Washington “disapproves.” export of Canadian produced Vietnam. No “regrets” on that Pentagon madmen. ed,”, “mighty dollar”, is now, EDITORIAL Not a clip game - (CP) news item from the customary “ reliable’sources” reports that the Pearson cabinet may dumpits “ special’’ “Vietnam envoy Chester Ronning, because forsooth, Mr. Ronning has said something about U.S, bombing in Vietnam of which What is worse for Canadians however, is the fact that our gutless prime minister and his equally gutless cabinet are in a like position, True, Mr. Pearson has publicly “regretted” the criminal U.S. bombing in Vietnam, very timidlyto be sure, the while giving governmental blessing to a $300-million Less timidly however, Mr. Pearson “feels” that his envoy (Mr. Ronning) “may have been indiscreet”, thereby terminating his “usefulness’? — to Washington. Most decent Canadians hold a different view: that such envoys in the cause of peace are only useful when they close the “credibility’? gap with the naked truth; when they call a spade by its right name; when they cease to invent gutless apologies and excuses to cover up the heinous crimes of the Hats off to Chester if that is the cause of his being “dump- ‘Indiscreet’ envoy A: the opening date of Expo draws closer, one probability begins to stick out like a sore thumb; that millions of Canadian and foreign visitors to Montreal to participate in Expo cele- brations are going to be “taken to the cleaners” on a grand scale. Scores of news briefs, semi-official statements, man- on-the-street comments, all point in that direction, Despite the effort so far of Expo officials, civic and other bodies to hold food, housing, transit and other prices for the Expo visitor on a fairly even keel, the “get-rich-quick” boys are said to be already moving in for the Centennial “kill”, It therefore follows that unless some very drastic price controls are set up now to safeguard Expo celebrations, with adequate machinery to see that they are enforced, Canadians of 1967 (and foreign visitors) may have cause to remember their first Centennial year as the “year of the big fleece.” From where we sit out on the Pacific Coast we would prefer to hear and read of Expo as a great celebration embodying all the warm hospitality, generosity and achievements of our first centeniary — not a gigantic scalping operation for the The time to take full precautions against that eventuality, arms for the Yanks to use in deal, OOO Oo "ee Tom Mc EWEN rade unionists in British Columbia or elsewhere who may be following the pro- ceedings of the Sargent commis- sion currently “investigating” the Ritz Hotel “bugging” episode, may be wondering just what is being investigated; an electronic inva- sion into the privacy of the in- dividual, now used by one union against another, or how to doa gang-up smear job on trade union- ism per se? The whys and wherefores of the “bugging” incident with all its slimy connotations and associa- tions seems to have faded into the background, Now the prime objective seems to be how best to tie a McCarthyite“red herring” around the neck of trade union- ist “A”, or the “Order of Judas” around the neck of trade union- ist ‘*B’’, with the Communist Party and the NDP getting a goodly touch of smear in the backlash! All a very interesting and en- lightening brouhaha, and no doubt highly profitable to the legal 9, SOO SSS ara 2h hetetetetete’, $9.79. 8.8. 8.88 at te ttete eter teetetete etene ee ee ee eee beagles who fatten on this sort of “legal” slop faster than a hog on corn mash, But the trade union and labor movement as such, whatever the color or crest on the union car, takes one hell of a beating in this “legal” deface- ment of its image, \ There can be little doubt, judg- ing from the course of events that the prime motive which prompted Premier Bennett to be real “quick on the draw’’ with his appointment of a royal commission was precisely that, A crafty boy Wacy, not given to Passing up an opportunity which affords him a splendid opening for getting in a swipe atthetrade unions, the NDP, the Reds or what have you, all with one big discharge of royal commission Bennett buckshot. Wac’s “indignation” a la “bug- ging” merely adds a touch of ‘*virtuous” lustre to a rather brassy Socred halo, Nothing more, What seems to be important ‘HOUSING IN CITY AT CRISIS PROPORTIONS’ Vancouver Communist Party brief to é ‘Council calls for determined effort. “The housing shortage has reached crisis proportions and has become one of the main social problems in Canada, It is esti- mated that at the present time there is a shortage of 750,000 to one million units in Canada, And Vancouver has the worst shortage in the country.” This was the charge made this week in a brief presented to City Council by the Vancouver Com- mittee of the Communist Party, Signed by the Committee’s secretary Charles Caron, the brief said: There does not appear to be much controversy over the crit- ical state of housing in Vancou- ver. What is lacking is a deter- mined effort to tackle the prob- lem, The main responsibility for the current inaction in this matter appears to lie with the Provincial Government, Mr. H, W. Hignett, President of Central Mortgage and Housing Corpora- tion, was quoted as saying that the Bennett government was hold- ing up four major public housing projects, : This has been confirmed by Vancouver City Planner, Mr. W. E, Graham, who stated that there are six major public housing projects, totalling 1,200 unitsand involving 12 million dollars, awaiting government approval, However, despite the justified criticism of the B.C, Govern- ment, the City Council should not ignore its own shortcomings, The present city plans awaiting approval of the Provincial Gov- ernment are far from adequate if we are to cope withthe housing crisis. A minimum of two thou- sand housing units a year is more in line with the need. Furthermore, financial aidhas #.7,.9.9.%, 5h eMeMetetateteteteteteteteteteteteteretetetererey OO SOOO OOD eneretetetete eee ee eee eee ee eee ee eee ee ee now is whether or not trade union-. ist John Doe “follows the Com- munist line’’, just skates around it, or avoids it entirely as the devil is said to avoid holy water. Or that alleged “bugger” O’Toole, alias Finnigan, whose unrecord- ed departure from Ireland was Erin’s gain, sponsored the “brothers”? he was ‘‘bugging” as fitting member candidates for the NDP, Filling the columns of our ultra “free” press with that sort of judicial bilge does a very ill- service not only to the immediate unions involved whether National or International, but to the entire trade union and labor movement, An inquiry into the “invasion of the privacy of the citizen’’ by electronic devices, in order that it may be catalogued as a civil or criminal offense, prohibited by law, is one thing, Utilizing such an inquiry to publicly air labor’s internal affairs, differences, politics, stewardship, etc, is something entirely different. There the objective aimed at is to foment and sharpen inter- necine warfare, destroy . all avenues to greater trade union unity and autonomy, create sus- picion and distrust between union members irrespective of affilia- tion, thereby making it easy for organized monopoly and its “kept” been available in the past for slum clearance and it must be said that the past council has done very little to take advantage of this fund. We reguire a vigorous program of urban renewal to re- move the blight that extends to many areas of our city. The housing shortage has been aggravated by government tight- money policies and by monopoly control over the construction and building materials industry, The result of that control by such firms as Ocean Cement, Mc- Millan Bloedel and General Elec- tric, is exhorbitant costs and rising rents, Recent increases in rent are simply shocking. For many tenants it constitutes one- third or more of their income, Finance Minister Mitchell Sharp’s “crash program” to aid housing announced January 30th will not cope in any serious way with the problem, Myr. Sharp said that “a significant increase is expected for residential mort- gage and, funds will be available to speculative builders to con- struct 20,000 housing units,” It is clear that the $200 million “crash program” is far from ade- quate and provides very little for ® Vou CoN STaP WORRYING ABOUT THAT POOR WIPOW WITH 51% KIDS... 1 JUST ARRANGES Jo HAVE HER FoREctLosep! * ARAN 5 o*0°e 0 e*e* eee enero rene politicians to trample over labor at will, economically, politically and socially. To continue its-at- tacks upon labor on a new front, Of course there are other fac- tors (some hidden), much more important than the sheen on Premier Bennett’s “virtuous” halo, implicit in this judicial spree. ‘ There is a super-salaried In- ternational union bureaucracy whose image, policies and ideol- ogy is barely distinguishable from the National Manufacturers As- sociation, and whose association with state departments and police agencies is closer than Siamese twins, And in the lower echelons of labor “leadership” a similar bread of bureaucrats, phonies and ideologies are daily incu- bated; the kind that rely on the those in dire need, There® lack of funds to solve the hoe crisis if there was a will ® so, a good part of the ™ wasted on arms couldbe div" to that purpose, The Provincial Governmel also evading its responsi f Financially it is over-comm on power projects aimedat® ing U.S. interests, and it@ as a result, meet its obli to education, housing, and®” requirements of the peopl@ | The problem of decent a for those who need them @ be left to speculators and developers whose main COM is profit, and not the needs a people, We support the notice of ™, before Council on S80") ‘{llegal’ suites submit Alderman Rankin and Al Alsbury to Council on J@), 24, 1967, but only as 4 ©. gap measure until prope! y ing is provided, Furthel propose: oft *Establishment of 2 PM cial Housing Authority. Authority should have repre”) tation from the B,C, Gover from large urban centres E as Vancouver; from: Te governments; from labors |, f from the Vancouver Housifié 7 sociation, The function of a f Provincial Housing AY would be to plan and 3 develop an adequate housing? gram, @A large scale low 2 public housing program units a year for the n@ years, - I @ Acquisition of land fof” ‘ing in suitable areas. The™* See HOUSING, pg- 1? bosses’ courts for “legal proval of their illegal act The more such a union ship is faced with the T@ their collective member" the insistent demand for ® af greater measure of trad@ yolt democracy, autonomy af the more this corrupt 4” ri principled union hierarchy? yj the aid of those very forc® least that’s the pretense” they draw their Chambeé | -Commerce salaries, These factors are not a lated to the hearings # progress in Vancouver; which the “bugging” by a national union ‘landed grant” has become merely dental. It is organized 1ab0! ‘y jm whole that is now gettim@ — “treatment”, A} = ee ~ f Editor-—TOM McEWEN Subscription Rates: North and South America and Commonwealth countries, other countries, $7.00 one year. Authorized as second class mail by 4 Pacific Tribunt West Coast edition, Canadian Tribune 4 Associate Editor—MAURICE RUSH Published weekly at Ford Bldg., Mezzanine No. 3, 193 E. Hasting® ‘Vancouver 4, B.C. Phone 685-5288. Canada, $5.00 one year; $2.75 tor six monty $6.00 ane yoo ag Ottice Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage in cash. February 10, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—! ted det ath tea piP (i are presumed to be opposite ite ine ll ap PELs a De, ee 7 ee ae Pe ee, pS sae MoT Ry £P- 3