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Editorial

Election imperatives

It will come as no great surprise to Canadians that in congratulating George
Bush for his election as U.S. president, Brian Mulroney said he had a “good
working relationship” with the former director of the CIA. It was, after all, only
a few years ago that the prime minister was telling the country that he had a
“special relationship” with Ronald Reagan.

The fruit of that relationship has, for most Canadians, been bitter: the
Canada-U.S. trade deal, the defence white paper, the Star Wars-linked North
Warning System, the emergence of a Canadian-based military industrial com-
plex. Another four years of Tory government ina “good working relationship”
with a Republican administration would be disastrous for Canada.

That is the imperative for the next seven days: maintaining the drumfire of
opposition to the Tories and the trade deal until it reaches a full-scale barrage at
the polls Nov. 21. :

But the central importance of repudiating the trade deal should not lead
progressive Canadians into giving their support to the Liberal Party as the
means of achieving that end. That the Liberals have waged a spirited national
campaign against the deal is undeniable; it attests to John Turner’s political
acumen that he went into the campaign with all guns trained on the free trade
pact and with a fervent appeal to Canadian tradition as his ammunition.

But the Liberals offer no alternative, no new policies that will significantly
change the course being followed by the Mulroney government.

Itis unfortunate that the New Democrats went into the federal race focussing
not on the future of Canada and the trade deal but on honesty and integrity in
leadership. They paid the price for that tactic in the polls as the Liberals took the
benefits from the anti-free trade momentum.

Over the past several days, there has been a welcome shift, however, and New

Democrats have been turning up the heat on the trade deal, as evidenced by the _

work they did in revealing the latest U.S. attack on fishing industry jobs.

There is one party which went into this campaign with a vision of Canadian
sovereignty and a policy for a new economic direction: the Communist Party.
Although its candidates are running only in selected ridings, they have been the
most outspoken in opposition to the trade deal and the other Tory
policies — and in advancing an alternative program that would set a new
policy direction for Canada. Communist Party leader George Hewison has
criss-crossed the country, carrying that message to Canadians.

The CP has been urging Canadians to elect a strong bloc of MPs committed
to the rejection of the trade deal and new policies. On Nov. 21, we urge voters to
cast their ballots for the Communist Party in those ridings where they are
running. And in those ridings where there is no CP candidate, a vote for the
NDP is the most effective vote that can be made for a new government anda
new direction for Canada.

HAZARD
Can be
disposed of
safely on

Nov 21

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is has been a name for the history
books — both in terms of the labour
movement and international solidarity.
But a strong dose of modesty that charac-
terized the life of Frank Bobby kept the
tireless fighter out of the limelight for sev-

eral years. That life ended, sadly, on Fri--

day, Nov. 4.

Part of the reason for the anonymity
was the need for secrecy incumbent on
anyone fighting capitalist unemployment
and state police persecution in the Thirties.
Frank, an organizer of the jobless workers
slaving for $5 a month in then prime min-

4ster R.B. Bennett’s relief camps, adopted

the name of Tony Costello. Several pro-
gressive books on the period — including
Jean Evans Sheils’ Work and Wages, and
the Tribune’s own Fighting Heritage,
acknowledge Frank’s contribution under
the Costello name.

Frank’s work led to his involvement, as
it did with many relief camp organizers, in
the famed On-to-Ottawa Trek of 1935. A
fellow veteran of the trek, Willis Shaparla,
notes it also netted Frank six months’
imprisonment, under Section 98 of the
Criminal Code, for an alleged role in the
Regina (police) Riot, along with trek
leader Slim Evans. Frank’s statement that
he was elsewhere at the time was ignored,
and his surviving friends note that one day
earlier, he had been credited with exposing
a police informer to the trekkers.

Like others, Frank extended his work-
ing class principles to the international
arena, signing up with the Mackenzie-
Papineau Battalion to fight for the Repub-

PEOP Le-&

ISSUES

‘a a em a SORE SS a RE

lican cause in the Spanish War. Known for
his courage and integrity — fellow Mac-
Pap member Fred Mattersdorfer attests to
that — he was decorated by the Spanish
government for bravery in cutting barbed
wire that defended fascist troops. For that
act he received severe wounds from shrap-
nel, some of which he carried around until
an operation removed the remaining pie-
ces only some 10 years ago.

Despite health problems resulting from
the wound, Frank led a full and active
trade union life following World War II.
In 1948 he took employment at the now
closed Western Canada Steel, working in
shop floor committees of the United Steel
Workers Local 3302 and continuing as a
member of the Canadian Association of
Industrial, Mechanical and Allied Work-
ers. He held the respect of his fellow
workers, and also the grudging admira-
tion of some plant managers, notes his
fellow worker for many years, and
CAIMAW recording secretary, Harold
David. Frank retired in 1979.

Born Oct. 24, 1914, Frank was a long-
time supporter of the Pacific Tribune. A
memorial was held on Nov. 9 in Clear-

brook.
ee Ok AK

W: at the Tribune are generally

supportive of the need for govern-
ment regulatory agencies — even when
those agencies make wrong decisions.

Regarding the Canadian Radio-television
and Telecommunications Commission,
we’ve often been critical of decisions that
allow private telephone companies such as
B.C. Tel to levy unconscionable rate
increases. And while the CRTC has some-
times played a positive role regulating the
broadcasting industry, there’s one deci-
sion they’ve amde that raises our eyebrows.

We're referring to the Sept. 29 ruling of
a CRTC hearing that refused to renew the
usual five-year licence to Vancouver’s Co-

_ op Radio. That decision, which the com-

munity based station is appealing in the
Federal Court of Appeals (the commis-
sion has no appeal process), cut the licence
to 34 months. An accompanying public
notice requires Co-op Radio to produce
evidence showing how the station will
comply with the commission’s “balance”
guidelines. '

The CRTC move was in response to
complaints by University of B.C. sociol-.
ogy professor Werner Cohn, and the Can-
adian Jewish Congress, over the contents
of a program entitled “Voice of Palestine”
that aired on the station. The weekly show
essentially presented the views of those
opposed to Israel’s military actions in the
Occupied Territories. The viewpoints were
those of local Palestinians, Jews and oth-
ers making the call for a Palestinian home-
land.

Station manager Peter Royce points out

the vague nature of the CRTC’s balance
requirements: He says the commission
confuses commercial radio with commun-
ity radio, a status it has accorded Co-op
Radio in granting its three previous licen-
ces. As community radio, it, much like
Rogers Cable 4, does not pay journalists
but is open to responsible groups desiring
an outlet. Asa rule, the views on many of
Co-op’s programs are “alternate” pers-
pectives not presented on commercial’
radio, he points out.

In its affidavit to the court the station
argues that it “believes that it is complying
in all respects” with the Broadcast Act and
that the CRTC “has misinterpreted” the
Act, “particularly as it applies to commun-
ity radio stations.”

“We don’t want to tell people what to
say, as the CRTC seems to require,”
Royce says. “The station provides a
democratic forum for concerned members
of the community to present their own
views and perspectives on topics the main-
stream media ignore.”

Royce notes that Cohn himself has been
offered interviews on Co-op Radio pro-
grams like Red Eye, and that station
accepts applications from all interested
groups.

But we note that doesn’t appear to
answer the agenda of Cohn and the CJC,
both uncritical defenders of Israeli policy.
That agenda seems to be the stifling of
opinions contrary to their own — even
when those opinions don’t have wide
access and are confined to small, listenet-
supported outlets like Co-op Radio.

« Pacific Tribune, November 14, 1988