BRITISH COLUMBIA

Health and fire safety condi-
tions in sleazy beer parlors and
dirty rooming houses in the
downtown eastside area of the ci-
ty have become an unending pro-
blem. Time and again city inspec-
tors have made thorough inspec-
tions of the premises, issued
orders to the owners or operators
to make the necessary im-
provements to make them con-
form for city bylaws. What hap-
pens? In many cases, next to
nothing or nothing at all.

When the inspectors come
back some months later they find
that nothing has been done, or
just a few changes have been
made. Sometimes there is a new
Owner or operator who often
pleads ignorance of previous
orders and the process starts all
over again. If an order has been
issued to clean up both the beer
parlor and rooms in the same
building, usually what happens is
that the owner or operator will
make a few changes in the bar so
he can continue to get his liquor
license, but will ignore the rest of
the building. And some of these

awful.

Let me give you some ex-
amples:

Hildon Hotel, 50 East Cor-
dova Street: .

This was owned by Army &
Navy Department Stores. The ci-
ty director of permits and licenses
reported a year ago that ‘‘this
building has had a long and un-
satisfactory record of perfor-
mance as housing accommoda-
tion in the downtown east side”’
and that ‘‘extreme pressure had to
be exerted on the owners to force
them to put a new roof on the
building at one point.’? The
Hildon has a pub on the ground
floor and four floors of rooms
above it.

conditions are nothing less than ,

The Army & Navy Store then
sold the building to Paul Zanet.
He was ordered to submit a plan
and schedule for upgrading the
whole building, but failed to com-
ply. A year ago, on Sept. 25,
1981, the pub was found to be in
an unsafe condition and
represented a hazard to the lodg-
ing house portion above. Its
public house licence and liquor
licence were both suspended. In
Jan., 1982,:a new operator,
Geramy Harper, took over.
Renovation of the pub was
undertaken and the new operator
was granted a permit that enabled
him to get his liquor licence.

Harry

Rankin

My position, as chairman of ci-
ty council’s standing committee
On community services, has
always been that if a beer parlor
licence is revoked, no building
licence should be issued until such
time as the building is completely
upgraded. I think the director of
permits and licenses erred when
he granted the new operator a
permit when even the pub renova-
tion was still incomplete. Bruce
Eriksen and I made a motion in
the committee that the interm
operator’s permit be revoked un-
til such time as the whole building
was brought up to the city’s stan-
dards of maintenance, but this
was voted down by aldermen
Boyce, Divinsky and Bellamy.

When, if ever, the rest of this
building will be renovated is any-
body’s guess. With such tolerance
of the violations of the city’s by-

TEAM, NPA look other way
as slumlords flout bylaws

laws by city council, the owner
need not worry.

King’s Rooms, 210 Carrall
Street:

Following an inspection of
these premises; the owner was in-
formed on May 5, 1982, that 33
deficiencies were found in this
building in violation of the city’s
standards of maintenance bylaw.
The owner was also given a list of
72 different repair jobs that had
to be done. Nothing has been
done to comply with the city’s
order. Our inspection service
reports that the building is
“generally poorly operated, dirty
throughout and should be

'-

vacated’’. The owner has been in-
structed to appear before council

to show cause why his business _

licence should not be cancelled.
Our committee has recommend-
ed also that if his licence is
suspended, no further licences be
issued until the building is altered
to comply with the standards of
maintenance bylaw.

What will actually be done re-
mains to be seen. So far the NPA-
TEAM majority on council has

- been most reluctant to prosecute

the owners of slum buildings
when they violate city bylaws.

The solution is to put in a
majority come next November
that is pledged to enforce the city
bylaws in the downtown eastside
area. To date the only group
pledged to do this is the Commit-
tee of Progressive Electors,
(COPE).

—

VSB presses case
despite Socreds’
threat of recall

The Vancouver school board’s
anticipated legal action against the
B.C. education ministry’s latest
cuts the. school budget has’ the
backing of the provincial trustees
association and a growing number
of district school boards.

This is despite the recent threat
by newly-appointed education
minister Bill Vander Zalm of new
legislation to counter the court
challenge. The minister has said he
will recall the legislature from sum-
mer recess and pass the necessary
legislation to make the cuts legal.

Meanwhile, the VSB has sent a
letter to the ministry rerquesting
restoration of $800,000 chopped
from this months’ expenditures
grant in accordance with the new
ministry directives ordering the
cuts, and said it expects a reply by
Friday.

The trustees’ action is based ona
recent legal opinion received by the
B.C. School Trustees Association
that the latest cuts are illegal
because legislation has already
been passed regarding this year’s
school budgets. ~

But in a telex to the BCSTA
Monday Vander Zalm said he
could have new legislation legaliz-
ing the cuts, ‘‘within seven days, if
necessary”? following any court
challenge.

That task may prove difficult
with many MLAs and cabinet
ministers on vacation, according to
a BCSTA spokesman. Steve
Bareham said the association,
which last week received the legal
opinion that the latest cuts are il-
legal, views the VSB action as a
“test case.”’

On the advice of the BCSTA ex-
ecutive, which met to deliberate the
issue Aug. 17, other school boards
will not take actions of their own,

but have been urged to express thé!
support for Vancouver’s actidl)
Otherwise, the separate actiot
might clog the courts and prevent#)
speedy resolution of the case, &
pected within a month, said
Bareham.
So far the trustees of NéW
Westminster and Richmond hat’
sent words of support for the VSB
action, and others are voting onthe
question, according to scho0
board chairman Pauline Weill’
tein.
The board’s challenge to tht
latest cuts, which province-widé
will chop $37.5 million for the ret!
of 1982, and $22.5 million for the)
first quarter of the 1983, is based 00 |
the opinion that the 1982 shortf
violates Section 14 (2) of thé
Education (Interim) Finance AG
by which the VSBhas already pas*
ed its by-law governing tax rates fol |
the year. In Vancouver these cuts:
initiated July 30 following the a
nouncement of the federal
government’s 6 and 5 wage I&
straint program, would chop ¥)
million and $10 million from thé
budget for the respective periods.
Across the province, a total 0
4,200 school staff could facé
layoffs, according to BCSTA
president Gary Begin.
Critics have argued that the
latest cuts — particularly those sé
for the last quarter of 1982 — are
unconscionable as well as illegal,
since taxpayers have already
financed education this year with
taxes set according to the budget
laid out in the interim finance act.
Any further cuts in 1982 would
mean British Columbians have
paid more for education than they
will receive, and this constitutes @
deceit on the part of the S

government.
—

T hey will probably come as little surprise to building ,
trades workers but the comments last month in

At 49, Ozzie is a good Many years away from the age
oup usually associated with strokes, but as many readers |

Halifax by Treasury Board chairman and Liberal cabinet ws Who have known him as the manager of the Co-op

minister Donald Johnston are graphic in revealing just
what forces are at work in the current construction in-
dustry negotiations which have been at a slatemate for
three weeks. :

Johnston, who is particularly hawkish in his pro-big
business views, was in familiar company — the Canadian
Construction Association — when he made his speech.
But his address wasn’t just the usual platitudes for pin-
striped executives; his message was a not-so-subtle de-
mand that they get together to force construction wages
down below the level of inflation in order, as he so quaintly
put it, ‘to break the vicious circle on which inflation
breeds.”’

In making his pitch, Johnston took inspiration from
Robert Campeau, the president of one of the largest diver-
sified real estate and building corporations in the country,
who said: “‘We have allowed ourselves to become too
weak. We should have had a showdown with unions and
provincial governments a long time ago, not individually,
but collectively. On too many occasions, because of
frustration and lack of effort, business has taken the easy
way out by simply passing on increased costs.”

Johnston pointed to construction settlements in Ontario
and Alberta as ‘‘excessive,”’ complaining that the increases
would add $4,000 to the cost of a house (based on a man-
year of labor to build it). “How do you think we in govern-
ment view that, when we are urged on all sides to provide
more help to build houses?” he asked. ‘‘Our new subsidy
on housing barely covers the amount of pay increases in
excess of our target. What do you think our reaction is
when we subsidize capital projects to generate construc-
tion’ employment and then see the costs rise to cover wage
increases of 15 percent or so?””

Not ing the Liberal mentality, we wouldn’t
know what the government’s reaction would be. But we
know for certain that Johnston’s line of argument is a
crock.

eR I
PEOPLE AND ISSUES -::

First of all, the overwhelming majority of houses— un-
fortunately — are built non-union. The labor costs, based
on substandard wages and conditions, have little to do
with the rates paid in the union sector. Second, the only
houses which might require a man-year of labor to build

are the kind that Johnston, himself, or Robert Campeau

would own. According to a study completed in 1974 and
still considered valid by the government’s own Canada
Mortgage and Housing Corporation, only .62 man-years
of labor are required to build the average single-family
house. And that figure drops to .502 man-years of labor
for a duplex and even lower, to .434 man_-years, for a semi-
detached townhouse. \

In fact, the main villain in soaring housing costs is in-
terest rates as anyone trying to buy a home or re-negotiate
a mortgage knows only too painfully well.

But it is intriguing that Johnston should mention the
figure 15 percent — because that is exactly the amount that
B.C. contractors added to their estimates, even before they
went to the bargaining table. No matter what the wage set-
tlement, construction costs will go up accordingly.

But of course Johnston didn’t chide the contractors for
that contribution to the inflationary spiral. Instead he
chided them for their failure to take on the workers by
“coordinating management’s bargaining approach.”
And he told them directly, “I would hope that your re-
sponse to our call for wage restraint will produce a tougher
management posture.’’

Judging by the B.C. constriction talks, Construction
Labor Relations Association together with the Employers
Council and the provincial government has done just that.

* * *

bi ell have to stick pretty close to quarters for some time
yet, but at least Ozzie Lahti was expected to be released
this week from Vancouver General Hospital having spent
ee se the past two weeks there following a minor stroke

_ however. At this moment, he has to down some 22 pills

_ since that time, we understand that the four cyclists mak-

with the reception they’ve been receiving for their message

Bookstore may recall, he underwent open-heart surgery tO
repair a heart valve some years ago, and as it turns out, ac
cording to Ozzie’s daughter, Judy, a small blood clot slip-
ped by the valve, causing the stroke and temporarily affec-
ting his speech.
* * *
A Iso expected home from hospital this week is
Dusty Greenwell who has just spent the last two weeks
in Shaughnessy Hospital with heart-related difficulties.
Normally, he’d be a candidate for surgery but various
complications make that option too risky and doctors havé
been trying to offset the problem with medication.
Even that option involves a lot of work on Dusty’s part,

every day.

€ were On our two-week summer shutdown when the

of Cyclists for Peace began its Vancouver-

Toronto cycle marathon and were therefore unable to
cover the marathon beginning in Vancouver July 31. But

ing the historic trek — Bob O’Neil and his son, Mark,
Brian Bion and Wayne Stokes — have made considerable
Progress and were expected to pass through Manitoba
some time this week.

The trip hasn’t been without problems — two vans
which were to travel with them to carry sleeping bags and
other gear failed to make it at the last minute, forcing
cyclists to carry their own gear — but the four are happy

for disarmament. As readers may remember, the trip was
originally conceived to publicize the petition drive by the
Peace Congress.
The four cyclists, who will be joined by at least one other
member, Stan Dalton, in Thunder Bay, are to arrive in
Toronto Sept. 6 to join the annual Labor Day parade.

ee

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUGUST 27, 1982—Page 2