ar

HIGH COLUMBIA COSTS BLAMED

ihe

Budget fails to meet public need!

The Vancouver Labor Council
Tuesday night went on record
unanimously to ask the B,C, Fed-
eration of Labor to ‘‘prevail on
the provincial government to set
up a royal commission to examine
the Columbia treaty, its financ-
ing and all other aspects of the
treaty.”

Delegates also endorsed an
executive recommendation that
the Council confer with the B.C.
Federation of Labor with a view
to possible joint action on a re-
quest from the Ad Hoc Committee
to End the War in Vietnam for
support of a public meeting for _

tthe
LEGISLATURE
f and .

EE

1130K.c, SUNDAYS

COMMUNIST PARTY’S
WEEKLY RADIO
COMMENTARY

or

by NIGEL MORGAN

° e
Housing
Cont'd from pg. 2

in co-operation with the City
Council has the authority to as-
semble such land and thus curb
t the activities of land specula-
4 ue tors, Council should avoid use
of land such as that of the Raymur
project, land that is an indus-
trial area facing a viaduct and
along railroad tracks,

@ Pressure by City Council on
Ottawa for removal of the sales
tax on building material designed
for use for housing purposes,

@N.H.A, loans at an interest
rate of five percent for people
who wish to build their own
homes,

The brief closes by welcoming
Ottawa’s decision to hold a Fed-
‘eral-Provincial conference on
housing in April, It asks that
large urban centres be invited and
urges Vancouver City Council to
request an invitation,

Rabbi A. Feinberg at the Queen
Elizabeth theatre some time in
March,

The Ad Hoc Committee asked
for aid in publicizing the meet-
ing, to name a representative
to the meeting, to supply a labor
representative at the meeting and
agree with other organizations to
join in underwriting the cost of
the rally.

Marine Workers delegate A,
Brogan, whe spoke in the dis-
cussion, was.critical of labor’s
lack of involvement in the strug-
gle for peace,

VLC president Ed Sims, who
is labor’s representative on the
Port Development Council, pre-
sented an extensive report on
the studies undertaken for expan-
sion of Vancouver’s port. He
said labor should pay close at-
tention to harbor development
because “it is an issue which
involves not only waterfront
unions but the whole community
due to our reliance on the port,’’

Sims said the expansion of port
areas together with careful plan-
ning of facilities and a tunnel at
First Narrows could bring about
“a terrific transformation in the'
port which will make us a world
leader.”

fic Tribune

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1967 |

Soviet Premier Kosygin said
in London Tuesday that, ‘‘the
first step to peace in Vietnam

is ‘‘unconditional cessation of
American bombing.”

huge debt B.C, is expected to incur under the Columbia Te }
Some experts expect it to exceed $200 million, Is it any wonder he
new budget provides for the borrowing powers of B.C. Hydro i
doubled to one billion dollars.

SCHOOLS

Cont'd from pg. 1

School officials, in a special
report to the Vancouver School
Board Monday, said at least 70
additional classrooms will be
needed to care for 2,000 more
students expected next fall, Only
fifteen of these rooms are cur-
rently under construction,

are urged to take part,

land residents.

St., or phone MU 5-9958,

Peace lobby to Victoria

A giant Peace Lobby to Victoriais being organized by the
P S. Peace Council for Wednesday, March 8th andthe public

Mainland participants will leave Vancouver Tuesday night,
March 7th and return Wednesday night. They are expected
to be joined in Victoria by large numbers of Vancouver is-

Return trip from Vancouver will cost about $10. These
expecting to take part or seeking further information should
get in touch with the B.C, Peace Council at 339 W, Pender

| "Who are they—Vietnamese, Cambodians, peasants,

Vietcoug— or U.S. advisers!”

new $28 million tax deal with Ottawa under which the federal gove il

education presages a tuition fee increase in thenear future.

-meet the deficit on Columbia financing and the rising needs 0 :
province,” said Communist Party vice-chairman Maurice Rus

Education, health |
and welfare suffer

Speaking in the budget debate NDP leader Robert serach
charged in the liggislature Monday that the provincial govern
was ignoring school and hospital needs because of rising hydro co
He said government figures on the Columbia show that the prolé
will exceed estimates by many millions of dollars. '

The NDP leader said nobody knows how many adil”
millions will be needed to complete the final dam at Mica cree
the spring of 1973 — the time set in the Columbia Treaty.

In a radio broadcast last Sunday over CKWX, Maurice
vice-chairman of the B.C. Communist Party, charged thal)
people of B.C, are being asked to pick up a $75 million tab fo!
privilege of serving the interests of a foreign country — and
why there isn’t more money in the budget for education, h0
and social welfare.”

Rush pointed out that his party had fought against the cali
Treaty as a sellout to the U.S. He said the people of B,C. ar i
forced to dig deep in their pockets to pay for dams in Canada }

serve U.S. interests and provide no power in Canada, |
i

Under the treaty with the U.S., B.C. undertook to complete
Duncan, High Arrow and. Mica Creek dams by 1973. nv
the province was to get $501 millionfrom the treaty, This wa a
elude all payments and interest on cash received from thé

* Recently Premier Bennett travelled to Wall Street to bot
$50 million for B.C. Hydro. Before he could get the money He
to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 4 fi '
statement in which it was revealed for the first time that ca
costs for the Columbia storage projects will be $575 million by f
end of 1971, |

t

That’s almost $75 million more than B.C, is to recelV
addition to that, there are still two years of construction |
on the most costly dam, Mica Creek, :

if
Thus the $75 million deficit is only the first installment op th.

A ‘PEOPLE’S BUDGET?’

The budget — which was hailed by Bennett as a «peotl
Budget’’—is coming under sharp fire in the House and from
public. In a certain sense it is a “people’s budget” — the pet
are paying out of their pockets in higher taxes for whatever
creases in public services are being offered. At the same time
big monopolies exploiting our natural resources will pay eve
smaller portion of provincial revenues than before,

The budget provides for increases in education, nospiey
highways, municipal affairs, social welfare and other public serv of
of about $80 million. The whole of this $80 million will come
increased revenues from taxes_on the consuming public.

The new budget will derive 38 percent of its revenue from wf
on the consuming public, At the same time natural resources of
will account for only 13.5 percent of revenues. The total rem
from resources industries will amount to $99.6 million on 4 b
of $740 million. ; |

In 1965-66 actual returns from resource industries amoutl
to $104.3 million. Thus, the big monopolies controllin& i
resource industries will actually pay about $5 million les
taxes than the year before,

SOCIAL NEEDS NOT MET,

The Socred government has come under particularly sharp fire i
its failure to provide more funds for education, hospital and cm
care, social welfare and aid to municipalities, It has obvie

cut all these to the bone. ;
f
University students are upinarms over the failure of the oe r¢

ment to meet the $66 million required to maintain B.C.’S
largest universities. Only $53 million was budgeted for and 0 dh
crease in capital expansion of university facilities is prov
for. The provincial government has actually cut the share of me
it is giving to universities, k

In 1966 B.C, budgeted for $33 million while Ottawa 62¥ 4)
million, The B,C, share of the $53 million this year will be
million, What Premier Bennett has done is to take advantage Om

ment was to withdraw from obligations to higher education, to
the B,C, share by some $8 million,

OF
The failure of the budget to meet the required amount for nig

d
The B.C. Communist Party has called for the impositiOr

a natural resources “surtax” on all foreign controlled monop? {0
exploiting our natural resources, “This is the most effective We the

’

his radio broadcast last Sunday. s
February 10, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Pad