ee just suppose YOU were a B.C. working man

from away back in 1871— a Cariboo miner from the
gold rush days, come back to celebrate this Centennial year of
1971.

Then and now, you would probably have two main thoughts
on your mind, aside from pioneering a fighting Union in those
early days: Your long struggle to win British Columbia for
Confederation against the U.S. annexationists and their
“running dogs’’ in Canada. That, and the great historic
significance of the Paris Commune of 1871— these two historic
events, all obscured in this 1971 Centennial ‘‘celebration.’’

As YOU know too well from long and bitter struggle, the
U.S. annexationist of those faraway days were scheming and
plotting with their stooges in Canada to make B.C. part of
Washington State, U.S.A. holus bolus, without shame or sense
of patriotism. Your Cariboo miners were a decisive factor in
thwarting their plans, even if it took YOU nearly four years to
complete the job — from 1867 to 1871. Moreover, I am
reasonably sure as YOU yourself would readily agree, that the
impact of the heroic Paris Commune, in which the workingmen
of Paris held state power for six whole weeks before it was
drowned in blood by a deposed ruling caste with an unparalled
violence.

Today, however, the Paris Commune lives again — in the
great Soviet Union, in a whole number of European Socialist
States, in the great Republic of Peoples China, in Cuba and in
the countries of Latin America. A lot of changes since YOU left
us, Brother Cariboo miner. But one thing hasn’t changed much
— the greed of the U.S. annexationists and their ‘‘fast buck”
Establishments in Canada.

The only difference is that instead of giving away B.C. in
one big chunk, now it is given away piecemeal at bargain-baSe-
ment prices. Every sale sees the peoples’ resources, jobs,
birthright and sovereign independence going into the U.S.
annexationist monopoly maw, with as yet little or none of the
fighting unity YOU demonstrated back in 1871 to halt the theft
and plunder of your homeland.

Today the U.S. annexationists and their tribe here are a
mite more subtle, but no less grasping, attempting to obscure
their thefts and rape of B.C. with semantics. Now they speak of
“continentalism” as a cover-up for barefaced plunder that
“God put @il ‘the water and oil and natural gas and timber, ad
infinitum for ‘the needs of all of us’’ which supposedly gives
them the “‘right’’ to steal Canada at will, and with monopoly-
dominated Canadian Establishments willing brokers to
' facilitate all such thefts.

But let’s take a look at this Centennial we’re
“eelebrating,’’ Old Timer. YOUR role in 1871 and the working
men and women who came after you, will get scant attention,
if at all. While we have much bigger unions than you had in
your day, the leading committees on the directing body of this
‘fast buck’’ Centennial does not contain one genuine
representative of the working people or their unions, the people
who built British Columbia. ;

YOU will see for yourself this ‘‘fast buck’ mentality of the
modern annexationists which grips us like a plague. Thus
Centennial celebrations; observances, projects, etc. all mostly
geared to the ‘tourist dollar;’’ an opportunity to gape at some
new “‘‘tourist attraction’’— and cough up the mighty buck. So
it’s to hell with history and posterity. Like old Hank Ford, Sr.,

who once told a Congressional hearing on Tin Lizzies, that ©

“History is the bunk,”’ or, in the words of yet another **
American statesman,” —
posterity ever done for us.”’

Yes, there will be a little tree-planting, but nothing of
course to compensate for the rape of our forest resources by
the big timber “‘patriots”’ of the M-B vintage.

We'll also plant a lot of flowers along the highways to
delight the tourist and help separate him from his mazuma,
and perhaps brighten up some of the real estate steals that
frequently occur along those same highways. But we'll stay
strictly mum on the fact that sixty or seventy thousand of our
youth and manhood in B.C. alone are deprived the right to a job
and a decent livelihood. That would mar the plans for a ‘‘fast
buck”’ Centennial. Thus any reference to ‘‘social welfare” a la
Socredia, is strictly taboo.

great
“to hell with posterity. what has

Well so-long for now Old Timer. ! just had the idea that a
flashback on your valiant struggles in 1867-1871 might rekindle
the flame of 1871 — to help our class of today find the way to
that measure of working class unity—strong enough to settle
the hash of the annexationists of 1971 and their *‘fast buck”
brokers in B.C. — and Canada. The Tory, Liberal and Socred
towel boys of U.S. monopoly who sell Canada short — and
render their own working people destitute meantime.

“History repeats itself .. .’ wrote Karl Marx in the
Communist Manifesto of 1848, YOUR struggle Old Timer away
back in 1871 was that YOU couldn't sqaure accounts for good
with the U.S. annexationists and their Canadian ‘copper
heads.” :

Ours in 1971 is the farce of ‘‘celebrating”’ history — by the
simple process of ignoring and/or falsifying it. without protest
or action!

PACIFIG TRIBWNEa ERP AY MARCH AY, 19Fd1-PAGER ose85 150. Gien ivi

4

By ALD. HARRY RANKIN

One of the many reports up for
consideration by City Council is
the 1970 Vancouver Urban
Renewal Study with 1971-75
Proposals.

Among other things, it
proposes that $40 million be
spent on housing in the next five
years, most of it coming from
the federal and provincial
governments. Its specific
proposals for the five year
period include:

e 1000 new housing units; the
purchase and renovation of 500
single person units; purchase
and renovation of 250 single or
duplex units; the stimulation of
senior citizen and low rental
projects by non-profit groups
with a target of 625 units.

The report also proposes the
provision of open space, parks
and public buildings at a cost of
$26 million for the five years
period. This would include:

e Provincial magistrates
court $4,500,000; additions and
extensions to community
centres $1,750,000; Oakridge

Health and Welfare Building ©

$560,000; community centre at
Britannia $6,250,000; two indoor
swimming pools $2,960,000;
West End Community Centre
$2,000,000; Fraserview Library
$300,000 and extension of parks
$2,500,000.

My comments on these
proposals are:

(1) They aré good as far as
they go, but they don’t go nearly
far enough. Low rental housing
would be only for ‘‘senior
citizens, non-family households
and handicapped’ — nothing for
other low income groups. The

small amount of housing to be ©

provided will not even replace
the housing being retired due to
old age or destroyed by develop-
ment projects. Only 400 of the
low rental units would be in the
False Creek area.

Vancouver needs at least 1,000
new low rental units a year, and
provision for several thousand
can easily be made on the
property owned by the city on
False Creek.

(2) A report is one thing but
its implementation is another.
The NPA majority on Council
would act quickly if this were an
application by a promoter, but it
shows considerably less than
enthusiasm when it comes to
low rental housing or com-
munity centres.

It will,take a lot of public
pressure to get action on even
the minimum and inadequate
proposals in this report.
~ I would suggest that every
interested and concerned organi-
zation ask Council for a copy of
this report, study it, and decide
if it meets the needs of its com-
munity. If it doesn’t, send a dele-
gation to Council with your
proposals.

Election of an eX
amendments
constitution, plans
activities and an ad
Alderman Harry Ra
be the main point
agenda when the
of Progressive
(COPE) gathers inl
meeting March 24th.

West Broadway, beé
8 p.m.

An amendment 1
stitution propose

double the size of t
tive, from _ five
members.

The meeting:
discuss current 4
action on issues SUC
transit, electoral ?
the city, unemPp'
Jericho Beach .dev%
and the Four Seas

Alderman Halt
will report to the ™
issues at City Hall.

While only
members may ¥
meeting is open tot

More than 500 senior citizens
braved bad weather last Wed-
nesday to travel to Victoria by
bus from as far away as
Penticton, to place their
demands before. the provincial
government.

The huge turnout was the
largest. pensioners demon-
stration in the provincial
capital, but Premier Bennett,
and for that matter, no other
Cabinet member, found it
important enough to meet with
their representatives and hear
their demands.

A small group of pensioners
headed by Vincent Yates, presi-
dent of the B.C. Old-Age Pension
Organization, were able to meet
with Minister without Portfolio
Isabel Dawson and Deputy
Rehabilitation Minister Ray
Rickinson. They presented them
with their demands to be passed
on to the government.

Yates expressed particular
disappointment that although he
had sent a message to the
Premier requesting a meeting
one never took place. In his
message. Yates stressed that
pensioners need help in the years
that remained to them.

A list of requests submitted by
the pensioners to the govern-
ment called for a better system
of passes for riding transit
buses. reduced costs for people
staying in nursing homes. help
with municipal taxes and free
prescription drugs under the
medical care program.

Yates said his organization
Was given no promises. but was
told “the government is
SJBV.IG Jor DoE

~~

VWiilsgioinura on;

Porn on these things. . .
course, they’ve been a long ane
working. . .”’ he said:

The pensioners met with Oppo-
sition members in the House,
including NDP leader Dave
Barrett and Liberal leader Pat
McGeer.

‘ Yates told the assembly of
pensioners and MLAs at a
meeting in the auditorium of the
Legislature building, of. the

Photo shows some of the more than 500 senior citizen"

small amount pea
when taxes cut if
pension increase.
the high costs 0
nursing homes all
pensioners are tax®
tion costs.

“This is not go
us. We have buil
We have built this
What we are asking
much.”’

ol

e
weather fo journey to Victoria last Wednesday to plac

before the previncial government.

executive will, if