be

investment will increase to

_ &rowth of our economy

Ye ask for assurance that cor-
investment in Canada
atch the relatively faster
wth in our market. If it does
~» We will call for the renego-
tion of the auto pact to guar-
€ that jobs in the auto in-
Siry grow according to the
wth of consumption in each
Uuntry,
4. Reduction in the Canada-
| U.S. deficit in auto parts

FULL EMPLOYMENT
AND SOCIAL SECURITY

Ublic attention has, over the
“t while, focussed on inflation,
~ It is rapidly becoming clear
4 the real problem is unem-
“yment. In order to end the
rationality of unemployment,
_ call for the following poli-

+ A development strategy to

for Canadians

#n terms of natural resources
Oil, gas, copper, zinc, lead,
tum, nickel, hydroelectric
€r, wood, etc. — Canada is
Ngst the richest nations in
World. While -private enter-
Se has been willing to develop
“S€ resources to reap the fan-
"Uc. profits available, they
»© not been interested in us-
8 these resources to develop a
4 manufacturing base in
ada,

ong with the above, the
eXch-plant nature of much of
Canadian economy has
ta reliance for our techno-
On the U:S. With the long-
|. Prospects for the U.S. look-
® bleak, it becomes all the
© important for Canada to
Pi ‘OP an independent techno-
sical base. ;

# nce private enterprise has
i, -° to create this manufactur-
technological base which is
al to the long-run interests
‘nNadians, government invol-
“nt — up to and including

A trade strategy emphasiz-
| ing diversification and
-“Anadian Sovereignty

We mentioned above and
ln stteme dependence of our
0, Smy on the U.S. (close to
is f our trade is with the
i aes led the government to
lally adopt a policy of diver-
, tion. While recognizing
ae U.S. remains the world’s
t and most attractive mar-
eee Support this policy. We
“pport a policy of encour-
qe. Nternational co-operation
ioniding self-defeating pro-
Saale but we remind the
eeornt that special. con-
a 1on must be given to
t Workers threatened by
Tade,
the Case of the Americans’
ONnistic “Trading With
_emy Act,” we express
“Ment that the government

Match the relatively faster ©

Create manufacturing jobs

slow-down in the US.

has not yet passed clear legisla-

tion stating Canadian Sovereign-

ty over businesses operating in
Canada.

3. Economic planning

Everyone is painfully aware of
the uneven growth of our eco-
nomy: sometimes there are
shortages of certain foods and
materials and corporations ex-
ploit the situation to raise prices,
and other times there is excess
capacity, necessitating layoffs.
At the present time we in fact
have both shortages and idle ca-
pacity, so we therefore have
both inflation and unemploy-
ment, The root of this kind of
problem is the unco-ordinated
nature of our economic system,
and the solution is the develop-
ment of economic planning.

At present, the major deci-
sions about our economy are
made by individual corporations.
If the government is to seriously
attempt some form of over-all
planning of the economy, it will
have to have a large degree of
control over these corporations.
Not only will there need to be
extensive public scrutiny over
these corporations so as to gain
the information necessary for
planning, but — for the planning
to be really effective — there
will have tO be extensive govern-
ment control over corporate in-
vestment, since it is this invest-
ment that effectively determines
the structure of our economy.

4. Stimulating the economy

We urge tax cuts for lower
and middle income groups ;

We also urge a reduction in
indirect taxes (sales taxes) , not
only as a means of economic sti-
mulation but also because the
higher prices that result from
such taxes fall relatively heavier
on lower income groups. :

We turn now to the question
of social security. Canada can
well afford a guarantee of in-
come security (Europe, other-
wise much poorer, far surpasses
Canada in this area), and we
therefore urge the following

steps.

<a oe
os

Before any lay-offs do
given to all of the socia
shutdown.

actually occur, there must be consideration
| costs involved in the plant slowdown or

lorkers present —
lonomic program

1. Limits on corporate deci-
sions to terminate or reloc-
ate production

Before any layoffs do actually
occur, there must be consider-
ation given to all of the social

‘costs involved in the plant slow-

down or shut-down.

2. Unemployment Insurance

Because the employment situ-
ation is not improving, those al-
ready unemployed are threaten-
ed with soon losing their unem-
ployment benefits and being
forced onto welfare. We there-
fore urge the extension of the
benefit period to deal with this
critical situation. We call on the
government to raise the level of
unemployment benefits to 75%
of income.

3. Manpower policy

In dealing with the unem-
ployed, the main task is, of
course, to provide jobs. Some-
times, however, people are unin-
formed about prospective jobs,
or the jobs are in different loc-
ales, or the jobs require differ-
ent skills. In such circumstances,

it is important that opportunities °

for retraining exist (with an
adequate income during this
period).

4. An end to corporate
welfare
Part of the increased costs of
improvements in the social se-
curity system must be, borne by
the rich and the corporations.
We therefore urge the following:

e Tax reform

In conjunction with the tax
cuts on lower and middle income
groups that we suggested above,
we call for the plugging of tax
loopholes, a greater emphasis on

. the ability to pay and an excess

profits tax.

e Price scrutiny and price
roll-backs
Because corporations will try

to pass any increased taxes on

to the consumer (just as they
would try to keep any reduc-
tions in sales taxes from reach-
ing the consumer), their pricing

Baisiniic ee

policy.

siderable responsibility.

‘Can help lift the sights’

The program adopted by the Canadian Council of the
UAW in Montreal, January 25-26, represents a significant
coming to grips with the economic crisis developing in our
country by a major Canadian section of an international

The decision of the UAW are of importance, not only for
that union, but for the whole trade union and labor move-
ment. They will undoubtedly receive serious study by trade
unionists across the country and can help to lift the sights
of the Trade union movement in its struggles against the
big corporations and for a new direction for Canadian

___ The weakness of the UAW’s proposals is their failure to
focus sufficiently on demands that would make the big auto
corporations pay for the crisis for which they bear con-

This is a failure to which the membership of the UAW
must address itself, to push for an immediate demand for
shorter hours and to compel the auto companies to pay
the costs of additional contributions to SUB (Supplementary.
Unemployment Benefit) which would carry laid off auto
workers for the full period of their unemployment.

The program adoption by the UAW is, however just the
first, and also its easiest step in the process of its realiza-
tion. Great struggles of auto workers and all organized
labor, united together, will be required to win the new
direction for Canadian policy indicated in the program.

It is to be hoped, and expected, that the UAW will put
its muscle behind its policy and not let it ossify on the
shelves. The final decision en this matter can be made by
the membership of the UAW, swinging in a militant strug-
gle, behind the proposals of the Canadian Council.

policy must be checked more
closely. And because many
prices are now already too high,
such a policy must begin with
roll-backs in selected areas.

e More government control in
its corporate welfare program

Where the government does
provide special aid to private
enterprise it should have corres-
pondingly greater control over
corporate policy.

‘HOUSING, ENERGY

In this section we make re-
commendations dealing with
specific sectors of the economy.
As will be seen, many of. the
points raised here are also re-
lated to the issues and policies
rased in the section on employ-
ment and social security.

. a) Housing

In order to truly make hous-
ing in Canada a public utility
that is available to everyone, and

‘to stimulate the economy, we

urge the following steps:

e A decrease in interest rates

to 6% .

On a $35,000 home, at 10%
over 40 years, you end up paying
$110,000. This means a monthly
payment of $73 going to pay off
the $35,000 and another $156
(twice as much!) going to pay
interest. "

2 Land banking

We call for extensive land
banking under public control so
as to end the possibility of profit
through the buying and selling
of. land. Such land banking
would also protect the use of
prime farm land for food pro-
duction, : :

e Rent controls

The high cost of housing is
increasing the pressure on rents.
In recommending controls to
limit rents we warn the govern-

‘ment that there must also be

controls to assure that the land-
lord will not simply respond by
allowing the quality of the ac-
commodation to deteriorate.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1975—Page 7

,

e Moratorium on foreclosures

In this time of high mortgage
payments and extensive layoffs,
the possibility of foreclosures
rises rapidly. We call for a mora-
torium on any such foreclosure.

e Public housing and Co-ops

Private enterprise has proved
incapable of satisfying the need
for adequate housing at prices
that people: can afford, This
means that we must turn to co-
ops that are aided and encour-
aged by government finance, and
public housing whereby the gov-
ernment takes over the financing
and development of homes. In
other words, housing would be-
come a public utility, something
truly guaranteed to all our
citizens.

_b) Energy

Everyone is by now well
aware of the critical importance
of energy to our society and the
world economy. Yet as amazing
as it may seem, decisions per-
taining to our present and future
energy development are made, to
all intents and purposes, by a
few giant corporations that are
only interested in profit. The fol-
lowing steps are urgently needed:

e The formation of an oil and
gas crown corporation

The government must estab-.

lish such a corporation by out-
right purchase of at least one of

the major existing private cor-.

porations and use this crown
corporation to determine the

actual state of affairs (stocks ~

available, actual costs), to en-
gage in all facets of the oil in-
dustry from exploration, to re-
fining and processing, to distri-
bution, and also to co-ordinate
research on future forms of
engey.

e Federal control of existing
pipelines; all future pipelines to
be constructed and owned by the
federal government

e Job creation

This crown corporation should
be the basis for developing, in
Canada, petrochemical and other
resource based industries.