a

* This is an architect’s drawing of the 26-storey Canada
House to be built on Fifth Avenue in New York. The
| building is designed to accommodate all Canadian government,
. business and cultural activities in New York.

~ DEMAND LOW

GCE RAISES ISSUE”

What's Socred stand

on public power?

By BERT WHYTE

VICTORIA, B.C.

‘I would like to know where this government stands on public power,” said
Gordon Dowding (CCF, Burnaby). in the House one day last week. ‘"The B.C. Power
commission should take its full part in developing our great waterpower resources.”

No one answered him. Indeed, the House was half empty at the time. A quick
count from*my seat in the upper press gallery showed that only 25 of the 51 members

(the death of Ernie Winch has
left one vacancy) were present
— 17 of the 39 Socreds, six of
the nine CCFers, and one of
the two Liberals. Seven Socred
cabinet members, including the
premier, were among the miss-
ing.

This indifference to opposi-
tion opinion, partly a product
of overwhelming strength,
characterises the Social Credit
attitude towards the present
session.

Whether Bennett likes it or
not—and he certainly doesn’t
__the issue of power is coming
to the fore.

A couple of days after Dowd-
ing raised the question, the
powerful advisory board of
Farmers’ Institutes appeared
before the legislature’s agricul-
tural cemmittee to urge that
“all new sources of power in
B.C. should be placed under
the publicly-owned B.C. Power
Commission.”

Only this, stressed the dele-
gation, would ensure that the
BCPC secures enough large
sources of power so that it
could give cheaper power in
the rural areas.

Capital investment of the
BCPC has grown from $59
million in 1953 to $121 million
at the end of 1956. It must
continue to expand if it is to

ER MILL RATE

Vancouvtr ratepayers took
action this week to oppose an
Ancrease in taxes on homes. In
a brief submitted to city hall,
Central Council of Ratepay-
rs, representing nearly all
tatepayer associations in the
City, demanded the mill rate
be reduced because of the
‘OVerall increase in home as-
Sessments this year.

City council is now prepar-
ing the 1957 budget which is
€xpected to be brought down

_by the end of this month.

Backing up Ratepayers’ Ef-
fie Jones, Civic Reform presi-
dent, announced this week she
Will circulate an appeal to
thousands of homeowners

urging them to protest any

further raise in taxes on

homes.

Condemning the present
basis on which taxes are levied

in the city, the Ratepayers

brief charges that large com-
mercial and business proper-
ties are avoiding payment of
their share of civic taxes in
two ways; by properties being

under-assessed, and through

the 50 percent exemption on

improvements.

The brief draws attention to
the charge. recently made by
J. S. Mulcahy, former senior

evaluator in the city’s assess-
ment department, that the CPR
properties are assessed at only
25 percent of what they should

be.

A complete change in the
tax base for Vancouver prop-
erties is also proposed in the
Ratepayers’ brief. It suggests
the present tax base of 100
percent on land and 50 percent
on improvements be replaced
by full assessment of all prop-
erty at their value with a sys-
tem of graduated exemptions

for homes and small commer-

maintain minimum rates to

consumers,

' Crux of the situation is
whether the hydro potentiali-
ties of the Columbia River will
be developed by private in-
terests or by the publicly-
owned B.C. Power Commis-
sion.

The BCPC believes it can
develop the Columbia more
efficiently and cheaply than
any private company. In two
recent speeches the commis-
sion’s director of load develop-
ment, Charles W. Nash, blunt-
ly stated that the public utility
must have a new and large
source of power such as the
Columbia.

Last October, Premier Ben-
nett said the government’s
policy is, “No export of any
hydroelectric power; not a
single foot of it.’ But he has
consistently refused to state
whether he favors public or
private development of Colum-
bia power.

Using the 1939 price index of
100, the cost of power in B.C.
since 1947 has risen to 147,
while in Saskatchewan, de-
spite its smaller resources, it
has dropped to 92.

The policy to be adopted in
harnessing and _ distributing
Columbia power affects the

Vancouver ratepayers oppose tax increases

cial properties. Such ‘a system
says the brief, would be based
on ability to pay. It would be
much fairer and the simpler
form of assessment it would
bring about would be less
likely to be abused.

Other proposals in the brief
call for city council to press
for an immediate conference
with senior governments for
a fairer revision of the tax
dollar to help municipalities.
It also urges council to press
the provincial government for

a greater share of road costs.

economic destiny of. this pro-
vince. B.C. citizens have a
right to demand of Premier
Bennett what his government’s
policy is.

es it 50

Labor Minister Lyle Wicks
told the House that in the near
future a “board of referees”
may be set up to sit apart
from the Workmen’s Compen-
sation Board and rule on dis-
puted silicosis cases that come
before the board.

Wicks admitted that “a new
definition of silicosis” is need-
ed for the Workmen’s Compen-
sation Act — something that
Mine-Mill Union has. heen
pressing these many years.

xt xt 5

John Squire (CCF, Alberni)
read a telegram from pension-
ets in his constituency regret-
ting that the government had
failed to increase its $20 sup-
plementary bonus to the fed-
eral old age pensions.

“We believe a much larger
share of the great wealth of
this province should go to-
wards increasing the bonus,”
said the telegram.

“The CCF endorses that
stand,” declared Squire. “We
believe the government could
well afford to do more for
our senior citizens.”

$e 5s %

An additional 200 hospital
beds are urgently needed in
Victoria. Royal Jubilee Hos-
pital is planning a new $1,800,-

000 wing and St. Joseph’s a~

$1,000,000 wing.

Victoria City Council will
meet with Health Minister Eric
Martin before determining
what assistance it will give to
these projects. The govern-
ment pays 50 percent of “ap-
proved” hospital construction.

xt so 503

As the weeks roll by, the 25th
legislative assembly sessions
are dealing less and less with
the problems facing this prov-
ince, and more and more with
federal election issues. Social
Credit speakers, from the pre-
mier down to the last back
bencher, are using the floor
of the House as a public plat-
form to make “On to Ottawa”
speeches. é

Socred members who were
elected on a “Progress — Not
Politics” slogan are sure doing
a lot of politiking these days!

MARCH 8, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 5