i‘ Le es ‘More layoffs’ this winter than last, Ottawa reports: slump hits Ontario hard OTTAWA More “unemployment this winter than last” is the picture the National Advisory Council on Man- power presented to parliament last week. The report of the committee also emphasized that “defense orders won't cut down the growing unemployment picture. ‘The committee made its report on Thursday, Nov- ember 15. The committee report predicting growing unemployment for workers in Ontario and other provinces RUTKA DAVID Rutka out to win school board seat as independent David Rutka, a young Vancou- ver businessman prominent in the Slavic community, announced this week that he will seek a school board seat as an independent can- didate in the coming civic elec- tions, December 12. 7 Sadbers events in our city, such as the Stanley Deren manslaughter case, show the need for better edu- cation on the.culture of minority groups and the need for racial tolerance,” said Rutka. “There is no better starting place for this education than in our schools. — “While this is the main consid- eration that induced me to enter civie politics, in general I find my- self opposed to the big Sp eaait Policies of the present Non-Parti- san administration. The NPA a8 a Liberal-Conservative coalition; independent candidates are the only genuine non-partisans. Civic Workers offer real unily An appeal to members. of Van- couver Civic Employees Union to scuttle their own sturdy union ship and crawl aboard Carl Berg's leaking rowboat (Local 407, TLC) Was made this week by Tom Als- bury and R. K. Gervin. : Rejecting the “offer” but advo- cating genuine unity of all out- side workers, officials of Civic Em- ployees {Union said they stand ready at all times to meet and dis- cuss in a sensible way methods of bringing together all workers com- ing within their jurisdiction. “Everything in Flowers” FROM... EARL SYKES PA, 3855 56 E. Hastings St. Vancouver, B.C. ee ee Vancouver Second Hand Store @ Stove Parts and Repairs @ Used Plumbing Supplies ‘Tools Kitchenware 588 MAIN ST. PAcific 8457 ‘eee was made a few hours after Labor Minister Milton F. Gregg told the House of Commons “that while there are small pockets of unem- ployment, particularly in central Ontario, on the whole the em- ployment picture in Canada is very good... .” mh Gregg’s attempt to make the gloomy and growing unemploy- ment, layoff and short-time picture look brighter was belied by the government’s labor department which reported that applications at National Employment Insurance | offices at October 18 totalled 141,- 400, compared with 134,800 at Oc- tober 4. At Toronto the figure was very serious, showing a jump of 40 percent over last year, or an in- crease of 6,224. The figures released were based on reports as of October 18, but since that date the picture has become more grim and unofficial figures. estimate that layoffs in Toronto alone are taking place at the rate of 2,000 per week. It must also be taken into ac- count that the figures provided only include those workers who have applied at the various Na- fices. To these can be added thou- sands of workers who do not make such applications because they do not come under the terms of the Unemployment Insurance Act and therefore do not make employment applications at those offices. tional Employment Insurance of-. Rush charges board discriminates against parks in East End ‘Charge that Vancouver Parks Board has discriminated against workers’ districts came from Maurice Rush, independent parks board candidate in the coming civic elections, this week. Speaking to a meeting of mem- bers of the National Federation of Labor Youth, Rush drew attention to the 1946 Bartholemew Report on city parks which said that in: “the area east of the business dis- tricts there is a pronounced de- ficiency of neighbourhood park facilities and playground areas.” This neglect of the east half of the city still stands true today, said Rush. “Some parks in that area have not changed since I played there as a child 25 years ago,” said Rush. “The only difference is that a shower room has been built at Powell Street grounds, _ which hasn’t any showers yet.” The meeting decided to endorse Rush’s candidacy for Parks Board. Workers: Union has announced his December 12 civic elections. He This willbe Gordon’s first bid for civic office though his father, the late Alexander Gordon, sen- ior, was a councillor for the muni- cipality of South Vancouver prior to amalgamation. Alex himself was known. Though locals of the UFAWU in Vancouver have Lae as yet en any official.position in re- ea to nis nomination, the Shore~ workers’ . local executive at, its meeting last Thursday expressed full support for Gordon - in his campaign. The executive will re- commend to the local-meeting that ‘full backing be given to Alex Gor- don who has been with the shore- workers for the past eight years. In announcing his intention to run, Gordon declared that despite the hands off attitude of the pre- sent city council, “There are plenty of things the aldermen can do to fight the cost of living but the in- terests they represent say lay off, so they refuse to oppose the hund- red and one increases taking place daily.” eet oe oak that the BCElec- tric. is readying further hikes in street car fare, electricity rates, s rates. . ping BCElectric,” Gordon _said, “has applied to the Public Utilities SS re HEIGH-HO 0 COME TO THE FAIR!\ Circle December 14 & 15 on vour calendar B.C.. CO-OP CHRISTMAS FAIR ) born in Vancouver and is widely, Gordon contests city council seat Business agent Alex Gordon of the United Fishermen and Allied 4 intention of contesting Vancouver's will run for the post of alderman as an Independent candidate backed by a committee representative of trade unions and other interested groups in the city. Commission for permission to in- crease its profit rate from its pre- sent 5.8 percent to 7.5 percent.” Producing a’ handful of. statis- ‘ tics, he stated that on its current irate of interest, the Company claims a deficit of two million dollars. “If the profit rates were “ALEX GORDON raised, its self-described deficit would be tripled. Their hands will be in our pockets again unless we put up a fight and if I’m elected, the fight will be carried on_ right inside the city council,” Gordon pledged. ——THE SPORTLIGHT By BERT WHYTE——-- N.45 races the great’ Citation ran 46 miles six and a half furlongs and earned’ $1,085,760, which my abacus tells me is about $24,000 a mile. For that kind of dough. I'd gallop a few miles myself, wearing a saddle and carrying a typewriter on my back. Speaking of racing (and-I seem to speak of it quite often) the No. 8 issue of that fine Soviet fortnightly magazine, News, carries an interesting article on racing in the USSR, where it is one of the most popular sports. Flat racing, hurdles and trick riding pack the grandstands in Moscow. and. other: large cities. In Georgia, where equestrianism is a. national sport, collective-farm djigits (trick riders) draw the most applause. Soviet citizens like to risk a few roubles at the track; they also enjoy watching special events. One of thesé is the Georgian “kabakhi” in which a horseman riding at full speed: must shoot an arrow at a cup set on a tall pole. One race which had Moscow fans in a tizzy was a 36-kilometre ‘cross-country race, 23 kilometres along roads, the remaining 13 across an open field. (In case you don’t know, a kilometre is five-eights of a mile, so. the horses in this race ran 2244 miles—about half the distance Citation covered in his entire career!. Ask any of our thoroughbreds to run that distance and they’d refuse to leave the’ starting gate.) “Our readers have most probably heard of the city of Ivanovo, one of the country’s leading textile centres,” says sportswriter N. Arkadyev in News. “But few people know that Ivanovo is also a large racing centre. The textile workers have their own horse club and. first-class jockeys. Races are held here the year round and there are many’ textile workers among the country’s best-known riders. s “Or take the village of Lykhny in Georgia. This Caucasian village boasts three collective farms and hundreds of first-class djigits who have their own racecourse, built specially for them by the collective farmers. Interesting races, including a 10-kilometre event, were held recently and the results showed that even the best horsemen have a dangerous rival in the Lykhny djigits.” : Racing customs differ, but there are few countries in the world where horse racing isn’t one of the most popular sports. In Canada and the United States horses run counter-clockwise; in _Europe they run clockwise. On this continent, in flat pacing, horses start from stall gates (the Puett gate is used at Hastings and Lansdowne). But this type of gadget isn’t as modern as you might think. They had stall starting gates for the chariot races in Rome. Look over the records and you'll. find that in the last century races were started by firing a small cannon, beating a drum, ringing a. bell, waving a-flag, and many other methods. In England strands of cotton tape are stretched across the track and a spring mechanism whip them up fast when the horses are lined up at the barrier. Some tracks use similar barriers which shoot skyward over the ‘orses’ ‘eads. * * ie All the Holy Willies in Vancouver are howling to high heaven about the forthcoming plebiscite on relaxation of present Sunday blue laws, but we're hopeful that on Decémber 12 the voters will ring up an overwhelming victory for sports on Sunday. The plebiscite asks for easing of current curbs to permit (c) athletic sporting events of all kinds ( b) cultural events (c) theatre performances on Sunday between the hours of 2 p.m. and 12 midnight. If labor turns out to the polls on election day, passage of this progressive plebiscite is assured. - Then sthe question will have to be decided by the provincial government. * * * A reader takes me to task for calling Ezzard Charles the best heavyweight in the business, and says, ‘“Aren’t you overlooking champ- pion Jersey Joe Walcott?” : Not overlooking him, chum. I just think Charles can beat him. Walcott must have his doubts, too. When he lifted the crown he Was supposed to give Charles a return fight in 60 days. Now he says next June, maybe. Meanwhile he’s put the title in deep freeze. Charles, a workmanlike fighter but no crowd-pleaser, looked mighty good when he kayoed Rex Layne in 11 stanzas recently, and should have little trouble with Walcott once he manages to get him into the ring, * * Sane ' This baseball teaser appeared in a sports magazine: “How can a pitcher throw just two pitches and still retire the side?” Answer: “The first and second men up hit the first ball pitched for outs. ‘ The third man up, a switch hitter, changes from one side of the’ hatter’s box to another, and is automatically out.” * * * In the coming Olympic Games athletes from the Soviet Union, participating for the first time, must be considered a real challenge in such events as. weightlifting, wrestling, boxing, football, equestrianism, shooting and gymnastics. They could also win a number of speed- skating titles. The United States, which always sends the largest contingent of athletes to the Olympics, is expected to take top honors at Helsinki, but they will not have such an overwhelming superiority in 1951 as they displayed in previous years. ; : Canada has few athletes of Olympic calibre, and British Columbia won't have any Percy Williams ‘to ‘turn the world sportlight on this province. Bill Parnell of ‘Victoria might place in the half-mile or mile. High jumper Dave Blair from ~Vancouver ‘isn’t up to inter- national standards. Ed Cinits of Vancouver, who ran second to Bob Hutchison in the 100-yard sprint at the recent Dominion track and field championships at UBC stadium, could improve enough in coming months to make the team. He was bothered by a bad leg against Hutchison but showed good possibilities. : British Columbia’s most promising woman athlete is Eleanor Mc- Kenzie, whose winning times in the 100 and 220-yard dashes wére close to Olympic standards. PACIFIC TRIBUNE — NOVEMBER 23, 1951 — PAGE 7