@
PU bet they don’t want to know what we think of
the Government!”.

«
Actually, Claude, I’m hoping for a position in the
; Diplomatic Corps!”

—ECCLES, British Morning Sta

| banadian-Soviet co-operation

JOHN McINNIS

Socialist pioneer is one
of real builders of B.C.

By TOM McEWEN

“These are the real builders of
B.C.; the loggers and sawmill
workers; the miners, prospectors,
colliers, and hard-rock men; the
fishermen on the Fraser and the
halibut banks of the North Pacific;
the surveyors and laborers who laid
out and graded the streets and
roadways, and the building trades
workers who erected the buildings;
the transportation workers,
railroaders, sailors, longshoremen,
teamsters, streetcarmen; the
machinists, boilermakers, engineers

. .”. (From Builders of British
Columbia, William ‘Ol’. Bill
Bennett).

* * OK

‘Ol’ Bill could have added, and
he did later on in his book, those
pioneer Socialist MLA’s whose
fearless and untiring efforts
away back before the turn of this
century, who were responsible
for winning the 8-hour day, and
later the Mines Act to provide
coal and hard-rock miners with
some small measure of
protection from the ruthless
exploitation of the mining
barons.

“an benefit both—Morgan

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well that 70,000 towns and vil-
lages and 20 millions of their
citizens were destroyed in the
last war.

The congress displayed a new
high level of socialist unity on a
world scale. Today there are
Communist parties in 100 coun-
tries, totalling 56 million people.
It is the biggest, most represen-
tative organization of man the
world has yet seen.

Only the Communist parties of
China and Albania were not
represented at the congress.
Despite the predictions of the
reactionary press, Morgan said,
there was little stress on the
differences between the Chinese
and Soviet parties. Diplomatic
relations have been restored
between the two largest social-
ist nations, and in a brief state-
ment to the Congress, secretary
Breznev stressed that peaceful
relationships would continue.

Twenty-three non-Communist
delegations were present. These
included the socialist parties of
Italy, Japan, “Argentina,
Uraguay, the governing Social
Democratic party of Finland,
etc. Morgan said it was an inspir-
ing and exhilerating experience
to be part of this world move-
ment— and to know that the rela-
tively small Communist Party
of Canada is a vital segment of
the great forward march.

Premier Kosygin in his long
report to delegates stressed that
the 9th Five-Year Plan would see
a 20 percent cut in consumer

MARK CENTENNIAL

The Canadian Yugoslav
Association will mark B.C.’s Cen-
tennial with a special concert at
the Golden Horseshoe Hall, 2786
E. Hastings St., Sunday, May 30,
7:30 p.m. The public are
cordially invited.

prices, and at the same time
increase wages by 20 percent.
Farm income would increase by
33 percent, a popular move,
Morgan said, because in that
area there had been dissatis-
faction that farm wages had not
kept pace with industrial wages.
There are also to be big
increases in pensions, and
health, welfare benefits and
educational research.

Kosygin said it took the United
States 18 years to double their
industrial output; the last five
year plan had seen Soviet output
doubled in 6% years. The new
plan is able to satisfy the
economic needs of the people, he
said, for it had been under discus-
sion for two years prior to the
congress, with full participation
of the workers in all sections of

the economy.

JOHN McINNIS
. .socialist pioneer

This year of 1971 being the
Centennial of B.C.’s entry into
Confederation, it would appear
to date that B.C. labor— the real
builders of B.C., have almost
“‘opted out’’ of these Centennial
celebrations.

Unless organized labor begins
to remember its titanic
struggles for a place in the sun,
its martyred dead, and its grand
old pioneering socialists in the
B.C. legislature of over half a
century ago, this year’s
Centennial ‘‘celebrations’’ bid
fair to become a colossal farce in
which both factual history and
the real builders of B.C. will be
literally, historically and in
reality effectively buried!

There are not many of these
grand old Socialists left; perhaps
one of the last is John McInnes of
Prince George, who will
celebrate his 91st birthday on
June 15, 1971. Born in Prince
Edward Island, John McInnes
came west when only 18 years of
age and settled in the Grand
Forks area of the West
Kootenays.

He was first elected as a
Socialist MLA in 1907 while still
only in his twenties. Working as
a hard-rock miner at Phoenix
near Grand Forks, John McInnes
was also an active member and
organizer for the Western
Federation of Miners (W.F. of
M.) and fought for the socialist
program of that famous union in
the House and out of it. With his

fellow socialist MLA’s in the
legislature, Jim Hawthorn-
waite, MLA Nanaimo, Parker
Williams, MLA Ladysmith, and
Bill Davidson, MLA Slocan,
John McInnes played a big role
in winning the 8 hour day, and
helped pioneer the Mines Act,
designed to give miners and
their families some small mea-
sure of protection from the
exploitation of the coal
operators.

In the many struggles of the
WFM in B.C. to win union
organization and the first
elements of collective bargain-
ing, John McInnes was an
untiring pioneer.

Mcinnes and his socialist
colleagues represented their
constituencies under the ultra-
reactionary McBride-Bowser

government, concrete evidence

that of the progressive measures
won, all had to be fought for, not
just talked about in the
parliamentary. ‘“‘niceties’” of
today.

From his home city in Prince
George, where John McInnes has
built up a thriving lumber yard
industry over the years, he
travelled widely throughout
B.C. and the Peace River
country espousing the cause of
socialism.

When I last had a chat with
him, nearly 20 years ago, he was
still enthusiastic about a
Socialist Canada, and what the
working class could do if they
could only ‘‘get with it’ in a
united way. While a member of
the CCF, and later the NDP,
there was nothing of the right-
wing socialist about John
McInnes and he didn’t blush or
cross the street to avoid being
seen talking to a Communist.

In this writer’s opinion here is
one grand veteran Socialist that
B.C. labor can honor as part of
its Centennial celebrations, with
honor to itself and to a grand
veteran who has ‘‘fought the
good fight” — and kept the faith

Salute to John McInnes, ex-
MLA, veteran Socialist and
union man — when to be one
wasn’t the sinecure it is today.
One of the genuine Socialist
builders of British Columbia.
And when the next ‘‘milestone”’
comes around, John, may there
be many more after that one.

City tax reform demanded |

Rising taxes on homes in
Vancouver came under sharp
fire at a public meeting in the
Grandview Community Centre
Thursday, May 20 which was
attended by about 70 people.

Sponsored by the Central
Council of Ratepayers, and
endorsed by the Vancouver. &
District Labor Council, the
meeting heard Ald. Harry
Rankin, Jim Cork, president of
the Central Council «of
Ratepayers, and other speakers
call for drastic revision of the
present tax structure to lift the
tax load off low and fixed income
roups.

: The meeting adopted a
resolution addressed to the
Mayor and City Council which
said:

“We urgently request that a

i

committee be struck im-
mediately for the purpose of a
study into the property tax
structure within with the
following objectives:

(1) To hear and assess pres-
entations of interested groups
dealing with this question.

(2) To formulate a plan for the
revision of the tax structure with
emphasis on tax relief for low
and fixed income groups.

(3) The committee prepare a
brief to be presented to the
Private Bills Committee of the
Provincial legislature at the
opening session of 1972 —
concerning any Charter amend-
ments required to implement
such revision of tax structure.”

The meeting also adopted a
resolution which calls on the
City Council not to issue permits

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1971—PAGE 3

for construction unless agree-
ment is reached with Victoria
that taxes based on the true
market assessment value will
be paid by the provincial
government.

This action arose from a
recent announcement by the
B.C. government that it intended
to construct a multiple story
office building in Block 51.

Provincial government prop-
erty now is not included on the
tax roll but grants in aid are sub-
stituted which are usually below
taxes based on assessments.

The meeting also urged that
the parking required by this
building be supplied by the B.C.
government and not be
subsidized by the taxpayers of
Vancouver.

ri

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