BRITISH COLUMBIA

Union housing p

B.C.’s private-sector trade union unions
are ready to invest up to $400 million in
housing construction on the Expo grounds
— and the Committee of Progressive Elec-
tors is ready to accommodate the project.

Union representatives, flanked by COPE
mayoralty candidate Harry Rankin, current
Mayor and NDP candidate in Vancouver
Centre Mike Harcourt, and COPE alder-
manic candidates, told a press conference
Oct. 16 they were prepared to commit the
funds to building some 4,500 units on the
False Creek north shore land between the
Cambie Street and Granville Street bridges.

Rankin pledged that a council with a
“progressive majority” of COPE and its
unity partners elected would set the process
in motion as early as January.

‘““What’s needed is leadership at the pro-
vincial, civic and union level. Everything is
waiting for the initiative, and in COPE, we
have that initiative,” he said.

Union leaders are prepared to follow
through with their plans irrespective of the
outcome of the provincial and civic elec-
tions. But, stated one, the success of those
plans will depend largely on who is success-
ful at the polls.

“Our relationship with the city adminis- _

tration has been good. If the Unity slate
(COPE and the Civic Independents, both
backed by the Vancouver and District
Labor Council) — Harry Rankin, Bruce
Yorke and company — is elected, then
obviously our project has a better chance of
success,” press conference chair Roy Gaut-
ier said.

“Tf, on the other hand, the (Non-Partisan
Association mayoralty candidate Gordon)
Campbell group gets in, their approach
may be more in line with the (high density)
development that has taken place in the
West End,” the president of the B.C. and
Yukon Building Trades Council said.

Building Trades union representatives Roy Gautier (I).a
Bill Clark stand on Cambie Street bridge outside Expo

funds in housing project.

And, said Gautier, “If an NDP govern-
ment is returned, their commitment is much
more assured than that of the Socreds.”

The unions’ plan, which would commit
up to $400 million, or 10 per cent of the
estimated $4 billion held in private sector
union pension funds, dovetails with cam-
paign pledges Rankin has made concerning
the development of the Expo lands, which
are under the administration of the B.C.

Place Crown corporation.

Rankin, who has called for north shore
development similar to that of the model
housing projects on the south shore of False
Creek, said city co-operation under his
administration is assured if the proposed
development includes a mix of housing:
one-third each of low-income, medium
income and market price housing.

He alo stressed that the city will “argue

lan bac

nd Colin Snell (c) with Telecommunication Workers Union |
grounds where unions hope to invest a percentage of their pen

Vander Zalm’s royal commission
would mean more education cuts

Premier Bill Vander Zalm has announ-
ced that he will establish a royal commis-
sion on education with hearings beginning
next year. It was an obvious response to
the growing demand led by the B.C.
' Teachers Federation and the New
Democratic Party for a commission to
thoroughly investigate the declining
quality of education in B.C. due to cut-
backs in education funding and to come
up with some substantial recommenda-
tions for improvements.

There’s not a chance in the world that
any commission established by a Social
Credit government, and especially one
under Vander Zalm, would make any

objective survey or come up with any:

progressive proposals. Vander Zalm had
something entirely different in mind
when he agreed to a commission. The
“new” Vander Zalm setting out on a
“new course” has made his position on
education quite clear on at least three
occasions in recent months.

On July 16 he told an applauding
audience at a Social Credit delegate
meeting in Smithers that “the education
system doesn’t need more money
pumped in.”

On Aug. 11 he said he would consider
a plan to hand out tax vouchers which
would permit taxpayers to direct their
taxes to either private or public schools.
The obvious result would be the under-
mining of the whole system of public
education. Well-to-do people would
send their children to private schools for
quality education; the rest of the people
would send their children to a public

2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 22, 1986

school system starved for funds and able
to provide only a poor education. The
tax voucher proposal is taken right out of
the program of the right-wing Fraser
Institute which continues to conduct an
unrelenting campaign againt teachers
and public education.

The third statement by Vander Zalm
on education was made Oct. 1 when he
announced his royal commission. Accor-
ding to The Vancouver Sun, Oct. 11, he
said that he hadn’t decided yet which
groups the commission would consult.
Implicit in this remark is the idea that

some groups will not be consulted. It
would be interesting to learn which
groups the premier plans to exclude.

He also said that the mandate of the
commission would be to look into the
“excesses of the education system.” This
sounds very familiar. Vander Zalm used
the same language when he was minister
of education — when he was bashing
teachers and the whole education sys-
tem. ‘

The premier is also reportedly anxious
to secure the views of “business” but
doesn’t show the same concern for the
views of parents, teachers or trade

unions.

Finally he says he favors a one man
commission because a three-man com-
mission “might end up compromising
some of the facts.” What “facts” is the
premier so concemed about? Is he afraid —
that a three-man commission might not
unanimously discover the “facts” as
Vander Zalm sees them?

I don’t think we should be under any
illusions as to what kind of a commission
Vander Zalm will set up and what its
duties will be. Any commission he sets up
will give him the kind of report he wants
and will have little if anything in com-
mon with what the people of this pro-
vince want — to restore the quality of
education to what it was before the
Social Credit cutbacks.

Any royal commission on education
appointed by Vander Zalm would pro-
vide him with two other advantages. One
would be to postpone any action on the
grounds that the report of the commis-
sion must be presented first. The other
would be to deflect all demands for edu-
cation reforms from the government to
the commission.

The problems facing our education
system are no secret. They are known by
schools boards, by teachers and by par-
ents. The government knows them too.
But it is determined to go ahead with its
plans to emasculate education, the pro-
cess first started by Vander Zalm when
he was minister of education. If he carries
through his intention of appointing a
royal commission, it will be to further
that same aim.

president
sion

strongly” that any construction on the a
pay at least fair wages. (City counc pict
established a fair-wage policy undet W cot
all work above the value of $50, oe
tracted by the city pays at least the
paid the city’s regular, unionized crews:
The union heads cited as a precedent
recently completed plan the Telecom™ fof
cation Workers Union (TWU) 8
development of a block of land across
the Expo site near the area known as
town. ee
“We’re talking about the reallocatiO®
capital to socially useful projects. The bas
no shortage of capital here, but them»
been a shortage of long-range
said TWU president Bill Clark. _ of
Harcourt praised the “leadership
unions” in coming up with the Pm
noting that CMHC, the federal ho
corporation, has promised B.C:
financing for 500 units per year.
Rankin said the projects still dept of
co-operation from the senior :
government. The province must be fed
to write down land costs while bot)"
and the provincial governments
include the project in their respectl¥?
housing funds. :
The union’s proposal was, perhaps
dictably, downplayed by the NPAS
bell, a developer formerly with
Realty, who claimed the city
“rush” rezoning to accommodaté
start for the project. ., a Hie
His remarks were an indication ght
union-proposed development bh
city’s realtors and developers by * a
Currently, there are few know® place
for the north shore site, and B.C: rast
little capital to undertake housing ee
However, both provincial 0% ativ®
spokesmen and B.C. Place represe ysio"
professed to be “delighted” with the™”
plans. 2 of att
That shows a significant chen aoe we
tude from the days when B.C: * ae wh?
created in the early 1980s — atf co?”
property values were soaring ants e row
ration envisioned high-density 0” ents fo
and high-priced housing develop™
the site. jon be
In more recent years the corp? 1a95
worked with city staff to pre
the Expo site, including the dja ph
development slated for the area # 0
Chinatown. The project concé
housing, with some office space.

from
yale

could
§