Chilean trade union leaders to Chilean trade union leaders Luis Meneses, secretary general of the exterior com- mission of the United Workers Federation of Chile (CUT) and Jorge Frias, a member of the exterior commission are slated to speak to a meeting of the Vancouver and District Labor Council, Tuesday March 1, 8 p.m. in the IWA Hall at 13th and Commercial in Vancouver. The two are currently on a North American tour which has already taken them to several cities in the U.S. as well as other centres in this country. The Canadian tour is being spon- sored by the Canadian Labor ‘Congress. Although Tuesday’s meeting is a regular session of the Vancouver and District Labor Council, council secretary Paddy Neale confirmed that the erferst Ea Sa VOL. 39, No. 20° Chilean leaders would be placed on the agenda at thie beginning of the meeting and@'that as much space as possible wduld be made available in the council’s visitors’ gallery. Meneses and Frias have had an honored reception in the other cities on their tour and in Detroit, they were received by mayor Coleman Young and were given the keys to the city during their four-day stay. The two leaders have em- phasized particularly the brutal suppression of Chilean trade unions by the junta and the devastating effect on Chilean workers of the junta’s economic policies. One of the junta’s first acts after the fascist coup was to dissolve the CUT which represented more than 90 percent of Chilean workers. 8 Young. Chilean CUT leaders Jorge Frias (left) and Luis Meneses (right) are welcomed by Detroit mayor Coleman speak here ‘ (em a a William Kashtan, leader of the Communist Party of Canada, begins a country-wide tour in Vernon, Separation Inevitable?. The Commun speaking on the topic, “Quebec: Is ist Solution.’ ‘ Vernon’s meeting is scheduled for March 9, followed by Victoria, March 10; Port Alberni, March 11, Longshoremen’s Hall; Courtenay, March 12, Grantham’s Hall; and Vancouver, March 13, 2 p.m. CPI campaign assails India emergency rule Strong criticism of emergency rule in India was voiced at a recent New Delhi news conference by C. Rajeswara Rao, general secretary of the Communist Party of India who urged voters to ‘“‘elect a new Lok Sabha (house of represen- tatives) with a decisive majority for democratic forces.” India’s more than 320 million Voters go to the polls March 16 to 20 M national elections. According to New Age, the English-language weekly of the Communist Party of India, Rao Said that his party was putting Special emphasis in the elections On the need to extend democracy, to lift the state of emergency and to €nd press censorship. Rao told the New Delhi news Conference that during the 20- month-long emergency rule im- posed by Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, an_ extra- constitutional power had developed. which threatens the democratic operations of the In- dian government. The CPI secretary noted that Gandhi herself was to blame for this. The first six months of emergency rule was seen as warranted by increasing sub- versive activity by right wing groups within India coupled with attempts by multinational com- panies to destabilize the economy. But after this initial period, Rao said, the emergency powers “came more and more to be used against the working class, the see DEMOCRATIC pg. 12 Pierre Trudeau’s delegation to Washington has been termed .a “disgrace’’ to Canada that exposed the bankruptcy of federalist policies. B.C. Communist Party secretary Nigel Morgan condemned Trudeau’s Washington visit as a “cover up” of Canada’s crisis of Confederation that was aimed at reassuring big business circles in the United States that Canada will remain a secure place for American investment. Trudeau evaded the question of national equality in his Washington speech and presented a picture of mere cultural differences that could be solved by “built in freedom of equality with two languages and with a multitude of cultures.” “Tt is not only a language question,” Morgan stated, ‘and policies of bilingualism and federalism have already been proven inadequate to keep this country together. “Until a new constitution is negotiated that will recognize the two nations of Canada and will eliminate national inequality, there will be no solution to the crisis of Confederation.” If Trudeau’s shallow presen- ‘tation of a fundamental Canadian problem before a foreign audience is shameful, the real danger of the Trudeau-Carter meetins renewed drive for continentalist policies, Morgan suggested. Those fears were born out by reports of two agreements reached by the heads of state, the first on fishing rights and the second on the deadline for agreement on the major oil and gas pipeline to carry Alaska and Mackenzie Valley oil and gas to American markets. Both agreements loom as major sellouts of Canadian resources and signal a more compliant position of the Trudeau government as it bends to the pressure of pro-U.S. monopoly groups, which Morgan contended, ‘‘are demanding a return to a special relationship with the United States.” Morgan’s comments were of- ; fered in the course of a report to CP members on the recent session of the party’s central committee, which met in Toronto to discuss the crisis of Confederation. The meeting, widely seen as a historic one for the CP, reaffirmed and developed the party’s ap- proach to the national question in Canada and rejected separatism as a solution to the national inequality of French Canada. Morgan related that in the estimation of the central com- mittee the election victory of the Parti Quebecois was ‘“‘a certain advance’’ for the labor and Soviet menace invented says ex-NATO general A retired NATO general, now an Italian Senator, debunked the myth of a Soviet “menace” in a statement made to the press last week. “There is no Soviet menace,” said General Nino Pasti, Italy’s former representative of the NATO Council. “‘It is quite clear to any reasonable person that the notorious ‘Soviet menace’ is just an in- vention that is totally unfounded.”’ General Pasti was responding to a mounting campaign in the European and North American media citing the ‘‘Soviet threat” as a pretext for escalated arms expenditures and for stiffened cold war postures. is a | ¢ NIGEL MORGAN progressive forces in Quebec who voted for the first time against the old line parties of big business. “But the PQ should not be confused with a social democratic see FEDERALIST pg, 12 Vote seen on Trident Although no date has yet been named for introduction of the bill, Social Credit backbencher Cyril Shelford has announced that his motion condemning the Trident nuclear submarine base in Bangor, Washington will go through the Legislature during the current session. Shelford told a press conference in Victoria this week that he and NDP MLA Robert Skelly together with members of the Pacific Life Community have spoken to 50 of the 55 MLAs and have pledges of support from 35 of them. The Pacific Life Community has been lobbying for some days now ident motion and intends to take its campaign against the base to Ottawa.