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Salmon sellout issue carried across

From B.C. Communist Party

The B.C. Executive of the Communist Party,
Over. the signature of provincial leader Nigel
Morgan, addressed the following letter to the
New Democratic Party in B.C. on May 6, 1975:

Dear Friends:
May we take this opportunity to extend fraternal
Sreetings to the 1975 convention of the B.C. New
emocratic Party. Your convention may be the last
one before British Columbia is involved in an election
campaign of crucial importance to the people of this

_ Province, and in the first place its working people.

There are strong indications that the big cor-
Porations in B.C. are actively involved in building a
huge fund to influence the outcome of the next
Provincial election. They are busy behind the scenes In

attempts to weld a right-wing political force with the »

objective of once again returning big business
government to Victoria which would represent their
: interests and enhance their profits.

At the moment it appears that their main hope isa
‘Tevived Social Credit Party. There can be little doubt
that their substantial resources and influence are
_being thrown behind attempts to galvanize old line
Political forces into a right wing alternative. —

No progressive-minded person in B.C. can be un-
Concerned over the threat such as a right wing alter-
“Native would pose to the interests of labor and the
Common: people. The election of a big business
_ 80vernment in Victoria would be a setback for social
Progress and democracy in B.C. It would return the

Province to the right-wing policies which characterized |

anny

"Everything possible should be
done to unite all labor and pro-

7 gressive forces to prevent a return.

of big business government in

Victoria. ..."
the 20-year rule of the Socred party and the reactionary
Liberal-Tory Coalition before that.

The Communist Party joins with other British
Columbians in expressing concern about the threat
which hangs over B.C. In our opinion, everything
possible should be done to unite all labor and
progressive forces to prevent a return of big business
government in Victoria. For ‘our part, we are prepared
to join with all progressive forces in united action to
keep B.C. moving left and to defeat the drive to the
right represented by the old-line parties and their big
business backers.

However, it is our firm belief that if this objective is
to be achieved, policies are needed which would en-
thuse and unite the mass labor movement, teachers,
tenants, small homeowners, farmers and small
business. Most important of all is the need to put for-
ward policies which would unite the working class of
this province, who constitute the largest, best
organized and most progressive force.

While we take a positive view of many of the reforms

~ An open letter to the NDP

brought down by the NDP government during its term
in office, we believe that some of the policies — and
some of its failures to implement election promises —
have caused serious rifts among the forces who must

be united to defeat the drive to the right.

As a working class political party, the Communist
Party has its own program and policies which call not
only for far-reaching reforms, but for action to curb the
power of the monopolies and multinational cor-
porations, and to open the way to socialism. However,
we believe that there is a wide area of agreement
which can be reached by the NDP, Communist Party,
trade union movement and tenants, as well .as
progressive civic and reform organizations. ;

We strongly urge that discussion be undertaken in
the near future between all these forces with the aim of

‘uniting the left and progressive forces in B.C. in order

to effectively counter the schemes of big business: and
their political representatives. In our view, the unity of
the right wing must bring forward a renewed effort to
unite all the forces of progress in B.C. who constitute
by far the majority of the people. .

The Communist Party would be prepared to par--
ticipate in such discussions with a view to reaching .

agreement on a united approach to the next provincial
election. This is in line with our desire to close the door
to a return to big business government in B.C. Our

* members share with your members a desire for
government that will place the needs of the people over
and above the drive for super profits by the monopolies

and the multinational corporations.

Again, we extend greetings to your convention and
express the hope that our views will receive the serious
consideration they merit.

a

the’ Postponement until fall of
fishi Canada-U.S. recriprocal
tor ng rights talks signals a vic-
Y for the campaign spearheaded
ie United Fishermen and
ain Workers Union to forestall
busin 2tisfactory treaty, UFAWU
Statens. 26ent. George Hewison
aS €d this week following an ex-
Sive tour of eastern ‘Canada.
Been had spent several
Marit; in Ontario and the
py Imes publicizing the UFAWU
sel] Paign against’ the threatened
U au of Canadian salmon to the

Scheduled to open in June after
re Initial .postponement, the
iprocal rights talks were put off
‘Sain two weeks ago until some
} {Mein the fall. The official reason
, ne €n by fisheries minister Romeo
4 ane was ‘‘the new in-
"national agreements now being

| Back Rolston
/0n sub base

The*South Fraser Region of the
Deumunist Party has written
qe Wdney NDP-MLA Peter Rolston
/°ngratulating him for his stand in
“€ legislature on the Trident sub

Se at Bangor, Washington.

The letter says by his action he

S pointed to the danger to the
People of the Lower Mainland and
ndeed all the peoples of the Pacific

°ast if the proposed submarine

Se is established at Bangor.

aS adds that ‘‘all possible
bo ee should be brought against
1h U.S. and Canadian govern-
Ween, to abort this project and if
Unit Ct now, and in concert with our
eva ed States neighbors there is
j this © Possibility to believe that
I Can be accomplished.”
“his letter replying to the South
Taser Region of the Communist
thant? Rolston expresses his
j mee for the letter, and urges
s Protests be sent to external
airs minister Allan J.

acEachen, Ottawa.

discussed at the Law of the Sea
Conference in Geneva.”

“Tt’s still not a satisfactory
situation,” Hewison said, pointing
to the action by. the federal
government, ‘‘since we'll be giving
away one-fifth of our salmon for
another year. But better a post-
ponement than: a hasty agreement
signed on the basis of the present
unacceptable proposals.”

He added that government
stalling on the talks had been
prompted largely by the need to
recoup ground lost by the ef-
fectiveness of the UFAWU cam-

aign.
Speaking to labor councils and _

union locals in Toronto; Oakville, -

Sudbury, Brampton, Hamilton and
other centres, Hewison said the
response to the salmon sellout
campaign had been ‘‘over-
whelming.”’ +

“Tt was surprising the reaction of
working people and their

’ awareness of the issues involved in

the reciprocal rights talks,” he
noted, adding that the workings of
the branch plant economy and the
amount of unemployment in On-
tario had made people aware of the
importance of Canadian in-
dependence.

Hewison also travelled to the
Maritimes, speaking in Cape
Breton April 25 and in Halifax
April 28. —

Part of the Ontario tour included
an address before the United
Electrical Workers convention in
Hamilton and Toronto May Day
celebrations where Hewison
brought his message to the
audience in songs as well as
speeches. :

A major part of the campaign
was an appearance before
Parliament’s standing committee
on fisheries and forestry April 15
aimed at reiterating the union’s
opposition to the current position

adopted by Canadian negotiators

and apprising MPs of recent
developments in the reciprocal
rights issue.

He emphasized to the committee
that in future talks, the US.,~

driven by internal pressures and
hoping to exploit Canadian
weaknesses, “is going to be more
aggressive than ever.”

He added that the current stand
outlined by the federal government
— that present imbalance of, in-
terceptions of salmon be written
off in order to speed up stream
enhancement programs — was
completely unacceptable since it
would perpetuate the loss of one-
fifth of: Canadian salmon to the
UsSs rs :

The union reiterated its demand
for return to the principles agreed
to in 1971 which, in essence, stated
that the two countries should strive
. Me ee

GEORGE HEWISON

to equalize interceptions of one
another’s salmon. Equity was to be
established on the basis of
reducing, rather than increasing,
interceptions with the ultimate
goal in mind of establishing a
situation where each country
would harvest only the fish
spawned in its own streams. _

‘We feel that Canada must begin
to develop the kind of contingency
plan necessary to meet any
eventuality in terms of the
American pressure in attempting
to get a bigger share of Canadian
salmon, or even in attempting to
maintain the status quo,” Hewison
declared.

He added that these were not
proposals. to start a fish.war but
were ‘‘essential to defending
Canada’s legitimate rights to her
salmon resources and to obtain a
treaty safeguarding these rights.”

Despite the fact that the UFAWU
had won endorsement in principle

of its position at an earlier meeting |

with the standing committee, there
was little in the latest meeting to
indicate that the Trudeau govern-
ment would, in the future, guard

Canada’s. sovereignty more
closely.. :
Liberal and Conservative

members of the committee sought
primarily to exploit any dif-
ferences that might have existed
between the UFAWU and other
organizations opposing the salmon
sellout. ;
Differences between the Pacific
Trollers Association and the
UFAWU were the main focus of

that attempt but PTA past
president, Ray Lund, who also.

appeared with Hewison before the
committee, emphasized that his
organization also rejected the 1974
proposals. ;

Liberal MP Jack Pearsall went
on to repeat the old charge that the
UFAWU had committed a breach
of confidence last spring when it
had publicly denounced the
proposals advanced by the
Canadian negotiators in Seattle.

A singularly commendable voice
in the meeting came from NDP MP
Stu Leggatt who commented that
the UFAWU had no alternative but
to make public its opposition when
an unacceptable treaty with the
U.S. seemed imminent.

“T think the committee should
take very seriously the sub-
missions that have been made here
tonight,’’ he declared.

He added that the ‘quiet
diplomacy’’ which Canada has
become accustomed to in_ its
relations with the U.S. has been
effective in some areas “‘but in
some areas, and I submit that this
is one of them, it has been very
ineffective.”

Canada

The UFAWU_ announced last
week that it would continue its
campaign against the sellout until
the federal government negotiated
an agreement “satisfactory to, and
in the best interests of, Canadian
fishermen.”

Some 100,000 posteards ad-
dressed to the prime minister and |
calling on the government to
reaffirm the principles asserted in |
1971 have been distributed :
throughout Ontario. A trade union
committee has also been
established there to carry on the
campaign.

Hewison was also scheduled to
appear before the Alberta~
Federation of Labor convention in |

_Calgary May 15 to outline the
campaign to Alberta unionists.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1975—Page 3