a ei ee Oe Oe ee ee ee ee ee MORTGAGE REPAYMENTS “For ever and ever—Amen!” EDITORIAL Beginning of the end ust a few short years ago ‘Prime Minister’ W.A.C. Bennett of British Columbia, High Priest of Social Credit, having successfully mesmerized this banner province ince with the corkscrew philosophy of the cult for nearly two decades, set out to bring Ottawa under the spell of its Socred Cow. It may be remembered also, with a sense of gratitude to the Canadian electorate, that it had different ideas on the matter, and said so very definitely via the ballot box. Much has happened since then. “‘There is a tide in the affairs of men’’ says the Bard of Avon, *‘which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. . . etc.’’ With his well-known smile, popular in every B.C. home with a TV as any soap opera commercial, the Grand Moghul of Socredia retreated to his sanctum in Victoria following that election, fully convinced that Canada had ‘“‘missed the tide,’ and would undoubtedly end’ up in the ’’shallows and misseries”’ of misfortune. Meantime following that Socred ‘On-to-Ottawa’ trek, which limped to a halt with barely a baker’s dozen getting there and with their erstwhile ‘‘national leader’’ Robert Thompson ultimately landing in bed with the Tories, a lot of events took place in the interim before the grand finale for Social Credit struck last June 25. To mention just a few, with a wave of WAC’s magic wand, provincial debts were transformed into ‘contingent liabilities,’ the provincial mortgage burned with due fanfare ‘and adulation, the life-giving waters of the Columbia River were turned over to the U.S. monopoly, short the price of a couple or so dams to store the water for the U.S. trusts, and for which a magnanimous B.C. taxpayer will now foot the bill for —a mere bagatelle of $250-million or so. And in the Socred ministerial dovecotes an atmosphere of impending disaster, much like the presence of an angry ferret in a chicken coop. A long-suffering public ‘getting wise” pressed in to disturb the political aplomb of the seasoned **con- men” of Socredia. A swinging "minister of highways “taking a powder” without portfolia, and the ex-attorney general “taking a powder’’ neat, in order to do a better job for monopoly, with less public opprobrium — and higher cash returns, or to mix metaphors, like rodents deserting a doomed ship. To top off these plus a multiple of other evils besetting ‘Prime Minister’ Bennett and his disappearing Socred ensemble, came the June 25 federal election and its almost total blackout at the polls for Social Credit. With three by-elections now under way in B.C. and his loss in the recent Vancouver-South by-election to the NDP still rankeling, WAC is out on the hustings turning on his ‘record of achievement,’ well garnished with his miracle whip soap/opera smile. But the old malarky fails to charm, the old Socred bonhomme flatter than John Doe’s welcome to his mother-in-law to ‘‘stay a while.” The end of an era of political bamboozle a la Socredia is clearly in sight — with the cult’s most ardent devotees now turning to Trudeaumania for a ‘“‘new’’ brand of political *‘pot,”’ and B.C.’s rich resources and potential jobs showing the scars of a prolonged ravishment. West Cian ction Conad pe paar pune ee ee eee Editor-—TOM McEWEN puctess Editor—MAURICE RUSH Published weekly at Ford Bldg., Mezzanine No. 3, 193 E. Hastings St., Vancouver 4, B.C. Phone 685-5288. Subscription Rate: Canada, $5.00 one year; $2.75 for six months. North and South America and Commonwealth countries, $6.00 one year. All other countries, $7.00 one year. Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage in cash. _ SERPANAS EEE apicdine jul Ri ee a eas 2 feistetete <_Jnihune ee REEL Teed ee Will them to the rats en ee) Death stalks tenements but, council blind”’ ALDERMAN HARRY RANKIN The fire which swept through the 75 year old Clarence Hotel on June 25 killing five people should be a warning to City Council. There are scores of such old tenements and rooming houses in Vancouver’s Skid Road and slum districts, with others scattered through the city. Each is a potential death trap; should a fire start, more people will lose their lives. These hotels and rooming houses do not even begin to meet city safety and health standards. They are cramped, overcrowded and dirty. For a long time many have been completely unfit for human habitation. They pay little taxes and their owners spend next to nothing on repairs. They should be condemned, and until they are torn down, should be abandoned to the rats, cockroaches and bed bugs that infest them now. In the case of the Clarence Hotel fire, the coroners jury was informed that even the fire alarm wasn’t in working order; if it had functioned some lives may have been saved. Why should City Council continue: to.tolerate such fire and death traps? Why are they “overlooked”’ in the enforcement of the city’s safety and health regulations? Is it because some of the owners of these slum tenements are among our most wealthy and respectable citi- zens? City Council banned the so- called illegal suites, giving health and safety as reasons. Anyone who has gone through some of the old tenements as I have will agree with me, I am sure, that they are a thousand times worse. Yet Council turns a blind eye on them. Are the human beings in these tenements expendable because they are old, poor and down-and- out? Must we continue to have a double standard in enforcing our own by-laws? We had the Beacon Hotel fire in May when four people perished; last month we had the Clarence Hotel fire with five dead. How many more fires and deaths are required to move Council to act? The coroner’s jury in the Clarence Hotel case recommended that older buildings be compelled to instal fire alarms and fire doors. That is the very minimum that should be done. I would recommend that Council order an immediate investigation into all old tenement and rooming houses in the city, starting with the big ones in the downtown and Skid Road areas. Our object should be: Where a building can be cleaned up and made safe, set a time limit for this to be done. Where the buildings are just too old, condemn them and close them up. City Council should undertake without delay the building of low rental accommodation for the unfortunate people who now must live in these tenements. Under the terms of the National Housing Act, this can be done without cost to the city because Ottawa pays 75 percent of the capital costs and the province pays the other 25 percent. A Worthy Cause Carl Erickson, Publicity Chairman, Childen’s Jubilee Summer Camp Association, Box 3144, Vancouver, writes;— On behalf of the Children’s Jubilee Sumner Camp, we would like to. thank your paper as well as other news media for the excellent co- operation in making our camp and its’ activities known to your readers. Because of this, both boys’ sessions and the first one for the girls are now full, and we hope that the young guests will fully enjoy themselves swimming, hiking, boating, fishing as well as the other activities planned for them. There are some openings for the last girls’ session from - August 12th to the 23rd. Cost for the 12 day session is $36.50, and for information you can call: 433- 5395, 936-5090, 298-8166. We would also like to take this opportunity of thanking the many hundreds of volunteers both young and old who have spent a lot of time getting the Camp ready for the children’s sessions in July and August. This spirit is truly heartening, and everyone who has helped in this non-profit venture can have a warm feeling in their hearts, knowing that they have contributed towards making many children happy this summer, learning about the wonders of nature, at Orlomah Beach, up scenic Indian Arm. PT assoc. editor arrives in Rumania The Central Executive Committee of the Communist aera a el ate ale ate ole leat aie ale ate eal Party announced today that a delegation of its Central Committee, headed by Tim Buck, has arrived in Bucharest for a two weeks stay in Rumania. Other members of the delegation : include: PT associate editor, Maurice Rush, Vancouver; Wm. : Beeching, Regina; and Mel Doig, Montreal. During their stay in Rumania the Canadian delegation will : hold discussions with the Central Committee of the Rumanian “ Communist Party on matters of mutual concern such as strengthening the unity of the world communist movement, bringing the U.S. aggression in Vietnam to an end, and the building of socialism in Rumania. : “Bookmarks”