r

In: 1972 the Communist Party ran
Only five candidates in the
provincial. election. And even
though Party leaders openly admit
that Barrett’s election call caught
them by surprise — as it did to his
Own party — the CP nevertheless
has placed 13 candidates. in the
field, more than double the 1972
effort. Add to that a respectable
budget of $20,000 and the result is a

formidable campaign from B.C.’s
party of the left.

Why the turn in just three years?
Undoubtedly it is a reflection of the
growth of the Party’s influence in
the trade union and_ labor
movement over these years of an
NDP government. While the
government drifted deliberately
away from the labor movement the
CP sounded a consistent call for
political independence in labor
bodies, a policy which left them in
good stead after the shock of Bill
146 and Barrett’s endorsement of
Wage controls.°

It was with good reason then that
the Communists decided to press
Wage controls, Bill 146 and free

collective bargaining, and the
breakup of monopoly control over
resource industries as the key
election issues. In keeping with
’ that approach was the selection of
trade-unionists to be the Com-
Munist Party’s standard bearers.

In fact, nine of the 13 candidates
are active trade unionists and the
Other four are former union
leaders.

The concentration of unionists
though has not narrowed the scope

SAM VINT JR.
Vancouver East

~Party advocate

of the CP’s appeal to the trade
unions. A considerable number of

- community organizations can find

indirect representation from
Communist Party candidates. The
impressive list of credentials that
the Communist candidates carry
into the election includes — in
addition to trade union experience
— leadership in numerous local

ratepayer groups, civic
organizations, women’s
organizations and __ student
organizations.

Age has to rank as another
favorable quality for the Com-
munist Party campaign. With an
average age of 40, the CP has
managed to put together the
combination of youth and ex-
perience that is the goal of every
organization. The combination is
best seen in the double member
ridings where, for example, 62
year-old Party leader, Nigel
Morgan has teamed up with 28
year-old Sam Vint Jr. to contest
Vancouver East.

Morgan will lead the Party
campaign as the chief spokesman
and political figure, as he has for
the past 30 years that he has served
as provincial secretary.

Although the senior political
leader in the province, Morgan has
not lost touch with his roots in the
labor movement. Previous to
taking over the CP leadership he
was the IWA’s international board
member on the CIO council. At one
point in his trade union career he
narrowly. missed election to the
presidency of the Canadian
Congress of Labor..

Running with Morgan in Van-
couver East is Sam Vint Jr., a
young steamfitter. Vint also has
lived his entire life in East Van-
couver having graduated from
David Thompson high school. He is
active in Local 170 of the Plum-

bers, Pipefitters and Steamfitters _

Union.

With Vint the CP is putting the
only father and son team into the
election. Sam Vint Sr., 58 year-old
engineer, has combined with 28
year-old Bruce Stevens to be the
in the double
member riding of Vancouver
South. ~ :

Vint Sr., like Morgan, is well
based: in his community. His 23

years in Frasertiew has scveioneae

him as an activist and spokesman
on innumerable community issues.
He founded the Fraserview
Homeowners’ and
Association about 10 years ago and
has served as its secretary ever
since. The logical culmination of
his community work came. two
years ago when Vint made a good
showing in the Vancouver civic
elections in a bid for alderman as‘a
part of the Committee~- of
Progressive Elector’s slate.
Bruce Stevens carries another
proud family name into the
campaign, being the son of well
known Communist trade union
leader Homer Stevens. Although
only 26, Bruce Stevens has been a
commercial fisherman since the
age of 16. His ability to grasp the
problems of the fishing industry
and of fishermen made for his
election to the General Executive

‘Board of the United Fishermen’s

and Allied Workers’ Union at their
convention last year.

The third Communist Party~-

team is in the double member
riding of Vancouver-Centre. A
tenant concentrated constituency,
Vancouver-Centre exhibit some of
the worst social conditions in the
Lower Mainland. Housing and rent
controls are basic issues in Centre
— issues well suited to Mike Gidora
and Nick Podovinnikoff.

Podovinnikoff is a prominent
member of the Vancouver local of
the Carpenter’s Union and a
recognized expert on housing. A
member of his union-since 1946 he
has been in the leadership for
almost as long.

Gidora can also zero in on the -

tenants’ issues. Employed at the
Pacific Tribune in the heart of
Centre constituency he is familiar
with the problems and policies of
the organized tenant movement,
which he now follows as a reporter
for the Tribune.

Another Tribune staff member
running as a CP candidate is Sean
Griffin who is contesting Burnaby
North. The assistant editor of the
Tribune, he was previously em-
ployed for several years in the
steel industry where he was a job
steward for the Marine and
Boilermakers Union. He is an

Tenants:

~ The other first time candidate on
the Lower Mainland and the CP’s

© only woman candidate is Christine

= | Beynon in Coquitlam. Beynon was
| president of her: local of CUPE

NIGEL MORGAN
Vancouver East

honors graduate from UBC.

Four more candidates, two
veterans and two first timers,
round out the CP slate on the
Lower Mainland. The veterans are
Fred Bianco in Surrey and Rod
Doran in New Westminster. Bianco
is well known in Surrey for his
active municipal work and because
of his candidacy for the CP in two
previous elections. A qualified
pilot, Bianco is a welder by trade
and a member of the Marine and
Boilermakers’ Union.

The candidate in Westminster,
Doran, occupies.a string of leading
CP positions along with his trade
union duties. At 47, he is the
organizer of the Party’s North
Fraser region, a member of the
Provincial Executive and of the
Central Committee. Former
president of the Prince Rupert
Labor Council, Doran, who works
as a longshoreman at Roberts
Bank, is currently a member of the
executive of the New Westminster
Labor Council.

In Delta the CP candidate is an

articulate young fisherman named ~

Mike Darnell. A trustee for the
United Fishermen and Allied
Workers Union, Darnell will op-
pose Carl Liden — a former
UFAWU staff worker. Liden is not
the most popular man around the
UFAWU for his unprincipled stand
in supporting the NDP’s anti-labor
legislation.

- years. ago.

* and promise
' showings on December 11. They

before moving to Coquitlam two
She worked as a
secretary until a short time ago

| when she left the job to have her

first child.

. Two candidates have also been
fielded outside the Lower Mainland
to make good

are Ray Holmgren in Nanaimo and

Otto MacDonald in Port Alberni.

Holmgren, who resides in Cedar,

* was born on Vancouver Island and

has spent his entire life there,
working as a logger. Only 27, he
has been an activist in the IWA and

“an aldermanic candidate in the

city of Nanaimo.
The second island candidate is

' veteran trade unionist Otto Mc-

Donald. Alberni, McDonald’s home
riding, has been historically a
strong base of support for the
Communist Party. Federally, the
CP polls.one of its highest votes in
Alberni.

Can one expect. the Communist
vote to go up substantially on
December 11? The answer to that
has to be yes — if only for the fact
that there are substantially more
candidates running. One thing is
certain. The candidates are

energetic, knowledgable and come
with imprsssive credentials. That
has to win some votes.

NiCK PODOVINNIKOFF
Vancouver Centre

SEAN GRIFFIN
Burnaby North

OTTO MacDONALD
Alberni

ROD DORAN.
New Westminster

RAY HOLMGREN
Nanaimo

a:

BRUCE STEVENS
Vancouver South

SAM VINT
. Vancouver South

MIKE GIDORA
Vancouver Centre

MIKE DARNELL ©
‘Delta

FRED BIANCO
Surrey

CHRISTINE BEYNON
Coquitlam

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 28, 1975—Page 3