Across Canada Act hits extra billing, user fees OTTAWA — Dr. Everett Coffin, president of the Canadian Medical Association, a 38,000-member regulatory and self- interest doctors’ group, said Dec. 13 that the CMA would back doctors who go on strike to protest the federal government’s new Canada Health Act, given first reading Dec. 12. Some provinces are also expected to oppose the legislation. Among other features, the Act would penalize provinces dollar for dollar to match extra billing by doctors and the charging of user fees by hospitals in the provinces. Last year Canada’s doctors charged patients $72-million over the fees they are paid by government health insurance schemes. (Quebec, British Columbia and the North West and Yukon Territories do not permit such charges.) In addition, hospitals, with provincial approval, charged patients user fees during the same period of some $30-million above funds provided to the hospitals. The new Act would require that 100% of residents of a province must be able to get medicare before Ottawa provides any money. To the threat of doctors withdrawing their services looming over the Canadian public, Health Minister Monique Begin admonishes: the doctors will have to ‘‘behave responsibly’ and *‘come into the 20th century.” 500,000 Montrealers live in poverty MONTREAL — The French-language magazine, L’ Actual- ite, recently published a score card — Toronto vs. Montreal — and gave Toronto 41 points to Montreal’s 28. Interviews with 500 citizens of the two cities graded them on the economy, safety, transportation, leisure/culture, education, health, and urban character. In this survey they tied on education and leisure, Toronto edged through on all but urban character where it shot ahead 8 to 2. Some figures show: unemployment — Toronto 9.9 per cent, Montreal 14.5 per cent; gasoline is 17 cents cheaper in Toronto; rents are lower in Montreal. The L’Actualite survey appears about the same time as a study by a group called Surfacing the Poor, which says 550,000 Montrealers live at or below the poverty line, half of them ““desperately poor’. These latter have incomes of less than 60 per cent of the Statistics Canada 1980 poverty line — $14,545 for a family of four in Montreal, and $7,152 for people living alone. The facts, culled from the 1981 census, show half the poor living alone. Free kindergartens idea scrapped SAINT JOHN — Free kindergartens are out for the Tory-governed Province of New Brunswick. Premier Richard Hatfield, breaking his second key election promise in two months, said that $30-million to provide kindergartens is too much. His attempt to include a plea of a shortage of qualified ° teachers was at once dismissed by those who had been working to have kindergartens in operation by autumn 1984. Estimates say that about 35 per cent of kindergarten-age children have no facilities; the remainder are paid for by their parents at private or co-op establishments. The only other province in Canada without free kindergarten is Prince Edward Island. In October, Hatfield reneged on an election promise to provide income supplements to senior citizens unable to subsist on their meagre pensions. : Planning next generation’s war? OTTAWA — Canadian Defence Minister Blais announced the signing of a memorandum, Dec. 7, providing for the use of Canadian territory for another 10 years in the training of mechanized army units and air force units of the Federal Republic of Germany. The agreement, stretching from Jan. 1, 1984 to De. 31, 1993 opens the way to training of German mechanized army units at Shilo, Manitoba, and German air force units at Goose Bay, Labrador. Battalion-size units of about 700 troops will use tanks and convention weapons at Shilo, while some 16 fighter-bomber aircraft and 250 personnel will practice low-level flying at Goose Bay. The environmental impact will be ‘‘monitored’’. 2 Ke THE CINDERELLA TRIBUNE PHOTO — MIKE PHILLIPS Stewart. Independence means jobs — Kashtan tells economy probe TORONTO — The Communist Party, Dec. 9, showed the Macdonald Royal Commission on the economy how more than half a million new jobs could be immediately created while strengthening Canada’s independence from U.S. domination. Accompanied by the party’s central labor sec- retary, William Stewart, Ontario organizer John MacLennan, and central research director Gerry van Houten, CP general secretary William Kashtan summarized the party’s 73-page brief to the commission. He dealt with three main themes,from the sub- mission: the threat of Canadian absorption by the U.S.; the need to deepen the process of Canadian- ization of the economy, based on nationalization under democratic control of the key sectors; and, the establishment of durable world peace based on peaceful coexistence and the setting up of a new international economic order as the basis for achieving genuine Canadian independence. “Canada has reached a crossroads in its political and economic development, while the world teet- ers on the precipice of nuclear war’’, Kashtan told the commissioners. He said we are faced with ‘‘an historic choice’’ — absorption by the U.S. or pursuit of a path leading to genuine independence. The fierce at- tacks by the Reagan administration and U.S. transnationals on such initiatives. as the National Energy Program, (NEP), and the Foreign Invest- ment Review Act, (FIRA) reflect U.S. imperial- ism’s aims to structure the world in its interests and to get out of its economic crisis by exporting it to allies, like Canada. : Reject Free Trade Canada should reject any pressures toward a common market or free trade with the U.S., Kashtan warned, because it would further distort our economy at the expense of manufacturing over the export of raw materials, and it would add to Canada’s already serious balance of payments problem. It would also tie Canada more closely to the U.S. and further restrict our ability to act independently on matters of economic, and foreign policy. “‘Its end result could be absorption by the USA and its militarized economy’’, Kashtan warned. ‘This is’ not a future Canadians would support.” He also raised the danger of those right-wing forces, like the Progressive Conservatives under Brian Mulroney, who are encouraging this absorp- tion process by trying to push Canada onto the path of neo-conservatism. In its proposal for a Canadianized economy based on public ownership and democratic control, the Communist Party focused on transforming our supplies of energy and natural resources to develop secondary manufacturing and create a machine tool industry producing machinery. we currently import from the U.S. This policy should be accom- panied by expanded trade relations with all coun- tries on a mutually satisfactory basis. Despite the furor over the supposed “‘recovery”’ we are currently experiencing, Kashtan stressed, ‘there can be no real recovery except on the basis of new economic and social policies based on full employment. Communist Party leader William Kashtan discusses his party’s proposals on the economy with the Mae Donald Commission. He is flanked by Ontario auto secretary John MacLennan and labor secretary Willa! ‘extend greater Canadian and public control of seaeiaeenm Among the proposals contained in the party immediate program for jobs, incomes afl economic growth are demands for: a shorter wot week, which the technological revolution ha placed on the agenda; a vast public investmed program to create new jobs with special emphas on jobs and training for young people; measures, increase workers’ purchasing power, such as ene ing all forms of wage restraint and wage controls: expanding social services, extending unemploy’ ment insurance for the full term of unemployme!! at 90 per cent of job earnings, and improvements (0) pensions and social assistance; and measures {0 economy. : The brief demonstrates how, by slashing the dé fence budget by 50 per cent, in line with a foreigh} policy for peace and nuclear disarmament; nce | ing real corporate income tax from its current re# average of 30 per cent to 40 per cent; and closing alll tax concessions and loopholes, the governmefil could create 558,000 new jobs immediately. Not only would these new jobs be created, thé brief noted, but an additional $11-billion would bé) collected in increased government tax revenues !) . boost old age pensions. UI benefits, and other S07 , cial services and assistance. 1 | Shorter Work Week The party also placed the question of the shortél work week at the-centre of the fight for jobs and ol making the scientific and technological revolutio® benefit working people rather than just increas corporate profits. q ‘“‘The scientific and technological revolution ” too important to be left in private hands’’, Kash told the commission. ‘‘It must be placed u democratic control.’’ : This means trade unions having a say over 1¥) implementation; that it be directed towards ensU!) ing full employment; that people must benefit fro# shorter work time with no reduction in pay; th# tech change be included into the scope of collecti¥’ bargaining; that governments and corporatio® shoulder the responsibility for training and retral! ing of workers for the new jobs created; and, th# the educational system be expanded to help yous people adapt to the changes that are under way" On the peace question, Kashtan said the pati) welcomes Prime Minister Trudeau’s peace init?) tive, but he pointed out that the sincerity of th? initiative ‘‘would be greatly reinforced were 1 government to annul testing of the Cruise miss! on Canadian territory and come out in oppositi©, to deployment of the Cruise and Pershing “ intermediate missiles in western Europe. i ‘*Giving way to U.S. pressures on matters of and death is not an option this or any othe! government ought to pursue”’ he said. :. Noting the failure of the so-called ‘‘two track, policy which led to new missile deployment 2! derailed the disarmament talks, he said success the latest initiatives must be based on “‘parity api equality of security for all countries, starting first?) | all between the USA and the USSR, NATO asl the Warsaw Treaty countries.”’ Canada should pursue an independent fore?) | policy and work toward sucha solution rather th! tieing itself to U.S. Imperialist aims, he said.