“THE FUTURE IS IN HIGHER EDUCATION” says the banner carried by UBC student teachers in a demonstra-. tion in 1966. In 1970-71, education in B.C. faces a severe crisis as the Socred government cuts education Sppropriations and threatens higher taxes all down the line on homeowners. Socred convention reflects indifference to job crisis By A VISITOR Although unemployment fi- gures in B.C. had jumped by 11,000 in one month, the main Concern of Social Credit dele- Sates attending a convention in the Bayshore Inn recently was the ‘‘godless”’ state of society. During the ‘sittings, delegates heard Premier Bennett. liken labor struggles to a ‘‘war’’ in Which the Socreds might get their heads shot off; heard Wel- fare Minister Gaglardi blame Other provinces for his inability to cope with welfare problems, and attempted to deal with a Number of resolutions contain- Ing bible-belt philosophy in- Stead of practical approaches to the problems besetting the So- Cred government. Premier Bennett, in his ad- dress to the convention, . defended Bill 33 as being part of legislation which is ‘‘the most advanced in the world.”’ He said, ‘‘People keep telling Us to use it now, use itnow.. . but like the boys in the trenches you have to keep your head down low because if you keep raising it up every time, you are going to get it shot off.” When the Premier announced Provincial taxes would be in- Creased there wasn’t even a Burnaby Burnaby Citizens Association (BCA) civic campaign went into high gear last weekend with Meetings, literature distri- bution and scores of signs throughout the community. Hazel L’Estrange, John Mo- tiuk, Tom Constable and Fraser Wilson are the BCA candidates for aldermanic seats. At a meeting sponsored by the Rast Burnaby Ratepayers As- Sociation, they outlined a pro- fram which included,a more €quitable tax distribution for urnaby citizens. “Education, hospitals, rapid transit and welfare must be financed from the general reve- ues of Ottawa and Victoria,” Said Motiuk, a young lawyer. : ‘Our (homeowners) taxes go Up an average of approximately. per cent a year. This week the hy a PN TE tet whimper of protest, much less an outcry. A pre-20th century resolution came in with the delegation from Kamloops, the balliwack of the man whom one union leader describes as being the ‘infamous minister of anti-wel- fare,’’ Phil Gaglardi. These people want strikes outlawed. With an°eye on organized la- bor’s outraged reaction to such a proposal, Labor Minister Les Peterson steered the .conven- tion away from approving the resolution, telling them with unctious satisfaction his govern- ment believed in democracy. (He did not mention Bill 33 in the same context.) Mr. Gaglardi basked in the praise of a resolution which de- claimed that misfits from all over North America were com- ing to B.C. because of its ‘‘open- handed social assistance .. .” (That’s what the resolution said!) ‘Another called for a back-to- the-kitchen move on the part of working women, betraying the type of kinder, kueche, kribbe philosophy which runs through Social Creditism. Allin all, it was a strange med- ley of ideas which permeated the convention hall of these Tory-from-way-back people who today support Social Credit. In a province where working people make up the majority, the premier sees themvas a sort of enemy with whom he is engag- ed in a “war.” In a province where unemployment is rife, the answer is to chase the job-_ less ‘‘back where they come from.”’ In a province where many old people suffer from malnutri- tion, where homeowners are bowed down with the struggle to make ends meet, the solution is higher taxes. In a province where ware- houses overflow with lumber, plywood, shingles and cement; where people are without homes and rents are pheno- menal, the only answer coming from Premier and rank and file is more ‘‘deals’’ with foreign companies to take away still more of our wealth, leaving us the poorer. Sorry. One Social Credit group did have an answer. It was to run lotteries to pay for welfare, medical plans and education costs — ‘‘until times get bet ter.” 3 Echoing the religious tenor of the Socred convention we can only cry — How long, oh Lord, how long? 5 Some 88 percent of B.C.’s public school teachers are prepared to take strike action unless their pension plan is increased and improved by the provincial government. The decision to strike was taken after two unproductive years of negotiations with the Socred government whose treasury board controls the pension plan. President of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation Jim Kileen said the pension is the lowest of any province in Canada. Yet the teachers have contributed $165 million, and the interest alone pays for pensions being paid yearly to retired teachers. ; Increased pensions: would cost _ Teachers vote strike to get pension rights the taxpayer nothing, since it would come from the fund sup- ported by the teachers them selves. They have recommended that pensions be 70 percent of the final salary paid to the indi- vidual teacher. At the present time it is less than half that amount. The Federation has indicated it will not take strike action until’ after the next sitting of the legis- lature scheduled for the latter part of January. Changes could then be made in the Teachers’ Superannuation Act which may be satisfactory. If not, judging from the current mood of the teachers, the strike will be on. ‘Put schools first’ COPE candidates say Committee of Progressive Electors School Board Candidates are campaigning vigorously around the theme ‘‘PUT SCHOOL FIRST”’. Elect a School Board with the courage to plan for children’s needs and to insist upon the necessary funds from the Provincial and Federal Governments to carry out those plans, said Mrs. Margaret Chunn, Paul Mitchell and Russel Pedersen, COPE School Board candidates. Their campaign will centre around challenging Bill 86 (Education Act), particularly the 110% ceiling on operating costs and the demand that the provincial government assume 80% of education costs in Vancouver. Preventing school drop-outs, and school failures; more Cana- dian content in education, a voice for pupils and parents in formulating school policies and direct negotiations with teachers and all staff on salaries and working conditions and support for teachers in their demand for adequate pensions, are among their programatic points. Margaret Chunn, is a bookkeeper, married, three children, and is a member of Local 15, Office & Technical Employees Union. She helped organize the Women’s Com- - mittee Against High Prices and is a former member of the Winnipeg School Board. Paul Mitchell, 23, is a nursing orderly, member of SPEC, member of the Public Service Alliance of Canada and is active in the Young New Democrats. Russel Pedersen, 51, is an architect, married, five children, formerly of New civic campaign in full swing business tax was increased one- half of one per cent for the first time in five years!”’ Fraser Wilson said the cry for ‘‘progress,’’ defined as new industries, more highways and freeways, etc., is justified only. if all the people of a commu- nity are benefited. He said priorities as to need lie in pub- lic housing for senior citizens and low income groups; estab- lishing stricter legislation on pollution; a Landlord-Tenant Appeal Board and the full en- franchisement of tenants, along with other legislation to ease the burden on lower income citizens. Hazel L’Estrange told the audi- ence that after attending coun- cil meetings for months she was convinced. of. one. thing: home- owners are not truly repre- tig sented on council. She said, ‘‘Whether you are in- terested in equality, in taxa- tion, Stormont exchange, more parks for East Burnaby, trucks banned from routes in resi- dential areas, an elected Parks Board . . . or sidewalks and local improvements, you must become involved.” Tom Constable, a trade unionist from the IBEW, said pollution is one of the main con- cerns of progressive people. While there is a grant avail- able to ‘‘clean’” Burnaby Lake for the purposes of the Canada Games, it is not sufficient for comprehensive development of the lake area as a park, Con- stable said. BCA want to see the whole Bur- naby Lake ‘area developed, not: as Coney Island type recrea- tion, but as a natural green haven for people who want to es- cape city streets. School Board candidates Beth Chobotuk, Maurits Mann and Orest Moysiuk in their talks dealt with deficiencies in educa-. tion financing as well as the need for improved learning facilities and the improvement and in- crease in community use of schools. There is wide interest in civic elections in Burnaby this year, with several organizations spon- soring all-candidate meetings at Burnaby Central, December 3, 8 p.m.; Simon Fraser, Main Mall, November 30, 12:30 p.m., and one at which School Board candidates will speak at Cas- cade Heights, December 2. » Burnaby elections take placé °‘ December 12. IA ENE Zealand where he had his own practice in Auckland for 10 years. MARGARET CHUNN PAUL MITCHELL y 3° As