ah metas al et

4. Ld.

POLLUTION DANGERS RECOGNIZED

Assessments cut in Pt. Alberni

The court of revision in Port Alberni has set a precedent by reducing assessed values on
two properties due to pollution. In so doing, the court has established the principle that the
assessor must take pollution into account.

Mrs, F, D. Kallstromand Mrs.
H, G, Winters, both of Port Al-
berni, had their assessments re-
duced by 10 percent, Mrs, Kall-
strom was represented by George
McKnight, who has been spear-
heading the anti-pollution cam-
paign in the Alberni Valley,

While ruling in favor of the
two appellants, the court decided
that another eight homeowners
had failed to comply with appeal
regulations, In other words, it
hid behind a technicality.

“Only Monday I was assured
by Joe Ruissen, the assessor,
that everything was in order,”
McKnight is quoted as saying,
(The caurt met on Wednesday).
McKnight was to have represent-
ed the other eight,

He said “I have individual
letters of authority, but these
apparently should have been in
the assessor’s office by Janu-
ary 17, Even though the city may
appeal the Kallstrom decision,”
McKnight continued, “it’s a vic-
tory, and a good start.”

x Oe ema)

Giant papermaking machines like the one above create untold wealth for their
owners, but they also cause pollution so severe that we are only now beginning
to comprehend the magnitude of this problem.

CP greets govt. step
but warns of dangers

“Recognition of the need for
a broad social approach, new
legislation and a voice for labor
—contained in annoucement of
the government’s Labor- Manage-
ment Advisory Committee—rep-
resents an important advance,”
provincial leader Nigel’ Morgan
declared on the Communist
Party’s weekly legislative broad-
cast last Sunday night,

*At the same time, the danger
is indicated that the government’s
proposal may circu mvent the very
purpose which it should encom-
pass,” he charged, ‘‘Trade union
leaders are justifiably concerned
that the Labor Minister’s state-
ment indicates that a primary
aim is removal of the problems
surrounding automation from
collective bargaining proced-
ures,

“Labor -knows only too well it
would lose its shirt in any such
arrangement, The trade union
movement as a whole surely can-
not afford to be implicated inany
such deal—no matter how much
management and their repre-
sentatives in government would
like to find a way of settling
accounts without having to face
labor’s organized bargaining
strength,”

Commenting on the personnel
the government selected, Morgan
said, “It is particularly notable
that while the mineoperatorsare
represented, the workers in
B.C,’s second most important
industry (mining and smelting)

were left out, Labor would un-
doubtedly have had more confi-
dence had they also been con-
sulted as to who they wanted to
represent them,”

“Collective bargaining alone
cannot produce the full solution to
the automation problem, butitcan
make a- big contribution by pro-
tecting ‘its. existing membership
—fighting for a reductionin hours
of work, increased pay: pro-
visions for extended vacations,
and earlier retirement, sever-
ance pay, advance notice of lay-
offs, retraining and relocation,”
he stated,

*When we speak of automation,
we are speaking ofa development
that will increase productivity per
man-hour of work several times
over, Wages, hours and condi-
tions of employment are all
‘cost items’ of production, and
they can’t be removed from the
bargaining table.

“The interests of society de-
mand that the trade union move-
ment should have a full voice in
regulation and control of auto-
mation,” Morgan declared,

*What is needed is a new labor

policy — one that strengthens

labor’s voice and influence all
round; a new policy that will re-
move the shackles of Bills 42,

_ 43 and 123; end the indiscrimi-

nate use of courts and injunctions
to hobble unions; and instead
guarantee the right to organize,
bargain collectively and strike
and picket when nECASAa Te he
concluded, -

And Mrs. C, J, DeWaal, one
of the eight who was to have been
represented by McKnight, chimed
in: “I’m pleased the Kallstroms
and the other lady won, We all
won, in a way.”

Mayor Les Hammer indicated
an appeal to a higher assessment
court is “almost inevitable,” ‘le
painted a gloomy (to him) picture

of everyone in town appealing ©

their assessments, claiming thei1
fallout situation also demanded
alleviation,

Meanwhiie, James MacNulty,
MD, PhD, of Oyama, B.C, has
charged that this is Canada’s
most polluted province, He made
the charge while offering his
services to the Alberni anti-
pollution campaigners,

«The fact that the province
currently has no air pollution
control measures does not mean
it has no air pollution problem,”
Dr. MacNulty stated in a letter
to McKnight and Colin Wilson,

(Sip
Za)

Pulp mills, he says, discharge
a wide variety of poisonous fumes,
liquids, solids and other matter
into the air and water and onto
the soil, Due to the preponder-
ance of pulp mills, B.C, is most
polluted.

“Industry has a moral as well
as other responsibilities to rem-
edy these crimes against human-
ity and the onus is on the pro-
vincial, not the federal govern-
ment to pass appropriate, real-
istic and remedial legislation to
counteract existing pollution in
addition to preventing escalation
of the problem,

“The financial onus to clean
up the mess lies primarily with

in business for profit—but not at
the cost of human or other forms
of life,

“Only. in extreme cases such

as legitimate financial hardship

on the part of the industry should —

the provincial government pro-
vide the necessary financial aS-

“the pulp mill industry which is 4

sistance, Even then, leadership —

in technological remedial anti-
pollution measures must come
from the industry.”

Dr. MacNulty informed the Al- _

berni campaigners he had given
expert medical testimony in two
successful legal suits in Manitoba
during the last year in which
claims were based on_ health
hazards,

The Communist Party has issued the following
statement « the need for Canada’s Parliament to

move in the direction of progress.

As this session of parliament gets underway,
there is clear evidence that big business interests
are turning on heavy pressure to get their way.
That pressure must be met and overcome by the
counter-pressure of the labor movement and all
democratic Canadians, The Communist Party is
convinced that this is what parliament must do if
it is to serve the interests of the people of Canada:

For Peace

Disassociate Canada completely from the U.S,
aggression in Vietnam. Insist that the Canadian
Government stands up against U.S. plans for es-
calation, and for no more bombings of the North,
negotiations with the National Liberation Frontin
the South, and a political settlement on the prin-
ciples of the Geneva Agreement, This would mean
the withdrawal of U.S, troops, leaving the Vietna-
mese people free to settle their own affairs,

For Independent Development

Plans for continuous and independent economic
growth to provide the million anda half new jobs
needed by 1970,

Through crown corporations and public owner-
ship restore Canadian control over our resources
and industries,

Bring in anational transportation policy serving
the needs of people and communities rather than
private profit, Such a policy must include the
nationalization of the CPR,

Educational policies to abolish university tuition
fees, to lift the cost of elementary education off the
municipal taxpayers, to train workers for new
jobs, with provision for full pay and the cost
of moving from one job to another,

Extend Democratic Rights

Legislation to put into effect the recommenda-
tions of the Freedman report on technological
change as part of the measures needed to estab-

Make Parliament Work
FOR THE PEOPLE

- least 75% of the income received while working.

lish democratic control over automation, Ex-
tend collective bargaining, including the right e
strike, to civil servants,

For Medicare

Stop stalling and dickering, and enact NOW 4a
medicare program to go into effect next year and
based on the report of the Hall Commission.

For a Real War On Poverty

Raise purchasing power and stop the price
gouging of the big monopolies, Increase old age
pensions to at least $100 a month immediately and
work towards a comprehensive retirement plan
which will enable every Canadian to retire on at

Raise income tax exemptions on low income
earners,

Enact a minimum’ wage of $1.75 per hour. |

Launch a large scale,
program,

For a New Constitution

Convene a democratically elected constituent
assembly to draft a new constitution which clearly
recognizes the equality of both French and English
Canadian nations, This is essential to end the
present chaos in federal-provincial relations sO
that the people of all parts of Canada can work
in unity to meet the problems that face our coun-
try.

These goals can be won, the monopolies can be |
brought under control, life can be made better
for all Canadians, providing that the people speak
up so that every MP in Ottawa feels the impact

low rental housing ;

of public opinion,

The people of Canada can make this parliament
work for them.

National Executive Committee Com
munist Party of Canada,

February 11, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Pag