VANCOUVER .-

Manager's report
reveals disaster
of Socred policy

This week’s column consists of a reprint of the
Vancouver city manager’s report from the social
planning department on the state of the economy in
Canada and more particularly in British Columbia.
The “miracle” of Social Credit policies on mega-
projects and curtailing of social services for the elderly
and the poor makes us a special case in the dismal
picture of Canada’s economic position.

This report updates jnformation on key socio-
economic indicators presented to council members in
January. The purpose of the report is to provide
council members with a broad overview of the effects
on the city of changes in the economy. This report
presents information on the Consumer Price Index,
average wage earnings and family income, retail sales,
unemployment rates, duration of unemployment, dis-
couraged workers, changes in labor force activity,
employment by industry, UIC statistics, Ministry of

bankruptcies, apartment vacancy and rental rates, net
migration into B.C. and lone parent families.

- The tentative signs of economic recovery that buoyed
hopes through much of 1983 have faded. The Confer-
ence Board of Canada’s short-term outlook calls for a
continued slowing in the pace of economic growth this

economic activity is expected to increase by 3.3 per
cent this year after a three per cent gain last year.

Harry —
Rankin

For British Columbia, the outlook is worse.
According to the Conference Board, “British Colum-
bia, Alberta and Newfoundland experienced particu-
larly harsh versions of the recession and received less
than proportional benefits from last year’s resumption
of growth.” The Conference Board predicts growth of
.7 per cent for B.C. this year, revised downwards from
2.5 per cent primarily because of the negative impact
of the pulp mill shutdown in February. An improve-
ment in growth is expected in 1985. °
A variety of factors underlie the Conference
Board’s pessimism. Consumer spending, which grew
quite strongly in the early stages of the recovery, has
weakened, the rebuilding of inventories has been slow,
and business investment spending has been “singu-
larly unspectacular”. Exports of goods and services,

the strongest sources of growth during the recovery,
but a deceleration in U.S. economic growth is
expected to dampen demand. ~ :

The recovery that took place in 1983 made only a
small dent in the unemployment rate, and with the
slowing of growth, the unemployment rate and other
socio-economic indicators such as numbers of UIC
claimants and bankruptcies, are on the increase again.
To put the unemployment problem into perspective,
consider that in April the number of unemployed
people in the country is greater than the combined
populations of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

In B.C., the average unemployment rate for the first
quarter of 1984 was higher than any rate recorded by
Statistics Canada since the depression. of the 1930s,
according to the B.C. Central Credit Union. Not only
are there more people unemployed, there are propor-
tionately more people who have been unemployed for
14 weeks or longer. Those who are working are find-
ing that inflation is outstripping wage increases.

People with no income at all are still turning to the
Ministry of Human Resources in record numbers. In
both Vancouver and the province as a whole, there
were more people on income assistance in March than
there were one year previously. Some analysts are
managing to find a silver lining among the primarily
negative economic indicators. They say that while
growth has slowed, itis now running at a more sustain-
able pace. If wages are depressed, they argue, at least
that helps make our goods more competitive; if

productivity increases; if production is down, so is
inflation. While the Conference Board has been critic-
ized for being overly pessimistic in its warning that a
recession could occur in 1985, one thing all analysts
agree on is that the slowdown in economic growth

now evident will continue through the rest of the year.

Human Resources statistics, business and consumer |

year, and the possibility of a recession in 1985. Overall.

led primarily by car sales to the U.S., have been one of | >

Council demands Expo deal

Vancouver city council called on the
provincial government and the Expo
board July 24 to abandon their “con-
frontationist, changing-the-goal-posts
position” and bring about the “speedy

implementation” of the agreement on —

construction wages worked out between
the Expo board and the Building
‘Trades but later scuttled by the board.

The motion, introduced by COPE
alderman Bruce Yorke following an
address to council by Building Trades
Council president Roy Gautier, passed
seven to four after nearly two hours of

. debate during which both The Electors

Action Movement (TEAM) and Non-
Partisan Association (NPA) aldermen
attacked it as “a diatribe” and “crap”.

Ironically, however, it was NPA
alderman Don Bellamy who told coun-
cil, “It looks to me like there is an organ
grinder and a monkey. ..and Expo is
the monkey.” He had earlier asked
repeatedly whether it was the govern-
ment or Expo which had caused the
negotiated agreement “to come
unglued.” :

Bellamy joined with COPE alder-
men Yorke, Harry -Rankin, Bruce
Eriksen and Libby Davies as well as
mayor ‘Mike Harcourt and independ-
ent Bill Yee in supporting the motion.
Opposed were Warnett Kennedy,
George Puil, May Brown and Marguer-
ite Ford.

A second part of Yorke’s motion,
calling on the two Expo- board
members nominated by the city and

- appointed by the government —. Don

Hamilton and Alison Robinson — to
endorse the city motion and to resign
from the board if the agreement was
not implemented, was referred to a sub-
sequent meeting after council had had
an opportunity to meet with Expo
chairman Jim Pattison.

That meeting took place July 26°

although it was held in camera, closed
to all but council members.

Council had sought to get a first-
hand version of the Expo board’s posi-
tion from city representative Don
Hamilton but he took refyge behind
confidentiality, claiming that only Pat-
tison could speak for the board.

“The Expo board has muzzled
him — that’s why Hamilton can’t tell
us what happened,” alderman Rankin
charged. . D

He added: “The question is: was
there a deal which was welched on by
Expo? And the .
answer to that
is an unquali-
fied ‘yes.’ ”

Mayor Har-
court backed
Rankin’s con-
tention, empha-
sizing that there
had been a deal
worked out on Whos Ose
construction BRUCE YORKE
wages at the Expo site involving not
just the trades and Expo but the unio-
nized construction industry and offi-
cials of the labor ministry.

The deal, as reported in the media at
the time, involved all non-union
workers being paid the basic trade
union rate without benefits, he said.
That agreement was later modified to
exempt J.C. Kerkhoff’s already signed
contract and to eliminate the $1

_ Increase negotiated by Building Trades

unions for their members.

“But the goalposts were changed —
because of pressure from the non-union
coalition,” Harcourt said, adding that
various meetings he had with Pattison
and others had satisfied him that it was
the Expo board which reneged on the
agreement. :

Yorke’s motion also emphasized the
changing position of the government

‘and the Expo board, both of whom it

noted, “are now following a confronta-

_ The much-vaunted leaders debate on television revealed
little of any substance, particularly on the key issues of peace

and jobs, B.C. Communist Party leader and Vancouver-
Centre candidate Maurice Rush said July 26. :

_ “The media is still debating who won the debate,” he said.
“But the losers are the Canadian people,” he told a public
‘meeting in Vancouver where he was speaking along with
Vancouver East candidate Miguel Figueroa. 2s
What did emerge from the debate, he noted, was that there
are “no basic differences between the two old-line parties.”
Significantly, both addressed themselves to the deficit,
claiming that they would bring about reductions. “Mulroney
said he would cut the deficit in half while Turner said he
would ‘cut the fat,’ the unnecessary programs.
“Remember, that’s what Bennett said he would do when he
launched his budget last summer,” Rush warned.

The CP leader emphasized that measures could be taken to
cut the deficit, “but no one addressed themselves to those
“measures. “eres
“Every year more millions are spent on the military,” he
said, citing the $9.5 billion budget for 1984-85. “And the Tory
defence critic said just last week that he would double military
spending, particularly on conventional arms. .
“How can Mulroney be so hypocritical as to say he will cut —
the deficit in half when his party is committed to that increase
~ in military spending?” he demanded. / =
He slammed Turner’s and Mulroney’s total reliance on the

as

IBUNE PHOTO — SEAN GRIFFIN

‘tion course based on an ideological”

MIGUEL FIGUEROA. . .CP candidate in Vancouver-Eas

commitment to an ‘open-shop, right
to-work’ philosophy.” ar
The motion noted that there were ”
“other facts and concerns — whi¢
suggest Expo mismanagement” includ-
ing questionable financial projections,
cancellation of one gate of Expo ane”
the off-site housing, both previously
planned, and “unrealistic estimates” 0
turnstile receipts.
It also pointed to the “‘as yet unad- :
dressed question of the 18,000 employees
that are required on the site during —
operation”, particularly their wage
and'conditions and union rights. ~

_ In endorsing the motion, council |

- dismissed a proposal floated by Liber

candidate Paul Manning for a 60-day
truce on the site until after the feder
election at which time he would pres
for adjustment of the federal fair wage
which is still pegged at 1981 levels.
Aldermen noted that if the waae

were adjusted, it would roughly eq

the rate laid out in the last agreement

which was scuttled by Expo. But in the
meantime, they warned, several con-

tracts could be let, possibly to no®

union contractors who have flocked t
bid after Expo re-opened the pr
qualification ‘bidding. Some 20 con:
tracts are to be let over the next 30 days:

The motion also drew a: predictable,
if particularly acid reply from Premict
Bennett whose renewed attack on city
council only underscored the role the
provincial government has played 18
carrying out the anti-union agenda 2"
Expo.

Strangely, he accused the federal 20
ernment of constructing the Cana!
Harbor Place project without bringing
the site under the provisions of the fe
eral fair wage law. But the project
which will be the site of the Canadi@!
Expo pavilion, is being built entirely
union workers whose wage rates 4%
negotiated by the Building Trades.

Debate evades issues, says CP

Z

Rush emphasized that he was “never so impressed with the
need for the Communist Party to be in the election campal
as after the leaders’ debate. a

“Tt is vitally necessary to have the Communist Party top
forward strong alternative policies and policies for 14

employers are reluctant to take on new employees, .

2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, AUGUST 1, 1984

private sector for job creation. “The fact is that the economic
crisis that we’re in cannot be tackled without government
intervention and government action.” ="

Rush noted that Ed Broadbent had tackled some issues but

_ added that the NDP leader had not discussed questions such

as nuclear disarmament and cruise testing and had not put
forward economic alternative policies despite the opportuni-
ties during the debate to do so. Pe :

For example, “He had an ideal opening when he was asked

about job-sharing and income-sharing to propose the shorter ©

work week, — but he didn’t,” he said.

change,” he said.

Figueroa echoed the importance of the CP campalé
emphasizing that the party “is in the election, not only t0

heard but to get every vote possible for our program.”

He also focused on local issues in Vancouver East, includ
ing pressing the development of a merchant fleet to oe
shipyard jobs; developing the fishing industry to bO?"
employment in local fish processing plants; and embarlit
on a massive housing construction program to answet e

“desperate need for housing, particularly affordable housing