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Wilson’s letter brings response

Jeanne Teather, Burnaby, writes:
In Mr. Wilson’s letter (Tribune,
May 25, 1979) he is trying to put the
blame on the Communist Party for
the defeat of the NDP provincially.
This has been the out for the NDP

for years, trying to make us believe.

that we must blindly vote for them
even though we know that they do
~ not believe in socialism—in fact,
they do not even mention the word
‘‘socialism’’ in their campaign. And
Mr. Barrett’s record against the
unions last time wasn’t very good.

Would Mr. Wilson also like us to
* vote Conservative federally as did
many of those who voted for the
NDP provincially? Their reason
was that they wanted to defeat
Trudea and didn’t believe that the
-NDP had a chance. How can they.
expect to go to Ottawa with this
kind of a negative vote? If we really
believe in socialism we must vote
against capitalism to have a better
tomorrow.

Thank goodness the Communist

Party ran candidates who had the:

guts to say they believe in socialism
and would fight to change this soci-
ety. It will take time to make work-
ing people aware that a so-called
socialist party that is acceptable to
capitalism does not believe in
socialism and is only trying to save
capitalism.

We must keep trying to bring out
the real issues to change our society.

Miguel Figueroa, CP candidate in
Vancouver-Centre writes: In the

last issue of thé Tribune, Fraser
Wilson raised several criticisms of
the Communist Party’s electoral
tactic in the recently concluded pro-
vincial election -in this province. In
his letter, Wilson questioned the
consistency of our slogan, on the
one hand, and on the other hand,
our participation in the May 10
election. He strongly. implied that
our call for ‘‘unity’’ should have
been followed by a party decision to
abstain from nominating can-

‘didates and to support the NDP.

Having been a CP candidate myself
in the election, I feel compelled to
reply. ,

First of all, | want to make it
clear that the Communists were not
indifferent to the kind of govern-
ment that would emerge from the
May 10 election. It is clear to all
progressive-minded people that the
defeat of the Socred government
and its pro-monopoly policies, and
the election of the NDP (the only
realistic alternative at this time)
would have constituted a major ad-
vance for working people. It was on
this basis, seeing the real possibility
of defeating the Socreds that the
Communist Party, placing the long
term interests of the working class
ahead of the narrow party interests,
decided to adjust our electoral tac-
tic and run only a limited number of
candidates ‘‘in selected ridings’
and not a ‘‘maximum number’’ as
agreed upon in our 1978 provincial
convention.

But would, it have ben correct
for the Communist Party to drop its
independent role, run no candidates
at all—and quietly* ‘sit it out’
while all around us the economic,
social and political future of British
Columbia was being debated?
Clearly not!

The Communist Party was the
only party in the May 10 election to
advance a consistently anti-
monopoly ‘program, concretely set-
ting out the steps necessary to
regain control through public
ownership of our natural resources
and to develop secondary industry
in the interests of working people.
Only the Communist Party pro-
gram defended and called for the
extension of labor’s rights. Only the
CP took a stand against the

_dismantling of the public sector

through

the. BCRIC: share
giveaway. :

Would it have been correct for
the Communist Party to remain
silent on these issues? Certainly not.

I would like to assure Mr. Wilson
that the Communist Party is sincere

in its appeals for unity with the.

NDP, the trade union movement,
and all democratic forces. But such
an anti-monopoly united front will
emerge only through common
struggle around issues and in frank,
open discussions on policies—not
through the unilateral actions of;
any one party.

‘Precedent’ seen
in school rentals

Continued from pg. 1

The ministry of education in Vic-
toria has evaluated the Sunrise East
program and commended it -for be-
ing well-staffed; organized and pro-
viding a valuable service to students
who would not otherwise stay in
school. :

“Those students wanted that
building and have a right to it as

Vancouver taxpayers have paid for -

it over the years,’’ Weinstein
declared.

She noted that it was ‘‘particu-
larly distressing’? that Vancouver
School Board chairman Nathan
Divinsky had taken the attitude that
students should’t be ‘‘catered to”’
in the Sunrise East program.

“That is a disgraceful attitude
towards a group of students who
are struggling to fit into our edu-
cational system,’’ she charged,
pointing out that some 1,600 stud-

ents dropped out of Vancouver.

school last year, a number which
could be diminished significantly
with such programs as Sunrise East.

“‘The Vancouver School Board

should be embarrassed about the
large number of school dropouts,
not indifferent or cavalier towards
them,’’ she said.

Divinsky’s suggestion that stud-
ents should not be ‘“‘catered to”’
also left open the question as to
whether funds would continue to be
available for Sunrise East for an ex-
pansion of its program since,
without the Annex, it must rent
facilities. -

Divinsky also made a demagogic
claim of being “‘responsible to Van>
couver taxpayers,”’ arguing that by
renting the Annex to the Glad
Tidings School, the school board
was making money. The Temple —
operated by the family of former
Social Credit cabinet minister and
evangelist Phil Gaglardi — is to pay
$50,000 annual rent.

“The Glad Tidings Temple will
have no trouble paying the $50,000
because it will collect $80,000 per
year in public funds from the pro-
vincial government grants to private
schools. Those schools get approx-
imately $500 per student and Glad
Tidings now has 160 students.

“It is an extremely dangerous
precedent,’’ she warned, emphasiz-
ing that it would allow private
educational institutions to become
rivals of the public school system

and to do so at public expense. Last:
year the school board rented the.

David Lloyd George Annex to the
private Montessori educational in-
stitute.

The warning that private-schools,
with their discriminatory entrance
requirements, could become rivals
to the public school system, had

Phony crisis of 1974 relived

Oil shortage manipulated by companies

Continued from pg. 1
de-control oil prices in the U.S. be
reversed. :

In San Francisco a coalition of
municipal leaders and community

groups have also condemned the

shortages and have charged the oil
companies with storing large
amounts of oil in tankers off the
west coast. San Francisco super-
visor Harry Britt and Berkeley
mayor Gus Newport released a
statement this week calling on presi-
dent Carter to ‘‘stand up to the oil
companies.’’ The shortage is aimed
at preparing people for $1 to $2 per
gallon gasoline prices, they. said.
In Seattle, James Bender,
secretary of the Kings County labor
council said that the phony shor-
tages are ‘‘equivalent to war’’ by

PACIFIC TRIBUNE JUNE 7; 1979 Page 2

the oil companies. ‘‘The govern-

ment has no coice but to nationalize ~

our energy resources,’’ he said.
The sudden shortage of gas in the
U.S.—only in January the govern-

‘ ment had assured the country that it
had ample oil and gas reserves—is:

very similar to the phony ‘‘energy
crisis’’ that the oil companies pulled
off in 1974.

Energy prices and profits
skyrocketed in 1974 during the sup-
posed ‘‘crisis’’ only to find some
months later that huge supplies of
oil and gas had been kept artificially
off the market in tankers and
refineries.

The present shortage was careful-
ly timed to influence the decision of
president Carter to ‘‘decontrol’’ the
price of oil in the U.S. as of June 1.

é

It has been estimated that the
decontrol of oil prices will mean an

_ increase of $86 billion per year in

retail consumer payments to the oil
companies.

The oil companies have attemp-
ted to use the loss of Iranian oil as
justification for the shortages, even
though the five percent of oil sup-

plies cut off by Iran was more than

made up for with an 11.5 percent

increase in oil imports from other

countries. :
In March the oil companies cut
back-supplies to retailers by 20-25
percent, supposedly due to the loss
of Iranian oil, and secured agree-
ment from the U.S. government to
pass on 60 percent of expenditures
on new refineries to the public in
higher prices. Prices at the pump in

the U.S. have risen steadily and in

some states are currently over $2_

per gallon.

In the Western U.S. where the
shortage has created the dramatic
lineups at gas pumps, refineries are
Operating at 82 percent capacity. At
the same time Sohio Oil has a
reported surplus of 400,000 barrels
of Alaska crude oil which it wants
to export to Japan. Sohio claims.
that it needs more tax incentives
and subsidies to make it profitable
to refine the low grade Alaskan

crude in its U.S. plants. Sohio has .

also pointed to California air pollu-
tion and environmental standards
and has claimed that these stan-
dards are one of the major reasons
for the oil shortage.

-to promote ‘‘religious intoleranc®

~ against nuclear power in the sh?

- nett would not, however,

earlier been voiced’ by aaa
Teachers’ Federation president
elect Allan Blakey who told tt
Vancouver and District Labo
Council last month that the 50
Credit government’s funding °
private schools,.coupled with its a
tacks on public education, “COU
lead to a serious downgrading 0
the public educational system.”
The issue of public funds for P®
vate schools also raised new 0%
cern last month with the hum
rights hearing into the firing ‘I
school teacher Margaret Caldwe
by the Catholic St. Thom@
Aquinas high school because 5
married a divorced Protestant. |
The action by the school whith
like. all Catholic schools recel¥@
public funds under the Independet!
Schools Support Act (Bill 33), we
in apparent violation of the At
which stipulates that as 4 conditio®
of receiving funds, schools are nd!

Although judgment on the
was reserved by the Human Rig}
Branch, the issue has given SU
stance to warnings voiced by °F
ponents to Bill 33 that public ful
would be going to private sch0®
which practised discrimination
hiring and in admitting students.

Se

Socred split
on N-power

The Socred provincial cabinet 4
pears split over the issue of nucle
power after municipal affail®
minister Bill Vander Zalm a”
education minister Pat Me :
publicly disagreed over the con
struction of a nuclear power pla
at Sedro Wooley, near Anacortes ™
the U.S.

Vander Zalm, who was onl)
barely re-elected in his home ridin’
of Surrey, claimed that the nucl $,
plant was too close to Surrey an¢! f
the event of a leak at the pla!
prevailing winds

would _ brit
radioactive poisoning into B.C. .
Earlier, McGeer, in his capacil!
as science minister, had said the
the government would not prot
the plant. Vander Zalm says that
will bring the matter to cabinet fo!
decision next week. ;
The split between Vander zal
and McGeer, ironically both form
provincial Liberals, reflects ‘
deeper chasm in Socred ranks oF
the issue. B.C. Hydro chairmt
Robert Bonner and others in 7
business circles are unabashed!

_ pro-nuclear power and all but cot

pletely discount the enormous a
‘vironmental hazards associat
with it. a

During the provincial electi@l
campaign, however, premier ¥,

Bennett was forced to come OF

term because of the overwhelm!
public opposition to further ©
velopment of nuclear power. Ba
com
himself to the’call for a moratoriv®™
on. further development of P
nuclear industry pending the fit

dings of a royal commission.

COPE meeting
set for Monday

The Committee of Progressit
Electors has called a_ speci®
membership meeting for Monday!
June 4, 7:30 p.m. at the [10
Workers Hall, 8 ‘Ave. and Colut
bia St., Vancouver. fe

The purpose of the meeting is
discuss the city’s government

_ review commission chaired by judé

Lawrence Eckhardt and to mobili#

_for the commission’s communll
~ hearings scheduled for June. :

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