeks.

Radio Shack will undoubtedly claim that it is just
Christmas promotion but the barrage of advertising —
there have also been scores of television commercials
— has got more to do with an attempt to counter the
effects of a country-wide boycott launched against the
anti-labor company by the United Steelworkers.

The USWA launched the boycott in August after
workers at Radio Shack’s parent company, Tandy
Electronics, in: Barrie, Ont. had tried unsuccessfully
for more than a year, first to get bargaining rights and

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— DECEMBER 7, 1979—Page 2

PEOPLE ANP ISSUES

then to get an agreement. Apart from blocking basic
demands such as wages and union security, Radio
Shack took the incredible position that the contract
should contain a clause that would see the union fined
$10,000 if any member referred to the company ‘“‘by
suggestion or innuendo”’ without the permission of the
company president.

With sales in Canada totalling $150 million, Radio
Shack, in an attempt to head off the boycott, declared
that it was prepared to lose $1'% million — but it is al-
ready beginning to feel the pinch. Information pickets
have resulted in the closure of two stores in the Mari-
time provinces and another in southern Ontario. Last
week Steelworkers began picketing of stores through-
out the Lower Mainland and they’ll be continuing
right through the Christmas shopping period.

Don’t buy. Radio Shack products — and while
you’re at it stay away from Glad bags, Prestone anti-
freeze and Eveready batteries. They’re all produced by
Union Carbide which is also on the boycott list. Steel-
workers at the Union Carbide plant in Beauharnois,
Que. have been out since Nov. 25, 1978 in an effort to
stop contracting out which has already resulted in the
loss of one-third of their members’ jobs.

* * * * *

e have a note from Al Warrington in Trail giving

us the sad news that long-time Tribune reader and
aielag Clarence Berger passed away in Calgary last
month.

A Trail resident for most of his 65 years, Clarence
was one of many workers who, as Al put it, ‘‘partici-
pated in restoring trade unionism at Cominco in the
1940s.’’ After a long organizing drive Local 480 of the
International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Work-
ers — later to merge with Stee] — won the certification
at Cominco in 1945, ending several years of company
unionism.

A memorial service was to be held in Trail this week.

Political hackery in ward
report not worth 62 cents

mind in advance and didn’t want to
be bothered by facts it didn’t like.

The commission expressed con-
cern for what it claims: to be the
“distressing lack of respect shown
for council and for civic govern-
ment as a whole.’’ Personally I’d
like to see what evidence this com-
mission has to back up this charge
because as far as I know it is com-
pletely without foundation. It’s
quite true that some who appeared
before it showed a great lack of re-
spect for the NPA and for the way
the NPA was trying to negate what
the voters wanted. They may also
have shown their disapproval of a
commission such as this which the
NPA set up to do a political hatchet
job.

But that does not entitle the com-
mission to say that people who feel
that way are disrespectful of city
council or city government. What
people are disrespectful of and
angry about is the way city council
is being used and abused by the
NPA to subvert the will of the peo-
ple of this city.

The commission recommended
that the partial ward system be bas-
ed, not on natural neighborhood
communities, but on existing pro-
vincial constituency boundaries.

It couldn’t find any Canadian
cities that had stich a ward system
because there are none. Only two of
the scores of witnesses that appear-
ed before it recommended a partial
ward system based on provincial
constituency boundaries. So the
commission went outside of
Canada to find an example to sup-
port its recommendation. The place
it has picked as a model is Kansas
City, Missouri, of all places.

Personally, I find it rather
strange that a commission of Cana-
dians appointed in a Canadian city
has to go to a foreign country to
find out how best to run a Canadian
city. How is it that this commission
didn’t ask expert witnesses to ap-
pear before it from city councils in
Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Ed-
monton, Calgary — all of whom
have full ward systems? Why do we
have to go to the U.S. for advice,
when we have all the necessary ex-

perience, both good and bad, right
here in our own country?

Actually, the commission’s rec
ommendation that we have a parti2
ward system based on provincia
constituencies isn’t an original ide
at all. It is a rehash, perhaps regurg:
itation would be a better word, of
report prepared and delivered b
municipal affairs minister, Dan
Campbell, back in 1971, wher
Wacky Senior was still holding th
reins. Campbell proposed that ea
of the then six provincial constitu:
encies would be called wards,- wit
two aldermen elected from each and)
with six elected at large. a

This commission (we now havi
five provincial constituencies) pro
posed that we have five wards, bas
ed on the five provincial constitue
cies with each of them electing twé
aldermen and with five more alder:
men being elected at large. Thef
with some political sleight-of-hant
reasoning, the commission conclud
ed that if each of the five alderm
elected at large lived in one of t
constituencies (wards) then it co
be said that each ward was elect
three aldermen. Brilliant, eh? O
just plain stupid!

This report cost the taxpayél
$62,000. It isn’t worth $62 or evel
62c. It is an attempt by a small mi
nority to impose its will on the ma
jority. It is political hackery. ;

I would suggest that one copy b
filed in a museum somewhere fo
future generations to see what po
litical skullduggery went on in Van
couver in the late 1970s. The r
could be thrown in the wastepapé
basket. I could think of anothe
venerable institution in which the)
could be placed, but then the papé
is too hard and not in rolls.

We’re better off with what
have in Vancouver now than th
political abortion proposed by thi!
commission.

We will just have to continue th
fight for a full ward system ba
on natural neighborhood, .not ger
rymandered provincial constituen
cies, and if this NPA council won
give it to us then we can always elec!
‘a new council in November, 1980
that will.

SAM reports advances

There is a steady movement to-
wards change in Surrey municipal
politics, the Surrey Alternative
Movement (SAM) concluded last
week in a post-election analysis.

SAM took stock of its position
after its third election and reported
a steady growth of electoral sup-
port. The labor-endorsed reform
coalition saw its first time candi-
dates score higher votes than in pre-
vious years, and lead candidate
Wilf Lennox had his aldermanic
vote rise to 17 per cent of votes cast,
up from only seven per cent in 1977.

The Surrey Municipal Electors
(SME), a Liberal-NDP coalition,
emerged as the dominant force in

the election, outpacing the old-li
Surrey Voters’ Association (SVA): |
SAM’s involvement probably pré-
vented a total SME sweep, calli”
paign manager Steve Gidora com
mented, as many voters looking fo!
a reform alternative turned awa
from SME. .

SAM’s three aldermanic candl
dates, Rob White, Ken Rouble and
Wilf Lennox notched 11.5, 8 and !7
per cent of the votes, while its so’
school board candidate, Norm By?”
vig pulled in 18 per cent of t
votes.

“SAM is here to stay and has
real future in Surrey’s municip® | —
politics,’’ Gidora said. ;

ELUC appeal protested

About 75 Richmond residents
sraecbee in a heavy rain last Satur-
day to protest the impending re-
moval of 350 acres of prime agricul-
tural land from the B.C. Land Re-
serve.

Members of the Richmond Agri-
cultural Land Use Association
walked along Steveston Highway at
No. 4 Road, where Gilmore Es-
tates, a German company, has ap-
plied to have land removed from
the reserve for industrial develop-
ment.

Gilmore’s application was reject-

wy dn ay thy,

ed by Richmond municipal coun!
in December, 1977, by the GVRD
March of 1978, and by the
Commission in May of 1979. In J
ly of this year, however, then en!
onment minister Rafe Mair 8
Gilmore leave to appeal the appli¢
tion to the cabinet’s environ
land use committee. The ap
to be heard in late December or ¢
ly January.
Demonstrators signed a teleg
to premier Bennett urging him to!
struct the cabinet to disallow the
peal, ‘‘thereby showing your
port for farmland in this province