Editorial

The railway in Canada

If ever there was a country whose destiny is intrinsically linked with the
railway, Canada is that country.

As school children we were all taught with pride about that “ribbon of
steel” which unified our land from Atlantic to Pacific. Immigrants, many
of whom perished under dreadful conditions to build it, had a somewhat
less idealistic view. And hundreds of thousands of Canadians who depend

_ on rail for travel, services and jobs, have yet another, more practical, view.

All this is today placed in jeopardy by a cynical Tory government ona
so-called cost-cutting binge. -

Tory threats to axe VIA rail are real, and genuinely threatening. Not
only does the threat represent potential immediate loss of services and
jobs — it has, as many are warning, still more devastating far-reaching
implications.

VIA, formed in 1977, is subsidized, as are all rail services in western
industrialized nations. Passenger rail, especially in the far-flung regions of
Canada, must be subsidized as essential to the well-being and survival of
countless communities. Our $600-million annual subsidy compares with
$1.67 billion in Britain, $2 billion in Spain and $5.2 billion in Italy, for
example.

The surprising thing isn’t that VIA costs money, it’s that it doesn’t cost
more. When (under the Liberals) the deal was struck to jettison the less
cost-effective passenger service and let CN and CP retain the money-
making freight operation, the die was cast.

VIA has no tracks or stations. It rents track from CN at $350 million -

annually. It’s even billed for snow clearance! It operates antiquated
equipment. It’s even become a depository for defeated Tory candidates,
one of whom, Lawrence Hannigan, was appointed VIA chairman and
pockets an estimated $160,000 annually. And, on April 3 in Atlantic
Canada VIA discontinued its telephone sale offices for ticket reservations.
Clearly, VIA is under attack from within and without as the Tories and
Tory-appointed executives conspire to sink the operation.

Rather than derailing VIA, passenger rail service should be seen as

_ essential. It should be modernized and upgraded. It should be fully

funded to better serve Canadians.

But Tory ministers, who waste millions flying themselves, their families
and friends about in government jets, don’t take the train. They don’t wait
at ticket counters. They don’t live in isolated communities. They wouldn’t

- understand these facts of life.

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EDITOR

Sean Griffin
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Dan Keeton

BUSINESS & CIRCULATION MANAGER
Mike Proniuk

GRAPHICS
Angela Kenyon

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M ore than 50 years ago, he fought in
Spain for the Republican cause,
although Delta resident Arne Knudsen was
not a member of Canada’s Mackenzie
Papineau Battalion. Instead, the Danish
born veteran fought as a member of a
German battalion, and time and distance
have kept him from re-uniting with his old

comrades. But on April 26, Arne will get apprenended by the police and forced into

the chance to recall the fight against fas-
cism with other Danes when he travels to
Copenhagen to honour their contribution
— a contribution given in lives.

Once there, he’ll be laying a wreath on
behalf of the Mac Paps at a cenotaph
erected two years ago by the Danish
government and Denmark’s citizens to
pay tribute to some 560 volunteers, of
which less than half returned home.

Ironically, Arne already had landed
immigrant status in Canada when he
escaped service in the Danish armed forces
and volunteered for duty in the Spanish
civil war. How he found himself in that
situation is a remarkable story worthy of a
book, but a few details will have to suffice
here.

Arne had come to Canada as a young
man looking for a better life. And he did
find work in road-building and on the
railroads, but like others of the period, he
got caught up in the Great Depression and
spent his share of time riding the rods with
the other unemployed. As a means of
escaping the jobless situation he signed on
a Danish vessel out of Vancouver, switch-

ing to another ship in Malaysia which took ©

him home to Denmark in 1935.
Upon arrival, however, Arne was

‘military service, for which by Danish law
‘he was long overdue. He was conscripted
into the Navy where he underwent
marine-style training and served for a time
on the Royal Yacht.

Not wishing to do further service in a
country with a government growing
increasingly accommodating to Hitler’s
Nazis, Arne, having become aware that
the first anti-fascist battle would be fought
in Spain, volunteered for duty through the
local Communist Party headquarters.
Through the party he received a false
passport — his own was possessed by the
Danish government — and shipped out
to Spain with eight of his countrymen.

There the volunteers underwent train-
ing under trade union auspices, where
Arne’s experiences with cannon made him
a natural as an anti-tank gunner, a posi-
tion he held for most of his service in
Spain. He also became a member of the
German Edgard Andre Battalion, part of
the 11th International Brigade. Arne was
among the first to engage Franco’s fascist
forces at the front in Madrid.

When Arne left Spain, he returned to
Canada. Other Danes who went back
home suffered incarceration at the hands

’ of the Danish government. One of these,

People and Issues

ST ERNE

who had served with the 15th Brigade and
had been briefly with the Mac Paps,
escaped the concentration camp four days
before the German Army occupied Den-
mark and became a leader of the under-
ground who targeted Danish Nazis during
the occupation. His skills landed him a
commission in the post-war Danish army,
and retired major Emst Jensen — now
president of the Danish Spanish Volun-
teers Organization — will host Arne dur-
ing his visit.
eS h ake

pp tee stressing fun this time. That

means less speeches and more enter-
tainment, according to organizers of the
Mey Day Parade in Vancouver on April

0,

This year is special in another way, since

_ it marks the 100th anniversary of the Van-

couver and District Labour Council.

The parade, as in previous years, begins
at Clark Park (corner of Commercial
Drive and 14th Avenue) at 12 noon. The
march will move down Commercial to a
rally at Grandview Park (corner of Willi-
ams Street):

Noted Toronto topical singer Arlene
Mantle is on the bill.

e’ve received notice that the

Canadian Farmworkers Union is
seeking financial and moral support for its
campaign to bring its members under the
protection of provincial health and safety
regulations.

In a circular to trade unions and other
potentially supportive organizations, CFU
president Sarwan Boal notes that farm-
workers lack basic protection such as min-
imum wages, overtime laws, child care and
health and safety protection. The letter
notes the irony that pesticide handling
regulations do not cover agriculture, and
points out that ‘consumers who eat the
produce grown in uncontrolled fields are
also at risk.”

An accompanying leaflet lists the sorry
record of B.C.’s Socred government in
rejecting demands for such coverage since
the union was formed in the late Seventies.
The most shameful development was
when the government caved in to the agri-
cultural lobby and scotched Workers
Compensation Board plans to include
farmworkers under WCB health and
safety regulations in 1983. Since then,
deaths by pesticides have continued and
various reports continue to recommend
WCB coverage for farmworkers.

The union urges friends and supporters
to write or call the premier and MLAs to
support farmworker protection, and asks
for financial support. The leaflet includes a
sample resolution calling for WCB protec-
tion, to be sent to the legislature, Victoria,
V8V 1X4. The CFU can be reached at
1-4725 Kingsway, Burnaby, VSH 2C3,
phone 430-6055...

4 « Pacific Tribune, April 17, 1989