Hitt | BRITISH COLUMBIA One way to create thousands of new jobs in B.C. and make long-lasting improvements in our economy would be to undertake a large scale infrastructure program - a public works program to improve our roads, bridges, sewers, sew- age disposal and so on. The Federation of Canadian Munici- palities and the Union of B.C. Municipali- ties have been advocating such a program on a nation-wide scale. It would cost between $10 billion and $12 billion. Their proposal also is that it be jointly under- taken by the three levels of government — federal, provincial and municipal. The $10-$12 billion suggested is a lot of money, of course, but it’s not so much when you consider the fact that this year the Tory government in Ottawa is spend- ing $9.5 billion for military purposes, expenditures that add nothing to the Can- adian economy and divert public money — your tax dollar and mine — into the coffers of the growing military industrial complex of this country. B.C. Municipal Affairs Minister Wil- liam Ritchie doesn’t like the idea of an infrastructure program. Why? He gave two reasons last week when he addressed the annual convention of the UBCM. The first was that the federal deficit is so high. The second is that he would not like to divert funds from health and education to finance a public works program. : If that isn’t bare-faced political hypoc- risy I don’t know what is. _ The federal contribution to the infra- structure improvement program- would not have to increase the deficit by even one dollar. The federal deficit is so large only because of (a) huge federal grants and sub- sidies to big corporations that amount to between $18 billion and $30 billion annu- Harry Rankin ally, (b) laws that allow big corporations to defer their income tax payments to the point where today they owe more than $40 billion which they are waiting for Ottawa to write off, and (c) the wasteful military expenditures I have already mentioned, which come to almost $10 billion a year. _A redistribution of any of the above, even aslight redistribution, would provide more than enough funds for an extensive infrastructure program. Municipal Affairs Minister Ritchie’s touching concern for the federal deficit is therefore unfounded. There is even less basis for Ritchie’s statement that if we. have a public works | program to build an infrastructure, we; must have further cuts in education and health. : B.C. can contribute its share of a public works program to improve our streets, sewers and sewage disposal facilities with- out any cuts at all in education or health. Again, it is a question of a government, this time the Social Credit government distributing its income in a way that will help citizens the most. We didn’t need a new stadium in the same way that we need more affordable housing, we didn’t need to develop coal export fields in the nor- theast because there is adequate coal for export in the southeast already, we didn’t need an Expo 86 that will leave us with a debt of more than half a billion and we don’t urgently need a new highway from Socred Ritchie hypocritical over cities’ jobs plan Hope to the Okanagan. And there was no need for Premier Bennett in the last pro- vincial budget to give big corporations more than $1 billion in tax cuts. Nor is there any need for Premier Ben- nett to go to California to make a deal with big U.S. multi-nationals to provide.them with cheap B.C. power by having us build anew dam that will cost $3.2 billion. NDP MLA Bob Williams has pointed out that it will cost B.C. 35 mills per megawatt hour to generate power at Site C, yet the plan (apparently) is to sell this power to the US. for 13 mills — in other words, at one third of the cost. You and I and our children will be subsidizing this export for generations to come. It is exactly that type of policy — building dams to sell cheap power to the U.S. — that has landed B.C. Hydro in the mess it is in today, where 50 cents out of every $1 in revenue must go to pay interest on money borrowed to build dams. No, Mr. Ritchie, you don’t have to cut education and health costs any further to pay for an infrastructure program. All your government has to do is to redistrib- ute some of its expenditures. Get off the kick of wasting our money on your megaprojects and spend it for the things that the people of B.C. want and need. Fifty years is special. something special. For 50 years: Our special sub drive —_ And after five decades of working class journalism, we think the paper deserves That’s why we’ve targetted 500 new subscriptions for the 1985 ciruclation drive. Readers and supporters have already given the Tribune special treatment, when they contributed more than $100,000 in the most ambitious press drive ever. And, friends of the paper out did themselves during almost equally troubled times. For its part, the Tribune has responded with several special issues, increased | local pages and even a full-color front page to mark 50 years of progressive j ism and to make the paper.even more relevant to its B.C. readers.. We're continuing through the rest of 1985 in that vein. feature articles — many rewritten for a book format — on the famous labor struggles that marked the decade of the paper’s birth. Equally important, we're seeking your views on how the Tribune can be a better Eicwheré on this page you’ll find a list of questions we'd like you to answer concerning the content, format and other concerns related to producing and distributing B.C.’s labor weekly. We’re asking all our readers — and their inter- ested friends — to take the time to answer this admittedly long overdue question- Which leads us back to the question of those 500 new subs. We didn’t just pull that number out of a hat. It represents 10 subs for every year the paper has existed. The reality is that some Tribune readers find several new readers during the ciruclation drive, as well as actively pursuing and getting renewals. ‘We'd like to see that effort spread out a little bit. And, given that everyone has at least half a hundred responsibilities, we’re continuing to make the job easier. As with previous drives, we’re offering the new-subscriber special: three months | of the Tribune for only $2. Fifty years is special. And we'd like to close that anniversary with the special feeling that comes with a job successfully completed. | TRY OUR SPECIAL OFFER THREE MONTHS FOR $2 hd ee ee eeeee eee eee eee we eee wees Clip and mail to: ; Pacific Tribune, 2681 East Hastings St. Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5 ESA Ae ES ge a | just as with the first press drive to establish the B.C. Workers’ News back in 1935, _ During the drive the Tribune will release a “50th anniversary” book filled with ~ Pleas What age category are you in? a) 28 yrs. and under b) 29 yrs. to 40 yrs. c) 41 yrs. to 50 yrs. d) 51 yrs. to 64 yrs. e) 65 yrs. and over Are you? a) Male b) Female Are you presently? a) employed, full-time b) employed, part-time c) unemployed d) retired e) student How long have you been a subscriber to the Tribune? a) less than 1 year b) 1 to 5 years c) 5 years or more d) | am not a subscriber How much time, in total, do you spend in reading or looking through a typical issue of the Tribune? a) less than 30 minutes b) 30 to 59 minutes c) 1 to 2 hours d) more than 2 hours Which page of a typical issue of the Tribune do you read first, second, etc.? page first page second page third page fourth What do you think of the following fea- tures? (Circle either -E-excellent, A- adequate, or P-poor) Editorials People & Issues Fred Weir, News Analysis International Focus Harry Rankin mmmmm >rrryryp vvDUD What do you think of our coverage of the following areas? (Circle E-excellent, A-adequate, or P-poor) e answer and mail 10. 1s. 42. 13. 14. Provincial politics National politics International affairs Civic affairs Trade union affairs Women’s movement Peace movement Cultural reviews mmmmmmmm bPr>>rryrprpy, VuVvVVUVUD Has the Tribune improved over the last two years? a) yes b) no What do you think about the design and format of the paper? a) is layout attractive? b) enough photos? c) stories readable? d) good balance between news and commentary? a - Does the Tribune have a broad appeal, and it is suitable reading for people of differing political views? : a) yes b) no Do you consider the Tribune essential reading for a well-informed, active per- son? p a) yes b) no Do you ever pass along a copy of the Tribune to a friend or co-worker? a) frequently b) sometimes c) never Please use the space below or a separ- ate sheet to let us know any general _ comments, complaints or praise, you may have about the Tribune? (please print)