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+Prairie Commonwealth

EDITORIAL |
Post election surgery

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s ‘Just Society”’ is
rolling ahead — in reverse. Hard on the heels of the
PM’s arbitrary cancelling out of federal assistance to muni-
cipal winter work programs, plus major cutbacks and halt-
ing of scientific and industrial projects, we now hear Justice
Minister John Turner hinting at_two other ‘‘major econ-
omies’’ being contemplated; the cancellation of family
allowances — and no more pension increases for senior citi-
zens. As if that weren’t enough the minister hints-of other
possible cuts in social welfare, already well below subsis-
tence levels.

So much for the Trudeaumania ‘Just Society’ that
played Canada for a sucker and won — temporarily.

Alongside this governmental belly-robbing for the
greater glory and profit of Big Business monopoly, comes
the announcement of postmaster Eric Kiernans that, effec-
tive November 1, postal rates will go up, four to six cents on
local mail with a corresponding hike for Canada and abroad.
By this postal hike the government expects to extract an
extra $37 million revenue in 1969.

The big monopoly ‘‘junk mail’’ producers, U.S. publica-
tions, etc., are to be let down easy. The common citizen Joe

Doakes who swallowed the Trudeaumania anasthetic whole, ~

will cough up the most of it, and the government will cash-
in handsomely on the recent postal strike to win decent
wages and union conditions.

The only thing that won’t be cut — and the main waste
that should be cut, is the $1% billion that goes down the
NATO-NORAD drain annually. Spent on social needs that
would take care of a lot of things.

Hunger and abundance

A‘ of mid-summer this year Canada had a surplus"

carry-over of some 670 million bushels of unsold
wheat. The 1968 harvest, despite all climatic hazards will
boost that total to well over 1,000-million bushels.

Our own annual wheat consumption for every man,
woman and child, even the as yet unborn ones, is roughly
estimated at four bushels per head per annum. That still
leaves our wheat farmers with a lot of unsold wheat on hand
for the gophers, ‘‘economists,”’ rats, politicians and others
to “‘dispose’’ of. “

This, while stark Hunger grips half the world’s peoples,
our philosophers cackle about the “population explosion,’’
the cold war escalates, and the markets for Canadian wheat
shrinks — even if the need doesn’t.

Already the wiseacres of Big Business are trotting out
old moth-eaten nostrums to “‘solve’” the wheat crisis.. Grow
lower grades to make it “competitive;”’ ‘‘convert’’ to other
crops, beef, hogs, etc., etc. ‘‘Conversion”’ they call it, and
for countless hundreds of family farms it may mean just
that. Conversion from an hitherto independent food pro-

wong to another jobless statistic on the industrial scrap
eap.
Canada’s wheat growers face economic crisis because
they have produced too much food. Millions suffer hunger
because they have no food — nor the means to buy it. Any
Grade 1 student could give our Swinging ‘‘statesmen’’ a fast
answer to that problem.

acl,
‘West Coast ed

REAL

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SER Ca

Editor—TOM McEWEN Associate Editor—MAURICE RUSH
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IC. TRIBUNE SEPTEMBER 27, 119584 Page 2

SSS SSSR Soa OI

- education.

© Tribune

ition, Canadian Tribune

~ COMMUNIST STATEMENT: :

French language rights
for Quebec supported

The National Committee of the
Communist Party of Quebec last
week issued the following statement
dealing with the language crisis in
French Canada:

The language crisis in Quebec
is an integral part of the struggle
of the French Canadian nation
for its self determination, for the
sovereignty of Quebec up to and
including separation if the
majority of the Quebec people
desire it.

The PCQ has many times
declared itself for the
sovereignty of Quebec, for the
right of the French Canadian
nation to the control of its own
state, of its economy, of its
culture and language and to
decide without qualification
whether or not it wishes to be
associated with English
speaking Canada)in one country
and if so in what way.

The domination by the Anglo-
Canadian and American
bourgeoisie of the French
Canadian nation exerts itself in
all fields: political, economic,
linguistic and cultural. In this
declaration we are concerned
with the matter of language
where this domination has
caused especially painful
results, most recently for
example in St. Leonard. Our
Party supports every effort to
encourage the strengthening and
flowering of the French
language in Quebec, to remove
every fetter imposed by Anglo-
Canadian and American
domination as well.as by the
confessional system of
'(Editor’s note,
division of all students and of the
system of instruction into
Catholic and Protestant. )

Precisely as the result of the
Anglo-Canadian domination
rooted in the British conquest,
we declare ourselves against the
preservation of all privilege
imposed in favor of the English
language, for example: the use
of English as the language of
work. ~

We are equally opposed to all
forms of discrimination and of
coercions such as the policy of
unilingualism. The struggle for
the survival and flowering of the
national language of French
Canadians should not be
conducted by denying to the
English speaking minority,
whatever its ethnic origin, the
free use of its language and the

right to education in the
language of choice.
We consider as anti-

democratic any effort to deprive
parents of the right to have their
children educated in the
language of their choice. It is
clear that the solution of the
problem of the language of work
in Quebec will be the
nationalization of all key
industries of Quebec now in fact
controlled by American and
Anglo-Canadian monopoly
capitalists. But meanwhile we
believe that the workers and
other democratic forces should
demand that the Government of
Quebec undertake measures it
has refused until now, such as:

e that the French language be
recognized as the principal and
general language in Quebec, and

that the policy of bilingualism be

rejected;

_ Information

e that every collective
agreement, every directive and
bulletin, every
training program, etce.,. in
commercial and _ industrial
establishments be in French and
where necessary also in English;

e that every child have the
opportunity and be obliged to
learn French adequately as a
requirement for all diplomas
granted by the Department of
Education;

@ that where ten percent of the
parents in a school area request
a school or classes where the
principal language of education
be English, that this right be
granted and financially
supported by the Government of
Quebec.

It is in this way that the Parti
Communiste du Quebec believes
it necessary to pursue a policy
fundamentally and consistently
democratic having as its purpose
the defence of the rights to self
determination. of the French

Canadian nation in all areas,
while at the same time defending
the democratic rights including
the choice of language, of those
Quebec people who are not
French Canadian.

Such a policy will strengthen
the unity of the working class
which is indispensable for the
democratic solution of this
problem.

PEACE PARLEY

The Co-ordinating Committee
to End the War in Vietnam, set
up to co-ordinate the work of
many Vancouver peace groups,
has called a ‘Fall Action
Assembly’’ for Sunday,
September 29 at the IWA Hall,
2859 Commercial Dr.

The Assembly, which will
meet from 11 a.m. to5 p.m., will
discuss future actions to end the
war. Calls have gone out -to
numerous organizations along
with a registration form.

‘Mayor had

no right

to order freeway study’

By ALD. HARRY RANKIN

Without any authorization
from City Council Mayor Tom
Campbell last week hired a
consulting firm to make a
$12,500 study of freeway routes
into the downtown area from
Highway 401 and the Deas
Thruway to a new Burrard
Inlet crossing.

The reasons given by Mayor
Campbell for taking this
unprecedented step were (a)
City Council didn’t meet last
week and the matter couldn’t be
delayed for another week, and
(b) he was confident the
majority of City Council would
endorse the study.

Mayor Campbell’s reasons
don’t stand up under
examination, while his motives
also are suspect. No one knows
what Council will do until it
meets; the Mayor has no

business authorizing
expenditures without Council
approval.

Freeways and a Burrard Inlet
crossing. have been under
discussion for years, and it will

RANKIN CTTEE
PLANS MEETING

The Harry Rankin Election
Committee has announced a
meeting of all members of the
committee for
September 30, at the Pender
Auditorium, 339 W. Pender St. at
8 p.m. to discuss the upcoming
civic election.

Two main items on the agenda
will be the relationship of the
committee to COPE — The
Committee of Progressive
Electors; and a plan of action to
re-elect Alderman Rankin and
other progressive aldermen.
COPE was set up a few weeks
ag@+to unite trade  unions/})
ratepayers and tenant groups for
participation in civic politics.

Monday,}.

be some years yet before we
have another crossing. Why this
sudden hurry now?

But there are other good
reasons why Mayor Campbell’s
action deserves to be viewed
with a good deal of suspicion.

No study worth anything can
or will be made for $12,500.
Council has made no decision
that freeways should go through

~the city. In fact many groups of

citizens have protested strongly
against any freeways at all in the
downtown area. City Council
itself rescinded a motion that a
freeway be built along Carral
Street.

Yet the Mayor hires a firm to
study a freeway route through
the downtown area. Is this an.
attempt to smuggle in his
freeway ideas despite public and
council objections?

No decision has yet been
announced by Ottawa as to
whether the crossing of Burrard
Inlet will be by bridge or tunnel,
or whether it will go through
Stanley Park, from Brockton
Point, or somewhere in the
centre of the inlet to connect
with Lonsdale Avenue in North
Vancouver. é

How can any study of
connecting links be made
without this information?

When you add all these factors
together — the phony excuse
about not being able to wait
another week, the undecided
question of what kind of a
crossing, - public opposition: to
freeways through the centre of
the city, you can’t help
wondering what our Mayor is up
to.

He will have some explaining
to do to Council when it meets. In
my opinion Council should make
it clear that the Mayor’s action
was illegal and irresponsible;
that he has no authority to spend _
public funds or decide Council _
policy by himself, °° ~ cere

Bic CPSU Fw oe 8
CUS . shed