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Throughout the country municipalities are beset by tax

bearing the brunt. ™

SSS

problems ... and homeowners are

What can we do
about taxes?

HEN mayors and municipal

officials met last week in
& national convention at Mur-
Tay Bay, Quebec, and demand-
€d greater financial laid for
Civic governments they put
the Spotlight on-one of the
igsest problems facing the
hation today. -

The crisis of civic govern-
Ment dates back to Confedera-
tion. When ‘the British North
American Act was passed in
1867 uniting the provinces of
-anada under one government
little attention was given to
local governments. The main
Powers were divided between

Provincial and federal govern-
Ments,

This is understandable since
anada was at that time a
Tural country. Its cities and
towns were sparsely populated
With the result that limited
ancial powers were granted
Civic governments to take care
of local needs,

Since then big changes have
‘ €n place. Canada’s advance
Tom an agrarian to industrial
eee has led to the growth
; Cities and towns. The major-
‘Y Of the country’s popula-

“0n is today located in urban
areas,

: Along

with this growth
ave

come new burdens for
1@ cities and towns, which,

»

By MAURICE RUSH

under the BNA Act, had tothird of the revenue of such

rely mainly on taxes on real
property to finance _ their

needs.

The increase in automobiles
has forced municipalities to
make huge outlays for roads
and traffic facilities.

~ Welfare, hospitalization and
social service costs have soared
beyond the ability of municipal
sources of revenue to meet
them.

So have costs of education”
which today eat up nearly a

cities as Vancouver.

Ww

Federal and provincial gov-
ernments have used their pow-
ers to expand their base of
taxation, but. civic govern-
ments have been left pretty
well where they were. The re-
sult is that each year new
taxes are imposed on home-
owners to meet the .crushing
load of civic services.

The trend has been for sen-
ior governments to get an ever

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10:

The woodworkers can

demands and that militant ac-
tion by the workers could win
substantial gains.

In 1946 the workers demon-
strated to the operators the
kind of winning: fight they
could wage. Starting at 11
a.m. on May 15, the workers
walked off the job in every
camp and mill in the province.
And at that time there were
only 10,000 union members.
But another 15,000 joined the

‘union, Not a man attempted

to scab. =
The union won the good will
of the general public because

of the responsible attitude of
the strikers to the problems
created for the general public
by the strike. The determina-
tion of the strikers to win was
constantly kept before the
public through parades, mass
*picket-lines, “ tag days and
strike bulletins issued daily
to the strikers and public alike.

The high point in public
demonstration was the trek to
Victoria which took — 5,000
woodworkers and supporters
to the capital city.

The organized labor move-
ment, including the CCF and
the LPP, gave unconditional

larger share of the total tax
while the part going to munici-

palities has declined each year.

A brief prepared by
Ontario Association of Mayors
and Reeves shows that federal
and provincial governments in
1930 took 60.7 percent of all
taxes for municipalities. By
1951 the two senior govern-
ments took 88.1 percent leay-
ing 11.9 percent for municipal-
ities,

the

Caught between the rising
costs of civic government and
the smaller share of tax reven-
ues received by cities anck
towns, homeowners have found
themselves carrying an impos-
sible burden which has been
growing each years Nor can
there be any real solution until
senior governments face up to
their responsibilities to the
civic governments.

In most cities and towns the
situation faced by homeowners
has been made worse by unfair
civic tax policies favoring big
business imposed by reaction-
ary civic governments such as
the Non-Partisan. Association
in Vancouver.

Illustrative of this situation
is the dilemma. facing Vancou-
ver taxpayers who this year
will pay the highest taxes in
the city’s history. In the last
ten years taxes in Vancouver
have more than doubled. This
year the average homeowner
will have to pay $15 more than
last year and for many the in-
crease will be more than that.

No Zovernment since Con-
federation has tackled . the
srowing crisis facing civic gov-
ernments. During the 22 years
the Liberals were in office
they studiously avoided deal-
ing with this question until it
became a major national issue.

Recognizing the wide public
demand for greater aid to
municipalities, Conservative
Prime Minister John Diefen-
baker in his election campaign
promised that he would con-
vene a Dominion - Provincial-
Municipal conference to work
out measures for greater aid
to municipalities. Since assum-
ing office last week he has re-
peated that promise.

The steps which need to be
taken at such a conference

Ss

support to the union. Entire
communities-rallied*to the sup-
port of the strikers. The trade
union movement, merchants
and the working people gen-
erally realized that the gains
won by the IWA would set.a
pattern of improved living in
B.C.

The woodworkers can repeat
those gains this year. But to do
so means learning the lessons
of history and dispelling any
illusions of a quick and easy
victory.

The lumber’ bosses are
tough. To beat them requires,

JUNE 28, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 11

Civic

were discussed by the 600 civic
officials who attended the con-
vention in Murray Bay, Que-
bec, last week.

One resolution from North
Vancouver council called for
a “reallocation of tax revenue
so that municipal governments
will be able to properly dis-
charge their responsibilities to
their citizens.”

Another resolution from the
city of Winnipeg called for
“the federal government to
assume the full cost of elemen-
tary education by making
statutory grants to the prov-
inces.

The Labor-Progressive party,
along with scores of trade
unions, ratepayers’ and civic
organizations have been mak-
ing the same demand together
with the proposal that such
grants should be given to the
nunicipalities so that control
would remain in the hands of
locally elected school boards.

A further resolution from
tichmond calls for the federal
government to set up a loan
fund so that municipalities
can borrow cheap money for
projecis.

At the present time civic
governments are forcedto shop
around for the best deal they
can get from private loan com-
panies and municipalities
spend a very large part of
the taxpayers’ money paying

exorbitant interests on these
loans.

Vancouver, for example,
paid out $7,500,000 _ interest

last year on its civic debt. This
is as much as was spent on
public works, parks and water
combined.

One of the big jobs before
the country on its_ninetieth
birthday, is to tackle the major
problem of the crisis of civic
government. Federal action is
long overdue. The Diefenbaker
government must not be al-
lowed to backtrack on its elec-
tion promise.

The time is here now for
labor and other popular or-
ganizations, together with civic
governments, to press for a
Dominion - Provincial - Civic
conference to

compel senior
governments to take over a
large part of civic costs and

provide larger sources of
revenue for the hard-pressed
municipalities.

win again

in the first that the
union leadership organize the
membership’s will to win. The
way to a good settlement is
organization of the union’s
fighting ability in mass pick-
eting, parades and the solicit-
ing of moral and financial sup-
port from other unions and
the general public.

Solidarity of all organized
labor with the IWA and com-
munity support in every wood-
working centre can win what

siomcepetcy
will be in the real sense a
victory for all the working
people of this province.

place,