i sl Il

PROPERTY Co

“And | would like to say to all our tenants, thanks a
million!” Se ECCLES, Morning Star

Ottawa fiddles as consumers
burn over rising food prices

The sharp rise in egg prices in
Vancouver this week — a jump
of seven cents per dozen— drove
home for most people the serious-
ness of the high cost of living.

What happened to egg pricesis
happening to foodstuffs all the
way down the line. The egg price
boost follows quickly on in -
creases in milk prices.

Statistics Canada underscored
the seriousness of the problem
when it announced last week that
the consumer price index rose
again in February, and, as in
previous months, the overall
rise was due to a sharp jump in
food prices.

According to Statistics Can-
ada, the over-all price index rose
in February to 145.3, but the food
price index was up to 151.6.
Figures released show that all
prices on all items increased 5.8

percent since February, 1972,

but that during this same period
food prices had increased 10.2
percent. The major food items
showing a steep rise, and which
were responsible for pushing up
the index were beef. pork and
poultry.

While consumers burn over
rising prices, Ottawa fiddles.

The Commons special food
prices committee is grinding
on. with the major villains— the
food monopolies — refusing to
divulge the facts requested by
committee members.

However, some startling facts
were brought out. It was
reported, for example, that
Dominion Stores Ltd. showed
profits up 188 percent.

Pressure is mounting on the
Federal government to set up a
prices review board to bring
profiteering in food prices under
some measure of control.

Benefits from rezoning shoul

go to people—not developers”

By ALD. HARRY RANKIN

When City Council increased
the value of a parcel of land by
rezoning it upward, say from
residential to commercial or
from residential to apartment,
the major portion of this in-
creased value should accrue to
the city and not be gobbled up by
the developer. This has been my
contention for years but no
other alderman has ever backed
me up on it.

Literally millions of dollars
are involved. Let me give a few
examples.

Several years ago the NPA-
dominated City Council re-
zoned the 38 acre block of land
held by Marathon Realty (the
real estate wing of the CPR) at
King Edward and Arbutus,
from single family residential
to comprehensive. This act by
Council increased the assessed
value of this land by over 200 per-
cent. (Actually the increase was
probably 400 or 500 percent be-
cause big commercial and
industrial properties are
usually assessed at only a frac-
tion of their real market value—
a concession to big business to
keep down its taxes).

Now, the CPR had done
nothing to improve this land. It
got it for nothing from Ottawa
over a hundred years ago and
had been holding it for specula-
tion ever since.

This land became valuable be-
cause a community grew up
around it. And then it was made
still more valuable by city
council rezoning it. The CPR
did nothing to create these

values. They were created by so-
ciety and by an act of city coun-
cil.

Or take the example of the 10
acre Shannon Estate project in
Shaughnessy. At the request of
the developer, Wall and Rede-
kop, and over the strong objec-

tions of the people in the com- .

munity, the NPA-eontrolled
City Council re-zoned this land
from single family residential
to comprehensive. This boosted
the assessed value of this
this land nine fold. Wall & Rede-
kop did nothing to create these
new values— they were created
by society and then given as a
gifts by City Council to the devel-
opers.

Woodwards now wants a
development permit for a $9.5
million expansion of its Oak-
ridge ‘Shopping Centre which
will require it being rezoned up-
ward. If City Council grants the
development permit, that will
be the same as giving Wood-
wards an outright gift. This land
has increased in value because
a bigger community has grown
up around it. The increased
value was created by society,
not by Woodwards.

The Four Seasons property. at
the entrance to Stanley Park is
another example. This land has
been re-zoned several times,
has changed hands many times
and each time millions of
dollars in profits have been
made by the corporations and
individuals involved. Yet it still
remains nothing more than a
muddy plot of land, aneyesorein
the community. These are the

backing. (A very lengthy treatise could be written about this
ding-dong U.S. dollar, but we’ll have to skip it in this column).

“They evermore come out the same door as in they went.”

were ours if our wage rate warranted).

clipped in the process.

wouldn't bounce” or have an NSF brand attached.

wise, while those ‘‘poorer™ nations not so.

he oft-recurring monetary crises in our capitalist-way-

of-life has now. become a built-in chronic ailment.

Almost weekly the ‘‘expert”’ financial wizards meetin search
of ‘‘solutions’’, and as the noted poet, Omar Khayam says.

Atthe turn of this century we working plugs could demand
our wages be paid in gold, nice little half-sovereigns. one
dollar sovereigns, fives, tens and up. Allin gold. (Needless to
say we didn’t get many of the higher denominations, but they

When the fad of writing checks started. it was looked upon
witha lot of suspicion, and invariably rejected, notonly inlieu
of wages, but a lot of other things. The old fancy engraved
paper money of numerous private banks was bad enough in lieu
of gold, but the check business took a long time to getused to.
with a lot of people. the bulk of them wage workers, getting

Atleast the paper money said something on the top-side of
their dollars about the state ‘paving to the bearer on demand
the equivalent of its face value of some metal or other.
whereas the check gave no assurances of any kind that it

In other words, gold was the base standard of exchange.
whether for wages or potatoes. and its value and price was
determined pretty much the same as all other commodities:
the social necessary labor power required to extract an ounce
or aton of it from the bowels of the earth. Thus the nation that
had lots of it was considered toberelatively stable. monetary-

In those halcyon days the U.S. **MidasCave’ at Fort Knox
was full to the rafters. with more than enough to back all the
paper dollars it had floating around the world. Today Fort
Knox is asempty asa beer barrel with a misplaced bung. and
with countless billions of dollars floating around the world
fouling up the ecology. without even a wooden nickle of

This monetary ailment has given Canada no end of
financial cramps over the years, a condition notcaused by any
shortage of gold resources, but largely because we have
permitted our financial and commercial affairs to be too

closely tied up to the U.S. economy, particularly in terms of
financial integration. :

To be sure, when the great U.S. stock market crash of fhe

late 30’s hitand U.S. financial tycoons were taking off from 16-
storey windows by the thousands, we inCanada showed a mite
more sanity by merging our banking system, culling out the
wobbly ones, and ‘‘restoring’’ financial ‘‘confidence”’ by
massive financial concentration.

While such moves may have restored a fleeting confidence,
it did not, and has not ended the monetary crisis in Canada,
along with the rest of the capitalist world; now engulfed; and
from which there is no way out, save the exit of ‘“‘lais-sez
faire’: a modern version of ‘every man for himself. and the
devil take the hindmost”’.

Over the past seventy-five years or so, we have had several

royal commissions, sitting for months studying our banking’

and financial habits and

invariably endin i
immortal Omar. : & up like the

Some very exhaustive briefs . reports and other data were
read into the records of these commissions. now gathering a
lot of dust (not gold) in the parliamentary archives in Ottawa

. . the “front of all wisdom” and most stupidities. While an
M.P. the late Mayor Gerald *Riot Act’’ McGeer. a better
“monetary reformer” than a mayor. submitted much valuable
material to one such commission. which if read today. would
provide a few eye-openers on current dollar crises and their
effervescent ‘solutions’.

At the turn of the century bankers and their ilk used to
peddle a few hacknevedcliches. suchas”’strong as the Bank of
England”. “solid as the rock of Gibraltar’. etc..etc.

But the “monetary reformers’ of that era. including
Gerry and other higher notables in banking and finance, blew
such cliches all to hell by illustrating that the most powerful
and ‘safest’ banks. didn't bank on the strength of their
reserves. gold or paper. but upon the trust and confidence of
their depositors. If. they said. by some alchemy of fate. allthe
depositors at a given time were to call back their deposits, not
a bank. including the fabled Bank of England would be able to
pay much above 10-cents on the $ and the U.S. would have to
import more Canadian logs to make the wooden nickles
necessary to cover its multi-billions of paper dollars.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1973—PAGE 2

~

fruits of speculation in la
aided and abetted by the fede
government and Vancouve
City Council.

« the
Still another example § th a

CPR’s Project 200. By rea

ing City Council increase
value of this land sevel™
‘according to the city’s ass
ment figures). Its real vals
probably 20 or 25 times
original value if neighbour”
properties are any yardstick i
The power that City Cou
has to re-zone is like having
power to print money ~
See REZONING, pg. 11

NIGEL MORGAN, B.C. le@

of the Communist Party: va 4

will deliver the main rep?
the Party’s convention
24-25.

Delegates from Com
Party clubs in B.C. urd
verge on Vancouver S@

and Sunday, March 24-291" ig

B.C. convention of the
which opens in the Fisher
Hall, Saturday morning. patll
For weeks Communist ing
clubs have been debate
policy statement and adOP
resolutions for the cOnV® oy
The two day convention poll
pected to bring together corte
100 delegates who will “oote
from as far away as the.® id)
nays and from the West ©
Vancouver Island. ede!”
A large proportion of th oop!
gates will be working P’ ade:
most of them active i? isd
unions and other movem®™
the people in their areas- opt
The convention will Daf
ed by provincial ce yi
Maurice Rush and will 87 oli
to business after heariné inci!
tical report by prov
leader Nigel Morgan. __ cst
The report will be
by delegates most of SF
and is expected to high!!
need for building an ant” gl!
poly alliance to defeat t watt
and keep B.C. moving left mot
Saturday night will be© yrt!
to panel discussions: cit!
panels will feature dis aft
on party policy in 1" yal
municipal work, and ~~
ization. di?
William Kashtan. Ca™ i
secretary and party lea” gui

al |

address the conventl0 |