By MICHAEL DECTER CPA Columnist REGINA — The Saskat- chewan CCF-NDP Govern- ments of Tommy Douglas and Allan Blakeney have always regarded themselves as pioneers. Tommy Douglas pioneered medicare and other. 9 essential service programs while Allan Blakeney has set resource development policy at the centre of his govern- : ment’s priorities. And the re- election of the Blakeney government in October 1978 primarily reaffirmed support for public ownership in the re- source industries. Unlike both Alberta, where 90% of its resource income comes from oil and gas, and Manitoba that suffered a de- cline in mineral income due to its reliance on one mineral — nickel, Saskatchewan is pro- tected from swings in world- prices by its diversity in resource output. a In 1978, crude oil in Saskat- chewan accounted for $638 mil- lion while potash production earned $493 million and uranium production added $247 ‘million to the coffers. The total value of mineral production jumpéd by nearly 25% to ex- ceed 1.55 billion in 1978. The second and equally important element in the stability and growth of Saskat- chewan’s resource sector has been the degree of government ownership and investment. In the potash industry, the wholly government-owned Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, now accounts for about half of all potash production. And major expansion of PCS mines is underway. The booming uranium sector also will have equity participation by the Saskatchewan government. As well, the oil and gas industry has recently been the setting _ for major joint venture an- nouncements in which. the government, Gulf Oil, and PetroCanada will invest $100 million in heavy oil exploration and development. But public ownership and control of resources has proven a contentious point, not with the citizens of Saskatchewan but in the courts. Challenges to Saskatchewan laws launched by foreign-owned multi- national corporations had the surprising support of the government of Canada. Although several statutes were overturned, the introduction of revised laws to continue the policies has ‘ensured public ts to the resources. a recent speech, in Alberta, Premier Blakeney criticized Magn si Sara _ government for not bargaining toughly enough with multi- national resource companies. He also criticized the mounting billions in Alberta’s Heritage Fund. In contrast to the short investments of the } Fund, Saskatchewan used its smaller equivalent ee inet To date Alberta has reaped only interest payments. A recent article in Canadian Business Magazine described Saskatchewan as the new Kuwait. This is an erroneous view when the much greater equality in the distribution of benefits is considered. Oil wealth in the Arab nations has not only flowed into luxuries for a few, but has also at- tributed to the arms race. In Saskatchewan the resource revenue is financing needed services and future develop- ment efforts. Court challenges to Saskat- chewan’s resource policies initiated by several multi- national corporations may continue to be a nuisance to the Blakeney government. With a mandate however from the voters of the province, Allan Blakeney is proceeding full speed ahead with his resource policies. Latest estimates of Saskat- chewan’s resource revenues Suggest that they may grow from their current level of $460: million in excess of one billion dollars per year by the mid- 1980s. With a pioneering ap- proach the New Democratic Party government of Saskat- chewan may find the rest of Canada imitating them as they did with medicare a decade earlier. 3 Jim Kinnaird, President of the B.C, Federation of Labour sent the following telegram to the Honourable Bud Cullen, the Federal Minister responsible for Unemployment Insurance. On behalf of 250,000 mem- bers affiliated to the B.C. Federation of Labour, we must bring to your immediate atten- tion our concern that the recent amendment to the Unemploy- ment Insurance Act which re- quires that 20 hours must be worked with a single employer to secure a week of insurance employment is totally unfair and inqueitable. We have received complaints from many of our affiliates in in- dustries where casual and part-time workers are em- ployed (e.g. construction, waterfront, and service in- dustries) expressing grave concern that their members employment is not insurable. Due to the disastrous levels of unemployment and the lack of job opportunities in British Columbia, many workers are having to rely on short-term employment and will be af- fected by the amendment. We call upon you to take whatever steps necessary to immediate- ly review the impact of this legislation which will impose additional hardship on those workers affected by the recent change. Hoping that your im- mediate attention will be given _ to this serious problem. THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER son Hot Springs, B.C. The IWA courses, conducted by a number of Regional staff people, were held the week of January 21- 26, and covered a number of trade union subjects. Shown in the picture are Frank Walls, Regional Education Director, second row, left, Bob Blasina, the Region’s lawyer, second on right, front row, and Regional 1st Vice-President Bob Blanchard, front row, right. FEBRUARY, 1979 OPPOSITION PARTIES ATTACKED _ FOR LACK OF NATIONAL VISION i “The Liberals refuse to adopt an industrial strategy and the Conservatives want us to hew wood and draw water for foreign corporations be- cause they say that is what we do best,” NDP leader Ed Broadbent told University of Saskatchewan students in his continuing campaign to. con- vince Canadians that they should elect a government committed to an _ industrial game plan. “Nowhere is the opportunity greater than in our oil and natural gas sector where the potential for the expansion of a Canadian __ petro-chemical industry and related manufac- turing sector is obvious for those who want to see,” he said. Noting that the resources, expertise and the tools are al- ready in place, Broadbent said that Canada now has a “‘golden opportunity”’ to reduce foreign ownership in oil and gas while increasing manufacturing jobs, expanding exports of manufactured goods and thus improving the country’s indus- trial future. “We have Saskoil the Sask- atchewan Development Cor- poration, Polysar and the Canadian Development Cor- poration, a few Canadian- owned private corporations and the Saskatchewan NDP government ready to move Canada into the top spot in this field.” But, ‘‘the only thing missing is the federal govern- ment willing to undertake a BOARD ORDERS BANK TO RECIND DIRECTIVE TORONTO — The Imperial Bank of Commerce has been ordered by the Canada Labour Relations Board to rescind a directive barring employees from wearing Canadian Labour Congress lapel pins. The Union of Bank Em- ployees charged the Com- merce with unfair labour prac- tices after employees in two branches in British Columbia were told that’ they could not wear the pins while working. Lorraine Singler, head of the CLC’s organizing drive for bank workers said the federal board’s decision clearly re- inforces employees rights and freedoms. The CLRB decided that the only reason for banning the pins by the bank was anti- motivation. The bank was also directed to send out a notice of with- drawal of the ban and the reasons for it to all employees who either had received the original directive or were aware of it through word-of- mouth, news reports or other channels. The notice by the bank is to ensure that “branch managers and other data centre and regional office supervisors be disabused of any belief that they can act in a similar manner if the issue arises in the future,”’ the Board said. Disregarding the bank’s arguments that the pin could provoke unwanted customer reaction as well as attempting to persuade others to join a union, the Board stated that “the wearing of such a pin states an individual belief or desire on what is a worthy or beneficial organization in our society. It proclaims pride in that organization.” They also said that in our society a bumper sticker may demand more of a response than a lapel pin. “Employees no longer need be afraid of the employer’s wrath if they decide to join a union,’’ Singler said. Canadian industrial strategy,” he said. Currently, Petrocan is the sixth largest crude oil pro- ducer and the second largest natural gas producer in the world. ‘‘Petrocan should be- come Canada’s largest pro- ducer in both oil and. gas and the opportunity to do this is at hand — by joint ventures with Saskoil and. private com- panies.”’ Once Canada has some eco- nomic control of raw resources the next step in the NDP indus- trial game plan is to move into the ‘‘building block’’ stage. This would be done by ex- panding Canada’s petro-chem- ical industry through Polysar, Petrocan, SDC and the CDC. Criticizing CDC for ‘‘de- voting too much investment and expansion overseas,”’ Broadbent argued that instead of exporting oil and natural gas in its raw form, CDC should be concentrating investment at home so that we port refined products such as petro-chemi- cals, synthetic fibres, textiles and rubber products. The pressure however to ex- port oil and natural gas in raw form comes from foreign head offices, mainly US, because they control 69% of assets, 77% of sales and 89% of profits. But, he said, the largest subsection of this industry is the manufac- turing of petroleum products of which 92% of the assets are foreign-controlled along with 95% of the profits. “The potential to be gained from having an expanded petro-chemical industry and all of the secondary manufac- turing that flows from that industry in the future is almost unlimited. But we must start now,” Broadbent said. _ Controlling manufacturing in Canada would not only create more jobs but could also improve its trade balance.. In 1976, imports of chemical products totalled $2 billion leaving Canada with a trade deficit of $1.5 billion i this sector. : : ution. fn petro- | i atigs