N eo CPR ask, aeox CARS FOR GRAIN? This photo published in the current issue ea s the lie to the CPR claim there are no boxcars available to haul g ©N a siding at Wishart, Sask. These cars were loaded and availab eQ . entil Feb. 28 — 43 days later. of Union Farmer from Saskatoon, rain to Vancouver. It shows seven- le for pickup Jan. 14, but not mov- WARNS AGAINST RIGHT WING ATTACK B.C. Communist parley names delegates to Canadian meet Wh the Con the 22nd convention of opens sununist Party of Canada dele n Toronto April 12, 27 Becce as well as six oad of the out-going cen- ftom wumittee will be present Bression itish Columbia, the ex- Me Wh of a growing party and heard * Public voice is being this proving anely throughout K my 100 delegates from the Couver 4c the Okanagan, Van- Mainla Sland and the lower ay elected the delegation tion aang provincial conven- COuver | © party held in Van- ent ast weekend. tion in Tal to the biennial conven- Sion gf (ot onto will be the discus- Utlines erralt resolution which Which h he political changes Country ave taken place in the and Reece the last convention Policie ablishes the party’s The por the ensuing period. © cup ntion debate itself is of dj naation of three months ee ee of the resolution in try, Club throughout the coun- In : tion a €ning the one-day conven- Morgan vincial secretary Nigel Dolitiog ;roted the turbulence of leet on this province since the Situati, e NDP government, Dticgg 0" Marked by rising Mplo rents, increased un- tacke sent and renewed at- Slandanje or Porations on living Out, a Same time, he pointed’ i Possibilities are becom- alternative: to pose Communist iNitiate << Policies as well as to tion, “2Mpaigns against infla- Volvin unemployment in- Meluding te organized groups eee oY NDP members. ENTER THE PT CONTEST Ge Poste, our entry in for the PT Disarm’ Cartoon contest on 8S vou eat Week as early April al The contest closes ar on the en’ or posters must be The ae of disarmament. Teej Ning entry will 've a $50 prize. The con- He warned also against tenden- cies to become overly negative with regard to the NDP govern- ment in Victoria. “We cannot be negative about the Barrett government or we will isolate ourselves from those who may have benefitted from the welfare legislation which has been brought down,”’ he told the delegates. Nevertheless, we can- not fail to be critical of the government and to continue to pressure it into doing the things that need to be done.” : Party national leader Bill Kashtan, present at the conven- tion having just completed a week-long tour of B.C., un- derscored Morgan’s remarks and emphasized the need for a two-sided approach to the provincial government. “Our position should be one of critical support for the New Democratic Party government, maintaing always the in- dependence of the Communist Party and the trade union move- ment so that we are not tied to any mistakes that the govern ment makes but at the same time we are not tied to the big business interests,” he declared. He cited the full-page adver- tisements that have appeared in B.C. newspapers paid for by min- ing corporations and, more recently, the so called Buc: Disaster Prevention Fund aimed at deflecting the NDP govern- ment or forcing it to capitulate on proposed progressive legisla- tion. “Communists are not in- different as to the political party in power in Victoria,’ Kashtan emphasized, ‘‘for the defeat of the NDP and a subsequent elec- tion of a Liberal or Social Credit administration would only block _ any advances for working people.” He stressed too, the need for a more public role by the Com- munist Party in the politics of the country. Several delegates, speaking to the discussion on the draft resolution, voiced their general agreement with the political position of the document which emphasizes working class and democratic unity in the struggle to curb the power of monopoly corporations. They stressed the need to carry the policies into ac- tion. Provincial conventions of the Party called to elect delegates to the national convention are being completed this week and representatives from _clubs throughout the country will con- vene in Toronto over the Easter weekend. — Sean Griffin photo Communist leader William Kashtan speaking to delegates at the B.C. Party convention last Saturday. | NATIONALIZE B.C. TEL Public should block phone rate increase EDITORIAL If the recent announcement by B.C. Telephone of its intention to seek rate increases ranging from four to nine per cent demonstrates anything to the provincial government, it must certainly be the need to adopt the nationalization of the companycas a legislative priority In a time of crushing price increases to consumers and un- paralleled profits for corporations, the image of B.C. Telephone president J.E. Richardson invoking ‘‘the need for rate relief’ as the basis for the company’s application, means only one thing to the peo- ple of this province: another unjustified price increase on a necessary service and greater profits which will ultimately find their way to the vaults of General Telephone and Telegraph in New York, B.C. Tel’s parent company. The indication, voiced by attorney-general Alex MacDonald, that the provincial government will likely oppose the application deserves support and should be coupled with a demand by people throughout this province that no increases be granted by the Cana- dian Transport Commission until hearings are held in B.C. where the public can present opinions. That increases granted three years ago were smaller than those sought by the company emphasizes the in- fluence that public protest had on the Commission at the time. At the same time, however, the company has likewise given notice that it will apply again and again bringing all its corporate pressures to bear on the federal commission — until it gets what it wants. And, as the Tribune pointed out two years ago, as long as the telephone service remains in private hands, consumers will be milk- ed without relief. The B.C. Federation of Labor, the Communist Party and several consumer’s groups have campaigned for nationalization of B.C. Telephone. The policy has been echoed in provincial conventions of the NDP. Now the government needs to act. By NIGEL MORGAN The quadrupling of coal royalties and introduction of a new rental system for coal lands represents another important breakaway from the big business policies of the previous Socred government. The new amendments only apply to Crown-owned lands, but one ma- jor producer — the C.P.R. sub- sidiary, Fording Coal Co., which has been contributing only about $750,000 a year, will now have to pay $3 million. The other big producer in B.C. — Kaiser Resources — (which operates on a former Crown- grant paying no royalties) — will have its taxes under the Mineral Land Tax Act increased a relatively similar amount per ton. 2 Meanwhile, fantastic sums of money are being spent by the big mining tycoons, (most of them U.S. or foreign-owned and con- trolled) in big full-page, Madison Avenue type adverts and blurbs on the mass media in an attempt to intimidate the NDP govern- ment and thwart the mandate they were given by the electorate of this province in the last elec- tion. They are trying to hide the fact that the total revenue recovered by the provincial treasury from the rich resource industries, lumber, pulp, coal, natural gas and petroleum, mining, fish and waterpower etc. for royalties, licenses, special privileges, etc. only amounts to $343 million. In sharp contrast, the latest budget for the coming year estimates a return (from our pockets), for sales, gasoline and other ‘‘con- sumer’’ taxes amounting to more than $701 millions. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1974—PAGE 3 A. substantial reduction, leading to the complete phasing out of this onerous and most regressive of all taxes, is cer- tainly a number one political issue in B.C. What better way of moving to counter the sharply rising cost of living, and making’ life a little easier for two hun- dred thousand old age pen- sioners, and many thousands more of underprivileged as well as people in the lower income brackets who are really feeling the pinch of galloping inflation today? The sharp rise in rents, prices of virtually all necessities, and corporate profits has cut deeply into real wages and family in- comes. It is creating acute hardships, and is especially un- justified at a time when the top 20 percent of the income bracket already have 41 percent of the total income of the country at their disposal while the lowest 20 percent of the income bracket are limited to but 5% percent. Instead of strengthening the positions and guaranteeing the profits of the big corporations at the expense of people’s living Standard, governments — provincial as well as federal — should be moving to redistribute the national incomé. On this, the NDP government in B.C. is mak- ing the first beginnings. And, while much more. needs to be done — particularly in terms of removal of sales and consumer taxes — working people should not be taken in by the crocodile tears and phoney Madison Avenue advertising techniques through which the wealthy multi- nationals and reactionary domestic monopolies are trying to stop the tide of progress.