B.C. defeated
fight now agains

By HAL GRIFFIN

ee the next decade,
oan ae the larger cen-
: fen, celebration of Con-
Ch, ation, we in British
- Mbia will be marking
ee of 100-year
fa Ones in our history,
sa x ‘greater signifi-

an the official cen-

tena
1958. We celebrated in

Si is November 17, 1966,
ary of the union of
Union of Vancouver
' oo British Columbia
their. §; the colonists took
Ward ae decisive step to-
orn ee to the still un-
Other adian Confederation.
Cente S are May 21, 1968,
Nary of the founding of
nfederation League at
a September 14,
nVentio €nary of the Yale
: 2agUe or. from which the
ampai rganized the popular
sible 8n that won respon-
eerament for British
into la and took the colony
Onfederation.

Ce

Tslang

: Victor;

e
2 Cc if
“hat entenary, however,

it eels. Pass unhonored
29 pases is December
9, unless James Nes-
be commentator
ects the ancouver Sun, sel-
- Other Sccasion to write an-
Biega go Ch anti - national
1g 1a his column of June
sults Tpreting the elections
a setback = for
s Firsters.”

that 4 On this day in 1869
eeveat Grant received
em a group of
_Onists, for the most
Yoicin ictoria merchants,
impengi their alarm at the
Columbia’ entry of British
at ae into Confederation
‘help Fealing to the U.S. for
they akin. Canadian | tariff,
Tuin of med, would “be the
; ee farmers and the
_y Only a “ our chief cities.”
Vancouy Sht years ago, in the
‘154g SUR of May 22,
Liberal €shitt was urging the
Cos be to claim Amor De
‘Vion .2 OUtstanding cham-
atugle aS Colonists in the
. it and entry into Con-
_“as their father
Ignoring the fact
Cosmos represented
EAE ‘a the House of
a but th ‘ae Conservative.
at t : en,” added Nesbitt*
Sts oy me: “the Commun-
fins, is Claim him as B.C.’s
Slon to munist” — an allu-
: De Cosmos’ defense
aris Bey, apes of the

‘Ap une of 1871.
Steg Parently Nesbitt now
Cather ‘Story through US.
pew an Canadian eyes.
. Snore : he vould ‘not
© historical outldok

Deti
Nex,

»

PRINCE EDWARD
'SLAND

‘lumbia

t responsible gov- _

‘policy of

NEW BRUNSWICK

which links Premier W. A.
C. Bennett with the annex-
ationists of nearly a century
ago.

bo * *

The annexationists saw un-
ion vvith the U.S. as the easy
solution to maintaining their
north-south trade ties with
San Francisco, at that time
the colony’s main link with
the world.

Against this De Cosmos
and the leaders of the Con-
federation League inspired
the colonists with the dream
of creating a new state
stretching from the Atlantic
to the Pacific. The annex-
ationists were defeated and
on July 20, 1871, British Co-
entered Confedera-
tion.

But, however strong its
political heart, Confederation
could not function long with-
out an economic artery run-
ning east to west, and until

the railroad was completed

British Columbia’s continu-
ing in Confederation remain-

ed in doubt.
Only then did the develop-

“ment of B.C. begin. It was

ruthless, brutal exploitation,
this plundering of the new

province’s natural wealth,

from which great fortunes
were extracted. And out of
the struggle against exploita-
tion the working people
founded the beginnings of
the socialist movement, con-
tinuing the traditions of the
colonists in their strugggle
for responsible government.

Yet even for the new Can-
adian ruling class, interpret-
ing the British North Amer-
ica Act to strengthen its own
position, the aim was still
that voiced by De Cosmos in
the last speech to the House
of Commons on April 21,
1882, ‘I see no reason why
the people of Canada should
not look forward to Canada
becoming 4&2 sovereign and

independent state.”
a * *

It would have been diffi-
cult indeed for a premier of
BiG: to call, as Premier Ben-
nett did during this past fed-
eral election, for economic
union with the U.S., a course
that would ruin many of our
farmers and destroy much of
our manufacturing industry,
one third of which is already

U.S. owned.

A century ago the
had not depleted its own
huge resources. But increas-
ingiy over the past few dec-
ades, as its own rese
came exhausted, the U.S. has
reached out to seize those of
our own country. :

The Liberals under St.
Laurent hastened the pro-
with their cold war
“integration.” The

U.S. still

cess

NOVA SCOTIA

rves be-

atinexationists in 1871-

‘
LC bor Be

~PLAN FOR BETRAYAL. Here is the plan
of development for B.C. hydro drawn up
by the Peace River Power Development Co.,
and favored by Premier Bennett.
north it would link up with the U.S. at
Alaska, and in the south, would feed B.C.

. s

t_new_annexationists

Pe

t
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at

in Britis
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h Columbia —196

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In the
policy.
dian,

A Pacific International Power Pooi

——— INITIAL INTERCONNECTED SYSTEM
—- FURTHER INTERCONNECTED SYSTEM

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hydro into the U.S. national power grid.
This north-south plan is part of the overall
plan to integrate B.C. in the U.S. economy.
The Communist Party fights against this

It advocates instead an all-Cana-
east-west,

publicly-owned, national,

power grid to serve Canadian needs.

Conservatives under Diefen-
baker, promising to restore
independent national policy,
have continued it.

In B.C., Social Credit has
based its policy on a north-

south development that must

inevitably increase U.S. dom-
ination and weaken the east-
west concept upon which
‘Confederation is founded.
The fact that 64 percent
of our oil industry now is

Ceratinryy,
SASKATCHEWAN

controlled by foreigners,
chiefly in the U.S., reflects
Social Credit giveaway
policy carried through at the
expense of national develop-
ment. :

And now, if Bennett pre-
vails, the hydro - electric
power of the Columbia River ©
will flow with our oil and
natural. gas to the south
when every consideration of
national development cries

SEB nE
ii
CoseILire

ALBERTA

BRITISH COLUMBIA

aloud for Canadian develop-
ment tied in with an east-
west power grid—a new ar-
tery to give new economic
vigor to Confederation.

7 When Nesbitt asserts that
a majority of the people of
Canada don’t want this Can-
ada-first - and - last nonsense
the Diefenbaker government
dreamed up,” he turns the
issue upside down.

NORTHWEST
TERRITORIES

June 29, 1962—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5