Much still to be done
to achieve world peace

The strug
Peace must not diminish because

gle for lasting world
Bee Metra ceasefire agree-
Po he Canadian Peace Con-
an leves. Congress organ-
a Pee Secretary, Jean Vau-
Bille as been meeting with
Dublic ae activists and ‘the
ae a Western tour,
ee sem Ongoing work for
= abridged aie two cities

By CHARLES LUTZ

ED)
Ee CNTON — In this city,
Rey Ongress spokesman,

autour, tol iversi
“A » told Universit
oe Students that Saigon
Political 9. leu is reclassifying
M riminalee ones into common
agreement to prevent ceasefire
is from freeing them.
leaders panded up all student
eaders, Most of the religious
“Thi
Thieu * Shows how insecure
Z Re She said,
at-reneh autour underlined the
Ng consequences of

the yj;
streng letnamese victory: a

strug ne of the world-wide
ence stl a National independ-
ing fgnt _ "ing about a sharpen-
trol ¢ : - Canada too, to con-
thereby tight natural resources,
Ployment burden = oo

Ow Resolution Helred

Struggle fferent elements of the '

sho are interrelated was
toric Ho. Teference to the his-
mous fone Commons unani-
bombin ‘sion to deplore the
: te of Vietnam by the U.S.
dents <<’ She told the stu-
a ae _ after the vote
ts in, New Democra-
man icined eign affairs spokes-
Cialist det an international so-
Beention to Vietnam
Pham €win = said Premier
Nam haq told re of North Viet-
im the resolution
Canadian House

of Commons had been influen-
tial in persuading Washington
to seek peace at the Paris nego-
tiations.

Not that Canada does not
have any responsibilities of its
own in the Vietnam tragedy,
the Peace Congress organizer
reminded the students.

Children and Super-profits

Thousands and thousands of
children are now wandering
homeless in South Vietnam
while Canadian firms who fur-

_nished war material to the Pen-

tagon are still enjoying their
super-profits, she said.
“Canada’s government should
impose a surcharge on thece
firms to help pay some of the
war reparations. The terrible
devastation of Vietnam, north
and south, demands our utmost

efforts to raise funds for resto-

ration.”

In addition it will be our task
to see to it that the Canadian
contingent on the cease-fire ob-

servation forces do not enter

into any kind of “deal” with
either the U.S. or the Thieu
regime.

“Canada will soon have an-
other golden — opportunity to
affirm itself on the side of peace-
loving people,” said Jean Vau-
tour. “The NORAD treaty comes
up for renewal this year, and it
will be in the best interests of
the Canadian people to de-
nounce the war-like military
agreement...

“Youth has, by and large, the
main role to play in the strug-

.gle for peace and they must see

to it that Canada continues to
assert itself in its present peace-
ful stance.”

Canada has been invited to
participate in the planning com-
mittee of the forthcoming World
Peace Congress, set up under
United Nations sponsorship, to
be held in Moscow in October
of this year, said Mrs. Vautour.

Regt, EUNICE YOUNG
feat Althou h
Petialiste the United ace ee
, a letnam is an out-
Ctory for the demo-
Tem, : Tees of th
‘mains € world, much
tld pea done to secure
OrBanizatin” Mrs. Jean Vautou
Canagian Mal secretary of the
Reo 22 Peace Cc Saris
Bing audienee cos told a
aps eb. 12
Sa ;
: 300,099 pn there are still
held 4, 1cal prisoners being
4 Whose Corrupt Thieu re-
Bo itnpe Telease is of para-
<shment x Hance for the estab-
tment ° i democratic goy-
relics € south.
Ponen 5 Pious leaders oe on
| that ty, Te yw, leu. She warned
oes every reason to
Pet would He Thieu govern-
j i Vent 9 all it could to
fi : Prisco. Telease of the poli-
rate the fers iM order to fru-
Bic 5, gra nation of a demo-
m:

tic fo

d th
os ham's bis Some of South
ti im Ons are wired
BO ang hee nee demoli-
an € infamous ti
( ere dreamecnocked the acre
S *°Ssibjy Up, designed and

j

ere
Wars 5, 2re sti

dle? She
tha) Warne » unless peo-

. and T will for peace
he id, a t. This is the year
“ Whethn it has to be de-
& dra €r or not Canada
sul 4 from NATO. Ww
; = sh a look into the ts
) fi With the agreements Canada
tng ae States, and
Twin? @ forac Pave Canada de-
Will Chable isn Policy which
Us to develop trade

with all countries rather than
having our relationships with
other countries determined by
U.S. foreign policy.

United Protest

The struggle for disarmament
is a key problem, Mrs. Vautour
said. While the main purpose is
to disarm the war-makers, it
also has a direct effect on our
economic problems. The only
way we can overcome the prob-
lems of unemployment is when
we establish:a policy based on
peace. The United States for
example, she said, was produc-
ing more arms than any coun-
try in the world, and still it has
mass unemployment.

The task facing Canadian
peace workers is to help mobil-
ize the peace forces into a unit-
ed protest movement so that no
more wars break out, she said.

The meeting adopted a peti-
tion to the Canadian govern-
ment which reads as follows:
“Six hundred million dollars of
Canadian tax-payers’ money was
used to procure contracts from
the Pentagon for Canadian com-
panies and to help equip them
to produce war materials. We,
therefore, demand that a special
tax be levied against all com-
panies in Canada which pro-
duced. war materials for the
United States, and that the
money so collected be used to
rebuild hospitals, homes and
schools, churches and factories
in Vietnam.”

The meeting also agreed to
send a delegation to the Sas-
katchewan government to ask
for its assistance in securing
medical supplies for Vietnam.

The monetary crisis has again erupted in all
of its fury. As in December 1971 the crisis has
its place of origin in the USA. The monetary

crisis is both a U.S. dollar crisis and a crisis of

the world capitalist financial structure.
As a consequence, West Germany and Japan

- find themselves in a tight squeeze. For the

moment at least, and as long as the Canadian
dollar does not float too much above the U.S.
dollar, Canada is not as severely affected. This
does not mean that Canada—which is more be-
holden to U.S. dollar investments and the U.S.
export market—will escape serious consequen-
ces in the event that President Nixon moves in
the direction of additional measures, such as a
new surcharge on imports or other forms of
trade restrictions.

There is no doubt that the U.S. is out to re-
duce its 214 billion dollar balance-of-payment
deficit with Canada, using 1972 figures. The
fact that much of this deficit comes from busi-
ness with U.S. branch plants in Canada, who
also profit from their investments, does not
appease the U.S. policy makers, who are going
to use the occasion to force concessions from
Canada on the auto pact, energy resources and
perhaps other matters affecting jobs for Cana-
dians. The dollar crisis also affects Canada’s
trade with the European Economic Community
(Common Market) and Japan. Our imports from
these countries will be dearer, thereby increas-
ing prices and feeding the growing inflation and
making two-way trade much more difficult.

The USA was compelled, once again to de-
value its dollar by 10%. This is the second de-
valuation of the once mighty U.S. dollar in over
a year.

The first post-war devaluation, of about 12%
took place in December 1971. The first devalua-
tion came after the infamous announcement by
President Nixon of a “New Economic Policy”.
This policy decreed that U.S. dollars held by
foreign governments, through their banks would
no longer be convertible to gold. This was a
repudiation of its solemn undertaking to redeem
all U.S. dollars with gold, on demand. It was in
fact a declaration of bankruptcy on the part of
the mighty USA. The postwar monetary sys-
tem which was based on the agreement that
all currencies would be defined: in terms of gold
and that all governments would accept U.S. dol-
lars as equivalent to gold came to an end with
Nixon’s “New Economic Policy”.

The Nixon “New Economic Policy” brought
to an end the monetary system established at
the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, which
established the International Monetary Fund.
This marked the end of an era. It brought to
an end the tacit agreement that placed the
United States in the position of a supez-national
power with, the right to create international
paper money in the form of U.S. dollars. U.S.
imperialism used this power to acquire econo-
mic domination in: many parts of the world at
the mere cost of the paper on which the dollars
were printed. This state of affairs could only
last as long as the United States remained the
dominant economic power in the capitalist

world.

The U.S. dollar crisis reflects the historic fact
that U.S. imperialism has lost its dominant
status. It lost this dominant status because of
its relative economic decline in the capitalist
world. Some of its allies, West Germany, Japan
and the European Economic Community (Com-
mon Market) are challenging the U.S. not only
on the world market but in the US. itself.

The U.S. is faced with a massive trade deficit
of $6.4 billion, the highest in its history. Despite
the fact that much of its‘imports into the U.S.
market come from U.S.-owned and controlled
corporations outside the USA, the U.S. is con-
tinuing to show a growing balance of payment
deficit. All of its efforts are directed to pressure
its allies and trading partners to decrease ex-
ports to the USA and increase imports from
the USA. This policy has all the elements of a
trade war.

All efforts to establish a new stable monetary
structure have failed. At best the contrived
measures adopted postponed momentarily the
dire consequences, only to aggravate and pre-
pare the ground for a new crisis.

Canada is particularly vulnerable. The mone-
tary crisis has a most serious effect on Canada
because U.S. monopolies own and control] our
economic levers, and our export and import
trade is in the main oriented on the U.S. market.

The claim that the devaluation of the U.S. dol-
lar will not harm us, but will benefit Canadians
is unfounded. The move by the USA is calculated
to make exports into the U.S. dearer and imports
into Canada from the. USA cheaper. This can
only hurt the Canadian economy.

The more ominous steps which will further
hurt the Canadian economy are at present in
the making. President Nixon has asked for legis-
lative powers to introduce restrictive, high tariff
trade measures against imports into the. USA.

These protectionist measures are at the ex-
pense of the U.S. allies and trading partners.
These are the measures which will confront
Canada and other countries with an open trade
war with the USA.

To meet the monetary crisis Canada must
adopt a strategy of balanced economic develop-
ment, break out of the economic dependence on
the USA and assert its sovereignty and indepen-
dence.

Within the realm of capitalist Canada the
working people cannot cure the ills of capitalism,
including the ills reflected in the monetary crisis.
It can fight to prevent the monopolies from plac-
ing the cost of the crisis on the shoulders of the
working people through a wage freeze and
other restrictions while permitting prices and
profits to rise. It can, indeed it must, press for an
expansion of the home market by raising the liv-
ing standards of the Canadian people and by
pressing for an expansion of trade with the
socialist and developing countries. :

It should be noted that the monetary crisis
only affects the capitalist world; it does not
affect the socialist world. The socialist world is
free of monetary crisis, as it is free of economic
crisis, unemployment and inflation.

Central Executive Committee,

=e Communist Party of Canada.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1973—PAGE 9