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| ‘Speedup’ on-franchise,
but not voter’s rights

VICTORIA, B.C.—At the recently concluded session of
the legislature, Vancouver City Council took special steps
to obtain a charter amendment enabling it to put its new
20-year franchise agreement with the BCElectric into effect

But where the franchise rights
a Vancouver citizens were affec-
fd the city council was quite

content to delay a necessary
charter amendment until the
legislature meets again — after

next December's civic elections un-
less a special fall session is held.

ie has just been revealed here
tak, Chinese and East Indians who
‘ve now been given their long
Wuhheld right to vote in provincial
e Ctions under te amended Pro-
Ncial Elections Act will still be

Unable to vote in Vancouver civic
elections,

eee Vancouver city charter
€s that “no Chinese, Hindu,
ceheae cr Indian shall be en-
elect to vote at any municipal
rts eo for mayor, aldermen, park
an missioners, school trustees or
Renee elective official, or any
Gr are cr administrative body
Skee of the city, or to vote on
: wv!

S re iri
electors.” quiring the assent of

“tty the charter is amended by

and of the legislature, Chinese

ABS ast Indians will continue to
€nied the franchise.

fomnnilariy, the Municipal Elec-
India: Act bars Chinese and Hast

yy ns from voting in any muni-
ci
t et elections in the province
Chine a clause stating that “no
tics on epanese or other Asia-
© Vote Indians shall be entitled
th at any municipal election
€ election of a mayor, reeve,

al
derman er councillor.”

a thus circumvent the popular opposition it feared might
defeat the agreement if it went to a plebiscite.

Veteran of B.C. labor movement
recalls great May Days of past

May Day celebrations in Vancouver may not have

By BILL BENNETT

been as exciting in some ways as

those in other parts of the world, but they have never lacked for interest. The first May

Day I took part in was in
ada.

.

the Paris Commune,. March 18, more enthusiastically than we

under a

and progressive groups.

this time.

of world peace. . . 5

secretary Vancouver

“May Day 1947 should be a clarion
call to all progressive Canadians to ex-
press the utmost unity on the broad
and vital issues facing the people at
The attainment of higher
standards of life, the right of free asso-
ciation, and above all the maintenance

Right, members of the May Day com-
mittee: standing, Garry Culhane, marshal of
parade; (seated, left to right), John Turner,
Labor
Fraser Wilson, president Newspaper Guild,
and chairman of May Day committee.

Renew our effort on May Day

In a May Day message to the work- e
ing people of Vancouver, Fraser Wil-
son, chairman of the May Day commit-
tee says ‘The issues on this May Day
of 1947 are many, but for us primarily,
the survival of the trade unions as free
institutions in our demrocacy. The pres-
ent international drive against progress,
smokescreen of red-baiting,
coupled with the passage of anti-labor
legislation in Canada and the United

States, is aimed at disrupting and weak-
‘ening the trade union movement, and
destroying working class political parties

Council, and

Arcand lauds Truman policies as

‘exactly rig

MONTREAL, Que.—Hitler may be
ders Ne used to set the world on fire.
vonstrated that he has caught the torch w

Which

are making a super-Ver-
Mage oy one at
Aron: €l-consequences tomorrow,”
ene asserted. ‘Truman’s state-
definite oreece and Turkey is a

nite challenge to Russia and

e
Rai
mie have

final reyersal of Roseman’s
ead Roosevelt) policy.” ;
The

> ‘get tough with Russia’
Saag Policy is exactly right,
ie fascist Arcand, although “‘it
Not important to send troops
Se

May Day Greetings
from
Fairview LPP Club ©

By FRANK ARNOLD

ht,’slanders Roosevelt

dead but a tiny vessel still nurtures the flame
In Lanoraie, Que., in an interview, Adrien Arcand
hich the falling Adolph Hitler threw to him.

but to send equipment and guns
with which to arm and train the
Greek soldiers.” e

He explained that Roosevelt's
program was one of “concession
to Russia, while the effect of Tru-
man’s move will be to make all

| defeated countries and all South

America fall into line with the
Allied bloc.” Canada, Arcand be-
lieves, should side with Truman.
- On peace treaties the fascist
chieftain thinks that the “losers
cannot be held responsible for
treaty provisions since they have
no say in them. If the third party
is not consulted then there is
no contract.” “It all started,”
says Arcand, “with the Stalin-

Roosevelt demand for uncondi-

May Day

Regent

| Greetings —

from

324 West Hastings Street

*

Tailors:

ee i

EVERY GARMENT STRICTLY UNION MADE.

tional surrender.
first mistake.”

Arcand was interned early in
1940 after Rt. Hon. Ernest La-
pointe, then minister of justice,

dramatically stopped his trial in
a Montreal court. Unable to leave

That was the

this fifth column head at large in

wartime, the government was yet
reluctant to allow Arcand to tes-
tify in public and perhaps in-
criminate many of the big-gun
politicians and industrialists who
were secretly backing him. La-
pointe did promise a public trial
for the war’s end, but Arcand
has yet to be prosecuted.

Miners ask say _

in production
LONDON—The National Union
of Mineworkers, in a program de-
signed to speed coal output, has
asked the government for direct
representation on the official com-
mittee which will supervise pro-
duction of mining machinery.
Both miners and _ engineers
should have their unions repre-
sented on this committee, the
NUM said in a petition to the
government. In this way en-
gineers would be able “to get min-
ing machinery in the same way
as they helped to hurry forward
Spitfires and tanks during the
war.”
The union also asked that the
government lift the control of en-
gagement order which forces the
miners to remain in the industry.
This, the NUM stated, would aid
recruiting of new workers who
at present are reluctant to take

The union also repeated its re-
quest for introduction of a pen-
sion plan and new wage structure.

May Day Greetings
from :
Moberly LPP Club

May Day Greetings
_ from
North Van LPP Club

~

PAcific 2459

GREETINGS TO THE.

TRADE UNION” MOVEMENT
: 2 OR

MAY DA

MAY Y

PRESSED METAL PRODUCTS

jobs in which they will be frozen.

1909, shortly after the founding of the Socialist Party of Can-
We were very sectarian in those early days and we celebrated the anniversary of

did May Day.
On that occasion there was no
parade. There was no all-embrac-
ing demonstration of trade union-
ists and political parties; only a
few hundred enthusiasts bent on
demonstrating their convictions.
We gathered on Cambie Street
Grounds and E. T. (old man’)
Kingsley, first editor of the old
Western Clarion, told us what was
happening in other parts of the
world on that day. Then we all
went home.
Another May Day I remember
was a sort of May Day in re-
verse, held on the Powell Street
Grounds in 1912, and the parade
took place after the speeches were
over. :
Not until the old Communist
Party was formed. did May Day
assume its real character. As I
recall, 1922, °1923 were years that
witnessed great mass demonstra-
tions, but still they did not em-
brace many organizations. They
were still sectarian—the Workers’
Party, the Ex-Servicemen’s Lea-
gue, the OBU (what was left of
it), and .the unemployed. But
they numbered between four and
five thousand men and women.

* * “as

In 1932, we had an example of
the terror that the tradition of
May Day inspires in the hearts of
reactionaries. While the workers
of Vancouver, mostly from the
ranks of the unemployed, were
gathered on Powell Street Grounds
a destroyer was brought over
from Esquimault. It lay in Bur-
rard Inlett with the crew at
battle stations and its guns train-
ed on the May Day gathering
until the meeting was over,

There was no doubt about May
Day, 1935, being a workers’ event.
Five thousand relief camp work-
ers were on strike and they fur-
nished majority of the marchers.
The longshoremen struck work on
the waterfront, the fishermen
came into town in their boats,
the loggers left the woods. Hun-
dreds of other workers took
strike action and 2,000 high school
boys joined the parade to show
their sympathy and solidarity with
the young unemployed.

Some of these celebrations I
missed through participating in
celebrations elsewhere. I missed
last year’s parade, because I was
at the celebration in the Crow’s
Nest Pass, and that was good as —
anything I ever saw in Vancouver.

May Day Greetings
from
Michel-Natal LPP Club

b Y

‘For Purity and
Quality BUY

HASTINGS BREAD |
CAKES & PASTRIES

HASTINGS
BAKERY

W716 Hastings Street E.

Branches at

4068 E. Hastings and

16 E. Hastings: St.

4191 Main St.

FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1947

“
\

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 3