==)

a tao OS
aN
otra i ieee an”

’ : government order-in-council goy-
: : erning duties, taxes and move-
ment of labor on both sides of
. river for the building of the cof-
: » - fer dam at Cornwall.

THE United States is attempt-

ing to make the St. Lawrence

ay into another’ “Panama

War base and at the same time

is grabbing the major part of

employment and construction con-
tracts.

But the St. Laurent govern-
ment, fearful of the consequences
of public debate on the issue, re-
fuses to call parliament on a
matter which a Canadian diplo-
Mat admits has “extraordinary
implications.” :

Washington, through its Sea-
way Authority, is putting the
heat on Ottawa to enlarge the
locks to a depth of at least 30
feet, widen and lengthen them to
100 feet and 1,000 feet. Present

Plans call for 27 foot channels, .

80 feet wide and 800 feet long,
comparable to the Welland Can-
al system.

This is clearly designed to turn
‘the Seaway into. a submarine-
Proof base for giant U.S. war-
ships’ as part of the overall U.S.
~ War plan.
The ‘Toronto Star’s Harold

Greer, reported from Ottawa on’

October 4:
“The real impetus here for a
larger-than-planned canal seems

to come from the defense and

navy departments on the theory
that large warships could then
use Lake Ontario as a sub-
marine-free haven in the event
of war. Defense planners have
‘been thinking that deep-sea
shipyards, drydocks and ship-
_ building facilities could be est
ablished on the lake if their
products could be got to the
sea. The defense department is
only vaguely aware that there
is a long-standing treaty be-
- tween Canada and the US. limit-
ing the size of warships on the
Great Lakes to the gunboat
PEVATICLY soc -
So far, the Canadian Seaway
uthority, under Lionel Chevrier,
FY + . sna

has resisted the U.S. demand, but
reports from Ottawa and Wash-
ington indicate the U.S. has not
given up. The Toronto Star re-
ported on October 5: _
“A Canadian diplomatic source
described the idea as having
‘extraordinary implications and

complications’,

Another aspect of the pres-
sure for a “super-Seaway” is to
build the U.S. locks to the larger
specification in order to make
the Canadian plan for locks at
Iroquois uneconomic. ae

It is known that the U.S. is

“displeased” with the Canadian

plan for the Iroquois section op-
posite the U.S.elocks in the In-

ternational Section. The Iroquois

locks constitute a necessary link
towards the completion of an all-
Canadian route which would put
the St. Lawrence River under
full Canadian sovereignty

strongly demanded by Canadian

This cavalcade travelled near
Peninsula last summer carrying
Canadian.”

Ras Ses

ly 200 miles through the Niagara

public opinion.

Enlarged canals on the USS.
side would either force Canada
‘to build canals and locks far big-
ger than necessary for normal
commerce — or abandon Iroquois.

The US. plan is designed to .

undermine Prime Minister St.
Laurent’s pledge to build the all-

Canadian Seaway when traffic

justifies it.

*

It was revealed on October 5.

that steel for the coffer dam at
Barnhardt Island in the Interna-
tional Section would come from
West Germany, instead of from
Canadian mills, The contract was
negotiated through a Canadian
subsidiary of a U.S.-controlled
corporation.

The Canadian Contractors Asso-
ciation has already expressed
alarm over the situation and has
wired its protest to Trade Minis-
ter C. D. Howe. Howe’s reply
that the order-in-council is for

the slogan, “Keep the Seawa

the coffer dam only gave little
reassurance to the contractors.

It is recalled that Howe told
the Financial Post on April 11,
1953:

“Ownership by the U.S. of a
short section of a very long
seaway would not only add to
the overall construction cost,
but would complicate problems
of maintenance and operation.
Continued ownership by one
national authority of the entire
seaway represents the most ef-
ficient procedure.”
Since making that statement,
he has officiated at the handing

over of the “short section” to
U.S. control. :

R. S. Hamilton, past president
of the Canadian Association of
Equipment Distributors, declared:
“It looks like things are being
arranged in such a way that the
business will be going to foreign
builders.” :

Another leading contractor told
the press: “I know for a fact
that none of the material on the
Mannix-Raymond bill will come
from Canada.” Mannix-Raymond,
a U.S.-controlled outfit, was the
successful bidder for the coffer
dam which is required to hold
back the waters of the river
while the power dam is being
built.

_ Another giant U.S. corporation
is also reported moving into the
Seaway picture. Louis E. Wolf-
son, who is seeking ¢ontrol of
the Toronto firm of C. A. Pitts,
is president of the construction
and engineering firm of Meritt-
Chapman and Scott. Wolfson
said in Toronto on October 7
that this corporation “is going to

_be’in on the St. Lawrence Sea-

way from both sides.”

The United Steel Workers
union in both Hamilton and Sault
Ste. Marie, has protested the
award of this contract demanding
that the 1,200 tons of sheet pil-
ings be made in Canadian mills:
and provide employment for Can-
adian workers.

U.S. contractors have been
given the inside track to most of
the construction work by a recent

The Toronto Telegram ésti-
mates that Canadian contractors
and suppliers will lose up to $600
million as a result of this move
which opens the way to cut-price
U.S. equipment and surplus labor
to move in at tenders below what
Canadian firms can bid.

The Telegram reported on Oc-
tober 1:

“Since equipment can ‘be
brought from the U.S. at prices.
about 35 percent lower than
equipment on which duty has
been paid, the Canadian equip-
ment industry is stymied. And
since immigration laws are be-
ing waived, there is nothing to
prevent American contractors
from using American labor en-
tirely.” roe
Canadian ‘firms, it is pointed

out, which have obtained their
equipment largely from the US.,
have already paid the 35 percent
duty and thus cannot hope to
cope with bids free of such
charges. :

British Guiana
is behind Jagan

FF a general election were to be

held in British Guiana today,
there is not the slightest doubt
that it would be won by the Peo-
ple’s Progressive party, whose
government, the first elected un-
der the now suspended new con-
stitution, was removed from office
by the British government in
1953. pe Ts

After 12 months of suppres-
sion, jailings, intimidation by
British military forces and close
censorship, the people of British
Guiana still refuse to be cowed.

But all the British govern-
ment’s accusations about ‘“Com-
munist plots’ to burn down
Georgetown and establish dictat-
orship have been proved to be
empty, lying inventions.

A year ago, on October 9, 1953,
the People’s Progressive govern-
ment, elected ‘by popular vote,
was deposed by British troops
and, on the direction of the Brit-

ish government, an autocratic ad-
ministration was set up to stifle
any demands for democratic self-
expression. :

Nearly every leader in the
People’s Progressive party, ‘in-
cluding Dr. Cheddi Jagan, the
former prime minister, was im-
prisoned, meetings were forbid-
den, publications were censored
and a wide range of political
literature was banned.

All this was enforced by Brit-

_ish troops and local police. Then

a new stooge party, the National
Democratic party, was organized
to combat the appeal of the Peo-’
ple’s Progressive party. But now
what is the result? ;

The London Times is no friend
of the people of British Guiana,
but in a recent article its corre-
spondent in Guiana admitted that
the PPP was still “deeply en-

CONCLUDED ON NEXT PAGE

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — OCTOBER 22, 1954 — PAGE 9 |