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.”