i PACIFIC ADVOCATE PEOPLE’S VOICE FOR PROGRESS iid No. 22 ih psa an, 5 Cents VANCOUVER, B.C., SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1945 onn, Germany, destroyed by Allied bombs, is.a mass of ibble through which Yank infantrymen advance on their ‘ay to Berlin. )pposition To Unity 1 Tory P Xcated by Fred Rose, M.P se Nielsen, M.P. (Unity ‘h Battleford) in the still- huing: House of Commons de- on Ganada’s stand at the comings San Francisco se- y. conference. Yernment spokesmen, led by e Minister King, have gen- ¥ presented a realistic policy 1 on the Yalta perspective. 2ver, influence of reaction- Orces Was evident in conces- to the “‘small nations” dem- WY; which is being used as a @ing attack on Anglo-Soviet- unity by those who do not | Spenly oppose this unity as roposals Independent Canadian foreign policy, unreservedly lined a support of the unity of the Big Three and the full per- tive laid down at the Crimea Conference, was strongly (LPP, Montreal-Cartier) and the core of stable, lasting peace. Similar weakness appeared in the speeches of some Tiberal members who teok the occasion to “defend” the pro-fascist Polish government-in-exile from the Yalta decisions of the Big Three. Progressive Conservative M.P.’s slanted their attack on postwar unity from the old angle of coun- terposing British «Commonwealth “unity” to world . cooperation. This anti-American, anti-Soviet, Continued on Page 7 See OPPOSE UNITY ENTUM Unions Demand Action lock Loopholes Federal Labor Legislat es In ion Major boosts for the nationwide campaign to improve federal labor code and wage regulations, incorporated in P.C.’s 1003 and 9384, were made by both AFL and CCL bodies in British Columbia this week. The newlyformed Political Action Committee of Aeronautical Lodge 756, |AM (AFL), has recommended a joint conference of all PAC’s in Van- couver to plan and initiate an aggressive drive for the necessary amendments. Ontario Election Must Spell Defeat For Tories TORONTO, Ont. (Special) The people of Ontario will go to the polls some time within the next two or three months to elect a new government following the defeat of the reactionary Tory administration of Premier George Drew in the Ontario House early last Friday morning. It was one of the most decisive repudiations et a government and its policies jin Canada’s history, and ‘was made possible by a combined vote of CCF, Liberal, LPP and Independent members which saw the CCF forced by public pres- sure to abandon for the moment its traditional anti unity, “no ecalition” policy. The wartime election was miade necessary when Drew, in a typical Tory maneuver which ignored the best interests of the people, asked I[ieutenant-Gover- nor Matthews to dissolve the Legislature and announced the date for an election would -be set shortly. Drew’s insistence on an election came in spite of the unanimous vote of the Hiouse to reconvene on Tuesday of this week to pass a number of press- ing bills. Even then, the confusion and expense of an election might have been averted had the CGF agreed to formation of a coali- tion government with the Lib- erals. But C@F Leader E. B. Jolliffe rejected this by offering: a counter-proposal—that the 32 CGF members themselves form a government—replacing one minority administration with another. LABOR DECISIVE Unfinished business on the order paper at the time of dis- solution, te which Premier Drew had earlier pledged his co-opera- tion in clearing up, included In- terim Supply, the Election Act amendment callimg for votes for 18-year-olds, the Voters’ List Act and other important bills re- quested by several Ontario mu- nicipalities. The labor movement was one of the decisive factors "in the Tories’ defeat. The day the session opened, the WLabor-Pro- gressive Party published big ad- vertisements in 80 leading On- tario newspapers under the heading: “Drew Must iGo!” It was the LPP that proposed this be done by a coalition vote of CCF, Liberals and LPP. i was the LPP members in the House —A. A. MacLeod and J. B. Sais- berg—who appealed to the trade unions to spearhead the drive to oust Drew. And it was A. A. Macleod’s motion of non-confi- dence which forced the GCF to present an amendment of its own and opened the campaign which led to the Tory defeat. The LPP policy of defeating: Toryism by democratic coalition did not. affect Drew alone—it also had its effect on the CGF. That party, which played such a vacillating role throughout the sittings, was compelled to enter into a coalition to defeat Drew. The CCF group, whether it rec- ognized it or not, found the core of its strength in the two LPP members, who served to bolster the wavering anti-Tory forces among both Miberals and the CCF. LPP LED FIGHT During the 27 days that the Legislature sat, MaicLeod and Salsberg led the fight against Drew on family allowances, led the fight to set up an Ontario labor cede, led the fight for the 18-year-old vote, and fought an all-out battle against red-bait- fing and the phony Tory budget. And it was LPP member Mac- Leod who struck the keynote for the coming: election when he de- celared: “It is necessary that the peo- ple of Ontario prepare at once to rebuke the Drew dictatorship at the polls on election day. Mr. Drew’s high-handed action in dissolving the legislature was an act of political cowardice. The Continued on Page 8 See DEFEAT TORIES Executive of the B.C. Fed- eration of labor (€CIL), re- presenting *60,000 organized B.C. workers, has endorsed the brief of the CCL’s special committee on amendments to the orders-in-council and is undertaking special steps to publicize tthe brief’s recom- mendations. Letters to this ef- fect are being sent to Prime Minister King, Premier Hart and the federal and provincial Ministers of Labor. In addition the Wabor-Pro- gressive Party petition campaign |for 150,000 names in B.G. in sup- port of the amendments is al- ready bringing results which indicate a swelling tide of pub- lig support, with many of the ‘5,000 petition forms in the hands of active campaigners. Thou sands of copies of LPP National Leader Tim Buck’s letter to Mackenzie King, urging: imme- diate action on the amendments, are being rapidly distributed throughout the province and are expected. to play an important part in rallying support. Provincial Executive of the | LPP has also sent a letter on the campaign to more than 145 AFL and CCL union locals in the Greater Vancouver area, en- closing copy of the petition and letter, and urging the organiza- tions and their members to sup- port the campaign. The letter tells of the launch- ing of the campaign for the amendments by the LPP Nation- al Executive to further the widespread demand of itrade unionists, relates recent devel- opments which make the changes necessary, and offers to send a speaker from the LPP Provin- cial Committee to address a meeting of the organization on the subject. At its regular business meet- ing this week Vancouver Labor Couneil (CCl) decided to accept the offer and has invited the LPP to send a speakér to its next meeting. The B.C. Federation of Labor also decided, at its executive meeting last Saturday, to secure copies of the CCL committee’s brief and circulate all B.C. MLA’s and Members of Parlia- ment with these, together with a request for their stand on the suggested amendments. The meeting also decided to recom- mend similar action to all CCL locals in the province.