Hail Action of B.C. Unionists

NDP-M.P.’s condemn
Colunibia sellout

Before the Christmas adjournment New Democratic
Party MP’s in Ottawa strongly condemned the draft
Columbia Treaty and the policy of National betrayal be-
ing pursued by the old-line parties. The Pacific Tribune
here presents a digest of the statements made by H. W.

Herridge and Tom Berger:

H. W. HERRIDGE,
Kootenay West

I want to emphasize that
this party views every ques-
tion of this type on the basis
of its national policy, which
is to promote the development
of Canadian natural resources
by Canadians for Canadians

. However, we oppose the
present terms of the Colum-
bia river treaty because the
treaty is not to the advant-
age of the Canadian people.

I wish also to emphasize
that the New Democratic

BERT HERRIDGE

Party has consistently
Supported what is known as
the McNaughton plan, namely
the full economic develop-
Ment of the Columbia to pro-
duce the maximum of power
for Canadian use, with down-
Stream benefits to be used in
British Columbia or in the
rest of Canada, and the sur-
Plus water of the Columbia
to be used to irrigate Cana-
dian soil, and to provide per-
Manent jobs as a result of
this policy.

I should like to pay tribute
to Mr. Orville Braaten, Mr.
Jerry LeBourdais and Mr.
John Hayward, staunch trade
unionists who have accepted
their responsibilities for deal-
ing with the question of. nat-
ural resources ... I am glad
to say that the B.C. federa-
tion of Labor — in fact all
trade unions in British Col-
umbia — are taking a much
Sreater interest in the devel-
°pment of our natural re-
Sources than they did a few
years ago. They have done
Some very excellent work in-
deed on this question. As a
Tesult of their work I have
Teceived nearly 5000 cards
addressed to me in Ottawa as
member of parliament for
Kootenay West.

In my own district mem-
bers of the International
Union of Mine, Mill and
Smelter Workers, of which
I have been an honorary
Member since 1941, a fact of
which I am very proud, have
done a good job in this re-
gard. They appointed a spe-
Cial committee composed of
competent people to carry out
research on the problem, and
they have made excellent re-
Presentations ‘in co-operation
with farmers’ organizations

in the district.
See HERRIDGE, page 6

TOM BERGER
Van.-Burrard
The Columbia river treaty
. assigned to Canada the
job of storing vast quantities
of water while effectively de-
priving us of the right to use

the waters of the Columbia,

not only for the purpose of
generating electric power but
also for industrial and agri-
cultural purposes.

Under successive govern-
ments Canadians have given
up control over their re-
sources, over their minerals,
over their oil, over their man-

ufacturing industries, over
their savings; and now this
government proposes that

Canadians should give up con-
trol over their water re-
sources in an area, the Col-
umbia river basin, occupying
40,000 square miles.

Under the Liberal govern-
ment Canadians were simply
hewers of wood and drawers
of water. The old Liberal gov-
ernment was the government
in power when Canadians
gave up control over their
key industries and key re-
sources to United States in-

TOM BERGER

terests. .. Our function under
the Columbia river treaty is
one of storage. We are going
to store the water of the Col-
umbia river basin, which will
be used for agricultural and
industrial development in the
United States. Under the
Conservative government we
have become hewers of wood
and storers of water.

For too many years we in
Canada have been giving up
control over Canada itself. . .
We no longer control our own
oil; the United States does.
We no longer control our own
mineral resources; the United
States does. We do not ,son-
trol any longer our automo-
bile manufacturing industry;
the United States does. We do
not control our appliances in-
dustry; the United States
does. We do not even control
our own savings any more;
the great financial institu-
tions of this country, the
morigage companies, the in-
surance companies, the in-
vestment companies are un-
der control of United States
interests. (Emphasis - PT)

To a great extent this has
happened by default. The old

See BERGER... page 6

B.C. COMMUNISTS CHARGE:

‘Socred support for union with
U.S. part of betrayal of Canada’

The B.C. Executive of the
Communist Party took sharp
issue last week with the re-
cent statements of a leading

Social Credit spokesman ad-°

vocating B.C.’s political union
with the United States.

“Attorney General  Bon-
ner’s recent admission that
the Socreds stand for politi-
cal as well ag economic union
of B.C. with the U.S. is quite
consistant with their policies
and action,’ Nigel Morgan,
B.C. leader of the Communist
Party stated in a press state-
ment to the PT.

“There is no better illus-
tration of this than their insis-
tence on giving away the Col-
umbia River watershed — an
area equal in size to the Isl-
and of Newfoundland. It is
the same policy of U.S.
Canadian integration father-
ed by the Liberal Party —
now being pursued by the
Tories. :

“The Communist Party has
repeatedly warned of where
the Socred policies are lead-
ing,’ Morgan continued.

The Communist Party re-
jects and will fight with
every ounce of its energy the
old line party policy of US.
absorption of B.C. and Can-
ada. It is precisely this pol-
icy of national betrayal that
is cutting so heavily into
B.C. and Canadian job oppor-
tunities, boosting our taxes

and living costs and trigger- -

ing the anti-labor offensive of
Canadian big business and
their governments against the
trade unions, the NDP and
other progressive forces.
COMING SESSION

“The Communist Party has
projected and will fight hard
at the coming session of the
B.C. Legislature for an alter-
native policy to develop the
Columbia and other resources
for Canadians, to reduce mun-
icipal tax bills and win im-
provments to labor and so-
cial legislation.

“The creation of a govern-
ment alternative is the key
to advance. That it is coming
is evidenced in the forthright
statements of NDP MP’s Tom
Berger and Bert Herridge in
the House of Commons.

“In this connection, it has

to be noted that the pre-ses-
sional statement of provincial
NDP. leader, Robert Strach-
an, in contrast with his
party’s federal position and
trade union demands, leaves
a great deal to be desired. La-
bor and progressive circles
will be extremely disappoint-
ed that Mr. Strachan doesn’t
come to grips with the big
political issues that will be
before this legislature.

“Strachan needs to be told
that failure on his part to de-

velop a clear alternative on
the Columbia, on resources,
development, employment,
municipal aid, taxes and
labor legislation can only
serve to aid the Liberals to
cut into NDP support. And
we should not forget that the
Liberals were, and still are,
no better than the Socreds.

“A clear cut program to
unite the entire labor and
progressive movement behind
the NDP is the only answer
to today’s problems,” Morgan
concluded.

Quit NATO rather than

The New Democratic Party will
fight tooth and nail against Can-
adian acceptance of nuclear wea-
pons, even if they stand alone in
the House of Commons.

This was the challenge thrown
out last Thursday by NDP nation-
al leader Tommy Douglas when
speaking to an audience of 500
in Mission City, B.C.

Referring to the statement of

‘retiring NATO chief Gen. Lauris

Norstad in Ottawa that Canada
is committed to accepting nuclear
weapons Douglas reminded his
listeners that ‘‘our founding (ND-
P) convention made it clear in
our program that if NATO be-
comes itself a nuclear power, we
will advocate that Canada with-
draw from NATO rather than
join the nuclear club.”

Douglas said that U.S. and
Soviet Union have enough nuclear
bombs and missiles stockpiled to
have the explosive equivalent of
90 tons of TNT for every person
in the world, and that for the
first time in history man has the
power to destroy himself.

On January 2 NDP-MP Barry

West Germany
After A-Arms

West Germany’s Foreign
Minister Schroeder arrived in
London Monday to seek ‘‘atom-
ic parity’ with Britain in any
multilateral European nuclear
forces envisaged by the Nas-
sau agreement. This is ex-
pected to be Germany’s price
for helping Britain get into
ECM.

take A-Arms says Douglas

Mather (New Westminster), told
a capacity meeting in Alder-
grove’s Vasa Hall that the ‘‘NDP
is opposed to nuclear arms in
any form, either in Canada or in
Canada’s forces abroad’’.

Also this week the Voice of
Women condemned Gen. Nor-
stad’s statements. VOW deplored
foreign pressure being applied to:
force Canada into a course of
action offensive to the conscience
of a large section of the popula-
tion, and urged the government
to declare that Canada will never
join the nuclear club.

Nuclear

Cont'd. from page 1

ment exists that it be forthright-
ly cancelled.

The time to block nuclear
weapons is now. Ottawa should
be flooded with wires, letters and
resolutions urging NO NUCLEAR
ARMS FOR CANADA.

With most MP’s in their home
constituencies during the present
recess, they should be visited by
delegations, phoned and other-
wise urged to declare themselves
publicly against nuclear arms fer
Canada.

‘Keep nuclear weapons ouf— McEwen

Editor of the PT and veteran
campaigner, Tom McEwen has
again been nominated by the
Vancouver-East clubs of the Com-
munist Party to contest that
workingclass constituency in the
coming federal elections.

In his acceptance speech Mc-
Ewen stressed the urgency of
keeping nuclear weapons out of
Canada, whether directly or
smuggled in at the back door via
NATO _Liberal-Tory ‘‘commit-
ment.”

He referred to the recent visit
of retiring U.S.-NATO chief
Lauris Norstad, who came to
Canada last week direct from
West Germany and Portugal to
pressure Canada into “‘living up
to its NATO obligations’? and
which in Pentagon language
means acceptance of nuclear

' weapons by Canada.

“While there appears to be
some differences of opinion in the
Diefenbaker cabinet on _ accept-

ance of nuclear arms,’ stated
McEwen, ‘‘this is purely a matter
of election expediency in face of
strong popular opinion against

TOM McEWEN
who was again nominated to
run in Van. East Federal rid-

ing.

such weapons.

“Since Liberal leader Pearson,
a trusty echo of Pentagon poli-
cies in Canada, has already as-
sociated himself with the Norstad
demands, it is already obvious
that both Liberals and Tories

will readily knuckle under to

U.S. nuclear demands in this as
in other coldwar issues where
the peace and independence of
Canada is at stake.

“The instability of the NDP-
MP for Vancouver-East, Harold
Winch, on the necessity of Can-
ada retaining membership in
NATO, his recent irresponsible
statements following his African
junket, and his ‘qualified’ posi-
tion on nuclear weapons for Can-
ada’s armed forces abroad, make
this issue all the more grave for
the people of Vancouver-East, as
indeed all Canadians. These
issues must be brought out,
sharply, clearly, and without any
evasions on. the hustings..”

dem 11, 1963—PACIFIC. TRIBUNE—Page. ‘3