© Howard McCurdy

Convention Nov. 30-Dec.

© Simon DeJong

3

Six candidates enter
NDP leadership race

As this issue of the Lumberworker
goes to press, six declared candidates
for leader of the Federal New Demo-
cratic Party are on a seventeen-city
tour throughout Canada.

All candidates’ meetings are being
held to give the candidates an oppor-
tunity to present their platforms and
debate Party issues. These public
forums provide Party members and
delegates to the Federal NDP Con-
vention an opportunity to assess the
leadership hopefuls.

The candidates are seeking to
replace Ed Broadbent who has
decided to step down as leader after
14 years.

All six will have a final opportunity
to present their views to the 2,000-

2,500 delegates expected at the Fed-
eral Convention in Winnipeg , Novem-
ber 30th to December 3rd.

IWA-CANADA delegates have not
decided on which candidate they will
endorse in the upcoming election. The
IWA has been a solid supporter of and
participant in the NDP since its for-
mation in 1961.

“Experience has shown that until
the date of the convention is a lot
closer, you cannot be sure that all of

the members interested in the leader-
ship have declared their intention to
run,” says IWA National First Vice-
President, Gerry Stoney.

“Whoever wins the election will
have a big challenge before them, as
undoubtedly people throughout the
country will immediately start to com-
pare the new leader’s performance
with that of Ed Broadbent,” says
Brother Stoney. “His will be a diffi-
cult pair of shoes to fill.”

From a virtually unknown Federal
M.P. in most parts of Canada in 1975
when he was elected, Federal Leader
Broadbent has developed into the
most popular Federal Leader in
Canada.

It is hoped that the outgoing NDP
President can remain a unifying force
in the party. Ed has stated that the
role of the outgoing party leader is to
“remind the party that we all stand
for a common social goal.”

The current slate of candidates rep-
resent a varied selection from differ-
ent parts of Canada.

They are as follows:

Simon DeJong (M.P. Regina-Qu’-
Appelle) — first elected to the House

© Jan Waddell

of Commons in 1979, DeJong has
been the NDP critic on housing and
multiculturalism, science and tech-
nology. Currently he is a party critic
onarms control and disarmament and
youth.

Roger Lagasse — fluent in French,
Lagasse has served as Cariboo-
Chilcotin Teachers’ Association Pres-
ident and as Secretary of the Pen-
ticton District Association of Teach-
ers. He’s also been President of the
100 Mile House NDP Club.

Steven Langdon (M.P. Windsor
Sussex) — elected as an M.P. in 1984,
the scholarly economist has been the
NDP critic on industry and trade.
Currently he serves as party critic on
economic development, employment,
and privatization.

Howard McCurdy (M.P. Windsor-
St. Clair) — first elected in 1984, and

© Audrey McLaughlin

re-elected in 1988, McCurdy is the
New Democrat critic on human
rights (external), science, technology,
and treasury board. The biology pro-
fessor has also served on the NDP
Task Force and as critic on youth and
post secondary education.

Audrey McLaughlin (M.P.-Yukon)
— the only woman running for party
leadership, Ms. McLaughlin is cur-
rently critic on northern development
and national revenue, and has been
the party critic on tourism. She has
worked with the Federal departments
of Health and Welfare and Justice.

Ian Waddell (M.P. — Port Moody-
Coquitlam) — is currently critic on
communication and arts and culture.
Elected as an MP ten years ago, he
has served as NDP critic on economic
development, energy, and privatiza-
tion.

(Continued from page 2)

some publicity to the anti-union code
in this province,” says IWA Local
1-207 President Mike Pisak. “We must
put a joint voice forward to change
things in Alberta.

The Action Committee is calling for
anti-scab legislation to prevent the
kind of prolonged strikes which have
inflicted [WA members at the Edmon-
ton plywood plant and veneer and
stud mill in Slave Lake.

“The employers enjoy a free reign in
Alberta. It’s a redneck province where
most people are not interested in
what's going on around them,” says
the Local President.

Representing the IWA-Canada Na-
tional Office was Fernie Viala, third
Vice-President. x

Also present at the demonstration
to deliver speeches of solidarity were
Nancy Riche, Executive Vice-Presi-
dent of the Canadian Labour Con-

ress and A.F.L. President Don
itken.

Representing the Saskatchewan
Federation of Labour was IWA-Local
1-184 President Dennis Bonville.

Also present to make Feeanes were
Ray Martin, Alberta N.D.P. leader
Vair Clendenning, president of the
Alberta and Northwest Territories
Building Trades Council, and Heather
Smith, of the United Nurses of
Alberta. §

Edmonton song writer Guy Smith,
was on hand to give a recital of a song
he wrote for the Zeidler strikers.

NDP byelection victory in Cariboo

In an historic defeat for the Socred
Party in the Cariboo riding of British
Columbia, local rancher David Zirn-
helt, won a clear victory for the New
Democrat Party of British Columbia.

On September 20, Zirnhelt took the
victory with 56.3% of the popular
vote while Socred candidate Joe Wark
gathered only 37% of the voters’
support.

The NDP win ends a 37 year tradi-
tion of Socred domination in the elec-
toral district. The victory is perceived
by all parties and the public to be a
clear condemnation of the Leadership
of Premier Bill Vander Zalm.

Although Vander Zalm admits the

defeat, Vander Zalm says that he'll call
an election if he thinks there is a real
challenge to his leadership.

The election news came only a day
after long-time Vander Zalm sup-
porter Bill Reid resigned from his
position as Minister of Tourism. Reid
had been advising a non-profit soci-
ety to buy recycling equipment, with
grant money from the government,
from a company owned by his cam-
paign manager.

The resignation, and election loss,
have rocked the Socred Party. The
loss is the fifth consecutive byelection
victory for the NDP.

Zirnhelt, elected in August to lead

© Dave Zirnhelt

the NDP riding, was a victor in a
well-organized campaign designed to
win the trust and respect of voters in
the Cariboo.

In an interview with a provincial
NDP newspaper prior to the election,
Zirnhelt said one of the key issues in
the riding would be forest manage-
ment. Cariboo voters are concerned

with pollution from pulp mills and
sustainability of the forest industry.

Zirnhelt, a horse breeder and envi-
ronmentalist, says the big question
will be how to maintain jobs while
protecting the environment.

Brian Symmes, First Vice-Presi-
dent of IWA Local 1-425 (Williams
Lake) in the heart of Cariboo country,
congratulates Zirnhelt in his victory.
He also says IWA members played a
very important role in the NDP elec-
tion win.

The Socred defeat marks the alien-
ation of Cariboo voters, who had sup-
ported the late Alex Fraser, a long-
time local politician for the past 20
years.

Since his election in the fall of 1986,
Vander Zalm has increasingly alien-
ated one group of voters after another.
During the IWA-Forest Industry
Strike in the fall of 1986, Vander Zalm
interfered in negotiations, trying to
score political points.

In April of 1987, he introduced
some of the most regressive labour
legislation seen in Canada in modern
times.

Vander Zalm has imposed his per-
sonal views on his cabinet to operate a
dictatorial style of government.

It’s very good news for [WA work-
ers in the Cariboo and all over British
Columbia that voters are sending Van-
der Zalm a signal that the end of his
government is near.

aan seen ee

L

UMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 1989/3