Canada

The Canadian government is
giving recognition to the deep de-
sire of the people for a summit
meeting to ease international ten-
sions.

This can be seen from the im-
portant statement on foreign af-
fairs made in the House of Com-
mons July 9 by External Affairs
Minister Howard Green.

Green, while re-affirming his
government’s support for the posi-
tions being taken by the West at
the Geneva foreign minister’s
meeting, went on to say:

Troubles are mounting again for
the Canadian wheat farmer.

Despite the unfilled needs of
many of the world’s people, stock-
piles of wheat continue to pile up
in the four major exporting coun-
tries. As of May 1 this year there
Were 2,207.7 million bushels of
wheat on hand in the United States»
Canada, Argentina and Australia.
This was 22 percent more than at
the same time last year. The Un-
ited States surplus had gone up
sharply from 953.5 million bushels
a year ago to 1,373.7 million bush-
els. This accounts for the stepped
up U.S. drive to dispose of its
Wheat by various forms of dump-
ing on the world market.

The Canadian surplus was slight-
ly down: 609.2 million as against
707 million last year.

en >.

If the wheat farmers are faced
with mounting troubles, how about
our pork producers? In order to
keep some sort of “floor” under
pork prices (with the consumer it’s
always the ceiling) the federal gov-
ernment has now so much pork on
hand that it is running out of stor-
age space and thinking of going
into the canning business. Canned
pork, whew!

To make matters worse hog pro-
duction in Canada jumped by 20
percent during 1958. In this the
farmer had little choice. He has a
lot of grains and other food pro-
duce that he just cannot sell at
any price. So for him the most
economical way to get rid of it is
to feed it to the pigs, and of course
additional pigs are needed to con-
sume an unsaleable surplus.

Thus the problem arises, how
long before the government “floor’;
collapses under the weight, of in-
creased pork chops, a delectable
commodity which the average
housewife just. cannot afford to
buy because of dwindling incomes
and soaring prices; and which the
farmer cannot afford to cut-back
on since hogs are his only solution
to a super-abundance of other un-
saleable foodstuffs.

summit meeting

favors

“The Canadian government has
held to the view that progress to-
ward settlement of some interna-
tional issues might’ be achieved by
discussions amongst heads of gov-
ernments, in other words at a sum-
mit conference. It is the hope of
the Canadian government that such
a meeting can be arranged. Then
there may prove to be subjects
other than those relating to Ger-
many and Berlin — I mention the

_ suspension of nuclear tests and the

peaceful use of outer space as ex-
amples — on which progress could
be made by high level discussions.
At this stage, I think as few pre-
conditions and prior stipulations as
possible should be placed in the
way of a summit meeting.”

Green added further emphasis
to this stand by saying:

“Since in this thermo-nuclear age
war is unthinkable, there is no al-
ternative to negotiation for the so-
lution of these problems. In‘ our
view, negotiation implies a prepar-
edness on both sides to do more
than exchange views across the
conference table. Each side must
go some way to meet the basic in-
terests of the other. If it is possible
to arrive at some settlement on the
Berlin question, the way should be
opened for a solution of broader
problems.”

Despite the Canadian govern-
ment’s continued re-affirmation of
its support for the rigid Western
position on Berlin, these statements
on negotiations and a summit stand
out in contrast both to the bitter
opposition to a top level meeting on
the part of Paris and Bonn, and
the mournful attitude in Washing-
ton which professes to see little
hope of the present negotiations
ledding to the summit. Instead, the
Canadian stand lines this country
up with the Macmillan government
of Britain which, under great pres-
sure from its people, is working
towards a conference of the heads
of governments.

700 on strike
at Inglis plant

TORONTO—Workers at the
Toronto Strachan Avenue plant of
John Inglis, 700 strong, went out
in a solid strike on July 14, while
workers at two other Inglis plants
in Scarboro and St. Catharines vot-
ed to accept the agreement offered
by the company.

Rank and file workers at the
Strachan Avenue plant are serious-
ly concerned over the fact that the
other two plants are continuing to
work. They ask, “What is the use
of joint bargaining, if the workers
are not brought out together when
a strike becomes necessary?” They
are pointing out that the agree-
ment at the other two plants can-
not be completed without the sig-
nature of the representative of the
union, the United Steelworkers.

A steel strike in the United States has closed down all major plants, as 500,000 strikers in 24 states, mem-

bers of the Steel Workers of America, seek a wage increase.

Before the strike President Eisenhower had

been asked by the union to set up a fact-finding board, but he replied by suggesting a resumption of nego-

tiations.

Political lines sharpen
as CLC parley nears

By WILLIAM KASHTAN

TORONTO—President W. J. Smith of the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Transport
and General Workers Union had some interesting things to say regarding political action at a
press conference here recently. He admitted that there had been little or no success in rallying

support among the farmers.

He felt that “there will have to be a complete reappraisal of the socialist point of view
espoused by the CCF if the new party is to be able to meet the farmers and liberally-minded

individuals halfway.”

It would be futile, he said, for
the Canadian Labor Congress con-
vention to attempt to pass on a
constitution for the party, as plan-
ned. The most it could~do would
be to suggest some of the principles
that should be incorporated in the
party’s platform.

RO cee

These remarks, while different
to those made by Frank Hall at
his union’s convention in the USA
a few months ago, have one thing
in common with Hall. They in-
dicate rather sharp differences of
opinion within the CLC-CCF com-
mittee and in the trade union move-
ment on the meaning of the CLC
resolution calling for the formation
of a new party.

It is an open secret that these
differences are of a character
which, as Smith says, may make it
impossible to adopt the constitu-
tion of the new party at next
April’s CLC convention.

ae eer
Hall’s remarks made it clear
that there are strong forces in the
CLC which are against forming a
new party. Hall publicly expressed
the views of a number of other
union leaders ranging from the

SIU, the Carpenters, other building
trades groups, elements among the
Teamsters, perhaps others, all of
whom in. one way or another are
dragging their feet or openly op-
posing the CLC resolution.

Ranged against them are those
who are striving to implement the
spirit and letter of that resolution
and are inevitably coming up
against right-wing CCF’ policy.
That policy is on the one hand
aimed at maintaining domination
and control of such a new party,
if necessary under another name,
and on the other, imposing a pro-
gram on such a movement which
would prevent it from attracting
other groups to it.

The recent provincial elections
have shown how unsuccessful such
a policy is. Unfortunately this nar-
row approach has acted as a road
block to unfolding genuine inde-
pendent political action in line with
the resolution of the Canadian La-
bor Congress. As matters stand
now if that resolution is to be im-
plemented it requires the defeat of
right-wing CCF policy.

Khe te

Smith’s statement -shows that
there are forces in the trade union
movement ranging far from the
left who are being compelled to go
to bat against such a policy.

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July 24, 1959 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 3