NN, --Gesien \ DEF 00: D009 5 2 Se ‘ —— a PACIFIC TRIBUNE. A recent letter to the editor in the Vancouver Sun suggested that since, the U.S. has a “monopoly of our resources and industries, why not a flag with a big bold eagle in flight with a Canadian beaver clutched in its talons? Above, PT car- toonist Ernie Walker suggests a design for such a flag. German tests at Shilo delayed but not halted WINNIPEG — Canadians are concerned about Ottawa’s appar- ent willingness to assist in the revival of German militarism which brought such devastation to the world between 1939 and 1945, Floyd Williston, secretary of © i eoRe eee se eeesse eel seepedeer.ce Workers Benevolent Assn. 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Plans to hold the tests in Janu- ary-February 1965 have, at the request of Bonn, been postponed for technical reasons, But a let- — ter from the Department of Ex- ternal Affairs to the Peace Coun- cil made it plain that the trials are only delayed, not abandoned, “The Canadian government considers co-operation with its NATO partners to be an integral and important feature ofits over- all defence effort,”said the letter, “Under the NATO aircrew training program, for example, some 5,500 aircrew from, among others, the Netherlands, Ger- many, Belgium and Luxembourg were trained in Paria between 1953 and 1957, /.. Vancouver 6, B.C. | SCANDALOUS DEBATE SHOCKS NATION Parliament is degraded by Liberals and Tories By JOHN BOYD he image of Parliament, al- ready badly tarnished after ‘a summer of wrangling and in- decision, took another beating recently, This time it was over a scandal involving two Liberal cabinet ministers and their de- partments, A Tory MP blew the lid off when he charged (1) that two ex- ecutive assistants to the two ministers and the parliamentary secretary to the prime minister were involved in a bribe attempt, ‘and (2) that Justice Minister Guy Favreau had this information as early as Sept, 18 but withheld it, How the different parties in Parliament reacted to these re- velations provided an important object lesson for all Canadians, The Liberals were more con- cerned about their own political skins than they were about Par- liament’s image or about justice being done, Instead of facing up forthrightly to the charge, they struck a pose of injured inno- cence and did everthing they could to prevent an investigation of the matter, Only under the combined onslaught of the oppo- sition did they agree first to a limited, later to a full judicial inquiry, The Tories for their part were’ bent on squeezing every bit of By NIGEL MORGAN serious crisis has hit B.C,s $32 million tree fruit industry in the sunny Okanagan and Creston Valleys, Cause of the crisis is the wide spread be- tween what the growers receive for their tree fruits, and what the consumers have to pay for them in the market place, Extremely heavy costs of pack- ing, boxing and marketing—on top of the costs of fertilizers, sprays, irrigation, tree replacements, pruning, thinning and picking— keeps all except the few, big “silk-hatted” farmers on the verge of bankruptcy, Returns to the growers for their world-renowned apples, pears, peaches, prunes, cots and cherries have taken a disastrous _ tumble this year, Some growers report that up to the end of Oc- tober returns for certain varie- ties have been less than one-fifth | of what they received per box for the year previous, However, the thing that fanned the embers of discontent into a raging blaze was the marketing agencies’ handling of last year’s bumper crop, Growers bitterly complain that B,C, Tree Fruits Ltd. and Sun Ripe Products Ltd, (which have a monopoly on the -handling of Okanagan and Cres- tén tree fruits, and the manufac- ture and marketing of fruit juices) rushed the sale of their products at lower-than-usual prices, political capital they could out of the situation, After four days of debate they moved a motion of non-confidence in Justice Minister Favreau, hoping thereby to bring down the government and force the country into another election, The New Democratic Party alone acted in a responsible, statesmanlike manner, Its lead- er, T, C, Douglas, in the very first day of the debate, calledfor ‘a full judicial inquiry into the charges, Had the Liberal govern- ment followed his suggestion from the start, the matter could have been disposed of in an effi- cient and business-like way, Instead Parliament was thrown into.a five-day hassle that only served to degrade its dignity and again postpone action on the im- portant and urgent problems be- fore it, Thanks to the political astute- ness of the NDP, the strategy of the Tories failed, Having pres- sured the Liberals to agree toa Marketing monopoly brings crisis to fruit industry Prices subsequently jumped, with the result wholesalers and. the big chain market stores were able to cash in at the farmers’ expense, Adding fuel to the fire was the possibility thatSun Ripe Products’ Ltd, may get slapped with aheavy dumping penalty by the U.S, Tar- iff Commission for selling apple juice to U,S, wholesalers for $2.25 per case, while it was being sold in Canada for as much as $3.85, Grower spokesmen are hostile over the U.S, sales which amounted to 135,000 cases, Dissatisfaction became so sharp in July that a meeting of the B,C, Fruit Growers Associa- Social Credit MP’s were able to — ‘ capital out of the resultant dis- “firm be called in to investigate r agency, ' packing and marketing mono December 11, 1964—PACIFIC. TRIBUNE—F2 full judicial inquiry, the NDP and. support them in defeating the Tory non-confidence motion, The Liberals suffered consid- erable loss of support and pres- tige as a result of this latest scandal, But neither have the Tories gained any public respect by their politicking, Aware of the fact that nearly every name involved in the scandal is French Canadian, they have chosen to play the dangerous game ofusing this to drive a wedge still deeper between English and French Ca- nada, hoping to make political unity, History has shown that Tories have been involved in no fewer scandals than have the Liberals and that English Canadian poli- ticians have been no less cor- ruptible than have the French, But in their aversion to political scandal people tend to forget or overlook these facts—which is precisely what the Tories are counting on, Parliament has again demon- — strated how out of tune with the — mood of the country are the old- line parties and howurgently this country needs an alternative: 4 Parliament made up of members who would really take up the battle for the many urgent needs — of the people, And do it with dignity, tion demanded that an efficiency. the agencies’ operation and the high cost of marketing. Novem- ber reports indicate the commit- tee set up in July is still studyine the “terms of reference” for such | an enquiry, Meanwhile, B,C, Tree Fruits Ltd, and Sun Ripe Products Ltd. accepted the resignation of their general manager, H, P. Tiny” Walrod, Oyama grower, Allan Claridge, announced his intentioB ~ of contesting the presidency © B,C, Fruit Growers Association held by A, R, Garrish since 1951. Gordon Wight, for seven years president of B,C, Tree Fruits, — announced he will not stand foF re-election to the board. Stevenson & Kellogg have bee? asked to carry through a com” plete study of the marketin! pee Solution to the problem lie® in closing the wide gap petween consumer prices and growers returns, This means ending US> dumping and bringing the Pe lies, as well as anutactrer of fertilizers, sprays and vr implements under public contro™ B.C.’s tree fruit industry }° in a serious plight, The govern ment should step in and see the 3,400 men and women y : whom’ this $32 million indus) depends get a fair return, f the consumers fruit at 2 pric’ they can afford to pay.