What is the choice that faces
Vancouver voters when they go
to the polls on Nov. 20, 1982?

According to NPA alderman
Warnett Kennedy in his book,
**Vancouver — Fight for IT!”
(a collection of political
stupidities written by a political
paranoid on a particularly bad
day), what we are up against is a
conspiracy by ‘‘crypto
marxists’’, ‘‘leftists’? and
“‘Muscovite aldermen”’, headed
by mayor Mike Harcourt,
alderman Harry Rankin and the
Committee of Progressive Elec-
tors (COPE) to take over city
hall!

Alderman Kennedy’s heroes
are Bill Vander Zalm, the pro-

Harry

Rankin

vincial government (whose cut-
back policies he supports 110
percent) and the big developers.
Vander Zalm rewarded his
loyalty by appointing him
(perhaps pensioning him off
would be a better term) to the
Transit °86 committee. Of
course Kennedy sees the NPA
and himself as the savior of
Vancouver from the red
socialist hordes.

The real choice on Nov. 20
will be between the NPA (back-
ed by the big developers and big
| business interests) and the unity. ©.
Tslate headed by COPE and
mayor Harcourt, representing a
coalition of the progressive
citizen reform groups in the city.

Should an NPA majority be
elected, here are some of the
things we can look forward to:

e@ Removal of restrictions
now imposed by city bylaws so
that developers can build what
| they want in any neighborhood,
regardless of what the residents
want;

e@ Abolition (or at a
minimum, total  non-
enforcement) of city bylaws
which require hotels and room-
ing houses in the rundown areas .

The ‘real choice’
for voters Nov. 20

Riccar cancun seman comets

‘

COPE has a program that is
fundamentally opposite to that
of the NPA. A COPE majority
at city hall, the school board and
the parks board would provide:

e Direct representation of
every major community at city
hall through the establishment
of a ward system. This would be
your guarantee that issues of
concern to your community
would be dealt with by city
council;

e@ A “people’s budget” in
place of the ‘‘restraint budget”’
demanded by the provincial
government; maintain health
care facilities, parks and recrea-
tion facilities, libraries; no
layoffs of municipal employees.

’ ;

x

No further subsidies to B.C.
Place or Expo ’86;

@ Anew tax system based on
a differential mill rate which
would enable us to give tax relief
to homeowners and small
businesses, and tax wealthy pro-
perties based on ability to pay;

e A job creating program to
build affordable housing;

e@ Better bus service; an
underground rapid transit line
along Commercial Drive; no
taxing property to raise fun
for ALRT; as Pe

@ Public control over c
Place; concentration on non-
profit and co-op housing rather
than luxury housing for an ‘“‘ex-
ecutive’ city;

@ Retention of parks and
recreation facilties and a roll-
back of user fees;

@ Continued defence of
educational standards against
provincial government cut-

A COPE majority replacing
the present NPA-TEAM ma-
jority would enable Vancouver
to move ahead with these pro-
gressive reforms. “J

of the city to observe health and
fire safety regulations;

@ Repeal of the anti-
discrimination bylaw which
enables the city to refuse
business licences to firms which
discriminate against people
because of their color or race;

e@ An immediate program of
layoffs of civic staff, both at city
hall and outside, and the con-
tracting out to private contrac-
tors of work now done by city
| staff;
@ Immediate cuts in all social
services presently provided to
people (health, parks, recrea-
tion, education);

@ Cuts in bus service, the
layoff of hundreds of bus
drivers, an increase in fares and
added property taxes to enable
Vander Zalm to pay for his
abortive ALRT system;

@ A huge increase in taxes on
homes to raise money to pay for
anew Cambie Street bridge and
other new roads to service the
new stadium and B.C. Place, as
demanded by the provincial
goverment;

@ The money saved by
layoffs and cutbacks used for
subsidies to developers and the

&

Sg

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— NOVEMBER 12, 1982—Page 2

Labor slate hits NPA cuts |

Candidates running for the
Committee of Progressive Electors
in Vancouver elections Nov. 20
stress the civic’s party’s pro-labor
program at candidates meetings
early this week.

With fellow candidates on
the labor slate endorsed by the
Vancouver and District Labor
Council, including mayor Michael
Harcourt, they attacked the right-
wing Non-Partisan Association’s
platform of extensive staff layoffs
and contracting out city jobs at
meetings called by the Committee
of Indo-Canadians Sunday and a
labor-sponsored debate Monday.

Sunday’s meeting was the se-
cond called in support of the
COPE candidates. Recently, the
East Indian Workers’ Association
also turned out its members and
supporters to hear the labor-
backed contenders.

COPE’s senior alderman Harry
Rankin told the largely East Indian
audience at Moberly Park High
School that ‘‘most of you are
working people, and you know
there’s only one direction for work-

ing people — unity.”’

Park board secrecy

Debate on proposals that could
see public swimming pools closed,
lessons curtailed and the layoff of
12 permanent and untold numbers
of casual employees was forced in-
to the open Monday following the
disclosure of an.confidential parks
board ‘document ‘by Vancouver
parks commissioners Libby Davies
and Pat Wilson.

The commissioners, flanked by
parks boards candidates running
under the banner of the Committee
of Progressive Electors in the Nov.
20 elections, told reporters during a
press conference at COPE cam-
paign headquarters that the pro-
posals were to be discussed in
camera that day — the first time
secrecy was to be used for
budgetary matters.

“Tts disgraceful that the board
would want to conceal from people
the devastating effects of these cut-
backs,”’ said Davies at the board’s

Election Day
Get-out-the-Vote

Campaign
Door knockers needed!

The most important thing you can do for
the COPE campaign is to get out and
door-knock for COPE on election day.
Contact the COPE office
at 873-5221.

Phoners and scrutineers also needed. -

At Monday’s all-candidates
meeting, sponsored jointly by the
Vancouver and Region Municipal
Employees Union and the Cana-
dian Union of Public employees,
Local 1004, Rankin said \labor-
endorsed aldermen would’ ‘‘not
give up our right to sit down and
negotiate with the union’’ — in op-
position to the NPA position of im-
posing the Socred government’s
wage restraints in contract negotia-
tions.

Harcourt also stressed housing
and other social projects that
would create jobs noting that, ‘‘the
labor council has endorsed a slate
that’s for working people,”’ at Sun-
day’s meeting.

He continued that promise at
Monday’s all-candidates meeting,
and attacked NPA candidates for
their association with the
Downtown Vancouver Associa-
tion, the big-business tax rollback
group that has called for the
elimination of up to 1,000 city jobs.

NPA mayoral candidate
Jonathan Baker tried to backtrack
on the issue most strongly linked to
his campaign — the cutting of at

standing committee meeting later
that day.

Protesting that the document
contained only ‘“‘proposals,’’ for
cutbacks to the city’s parks and
recreation facilities, board chair-
man Doug Mowat then rescinded
the in-camera edict and announced
that the 1983. budget would be dealt
with publicly at the board’s
regular meeting on Monday, Nov.
15

COPE commissioners and can-
didates contended that the parks
board, dominated by the Non-
Partisan Association, was seeking
to bury the issue of cutbacks which
would be an unpopular move on
the eve of the civic election.

The cutbacks, prepared by parks
senior staff following a request
from mayor Michael Harcourt, are
to accommodate budget reductions
of three and possibly six percent in
the wake of an anticipated huge
shortfall in the city’s budget, due in

COPE ‘FOLK BENEFIT’

Folk and labor songs, fiddle music and dancing

Sat. Nov. 13, 8 p.m.
Ukrainian Hall, 805 E. Pender

with Frosty Mountain String Band, Threesome Reel,
Jon Bartlett and Rika Ruebsaat, Tami Lundy and Jill King

VANCOUVER.

Election Night
Centre

Vancouver Indian
Centre
1607 E. Hastings

after 8 p.m. All welcome

JASJIT SANDHU .
school board candidate ad
dresses East Indian rally.”

least 500 civic worker’s jobs by say
ing he was merely “‘looking at’’ th
possibility in light of an anticipated —
budget shortfall. a
But neither he, nor NPA school |
parks board candidate Malcolm |
Ashford or aldermanic contender |
Paul. McCrea would rule out the —
use of contracting out services tO
private firms, when pressed by city |
workers in the audience.

slammed |

large part to reduced provincial —
revenue sharing funds.

Most of what the COPE can-
didates called the ‘‘most |
devastating’? cutbacks — the clos- —
ing of the Hastings and Oak pools, |
(used by about 20,000 patrons this |
year), a 20-percent reduction in the —
playground program and the
cancellation of swimming lessons
for more than 600 registered —
learners — are envisioned in the
first three percent cut.

A further three percent cu
would reduce hours and programs
at the Riley and Trout Lake com
munity centres, and cancellation 0
the Grandview Youth Project.

Wilson said service cuts should
be done “‘in the public eye” but ad
ded that cutbacks were inap-
propriate during a time of high
unemployment. A COPE majority
on the parks board would instea
‘fight hard to get back oul
revenue-sharing grants,’’ she said.

Tickets

$4/$2