RAteG sO)

et PRO ew ae MO

roms

ae Tory government of Brian Mulro-
ao 1S re-elected and his trade deal imple-
snted, Canadians will “be set back 100
me _the executive vice-president of the
‘ tadian Labour Congress told a rally,
8ainst privatization and free trade in Van-
Couver Sunday.
' Bey Riche warned that Section 2005 of
ae anada-U.S. trade agreement takes
ee the right | of Canadians to set up
a N Corporations which, until now, have
a key feature of Canadian industrial
ak 8y. “We'll have to go to the U.S. and
them first,” she said.
erea, don’t know how it will affect pro-
cow Sovernments which want to establish
fae “ Corporations — but we do know
. ta provincial government wants to set
P a public insurance company, it would
ae to compensate all private insurance
Sa Bates which would be affected,” she
C 00 people at Vancouver’s Croation
€ntre,
oe More that Canadians study the trade
ae Signed by Mulroney and U.S. Presi-
ae Ronald Reagan in January, the more
ae Tealize that the Tories “have given
ss M Our ability to build the kind of country
want,” Riche said.
N fact, she emphasized, “if we had this

deal 20 years ago, we would not have medi-

Care today.”
€ rally, jointly sponsored by the Van-
Couver and District Labour Council, the
ae Westminster and District. Labour
Cuncil and the B.C. Federation of
abour, was the latest in the series of public
Orums organized around the province by
the federation as part of its campaign
4gainst privatization and free trade.

Nn the platform were Riche, Canadian
Auto Workers president Bob White, B.C.
Fed president Ken Georgetti and John

lelds, president of the B.C. Government

Employees Union.

NANCY RICHE ... trade deal restricts
Crown corporations.

White traced the origins of the trade deal
to the Business Council on National
Issues — ‘representing the 150 top corpora-
tions in the country — which first advo-
cated free trade as part of corporate
re-structuring in Canada.

“The agenda which Mulroney has deve-

‘loped is the agenda developed by the

BCNI — it’s the corporate agenda,” he
said. “And I don’t think most Canadians
realize that.”

He told the crowd that the country
“won’t be built by turning everything over
to the multinational corporations.

“Political sovereignty doesn’t just mean
the right to elect your MP — it means hav-
ing the right and the ability of the govern-
ment to intervene in the economy,” he said.

And what makes the trade deal so dan-
gerous, he said, is that it will restrict any
future government from intervening in the
economy and will undermine “very deci-
sively the progressive alternatives that there
are in this country.”

“The government doesn’t have the right
to take this step without going to the Cana-
dian people,” he said. “‘And I think if we

JOHN SHIELDS ... premier flouting
ombudsman’s report, public opinion.

continue to build across this country, we
can defeat the Mulroney government and
defeat this right wing agenda.”

The Vander Zalm government is also
pushing its privatization program without
any mandate — and without any public
support, Shields told the rally.

“His view of B.C. is going to destroy this
province — and British Columbians dis-
agree with him, in poll after poll,” he said.

In addition, he said, 85 municipalities
have opposed privatization, the ombuds-
man has spoken out against it in his report
and even the auditor-general has said that
there is no gain, only a deterioration of
services.

He said that the union would be “doing
everything that we can to stop privatization.

“But it is not a BCGEU fight — it is a
fight of all British Columbians,” he said.

Vancouver East NDP MP Margaret Mit-
chell told the rally that the NDP caucus in
Ottawa would be “doing everything a
minority group in Ottawa can do” to block
the Tories’ bill implementing the trade deal
and “‘to stretch the legislation out.”

“But we need an election,” she said.

Hospital ©
Jobs go
to U.S. —

The sending out of medical records
for processing by a private U.S. firm
could be the edge of the wedge for
privatization of hospital services, the
Hospital Employees Union warns.

HEU secretary-business manager
Jack Gerow charged May 5S that Sur-
rey Memorial Hospital risked patient
confidentiality when it sent 100 tapes
of private medical records to Seattle
for transcription.

The HEU stated it cost the hospital
‘around $4,000, or more than double
the cost of using regular union
workers.

“It’s not cost-efficient, sensitive or
safe to send those tapes out of the
country,” said union president Bill
Macdonald.

He said the union is concerned the
incident may be an example of the
provincial government’s plans to pri-
vatize medical services.

According to the union the tapes
were returned March 9, more than
two months after the HEU discovered
the transcription work had been con-
tracted out, Jan. 7.

The HEU stated that some doctors
were inconvenienced by the delay and
that the tapes contained “critical
information.”

Hospital management has said it
plans to solve the delay problem by
sending less tapes out at one time, the
union noted.

But Macdonald said the work
should not be contracted at all.

TRIBUNE PHOTOS — SEAN GRIFFIN

Now that the Social Credit government
has carried through the privatization of
the Expo site by Hong Kong financier Li
Ka-Shing — a scandalous sellout deal
which will haunt B.C. and Vancouver for
years to come — Premier Bill Vander
Zalm’s government is moving full steam
ahead with the rest of its program to sell
the province.

Without so much as a discussion in the
legislature on the government’s privatiza-
tion plans, the Socreds are now moving
quickly to put the most valuable divisions
of B.C. Hydro on the auction block. Four

_ Of the most profitable divisions are up for
Sale: Mainland Gas, Victoria Gas, rail
freight, and the research and development
branch.

What is now being privatized is the
most important public utility company in

the province. But British Columbians
have been left completely outside of the
process. The only notice came in the form
of the small bulletin, Service Digest,
enclosed in the last billing to Hydro cus-
tomers.

public that the process of selling off their
utility is well advanced, and that final

May 31.

The bulletin tells B.C. Hydro customers
that the sale of the most lucrative divisions
of the corporation is being carried through
under the direction of a ‘“‘privatization

Parker, former president of the Bank of
B.C. and currently chief executive office of
B.C. Bancorp.

The B.C. Hydro newsletter informs the —

recommendations will go to the cabinet on.

advisory committee” chaired by Dale .

The province

Maurice Rush

The bulletin also states that the commit-
tee selling off B.C. Hydro is “broadly
based” and is made up of “the investment,
legal, accounting, banking and communi-
cations communities, and key ministries of
the provincial government.” Nobody
from the public, Hydro customers, or
labour or people’s organizations is
included.

' That provides an insight into how the

' Socreds are proceeding to dispose of the

people’s property. The sale of the Expo
lands was done in a similar way, with no
public input.

Apparently the whole Socred program
is being masterminded by the Economic
Advisory Council set up by the premier. It
consists of 22 representatives of big busi-
ness, including the presidents of seven
major B.C. corporations.

Included among -these people is Peter

- Toigo, for whom Vander Zalm tried to
quarterback an attempt to take over a
large group of public properties (which
caused the premier political difficulties).
Until recently, another member was
Robert Kadlec — president of Inland
Natural Gas — who quit the council

because his company is one of those mak-
ing a bid to take over B.C. Hydro’s gas

division.

In short, the big business pigs are all at

the privatization trough vying for the big-
gest share of the spoils handed out by the

Socreds.
The major prize in the B.C. Hydro sel-

lout is the Lower Mainland Gas Division,

which has been the biggest money maker.
Over the years the profits it earned kept
hydro rates down.

But when sold to a private company,

the profits will go to the corporation that
buys it. The result will be that Hydro rates

will rise because the profits from the gas

division will no longer be available to keep
down electricity rates.

Additionally, the public will be saddled
with higher rates to pay off the $8-billion

debt, mainly charged against the hydro

division for the building of dams, includ-
ing the most recent at Revelstoke.
Granted, the government has stipulated
that whoever gets the gas division will have
to agree to a three-year rate freeze. But
following that period, it is expected that
rates will go up sharply, and the cost of

 Sell-off at B.C. Hydro can be stopped

services will also rise.

At present, the gas division makes
about 80,000 calls annually to customers
with service problems. A charge for this
service can be expected when the division
is privatized.

Among the top bidders for the service is
the Kansas City-based UtiliCorp, which
recently took over West Kootenay Power
and Light with provincial government
support. The U.S. utility company has a
bad record of public service at home. It
will bid in a partnership with First City
Financial Corp., owned by the billionaire
Belzberg family of Vancouver.

Hongkong Gas is also making a bid, as
is a company formed by Robert Bonner,
the one-time Socred attorney-general and
former head of B.C. Hydro. There are also
indications that Peter Toigo’s Shato Hold-
ings Ltd. is interested in acquiring the div-
ision.

It is likely that the successful bidder will
attempt to make the giveaway of this luc-
rative and vital utility more acceptable,
likely through a public share issue. But it is
certain that the company favoured by the
cabinet will ensure that it holds effective
control of the utility.

The privatization of Hydro’s four div-
isions is a very sensitive issue for the
Socreds because it will directly affect costs
and services to many hundreds of thou-
sands of British Columbians.

The sellout of B.C. Hydro can be
stopped. The public must be made aware
of the big stakes involved, and unite in
strong protest demanding that the privati-
zation of the public utility be abandoned.

Pacific Tribune, May 11, 1988 « 3