HIPs SNufact dl ON ; E CANADIAN. Ships from all nations visit B.C. ports to carry off our nat ural resources and le ship plying this Is by oF Da ic ? ‘ten! se Which will Ne, ty. Perity not 5 tement Teads: Ce S: ia es US ara 3. i, : 39, ng Mdignant over Mr . Cage Sir on incomes and a ti Obacco and liquor arp has other ies j SIN store for us j Nye xi Day "reases : Ate and leg, Mean less take- Rend Sp 5 Not petity Seema power ay Nth anadians. It © principle d a Ore’ Tha : so e ‘ hyd, lore ater insults and fo Rue “Or us ‘ Ny, i, Sing a Mr. Sharp's h sj erease sad down the SND Mstryeri nr ovment, . ¢., 10N.to.a halt ade Ured steel in Can * and other products from Japan, the U.S. and other countries. But not a sing P | Ada or carries a Canadian flag. prevent wage increases; all to save us from inflation. He may also scuttle medicare. The biggest crimes are being committed in the name of saving us from imaginary dangers. : “After spending several million dollars of the taxpayers money on the Carter Commission Report on Taxation’ Mr. Sharp has axed its recommendations. He did ‘this without giving parliament an ‘opportunity to debate the Carter Commission findings. This is arrogance and irresponsibility. The only increased unemployment Canadians would welcome is to fire Mr. Sharp as Minister of Finance. “The Canadian people are in no mood to accept a program of austerity, belt-tightening and recession, the products of the Pearson government's complicity in the U.S. war of aggression against the people of Vietnam. They will fight back with all the power at their command, . ‘\The Gommunist: Party .is firmly: .' of the opinion that what is needed at this time is a budget geared to achieve an expanding economy, full employment; increased purchasing power; massive housing construction; medicare and other social services and full educational opportunities for our youth. “We can get the money to finance See BUDGET, pg. 12 VOL. 28, NO. 49 — UNEMPLOYMENT RISES 43,000 in B.C. face grim winter With the holiday season approachin , ea g 43,000 unem workers and their families in B.C. face a grim time Lea jobs, rising prices and taxes, and with little prospect of work because of federal and provincial policies aimed at curtailin industrial and construction activity. . Latest figures released from Ottawa this wee i November there were 289,000 jobless in Canada. The eee ie a in Canada was shown to be in B.C. where there are 43,000 jobless The oe picture shows that 3.8 percent of the labor force are out of ack InB on percentage of the labor force out of work is 5.5. © pees e These figures mean that one out of every 18 workers in B.C.’ is now out of work. ie hate e Nearly 17 percent of all Canada’s unemployed are-in B.C. Speaking at the Vancouver Labor Council Tuesday night, Marine Workers president William Stewart charged that over 50 percent of the workers in the shipyard and steel fabricating industry are without work and there are no prospects of work. In fact, more layoffs are expected in the next few days Meeting in Victoria last Sunday representatives ef B.C. shipyard unions announced plans to renew their campaign for a Canadian merchant marine Stewart told the meeting that ‘‘every martime nation and some pone arias ones, have merchant marines, and all are subsidized.” Stewart told the PT in an interview, ‘‘We consider a merchant marine is the only thing that will provide continuity of work.’’ He said the meeting in Victoria considered a 33-page report outlining the case for a Canadian merchant marine, and planned to launch a campaign to win support. The shipyard unions will seek support from labor, business groups and municipal councils for the demand that Ottawa get going on a Canadian merchant marine. Stewart told the PT Canada is one of the world’s greatest trading nations “We ‘are allowing large corporations to get away tax free with using our natural resources.” He said Canadian and B.C. raw materials are being shipped off on foreign ships to Japan and other countries and brought back as manufactured goods be sold in Canada on foreign ships. : The Brief points out that no deep-sea merchant ship flies the Canadian fla, although Canada is one of the world’s leading trading nations. It charged that the federal government is following an overall economic policy “‘that is against the interests of the working people and the nation as a whole.”’ Unemployment is reaching crisis proportions in Canada, and especially in B.C, because federal and provincial governments are following a deliberate policy to create mass unemployment, to ‘‘cool down the economy,” to . discourage wage demands and curb pressures for expanded social legislation Meanwhile big monopolies are pressing to maintain and increase profits at the expense of the public through higher prices and increased speed-up to get more production at less labor costs. These policies can, unless stopped by public pressure, lead Canada to a serious economic crisis. Bread price hoist protested The Women Against High Prices Committee this week wired Premier W.A.C. Bennett urging immediate action by the provincial government to prevent an increase in the price of bread. Mrs. Ebkaine Podovinnikoff, chairman of the committee, said her organization was in complete agreement with the Premier that we must fight inflation, and added, “we urge him to start fighting inflation by holding prices down.” She reported ‘that there was an consumers to continue to buy their enthusiastic response to the appeal meat from local butchers, and said last week for action against the high further demonstrations will be cost of meat and other staple foods. organized. Over three thousand leaflets were This week the price of cigarettes, distributed at a downtown shopping centre last weekend urging consumers to protest against high meat prices by refusing to buy in the large supermarkets. Mrs. Podovinnikoff. urged | liquor and beer were raised. McGavin Toastmaster Ltd., one of the largest baking monopolies, announced that the price of bread will be raised next Monday by two cents for a 16-ounce loaf and three cents for a 24-ounce loaf. All other bakeries are expected to follow. |