Friday, August 26, 1977 20° — Vol. 3S, No. 32 PACIFIC eiSbUNE | een A b= Evevovnent | we sTor ‘Nightmare for tenants’ says secretary of BCTO The new Socred legislation to phase out rent controls was con- demned this week as a ‘nightmare ‘“-* . for tenants’ and ‘distressing’ by the Prorigae ; ; Ee ae Wee Neecy There was much of the traditional pomp and pageant greeting the opening of this year’s Pacific National Exhibition parade but some 20 people from the Youth.Unemployment.Committee had_a different message for provincial secretary Grace McCarthy (centre, with microphone) as she opened the annual event — they raised placards demanding jobs and calling on the Social Credit government to use its $200 million surplus to Provide employment (Story page 7). CLC parley demands: — Sean Griffin photo _ ‘End wage controls now’ “Wage controls must end im- Mediately and unconditonally and Unemployment must be given top Priority in policy formulation. Unless the government’s attitude Changes, further discussions are Not likely to be productive in dealing with our present social and economic problems.” - This closing paragraph from a Position paper adopted by top Officers of affilates to the 2.3 Million member Canadian Labor Congress conference, meeting in Ottawa on August 17, summed up labors rejection of federal S0vernment conditions for ending Controls. . In rejecting wage controls and the federal government’s con- ditions for ending the AIB Program, the position paper drawn up by the CLC executive council, and unanimously approved by the Meeting, said: “The government has said that the lifting of controls must be accompanied by voluntary wage Testraint, and it has stated thar Wages must not be allowed to grow Type changes _ Because of technical difficulties With offset equipment at the print _ Shop, it was necessary this week to _ Change our headlines, normally set ina Futura type, to an alternative font. _ We hope readers will bear with Us as the problem is temporary. We expect to return to our regular type with the next issue. as rapidly as under the compulsory controls program. In fact, the government has taken the position that workers mist accept a loss of real wages. The CLC cannot ac- cept these conditions for the lifting of controls. “The Congress has argued since the inception of the controls program that the controls must be lifted immediately and with no conditions attached. We have consistently rejected the govern- ment’s claim that excessive wage increases have been a key cause of our current inflation and unem- ployment problems. . . Therefore, proposals to reduce wage growth to an even greater extent than under the controls program cannot be accepted.” The August 17 meeting of the CLC came in response to the federal government’s written conditions for an end to controls scheduled to expire December, 1978. The government laid down three conditions before agreeing to any earlier phasing out of the controls program. These con- ditions were: labor’s agreement to voluntary wage restraints; the creation of a large multi-partite consultative body to advise: the government on economic policy; and the establishment of a’ wage and price-watching monitoring agency. Pointing out that the govern- ment’s proposals for voluntary wage restraints would be tougher on wages than the current controls program, the CLC also rejected the government’s proposed multi- partite consultative agency as “unwieldy.” The Congress document said that the proposed consultative body would be an instrument “‘to control the decision of private institutions” rather than “fa mechanism through which private institutions can influence policy decisions.’’ it warned CLC affiliates that the proposed forum ‘‘would represent the government’s first step towards the establishment of a corporate state — an arrangement which the CLC vehemently rejects.” See WAGE CONTROLS, pg. 7 British Columbia Organization and Federation of Labor. The “Residential Tenancy Act” introduced in the legislature last week replaced the Landlord and Tenant Act with new laws that significantly reduce tenants’ Tenants the B.C. rights. The main provision of the new Act, however, is the dismantling of rent controls by the granting of authority to the provincial cabinet to remove controls according to its discretion and by order in council. “Tt is a nightmare for ‘tenants,” BCTOsecretary Margaret DeWees described the legislation to the Tribune, “It is grossly unfair.” The de-control section of the Act, she said, allows. the cabinet -to remove controls according to any of nine criteria such as the number of bedrooms, amount of rent, geographic area and vacancy rate. “There will be mass confusion; no enforcement at all,’”’ said DeWees, as partsof cities and even parts of communities will be controlled while others not. The BCTO has arranged to meet with Rafe Mair, the Socred minister of consumer and cor- porate affairs, this Friday to at- tempt to wrest some concessions in the legislation before second reading. The new legislation ‘‘will benefit the powerful and wealthy landlords by giving them free reign to manipulate rents and the housing market at will,’ the B.C. Federation of Labor responded last Thursday. Past experience has shown, the Federation asserted, that ‘‘contrary to the government’s contention, the private market cannot and will not ensure low cost accommodation. ‘During the last election,” the statement said, ‘‘Mr. Bennett’s New Vander Zalm edict denies help to jobless Human resources minister Vander Zalm’s continuing vendetta against the needy hit a new low last week with the pronouncement that unemployed persons awaiting UIC benefits will no longer be eligible for social assistance, The new move will adversely affect more people than any other policy edict brought down by Vander Zalm, the Tribune learned this week from sources at the Vancouver Resources Baord. Vander Zalm’s program co-ordinator Allan Stubbs admitted to the press in Victoria that people awainting UIC benefits constitute the second largest group of social assistance applicants. The Socreds attempted to justify the new policy by claiming that more people would be applying for social assistance because of the federal government’s decision to increase the UIC qualification time from eight weeks to twelve weeks. The federal government boasted that their move would eliminate 50,000 Canadians from the UIC rolls. The Socred policy is aimed at saving money by cutting off all those who will qualify for UIC but are caught in an emergency, often waiting eight to ten weeks for a UIC Cheque to arrive. party went so far as to conduct an extensive media campaign pledging that a Social Credit government would not remove rent controls. Now they are abandoning their pledge as if it wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on.” The Communist Party added its voice to the opposition this week, calling the new legislation “a payoff to the landlords and real estate interests.’’ B.C. party chairman Maurice Rush said that ‘ controls must be strengthened and made effective, and not removed piece-meal. “The whole premise of equality between landlords. and tenants is absurd,” he said. “What tenant has the economic clout of the big landlords?”’ Other new provisions in the legislation cut deep into the hard won rights of tenants by giving Rentalsman Barrie Clarke and the Rent Review: Commission un- See POWERS pg. 8 MPs pressed to stall NEB The United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union appealed this week to B.C. MPs to prevent the threatened undermining of the West Coast Oil Ports Inquiry by a National Energy Board decision to approve the Trans Mountain pipeline, long before Com- missioner Andrew Thompson hands down his decision on the Cherry Point, Washington supertanker oil port, proposed terminus of the oil pipeline. The oil companies have exploited the technical difference between the pipeline and the oil port by applying for NEB approval of the pipeline first, and thereby giving the scheme political approval that will offset the opposition to the plan before the Thompson Inquiry. The UFAWU called on all B.C. MPs to meet with them Wednesday to discuss the matter and although only three MPs showed, the union secured a commitment from each that they would press to postpone any NEB action. Skeena Liberal MP Iono Campagnolo, and New Westminster NDP Stu Leggatt have also agreed to meet with the UFAWU and have indicated agreement with the call for postponed NEB hearings. It was also confirmed this week that the Kitimat Pipeline Company — the consortium founded to build the Kitimat — Edmonton pipeline — has been oficially dissolved. The Kitimat consortium has already made publicits intention to support the Cherry Point-Trans Mountain proposal. Thompson may face a stacked deck when the West Coast Oil Ports Inquiry re-opens September 21 or September 26.