PINOCHET GH MERINO MENDOZA FASCIST CHILEAN JUNTA NEWS ITEM: Carlos Altamirano, secretary-general of Chile’s Socialist Party said at a press conference in New York that more than 15,000 people have died since the coup, more than 30,000 have been arrested, 200,000 have been fired from their jobs and 25,000 students expelled from university. —Andrews, Daily World Don't deport Chilean youth, Andras urged The Canadians for Democracy in Chile committee this week called on manpower and im- migration minister Robert An-. dras to intervene to prevent the deportation of Bernardo Arrano, a Chilean who fears for his life if he is returned to Chile. Arrano, a community worker for Movemenf of United Popular _Action (MAPU) — one of the “parties which together formed COLUMBIA See COLUMBIA, pg. 12 development thse projects would be adversely affected meaning a loss to the CPR-Cominco group of millions of dollars. Both the CPR and the Bank of Montreal have common ‘ownership and between this. group and the Canadian and B.C. negotiators there exists some in- teresting corporate links. _ In 1961 B.C. Premier ‘‘Wacky”’ Bennett hired as his negotiator the former secretary of the treasury in the U.S., Robert Anderson. Mr. Anderson is a member of the board of directors of Webb and Knapp Ltd. Three other directors of Webb and Knapp sit as directors on the board of Trizec Corporation. There are at least 20 corporate links between Trizec and the CPR-Bank of Montreal group. In addition, Mr. Anderson through corporate directorships is allied with the Morgan family in the U.S., which in turn is closely allied with the Bank of Montreal and the CPR. There are many other links, some very close, others more obscure, but the important point is that a very good possibility ex- ists that the CPR and the Bank of Montreal have delivered into American hands a great Cana- dian resource. If a working person had done that, it would have been called "+, treason... : vt Popular Unity — came to Canada in August before the fascist coup. © In his discussions in Vancouver with refugees from Chile, he said, it has become clear that his political affiliations would place him in danger. if he was deported. % In the telegram to Andras, the Chile committee urged the minister to rescind the deporta- tion order against Arrano. ‘‘Con- sidering the fact that we have now granted political asylum to refugees from Chile,’’ the telegram said, ‘‘we feel that Canada cannot be responsible for his death should he be returned to Chile.’’ The decision — the result of popular pressure — to grant political asylum to Chilean refugees came too late for Arrano who was already in this country. He had already been. ordered deported and a subse- quent appeal was not upheld. The committee called on An- dras to “intervene and review the case personally”’ as the fate of Arrano ‘‘is bound up in r tape and protocol.”’ : Committee secretary Bill McLeod who signed the telegram to Andras also urged other organizations and concerned in- dividuals to send ‘similar re- quests to the immigration minister. Happy birthday to Tom McEwen Tom McEwen, retired editor of the Pacific Tribune and honorary chairman of the B.C. Communist Party, celebrated his 83rd birthday on Monday, February 11. Tom’s many comrades and , friends, and the staff of the Pacific Tribune, join in wishing him many happy returns of the day and best wishes for good health for ] many more years to come. , PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1974 PAGE 12 Cont'd from pg. 1 & Public Works $230 million (16%) : Natural Resources .$ 66 million ( 5%) Barrett 1974 budget Education $554 million (25%) Health .... $486 million (25%) Transportation & Public Works (15%) Natural Resources .$ 95 million ( 4%) In only two areas — other than the considerable increase in both number and salary of. cabinet ministers, deputies, assistants and advisers, and allowances for dismissed former department heads etc. — has the percentage of the budget expenditure alloca- tion been increased. Those include housing (emerg- ing today as the No. 1 problem of every urban centre), and human resources (welfare, pensions, etc.) Expenditures for human resources are up 3% from the last Social Credit budget in 1972- from $139 million (10% of the total budget) to $235 million (13%) in the new budget. $316 million The most positive and: progressive aspect of the 1974-75 budget is the fact that the government has proposed to pour $100 million into housing — $50 million for land assembly; $40 million for provision of first and second mortgages (largely for improvement and modernizing existing housing), as well as $10 million for extention of the program of housing for the elder- ly. Details of the housing proposals will not be unveiled un- til the speech by Housing Minister Lorne Nicholson later in the budget debate. Still another good stand was the announcement of the provin- cial government’s firm opposi- SS See Ee Budget leaves unequal tax system unchanged tion to another (third) Burrard, Inlet crossing — except for rapid transit use — and transfer of the $27 million: fund for a North Shore bridge access toward provision of rapid transit facilities. Disappointing, however, is the absense of any proposals for additional: necessary funding to get rapid transit off the ground in the Lower Mainland Regional area. The projected increase to $34 (up $2) in municipal per capita grants, and reduction from 15 to 10 percent on welfare charges against the municipalities, while long overdue, falls far short of rising tax loads on local ratepayers and will certainly not satisfy the long-standing demands of the municipal level of government. The annual $30 allowance to renters — a Snivelling $2.50 per month (which will up the present $50 allocation for those over age 65 to $80 a year) is an entirely in- adequate token. And even worse, this miserly sum will undoubted- ly be snatched off by most landlords, particularly since Premier Barrett took the pain to advise them that his government had no.intention of instituting any legal controls to ensure they don’t, or to correct existing in- justices and tenant grievances. The proposed increase in Min- come, welcome as $2.98 is to anyone forced to live on $200 per month, it doesn’t even begin to take care of the sharp rise in liv- ing costs over the past year. Similarly with the $30 annual grant towards reduction of school taxation which in most cities and municipalities is half, if not more, of the municipal tax bill. Thirty dollars falls far short of the NDP election promise to remove the costs of education from homes and the family farm, particularly in light of steadily rising local taxes, ayy the fact that unlike previdh years, there is no increase in Ut Homeowners Grant for 1974-1 Even the projected retentdl of the $200 Socred Homeowlt” Grant, with the school t@ supplement raised to $20! providing the NDP is in powe until 1980, could mean very lit#® if spiralling prices and taxes a0) allowed to continue to rise ®) their present rates. a Premier Barrett, in troducing the new budget, mitted that the major part of Wf increased government revenly “arise from the very high ley of economic activity prevail in the.province rather than i significant changes in Wy rates.” And that is precist what is wrong. What the people of B.C. and expected from an government was a shift in th load which would distribute province’s wealth m equitably. The least the go ment should have done was” drastically reduce sales and @ sumer taxes which hit hardest the lower and mid-ince brackets; and increased tax@>y, the big corporations. It sho have made bigger allocatio help cut back municipal ! and provide more services people. United action by labor, ratepayer, tenant, par teacher and commu organizations is what’s need@t bring about a change. Prelll Barrett apparently needs (0 reminded that taxing the p0 make the rich richer is no 1” acceptable from an NDP gov® ment than it was from | Socreds. As the NDP declar& the last election, ‘‘enoug? enough.”’ A radical overhall | the tax structure in B.C. is ™ overdue. Prices protest launched Cont'd. from pg. 1 government statute,’’ Rankin emphasized. ‘‘The real question is the income of people and the control of prices for all basic necessities.”’ Grace McInnis reitereated Rankin’s call for organization and said that ‘‘Harry Rankin is ’ dead right when he says that un- til citizens organize themselves, we're not going to get action.”’ She charged that the Prices Review Board as it is presently constituted is ‘‘a farce and a facade”’ “We've got to break the con- trol of the multinational cor- porations, by public utilities and public ownership in the case of energy,’ she stated and added that “‘it’s going to become necessary in the case of food.” Noted trade union economist Emil Bjarnason gave a major presentation to the conference outlining the offensive against living standards that has become even more severe in recent years. Bjarnason aimed his com- ments particularly at those who continue to perpetuate the idea that workers, and specifically trade unionists are responsible for inflation because of their wage demands. “When wages were rising only 72%, corporate profits were ris- ing 30%. Who pushed up prices over 9% during the period?”’ he asked, and added, “‘You don’t need to answer that question, you need only ask it.” . He noted that, during the same period, the output of each worker — according to the government’s own statistics — rose by 4%. And the worker is cheated out of his wage increase by the increase in the cost of living and cheated as well out of his increase in productivity. Social worker Bridget Moran spoke on the difficulties faced by people living on welfare when living costs are rising sharply. She cited the case of one woman who .was physically handicapped and was forced to support three children on a grossly inadequate income which, despite substan- tial increases in living costs, has not been increased one penny. “This situation applies to thousands and thousands of peo- ple on social assistance in this province,’ she said, ‘‘and not _ only them, but all those people ‘adopted by the conferenc® working ‘at or just asbove © minimum wage.”’ Conference chairman Robson stressed Moran’s i and warned delegates not 10. taken in by the inevitable © tacks, promoted by big bus!’ on ‘‘welfare bums.’’ problems of people on welfat” he stated, ‘‘are just the sal those of trade unionists seek wage increase.” Several other resolutions cluding a call for the repeal the Sales Tax, legislation bY ¢ federal government t0 4° distribute the national inco™ jj means of increases !" 4° minimum wage, a guara? annual income, increas‘ sions and cost-of-living calators for all fixed inco™ A further resolution V delegates’ support for program of the tenants scheduled for February 26: A committee of 15, rep! tative of the organizations 1 sent at the conference elected and will form the b# the newly-established C04 to Roll Back Prices.