Lib policies fall short Energy policies for Canada will be shaped in the years im- mediately ahead, in a large part by the fact of a Liberal majority gov- ernment, in part by positions taken by provinces such as Alber- ta, and in part by the degree of pressure brought upon govern- ments — and through them upon the multi-national oil monopolies — by the trade union movement and other forms of mass organiza- tion of the working class and democratic forces of the country. It would be a mistake to under- estimate the importance of the pressure of the people for a truly Canadian energy policy. The fact of Pierre Trudeau’s election as prime minister at the head of a majority government following an election campaign in which he made a number of prom- ises related to energy resources, development and pricing, offers grounds for holding him to his statements. Some of those state- ments will be looked at here. The Communist Party, while it has for long years put forward its own energy policies, particularly the need for an all-Canada policy on energy, believes that Trudeau must be called upon to keep his promises, however, much they fall short of Canada’s full needs. As for the Communist Party, it works for and fights for energy policies it sees as being in the best interests of the majority of Cana- dians. What was said in a Communist Party brochure issued in November 1972, holds true: “Energy is related to economic growth and independence. Once control of energy passes out of the hands of the Canadian people, so do jobs, living standards, economic development and Canadian independence.”’ Undermines Development It points out further that the “adoption of a fully integrated all-Canadian energy policy is a vital necessity. U.S. imperialism has not given up its aim of forcing through a continental energy poli- cy. Such ‘sharing’ of Canada’s energy would give it (USA) con- trol of Canada resources, starting with gas and oil, and enable it to undermine our industrial de- velopment, the sovereignty and independence of Canada. “The question of energy, its ownership and control, is there- fore not only an economic or technical question — it is above all a major political question hav- ing to do with the independence of Canada and its balanced economic development.”’ Unlike the proposals of Trudeau and other capitalist politicians, Communists make public ownership and democratic control of energy resources a pre- requisite for delivering the bene- fits of those resources to Canada and her people, through joint federal-provincial Crown cor- porations. Petro-Canada is a positive step. The shower of Tory threats to scuttle it, consistent only in a de- termination to take from the people and give to the oil mono- _ Millions of Dollars 3,000 — 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 — PRR 1971 Source: Summary of External Trade (65-001) Canadian Exports of Natural Gas to the United States 1972" 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 3 Millions of Dollars — 3,000 Saxe Fourth Quarter oa — 2,000 Third Quarter = 1,600 Second Quarter — 1,000 ==. 500 First Quarter polies, was clearly a factor in rout- ing the Clark government. While electioneering in New Brunswick, Liberal leader Trudeau said on Jan. 9 that a Lib- eral government would grant Petrocan the $80-million Joe Clark refused it. “I tell you to- day,”’ said Trudeau, “‘that we would give that money back to Petro-Canada so that it can do the job in the north and in the off- shore.”’ He said more: ‘‘I pledge to you tonight that if we are elected to form the government in February that Petro-Canada will not only be . preserved as a strong and effec- tive national oil company but it will be strengthened still further so that it can serve you better.”’ About Pricing Trudeau should be held to that pledge. At the same time, the Communist program calls for ex- tension of the activities of Petro- can in importing, exploration, processing and distribution. What about pricing? Joe Clark upped gasoline by 18 cents a gal- lon and set a schedule for rushing fuel prices for Canadians to world levels. All this despite Canada’s large reserves of oil and natural gas. Trudeau put forward his “‘blended”’ price idea Jan. 25 in Halifax, promising a new two- price system by July 1. It would mean that imported oil, conven- tional domestic oil, and domestic oil from non-conventional sources, which have different costs for the producer, would be blended to produce a uniform price for the consumer. He noted that as domestic oil became har- der to extract the price would “‘gradually”’ rise. The rise would be “‘phased in’’, Trudeau pro- mised. While he should be held to that promise, the Communist Party holds that the price to Canadians for their own oil should be well below world levels. In a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau, March 21, 1975, the CPC broached this, saying that ‘‘through a federal- provincial Crown corporation, open to all provinces wishing to join it.... should be possible to Millions of Doliars 3 Source: Exports by Commodities (65-004) Canadian Exports of Crude Petroleum to the United:States 1971 1972 1973 1974* 1975* 1976* 1977* 1978# 1979* of Dollars Moa 3,500 23 30m a 2500 Fourth Quarter = — 2,000 — 150 # Includes the export establish a two-price system — a low, fixed ‘price in Canada — a world price for exports.’ Two-price System On his way to becoming prime minister again, Trudeau, on Feb. 12, laid out for Toronto’s Ad and Sales Club the Liberal industrial Stragegy, including: using Cana- da’s energy base to build a world-competitive industrial sec- tor, the federal government as “fan active player’ in industrial development including energy, Strengthening of research and technological capacity, expand- ing Canadian control of the economy. Even this partial review indi- cates statements Prime Minister Trudeau should be held to. On the other hand, the highest interests of the country demand 2 ward policies espoused ©. Communist Party: public 01 ship and democratic cont central to meeting the ener} social needs of Canadians, two-way coast-to-coast pIp© ‘4 one for oil one for gas; a free#© prices and a two-price Ras: | areas of concern to Naliv peoples, no development withou settlement of outstanding protection of the ecology building of secondary indus® By provide jobs and an in base of utilizing Canada’s en resources here. th If indeed the 80s are to be™ decade of mass participati® a Canadian politics, resources; oul energy in the first instance show be a major rallying point for suc! activity. ha W e’d give an request Petrocan | loratio ts for explor: oak chance, My, trends, My verve mage but to defeat tre nr the you lank 8 pont al uve Gor Proportional representation a positive move By HERVE FUYET MONTREAL — While federal political parties knock around the idea of electoral reform in Canada based on different variations of proportional representation, the Parti Québécois is looking at simi- lar reforms. Right now, in both federal and provincial elections, each party runs one candidate per riding and the one who gets the highest vote is elected. This is what is called the ‘‘uninominal voting system.”’ It’s a simple system but a poor reflection of the will of the voters. Thus in 1973 a Liberal member of the Quebec National Assembly (MNA) needed a minimum of 16,000 votes to get elected, while the PQ candidate needed 148,000. In fact, the Liberals won 102 seats out of 110 with 54.7% of the popu- lar vote and the PQ with 30.2% was only able to win six seats. In the federal elections just concluded, 12.6% of the Quebec electorate voted Tory but the party won only 1.3% of the seats, (one seat). The Liberals with 22% of the vote in the western pro- vinces beyond Manitoba didn’t elect a single member. With the uninominal vote, its possible for a party to form a government and still have fewer votes than their closest opponent. In Quebec in 1966, the Union Nationale was elected to form the government with6.3% fewer votes than the Liberals. Last May 22, the Liberals also out-polled the Tories, federally, but won fewer seats, giving Joe Clark a minority government. Finally, the uninominal voting “system considerably weakens the growth of electoral support for parties like the Communist Party PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 7, 1980—Page 6 : which, for historical reasons, is still a small party. Many will hesitate about voting Communist even though it is in their best interests to do so be- cause they believe, albeit wrong- ly, they will lose their vote if no Communist members are elected. The PQ government has sub- mitted three possible forms of proportional representation for public debate. With the first cal- led, ‘‘moderate regional- proportional representation’”’ Quebec would be divided into 28 regional, electoral constituencies. Each party contesting the elec- tions would run three to five can- didates in each constituency based on the number of voters in the riding. Each party would then elect a number of members in proportion to the number of votes received. On the other hand, the votes of parties who were unable to elect at the regional level wouldn’t be calculated in the election of mem- -bers from Quebec at large, thus Maintaining the discrimination against the so-called ‘‘small par- ties.”’ The second and third PQ prop- osals would be mixed systems. In addition to the current uninominal system, a certain number of members would be elected on the basis of the regional-proportional vote. P ‘At the federal level, the Pepin-Robarts Commission on Canadian Unity proposes a mixed system which would add 60 new members to the current parlia- ment based on a -proportional vote. The Confederation of National Trade Unions, (CNTU-CSN), also proposes an electoral system based on a regional-proportio vote. The advantage of the CSI proposal over the others is that! would allow so-called minor pat ties to use the accumulated vott in all the constituencies it chal lenged, to elect one or members in Quebec as a whole Such an option clearly works the interests of working peopl and the labor movement who i 4 rently don’t have a single membe in the National Assembly to e press their demands. , At the federal level, such proposal as the CSN’s would heighten the possibilities of elect: ing a progressive majority to parliament including Com- munists. > The Communist Party has been on record for many years as favor ing proportional oo | which would further the interest of the working people. | :