THE CHALLENGE OF 1975 Turn back right attack in B. Cc. By NIGEL MORGAN The year 1975 promises to be a challenging one for the labor and democratic forces in B.C. — the trade unions, the NDP, the Com- munist Party and other people’s organizations. In a setting of sharpening and militant economic battles a new phase in the struggle against monopoly power and for working class and democratic advance is opening in B.C. Not only is our security and standard of life being undermined by galloping inflation and mass layoffs, but the danger of "a new political alignment in this province is beginning to surface as well. Despite the fact that half the work force in the province’s basic industry — lumber — are jobless; construction is down; falling world prices are closing a number of mining operations; and forecasts indicate a 12% rise in the Con- sumer Price Index compared with 11.1% last year Reactionary, ultra- right monopoly interests (bent on driving the NDP from office in Victoria) have succeeded in get- ting the ear of some sections of the population again. In both the recent municipal elections across the province, as well as in the B.C. returns from last July’s federal election, a clear, unmistakeable _ right trend emerged. This is all the more of concern, taking place as it does, at a time when the advance in strength and activity of B.C. labor has eclipsed all past records, and when the old policies of successive Tory, Liberal and Socred governments have been exposed and discredited by ~ their manifest failures. e In last summer’s federal elec- tion, the NDP in B.C. lost all but two of the 11 constituencies it had won in 1972. And, while the Con- servatives lost 12 seats across the country and barely maintained the 35% of the popular vote they had in 1972, they won five additional ridings in B.C. last July and upped their percentage of the popular vote in this province by almost one- third — from 33% to 43.3%. The Liberals also gained; doubling their representation in B.C. from four in 1972 to eight in 1974; and boosting their percentage of the popular vote by 5%. While the NDP percentage of the popular vote only fell 2% nationally, in B.C. it fell from 35% in 1972 to 23% this year. Of the nine ridings lost by the NDP, six were taken by the Liberals and three by the Conservatives. Particularly alarming was the fact that the returns showed a marked shift from the NDP to the Liberals in a number of traditional working-class strongholds. There was also a significant shift from the Liberals to the Tories in a number of predominantly upper- and middle-class ridings. The shift in votes from the NDP to the Liberals was undoubtedly related to what became the central issue of the election campaign — inflation. The fraudulent Tory scheme to extend corporate profiteering by copying the scandalous ‘“‘wage- price freeze’’ used in the U.S. and Britain, (while leaving profits free to soar), met with strong op- position from the unions and working people. Trudeau took up Stanfield’s challenge (if only demogogically) to appear to the ‘“‘left’’ of the NDP on this issue. The fact that Lewis, while speaking against wage controls, made a big thing on national TV of warning ‘‘the big unions to go easy,’ and NDP provincial Premiers Schreyer, Blakeney and Barrett made statements that seemed to favor such measures, confused hundreds of thousands of voters across the country and led them to vote Liberal. In B.C., with its powerful, militant, organized working class involved in big strike battles to keep up with runaway inflation, it shouldn’t come as any great surprise that the swing (as in in- dustrial Ontario) was somewhat’ more pronounced. However. the devastating drop in NDP repre- sentation from 11 to 2, and sharp falloff in popular vote from 332,245 in 1972 to 136,405 in 1974 in B.C. clearly shows that other factors were involved as well. This was also borne out by the recent municipal elections in which a noticeable upsurge of right-wing forces appeared in Tory racist views hit Capilano Conservative MP Ron Huntington came under sharp fire for his racist views on im- migration, voiced in Parliament before the Christmas ad- journment. In a speech on immigration policy, Huntington, who is known for extreme right wing and anti- _ labor views, claimed that too many Chinese and East Indians are being allowed into Canada and demanded tighter immigration policies particularly toward Asian . people. Protesting his stand in a letter to the MP, the B.C. Human Rights Commission, signed by chairman - Remi De Roo, Roman Catholic Bishop of Victoria, charged that Huntington’s proposal to restrict immigration to certain racial- groups, would violate the Canadian Bill of Rights and the United Nations universal declaration of human rights. In his letter, Bishop De Roo said the B.C. Human Rights Com- mission believes “‘it is essential that our immigration policy be PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1975—Page 8 non-discriminatory.”’ Pointing out that there should be no restrictions based on race, religion or ethnic origin, the letter adds, ‘‘Nor should the total number of immigrants be manipulated for the purpose of excluding a particular group.” When asked why he referred to specific nationalities if he is concerned only about the number of immigrants, Huntington ap- peared to have no logical ex- planation except to say, “I just don’t think we’re being selective enough. ” The letter by the B.C. Human Rights Commission to Huntington said, “Recent immigrants from Asian countries are adjusting to life in Canada just as quickly as did past groups. ‘“‘Like immigrants of all periods,’ they face temporary but real problems in obtaining employment and housing. “These problems,” concluded the letter, “‘can be solved only by the efforts of all Canadians. We believe that sentiments such as those you expressed merely delay the solution.” Vancouver as well as most main cities and municipalities throughout the province. In Vancouver the Tory- dominated Non-Partisan Association (after being all but wiped out in the previous civic election following 34 years of Tammany Hall control of this city) came back to the point where it almost doubled its proportion of the popular vote from 19% to 35%, while increasing its representation on a 10-member City Council from one to four. Right-wing Social Creditors and Tories succeeded in making ac- tions of the NDP provincial government an issue in municipal politics in a number of key centres, wiping out the NDP in Surrey and leader B.C. Communist Party Nigel Morgan points out in this article that the major issue facing labor and progressive people in 1975. is to defeat the right wing drive to bring back big business government in Victoria. Nanaimo amongst others; defeating school trustee Eunice ~ Parker in Coquitlam and bringing veteran NDP alderman Jack Gilmore (who had headed the poll for years) to within 12 votes of defeat. In the NDP stronghold of Bur- naby (with an NDP mayor), ald. Brian Gunn came within less than 50 votes of being defeated. Again, the ultra-right seized on the municipal elections as part of a much larger struggle for control of the provincial legislature. And as a result of the Trotskyite splitters, and anti-unity position of right- wing social democracy in Van- couver and other centres (with the notable exceptions of Alberni, Richmond, Burnaby, Courtenay and Coquitlam where varying degrees of united action developed), labor and democratic forces were prevented from coming to grips in a decisive way with reaction’s offensive. Undoubtedly the heavily- financed, well-orchestrated propaganda barrage from all sections of the mass media, the company-inspired, company- financed ‘‘demonstrations”’ against the NDP government, and the fake “‘strikes’”’ by the landlords and insurance corporations and a handful of misguided Socred, Tory and Liberal workers climbing on the bosses anti-NDP bandwagon, have had some impact on the public 7 The Barrett government has done a number of highly creditable things to improve welfare, education, health and pensioner standards; kept B.C. auto in- surance rates far below those in other ‘‘private enterprise’ provinces, and even got a little better return on some of the people’s natural resources. Nevertheless, the fact that it has not fulfilled some of its election promises on school taxes, tenants rights, etc. and has not tackled the real centres of wealth or brought about any real, meaningful re- distribution of income has disappointed and disillusioned a considerable number of long-time NDP supporters. Some NDP leaders have con- cluded that the NDP “‘has gone too -fast.”’ Nothing could be further from reality. The real problem is that the NDP government was not elected to impose an 8% plus a 10.6% increase on rents that were already judged to be far too high; or to perpetuate a Labor Relations Board system loaded against the working people, or extend the foreign plunder and exploitation of the people’s resources while denying the people relief from the excessively high and grossly unfair sales and property taxes. It is only in the implementation of an anti- monopoly program that the problems of the great majority can be solved, and the NDP gain the support and strength needed to cope with the assault from the right. Seldom in B.C.’s.hundred years of history has the need for united action of all labor and progressive forces to take the offensive and defeat the attack from the right, opening the door to new democratic changes and social progress, been more imperative. B.C.’s two-year-old NDP govern- ment is facing a crisis. And while the Communist Party is critical of some of the things that government has done, and has not done, we don’t want, or intend to permit, a return to big business government in B.C. The Communist Party’s attitude to the NDP will be determined by the NDP’s position on the key issues of the day: the vital in- terests of working people, democratic advance, Canadian independence, peace and detente. Any tendencies to write the NDP off as a result of their showing in the Vancouver civic elections, or losses last July, must be com- batted. What is needed is application of the policy of cooperate and com- pete; of support in the struggle against monopoly, while not hesitating to criticize sharply < concretely when it falls short takes a position that fails to t into account the interests ¢_ working people, tenants a pensioners. We need to step up the strug of: for unity in action around program of jobs to get at | problem of unemployment; rollback of prices and rent reforms to repeal the Sales y remove school costs from hor and the family farm, and bring new system of assessment 4 taxation, eliminating “‘services people from property charg a vast expansion of housing, control and tenants rights; radical overhaul of B.C.’s resour policies, particularly on fort tenures which come up for rene this spring. These are some of |! key issues, among others, whi the Communist Party mv develop united campaigns aroU and speak out strongly and dependently for in its own name, the coming spring session of@ BG; Legislature. Unity in action against monopt and its reactionary policies and) political representatives, tows the formation of an anti-mono nd alliance, is what’s needed tod B.C. labor is capable of playin key role in bringing such a work! relationship about. This was amp demonstrated in hard strugé) that ousted the Socred ministration two years ago, and the political developments sil the NDP came to power — P4 ticularly the position of the B: Federation of Labor, many lal councils and local unions, tena and pensioner organizations, | municipal alliances, of suppor! the NDP, while reserving the rig to criticize where it goes oF Unity of action between — NDP, the Communist Party 4! other labor and democratic Ford will be facilitated to the degree t trade unions can be won to @ independent labor political acti on issues of vital concern to lab! Bold new initiatives that will le to victory for left and progress policies in the labor movement at this time the pre-condition ! defeat of right-wing, cl collaborationist policies in / NDP — beat back the monop offensive against the provint NDP government,.and keep q moving left. ‘ ete eT ae PAN ot alla ie Tg ee Lae eo epee OR ee Bek dec ON Pgh Re GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST Editor’s note: Labor cartoonist ‘‘Carless‘’ did the above cartoon for our edition, but unfortunately it was held up in the mail. However, it is just as t now and will be throughout 1975 as W. A. C. Bennett's son, William, leads drive to make the Socreds the main vehicle of right wing reactioninB.C.