, Clark's economic, foreign policies cited in defeat Canada votes ‘no’ to Tory cold war The crushing defeat of the Con- Sefvative government in Monday’s general election has been welcomed by the st Party and the progressive I Movement across Canada The pro-Conservative bias of the _ media made the election outcome unclear through most of the two- month campaign, but very quickly after polls closed Feb. 18 the decisive message of the Canadian people was heard. In spite of the active support for Clark’s Conservatives from the Marching from a mass rally in the Qi main sections of big business and the editorial support of almost all major newspaper in the country, Canadians registered an over- whelming no to the new cold war and the harsh economic program which was at the heart of the Tory campaign. The TeecHion of Clark took dif- ferent forms: in the West, a swing to the NDP, and in the East, to the Liberals. The Liberal majority government although bringing its own inherent dangers, nevertheless represented an affirmation of the Owen progressive sentiments of Cana- dians. In a telephone interview Tues- day, Communist Party general secretary William Kashtan said that the CP viewed the election results positively. ‘It was a defeat for right-wing policies, for the cold war and the total subordination of Canada to U.S. imperialism which Clark represented,”’ he said. . Throughout the election cam- paign the media attempted to show amarked shift to the right by Cana- dians, Kashtan said, but it did not pees ueen Elizabeth Theatre in downtown Vancouver, 500 fishermen converged on the offices on the federal fisheries department to protest the department's plan for the herring fishery. Here, United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ business agent Bill Procopation presents the union’s position before fisheries officials. On Procopation’s right is Native Brotherhood organizer Cliff Atleo. (Story page 3). Put freeze on Hydro rates, NDP, CP demand of Socreds The seven percent increase in electricity rates set for Apr. 1 by B.C. Hydro has been angrily con- demned by the NDP opposition and by the Communist Party. NDP MLA Dave Stupich Mon- day called for a freeze on electricity rates until the proposed B.C. Utilities Commission, promised only days before Hydro announc- ed its increases by Socréd energy minister Bob McClelland, can review the proposals. ~ Allowing the increases now, to be justified later when a commis- sion is established, ‘‘destroys the credibility of the government’s . -energy policy,’’ Stupich said. Wednesday, Communist Party provincial secretary Maurice Rush backed Stupich’s demand for a freeze on electricity prices. ‘Both electricity and gas prices should be frozen,”’ he said. ‘‘No increases should be allowed unless they can be justified before a public regulatory body with public _ input.”’ Hydro chairman Robert Bon- See BONNER page 2 Peltier facing renewed threat Alderman Harry Rankin, speaking on behalf of the. Leonard Peltier Defense Com- mittee, warned this week that the imprisoned American Indian Movement leader and Bobby Gene Garcia face a renewed threat to their lives if U.S. federal plans to imprison them in the.in- famous ‘‘control unit’’ at Marion Federal Prison in Illinois are car- ried out. Peltier, Garcia and Dallas ; Thunder Shield attempted to escape from a California prison last year after another inmate told Peltier that he had been offered medical treatment and parole if he would help to ‘‘neutralize”’ Peltier. Dallas Thunder Shield was shot in the escape attempt while Peltier and Garcia were captured, tried and sentenced to the control unit at Marion Prison. ‘This prison is the notorious human behavior laboratory, devoted to breaking men’s minds through behavior control and human experimentation,’’ Rankin said in a statement this week. ‘Inmates describe it as a con- centration camp where indefinite solitary confinement, sensory deprivation, forced drugging and other mind control and brain- washing techniques are used to drive men to insanity and suicide. A USS.. federal judge, James Foreman, charges that the con- trol unit has been used ‘to silence religious leaders ...and economic and political dissidents’.’’ The defense committee has urged that letters of protest be sent to Warden Fenton, Federal Corrections Institution, PO Box 1000, Marion, Illinois; and to~ Norman Carlson, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Washington, D.C. 20001. Letters pressing for an investigation into Peltier’s case should be sent to Congressman Ronald Dellums, attention Charles Stephenson Jr., 2464 Rayburn Buiding, Wash. D.C. 20545. —ELIAS STAVRIDES materialize. ‘‘There was no shift to the right, there was a rejection of the drive to the right by the Tories,”’ he said. In the last election the CP had said that there was no difference between the Liberals and Conser- vatives. That analysis was correct, Kashtan said, but in recent months Trudeau and the Liberals ‘‘have checked their drive to the right.” During the election campaign especially, the Liberals shifted con- siderably in policy. ‘‘Trudeau moved towards expansion of the economy and expansion of some social measures, towards a greater measure of Canadianization of the economy starting with energy resources, and not least, he ad- vocated a policy of detente with Canada playing a role in bringing peace between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.”’ Trudeau himself signalled the shift in policy on foreign affairs in his victory speech Monday night in Ottawa. After reaffirming Cana- dian support for NATO, he said, See VOTE page 3 CBRT, employers meet as strike date approaches The Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers headed into-a last minute meeting with representatives of 12 towboat companies Wednesday in an effort to win a new wage offer before a strike deadline set for noon Friday. The union had issued 72-hour strike notice Tuesday after the negotiating committee turned down the latest offer from the Council of Maritime Carriers. Tom McGrath, president of Local 400 of the CBRT which represents some 550 unlicensed workers, told the Tribune Wednes- day that he was optimistic that the union could get a contract for its members before Friday’s deadline. The latest offer, put on the table by the Maritime Carriers Monday, called for 10 cents an hour more than the 90 cents an hour in each of two years recommended by federal commissioner Noel Hall and ac- cepted by the Seafarers Interna- tional Union and the Canadian Merchant Service Guild. The offer also included provi- sion for additional premiums and shift differentials as well as some changes in contract language covering key safety issues such as noise. ‘But there wasn’t enough money,’” McGrath said, pointing to the negotiating committee’s re- jection. The possibility of strike against the 12 towboat operators has sparked reaction from the SIU which had earlier said that it would “honor its contracts’’ with towboat companies but later modified that position, stating that it would honor CBRT pickets so long as they didn’t interrupt SIU work. The SIU has already come under fire from the B.C. Federation of Labor which suspended the union last month for its action in flouting a Canadian Labor Congress agree- ment involving Maple Leaf Shipp- ing. The CBRT was to meet with the B.C. Federation of Labor Wednes- day to co-ordinate any strike and discuss picket line policy but that meeting was put off awaiting the outcome of the contract talks. &™ m_ - & @ AFGHANISTAN: U.S. re- porter Phillip Bonovsky outlines the program of the government of Bab- rak Karmal in a eyewit- ness report from Kabul, pages-6, 7, and William Pomeroy reports from Britain how U.S. sources are spreading lies about Afghanistan, page 11. @ DRAFT: Jimmy Carter's plan to bring back the military draft in the U.S. has been met with a wave of opposition, page 8.