munity worker, is offering the Only real opposition to the at- tempt being made by reaction- Ty circles, headed by Dorwin ird, candidate for reeve, to St a municipal manager on € district. _As a candidate for council, Birchard has mailed 6,000 let- rs to voters in which he urges rejection of the municipal anager plan at the polls, “irchard also outlines in the ter his proposals for civic 80vernment reforms to meet the needs of North Vancouver Istrict’s rapidly expanding _ Population. _ He proposes amalgamation Of North Vancouver city and district and merging of ser- “Vices and administration to ing large savings to tax- ayers, and election of coun- “fillors on an area basis with 4 board of. control and reeve lected at large. In Burnaby a campaign to ‘Unite progressive voters at the Polls to’ oust the present Non- €rtisan-controlled administra- On is headed up by labor can- date William Turner, an ac- ‘or non-attendance at school. : But the court ruled that her *ight-year-old brother must Main in the sanitarium, M he parents of the children, ‘tT. and Mrs. William Peropel- N, had launched habeas cor- ae Proceedings to secure re- “ase of their children. ee the case of 10-year-old oa Justice McInnes ruled at her parents, who reside YN’ Crescent Valley, were not Properly notified of the hear- es Which “resulted in the anes committal for failure to tend school. di € also. ruled that Stipen- b ary Magistrate E. W. Euer- Y of Grand Forks did not have JUST ARRIVED “The Stalin Era’ by ANNA LOUISE STRONG Sper Edition - $1.25 PEOPLE'S CO-OP BOOKSTORE 37 West Pender Street ae 5836 Unionist, war veteran and com- tive figure in Burnaby rate- payers’ organizations, trade unionist and war veteran. Turner has consistently polled a large vote in Burnaby muni- cipal elections. Turner is contesting a coun- cil seat on a program of lower taxation, return to the ward system, sound town planning for sewers, roads and parks, public ownership of the BCE bus system and cheaper elec- tricity and gas. In a widely distributed elec- tion statement, Turner is call- ing for unity at the polls to elect himself and two of the candidates put forward by the Burnaby Citizens’ Association, James (Scotty) Gordon and Robert McCarthy, to the three council vacancies. Also attracting considerable attention and winning united labor support is Mrs. Camille Mather, wife of columnist Barry Mather, who is a Burn- aby Citizens’ Association can- didate for Parks Board. Voting in North Vancouver District and Burnaby this Sat- urday is between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Court returns child to Doukhobor parents Justice H. W. McInnes, in Supreme Court Wednesday Is week ordered the return of a 10-year-old girl to her Parents for Christmas. She had been confined in the New Yenver Sanitarium, along with other Doukhobor childrén, sufficient evidence of non-at- tendance to commit the girl to New Denver. : In his ruling on Irene’s eight year old brother Bill, Justice McInnes ruled that the com- mittal by William Evans, ju- venile court judge in Nelson, was properly made. The parents are members of the Sons of Freedom group which traditionally has been opposed to seeking redress in the courts. Purpose of the suit was to test validity of the pro- ceedings whereby Sons of Freedom children have been committed to New Denver in large numbers. es The net effect of the suit is that while one child has been released on technical grounds, the court has upheld the val- idity of the provincial govern- ment’s policy of compelling Sons of Freedom parents to send their children to public school, under penalty of hav- ing them committed under the Protection of Children’s Act. P. E; Hogan and George L. Murray appeared for the crown, and challenged the validity of the habeas corpus proceedings in Supreme Court. Progressives contest. FEWER CONTESTS orth Van, Burnaby Acclamations for Interest in Greater Vancouver municipal elections this aturday, December 15, centres on North Vancouver Dis- trict and Burnaby where strong campaigns are being con- fucted by labor and progressive candidates. In North Vancouver District, Ivan Birchard, trade 189 municipal seats A disturbing feature in this week's municipal elections throughout the prov- ince is the number of positions that have been filled by acclamation. Some observers attribute this to the lack of interest in local affairs, others to the virtual stranglehold old-line party machines have obtained in many centres. They point to the fact that the majority of the acclamations were in smaller municipalities and in villages, and claim that these positions offer little more than a lot of hard work and many fin- ancial headaches because of the crisis in municipal financ- ing. But all agree that it is an unhealthy sign when there is so much apathy in civic affairs. A Pacific Tribune survey this week disclosed the fol- lowing: CITY ACCLAMATIONS Mayors: four out of 5. Aldermen: 17. School Trustees: 37. Park Commissioners: 10. Police Commissioners: 3, = Several union men seek civic office Voters in scores of district municipalities and villages will go to the polls Saturday. They will elect reeves, coun- cillors, commissioners, school board trustees, police com- missioners and park board members. In many of these communities, progressive and labor sponsored candidates will be seeking office. Kitimat voters will find three labor-backed candidates contesting vacancies for coun- cillor: Russ Hoover, -Christy Trower and Monty Alton, all executive members of the Steelworkers’ Union. In Lake Cowichan, Archi- bald Greenwell, well known in local labor and co-op circles is running for commissioner. Greenwell served on _ the school board for many years, as trustee and as chairman. In Hope, A. H. Mclsac, re- tired railroader and former CCF federal candidate, is in the field for commissioner. In Powell River, where un- ionist Robert Bryce obtained an acclamation for council, John Stigins is in the running for school board. In Maple Ridge, Elmer Walske, building contractor, is running for councillor. Carl Hilland, electrical contractor, and Arthur Rowe are in the field for school board. Fruit probe planned The provincial government will set up a Royal Commission next week to probe the fruit industry. The federal government has agreed to assist but will not participate directly. The B.C. cabinet originally proposed a joint federal-provincial probe. School Maple Ridge. | ROBERT BRYCE Acclamation in Powell River CARL HILLAND board candidate in In ‘addition, no candidates presented themselves for three vacant positions on _ school boards. DISTRICT ACCLAMATIONS Reeves: 2. Councillors: 25. School Trustees: 24. Park Commissioners: 12, Police Commissioners: 8. In addition, no candidate presented himself for one school board vacancy. VILLAGE ACCLAMATIONS Commissioners: 42. School Trustees: 5. In addition, no candidates presented themselves for one commissioner’s seat and one position on a school board. Total number of seats filled by acclamation was 189. Ten positions will be filled by ap- pointment, for lack of candi- dates. < Labor and progressive organ- izations are expressing some concern over the fact that many seats were uncontested in places with a long tradi- tion of progressive political action, For example, in Cumberland, three aldermen, one_ school board trustee and one police commissioner were elected by acclamation. In Alberni, two school board positions were filled by acclamation. In both these communities, the labor vote, represented by trade. union memberships, could be decisive. In Kimberley and Rossland, where miners, smeltermen and their families constitute a large section of the population, school board seats went by acclamation. In Salmon Arm, three coun- cillors and one school trustee were elected by acclamation. No candidate put up for a sec- ond school board vacancy. In Surrey, where many trade union members live, four out of seven councillors were elect- ed without a contest. District municipalities and villages throughout the prov- ince saw one or more positions taken by acclamation, or else not filled because no candi- date allowed his name to go forward. DECEMBER 14, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 9 EEE. AER