4 verry tt! | 1B Wesel eh VO wet. 14 No. 16 {) Milt . ; ye tp fat dite ied ee i (leer POH BLU ies arpre rae = ieadls i ie ' = roll Mia ith te thE Danian TR Malti ji), <== PRICE TEN CENTS / t fq WHAT WAS GOVERNMENT ROLE? PUBL A hou Preparatio, Sewife collects signatures for the World Appeal Against Ns for Atomic War on a busy Toronto street corner. Second MLA signs World peace appeal imsick, CCF MILA for k, has signed the World Against the Preparations ath Wer, B.C. Peace Nime unced this week. t ack 1s. the second MLA Ly RB. Bare .4ppeal, First was After uch {CCF-Burnaby). Nitteg p Sning the appeal, sub- Be, Pea him by Ray Gardner, Nimsj ah cn Council chairman, Cranbrog Peal “When one reads about the effects that an atomic war would have on our civilization, one’s sense of decency and life re- volts, and any effort made to rid the world of this terrible catastrophe shuuld be appreciat- ed and supported by all who be- lieve in the fundamental prin- ciples of Christianity. That is why I signed the World Appeal.” ere Issues. in labor’s merger by William Kashtan page 4 ‘Let the black go free’ by Tom McEwen page 9 By HAL GRIFFIN MONOPOLIES ENGINEER WER SELLOUT What hand did the Bennett government ‘have in bringing about the B.C. Power Commission’s capitulation to the B.C. Electric in the Powell River district? What influ- ences were exerted to give the B.C. Electric potential control of the hydro resources on Bute Inlet and other upcoast power sites? These questions were projected to the forefront of the B.C. politial scene this week after the B.C. Power Com- mission dramatically reversed its stand against the B.C. Elec- tric’s application to supply power to Powell River and informed a PUC hearing that it had con- cluded an agreement to sell its generating plant and distribution system on the Sechelt Peninsula to the private power monopoly. For the B.C. Electric and the Powell River Company the deal represents the successful carry- ing through of a plot against public power designed to elimin- ate the B.C. Power Commission from a profitable area and give the B.C. Electric access to rich hydro resources. The B.C. Power Commission’s sudden switch of policy, in every sense of the word a sellout to the B.C. Electric, took the Ben- nett government out of a tight spot by eliminating the need for a PUC. decision. : The government has been un- der strong pressure to fire the sotiera present PUC ever since the Court’ of Appeal threw out. the fare increase granted to the B.C. Electric last September, utterly discrediting the PUC in the. eyes of the public. - immediate approval to the B.C. Electrie’s application. Nigel Morgan, LPP provincial leader, wired Premier W. A. C. Bennett before the deal between th B.C. Power Commission and B.C. Electric was announced, urg- Labor, CCF and LPP repre- ‘ing the government to protect sentations to the government all challenged the right of the PUC, which had so demonstrated its bias toward the private power monopoly, to hear an application by the B.C. Electric for permis- sion to invade a territory serv- ed by the B.C. Power Commis- sion. This protest. was intensified when Harold S. Foley, president of the Powell River Company, in- formed the annual meeting on Tuesday this week: “We have recently negotiated an arrange- ment with the B.C. Electric Com- pany whereby they undertake to supply, by, the fall of 1956, a block of power to-the Powell River plant.” Foley voiced his hope that the PUC would give -the public interest by upholding the B.C. Power Commission’s or- iginal development plans and calling for a full public hearing open to al] interested parties. Earlier, Tony Gargrave, CCF MLA for Mackenzie, said: “One of the reasons the B.C. Electric wish to come into Powell River at this time is, I believe, an at- Continued on back page’ See POWER @ Shown below is the B.C. Pow- er Commission’s generating plant at Clowshom Falls, at the -head of Salmon Arm, an offshoot of ‘Sechelt Inlet. Plant started operation May 13, 1952, °