WTI TL EDITORIAL Vote CP for real change The dim prospects of a shift to the right in Canadian politics after Sept. 4 has presented activists in the labor movement with a challenge and a decision. The challenge is clear: to bend every effort in a massive campaign to block a Tory majority. Canadians have not moved right. But the Tory conspiracy to ride the tide of discontent into office and then to implement the kind of far nght militarist and anti-people program seen in the U.S. and in this province has yet to be exposed in a dramatic and demonstrative fashion. The decision is more complex, but as important. Should left thinking voters, supporters of the Commu- nist Party or New Democrats who want to endorse a socialist program, vote for the NDP or the Communist party in ridings where these parties are both contestants? The left has for many years contended with the claim of the NDP on every left vote — as if that vote will stop the right wing from claiming victory. In that context the NDP is the only alternative to right wing policies. _ But in this election more than in any other recent election the argument rings hollow. If the NDP is the only alternative to the right wing, why has its own electoral base not increased? Has the NDP provided working people and the labor movement with a viable political alternative? The answer to these questions is rather commonly held on the left, including thousands of New Demo- crats. the NDP has continued its steady drift away from its socialist beginnings and from its connections with labor and people’s movement to the point where — Ed Broadbent last week declared in Sarnia that the party had finally shed “the socialist bugaboo”. The NDP has been less than a viable alternative for a belea- guered working population because of its almost total lack of socialist and anti-monopoly policies and its near total confinement to parliamentary activity. It is important for the labor movement to have some friends in parliament, even when there is no prospect of forming a government such as the present situation. But what trade unionists under attack, peace activists and the unemployed really need is a revival of the socialist - movement across Canada to radicalize political debate, lift up their struggles and project real political solutions that lead in a socialist direction. The Communist Party vote is the real measure of the socialist movement in Canada. Its impact, like the work of the party in the labor and people’s movements, is far greater than the actual numbers recorded. An increase in the Communist vote is a clear indication that more people are seeking fundamental change, that the left in Canada is reaching out and growing in influence. The experiences of this province in the past year and a half can not be forgotten in the decision that must be made on Sept. 4. For the danger of a right wing government can not be countered at the polls alone: The working class vote on election day must look ahead to the extra-parliamentary struggle that will be the decisive factor for working people in the coming year. A strong Communist vote will bring fresh strength to the Communist party and in turn to every union and people’s organization where the left will be called upon _to give new dynamic leadership in the fightback. It’s in this sense that the CP slogan, “‘for real change”’ has meaning. And it is why left voters can not afford to allow their vote to stand for anything else. -Turner’s peace priority It is an incredible sight to see the leader of the Liberal Party scuttle the only obvious lifeboat while his party is sinking. It’s much worse to see him disregard the con- victions of 85 per cent of the Canadian people. It looked for a while as though peace were breaking It was left for Prime Minister Turner to turn the matter on its head. On Aug. 14 he took note of the good intentions of his colleagues, but said he “cannot play _ politics with peace.” - SHORTER WORKTIME = Thomson Newspapers Ltd., Toronto, owns about 40 daily and a To some observers it might seem that to ignore the dozen weekly papers in Canada, and twice as many dailies in USA. | Not friends of the working class. Six months after-tax profit as at out in the Liberal Party. Members of John Turner’s profound concern and urgent opinion of the majority of crew, with perhaps a mixture of response to public pressure and an eye to Liberal fortunes, tried to tear the PM away from a forecast disaster at the polls. Iona Campagnolo, Liberal president, acknowledged . the potency of the issues of peace and disarmament when she snapped Liberal policy confines and declared herself for a mutual and verifiable freeze on nuclear weapons. She was backed by Lucie Pepin, former head of the Status of Women committee, and by Paul Man- ning, former special assistant to Pierre Trudeau. - Jim Coutts, a former principal adviser to Trudeau, agreed and added a proposal that Canada not renew the cruise missile-testing agreement with the U.S. Transport Minister Lloyd Axworthy joined in and said NATO should renounce first use of nuclear weapons. Even Jean Chretien, blowing hot and cold, concurred, at one point, with the latter proposition. the Canadian people on the question of the nuclear war threat and the need for concrete disarmament steps like a nuclear weapons freeze, is playing politics with peace. Turner’s plea of loyalty to NATO rings hollow. It was Campagnolo who pointed out: “Our NATO allies, Denmark and Greece, have voted for a nuclear freeze, yet still belong to NATO. Four other NATO nations refused to vote against such a freeze...” It is hard to judge the long-term positions of old-line politicians on the basis of pre-election posture; but one thing is certain — the pressure on candidates and potential government members should be continued and intensified. : Turner has had his first real test on the peace ques- tion: put Canada first, or toe the Reagan line, He chose the latter. June 30: $70,301,965, up from $56,794,161 in the same period in 1983. It’s 61% owned by the Thomson family. Thy IRIBUNE Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN Assistant Editor — DAN KEETON Business & Circulation Manager — PAT O'CONNOR Graphics — ANGELA KENYON Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. VSK 1Z5 Phone (604) 251-1186 Subscription Rate: Canada — $14 one year; $8 six months Foreign — $20 one year; Second class mail registration number 1560 ae 3 Ses have vowed they would not be laid off without a struggle. And, as with so many of their militant countrymen, the seamen aboard the Australian ship Allunga made good their promise. It was a promise, we are pleased to announce, that led to at least a temporary victory. ; ~The crew of the Allunga made Tribune headlines June 13 when they staged a demonstration against their ship, the last _ of the traders visiting North America to be manned by an all-Australian crew, being sold and the route given to a “flag of convenience” vessel. The protest, launched while the ship was berthed at the Surrey- - Fraser docks, was supported by visiting members of the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers, and some from the Longshoremen’s Union. The crew staged a sit-in on the vessel once it reached home port in Sydney. We have word of it, thanks to press clippings and information given to us by New Westminster Longshoreman and Tribune reader, Mike Mattersdorfer. From July 7 to July 13, the reports tell us, the crew occupied the Allunga, during which time they received the endorsement and support of other seamen and water- . front workers. The occupation ended and People and Issues sailing resumed when the crew won a reprieve from the Australian National Lines that will keep the Allunga on the run for three to six months longer. The union is continuing negotiations with the company to keep the route all-Australian. : * * * Lt is cartoons, as well as being featured in recent collections such as the recent anti-nuclear Megatoons, have often graced the pages of the Tribune with witty, serious, but always incisive comments on politics international and domestic, and particularly the labor scene. Now we have a note from Union Art Ser- vice that a new book of the best labor cartoons by UAS member Cy Morris is available. It’s entitled Spotlights on Labor History and contains several selections from the series of the same name that has often illustrated the Tribune’s editorial page. The book features selections that relate often little-known episodes form Cana- dian labor history. Depicted in illustration and short accompanying text are high- lights such as Canada’s “first recorded strike,” when in-1794 voyageurs at Rainy Lake conducted a work stoppage for bet- ter wages. Spotlights moves from there up to the recent organizing drive at Eaton’s that resulted in the first-ever unionizing of that chain’s workforce. Spotlights is available from the Union Art Service, Box 428, Station L., Toronto, M6E 4Z3, and will soon be at the People’s Co-op Bookstore in Vancouver, 254-6442. ok ok t was possible someone, told her to “break a leg” — the old theatrical expression for “good luck” — before she embarked on her summer assignment as the chief agent and campaign manager for the Communist Party’s B.C. campaign in the federal election. But whoever it was, didn’t intend that she take it quite so literally. All kidding aside, the accident. that befell Donalda Viaud — while not as serious as a total fracture — will keep her a leg in a cast for about six weeks. Donalda was enjoying herself Aug. 12 at the CP’s Fraser Valley regional commit- tee picnic when the mishap occurred. She was playing soccer when she collided with another player, resulting in a small frac- ture to the tibula — the bone just below the kneecap. Despite the minor setback, Donalda Z has given new meaning to the phrase | (updated somewhat) that “‘you can’t keep {| a good person down.” By Thursday, Aug. 17, she was back in E the office — crutches, cast and all — ready to help the party candidates make | their biggest impact in elections in B.C. | ok * * JA nd speaking of the Communist Par- — ty’s electoral campaign, we have — the national campaign manager, John Bizzell, | some interesting statistics from to report. He notes that of the 52 candidates, 14 — or 27 per cent — are women. This | makes the CP the party with the highest | - percentage of women candidates, consid- | erably exceeding the Liberals and Tories, | and marginally passing the New Demo-_ crats. Nineteen candidates are running for the — ; first time in a campaign where the median age of the candidates is 37. Eighteen of the | candidates are trade unionists. So much; Bizzell notes; for claims that the CP is “‘over the hill’’, out of touch with — the trade union movement, or — although the party wants to do better in this regard — in the future — unrepresented by women | candidates. 4 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, AUGUST 22, 1984 aes C2 Pe See eS eee wee SoSee te a ee