4L ;

Dotted area between Prince Geor

g

the

e and Dawson Creek is where

fabulously rich Sukunka coal deposits lie. :

Alcan pipeline called
big threat to Canada

: Cont'd from pg. 1

in the strongest terms against the
Cherry Point oil ferminus, against
the Edmonton pipeline plan, and be
on guard against attempts to
revive the Kitimat deal.”

The CP statement calls on the
publicto press the B.C. and federal
£0vernments to demand that the
US. stay outside Canada’s 200-
mile coastal waters with their oil
tankers so as not to endanger
B.C.’s interests.

Drawing attention to the fact
that U.S, president Carter had set a
September 1 deadline when he met
With prime minister Trudeau in
Washington recently for a decision
0n a pipeline across Canada, the
Cp Statement says there are strong
dications that because of over-
Whelming public opposition to the
Mackenzie Valley pipeline the
€deral government may opt for
the Alaska Highway (Alcan) route
and that ‘‘this now appears to be

© major threat facing Canada in

e €@ergy field.”

‘The Alcan route presents many
€nvironmental dangers as well as
Native land claims and rights.

€re is absolutely nothing for
Canada in any of the pipelines. The

Can route, in addition to the
added danger of carrying natural
&as through the northeast corner of

C., will be a pipeline serving only
US. interests. It would grant the

‘S. a corridor through Canada for
@ pipeline which would likely
Sather large quantities of
Canadian gas en route to the U.S.
Market. ,

“Canadians should say an em-
Phatic ‘no’ to the Alcan pipeline as
Well as the Mackenzie line,’’ says
the CP statement. “They should
Support the demand of the recent
Moratorium conference in Van-
Couver for a moratorium on all
Pipeline construction until a
thorough examination of Canada’s
Interests are made, including
Settlement of native land claims.”’

“Instead of agreeing to U.S.-
Sponsored pipelines, the Canadian
and B.C. governments should be
Pressed to undertake a full in-
Ventory of our energy resources
and needs and to adopt a com-
Prehensive all-inclusive energy
Policy which would serve the needs
Of the people of B.C. and Canada

Instead of the U.S. The key element

of suchan energy program must be
to ensure Canadian development
and control through public owner-
ship of energy on which the future
of our country depends.”

Pointing out that the most im-
portant issue facing B.C. today is
energy, the statement says: ‘‘We
need a new energy program which
will ensure that B.C.’s vast energy
resources are not squandered and
sold out to foreign interests — but
are used to develop the province
and create a new industrial base
which can ensure an expanding
economy with hundreds _ of
thousands of new jobs. The key to
such an energy program must be to
bring all energy resources and de-
velopment in B.C. under. public
ownership and democratic con-
trol.”’

Emphasizing that recent de-
velopments have pointed up the
need for a comprehensive energy
policy, the CP statement says:
“Massive quantities of electrical
energy are being produced in B.C.
for export to the U.S. and to sub-
sidize low hydro rates for giant
corporations operating in the
province. B.C. is under relentless
pressure from the U.S. to increase
its already staggering export of
electrical energy, natural gas and
water to the U.S. The B.C.
government is surrending to this
pressure.

“At the same time, U.S. cor-
porations and other capitalist
countries are seeking to exploit
B.C.’s vast coal deposits which
are an increasingly important
energy resource. A halt must be
put to the sellout of our coal which
should be used for B.C.’s develop-

ment and industrialization. There ~

must bea moratorium and cutback
in the export of hydro and gas to
the U.S. There must be no water
export allowed. The B.C. Hydro
rate structure should be revised to
halt the present squandering of
electrical resources by the ‘big
corporations who must be made to
pay higher rates.”’

The CP statement concludes
with an appeal to the people from
all walks of life, ‘‘and particularly
the NDP and labor,” to join in a
united movement to block the
alienation of our energy resources
and to press for a comprehensive
new energy policy for B.C.

Socred coal plan branded
sellout of B.C. interests

Cont'd from pg. 1
money to expedite the exploitation
of the coal resources by the big
companies.

Recently the federal and
provincial governments signed an
agreement to spend $10 million for
a feasibility study in the Sukunka
area near Prince George. This is
only the beginning. Premier
Bennett said recently the federal
government has been asked to join
with the province in financing the
“infrastructure” — meaning the
rail lines, roads, townsites and coal
port which will be needed to get the
coal out. It is estimated that this
will run to about $500 million in the
Sukunka area alone, which the
public is expected to pay for
through its government as a
subsidy to the ‘‘private sector.”

Premier Bennett, who has often
made a point of stating that
“people can’t expect something for
nothing’’ when confronted by
demands for increased social
services, is now preparing to give
the big foreign corporations
hundreds of millions of dollars —

. not only for nothing — but to make

it possible for them to come into
B.C. and rip off our’coal resources.

To make the new coal policy
more acceptable to the public, the
premier’s statement included
numerous references to
“maximize provincial benefits”
and ‘‘the province must. reserve
the right to meet its requirements”
and ‘‘the use of B.C. expertise and
resources in coal development.”
But these are more window
dressing. The fact is that the
province spent less than $20,000
last. -year in coal research at
universities.

The main thrust of the new coal
policy is to open up our coal
resources to the major multi-
national corporations at cut rate
prices.

The new coal policy is not
really new. It is an announcement
of a policy which the Socred
government has been pursuing
since it came to office, and is
continuing where the previous
Socred government under Bennett
the Elder left off. The fact is that
the government has already
moveda long way down the road in
implementing its giveaway policy
in coal. Here are a few examples:

e Kaiser Resources Ltd., in the
Kootenays, is already producing
five million tons a year of

metallurgical coal which is being
shipped through Roberts Bank.
There is now a move to expand
Roberts Bank and Kaiser is ex-
pected to develop a new two-
million tons a year coal mine in the
near future;

e Fording Coal Ltd. in the East
Kootenays is boosting its capacity
to export metallurgical coal by
another one million tons on top of
the current 3.5 million tons a year;

e The most significant new de-
velopment is the Quintette Coal
Co., in the Sukunka area which is
controlled by Denison Mines Ltd.,
and includes substantial blocs of
West German, French and
Japanese capital. It is only one of

‘several major coal companies

moving into the Prince George-
Chetwynd area. The federal and
provincial governments are ex-
pected to spend millions to con-
struct a coal port at Prince Rupert
through which the coal will be
exported. Negotiations are going
on for a deal with Japan’s major
‘corporations to export 10 million
tons a year.

The importance of coal as the
source of fabulous new profits to be
made by big business is under-
scored by the fact that in recent
months the major oil companies
have been buying into the coal
industry. Early this year Imperial
Oil secured almost 17 per cent
interest in Quintette Coal Co. BP
Canada Ltd., has spent $30 million

As coal becomes an increasingly important source of energy in the

buying up three major coal leases
in northeastern B.C. Shell Canada,
Texaco Canada Ltd., and Gulf Oil
already hold large coal leases in
B.C. and Alberta.

Obviously, the, multinational
corporations are gearing up for a
major takeover and exploitation of
B.C.’s coal resources.

Only a strong public outcry
against the sellout of B:C.’s coal
can stop the process already under
way.

Instead of allowing B.C.’s coal to
be exported for $1.50 a ton, the
public should demand a genuine
coal policy which would put a
moratorium on any further
giveaways of B.C. coal, which will
halt the expenditure of vast sums
of public funds to subsidize the
corporation; and which would
place the coal resources under
public ownership and control.

B.C. has a vital stake in halting
the present sellout of coal. Taken
together with our vast forest re-
sources, natural gas and oil, these
could provide the means of
carrying through an_ industrial
revolution in B.C. which could turn
the province away from its raw
material base to a modern, in-
dustrial and manufacturing
economy. The future of the
province for generations to come
depends on the outcome of the
present -struggle to stop the sellout

‘of B.C.’s coal resources.

i¢ ,

world, the Socred government prepares to give away B.C. coal at

bargain basement prices.

Tenants

Cont'd from pg. 1

De Wees said that tenants from
the Lower Mainland and Van-
couver Island will participate in
the lobby. Representatives from
the labor movement and pen-
sioners’ organizations have also
been asked to join in the demon-
stration.

Participants from the Lower
Mainland will leave June 21 on the’
8 a.m. bus from downtown Van-
couver. Transportation costs will
be $15 per person, but a fund has
been created to help those who can
not afford it. Anyone who wishes to
join in the lobby but is unable to
meet the $15 fare can apply for a
ticket by calling the Vancouver
Tenants Council at 872-0296 or
DERA at 253-8235. All requests will
be kept confidential. For those who
can’t make the lobby but would like
to show their support, both the
Tenants’ Council.and DERA will
receive donations to the fund.

Leading up to the June 21
demonstration, two rallies in the

to lobby June 21

Vancouver area have been
scheduled. The first is scheduled
for June 12 at the West End
Recreation Centre, 870 Denman
Street, Vancouver, at 2 p.m. MLAs
Emery Barnes and Gary Lauk
have been invited to speak along
with Vancouver mayor Jack
Volrich and all the members of
Vancouver city council.

On June 19 Norman Levi,
Rosemary Brown, Tom Alsbury,
Bruce Yorke and Margaret De
Wees are the scheduled speakers
at a rally in Kitsilano district of
Vancouver that will establish a
new Kitsilano Tenants Association.
Watch next week’s Tribune for the
specific time and location of the
meeting.

In addition to the impending
changes in the, Landlord and
Tenant Act and the removal of
controls, the tenant groups are also
concerned over the failure of the
government to proclaim the 1977
Rent Stabilization Act that sets this
year’s rent increases at. a

maximum of seven per cent over
last year.

“They (the Socred government)
gave the Act first reAding and
then walked out,” De Wees ex-
plained. ‘‘And now May 1 and June
1 have gone by and neither tenants
or landlords know what the law is.”’

The seven per cent increase will
be effective from May 1 when it is
proclaimed, but in the meantime
many landlords are giving notice
of increases of 10.6 per cent.

Inside sources in the Rent
Review Commission have in-
dicated that the government in-
tends to dismantle controls
municipality by municipality. One
of the first areas tobe hit will likely
be Victoria, where because of other
government decisions a_ higher
vacancy rate exists. Cutbacks in
government employment, higher
ferry rates anda generally
depressed economy have forced
many tenants out of the Victoria
area, leaving a number of suites

empty.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 10, 1977—Page 3