British Columbia

en

_CP targets Tories’ policies
as 50 candidates nominated

_ Calling the Nov. 21 vote “the most
Important election since Confederation,”
Communist Party leader George Hewison
Pledged to challenge the “‘pro-U.S., neo-
Conservative policies” of the Tory govern-
Ment as the CP kicked off its election
coal at a press conference in Toronto

“The Tory vision for Canada is one
Which means economic, political and mil-
_ Mary integration with the U.S.,” Hewison
told reporters. “Canada cannot afford four
More years of Tory rule.”

€wison’s news conference was called as

the CP began final nominations of its 50

Candidates, expected to be wound up

quickly following the long-awaited election

announcement from Prime Minister Brian
ulroney Oct. 1. :

Although he had adamantly refused
Tepeated demands that he put the Canada-

S. trade deal to a vote, Mulroney acted
quickly to set an election date once the pub-
IC Opinion polls began showing the Tories
Tunning consistently ahead of the opposi-
tion parties.

As he emerged from the Governor-
General’s residence Saturday, he told repor-
“ts: “We are at a point where the
differences between our political parties
Tequire the judgment and decision of Cana-
ae The differences are clear and substan-
_ AS expected, the Canada-U.S. deal
Mmediately became a central issue in the
election campaign.

And that trade deal epitomizes what the

Ory government stands for, Hewison
€mphasized.

“The so-called ‘free trade agreement’
Tepresents the program of the Tories and
the Business Council on National Issues for
4 further intensification of the attack on
_ Working people,” he said. “It means the loss
of Canada’s sovereignty, the loss of Cana-

4's right to make independent political and
“conomic decision, it means ecological dis-
aster and it means tying Canada to Ronald

€agan’s Star Wars policy.”

Hewison said the party would “spare no
effort” in working with other groups to save

nada and defeat the Tories.

€ called for a “new government” dedi-
“ated to improving living standards for

Nadians, expanding trade with other
Countries and dedicated to cleaning up the
nVironment.

“We need an new government commit-
€d to an independent foreign policy for
Peace ... and committed to social justice
ae the expansion of social programs,” he

And when the country is discussing the

a

Audience stands to sing O Ca

policies of political parties, the Communist
Party’s program offers a distinct alternative,
the CP leader emphasized.

That policy, summarized as “sover-
eignty, survival and social justice” will focus
on expanding public ownership to develop
Canadian industry and create jobs; widen-
ing Canada’s trade links with the socialist
and developing countries; and establishing
an independent foreign policy based on
multilateral disarmament, nuclear-weapons
free zones and an end to weapons testing on
Canadian soil.

On social justice, the CP will be cam-
paigning for a broadening of social pro-
grams, including improvements in welfare
and unemployment insurance as well as
new child care initiatives.

The Communist Party will be fielding
some 50 candidates across the country, the
number required to ensure registered party
status under federal legislation. Hewison
will be running in Davenport, one of several
key ridings in the huge Metro Toronto area.

In this province, the party is expected to
run 12 candidates in the Lower Mainland,
Vancouver Island and the Interior.

So far, 10 have been nominated, with
meetings set early next week for North Van-
couver, where teacher and community acti-
vist Betty Griffin is seeking the nomination;
and Richmond, where fishermen Homer
Stevens is slated to carry the party’s banner
in the vote.

The party expects to be running with six
men and six women in B.C., said B.C. cam-
paign manager Fred Wilson.

Free trade

Continued from page 1
ers, but assured the audience that it is not
too late to stop the deal, Orchard said on the
Vancouver leg of national tour that has
turned out hundreds to hear the warning
about the threat to Canada’s continued
existence as a country. .

In his 1% hour, speech Orchard related
key points in historical Canada-US. rela-
tions to show that the American political
leaders adopted the tariff-free trade course
of action after several attempts at military
takeover — beginning with the American
Revolutionary War — failed.

Two federal elections, in 1891 and again
in 1911, saw the overwhelming defeat of the
political party that advocated “reciprocity”
agreements with the United States, he

related. A
Former Reagan administration ambas-

“All of our candidates are people who are ~

active and well-known in their communities
and our party will be putting forward very
distinct policies,” he said.

In addition to Griffin and Stevens, the
CP candidates nominated are:

Vancouver-Quadra: Fishermen’s Union
benefits officer Bert Ogden will be running
in the seat currently held by Liberal leader
John Turner. It has been altered considera-
bly asa result of electoral boundary changes
last year which also eliminated the riding of
Vancouver-Kingsway.

Vancouver-East: Communist Party org-
anizer and former unemployment advocate
Kim Zander.

New Westminster-Burnaby: Teacher and
former Burnaby school trustee Elsie Dean
will be running in this riding, currently held
by retiring NDP MP Pauline Jewett.

Mission-Coquitlam: Carpenter and
Young Communist League leader Reg Wal-
ters.

Surrey-White Rock: Surrey community
worker and peace activist Viola Swann.

Saanich-The Islands: Former IWA dele-
gate and community activist Ernie Knott.

Comox-Alberni: Alberni farmer and
environmental activist Gary Swann.

Nanaimo: Bookstore manager Deborah
MacDonald.

North-Island-Powell River: Former
labour council president and community
activist Nick Chernoff.

Kamloops: Library worker and union
activist Val Carey.

Hewison tour
set Oct. 26

Communist Party leader George
Hewison is scheduled to begin.a cam-
paign tour of British Columbia witha
rally in Victoria Oct. 26.

Locations and exact times had not
been confirmed at press time but pub-
lic meetings have been tentatively set
for the following dates:

- Oct. 27 — Nanaimo.
Oct. 28 — Port Alberni.
Oct. 29 — Campbell River.
Oct. 30 — Gibson’s.
Oct. 31 — Surrey.
Noy. 1 — Vancouver.
Nov. 2 — Maple Ridge.
Nov. 3 — Kamloops.

deal ‘can be defeated’

sador to Canada Paul Robinson openly
pushed for a free trade deal until his super-
iors told him to back off and let Canadians
promote the option instead, Orchard noted.

From that point, the agreement has been
actively promoted by organizations such as
the Canadian Manufacturers Association
and the Canadian Petroleum Association
— which, with their U.S. branch plant
members dominating “‘are about as Cana-
dian as the Green Bay Packers,” he said.

The strategy of Prime Minister Brian
Mulroney’s Conservatives has been to keep
Canadians ignorant of the deal — so much
so that about 77 per cent admit they don’t
understand it, Orchard observed.

He noted that secret 1985 documents
obtained by The Toronto Star from the
Prime Minister’s Office stated, “It is likely
that the higher the profile the issue attains,
the lower the degree of public approval will
bes

The article, distributed by the Citizens
Concerned About Free Trade, quotes the
document as advising, “The strategy should
rely less on educating the general public
than on getting across the message that the
trade initiative is a good idea. In other
words, a selling job.”

Orchard observed that the advice
summed up the Mulroney government’s
method of promoting the Free Trade
Agreement.

At other times, the Tory strategy has
been to accuse free trade opponents of being
“fascists” and of “telling the big lie” in
attempts to intimidate potential opposition,
he said.

Orchard related incidents such as Hurtig
finding a U.S. secret service agent in his
hotel room in Ottawa during a Council of
Canadians meeting, and of his own arrest in
Saskatoon by police who detained him in an

unmarked car and accused him of being a
troublemaker about free trade.

Orchard listed the dangers of the pact,
including unhindered U.S. investment, and
the loss to Canadian agriculture, the energy
industry, banking and commerce, and the
service, data processing and film industries.
He pointed out that, Tory claims to the
contrary, the Free Trade Pact will allow
U.S. access to Canada’s water resources and
the takeover of health and education by
US. private health corporations, and will
end Canada’s system of social service benef-
Its.

He noted that 85 per cent of Canada’s
unemployed have full medical and unem-
ployment benefits, while 75 per cent of job-
less Americans have none of these things.

“It won't be the U.S. coming up to our
standards (with the Free Trade Agreement),
it'll be us coming down to theirs,” Orchard
warned. 7

If the Conservatives are re-elected and
the pact is implemented, Canada will have
as much difficulty getting out of itas Hawaii
would have terminating the arrangement
that made the once-sovereign nation as U.S.
state, he warned.

During the opening of the Concerned
Citizens public office in Vancouver on
Tuesday — it has several in other cities —
Orchard was critical of the opposition par-
ties for not doing enough to warn
Canadians about the free trade deal.

He told the audience that although the
pro-free trade forces have considerable
finances and power, Canadians can still
defeat the pact.

“On our side, we’ve got the facts, the
truth and the people, and I'd rather be on
our side any day,” Orchard declared.

“The biggest enemy Mulroney has are
the facts about this agreement.”

Pacific Tribune, October 10, 1988 3