NPA, BCA sham rivals

BURNABY, B.C.,
When Burnaby citizens go to}
the polls on December 10 they,

will have the choice of voting,

for the rival candidates of two

big business-dominated groups bri and Mrs. Corol Cameron, inde-
marking their ballots for those | pendent

independents whose policies rep-
Tesent the only real alternative |

to the present Non-Partisan ad-|
ministration. ‘

Earlier this year, sparked by}

Bert Hill, president of Burnaby
Central Ratepayers Association,

and other ratepayers’ leaders, a};

movement was launched with the |
aim of presenting a slate of rate- !
Payers’ candidates at this muni-'!
Cipal election. :

Purpose of the movement was
.to bring together various groups.
9pposed to the big business poli-
Cles of the Non-Partisan adminis-
' tration and present a popular
alternative to the NPA.

From the outset, however, this
nhew organization, the Burnaby
Citizens Association, was divided.
t announced that membership
Was open to everyone except
Members and supporters of the

abor-Progressive party. This
Constitutional bar was question-
€d by many ratepayers and even-
tually two ratepayers’ groups
Condemned it outright as incon-
‘Sistent with the organization’s’
Claim to be a non-political body.

Suspicion was aroused that one
a
PAT RO NIZE

CARNEL‘’S

Independents real
Burnaby alternative

the recent nominating meeting.

‘ees for council included Emmet |

COFFEE SHOP -:
410 Main St.
Operated By
GEORGE & WINNIFRED
GIBBONS

res

Special !
WHITE UNDERCOAT

$2.95 GAL.

TED HARRIS LIMITED

. Wholesale: & Retail Dealers
in Paint and Wallpaper

157 East Hastings TA. 1105

Ow many times must tell yo
t to twirl the piano stool?"

Customers like our FREE
3 Sead plan because it’s free
‘0m red tape and easily ar-
Mt ed. For your next suit or
ot use this sensible way
~% buying it.

purpose of the BCA was to di-
vert to itself part of the pro-
gressive vote which last year
established William Turner, in-
dependent candidate for council,

candidate for school
board, as the real challengers to
the NPA.

Divisions over policy’ within
the BCA came into the open at

Nominees associated with pro-
gressive ratepayers’ policies were
ignored for nominees identified
with Conservative and Liberal
political machines.

For reeve the BCA chose John
A. Milne, former Conservative

provincial candidate. Its nomin-

Cafferky, former Liberal organi- |
zer, and John A. Robertson, |
another Liberal. ‘es:

It became apparent that
leadership of the BCA had
fallen into the hands of a
Liberal-Conservative coalition
opposing the NPA _ Liberal-
Conservative coalition not on
policy but for personal advance~-
ment and using the ratepayers’
‘movement to disguise its aim.
One of the BCA’s four nomin-
ees for council, Mrs. Caroline
Prior, who has been identified
with the campaign to establish a
public library, subsequently made

it clear she was standing as an
independent, although accepting
the endorsation of the BCA and,
any other groups that wished to
support her.

Bert Hill has since resigned

‘from the BCA as has James

Massey, another ratepayers’ lead-
er, who is running as an indepen-
dent candidate for council.
Other independent candidates
are: William Turner, for. coun-'
cil; Mrs. Corol Cameron, for
school board; Alex Kucher, for the
newly-created parks board.
Revealing the Non-Partisans’
anxiety over rising opposition
to their policies was a lavish
spread on Burnaby in the Van-
couver Herald this week which
was little more than thinly dis-
guised election propaganda.
Equally revealing of Non-
Partisan land sales policies
was an. announcement this
week that a number of lots are
being opened to sale — at prices
higher by the lot than the
municipality has sold land to
the oil companies by the acre.

CONSTANTINE
FINE CUSTOM TAILORING
Ladies’ and Gentlemen
Rm., 118, 603 W. Hastings St.
PA, 5810 Vancouver 2, B.C.

NEW ZENITH
CAFE

105 E. Hastings St.
For The Finest In Good Eating

~

USE OUR
XMAS
LAY-AWAY

PLAN

A deposit will
hold _ articles.
Special discount
to all Tribune

readers. Bring
this ad with you.

CASTLE

JEWELERS
252 Granville St.

Effie asks return
to old phone rates

Ald. D. E. McTaggart, chairman of Vancouver City Council’s utilities and airport
committee, wasn’t at all anxious to hear Effie Jones speak on the need for a reduction in

telephone rates at Monday’s meeting of the committee.

McTaggart was low man on the

Non-Partisan aldermanic slate in 1953 and knows that he may not be re-elected December
14 — and that Effie Jones is one of his most dangerous opponents.

Mrs. Jones, president of Civic
Reform Association, had written
city council to ask that an appli-
cation be made to Board of Trans-
port Commissioners “for a re-
turn to the telephone rates in
effect prior to 1953.”

Customary practice is for the
committee to hear any delega-
tions that appear before it. On
Monday the committee refused
td give Mrs. Jones the floor, claim-
ing that her letter “had arrived
too late and couldn’t be dealt with
for two weeks” — that is, until
after civic elections were held.

In her letter Mrs. Jones based
her request for council to press
for a reduction in phone rates
on the results of a probe carried
out by the Combines Investiga-
tion Branch on the application
of six Vancouver citizens, includ-
ing herself.

“Our application alleged that
B.C. Telephone Company follows
a practice of buying equipment
and supplies almost exclusively
from related companies, at prices
which are excessive monopoly

'prices not based on free compe-

titive bidding,” said Mrs. Jones’
letter.

The, Combines Investigation
Branch commented in its report
that “preliminary inquiry indi-
cated that the purchasing pro-

cedures and company inter-rela-/|

tionships described by the appli-
cants were, as of the date of the
application or shortly — prior
thereto, substantially correct.”

Mrs. Jones pointed out in her
letter that “even though the
Combines Investigation Branch
did not feel that any action on
its part was warranted, it did
clearly recognize the existence
of a situation which could lead
to inflated costs and rates.

“Entirely apart from. the fun-
neling of profits into related com-
panies, the company’s financial
statements disclose that net pro-
fit of BCT itself has increased
from $1,511,818 in 1951 to $2,-
911,809 in the 1954-55 fiscal year,
an increase. of nearly 100 per-
cent.

“There would therefore seem

to be ample reason at the pres-

ent time to seek a reduction of
rates and the Civic Reform As-
sociation requests you to do so,”
Mrs. Jones’ letter to city council
Utilities and Airport committee
concluded.

LDR to launch three

e ¢ e ~ @
civil rights projects
Annual meeting of the League
For Democratic Rights held last
Saturday, decided to institute
three projects: (1) a study of
the Native Indian people, with
special reference to the question
of civil rights: (2) a study of
Chinese immigration: (3) a week-
end seminar on civil liberties,
open to all organizations and in-
terested individuals.

Jack Guest, executive member
of the Grain Workers Union, read
a paper on, labor legislation.

Officers elected for the coming
year were Les Walker, chairman,
and Mrs. Tillie Collins, secretary.

Paul Phillips laid to rest

: Harry Hunter, Toronto leader of the Labor-Progressive party,
is shown speaking in Toronto's UJPO cemetery at the open
graveside of Paul Phillips, LPP national executive member, who

died November 14.

Rush, McTaggart
tangle on BCE

A sharp exchange between Maurice Rush, independent
candidate for alderman in the forthcoming Vancouver civic

election, and Alderman D. E.

McTaggart, chairman of city

council's utility committee, highlighted an election meeting at _
Vancouver Art Gallery Tuesday night. ;

Rush challenged McTaggart on
his explanation of why city coun-
cil had backed B.C. Electric dis-
tribution of natural gas. In re-
ply to a question from the audi-
ence earlier, McTaggart had said
council did not oppose the BCE
application before the Public
Utilities Committee because the
BCE already was distributing
manufactured gas and had an
established distribution system.

In reply Rush pointed out that
Non-Partisan dominated council

had voted to approve B.C. Elec-.
tric distribution of natural yas
and not merely “not to oppose” |
jas McTaggart had said.

Rush further pointed out the
cost of the present BCE gas
distribution system was a small
capital item compared to the
overall picture and that the
B.C. Power Commission could
have taken over the BCE sys-
tem if the provincial power
authority had entered the field
at the request of the munici-
palities..

Rush charged council had be-
trayed citizens’ interests by refus-
ing to make common cause with
those Fraser Valley municipali-
ties that opposed BCE control
of natural gas.
Rush, was that natural gas users
will have to pay exorbitant rates
to the BCE which is one of very
few companies in North America

PACIFIC TRIBUNE —

The result, said.

enjoying both a monopoly in
electricity and natural gas.
Striking out at council’s taxa-
tion policies Rush said that ‘the
policy of the present council is
to tax the little man while the
big ones get away.” :

| Emphasizing his main pro-
| posal for the federal govern-
| ment to assume ‘the full cost
| of elementary education, Rush
' ealled for taxing such corpora-
| tions as the B.C. Electric, which
in 1954 made nearly $8 million
net profit but paid only $650,-
000 to the city.

He also drew attention to the
‘fact that the provincial govern-
' ment pays less than $15,000 en all
‘liquor store properties in Van-
| couver from a business which
/nets the provincial government
, over $20 million each year in
‘ profit. \.
i Urging his listeners to “turn
-out the NPA on December 14,”
| Rush said it was bad for a city
‘when a political machine fasten-
ed its grip on civic life and dom-
inated it as long as the NPA
had done. Such a situation, he
said, inevitably led to corruption
and poor government. 4

“Vancouver needs new ideas
“and new representatives of the
-people on council if we are to
progress as a great city,” he con-
cluded. ?

DECEMBER 2, 1955 — PAGE 7