AT PUBLIC EXPENSE

EDITORIAL .

‘In This Corner. . .

ho doesn’t remember the specialized announcer of the
squared ring? Ladiee.e.e.s and gentlemen; in this
corner we have the...

Well, in ‘this corner’ we have Messieurs Fulton, Hees,
Hamilton, Starr, McCutcheon, Fleming, Stanfield, Roblin et
al; everything from legal begels to high finance, from C’est
le femme to Stanfield’s ‘unshrinkable’ underwear, all warm-
ing-up in an attempt to relieve Tory heavyweight champion
John ‘Dief? Diefenbaker of his national Tory leadership belt;

As the fight warms-up this Tory opportunist brawl will be-
come a knock-down-and-drag-out affair with no fouls barred,
as befits tory gladiators and ‘gentlemen’,

The news hawks are already repeating ‘and may the best
man win’ thereby fostering the illusion that there is a ‘best
man’ in this monopoly-conditioned lot;

The ‘champ’ himself, who follows the Calvin Coolidge
school of keeping his challengers guessing, refrains from
letting them know that he ‘does not choose (mot) to run’, thereby
showing some fine ‘footwork’ in the art of ‘riposte’.

It would be all highly entertaining were it not for one
tragical factor; that the ‘winner’ ofthis Tory leadership scrim-
mage could also be — through no desire or choice of the
Canadian people, the next prime minister in Canada’s second
century — even if he should lack the elementary qualifications
required for a village dog-catcher.

Since the beginning of our first 100-years Canada has suf-
fered more than enough from a plethora of this Liberal-cum-
Tory maladministration, Hence whatever the outcome from this
Tory ‘championship bout’, the end result can only present an
unhappy augury for Canada’s ‘Second Century’.

Asithe ‘Oracle of Grouse Mountain’ puts it; — ‘No matter
who wins, Canada loses’,

Calling All ‘Socons’

Alberta’s Premier Manning’s book ‘Political Realignment’
just published last week, calls for some serious thought, and
especially from working people, professionals and small busi-
ness,

Manning’s book calls for a national party of the ‘Right’ by
proposing that Tories and Socreds should ‘unite’ in unholy
matrimony, with this misbegotten product of ultra-reaction to
be known as the ‘Socred-Conservatives’, or ‘Socons’ for short,

Whatever they may do about it, Manning’s callfor a ‘Right-
wing’ party ‘realignment’ is not accodental, Monopoly’s stead-
ily escalating attacks upon Labor and the people requires a
political party with a greater ‘dedication’ to more repressive
right-wing policies, Manning has undertaken the job of official

*hog-caller’ for reaction in Canada,

hile Canada celebrates the
® 100th birthday ofan uneasy
Confederation, with a social sys-
tem (capitalism) predating this
historic Centennial by nearly two
centuries, the multi-national
peoples of the Union of Socialist
Soviet Republics are celebrating
their 50th year of Soviet power
and the birthday of a new social
system — Socialism,

“Comparisons,” itis said, “are
odious,” and certainly there is
little comparison to be made
between the origin of our 100th
birthday and the Soviet’s 50th,
They began by eliminating an
old order of corruption, exploita-
tion, hunger, ignorance and war,
We began by giving a social
order founded upon private prop-
erty and the vested “right” of
exploitation a vast virgin con-
tinent to prey upon,

Expo 67 in Canada’s major
City of Montreal is without doubt
a most magnificent demonstra-
tion of the great achievements

-Ausg - 1967—PA t -

of Man and his World, capitalist
and socialist alike, On that esti-
mation popular opinion is pretty
emphatic, But — if the foreign
exhibits of Expo 67 were excluded
and only what was exclusively
Canadian left, there wouldn’t be
too much to show for 100-years
of endeavour,

The reasons for this are of
course not difficult to grasp, We
began our first years of Con-
federation by giving a free hand
to the buccaneering pioneers of
big business; freedom to grab
ownership or control of any and
every natural resource with which
our country was richly endowed;
broad lands, mighty forests, great
mineral wealth, rail, communi-

cations, etc,, and ad infinitum,’

All under the guise of “national
development” or in the language
of an earlier day “empire build-
ing”, A century later we’re still
doing it — onascale which makes
the monopoly plunderbund of 1867
look like small-time petty
larceny.

NS — FP OOS

By MAURICE RUSH

A major drive has been launch--
ed by the big mining monopolies
operating in British Columbia to
scuttle the recommendations of
the Carter Commission report on
taxation which would eliminate
the special privileges enjoyed
by these companies,

At the present time, and for
some years past, mining com-
panies have enjoyed a three-year
tax-free period for new mines;
special depletion allowances; and
special exemptions for prospect-
ing new mining properties, This
has enabled them to add to their
exhorbitant profits by robbing
the public treasury in the form
of lower taxes,

The Carter commission pro-
posed the immediate cancellation
of mining and petroleum deple-
tion allowances and a phased
withdrawal of the three-year tax
exemption for new mines, The
Carter report says that depletion
allowances are extremely expen-
sive to the government, and bene-
fit only established corporations

If we had an exhibit at Expo
67 supplementing Man and His
World with Who Owns Canada?
its eye-opening popularity would
certainly serve as a dynamic in-
ducement for a change in owner-
ship, Too bad such things cannot
be properly exhibited.

During those first years of Con-
federation rail barons and pro-
moters like the CPR received
millions of acres of free lands
for alleged rail services — many
of these services now drastically
curtailed or long abandoned, But
these rail and other “empire
builders” still hang onto the lands
they received gratis — to extort
new millions of dollars from to-
day’s generation.

The CPR owned Langara Park

issue in Vancouver is only one .

example of this 20th century
monopoly grand larceny. More-
over space does not permit (and
we haven’t got an adding ma-
chine) to total up the millions
in hard cashthese “empire build-
ers” have extracted from the
public treasury along with their
free land grants for services
never rendered,

We also began our first years
of Confederation with one found-
ing nation — French-Canada be-
ing accorded some “privileges”,
rather than equal rights as a
nation, under a Made-in-England
constitution — with all the evils

Mining monopolies op?
drive for tax exempti0!

with large operating incomes,
and that.smaller companies obtain
little if any direct benefit.

The commission also suggested
that its proposed tax reform
makes special treatment for min-
ing unnecessary and unaccept-
able, It found that the present
concessions were unfair and in-
efficient and mostly benefit the
companies whichneed them least,

Last week the B.C, Chamber
of Commerce urged Finance
Minister Sharp, in apolicy state-
ment, to scrap the Carter recom-.
mendations or facea “disastrous”
effect in B,C,’s mining industry.
The Chamber of Commerce’s
statement hinges its appeal, to
a great extent, on the argument
that implementation of the Carter
commission recommendations
would flatten new mining develop-
ment by small mining ventures,

However, what the Chamber of
Commerce turns a blind eye tois
the fact that the present “unfair”
concessions have mainly bene-
fitted five large mining com-
panies, most of whom are U,S, or

For him—a bigger load.

of this inequality now coming
home to roost in ’67, When
France’s President Charles De
Gaulle laid a gentle finger on
this tender spot our “Bi-Bi”
quacks and their kept press
squealed like a stuck pig.

In such a setting it is not
difficult to understand why
Canada’s 100-years of achieve-
ment is still far below what it
could be, were the creative ener-
gies, aspirations and labors of
the common people given prece-
dence over that of “free enter-
prise” monopoly.

That of course is where we lag
badly when drawing comparisons
between our birthday and that of
the Soviet people.

They began by putting the old
order of exploiting capitalism

hese fi"

Japanese owned.
ting in Buy

ing giants operalls iy
between 1955 and a yey
exemptions on aboll

of their income.

i]

Three of these compan (
claimed a_ tax-free ml
$117 million — WO’ well
loss in tax revenues pm ey
treasury of $60 milli® “a OR
the public has subs! with 22 to
foreign-owned mines rolt A
tax concessions ¢ a
mineral resources. y

l

P
The attack 0m ve B4
recommendations ¢ is!
Chamber of Commer,
of a big business OF gif
the country to press”

We) |
lie
to scuttle the far-TO iy Of
reforms propose

mission,

Premier W.A.C

publicly announce
to the Carter recor” yl
for tax reform 4 Pott

clared before goine f
conference 0f ne eek
miers, that he woul incl!
up opposition of PP

miers to the Cartef E

|

ly

The most sangerOts ed :
that the Liberal 60°), jum
Ottawa is prepat p ini %
the pressure © Pi
big business lobby ey
Carter report "1, Ma
recent statement t the un
Minister SharP a init iN
exemptions f0F " »
dustry will rem 197%
least until januarys

i

What the BCE
Commerce 2” f 1 Be
terests who cont
ing industry
these exemption’,
manently as a? ‘i th
of profits — #
expense.

out of business a
means and mac
tion and aistributl

hands,
«aristocrats
on of the old oF ;
dilemma — vA
they didn’t Or 0

never bee

strong points.
“work”, those

and amass
labor of others+

who

verily 2 °

Editor—TOM McEWEN

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