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Since

Continued from pg. 1

fo th

instability 9" but above all
aie Said that there were a
. me of factors which supported
Ms aa to the Tories, notably a
; inistic, anti-French backlash
five a0 Canada.’’ The Conserva-
oe Played on the anti-French sen-
Nts in English Canada, especi-
the a their strident rejection of
tic. self determination for
advant anada, and used it to their
age. “There were powerful
Ple in Canada who wanted to
Quebec in its place, and Clark

with them,’’ Kashtan said.
is also capitalized on ‘‘eco-
ade Rear” in Canada and
about €magogic pronouncements
Conomic stimulus but which

t €s¢,

Publ” close scrutiny from the
Th
“n

Put
Was

Nom

eae factor, however, was that
a Poly interests made the Con-
Ives their preferred party,”’
a Said, and the media across
ection Went all out to ensure their
- ‘No doubt monopoly will

No .
W demand its pound of flesh, and

at t
hee Papense of the working peo-

eae. € said. :
NDP 5 4 positive factor that the
b alang as Once again achieved the
ne € of Power, Kashtan said, but
Paign « Critical of the NDP cam-
could and suggested that the NDP
Bains have made much _ bigger
in Particularly in southern On-
res It had projected a strong,
Im Onopoly program. The NDP
lfor also take some responsibility
da, he said, as it failed to pro-
of a Principled position in defence
eS ebec’s rights in the working

The polarization to both right

the anti- . ee
Cana nti-French feeling in

_ and left that Kashtan spoke of was

perhaps best evidenced in B.C. as
voting patterns in the recent provin-
cial election spilled over into the
federal vote. f :

“The provincial Socred and fed-
eral Tory alliance that won for the:
Socreds in the provincial election
obviously paid off handsomely for
the Tories, federally in this prov-
ince,’’? CP provincial leader Maur-
ice Rush commented Wednesday to
explain the sweep of 20 B.C. seats
by the Conservatives.

“It’s a fact of life that we in B.C.
are going to have to face up to for
some time to come. That right wing
alliance is the chief factor operating
in politics in B.C. today, and we
will have to contend with the right
wing policies that will emanate from
it,’’ he said.

The polarized vote in B.C: raised
the number of NDP seats from two
to eight, but both in the number of
seats and in popular vote, the NDP
still trailed its 1972 accomplish-
ments. The NDP did, however,
raise its share of the popular vote in
this province by eight per cent, very
similar to the increase recorded in
the provincial election.

Communist votes suffered in the
polarized political atmosphere in
B.C. and incomplete returns show-
ed a slight reduction in the number
of votes won by the CP’s 12 candi-
dates over 1974.

Incomplete tallies showed Jack
Phillips in Vancouver Kingsway
with 191 votes; Fred Wilson in Van-
couver East with 169 votes; Bert
Ogden in Vancouver Centre with
109 votes; Homer Stevens in Rich-
mond South Delta with 165 votes;
Eric Waugh in North Vancouver
Burnaby with 94 votes; Jim Beynon
in Mission Port Moody with 152

Federal Tory-Socred deal
paid off in B.C. results

votes; Vi Swann in Fraser Valley
West with 89 votes; Fred Bianco in
Surrey White Rock with 221 votes;
Rod Doran in New Westminster
with 95 votes; Ernie Knott in
Cowichan Malahat Islands with 82
votes; Mark Moster in Nanaimo
Alberni with 205 votes; and Sy
Pedersen in Comox Powell River
with 311 votes.
The small numbers of CP votes
are in inverse ratio to the party’s
campaign efforts, however, as
throughout the 12 ridings where the
CP contested it made a significant
impact, greater than in previous

elections where more votes were -

won. This election, however, the
CP vote suffered as many hundreds
of working people that support the
CP’s policies joined in the general
campaign of the labor movement
carried over from the provincial
election campaign to unseat
Liberals and Tories.

This was particularly important

‘in some Vancouver ridings like

Vancouver Kingsway and Van-
couver East where Liberals had
taken traditional NDP seats in 1974
and where the vote polarized to win
back the labor ridings for the NDP.

In Toronto, CP leader Kashtan
noted that the Communist Party’s
vote was low across the country,
but insisted that the Party’s cam-
paign was one of its best in recent
years. There was a noticeable less-
ening of cold war attitudes experi-
enced by the Party during the cam-
paign, he said, although anti-com-

-munist prejudices still are common.

‘Working people were faced
with concrete choices in this elec-
tion: Clark and Trudeau or the
NDP. This polarization will always
negatively affect smaller parties,’’
he said.

aioe Credit government
Be ors laid down the lines of
. Ontation with the B.C.
rey t Employees Union last
Openers they broke off _wage Te-
fers aks abruptly, insisting that
ee no justification what-

‘ lor wage adjustment.”’
Ree government negotiator
hae justifying the stand,
Teducti that the government’s
teases tn of the sales tax and in-
Signific in the homeowner grant had
ing, ae reduced the cost of liv-
Rinne. Ing any wage adjustments

Th cessary.’?

talks. BCGEU had been seeking
mt government negotiators
: 4st month under the terms of
ae which provides for
increas 0 be re-negotiated based on

€s In the cost of living.
puso had earlier waffled on a
" oe date, apparently awaiting
ial el Come of the May 10 provin-
brea on: The abrupt action in
Ing off the talks last week —

cleo’? days after the Socreds’ re-

ce — was seen as a preview of
oo on the BCGEU master
Covers which expires July 31 and
Some 37,000 government

2 rp ees:
aa this is an example of govern-
table attitude at the bargaining
>It does not bode well for our
eon we will be able to reach a
g ori settlement,’? BCGEU
Secretary John Fryer warn-
€r the talks were broken off.
Tyer said that he was ‘‘shocked

of -u8ty”’ at the ‘‘appalling lack _

| gp 2004 faith on the part of the
Thment negotiators.’’

f

— COS air es eee oe eee

{S
Sine seem to forget that the

©Ost-of-living clause averted a .

Yince-wide Liquor Control

JOHN FRYER (right), NORM RICHARDS. .
ment refusal to negotiate wage adjustment.

Board strike when it was agreed to

as a last item during’ our 1977-

negotiations.’”
Only nine hours before the strike
was set to begin, he noted, govern-
ment negotiators had checked with
premier Bennett — then in Brussels
— before agreeing to the clause.
The BCGEU secretary said that
the 15-member bargaining commit-
tee was told by government
negotiators that the cost of living
adjustment was not needed because
of government tax cuts and because
“the cost of living in B.C. will be
going down.”’ - :
“‘This will certainly come as news
to our members and all working
people in B.C.,”’ he said, adding
that the Statistics Canada figures
for March showed an annual infla-
tion rate of 13 percent.
“The plain and unvarnished
truth is that our salaries have been

COLA adjustment not needed,’ Socreds claim

Gov't breaks off BCGEU talks

+ % <

. angered at govern-
—Sean Griffin photo

seriously eroded by inflation. Our
wages increased by 9.7 percent over
the last two years while prices have
increased by 15.3 percent over the
same period. 2

“‘Government employees are no!
second-class citizens and they are
not prepared to settle for substan-
dard wages,’ he said.

The BCGEU contract conference
had earlier established a wage in-
crease “‘no less than the cost of liv-
ing’’ as the demand in the major
contract negotiations set to open in
June. Fryer had told the conference
that a strike vote would ‘‘almost
certainly be necessary’’ to back up
demands.

‘Government negotiator Davison
also hardened the government’s
pre-negotiation bargaining stance
as he told reporters that the union’s
expectations were ‘‘bloody
nonsense.”’ :

British Columbia.

— Sean Griffin photo

‘Remove Vander Zalm

from Bennett cabinet’

By ALD. HARRY RANKIN

The results of the provincial elec- -

tions should cause the Social Credit
government headed by premier Bill
Bennett to reasses some of its
policies.

The number of NDP MLA’s
went up from 18 to 26. Even more
important the NDP popular vote
rose from 40 to 46 percent. (The
Social Credit vote remained cons-
tant at 49 percent).

These NDP votes were not only
votes for the NDP; they were also
votes against Social Credit policies.

It’s obvious that voters haven’t
forgotten the huge boost in car in-
surance rates brought in by Social
Credit, the doubling of ferry fares,
the cuts in hospital grants and the
increased school taxes. Nor have
they forgotten the callous and
heartless policies of Bill Vander
Zalm, then minister of human

resources, directed against the poor’

and the handicapped, the
economically helpless and
defenseless. Social Credit leaders
may think it a feather in their cap
that Vander Zalm cut services and
grants to the poor so: much that he
under-spent his budget in one year
by $108 million, but a lot of people
take a different view.
Two other policies in the field of
provincial-municipal relations that
aroused widespread resentment
were: (a) the steady erosion of
municipal and school board
autonomy as the Social Credit
cabinet centralized more and more

’ power in its own hands, and (b) the

Urban Transit Act by means of
which the government tried (unsuc-
cessfully as it turned out) to force
municipal residents to take over the
deficit-ridden and debt-ridden bus
service operated by and run into the
ground by B.C. Hydro.

Premier Bennett has a clear ma-

jority, that is true, but it’s a small

majority that could be upset by a
major political crisis. Personally I
think there’s a good possibility that
we'll see another election before
three years are up. :

It seems to me that now is a good
time to pressure the provincial
government for some changes in
policy. If Bennett is to survive
politically he must recognize that
some modification of policy is
necessary.

I don’t know if we can stop his

giveaway of resources to the big
corporations but it should be possi-
ble to at least save a few slices of the
loaf in the form of benefits for peo-
ple. ie

One good place to start would be
the demand for imporved bus: ser-
vice and light rapid transit. We need
both, of that there is no question.
But the provincial government must
pick up the tab for at least 75 per-
cent of the operating costs, the total
capital costs and certainly also the
deficit incurred by B.C. Hydro.

This would also be a good time to
suggest to premier Bennett that in
the interests of the good name of
B.C., Bill Vander Zalm should be
retired to the sidelines. His
disgraceful shafting of the poor
while minister of human resources
has been followed by antagonizing
just about everybody as minister of
municipal affairs. His mind is
singularly unencumbered by facts
and he has never felt the need to be
knowledgeable on any subject
before opening his mouth and
shooting from the lip in all direc-
tions.

Perhaps premier Bennett could
persuade Ottawa to retire him to the
Senate to join the other technically
alive cadavers stretched out on ben-
ches in that useless institution. He
could keep himself occupied there
picking petals off tulips.

Commission
dodges DERA

The officers of the Downtown
Eastside Residents’ Association
have protested that the city of Van-
couver’s governmental review com-

‘mission, established earlier this year

by mayor Jack Volrich, is being
selective in the communities where
it will hold public hearings.

The commission, headed by
former judge Lawrence Ekhardt,
has set dates and locations for its
hearings, but has excluded from its
list any hearings in the Downtown
Eastside, Strathcona, Riley Park,
Grandview Woodlands, Cedar Cot-
tage, Kensington and False Creek.
All of the excluded neighborhoods
voted heavily in favor of a ward
system in last year’s civic election.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 25, 1979—Page 3