ris a. Ale a ee: ma Su : 16 tern ca ] 38,000 copies printed in this issue THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER ro} co fe NeOlan lumber worker Published once monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS QF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Councit No. 1 Affiliated with AFL-c10-ciC 2889 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261 err Business Manager—Fred'Fieber Advertising Representatives—Elizabeth Spencer Associates Forwarded to every member of the 1WA in Western Canada inaccordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year. THE WA iceratulntos Mr. Barrett and his colleagues on their stun- ning election victory. The win was well deserved for a party that spent so many years of frustration as the official op- position in the province. During those years one of the most difficult tasks the NDP: had was fighting the Socreds to maintain democratic rule by government. Now that the NDP is the government we confidently expect the province to be governed on truly democratic principles. [FEW Canadians can take pride in the federal government's recent announcement that Dr. Norman Bethune, the Canadian doctor who gave up his life aiding Communist soldiers in China in 1939, is now to be declared ‘‘a Canadian of national historic significance.” Not that Dr. Bethune doesn’t deserve to be honoured. The shame lies in the fact that it took the Canadian govern- ment thirty-three years to recognize his contribution to the field of medicine and humanity. Now adding to this shame is the more than sneaking suspicion that the government bestowed the honour at this time more to toady to the Peking government in the hope of selling more goods, than in recognizing Dr. Bethune’s outstanding contributions. And his contributions were many. In RATU LATION S We are also confident that the new government will fulfill its promises to attend’ quickly to such Priorities as in- creasing old age pensions, improving hospital- facilities, and generally providing more humanitarian treatment and financial genuinely in need. We have no intention of suggesting to Mr. Barrett how he and his party govern the province. This has already been done by the critics. We prefer to extend to them our best wishes in carrying out successfully, their challenging task. - NATIONAL SHAME the early thirties, he established a reputation in North America as a leader in tubercular research and operative techniques. In Spain he pioneered in blood transfusions on the battlefields during the Spanish civil war. In China his service with the Com- munist soldiers on the battlefields during the Japanese occupation of the country made him a national hero and his home in Gravenhurst, Ontario, is a shrine to Chinese visiting Canada. _ It’s a tragedy that Canada with few such renowned citizens could allow its prejudices of communism to relegate the existence of a person of Dr. Bethune’s stature to almost total obscurity for so many years in his own country. It’s an even greater tragedy for all of us that the government is now using his reputation with the Chinese in a sickening attempt to increase trade with that country. TERED BANKS ONS INTEREST-FREE Are the chartered banks On the other hand the banks letters to the Ministers, assistance to those benefiting from hundreds of millions of interest-free- tax- payers’ dollars? Barry Mather, M.P. (NDP Surrey-White Rock) raised this in letters to Finance Minister John Turner and Services and Supply Minister James Richardson. Mather is a member of the Commons Public Accounts Committee executive. He uoted from the Auditor Betabe repeated complaints to that Committee over a situa- tion which has prevailed for 10 make no charge for cashing Federal government cheques nor can they, under Section 93 of the Bank Act. But they benefit from possession of interest-free millions of Government money. On three occasions over recent years the Public Ac- counts Committee has proposed that if the banks are to be compensated for federal cheque cashing services, con- sideration must be given to the most equitable way this can be done . . . and done through legislation amending the Bank Act. “The present loose arrange- ment is carried on, as far as I ean see’’ says Mather in his “without Parliamentary ap- proval in the way of legislation. It appears that if the banks are to be compensated for cheque cashing services the govern- ment should get at least the ‘preferred’ customer rate. Surely the business of the Federal government is among the best. that the chartered banks deal with. I wonder why the Central Bank does not enter more into this picture, particularly when general interest rates go up and banks increase their benefit from the $100 million interest-free funds provided by the taxpayers. It is now 10 years since the Auditor General drew this rather mysterious situation to our attention. AUGUST - SEPTEMBER, 1972 — | always like to eat me lunch next to a guy fresh from town. . ums! . th’ rich blood attracts th’ no-see- GRACE MACINNIS WINS MAJOR VICTORY Canada’s only woman member of the federal House of Commons, Grace MacInnis of Vancouver-Kingsway, has claimed a major victory in the fight for the equality of women with the acceptance by the government of her amendment to the manpower retraining act defining housekeeping as bona fide employment. This fundamental change in the Adult Occupational Training Act of 1967 will mean that women engaged in domestic duties will have the same right to manpower training and training allow- ances aS men and women with paid jobs. Men who look after the home will have the same rights. Mrs. MacInnis commented, “T am delighted that - after three years of prodding about the need of recognizing this fundamental social and economic role of women that I have convinced the govern- ment.’’ : The correction of this in- ~ justice to women employed in the home went almost un- noticed when the Minister of Manpower and Immigration, Bryce Mackasey, accepted Mrs. MacInnis’ amendment in the Commons. The amendment means that both urban and_eé rural housewives will qualify for all forms of manpower training assistance despite the fact they may never have been em- - ployed in the traditional labor market. * Mrs. MacInnis urged all women who feel they could benefit themselves and their families through manpower training to take advantage of the new provision as soon as possible. PERSONAL INCOMES UP All forms of personal in- comes are running to a grand total of more than $78 billion this year, an increase of 26.3 per cent over the level of three years ago. With inflation, taxes and government demands for contributions to social in- surance and pension funds, the average person will have only $63 more to spend or save this year than he had in 1969. Statistics Canada figures on national income and ex- penditure show that personal incomes totalled $61.8 billion in 1969. Federal and provincial taxes took $7.5 billion. Social insurance and government pension funds took another $2.3 billion. Other charges demanded by governments took another $1.1 billion. That left disposable incomes totalling $63.4 billion. Since 1969 the consumer price index has gone up almost 10.4 per cent, cutting spending power of after-tax incomes. The $63.4 billion that is left to people to spend or save this year is the equivalent of $56.8 billion in terms of the 1969 dollar. The population has grown by about 3.5 per cent since 1969, so that the ‘“‘real’’ or uninflated- power of $56.8 billion now is spread among 21.8 million Canadians. So the per capita personal income this year after taxes, social insurance and inflation is only $2,606 — an increase of . $189 in three years, or $63 a year.