BRITISH COLUMBIA [ The selection of Bill Vander Zalm as aa leader, and hence B.C. premier, at the July 4 ae 28-30 Social Credit leadership convention t signified a further shift to the right by a 4 party that is already recognized as the most right-wing political party in Canada. 1 Vander Zalm represents the redneck ‘ majority in his party (if the delegates are ( any indicaton, and they should be): people : who hate French-Canadians and Native Indians, welfare recipients and unions, teachers and health care workers. This redneck majority wants as their leader a political demagogue with a _ Fraser- i go a | Institute mentality, and in Bill Vander i Bae sh Zalm they believe they have one. i ea The redneck majority has shown some dissatisfaction with Premier Bennett, not because he cut social services or bashed unions, but because he didn’t go far enough in turning the whole province over to business interests, and in some cases backed off when public pressure became too great. A case in point is Vander Zalm himself. As minister of municipal affairs he intro- duced legislation which would have seriously limited the right of municipal councils to implement zoning bylaws or to implement municipal planning. The cab- inet, or to be more precise the minister of municipal affairs, would have had the power of veto over municipal decisions. The loud and angry protests of munici- pal councils across the province caused Premier Bennett to back off and the legis- lation was never passed. That’s when reas Vander Zalm called the cabinet gutless and he and Bennett parted company. But it would be naive indeed to believe that Vander Zalm had behind.him just the redneck majority. Big money was there too, backing him just as it did in the Van- couver civic elections in 1984 when he was the Non-Partisan Association candidate for mayor. This was dramatically shown at the leadership convention when Bud Smith, the Kamloops lawyer and the choice of the Howe Street investment people, dropped out of the race and threw Harry Rankin his support behind Vander Zalm, assuring him of victory. The big money boys had decided that Vander Zalm was their man. To me, the Social Credit leadership convention looked more like a circus than a serious convention of a serious political party. All the hoopla and ballyhoo — the banners, the bands, the marchers, the uni- forms, the cheer leaders — seemed de- signed for one -purpose only: to create a spectacular media event. I doubt that any of this hoopla affected the votes in any significant way. I couldn’t help wondering | | Redneck vote picks Vander Zalm if the people who organized it considered the voting public (as well as their own delegates) a lot af idiots. I was also amazed at the huge amount of money spent by the leadership candi- dates. If media speculation is true (that the top four may have spent $500,000 each), the whole convention could have cost sev- eral millions of dollars. That’s not the kind of money that comes from membership dues. It has only one source — the corporate backers of the party. For them any donations given to candidates or the party were not risk capital but an investment. For every dollar they donated they expect a hundred back in tax concessions, subsidies and con- tracts. So far they haven’t been disappointed. Premier _ Bennett bragged in his last months in office that his last provincial budget gave $1 billion in tax cuts to the corporate sector. But the most notable feature of the con- vention, in my view, was the almost com- - The candidates all praised Benne . provide jobs, to get the economy MoV = plete lack of any policy discussion, of debate on the issues facing the pt what he had done during his term of0 and expressed no disagreement W! of his policies. : Not one of them came out with clear or comprehensive program ~ to restore the cuts made in healtl f eduation, to end union- and tea bashing. If they have policies the, dently wanted to conceal them from public, as did Bennett before the last vincial election. fi If Vander Zalm runs true to for, main election issue will be that of # Fe the province from the “socialist ane™ munist hordes.” It didn’t work for when he ran for the mayoralty 7 couver two years ago, but it has alwe worked for Social Credit. aan With Vander Zalm as premier We™ F for a period of even more confrontalt more anti-labor regulations, a0 cuts in social programs than we hae Bennett. The rednecks have the bit? teeth now, and are off and running: His coalition with the Tories 18 since the Social Credit Party and the servative Party have no serious eat ments. Whether he can keep a © with the Liberals is another questio™ FF The people of Vancouver gavé var Zalm a resounding defeat two years a This time he deserves the same trea!? from the majority of British Columb’ Continued from page 1 Vander Zalm is acting true to form. He is not an unknown quantity to the people of B.C. In the three cabinet posts he held while in government his actions were characterized by far-right policies which created widespread pub- lic protests. His proposals were so far to the right of most of his right-wing col- ” leagues that finally, in a fit of rage, he called them “gutless.” Bennett’s res- traint program cabinet didn’t go far enough for him. — During the time he was minister of human resources, minister of education and minister of municipal affairs he turned each portfolio into a disaster area — anaccomplishment from which the province is still staggering. As min- ister of municipal affairs he attempted to push through legislation which would have wiped out democratic civic eo, : . ized control over municipalities. He has advocated the abolition of elected school boards and park boards and has been a strong advocate of centraliza- tion and an opponent of civic demo- cracy. The Bennett government took second place to no other in their confronta- tionalist, anti-democratic, anti-labor and anti-people policies. Vander Zalm’s falling out with the Bennett cabinet was based on the grounds that it didn’t go far enough. This is the man who is now premier of B.C. and in a strong position 2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, AUGUST 6, 1986 Unity can ensure Socreds’ defeat government and thoroughly central-- to implement some of his extreme right- wing poliies. Some top advisers in the Social Credit Party, according to media reports, are urging him to hold an early provincial election. Their reasoning is that Vander Zalm is riding the crest of his popularity, that if he waits too long after Expo the economic situation in B.C. will further deteriorate, and that as time goes by public support will erode. It is quite possible that Vander Zalm, despite statements to the contrary, may seek an early election date on the pre- text that he now needs a mandate from the public. Whenever an election does come Vander Zalm and the Socreds are not unbeatable. The mayoralty elections in The province Maurice Rush Vancouver in 1984 when Vander Zalm was overwhelmingly defeated by COPE- Unity, and again in the school board race when COPE-Unity wiped out the Socred-backed, Non-Partisan Associa- tion school board slate, demonstrated that unity of labor, left and progressive forces can defeat the Socreds. The unity forged by progressive for- ces around a program of people’s needs in Vancouver politics is the kind of broad unity needed among all anti- Socred forces in the province to defeat Vander Zalm and the Socred right- wing policies, and to oust them when- ever the next provincial election is called. Maurice Rush is leader of the Com- munist Party in B.C. Post-Expo housing will be ‘major figh Continued from page 1 Vancouver during its 53-year history, is a brand new grouping with new ideas. Clear policy statements are hard to find in the NPA’s slick press releases and leaflets, but a few kernels of policy can be gleaned from the maze of buzzwords. “The NPA represents the average tax- payer who is tired of the constant growth in the cost of government,” states one bulletin. It makes the claim that the NPA can “main- tain our standards of services but will also assure that you get the best value for your tax dollar.” It’s a veiled reference to tax increases levied during the past few years that, ironi- cally, would have been higher had the COPE-Unity alliance not filled revenue shortfalls with some interest money accrued by the city’s lush property endowment fund — a move council right-wingers have consistently opposed. The right-wing alliance also touts “Van- couver’s future as the centre of tourism, banking, communication and transporta- tion,” indicating its preference for mega- project development. Linked with right-wingers formally out- side the alliance — aldermen May Brown and Marguerite Ford endorsed Campbell’s candidacy in June to, as an NPA bulletin states, “support a united front to combat COPE” — the NPA is gearing up to wagea high-profile campaign with plenty of corpo- ’ rate backing. Campbell may try to present himself as a moderate with no strong political or corpo- rate connections, but in fact the NPA con- tinues to represent the Soreds at the civic level, Rankin charged. Rankin noted during the False Creek tour that Campbell’s own connections go ‘deep: a realtor and former employee of . Marathon Realty, Campbell endorsed and petitioned for the ill-fated candidacy of Bill Vander Zalm for mayor undef oe banner in 1984. Rankin pointed out new Socred leader and B.C. premieh | he was municipal affairs ministe®, erode city zoning powers and di : 4 planning at the regional district lev® i (Another Campbell connection ©” a clue as to NPA plans for VancouN” former position as executive assis former Vancouver mayor Art Philip the Socreds’ commissioner of critical tries, Philips has recently granted C. in hydro rates and taxes to some B. ness and has overseen wage cuts. Rankin said the land that holds» is Crown land, at the disposal of th tall cial government once the world’s ended. But the city also has 4 through its exclusive control of 2° said. The development to replace the pavilions is under the direction % Crown corporation, B.C. Place. engendered the opposition of cilY almost four years ago with plans mote high-density, high-priced % ¢ housing on False Creek’s north Sd Since then the real estate i 4! grown softer, and that, coupled and if outspoken opposition of council # ne munity groups, can be credited W! fot! modification in the corporate p!4” district — but those plans are SU™ pi) unclear to anyone outside B.C boardrooms. Uncertain also is the effect of the™ of this year of sole responsibility ae housing — with the exceptiod a operatives — from the federal sO yl to the province, which has one of th Fe social housing construction Canada. ini ) ~ “What’s going to go in here? I that’s going to be a major poll cal Rankin predicted.