CA AIA Wee we dui ‘A roof above our heads’ al FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1968 L. |. Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and A. Dubchek, General Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party shaking hands following the signing of the Declaration of the Communist and Workers parties of Socialist countries at Bratislava, August 3. Now a new accord designed to end the present crisis has been reached by the parties involved. City Council defeated in bid to kill rental body A letter to Mayor Campbell and’ City Council urging the maintenance of the Rent Control Committee as one means of curbing the rental goughing by grasping landlords was this week forwarded to City Hall. Signed by the Vancouver Tenants Organization Committee, the letter states :— ““We, the undersigned citizens, representatives of tenants in Vancouver, respectfully urge that you defeat the motion which will shortly be before you to disband the Rent Control Committee you recently es- tablished. ‘Moreover, we urge that you reconsider the request of the Rent Control Committee of Council for $250 with which to advertise the holding of public meetings of that committee — meetings where all interested citizens and organizations (landlords and tenants alike) could make representations. “Tn our opinion, the number. -, one Social, cess’ oyu the. . eh ce mith packet :k Seed ee SS ee a Oe ae ee people of Vancouver is housing and allied with it the abnormally high propertion of individual income that now goes for this purpose. “The problem is widespread and urgent. In our view it is the responsibility of the City to hear what action the citizens of Vancouver desire the City Council to take. What possible objection can there be to such an elementary democratic request? “Statements by corporation counsel with regard to the matter are of course only his personal opinion. You have heard these. We respectfully suggest that it is pertinent for you to hear the view of those directly affected, and what better way is there than through the holding of public meetings of the Rent Control Committee you have already established. ‘‘We trust that you wil render a favourable decision to the requests made in this letter.”’ . The letter was signed by VTOC committee members, including Bruce Yorke, Driftwood Tenants Assoc.; Henning Nielsen, West End Tenants Assoc.; Peter Halford, -Rosemount Tenants Assoc.; Antonio Adamo and Ferro Marincowits, Tenant Voters Assoc. of Vancouver, and Helen Slavik, Driftwood Assoc. Under strong public pressure for its active continuation, the big real estate spokesmen in City Council, including millionaire landlord Mayor Tom Campbell were defeated in their attempt to kill the Rent Control Committee, first initiated by Alderman Harry Rankin. Mayor Campbell together with Aldermen Broome, Graham and Adams spokesmen for Vancouver’s powerful landlord class were the prime movers for the disbandment of the committee. Council voted 6 to 5 for retention of the Committee. The serious housing situation facing many thousands of_ Vancouver citizens, aside from that affecting hundreds of university students, is one which - will permit no further evading or procrastination on the eek us ae Council: _ VOL. 29, NO. 34 HOUSING NEEDS CHRONIC By E. “We are deeply concerned about the shortage of reasonably priced accommodation for University students,’ charged Tobin Robbins, Vice-President, Alma Mater Society, U.B.C. in his brief presented to City Council. ‘‘We request’, he continued, “‘that zoning changes be enacted and that serious consideration be given to rescinding the already enacted By-Law on illegal suites. As well, ‘‘we request the immediate opening of the 2,243 illegal suites which have been shut down since 1961.” “U-B.G. Students, ne continued, ‘‘are, and will be facing for several years to come a severe housing shortage. The daytime student enrolment will reach 20,000 this Fall, a jump of nearly 2,000 over last year; but, at the same time, no new housing will be available on campus.” Robbins, who headed the delegation, cited some figures on present construction on U.B.C. campus, but ‘‘projected accommodation,”’ he said, ““does not help our immediate plight. At present, the U.B.C. Housing Administration has a waiting list of 610 men, 545 single women and 435 families. Housing has to be found for these people.” “Tt is interesting to look at a breakdown of the student population,”’ he said, “‘to see just how many situations we require. About 10,000 students will live at home, somewhere in Metro Vancouver. Another 3,175 will be _ housed on campus. This leaves 7,000 who will have to find living space, preferably West of Main Street. It can be argued, he continued, that plenty of suites are available in newly constructed buildings in the West End, and Kitsilano, but realistically speaking, these suites are just too expensive. Most students depend on summer earnings to- finance their education and living during the 8 month school term. Such has not been the case this summer. Many thousands have not been able to find jobs, and if they have, wages have generally been poor. At the same time as earnings have decreased, rents have spiralled, thus putting many of us in an impossible squeeze. One answer would be . lower cost accommodation in older dwellings.” “In discussions with several aldermen,” he said, ‘‘we have detected the feeling that ~ anything to do with universities -is not.a Civic but a Provincial . . <=>" Tribune Eos. Crist and ultimately a Federal responsibility. In terms of financing we would agree, but there are other sides to the question. First, all of us would concur that a University education is beneficial both to the individual and to the country. Housing should never become a roadblock on the way to an education.”’ ‘‘We sincerely hope,” he said, “that you will not gloss over the situation too lightly. Students need housing! There are nearly 700 families who can’t find living quarters. Please don’t prevent students from completing their education due to a lack of lower cost housing.” Greetings on Accord The Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Canada welcomes the August 27 communique signed by the official delegations of the Communist Party state and national assembly of Czechoslovakia and the Communist Party of The Soviet Union. In a very complex situation it is a tribute to all concerned that such an agreement was achieved. We express the opinion that the agreement leads towards the consolidation of socialism and democracy in Czechoslovakia the upholding of her sovereignty and independence as well as towards the safeguarding of the socialist system and of peace and security in Europe. The agreements arrived at represent a serious set back to world imperialism as a whole, and to West German militarism and revanchism in particular. We call upon Canadians not to be misled by the continued attacks by Imperialism and its mass communication media which are bending every effort to misrepresent and distort the agreements of August 27 in their own interest. Fully mindful of the difficulties present in Czechoslovakia we express our confidence that the Czech and Slovak peoples will give ever increasing support to their Communist Party and Government in. defense of Socialism their homeland and the community of Socialist states.