NL LLNS LLM LP LUTION LAE TA Rh * oe BRITISH COLUMBIA ‘Child care now,’ fed committee told The federal government’s Special Committee on Child Care in Vancouver last week was told repeatedly that federal government involvement in regulation and funding of accessible and affordable child care is crucial to the future of the country. Speakers representing trade unions, the ‘unemployed, community and womens’ organizations cited the acute shortage of licensed day care spaces and the high cost of day care in B.C. and laid the blame squarely on provincial government res- traint policies. “The poverty of access to childcare ser- vices in the midst of plenty in this province is a disgrace,” said Rev. Jeremy Bell. “This committee has a mandate now — govern- ment involvement in the regulation and funding of childcare is crucial — you must act while the honeymoon lasts,” he said. Representatives from the Social Plan- ning and Review Council of B.C. stated that quality child care can save on health care costs in the future and urged that funds be allocated immediately to extend the day care facilities in all areas of the province. Virginia Blight, chair of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union Women’s Committee, stated that on examination of the maximum monthly incomes allowed to qualify for the provin- cial child care subsidy and the average cost of child care in the Vancouver area, “‘it becomes obvious that any parent poor enough to be entitled to the full subsidy cannot afford to utilize a child care centre. “The net monthly incomes allowed are not enough to live on, let alone pay for child care,” she said. Families that do qualify for the provin- cial subsidy are still paying an average of $175 per month for child care. The net result of the provincial subsidy policy is that families with children often find they cannot afford to work and non-profit child care centres cannot afford to oper- ate. Blight also cited the special difficulties of parents who work vartable shifts in find- ing child care facilities. ““Non-licensed, non-regulated care is often the only option for shift workers,” she said. Kim Zander, co-ordinator of the Van- couver Unemployed Action Centre, high- lighted the need for adequate childcare facilities for children of recipients of Unemployment Insurance or welfare. To be eligible for benefits a parent must be available to look for work every day, but as subsidies for child care are so low and the costs so high this is frequently an impossible situation. “The question is what will be our coun- try’s future, do we value the care our children receive, the answer to that must be yes,” she said. “It is the responsibility of the federal government to play a leading role in providing non-profit, affordable and accessible child care facilities for al Canadians.” Zander also tackled Conservative COM | mittee member Ross Belsher (Frasef : ley East) who had queried the cost 0 universally accessible day care progral | citing the federal deficit. “The dollars are always available f0 task force such as this one; dollars available to pay for an army of Unt ployment Insurance investigators, ans dollars are always available in this P¥ vince to build megaprojects that leav’ a with further debt — then the dollars be made available to provide the essen™, |) service of child care for all Canadia™ |) she declared. Some 160 briefs, most calling 1% increasing funding and federal suppot day care, were presented to the comm in three days of hearings in Vancouve! Victoria. The question of deregulation of the transportation industry is now before Vancouver city council’s economic development committee. However, it isn’t called “deregulation.” The Cana- dian public is getting wise to and turning against deregulation and so our political chameleons in Ottawa are trying to come up with terms that will be less offensive _ and less revealing of their real intent. First they called it “liberalization” of air transport. Then it became “regula- tory reform” of the entire transportation industry. Now it is called “freedom to move.” Sounds nice, but the coating still covers the same deadly poison pill. Deregulation of the transport industry involves trucking, the airlines, the rail- ways and shipping. What deregulation means, when carried out to its ultimate ~ conclusion, is that these industries will be able to charge what they like, provide only those services which they consider profitable and cut back on those services which don’t return a high enough rate of profit — and they willbe able to set their own safety standards. There will be no laws or regulations to restrict them in any way. The results will be disastrous for Canadians and will include: @ Higher fares for travel; @ Higher shipping costs; © Concentration and control of the industries in each of these sectors in the hands of a small group of corporations, enabling them to operate as a monopoly; @ Different rates and charges for dif- ferent customers; @ Abandonment of safety standards to protect the public and the employees in these industries; @ The loss of tens of thousands of jobs; @ More U.S. control and ownership of these industries; @ More privatization of all Crown _ corporations in these industries, includ- | ing the CNR and Air Canada; © Cutbacks in wages and union con- ditions. The intent of the Tory government in | Ottawa is clearly outlined in the report of the standing committee on transport of the House of Commons entitled Free- dom to Move. The report, for example, states that the government will only give “considera- tion” to “privatization or at least partial Transport deregulation disaster for Canadians privatization” of the industry. But since then Transport Minister Donald Mazan- kowski has made clear what he means by “consideration.” “We are going to give Air Canada and Canadian National Railways the free- dom to run their affairs like a private corporation in anticipation of profitabil- ity and privatization,” he said. First we make sure they are making a profit and then we give them away! The government of B.C. states that “British Columbia supports the general direction of the paper (Freedom to Move) and the specific measures it proposes.” But.unions in these industries and var- ious sections of the employers in these industries, those that would be adversely affected, have come out strongly against it. : “Deregulation is an American import that we would be wise to stop at the border,” the Pacific Coast Maritime Harry Rankin Council pointed out. “Transportation in Canada is based on an east-west flow; deregulation would hasten a north-south flow with larger U.S. companies who have a larger consumer base driving Canadian companies out of business.” The B.C. Council of Machinists noted that in the U.S., where trucking deregula- tion is already in existence, 25 per cent of its members have lost their jobs because of it since 1980. “To deregulate our economy (said the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transportation and General Workers) and erase our remaining protections against the vagaries of the market is to replace our general social right to equity with the right to become competitive martyrs of economic Darwinism.” Vancouver city council should add its voice to the growing list of organizations and public bodies that are rejecting the Freedom to Move report. 2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, APRIL 2, 1986 . Doran to carry CP banner in Ne The newly nominated Communist Party candidate for the provincial New West- minster riding said his youngest son faces a bleak future with 60,000 jobless youth in British Columbia. Trade unionist Rod Doran told a CP nominating meeting March 28 the party has solutions to the two key issues in New Westminster — continued layoffs, mainly in the wood industry, and social cutbacks as they affect the city’s growing population of senior citizens. A longshoreman who works at the Roberts Bank coal terminal, Doran said B.C. voters face a choice: continued Social Credit policies of layoffs and cutbacks or electing candidates with a “program that will take the people out of the crisis, advance our society and put our people back to work.” He said his youngest son was born in 1969, the year Doran first accepted the nomination for the New Westminster rid- ing. While there was “some hope then” for youth to find jobs, in essence the problems of capitalism were as prevalent then as they are now, and the party’s program reflects this, he said. “The proposals we put forward in 1969 are the proposals we put forward now, except they’re elaborated on and streng- thened,” said Doran. The Communist Party is running three candidates in the upcoming provincial elec- tion, with unemployment activist Deborah MacDonald contesting Nanaimo and with Doran in New Westminster. Provincial leader Maurice Rush, who will seek the nomination for Vancouver East on Thursday, told the meeting that the “main thrust” of Socred philosophy held that “the way to get the economy moving is to give more and more handouts to big business. “How true has that theory been? In 1981, capital investment in British Columbia was $11.9 billion; in 1985, after all this induce- ment to big business, capital investment in B.C. had declined 27 per cent to $8.64 bil- lion, and it’s not going to get any better this year with the giveaway included in the budget that (Finance Minister Hugh) Curtis just brought down. “This big business policy of turning Brit- ish Columbia over to them has not helped create jobs, it’s not helped the economy, in fact it’s brought us to the present condition where we are a province which at one time was a ‘have’ province...to a “‘have-not’ province,” he charged. w Wes ROD DORAN... cuts the issues.” The budget promises further cuts ;, health, education and other social Pi grams, with no relief for the economy, na declining forest and mining industri&® these problems are not due to a lack funds, said Rush. ; “It’s not that the provincial gover” doesn’t have the money; it doesn’t have priority or will to put people’s needs he said. He charged there is “no will” on the? of government or big business to ¥ much-needed manufacturing industi process B.C.’s resources, stating, “that a change in government, of the kind ™ prepared to carry through nationaliA™ and public policies.” : On electoral strategy, Rush said f Communist Party has always called unity “of the anti-Socred forces t0 a together on a common platform,” andl it is clear ‘“‘at this time that the only tive is an NDP government.” But the NDP is adopting non-conl# sial policies to avoid confrontation is effort to appeal to the middle-of-th¢ vote, said Rush. “They have a number of proposals support, but most of their programs band-aid solutions. And if our party run some candidates, these issues part of the election debate,” he asset’ 4a Rush said the party’s three candi and party clubs in ridings with no CO# nist candidates, will work to ensure th¢ demands for housing, manufacturitl increased social spending are b!? before B.C.’s voters.