WHAT’S BEHIND IT?

Whether or not the publica-
tion of this book represents a bid
by the former finance minister
for the leadership of the Liberal
Party is really a secondary
matter, What is important is
that it reflects the concern of a
growing number of Canadians
about the continuing U.S. takeover
of our economy.

“Too much of Canadian in-
dustry is controlled abroad,” Mr,
Gordon says, “Because of this,
foreigners, with the help of their
Canadian friends and agents,
wield far too great an influence
on public policy in Canada.”

He observes that he “had not
fully appreciated the depth and
strength of these pressures until
I became minister of finance”
and then explains: “Onoccasion,
this influence was reinforced by
representations from the State
Department .and the American
administration as a whole,

“It was pressed by those who
direct American businesses in
Canada, by Canadian financiers
whose interests were identified
with American investment in
Canada, ... The effects of these
pressures on the leaders and
spokesmen of ali the political
parties in Canada are immense —
and too often they were effective.”

Mr. Gordon argues that Can-
adian independence is not
doomed, “We still have a choice,”
he says. “We can do the things
that are necessary to regain con-

™ trol of our economy, and thus
maintain our independence, Or
we can acquiesce in becoming a
colonial dependency of the United
States, with no future except the
hope of eventual absorption,”

Although the main thesis of
Mr, Gordon’s book is largely an
elaboration of his earlier pro-
posal for “buying back Canada”
from the Americans, neverthe-

BONNER ADMITS:

Viet war hits
B.C. economy

Attorney-General Bonner told
a meeting of the Women’s Com-
mittee of the Vancouver sym-
phony Society that the U.S, “police
action” in Vietnam may force
“a pause” in some building pro-
jects underway or planned in B.C,

He said the “U,S, is financing
the war out of foreign earnings,”
and that there is ‘‘now an em-
phasis on repatriation of foreign
dividends.” He added that “we
- must view with concern new Am-.
erican guidelines affecting Can-
adian access to U.S, credit.”

Indirectly, what Bonner is ad-
mitting is that the U.S. govern-
ment is partly paying for its
‘Vietnam war out of the profits
derived by U.S, monopolies from

less some of the measures he
advocates are worthy of consid-
eration, And they will so be
regarded by many Canadians,

But to expect, as Gordon would
have us believe, that these mea-
sures could or would be carried
out by the Liberal Party — the
party whose leaders have been the
chief architects and executors of
the sellout of Canada to the Amer-
icans over the past two decades —
would be naive, to say the least,

The Liberal Party leaders, who
represent those very ‘‘friends
and agents” of the U.S, mon-
opolies Mr, Gordon refers to, are
not at all ready to stand up to their
Yankee overlords, And they’re
not wasting any time to let them
know it,

It is not accidental that only
two days before the publication of
Gordon’s book, Finance Minister
Mitchell Sharp delivered a speech
in Toronto in which he outlined
what he calledan economic mani-
festo for strengthening Canada’s
independence, but which the Tor-
onto Globe and Mail more aptly
described as ‘‘aprogram for lim-
ited sovereignty.”

In his speech Mr, Sharp talked
a lot about “strengthening Can-
adian independence” and theneed
“to reduce our dependence on
imported capital,” This is under-
standable, No responsible poli-
tician today would dare speak in
favor of U.S. domination or con-
trol of our economy,

But a more careful reading of
Mr. Sharp’s speech shows that he
put a lot of emphasis on ‘‘in-
creased economic interdepend-
ence between nations,” The exis-
tence of two super-powers, the
U.S.A. and USSR, as our next-
door neighbors, he said, means
that “we in Canada must accept
that our independence is limited.”
He rejected any discrimination
against foreign capital: “The
purpose is not to penalize or dis-
courage enterprise because it or-
iginates outside Canada,”

Thus Mr, Sharp paid enough
lip service to the fight for inde-
pendence to allay some of the
fears and concern among Liberal
supporters but did not propose to
go much beyond the status quo.
He said we must assure that
banks, insurance and trust com-
panies, railways, airlines, radio,
TV and newspapers £ must be con-
trolled by Canadians,” But he
did not say what is to be done
about all our major industries,
which are anywhere from 65 to95
percent U.S,-controlled.

This policy battle in the Lib-
eral Party over the issue of Can-

‘adian independence has its good

side: it will help more Can-
adians become aware of how great
is the threat to our country’s
political and economic sov-
ereignty, For quite a few years
now the Communist Party and the
Tribune have been warning Can-
adians about this threat, withonly
a limited response, It is heart-

‘ening therefore, to see Mr, Gord

on and other prominent Canadians
express their concern,

But there is also the danger
many Canadians will be misled
into believing that the Liberals
can or will stop this threat. No-
thing could be further from the
truth, Even if Mr, Gordon were
to win the support of the rank
and file of the Liberal Party,
which is highly unlikely, he could
not stem the steadily increasing
takeover of Canada’s economy by
the U.S, monopolies.

It will take the combined effort
of the broadest possible front of
democratic forces — Canadians
of all opinions and beliefs and
from all walks of life; including
people like Mr, Gordon and his
supporters in the Liberal
Party — acting determinedly and
unitedly through Parliament and
outside Parliament to do the job.

Such a democratic front has
yet to take shape, The debate
that has been generated around
Walter Gordon’s new book will
help that process,

The Gordon-Sharp debate

With the publication of Walter Gordon's new book—A Choice for Canada: Independence
or Colonial Status—the problem of what. should be done about United States stranglehold on
our country’s economy has again become the topic of country-wide discussion and debate.

Uiliveeeat!

Films from Vietnam
shown in city May 29

The premier showing of three short films from Vietnam will
take place in Vancouver on Sunday, May 29 at 8:15 p.m, in the
Clinton Hall, 2605 E. Pender Street, .

The films: are being presented under the sponsorship of
the Medical Aid for Vietnam Civilians who recently received
the films for showing in British Columbia.

The films depict the struggles of the people of North and
South Vietnam. One film shows the terrible bombing of Nortt
Vietnam by U.S. planes. This film also contains an appeal
from Vietnam for medical aid,

Dr. A.M. Inglis, chairman of the medical aid committee,
will speak and Vancouver lawyer John Stanton, willbe chairman,
Admission is free and a collection will be taken for medical
aid to Vietnam,

Picturesque Prideaux Haven, 40 miles north of Powell River.

of B.C, for its permanent use.

dise,

Well Thanks!—But it was
ours in the first place!

In an act of outstanding “generosity,” the
chairman of Crown Zellerbach Corporation,
Reed Hunt of San Francisco, last week turned
over picturesque Prideaux Haven, a beauty spot
40 miles from Powell River, to the University

Prideaux Haven is said to be a place of
unusual beauty and an ideal boater’s para-
How the head of the giant U.S. forestry
corporation in San Francisco got control of it

in the first place we don’t know. Perhaps it be returned to the people,

was included by the Socred government in one of
the giant Forest Management Licence give- Magnanimous gestures are nice — when we are
aways, : getting something back which was part of the

in B.C. which have been handed over to foreign,
mainly U.S., interests, Not only beauty spots,
but most of our forest lands have been alien- |
ated from the public.

It feels good to get a little of it back. But
Mr. Hunt should not have been allowed to have
it in the first place. Nowisa good time to start
demanding that all of B.C.’s forest lands owned
by the Crown and given away to U.S. monopolies

peoples’ heritage in the first place. Now let’s

take it all back, &

There are altogether too many beauty spots

May 20, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 8 —

aes ier omat anes Gaia