ae 3 51. 1, No. 30 > homes for e. . H PACIFIC ADVOCATE PEOPLE’S VOICE FOR PROGRESS La 5 Cents VANCOUVER, B.C.. SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1945 \ction On lousing > Eight thousand Vancouver milies need homes immedi- ely. The city is short by 17,- ')1 homes of providing pro- 'x accommodation to ll /izens. Close to 40,000 ser- cemen will return to Van- ver in the next weeks and -onths to create an additional iergency which could well re- lf in disaster unless adequately -ndled. And private builders ve only tended to worsen the | sis by opposing a mass build- '2 program and skyrocketing "ilding costs from | erage of $385 per 100 square st to $625 at the present time. a prewar "This was the report presented » is week to the citizens of Van- 'uver and responsible housing “-encies by the Citizens Rehabil- /ition Council. And with the “port went a five-point program _ action for coping with the "uation, with emphasis laid on "3 immediacy. ‘fhe program. highlighted by © e sharp demand that the feder- | department of reconstruction “mmediately take steps to secure "© necessary land and materials »r the erection of 5,000 low- ‘ntal homes in 1945,” also calls ‘ry these additional steps: IVE POINT PROGRAM . ' The immediate release by the defense department of the Vancouver Barracks and its conversion to a hostel for re- turning: veterans pending broader plans. , Gonversion of army huts on the University of B.C. endow- ment lands for their use as service personnel taking university courses un- der the department of veter- ans’ affairs. The 5,000 homes project to be expedited by the federal gov- ernment granting priority in Continued on Page 2 See HOUSING ‘C Demands| ands of voters this week. This is a picture the world’s been waiting for—Red Army soldiers on guard in the broken ruins of what used to be Hitler's Reichschancellery. 4 Joint Labor Government Committee Holds First Meeting In Victoria VICTORIA—The first session of the Joint JLabor-Government Committee, presided over by the Honorable George S: Pearson, Labor Minister for British Columbia, was recently held in Victoria. The primary purpose of the committee, which was formed under the sponsorship of the Minister of Labor in agreement with the two Congresses and the Railroad Brother- hoods, is to give consideration to resolutions presented to the government by the various provincial trade unions. Its formation implements the promise made by the govern- ment to the representatives of erganized labor during the last session of the legislature, at which time a mass labor lobby involving all sections of the pro- vyineial trade union movement made representations to the goyv- ernment. “Tt is the hope of Government,” stated the Minister of Labor m lis opening remarks, “that out of the deliberations of this com- mittee recommendations may be made which can be accepted by as Government. It is also hoped that discussions which may be held with the Committee, or its sub-committees, with various branches of the government ser- vice may lead to a better under standing of the laws as they now stand on the statute books, and may be of benefit to the workers of this province.” It was agreed at the meeting te subdivide the various pro- posals of organized labor into categories, and matters requir- ing immediate attention be re- ferred to elected sub-committees. The sub-committees would under- take to meet with various gov- ernment boards and discuss la- bor’s demands, reporting their findings to the committee as a whole. Sub-committees were struck eff from the meeting to deal with the Apprenticeship Act; the Boil- ery Inspection Act; Safety and Health; Hours of Work, PC. 1003. known as the Labor Code; Metaliferous Mines Regulation; Continued on Page 8 See GOVT.-LAB_ PP CITES REAL ISSUES — CCF Isolation Aids Tory Slander Campaign As Elections In Final Phase With just over two weeks to go before the polls open in the June 11 federal elections, the very sharpness of the campaign and the decisive na- ture of the issues at stake emphasized the need for greater clarity to thous- Here in British Columbia the national leaders of three of the major parties had already spoken. Labor-Progressive leader Tim Buck was the first to open the campaign in the province, followed by Prime Minister Mackenzie King. This week CCF leader M. J. Coldwell spoke before audiences in’ the main cities and towns. Next week Tory leader John Bracken opens a brief tour of © the province. With one exception, the ap- pearance of the party leaders centributed nothing to a basic understanding of the real issue con June 11. Mackenzie King is standing pat on a “liberals or nothing” pro- gram, counting apparently on ~ the government’s war record. M.. J. Coldwell did little more than wave the banner of “Socialism or chaos” while doing some first- class sidestepping on that all- important question of labor and progressive unity. The Tories have already anticipated their national leader in developing a big money campaign around the false and vicious slogan of “‘cap- — italism versus socialism.” But it was LPP leader Tim Buck who placed the election issue Squarely and correctly. Canadian progress in the post- war depends on two things — the defeat of the reactionary Tory drive for the government by electing enough labor candi- dates pledged to support a co- alition of democratic forces . Support for this policy was clearly gaining ground this week in B.C. and across Canada. It was indicated in the growing | strength of the campaign being waged by LPP candidates. It was reflected in the attendance at LPP meetings, in the recognition by the daily press that the LPP was becoming a major political force. CORRECT SLOGAN The correctness of the LPP slogan. “‘Keep the Tories Out” was strikingly emphasized throughout the province _this week as thousands of household- ers began receiving through the mails a pamphlet entitled “Social Suicide,” purportedly isued by an individual named A. B. Trestrail, but actually backed by the big money behind the Progressive- Conservatives. This pamphlet Continued on Page 8 See ELECTIONS ive Labor A Place In The Government