it — —

wn orBanization tour of west-
ae by Don Currie, CP
has Organizer and Charles

€n, CP national youth

se :
atten” is attracting public
Padde: Mr. Currie and Mr.
speak €n have been invited to
sity Rat the Lakehead univer-
Te SL versity of Winnipeg;
inligh aul’s University of the
Was in a Campus. Mr. Currie
Colle Vited to Speak at St. Paul’s
t fe On the day of the Mora-
student Movement.- About 200
| lively : listened closely .to a
Wiverssn ssiOn- St. Paul’s is a
reputatie® with a conservative
Bliect but the discussion
interest Stions indicated a lively
and j In the Communist Party
Bo t$ policies.
the Cac Winnipeg daily papers,
aa TV, and a major radio
ferencgyn ne Out to a press con-
| Currie 4n that city. In addition
Sbeakine McFadden have been
by the & to meetings organized
aN mmunist Party.
| Mp. 5a Lakehead University,
dents 4 adden urged the stu-
Ment | . Step up their involve-
) People a € movements of the
ment id especially the move-
nam, ot the war in Viet-
t0 the <hadden linked the war
oneness Symptoms in the
Waring’ Which he blamed on
‘quan, jot inflation, and the
}) ually ‘bye of $1.8 billion an-
Y the Canadian govern-
1) locay’ € Was interviewed on a
) Atthur Ot-line show in Port
iggy aeete pollution is a hot
,) Rist Nd said that the Commu-
demands that the pol-

ed E. HOLOWELL
Pollution Particularly water
UDieg” 1S a subject which has
People SS attention of many
TRching rT many years. It is
) Ruch Crisis proportions. So
Aeing oo that governments are
Ne con denrclled to react to pub-
j ace Mnation of this growing
Be Vit
tep 3 wane, the Federal Minis-
Taking Ines and Resources, is
Possipiin ses which suggest the
ene legislation to con-
“3 air and water pollution.
of ee Kerr, Ontario Minister
i8ement” and Resources Man-
thing’ Suggests the possible
Means wy nee detergents as a
tpe iminating the dis-
Ohtani! Phosphates into Lakes
iets a Erie. He later con-
‘nn; ~imself by-admitting, by

my oh, that this is not the
ie : Nt’s intention but — to
Ter, *°8P detergent manufac-

ariten a list_ the phosphate
4 ing Re n their packages. By so
Sib it: 1S transferring the res-
Savin, + to the housewife by
4 ts AN effect, that if she
00d, clean wash—be
Ution to pay for your contri-
naduch : the pollution build up.
: Sey ,, UPid argumentation ex-
Rig bol; ‘bankruptcy of bour-
Iticians but, more im-

“

to

luters pay for the cost of clean-
ing up pollution, and this meant
that big business had to pay, not
the taxpayers.

Speaking before a gathering
organized by the Norman Beth-
une Club of the Communist
Party in Winnipeg, McFadden
stressed that the roots of revolt
among the youth had to do with
changing conditions. Today the
unemployment rate among youth
was close to 9 percent while un-
employment as a whole was 4
percent. Student problems were
class problems, he said. “Who
is going to get an education, the
class content of education, from
what standpoint is- education to
be taught, who controls the uni-
versities, these are all class
questions,” he said.

He claimed that the changing
conditions of the day demanded
the organization of a Young
Communist League. McFadden
said that the task of the YCL
was to train members as Marx-
ists Leninists, but also to raise a
whole generation of young peo-
ple who will fight for socialism.

Speaking at an election rally
in support of Alderman Joseph
Zuken and Schoo] Trustee Mary
Kardash, in Point Douglas, Mr.
Currie charged the Trudeau gov-
ernment with protecting big bu-
siness at the expense of the local
taxpayers. “Trudeau has cut out
the winter works program, which

in its last year of operation pro-

vided 70,000 jobs for Canadians,
he has cut emergency health and
welfare schemes by $4 million,
he has frozen 40 major urban
renewal schemes, most of which

portantly, it is an outright
admission that the growing crisis
of water pollution is a direct
result of the lack of effective
controls at the source of this
pollution—industrial wastes.

In a recent CBC television
programme it was pointed out
that industry uses four times the
volume of water as does the en-
tire residential population of a
community. This means that of
the millions of gallons of sewage
and waste discharged daily into
various treatment plants in an
industrialized area, industry con-
tributes four fifths—or 80 per-
cent.

Domestic sewage is basically

“of organic composition and, if

treated separately, the process
is well established and one
which is over 95 percent effec-
tive. Witness, for example the
simplicity with which the septic
tank system operates. Septic
tanks of various designs still
serve thousands and thousands
of homes and institutions across
the length and breadth of the
country.

- Industrial wastes, on the other
hand, are of a completely differ-
ent composition. As text books
on municipal sewage and sani-
tary engineering point out,
domestic sewage and

industrial

were earmarked for low-cost
housing.

On the other hand, he said,
Trudeau hasn’t reduced arms ex-
penditures a penny. The Cana-
dian working people reject Tru-
deau’s alternative of either ac-
cepting deflation, a wage freeze
and unemployment or inflation
and high prices and falling liv-
ing standards. The Communist
Party maintains that we can
have full employment without
inflation. Currie pointed out that
capital is available, but to en-
sure it goes to work for the
people involves a sharp struggle.
The CLC.can play a big role by
convening an emergency confer-
ence to defeat Trudeau’s auster-
ity program, he said.

Later, in a press conference,
Currie took issue with the pre-
sident of the Winnipeg Grain
Exchange, Mr. J. E. McWilliams,
for his statement that
“wheat era is over.” He charged
McWilliams with being prepared
to wipe out most of the wheat
farmers on the prairies. “It isn’t
the wheat era that is over,” ‘he
said, “the era of one-sided trade
deals is over.”

Canada can seek a stable and
growing market for wheat in
the socialist countries, but only
on the basis of a growing and
expanding trade involving more
and more goods. He called, upon
the Canadian government to step
up two-way trade with the so-
cialist countries, and urged the
members of the National Farm-
ers Union to organize another
on-to-Ottawa trek to demand
markets for wheat.

waste are two separate and dis-
tinct elements which should be
treated separately. To quote one
authority: “The waste from a
single industry may change ma-
terially the volume and quality

of sewage from an entire city—
or may exert a controlling influ-
ence upon the pollution of a
river or a lake.”

The recent fanfare given to
the investigation conducted by
the Ontario Water Resources
Commission, when it was repor-
ted that a new “revolutionary
system” of sewage treatment
had been “discovered”, brought
into sharp focus this dual nature
of sewage and waste in our
treatment systems. Because of
the high volumes the treatment
of sewage in all industrialized
centres, to avoid natural water
pollution, requires the removal
and separation, by special pro-
cesses, of the harmful minerals,
acids and toxic chemicals con-
tributed by industry before dis-
charging the sewage effluent into
bodies of water such as rivers Or
lakes. These minerals etc. are
the main elements which _in-
crease turbulance and both des-
troy the growth of life giving,
oxygen producing, plant life, and
increase the required oxygen

_demand—the vital ingredient in

the

CPR workers
fight layoffs

By JACQUES SAVARIA

For the third successive year
CPR-Agnus employees have been
subject to lay-offs.

The mid-October reduction of

‘personnel which affected over

125 workers was preceded by an
introductory lay-off at the end
of September of 50 employees,
and comes at a. time when the
Angus labor force is lowest on
record. Ostensibly, the com-
pany’s excuse is that wheat is
not moving.

To a person. who possesses a
deeper insight, a more pertinent
reason is that financially the
CPR. is now recognized as a
separate entity within the frame-
work of the CPR chain and
therefore must haul its own
freight and show profits ‘and
dividends on its own merit. In-
cidentally, the CPR has always
been able to do this thanks to
government subsidies and the
exploitation of its workers.

Thus the Canadian Pacific
Railway, the financial cow that
gave milk to and made possible
the growth of all CPR enter-
prises, now finds itself abandon-
ed and forsaken by the fast-
buck operators of the CPR Board
of Directors, who are concent-
rating more and more on purely
financial investments. Those who
would shed tears and wring their
hands in despair in regard to the
future of CPR should note that
CPR earnings will touch $40,-
000,000 for 1969, a tidy little
sum in any man’s language.

all water purification processes.
By the actions of wind, sun-

light and plant life, nature pro- -

duces its own self purification of
bodies of water.

Industrial wastes destroy what
nature provides, including nat-
ural marine life and the source
of much of our food.

As the engineers employed by
the Ontario Water Resources
Commission admitted, any high
school student could have “dis-
covered” the new “revolution-
ary system” that was publicized.
Chemical precipitants (in this
case lime) have been in use
since before the.turn of the cen-
tury. Research and investigation
is being conducted continuously
in all industrialized countries,
and there is a wealth of data
available to show that the use of
chemicals is necessary in the
treatment of industrial wastes to
prevent water pollution.

All this publicity, including
the statements: by government
spokesmen, is mere window
dressing désigned to fool the
public; to make them think that
governments are concerned

enough to seek practical solu-
tions for the problem.

Nothing could be farther from
the truth.

State monopoly capitalism is

The dismissals have generated
a feeling of militancy among the
men, particularly among the
Carmen whose members com-
prise 75 percent of the total lay-
offs. In the face of this threat,
the CPR Federated Trades called
a special meeting. Telegrams
were despatched to the govern-
ment and a press release was
issued protesting the layoffs and
requesting a_ stabilised work
force. Over and above this, in-
dividual locals such as the Ma-
chinists, Carmen, and Pipefitters
also demanded action from the
government, and in general are
keeping the membership on the
alert.

But what can the workers say
and think about, the higher
bodies that are supposed to rep-
resent the railway workers, such
as the CPR System Federation?
When confronted with the de-
mand from the Angus Shops
Federated Trades to take action
against the layoff, the higher
body replied, “We don’t agree
with your methods so we will do
nothing.” In effect they were
saying ‘the hell with the work-
ers, and layoffs don’t concern
us.”

Railway workers instinctively
feel that the CPR System Fede-
ration is a body which serves
only to blunt and to thwart the
just demands of the workers.
CPR workers should destroy the
CPR System Federation before
it destroys them.

only concerned with protecting
private industry from having to
pay for the cleaning up of its
own filth.

Pollution of natural waters is
rapidly reaching a stage where
it will very soon constitute a
serious health hazard and, since
private industry will do nothing
unless forced, pressure must be
exerted upon both federal and
provincial governments for the
enactment of legislation of a
kind which will force industry,
without exception, to treat its
own waste separately and effec-
tively before discharging its
effluent into rivers, streams,
lakes and public sewer systems.

An interesting and important
new development is that The
Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill
“Workers are, as a union, bring-
ing to the bargaining table the

- whole question of pollution in

what may be a “first” in labor
history.

The union explains it this way:
“Our members are the men who
pull the switches to send effluent
from the mills into Canada’s
waterways. We and our families
live in towns whose waters are
being polluted by this industrial
waste. We can no longer sit idly
by and watch the destruction of
our precious natural resources.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCTOBER 31, 1969—Page 9