mi Seastaane ee RE Fenian Sree amen oo ae FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 1969 SOCRED GIVEAWAY OF RESOURCES HIT eee mm 6=SCté‘é#~NNeevércorrce’s _ policy proposed The giveaway of B.C.’s resources to foreign and Canadian monopolies by the Bennett government, and the fight to restore public control of these resources and use them to create modern processing industries and thousands of new jobs in B.C., is the central issue in the arin tines = Saati eigenen Iaecag ——aenernidatseseiaenee enti . amrmer~ ag “let the nations explore the planets together in peace,’’ was the message on this impressive float €ntered in the 1961 May Day parade by Vancouver's Civic Outside Workers. The slogan is even more all natural resources to the id today as man moves ever closer to opening up the vast areas of space to exploration. val THOUSANDS LOSE VOTE present election campaign. This was the stand taken by the B.C. Communist Party early this week in its election platform announced by provincial leader Nigel Morgan following a meeting of the party’s provin- cial executive. Charging the Bennett govern- ment with having acted as the broker for the big foreign monopolies to which it has turned over most of our forest, mineral, oil and _ water resources, the Communist platform calls for “the return of MOOK On ExPLOR’ people, and their development Socreds scuttling democracy va a desperate bid for re-election August 27 Premier ro Bennett and the Socred government is riding sUghshod over the democratic rights of British Olumbia citizens. ee voters barely more than a week to get on the voters ans Columbia ae day last Tuesday, tens of thousands ca m Ole on aN have been disenfranchised and denied an opportunity “tection day. Addi ; : : : tha dding to this scandalous situation was an announcement this week the provincial cabinet had approved—only one month before the “idi : a complete reshuffling of polling divisions in 41 of B.C.’s 55 ue: Many of these ridings are held by opposition parties and alee: 4re borderline ridings which could go either way in the ‘Hon, t Be Wholesale reorganization of polling divisions was calculated to Parties monkey wrench into the election machinery of Sppgsinon ra a Particularly the NDP. The Socred government knew about Pry posed changes for some months — giving eu Ue to ete Nze their election machinery — but opposition parties were “ompletely in the dark. singe? have been no changes in the polling divisions in B.C, ridings ~ 1966. An official in the chief electoral office said that many S$ could have been made earlier but had been held up by the 0 ele ' Obviously the reason was to announce them all at once, close _ clon day, to achieve the greatest advantage for the Socreds. Change The polling division changes mean that opposition parties will not have proper maps or voters lists of people in polling divisions, with the result that election work will be thrown into confusion. The announcement by Premier Bennett of a mid-summer election has also caught thousands of people away from home on holiday, with no way to find out whether they were on the voters list and no opportunity to do anything about it. If they were not on the voters list by Tuesday, July 29 there is no way they can now get their vote. An indication of the problems created by Premier Bennett’s snap announcement was revealed in the Comox riding, a strong working class area. Enumerators had only completed 10 to 20 percent of their work when the election was called and enumeration stopped. Officials of the Campbell River and Courtenay Labor Council charged this week that hundreds of voters will lose their franchise. One of them said that residents have no way of knowing if they are on the voters list and post office officials have told them that it is doubtful that all cards confirming a voter is on the list will be delivered by postmen before the Tuesday deadline. It is estimated that upwards of 5,000 fishermen may be in danger of losing their votes along with thousands more among loggers, miners and construction workers. University student spokesmen have also condemned the calling of the election at a time when many of them will find it impossible to vote. This week officials of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union demanded establishment of advance polls in many fishing centres to enable those who managed to get registered to vote. through democratically con- trolled Crown corporations. “Put the people’s interest first by processing and manu- facturing of resources in B.C. to provide thousands of new jobs and obtain a better return for the people from our rich and varied resources,” says a key plank in the platform. The platform also calls for a graduated tax on resources industries with the aim of encouraging BC. manu- facturing. It proposes a capital gains. tax and an increase in the provincial levy on _ large corporate and private incomes. Urging tax relief for the public, the program calls for repeal of the iniquitous Provin- cial Sales Tax which would save the people $176 million a year on living and construction costs. Other key planks in the Com- munist platform call for: @ A new deal for education by repeal of the School Act amend- ments (Bill 86); adequate allow- ances for education, hospital, low-cost housing, welfare and capital costs for freeways and inter-urban transit facilities: an end to university tuition fees and an annual stipend for students. @ Repeal Bill 33 and all restrictive labor laws and outlaw the use of injunctions in labor disputes; a Labor Bill of Rights to guarantee freedom of associa- tion, full collective bargaining for all, the right to strike and picket, and a voice for labor in planning and determining the benefits of automation; bringing of minimum wage and labor standards into line with See RESOURCES, pg. 8