liberals

betray election pledges:

MOSCOW — Hailing the latest
Soviet achievement in putting a
- space research station in orbit
around the moon, delegates to
the 28rd Communist Party Con-
gress and fraternal delegates
from around the world, stood at
attention Monday as strains of
the “Internationale” were broad-
east to the convention hall from
the space craft, ?

The Soviet Party Congress this
week turned its attention from the
fight for world peace and unity of
all socialist countries to the

- directives of the new Five Year
- Plan which will mark a newgiant
forward step of the Soviet people,

Last Friday Soviet Defence
Minister, Marshal Malinovsky,
told the Congress that Soviet
armed forces are now equipped
with many new types of rockets,
and were in a high state of com-
bat readiness if the imperialists
unleashed war,

“We stand calmly and con-
fidently on guard over our
people’s peaceful labor, the more
so now that the establishment
of ‘blue belt’ for defence of our
- state has been completed,” he
said. :

Leonid Brezhnev, first secre-
tary of the CPSU in his report
- contrasted the growing strength

of the world system of socialist
countries and the increasingly

_ Brezhnev said that, as a result

of the aggressiveness of imperi-
-alism, above all the U,S,, “the
international situation has been

acute contradictions in the capi- -

AT CPSU PARLEY. Photo shows the Canadian Communist Party delegation arriv-
ingin Moscow last week to attend the 23rd CPSU Congress. Left to right,
Madam Jeanette Walsh, Don Currie and William Kashtan, national leader of the
Canadian party.

Soviet parley urges
unity, world peace

aggravated.” But he added, * what-
ever ways and means imperial-
ism would resort to, it ispower-
less to stem historical develop-
ment.” As far as the USSR is
concerned, it is prepared to live
at peace with all countries but
will not resign itself to imperia-
list iniquity against other peoples,
he said, :

The Vietnamese people, he de-
clared, will meet with ever in-
creasing support on the part of
the Soviet Union and its other
socialist friends and brothers,
The Vietnamese people will be-

come master of its entire land.

The Soviet Union, he said,
stands. for a settlement of the
Vietnamese problem on the basis
set forth by the Democratic Re-
public of Vietnam and’ the South
Vietnam National Liberation
Front, “More than once we pro-
claimed our readiness to develop
relations with the U.S, and stand
by this position now, But, this
requires that the U.S, discontinue
the policy of aggression.”

He said that “our relations with’

the parties of two socialist coun-
tries — the Communist Party of
China and the Albanian Party of
Labor — unfortunately remain un-
satisfactory. A new bilateral top-

level meeting “in Moscow or

Peking” would be ‘‘useful” he
stated, and he expressed readi-
ness at any moment to examine
again jointly with the CPC leader-
ship the existing differences soas
to find a way to overcome them
on the basis of the principles of
Marxism-Leninism,

Budget will help spread poverty

In pretending to fight inflation, Finance Minister Sharp has abandoned the war on pov-
erty which the Liberals promised before the election. There will be nothing done for the sen-
ior citizens of our country, hard pressed by soaring prices.,And the excuses are now being

developed to drastically curtail the plans for medicare.

These are the opening lines of
a statement on Finance Minister
Sharp’s budget released last
Wednesday by the national exec-
utive of the Communist Party
of Canada, The statement con-
tinues:

It is a budget that bites deeper
into people’s income, but when it
comes to curbing the profiteer-
ing of the big monopolies, it is
toothless,

It will not curb inflation, be-
cause it is not intended to get
at the real causes of inflation.
Sharp himself admits this, when
he forecasts another three and a
half percent rise in prices this
year.

The problem of high prices
cannot be reduced to a simple
formula about “too many dollars
chasing too few goods.” What
working man has too many dol-
lars anyway? The fact is that the
unit cost of producing goods in
Canada has dropped enormously,
In 1965 Canadian labor was pro-
ducing 70% more goods in an
hour than in 1946, :

High prices are caused by the
fact that the large corporations
both foreign and domestic which
occupy a monopoly position over
our economy are able without

- hindrance to control and deter-

mine arbitrarily, the level of
prices almost at will.

At the same time, the work-
ing people’s relative share ofthe
national income is declining. A
large part of consumer spending
depends on credit, This situation
is made worse by the govern-
ment poli¢y of raising interest
rates,

Mr. Sharp could have taken
steps to roll back prices. He

could have established public tri-
bunals compelling the large cor-
porations to show cause for any
increase in prices, To ease the
pressure on low income groups
he could have abolished the sales
tax and raised income tax ex-
emptions., Instead of the pitiful
gesture towards lower income
groups he should have wiped out
taxes altogether on incomes be-
low $5,000 for married and $3,000
for single persons,

Last, but not least, he should
have instituted a tax on capital
gains, :

He did none of these things,

-He left the people at the mercy

of the monopolies,

More than that, he left them
at the mercy of foreign monop-
olies. Gone are the timid efforts
of former Finance Minister Wal-
ter Gordon to somewhat disen-
gage Canada from the domination

of the U.S. economy. Yet the
events of the last few months have
sharply focussed on the problems
of that domination,
pointed up how vulnerable this
country is to the “guide lines”
being placed on corporations op-
erating abroad—guidelines which
reflect the growing international
difficulties of the U.S, in waging
its aggressive war in Vietnam,
The economic problems cre-
ated by that cruel war are being
exported to Canada, Not only is
Mitchell Sharp silent on all this,
He withdraws the non-resident
withholding tax on interest pay-
ments for government bonds, as
if to’ guarantee U.S, investors a
still tighter grip on our economy.

It is to be hoped that the labor
movement and all democratic
Canadians’ will lose no time in
making it clear to parliament that
such a hard line budget is not
acceptable, concludes the state-
ment,

settlement

lishment.

House urges peaceful

A resolution urging the federal government to use its
position on the International Joint Commission to obtain a
peaceful settlement in Vietnam was approved by the B.C.
Legislature-before it prorogued last Friday.

The resolution was introduced by NDP MLA Leo Nimsick,

The resolution was supported by all members of the House,

_but only after the Socreds moved an amendment striking out a

section of the resolution calling for settlement in Vietnam
according to the 1954 Geneva Agreement.

Speaking against the clause on the Geneva Agreement,
Premier W.A.C. Bennett said his government will have no
part of any move to criticize or censure the U.S.

Thus, once again, B,C.’s Premier shows how the Socred
government is completely in the pocket of the U.S, estab-

in Vietnam

North Viet ambassador
thanks B.C. people for aid

Dr, A, M, Inglis, head of the
Canadian Aid for Vietnam Civili-
ans in Vancouver, has received
a letter from Le Trang, Charge
d’Affaires, Embassy of the Demo-
cratic Republic of Vietnam in
Moscow, expressing deep grati-
tude for the two thousand ($2,000)
already sent to North Vietnam
by the committee, pee

Acknowledging receipt of the

money for medical aid to the
victims of U.S, bombing in North
Vietnam, Le Trang writes:

“This noble act once again tes-
tifies to the Canadian people’s
lofty sentiments of solidarity with
our people’s just and self-defend-
ing struggle to safeguard our in-
dependence, freedom and dignity

Send your donation now!

PLEASE CLIP AND MAIL

To: CANADIAN AID FOR VIETNAM CIVILIANS,
" P.O. BOX #2543, VANCOUVER 3, B.C.

NAME

ADDRESS

DONATION ENCLOSED $

April 7, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 8

and to contribute to the defence
of world peace,

“We would like to express our
heartfelt thanks to you, dear
sir, and through you, to the
sponsors and ‘leading members
of the)‘Canadian Aid for Vietnam
Civilians’ and to the Canadian
people as a whole for their arden.
moral support and material aid
to our people,

“Please accept, dear sir, our —

sincere thanks and best wishes,”

Money is continuing to pour in

“to the committee following the

mailing out of thousands of bro-
chures appealing for funds for

_ medical aid to Vietnam, A num-

ber of unions, fraternal organi-
zations and individuals have con-
tributed.

A collection card is now also
available, and can be secured by
writing the committee at the
address given on the coupon
below.

and have —