THe knotty problem of municipal taxation and its relation to educational and_ social security needs is being widely debated with the warming up of municipal election campaigns throughout the province. Among. all the press- ing problems facing urban and rural municipali- ties, two stand out with glaring prominence: education and hospitalization. Needless to add, both pose the question with growing insistence, “Where’s the money coming from?” Bnitish Columbia’s pa paid a goodly sum of money in an effort to find an answer to that question, as embodied in us Goldenberg report, : S : o This report presents. a iter. of very” im- portant recommendations for sources of tax reven- ues and distribution, recommendations which, if implemented as promised, would break open the “fixed assessment” and other. tax ‘‘concessions”’ given to big business, and place them upon.a basis of “equality of obligation” payers: within a municipality. In scores of municipalities ehioawheue the province the implementation of the Goldenberg ands of dollars in added revenues to meet growing needs of extended educational facilities, hospital- ization, and other social and public services. As matters stand at present, the Goldenberg report gathers dust in the Coalition archives; powerful monopolies: continue to crawl under ate? assessment’’ or “special concession” tax wire; municipalities are called upon to carry public costs they can no longer meet; and schools, hos- pitals and other public utilities are conspicuous by their inability to meet elementary requirements. When the Municipal Aid and Social Security — Act (better known as the Sales Tax) was a Where’ s the money... ? with all. other tax- _ recommendations would have meant tens’ of thous- | ‘fixed | _school construction is an issue, nothing should be : hauiges in the British North America Act must our children of school facilities: or our citizens of to the Coalition government should be implement brought down, its big-business Coalition sponsors let it be known with much press ballyhoo (without being too specific) , that the révenues so derived would be used to aid municipal financing in public works, schools, hospitals and the like. Yet in the present municipal elections, both urban and rural, burdensome taxation remains the top issue—with the danger of needed school and hospitalization ' construction being shelved. A\ll in order to allow the monopoly tax-dodgers to continue getting under ihe wire. 4 In all municipal campaigns where extended allowed to~stand in its’ way. Tt must, however, — be coupled with the growing demand that pro- '| vincial and federal governments assume the main «| burden of the cost of education and social secur- ity. The traditional buck-passing between those two centers of authority doesn’t build schools, hospitals or roads; nor does it provide relief where relief is badly. needed. eels iSiefal government’s. proposals for be transformed from mere Liberal window dressing ‘into reality, ‘based ‘on the needs of the people down below, and designed to take the. unconstitu- - tional tax burden off the municipalities and place it where it. belongs—upon those best able to pay. When that is done the sorry business of depriving social security and health, because the municipal- ities can no longer carry the bulk of the tax bur- den, will have ended. S: Key demand in all B.C. municipal elections | the Goldenberg report now, thus putting an end to the buck-passing ‘trick question, ““Where’s the money coming from>” ‘ ~ OLITICAL morality in heads: is at a ear ebb. One’ need only look at official Ottawa from the outside to become aware of this sinister development. What it might look from the * “iiside” A ope can only guess and fear. : In recent weeks the Liberal government of aus ~ St. Laurent has brazened through (the only phrase that fits) three major issues, any one of which in other times would have been regarded as a govern- ment scandal demanding a public verdict at the polls. At the | very least the Liberals would have had to walk again through Mackenzie King’s “‘valley of the early thirties. 3 Now there is neither “eh etiariont® _ trace of a sense of culpability. It is simply a matter of brazening it through, to the accompaniment of big gun Liberal oratory which is neither convincing nor factual. . In- withholding the Meee: ea on the — milling and baking prices combine, the St. Laurent - government discarded its own statutory laws, designed to protect the people from the criminal actions of the milling and baking monopolists. The indignation of the people is drowned in a spate of Liberal pro- ‘nouncements calculated to bury the MacGregor re- - port—and to allay public criticism with a new set "| of false teeth for the Combines Investigation Act. ee The findings of the government commission on the burning of the Canada Steamship Lines’ SS An new low in government nor other Noronic and the appalling death of 118 Deis: places responsibility equally on the CSL and i Short-circuiting democracy _ NVERY ee SE, ae Sa eS ‘lea gO reduce an elected city-council to the. eve of | In Ae. ‘Victoria municipal ‘election Pops up. ° Both may- campaign it is the “‘top’’ issue this year. oralty candidates and some aldermen are rene a : i boosting | the idea. — Lune aside” toni she additional cost to tax- pavers (which some of the city manager boosters say will be met out of “savings’’), there is a demo-- cratic principle involved. In practice the city man- ager setup leads to undermining the institution of local "municipal government, and opens the door wide to the advent of municipal vest-pocket dictators. — ‘Those who. spramete the idea of a ity manager - takes his seat~as usual in the Liberal cabinet. ~in the minds of thousands of Canadians, Chevrier, ship’s officers, and onthe ‘ ‘laxity”” transport personnel. But Transport Minister Chev- ner’s early whitewash of the shipping’ monopoly in the House of Commons still stands—and the minister Yet, and not his underlings, is the one most guilty of per- mitting the CSL to operate ships dangerous to the public safety. Thirdly, the Abbott rental alone scandal, _which on December 15 will take millions of dollars out of the pockets of wage earners and low salaried | humiliation” as in the Beauharnois power scandal of , groups across Canada, and put that money into the pockets of the big monopoly realtors and landlord — class. And again a lot of Liberal balderdash cover- ing the government’s _buck-passing trick of handing _ what it knows to be a national issue over to the pro- — vincial governments, thus freeing the St. Laurent — \ government of its basic responsibility to the common people of Canada — that of ensuring they have a roof over their heads at moderate cost.) ‘ re In normal times any one of these three issues swciitdl have meant “‘loss of face’ and perhaps. par- — liamentary defeat for the government. ly causes a ripple, so low has the political morality of the parties of big business sunk. The arrogant cocksureness that flows from the knowledge of a preponderant _ majority in parliament is thrown into the scales in defense of the interests of big business. — It is time the people began to ask their MP’s actions in parliament belie their promises on the — hustings. n “‘advisory’” body, with no administrative or exec- ive powers, except by grace of some ‘ “dynamic” big business ‘stooge, appointed to “manage” city, affairs. The main objective of a city manager setup is “to. short-circuit local democratic government. always send him back to where he came from at the | next election. But the city manager 1s, a horse of a - different color, promoted by, and having the backing © - of the financial tycoons, and not easily dislodged. Prevention in the case of a city manager is better than cure. Don’t let the coupon Senge 8 short-cireuit local Somocratic government. Now it hard- SOPs pelurines TOM McEWEN _As We Bee Ie RDERS Prant Mos han ii . er, Rome. A papal “bull” handed do last week by the Catholic archdiocese of Vancouver forbids Catholic newsvendors from selling the Pacific Tribune. As a special dispensation , to this worthy :paper, those’ newsvendors who may be’ “forced” to sell they are urged to “limit sales as far as pos: sible.” Failue. to’ observe this Vatican edict—promoted by Ernesto Cardinal Ruffini of Palermo, Italy — Vancouver's Catholic newsles will be refused the sacraments of the Catholic Church. All Communist publications are included in this medieval threat The Pacific Tribune got special front-page mention. Let us make a few points clear. No dignatory of the Catholic, or any other church can point to a single line in this paper that — could even be Catholic or any We: do not remotely . construed as being an attack on the other church denomination. ask our readers, subscribers or PT. salesmen about _ their religion. That is their business. Anytime ‘any of these’ group of ies of Cat: If en alderman is not “cutting the mustard” the. people can tig may have a “beef” against the PT it is generally _ dealt with to the mutual satisfaction of al] con ' cerned. Our Catholic readers don’t ask us if wé get our “orders from Moscow” any more than about “orders from Rome.” In short, we) manage to behave like intelligent adults, _ No one is “forged” to sell the Pacific Tribune. Catholic,’ Protestant, Buddhist or atheist, they sell. it or read it because they believe it has a special interest for - workers, regardless of re- ligious affiliations—and also because the PT is anathema to profit-gouging monopoly, which, among other things, has managed to monopolize _ orthodox religions in furtherance of its “divine” right to monopolize the natural resources and — productive capacity of the common people of all religious leanings. But the Vatic of the weapon ’s desire “to limit sales’ shows a keen appreciation of sabotage. To reduce the Church sacraments to “such a level places a very low premium on these institutions, a fact which enlightened Catholics will not fail’ to notice: The edict of the Vatican depriving Catholic workers of the ; sacraments pf their church, because they may read or promote — what are listed in reactionary circles as Communist publications, is not without some parallels in history. It would close their minds — by the primitive thr closed their mouths Proscribing t of damnation, just as: the Anquisition once y the fiery stake, — the Pacific Tribuné from Catholic workers also points up the fact that the top hierarchy of the Catholic ‘Church, — driven to desperation by the onward march of human ‘progress ° and enlightenment, . is reduced to the necessity of conjuring up all the terrors of hell in order to bolster up a dying social system, in which exploitation and war mark its highest “achievements.” It may be that the archdiocesan “bull” on the Pacific Tribune may have the same’ effect “on, many Catholic workers as the great English poet Shelley said of Ahaserus: “But my soul, from sight — and sense of the polluting woe of tyranny, had long learned to prefer Hell’s freedom to the servitude of Heaven, therefore I arose... .” — In the fight for socialism, as the historical successor to. capitalism, é holic workers have played—and will play—a vital role. And neither the dollars nor the conniving of Wall Street mor the “ex- communications” of Rome will stop them. _ Every now and again some of our more critical readers take — al rap at us for are quite correct, since there is little in that) public misinformation — quoting the capitalist press. Broadly speaking they — ‘dispensary that is worth quoting. However once in a while, perhaps quite ‘accidentaly, a bit of real truth gets in and we seize upon — it—particularly when it emphasizes what has- already been Stated — in the pages of “the PT. * In past months we ‘have said a good: deal ieatolit Cabadian independence, being’ given in hock for Yankee dollars. “pact, ” or what Each “plan,” have you, since the end of the Second World War has seen something of Canada’s independence as a sovereign state bartered away for some mythical future “prosperity”—with a new war in the making thrown in as an “ineentive” a eonenuss “good 1U.S.-Canadian relations.” — ain its November 15 issue, ie Piri Means: “Magazine carries _a feature article by its top writer, Blair Fraser, on these “relations,” | y ‘and how dependent upon the U.S. Canadian “independence” is. The story deals with Newfoundland and the three U.S. air : x force bases given to the U.S. by Britain for 99 years, before New- _ foundland came into ‘confederation. There ‘Canadians must step to. the music of Uncle Sam. In these areas Canadian citizens may bee seized and thrown ‘in jail—they may even be shot. yet they have no recourse to Canadian courts for ‘redress. courts may assess damages ‘for Canadians, nix, it is: nix, period. | ; Nor is’ that all. - and are, Canadian. ut” ify SW aenitepon says Not only haa’ the US. military absoniter guris: diction — over: ‘Canadians within these area limits, but “outside the leased area, anywhere in Newfoundland, U.S. courts retain juris-_ ‘diction when an offense ‘of a miltary nature’ is committed by ‘aly -non-British subject.” If for instance John Cherkovsky, who originally hailed from the Ukraine’ 30 years ago, and who has dug iron ore for Dosco for the last 25 years, (between elections), “Which side are you on?” Their | \urday night beer, should express the opinion that there are too in the course of having his Sat- damn many arrogant Yanks in Newfoundland for Newfoundland’s In this way the moral ebb can be stayed. f 2 BORG that could. constitute ae military offense” and ‘Canadian courts would have no voice in saving John (even if they wanted te from : the witch-hunters of war-hysterical ‘Washington. Maclean’s Magazine simply underlines what the Gammunists have been saying right along, that Canadian independence — has been © sold down the river to Yankee imperialism, and our territory trans. ‘socialism. hy drat f CG mmc Li : oe _ formed into a papening, crs ALL for Fables aggression cette ae seal ui aren i Basin Let i | Pine BH a) ye 3 pu . mm iI Ws F i INI | Wag sie IN soon i = 5g i Published. Weekly at 650 Howe Street ae rg By THE es PUBLISHING COMPANY um. Tom McEwen Subscription | Rates: Telephone MA. 5288 st st tee ee ene eee es 1 Year, $2.50; sats Si somailie, Peas 6 Months, $1.35. © Printed by Union Printers Ltd., 650 ‘Howe ‘Street, ‘Vancouver, BO leche as second class” wa Post Office ‘Dent, Ottawa _PACLFIC TRIBUNE — - DECEMBER 2, ae — PAGE 3