NDP win based on record

By WILLIAM ROSS

The re-election of the NDP

government with a working ma-
jority and increased popular
support is to be greeted by the
working people of Manitoba.
The intensive and _heavily-
financed campaign of the Tories
and the Big Business interests
to get back in power by scaring
off the voters with the bogey of
‘Socialist take-over’ did not suc-
ceed. Neither did the attempt by
some of the businessmen and
the Winnipeg Free Press to
knock together a coalition of
Liberals and Tories so as to con-
front the NDP in a number of
key constituencies with single
candidates representing the pri-
vate enterprise interests. Rival-
ry between the leaders of the
two old-line parties and the con-
fidence among the Tories that
they could form the next govern-
ment by themselves were con-
tributing factors.
* The record popular vote cast
and the fact that the NDP got
53% of the increased vote has
exposed the oft-repeated claim
of the Tories that the election
of the NDP was a fluke and
could not be repeated. The NDP
won all the seats in Northern
Manitoba, gained an additional
rural seat in the South and in-
creased their vote in all the con-
Stituencies where they didn’t
elect. The loss of the two urban
constituencies held by ‘cabinet
members reflected strong local
municipal interests.

The votes also indicate a pol-
arization of electoral support
between the NDP and the Tories.
The NDP gained almost 5% in
the popular vote over that in
1969, the Tories just held their
own and the Liberals lost 5%.
The lone Socred member in the
last House was defeated by a
Tory and the last Indepéndent,
Joe Borowski, was also elimin-
ated. The Liberal share of the
vote is the lowest in the prov-
ince’s history. Their continuing
decline as a force in provincial
politics reflects the rejection of
Asper’s right-wing campaign as
exemplified by his slogan of

‘Self Control Not State Control’
and his attacks on welfare and
unemployment insurance recip-
ients, as well as expressing the
weakened support for the fed-
eral Liberal party on the Prai-
ries. In addition, the image of
Schreyer aS a moderate ‘small
l’ liberal swung many former
Liberal votes to the NDP.

The NDP campaign centred
around the personality of Pre-
mier Schreyer and the perfor-
mance of his government over
the past four years. Their main
slogan was ‘Re-elect Your
Schreyer NDP _ Government.’
Schreyer’s name was on every
poster in every constituency.
There was no comprehensive
program submitted for the next
four years. Only in the latter
part of the campaign did the
Premier project such program-
matic measures as government
entry into the fire insurance
field in competition with the pri-
vate insurance companies; in-
creasing grants to old age pen-
sioners on supplementary bene-
fits so as to provide $200 month-
ly, etc.

The NDP campaign ignored or
soft-pedalled such vital issues
as a resource policy for the
province, the whole question of
energy development, the grow-
ing foreign ownership of Mani-
toba’s economy, ‘how to cope
with inflation and rising prices
of food, shelter, and other ne-
cessities, how to overcome re-
gional under-development, etc.

In voting for the NDP the
workers, farmers, youth and
small businessmen voted to en-
dorse the economic benefits they
gained. from the government
through such measures as the
elimination of medicare pre-
miums, tax rebates, autopac, as-
sistance to senior citizens, etc.
They voted to prevent the re-
turn of the Tories to power
which would endanger these
benefits. The trade union and
farm movements played no in-
dependent role in the campaign,
did not raise any- issues or make
any demands upon the Schreyer
government. The remnants of

the Waffle group (Gonick, etc.)
and the NDY were completely
demoralized and were no factor
in the campaign. Other than ex-
pressing their disillusionment
with the right-wing leadership
of Schreyer, they presented no
alternative program around
which  labor-farmer pressure
could be mobilized nor did they
even give a lead as to how to
vote in the election so as to pre-
vent the return of the old-line
parties.

It was left to the Communist
Party to indicate perspectives
and direction in the grave chal-
lenge facing Manitoba voters on
election day. In addition to cam-
paign on immediate economic
and political issues, the Com-
munist Party summed up the
task by its ringing call to: ‘De-
feat ‘the Old Line Parties’ —
‘Keep Manitoba Moving Left’.
There can be no doubt that the
great majority of voters saw the
problem the same way, which in
the present cizcumstances and
conditions found its expression
in increased popular support
and an NDP working majority.

One of the breakthroughs
made in the campaign was the
public protest against the CBC
ruling denying our party free
time on their network. This was
carried in the local press, led to
our candidates being invited on
the most popular local phone-in
radio program and got our picket
line in front of the CBC wide
publicity in all the news media.
We feel that this protest should
now be carried forward at the
national level. The ruling is
made at the top level of the CBC
and as our press release pointed
out there is need “for an entire-
ly new set of criteria to be
established that will be a more
realistic and democratic reflec-
tion of political trends in Can-
ada and that will give more at-
tention to the parties of labor.
In particular we call for an end
to the policy of freezing out the
Communist Party, a policy that
is an.outworn and discredited
hangover from the cold war
era,

. Meet proj

Youth of the GDR, hosts of the World Festival.

Vietnam hospital funds |
will travel to Festival |

Eighty young Canadians tra-
velling to the Berlin Youth
Festival this month will carry
with them material solidarity

with the people of Vietnam in,

the form of $23,000 collected
during a year-long campaign
which involved thousands of
Canadians. This sum is an im-
pressive expression of the sup-
port and solidarity with Vietnam
from the pockets of young
workers, farm youth, students
in every major university, high
schoolers, and peace marchers.
It is a tremendous accomplish-
ment; a political act on the part
of thousands of Canadians.
Many organizations and indi-
viduals united their efforts with
the Vietnam Children’s Hospital
Committees to make a concrete
expression of their concern. In-
volved in the campaign were
numerous peace councils, the
NDP, the Young Communist
League (who initiated the cam-
paign), the Committee to Free
South Vietnamese Prisoners
from Detention, Torture and
Death; the Communist Party of
Canada; Voice of Women; Cana-
dian Peace Congress, Congress
of Canadian Women; Canadian

Aid for Vietnamese civil
Society of Friends; Anti-Dra”
Program;. African National Co
gress; Unitarian Church and t
Association of Vietnamese P@
ots in Canada.

This campaign brought to me
attention of millions of Can
dians the need for reconstruc
tion in Vietnam and provided ss
opportunity for many Canadiay
to get involved and particip4 ff
in the fight for peace in ve
nam and in this way help ne
fight for peace throughqut
world.

The second day of the ou
Festival will be devoted t0 ie
struggles of the peoples of de
china. Demonstrations of 5° ad
arity and friendship will be ae
together with a contingent
young people direct. from

battlefields.

On this day Canadian
along with youth from all
tries who have participate’ is
the raising of funds for the ‘bu
pital will hand their contt 6
tions over to the Vietname
What better expression OF = ict
dian youth for anti-impert
solidarity, peace and friends

The 50th Anniversary (18th)
Convention of the Young Com-
munist League of Canada will
take place in Toronto, October
6, 7 and 8, 1973. The Convention
was Called by a meeting of the
YCL Central Committee on Can-
ada Day weekend.

In the call to the Convention
the Central Committee of the
YCL pointed out that “the con-
vention takes place at a time
when young people are feeling
the adverse effects of the deep-
ening economic and_ political
crisis in Canada. This crisis is
developing within the frame-
work of the decline of imperial-
ism, particularly U.S. imperial-
ism. The growing search for
change is reflected in the many-
sided challenge to the power of
monopoly.”

Introducing the draft resolu-
tion, YCL General Secretary
Elizabeth Hill pointed to the im-
pressive record of the YCL in its
50 year struggle for the rights
of Canadian youth.

“The interests and future of
young Canada lie in breaking
the. rule of monopoly, and U.S.
imperialist domination of our
country’s economic and political
life. The youth of Canada need a
bill of rights, guaranteeing them
the right to full educational op-

portunities, the right to a job,
and all their basic needs.”

The YCL Central Committee
saw the theme of the 10th World
Youth Festival, “For anti-im-
perialist solidarity, peace and
friendship,” as symbolic of the
change in the balance of power
in the world-and the more favor-
able conditions for the realiza-
tion of peace and co-operation.

The meeting stressed the im-
portance of the “Youth Accuses
Imperialism” campaign, launch-
ed by the World Federation of
Democratic Youth. This cam-
paign which culminates in the
Youth Festival, clearly exposes
imperialism’s responsibility for
war, racism, oppression and ex-
ploitation.

The meeting defined problems
that young Canadians face as
part of the overall economic po-
litical and social crisis facing
Canada. Youth problems are of
special concern because monop-
oly capitalism threatens the fu-
ture of our generation.

Unemployment, poor working
conditions facing young work-
ers, sOaring prices and rents, the
financial burden and inadequate
content of education and. the

lack of possibility for cultural -

development were underscored
as the main issues facing Cana-

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JULY 20, 1973—PAGE 6

dian youth. U.S. imperialist eco-
nomic domination was pointed
to as a major cause of these
problems and the main road-
block to Canadian independence.

Key to changing this situation
is setting Canada on a new
course of development. The eco-
norhic and political offensive of
U.S. imperialism is represented

ELIZABETH HILL
YCL general secretary

to a large extent by the U.S.
controlled “multi-national” cor-
porations operating in Canada.
This underlines the absolute ne-
cessity of new policies for Can-
ada directed toward strengthen-
ing Canada’s independence.

The Young Communist League,
fighting side by side with the
Communist Party, will do every-
thing in its power to unite young
workers, farmers and students
and their organizations in com-
mon struggle with the working
class and trade union movement,
all democratic and_ patriotic
forces around this central ques-
tion of Canada’s future.

Much discussion took place
around the proposal of a cam-
paign for the government to es-
tablish a Bill of Rights for Youth.

Such a Bill would guarantee:

e The right to work and the
guarantee of a job.

e@ The right to education, in-
cluding payment of stipends.

e Free training for appren-
tices on company time. Equal
opportunity for women to ap-
prenticeship programs.

e The right to decent low cost
housing.

e The right to mass cultural
sports programs and facilities.

e The rights of farm youth to
carry on their family farms and

. S°
the guarantee of economic!
sistance to make this POSS! th

@ The rights of native nei
to their land and to decide dis:
own path of development 4
tinct people in Canada. fot

e Full and equal statu’ of
young women’ in all sphe!
social development. i

A Bill of Rights cam
was generally seen as
to uniting the many
struggles of Canadian yo

the measures needed ¢0 .
the future of our generation 4
well as those to follow. ed at
present the basis for a UM
tack on RfONGHaN, main
of Canadian youth. 0
William Kashtan, secreted
the Communist Party, the

. I]
now entering a new aa from
he said, “the transit? t
cold war to a period signifiee
For young people it sat of y
new possibilities to SP&" jean
world without wat nditions o
we are in better con 7
work. ne
“The YCL has added “08%
dimension to the yor ctive ;
ment — the persPe
socialism.”