OTTAWA SHOULD TELL WASHINGTON:

STOP BOMBING

‘Socreds in trouble at coming session’

A plan of campaign around the
Spring session of the B.C.
Legislature, which opens January
-25th, was drawn up by the B.C.
Provincial Committee of the
Communist Party at a meeting in
Vancouver last weekend. .

Introducing discussion of the
Party’s proposals for its campaign,
Provincial leader Nigel Morgan
underscored the fact that the
Legislature will meet in a very
different setting to previous ones.
“After 17 years of relative boom, the
Bennett government is today faced
with:a’serious cutback,” he said.

“A year ago it was already evident
the Socreds. were in trouble in
financing their program of dam
construction for U.S. benefits. Since
then the situation internationally and
nationally — particularly the collosal

demands of U.S. escalation in

Vietnam — have deepened the crisis
considerably.

“The Bennett government has not
only alienated labor support with its
anti-labor legislation and use of
injunctions. It is now triggering
bitter resentment of its own
employees with threats of a wage
freeze. School trustees throughout

the province, pensioners, welfare
workers, students, and hospital and
municipal administrations are also
resentful over penny pinching
policies. Layoffs and the acute
housing shortage are fanning the
flames of opposition too,’’ he said.

The Communist Party will present
a. brief to all MLAs outlining its
views and projecting an alternative
economic policy for development of
our natural resources, a new system
of financing education, and means of
meeting the pressing needs of the
people. Proposals to solve the
housing crisis, solution of Indian land

rights, urban and farm-land tax
relief, hospital requirements and
new labor legislation will be featured
in the Party’s representation.

In addition full support will be
given to the efforts of labor and other
people’s organizations which have
already indicated their intentions of
pressing hard on a wide variety of
demands on the coming Legislative
Session. A highlight of such activities
is expected to be the four-day
conference called for January 27 in
Victoria by the B.C. Federation of

» Labor: :

‘Talks will
start when

bombs stop’
— says Hanoi

A clear and simple
statement made by the North
Vietnamese foreign minister
has thrown the war hawks in
the Pentagon and Washington
into a dither and increased
world pressure for an
immediate halt to the U.S.
bombings so that talks could
get started.

In a statement from Hanoi on
December 30, Foreign Minister
Nguyen Duy Trinh declared:

“The American government never
stops repeating that it wants talks
with Hanoi but that Hanoi does not
react by any sign. If the American
government really wants
conversations as clearly stated in
our declaration of Jan. 28, 1967, it
must first unconditionally cease
bombing and all other acts of war
against the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam.

“After the cessation of bombing
and all other acts of war against the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam,
the DRV will start conversations
with the United States on relevant
problems.”

This renewed offer of the North
Vietnam government to engage in
talks with Washington as soon as
President Johnson orders an
unconditional halt in the bombing
and other acts of war against North
Vietnam, has increased the pressure
on the U.S. to halt the bombings now.

Both in the United States and in
world capitals, where fears were
mounting that Washington is
preparing a massive escalation of
the war, the demand for a halt to the
bombing was renewed this week.

While Canada some weeks ago
called for a halt. to the bombing,
there has been no official reaction
from Prime Minister Pearson or
External Affairs Minister Martin on
the latest statement from Hanoi.

This may be due to the fact that the
U.S. government is stalling and has
refused to give a clear cut answer to
the statement from Hanoi. The
Canadian government may be
anxious to avoid putting pressure on
Washington until Washington has
made up its mind.

Instead of softening its pressure
now, Ottawa must join the world
wide protest to demand that Hanoi’s
offer be taken up: that U.S.
bombings and other acts of war stop
at once so that talks can start.