~ et rl BRITISH COLUMBIA Recently I was invited, as a mayoralty candidate, to address a meeting that included many developers. One of the questions put to me concerned the future of the Expo site after Expo 86 is over. (The Expo site, it should be explained, is provincial government property and is better known as B.C. Place). One member of the audience won- dered if we should not make it into a permanent year-round tourist showplace of exhibits, such as was done with Expo 67 in Montreal and its Man and His World exhibits, and also with Ontario Harry Rankin Place in Toronto which is carrying on as a tourist attration. I don’t think that would be the best use of this choice property. Considering all the money that has already been spent on its development, it would not be eco- nomically viable. The provincial government made its plans for B.C. Place clear quite some time ago. It wants a high density devel- opment made up of office skyscrapers, hotels and luxury, high priced residential Place into another densely crowded West End, B.C.’s version of Hong Kong. accommodation. It would turn B.C. ' COPE will press social housing for B.C. Place That’s exactly what the big developers who are bankrolling the NPA and its mayoralty candidate want too. : Committee of Progressive Electors members of city council have always . taken strong objection to this. We argued that we don’t need any more office towers, hotels, apartments or con- _ dominiums for the rich. Our position is that the north shore of False Creek should be developed in much the same way as the south shore was, but with even greater emphasis on community and public facilities, including parks, and with a great measure of housing availa- ble to people of all incomes. This is the type of people-oriented, inner-city devel- opment that all citizens could enjoy and is in direct contrast to the executive type of inner city that the developers and pro- vincial government want. As mayor, I will insist that the city use its zoning power to restrict high density and office towers in B.C. Place and encourage the kind of development I — have outlined above. But if the provincial government decides to ride roughshod over the wishes of city council and Vancouver citizens and goes ahead with its high den- sity development, there may be another option open to us. : If the provincial government lease this land to developers, why shouldn’t the city of Vancouver, in this case, also become a developer and lease a large section of B.C. Place? Then we could develop it as we see fit with community facilities, parks and housing that all citi- zens can afford. I think this is something -we should look into. $14.95 Paper. Publication: October 1986 PROGRESS BOOKS The Story of the Canadian Seamen’s Union By Jim Green Shotguns, Mounties, American gangsters, the courts and government — all were used by the shipowners to destroy the Canadian Seamen’s Union. What was this union that provoked such an unprecedented attack? Combining rigorous research with the stirring recollections of the people who lived the events, Jim Green weaves a gripping story from the union’‘s birth on the Great Lakes in the mid 1930s through the 1949 world-wide strike to save « the Canadian merchant fleet. 420 pages (approx.) Illustrated. Special pre-publication offer: Save $5 Order before September 12, 1986 and pay only $9.95. 71 Bathurst St., Toronto M5V 2P6 Stronger Tory ties predicted following socred leaders raé Continued from page 1 room but stepped into the public spotlight | briefly when it was revealed that club mem- bers were interviewing leadership candidates. Neither candidates nor club members would talk about the discussions but one thing is certain: the Top 20 will continue to set the agenda and support of the club is crucial — and probably decisive — tosuc- cess at the Whistler convention. The only differentiation from the Bennett regime has been on questions of style, most - of them prompted by opinion polls showing that Bennett’s confrontationist approach~ was costing the party potential support. | McCarthy, among others, has spoken of the need to “lessen confrontation” in the pro- vince while Bill Vander Zalm, ironically, criticized Bennett for his hard-line style of government. Events have demonstrated how cynical these appeals to delegates really are, how- ever. McCarthy has herself set the stage for renewed confrontation on two major labor relations issues currently before the provin- cial government. Interviewed about negoti- ations with the B.C. Government Employ- ees, she _trotted out Bennett’s ploy, suggesting that the unemployed and strug- gling businesses “won’t look kindly on a pay increase. And she has refused to review the ALRT bridge contract-awarded to the Kerkhoff-Hyundai consortium, a stand that can only signal a renewed anti-labor offensive. — Significantly, all of the candidates have sloughed off the sensitive issue of aboriginal land claims to federal jurisdiction — ignoring the main point which is provincial support for the principle of land claims negotiations and recognition of the exist- ence of aboriginal title. The lack of any movement away from right wing policies and away from polarizia- tion also suggests that the Liberal strains on the coalition have not been sufficient to warrant any policy shifts. There has been a resurgence of the Lib- eral Party, encouraged by the federal lead- ership which has staked out some centre ground to differentiate the party from the Mulroney Tories, but Socred leadership candidates apparently see little potential for Socred support in that direction. Instead, the leadership convention is aimed at reaffirming the existing Liberal- Tory. coalition around a right wing free enterprise agenda which, it is hoped, will convince right wing Liberals to stay with the status quo under new leadership. An important priority for party strate- gists, however, is to cement the connection with the federal Tories, not only to streng- then the electoral machine but also to pre- pare for the future. As a party, Social Credit has been losing ground steadily, because of population shifts and the decline of popu- lism, and making the transition to the Con- servatives as the favored big business party — as took place in Alberta — may not be that distant. In that context, both Bud Smith, the former executive assistant to Premier Ben- nett, and Attorney-General Brian Smith are J | a VANDER ZALM the favored candidates. Both have® connections to the Conservatives; b® obvious backing from the corporalé and key party strategists. . Bud Smith has other advantage» ing a large number of committed del an “up-scale, yuppie” image that the party are seeking to cultivate a port from both urban and rural BY gates that is vital to any successful came He is also the candidate who hews” closely to the Bennett-big business in answers to questions of policy are cast abstract economic jargon of the © room, with emphasis on words lik¢ ductivity.” ee If the race has revealed any divisio® party, it is between the old right-wine list base of the party, represented first t Vander Zalm and, to a lesser extél Grace McCarthy, and to the new image, represented by the two Smiths. The popularity currently enjoy el? Vander Zalm and McCarthy has ” oh speculation about one of them assum Wh leadership but the support is pr bab pe sory. Vander Zalm is a gut politiciat»"«} who has always enjoyed popularly vif party which looks for simplistic, righ solutions. But his appeal is not likely when delegates start looking for a 4” vad who can re-unite the coalition and party into the next election. He W4 all, repudiated by the cabinet — wht é remains largely intact — and lost BU ingly when he ran for mayor of vane McCarthy has emerged as 4 ma if tender in the race and, with none O "of Zalm’s liabilities, will probably dra stantial support. Still, her campaigh to have little substance and her publ ne? of the Top 20 Club, while it got ht og lines, isn’t likely to win her support? the power brokers. . In the final analysis, the role of het” ig dacy will be to assert the CO? strength of the old guard of the part) assure her a continuing plac \ cabinet — and to deliver her 5” votes to the right place. E When it’s all over July 30, the ne A will still be faced with a quest ad priorities — whether to call an ¢ ect p attempt to consolidate first. But fot ing people, the unemployed, pensiO"’ gi? priority will be unchanged — defeat d)) government and the disastrous p! (0 “restraint” which it is now seekINP package. re