First VSB budget ins wide suppo The new Vancouver School Board passed its first budget Tuesday night, breaking sharp- ly with the NPA policy of cost cutting and allocating new resources to meet the special educational needs of students throughout the city. The budget focused on allocating funding for programs for the learning disabled, han- dicapped and students with English-as-a-second language, and was overwhelmingly sup- ported by the over 200 parents and teachers who turned out to the Laurier auditorium where the budget finalization meeting was held. The Vancouver and District Labor Council commended the new board for putting addi- tional resources to meet special: needs children the same even- ing, adopting a motion put to council by B.C. Federation of Labor legislative director David Rice. COPE chairperson Pauline Weinstein made it clear that the new board saw the additional items provided for in the budget as a ‘‘modest start’’ in improv- ing Vancouver’s educational system. She said that although nine teachers will be hired to reduce kindergarten class size from 24 to 22 children, those classes need to be reduced further. ‘‘And we still haven’t addressed secon- dary core curriculum classes — whichh are packed.” The decision to bolster Eng- lish as a Second Language Pro- grams for 15 more ESL teach- ers, five more assistants, and to provide modified curriculum materials and training programs with regular teachers with ESL students, anticipated the influx of immigrant children into the * Visceab farce aap eke ead anteed to put a mortal dent in a pay cheque — but late- seems to take almost the whole cheque, with only a few dollars left for change. ly that same grocery shopping system, Weinstein noted. “But what about Canadian- born ESL children?’ she asked. “We haven’t addréssed their needs y ad ‘*“We now have some preparation time for elementary teachers. But it’s 40 minutes a week, which works out to eight minutes a day. es The budget provides for eight more librarians, but that still means that schools with less than 200 and 299 students will have 50 percent service. During the debate among the trustees before the vote was taken, tempers flared when COPE trustees vigorously rebutted NPA accusations of the new board’s ‘“‘lack of priorities” and ‘‘wasteful spen- ding practices.”’ ‘Tf you don’t support these measures, you don’t deserve to be here,”” Weinstein admonish- ed the NPA. Highlights of the $146.5 million budget are: @ $356,755 for ESL program- ming; @ $83,574 for two hospital- based programmes for the severely-handicapped; @ $146,000 for more substitute teachers; @ $27,500 for Native Indian student programming; e@ $20,000 for multi- cultural/race-relations pro- gramming; @ $61,000 for the resumption of daily cleaning of elemen- tary schools; @ $100,000 more building maintenance; @ $50,000 for 32 teachers to give elementary teachers 40 minutes of preparation time; @ nine teachers to reduce kindergarten size to 22, at a cost of $98,190. Misty’s Cabaret, a downtown Vancouver discoteque long accus-" 9 ed of racist business practices, has been ordered by Vancouver city” J council to appear before a ‘‘show cause’’ hearing to explain why its” business license should not be revoked. Council voted seven to four for action after hearing Chinese- Canadian Mary Wong speak on behalf of 26 complainants, mostly orientals, who have charged Misty’s with racist and discriminatory entrance regulations. Wong cited testimonies indicating that Misty’s was charging oriental customers a $5 cover charge, and just $2 to others. The charges are currently the subject of an investiga- tion by the Human Rights Branch. Misty’s was found guilty of discriminatory entrance regulations in 1979 by the Human Rights Branch after the Black Solidarity Association pressed charges before the Branch and city council. Wong brought the new round of charges against Misty’s to coun= — cil’s social services committee two weeks ago which voted three to two, over the objections of COPE alderman Harry Rankin and Bruce Eriksen, to recommend only that Misty’s be “monitored.” , Rankin led the fight in council Tuesday to reject the committee’s recommendation and to bring Misty’s to a show cause hearing, - while NPA alderman George Puil defended Misty’s discriminatory cover charges likening it to discounts on bus passes for seniors. Other NPA aldermen argued that racism is a matter for the — Human Rights Branch to decide. But Rankin responded that there is a city bylaw which must be upheld and deferring to the H Rights Branch was an attempt to avoid the issue. : Hearing needed on airport In the past 10 years the number ‘of passengers handled at Van- couver International Airport, the air cargo and the takeoffs and land- ings have about tripled while the volume of airmail has doubled. Basing itself on the claim that “the airport capacity to meet all demands is reaching its limits’’ and that “‘present airport facilities are not capable of handling these an- ticipated passenger, air movement, cargo and mail volumes,”’ the ex- pansion plans include the follow- ing: @ a new runway north of the Airport Centre; @ additions to the present ter- minal and later a new terminal; @ upgrading of theroad system. Transport Canada has prepared a beautiful glossy booklet explain- ing its proposals which is available to the public, and states that copies of the draft master plan may be seen at public libraries. The Superintendent of Airport Plann- [EAE eT RRR ES PEOPLE AND ISSUES | [ae eee eee Sem RI eS pS ing also invites all interested to make their views known to him in writing. His address is: Transport Canada Air, 739 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6C 1A2. As. far as I’m concerned that’s just not good enough. Any expan- sion of Vancouver International Airport involves noise and air pollution and increased traffic pro- Harry blems. That’s of immediate con- cern to the people who live in the area and to all who use the airport. I think that. the Minister .of Transport should hold public hear- ings where he should be compelled to justify his plans and where all citizens and all citizen groups should be able to express their con- Rankin When we pieced together a history from old friend’s ac- counts and the occasional newspaper clipping, we found it} was often as colorful — and militant — as the Canadian cerns to him. There’s a lot of things _ about our airport that bother the citizens of the Lower Mainland and all who use it. The rip-off prices at the lunch counters is one of thes? annoyances. The inadequate park ing is another. The poor servi and excessive prices charged for al travel inside B.C. is onemore. Why the public should subsidize private corporate aircraft and make sé- vicing of them one of our priorities is another. The lack of safety by ‘some of the haywire outfits that have franchises in B.C. is also of in” creasing concern. We don’t want to write to thé minister responsible about thes¢ things. We want to see him in per son at a public hearing. We want tO. tell him and we want himto see how -dissatisfied we are: rer er If he wants an expansion of the Vancouver International Airport, he better come here and convincé us first. And make some of thé changes that we, as citizens, want. The Consumer Price Index as computed by Statistics Canada has acknowledged that prices are rising faster than last year but somehow, from our own experience, we’ve had the feeling that the official statistics have grossly un- derestimated the real rise in prices, especially on food. So we decided to do our own survey. — : StatsCan would probably treat us with scorn since we don’t have weighted averages, of cross-city price checkers, but we think our survey closely parallels what working people are experiencing at the store. We’ve simply takena - list of 25 items, ranging from meat items like chicken breasts and hamburger to vegetables, fruit, bread and milk — with brands and types specified so that price compari- sons can be made — and we check the prices on them every week at the same store. In our case, it is a large and well- used supermarket in east Vancouver. Westarted Jan. 16 — two weeks ago — and already the results are startling. On Jan. 16, our ‘‘basket of goods” cost $49.34. Last week, on Jan. 30, the same goods totalled $49.98 — a difference of 64 cents. Now that may not seem like much, but it is a difference of 1.3 percent over a period of just two weeks. If prices continue to go up at the same rate for the rest of the year, ° they would rise by 33.7 percent annually — which is over three times the official inflation rate for 1980. We'll be continuing our check every week for the rest of the year and we’ll be comparing results monthly, with the items fully listed so that readers can see for themselves. But you can see why you’ve got little left after the week’s shop- ping — and why your pay cheque needs a sizeable increase just to catch up. * * * * * I: a column written shortly before he retired in 1970, former Tribune editor Tom McEwen fired a familiar barrage at the then Social Credit government of W.A.C. Bennett for “bartering away B.C.’s resources for a fast PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FEB. 6, 1981—Page 2 buck — with little thought or concern about B.C.’s generation of tomorrow being left with nothing but a bar- ren wilderness.’”’ And undoubtedly, if he were still writing his column today, Tom would have similar words for the current Bennett government for its policy of bartering away the province’s rich coal resources. But this time, ironically, it is Bill Bennett who will have to do the writing. For even though Tom has never budged from his working class principles throughout his life, he will be entitled to a special letter from the premier — and it has to contain kind words, whatever a Socred hardware salesman might otherwise think of a lifelong Communist. It’s one of the amenities that goes with reaching the age of 90 years, and Tom will mark that anniversary Feb. 11, looking back on a history that includes among many achievements, the leadership of the Workers Unity League. But whatever Bennett may have to say, it will mean little compared to the respect of friends and comrades — from three generations — that he has known and worked with over the years. One of the greetings he will no doubt cherish the most is a letter from the central executive com- mittee of the Communist Party which emphasizes his _ “pioneering role in building the party, (his) efforts to de- fend the working class during the Thirties . . . and (his) role as editor of the Pacific Tribune.” We join with others in honoring Tom on his 90th birth- day. : * * * oo * or years, Al Forde was ‘‘one of the regulars”’ on the Tribune’s mailing crew, turning up every Thursday to help get the paper out, and spending a few minutes each ’ week trying to convince Tribune editor Sean Griffin that he should take up boxing. : Because of the odd jobs Al took in recent years to make aliving, we hadn’t seen him for some time. Until we heard last week that he had died of a heart attack Jan. 28 — and we found that we didn’t know very much about him. Seamen’s Union from which he came. He was born in Jamaica May 4, 1916 but grew up in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. He came to Vancouver in the 1930s, where he took up boxing with the sports club organ- ized by the Single Unemployed Protective Association. For several years he was a welterweight champion and one friend recalled that whenever Al or another well-known Vancouver boxer Rene Beaudin were on the card ‘‘they filled the old Denman Arena.” Sailing as a member of the Canadian Seamen’s Union} from the end of World War II, he was,at the centre of a major dispute over racism in June, 1948 when CN Steam- | ships, over the protests of the CSU and the crew of the Ca- nadian Cruiser, refused to compel a ship’s officer to accept Al, a Black, on board as a seaman. CN paid him amonth’s wages rather than hire him. In 1949, he was one of many activists during the long and bitter strike and raid that finally smashed the CSU. And like many former CSU members, he returned to the west coast, sailing on local tugs as a member of Local 400 of the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers, which he had joined the same year it was formed, in 1959. : * a ae * * 0" story last week on the Vancouver School Board’s plans to institute a race relations program in Van- couver schools, left a false impression about a particular race-related incident, which was part of the background to the VSB program. At the time, we understood — in fact, we repeated the error created by other papers — that the incident in which an East Indian’s car was vandalized was sparked by high school students ‘‘most of whom were from nearby Windermere school.” Since then we have learned that the school conducted an extensive investigation and found that, in fact, only per-' haps one or two Windermere students were involved. The others were from outside.