COMMENTARY

_ Three-year absence highlights

Se te RE ae” ee

contrasts

By JACK PHILLIPS

Returning to Canada after an absence of
three years, I found that many changes had
taken place, and not all of them for the best.

For example, as I travelled to almost
every part of Vancouver and its suburbs, it
seemed to me that there were almost as
many restaurants as you would expect to
find in a city of six or seven million people.
When I enquired about this, I was told that
there is a high rate of bankruptcy in this
field. I was also told that potential immi-
grants from certain countries go to the top
of the list for admission into Canada if they
have enough money to open a restaurant.

The subject of food brings to mind the
Billy Graham evangelical rallies in Van-
couver. According to our daily press here,
people who went to his rallies were given the
opportunity to bring good for the local food
bank, to help feed the destitute. I guess this

comes under the heading of Christian char-

ity. However, when Billy Graham preached
in the Soviet Union, no food was collected.
You see, they practise Christian charity in a
much bigger way over there. There is a job
for everyone who is capable of working and
there is an adequate food supply for every
man, woman and child through normal

_ channels of distribution, including the

supermarket or the corner store.
Again on the subject of food. You could
go to Prague, in Czechoslavakia, and see

miany line-ups in front of grocery stores, ©

vegetable stores and
butcher shops. But
the people have
money in their pock-
ets and they are
waiting their turn to
get into a store that
holds only so many
people. Once they
get inside, they will
find an adequate
supply of food. Also,
as in many other
European cities, in
the east and west, many stores have stands
outside on the sidewalk where food is sold
and people automatically line up to wait
their turn. However, search as you may,
you will never find a line-up for the destitute
unemployed who are hoping for a sandwich
or a bowl of soup. Such line-ups are unnes-
sary because Czechoslavakia has a fuli
employment policy. This is true of every
socialist country I visited. While it is a fact,

JACK PHILLIPS

- that these countries could do with more

large supermarkets to lessen the time spent
in shopping — and the authorities will be
first to admit it — it is also true that they
are working on it and things are getting

ment, are a thing of the past.

better with every Passing year.

‘nother impression I gained during my
stay in Vancouver is in the field of housing.
It seemed to me that there are an excessive
number of apartments for sale and for rent
at prices the average person could never
afford. It also appeared that the real estate
developers had put up far too many build-
ings for office and commercial purposes. At
the same time, I gathered that there is a
shortage of affordable housing.

In socialist cities such as Prague, Buda-
pest, Berlin, Sofia and Moscow, to mention
only a few that I have Visited, I found a
building boom and no unemployed con-
struction workers. However, the main

emphasis is on socially necessary building,’

with a strong bias in favor of affordable
housing. ote

In addition to publicly-owned housing in
socialist countries, there is co-operative
housing and personally owned homes. If
you want to become part of a housing co-op
or build your own home in one of these
cities, you can get cheap loans, from
government and your employer, at an inter-
est rate which is usually less than three per
cent. Under certain conditions, based on
such criteria as the number of children in the
family and the length of employment, a
good part of every loan is written off.

Of course, there are no private real estate
developers there, no privately-owned trust
companies and no speculation in land or
mortgages. Next time somebody tells you
there is no freedom in these countries, per-
haps you can ask this question: No freedom
to do what and for whom? There is certainly
no freedom for those who would like to

Banquet & Dance
Saturday, Nov. 3rd
6:30 p.m.
HEAP maurice Rush

B.C. Provincial Leader
Communist Party

Russian People’s Hall
600 Campbell Avenue

Tickets: $10, $7 (OAP,
unemployed), $4 children

Celebrate 67 years of the
Russian Socialist Revolution
1917 — 198

=
a

Available at People’s Co-op
Books, Tribune office or
Call 254-9836.

Sponsored by Greater Vancouver Regional Committee, CPC.

social systems

PRAGUE FRUIT VENDOR.. -queues to buy food but soup lines, like unemploy-

make billions of dollars out of such a basic
need as housing.

According to one radio report I heard in
Vancouver, there is a war between the
North American giants who control the
pharmaceutical industry, which suggests
there is a lot of profit to be made in that
business.

I was reminded of that war when I was
waiting for some information at the staff
pharmacy of the University of British
Columbia. People were coming in and pay-
ing $20, $30 and $50 to have prescriptions
filled. I realize, of course, that even if this
pharmacy kept its prices at the lowest possi-
ble level, they would still be high, because of
what they have to pay to the pharamceuti-
cal giants for their supplies.

In Prague, where I had a prescription
filled a few months ago, I paid only one
crown as a dispensing fee. The medicine was
free, as it is for everyone there under the
state medical plan. Also, if you need two or
three kinds of medicine, the doctor will
write them up on one prescription form, to
keep the cost down to one crown. How
much is a crown worth? It represents about
one-fifteenth of the average hourly wage.

I’m sure that most Canadians would like
to have such a medical plan here, along with
the free medical and hospital care which is
constitutionally guaranteed to every citizen
there, with no user fees or private billing.
This is a good example of what real social-
ism means in reality. It is also an example of
how the most basic and fundamental free-
doms are guaranteed in every socialist coun-
try, like full employment, free education at
every level, rising living standards and low-
cost housing.

I must say that this country of ours, Can-
ada, is a great country to live in, in many
ways. However, I never tire of thinking
about its tremendous potential once the
people opt for socialism, as they will,
sooner or later. With our tremendous
resources, our modern technological base
and our highly skilled and efficient work
force, we could soon make this country a
veritable paradise for the people.

Of course, those who make billions out of
the present system, at the expense of the
people, claim that socialism would be the
ultimate denial of freedom. I can agree with
them up to a point. It would be denial of
their freedom to exploit and grow fat on the
misery of the overwhelming majority, the
true producers of all the wealth in the coun-
try. But for that overwhelming majority, for
you and me, it would be a very great expan-
sion of basic freedom.

Under socialism, freedom has a much
wider and ‘a more humane connotation
than under capitalism. That’s what the class
struggle in our society is all about: to main-
tain the status quo or to move forward to a
more just, to a more humane society.

ye

Classified

Advertising 4

COMING EVENTS

OCT. 26 — YCL Hallowe’en party, 2235 E.
8th, 7:30 p.m. Prizes, food, refreshments.

OCT. 28 — Historic concert & supper from 3
p.m. at Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Ave., Adm.
$10; pensioners & unemployed: $8. Sponsored
by Veterans Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion.
Tickets available from Tribune office or
veterans.

OCT. 28 — 1984 Civic Follies. Sponsored by
Surrey Alternative Movement. 2 p.m. Guildford
Park Community School. 14577 106A Ave.
Surrey. Adm: $5, $3.50 OAP, unemployed.

NOV. 3 — Celebrate the 67th Anniversary of
the Russian Revolution. Banquet and Dance. 6
p.m. Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Ave. Hear
Maurice Rush, B.C. leader, Communist Party.
Tickets: $10, $7 OAP, unemployed, $4 child-
ren. For info or reservation, call 254-9836.

NOV. 4 — Celebrate the Anniversary of the
Russian Revolution, 2 p.m. Clayton Community
Hall, 18513 70th Ave., Surrey. Sponsored by
the Fraser Valley Region, Communist Party.
Watch for further details.

COMMERCIAL

GRAMMA PUBLICATIONS. Complete print-
ing services. Brochures, menus, leaflets, etc. A
union shop. 1595 W. 3rd Ave., Vancouver.
Hours: Mon-Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., 733-6822.

ELECTRICAL, plumbing, appliance repairs.
Don Berg. 255-7287.

MINI-CARTAGE and storage. 254-1336.

DIRECTORY

COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA offices
located at 102, 2747 E. Hastings St. Vancouver.
Phone 254-9836. Office hours 9:30-12 noon;
1-5 p.m. Mon. to Fri. For information on political
issues or assistance in political activity.

HALLS FOR RENT

RUSSIAN PEOPLE'S HOME — Available for
rentals. For reservations phone 254-3430.

UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CULTURAL
CENTRE — 805 East Pender St. Vancouver.
Available for banquets, weddings, meetings.
Phone 254-3436.

Classified advertising rates $1 per line per
Deadline for insertions. Wednesday of week
Prior to publication.

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Barristers & Solicitors
157 Alexander Street
2nd floor
Vancouver, B.C.
V6A 1B8
682-3621

ellen

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Barristers & Solicitors

4th Floor, 195 Alexander St.
Vancouver, B.C. V6A IN8

682-2781

Offers a broad range of
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Labour Law

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 24, 1984 e 11

sate Pemba ead tet