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U.S. action highlights trade pact

Sell out

— page 3

‘adisa

COPE’s Harry Rankin at Concord Pac

Social housing in Vancouver is a disas-
ter area, the Committee of Progressive
Electors’ senior alderman has charged

Harry Rankin said in an interview that
a privatized scheme to build housing on
city land valued at $48 million, which
Passed city council in a 7-4 vote Aug. 29,
Is strictly for well-paid middle class resi-
dents and that it won’t do a thing for
working and poor people.

And he slammed a scheme whereby
the city is about to conclude a deal with
Concord Pacific paying three times the
amount for land for social housing that

By FRED WILSON
Two historic events last week in the
Socialist world have undoubtedly changed
€ face of socialism.
In Poland, the Polish United Workers
arty, after more than 40 years of political
Tule, has ceased to become the government
Party, and it now shares political power
wath former opponents. In the Soviet
nlon, the anniversary of the Soviet-
€rman pact occasioned an unprecend-
ented outpouring of national sentiment in
the Baltic republics. Only days earlier, the
Oviet government tabled draft constitu-
onal amendments which Soviet leader
ikhail Gorbachev said were needed to

ific’s International Village site.

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Concord’s owner, Hong Kong billio-
naire Li Ka-shing, paid for the property
on the former Expo 86 site.

Rankin said the city should engage in
a program of building social housing
itself and should move immediately to
prevent the large-scale demolition of
low-cost housing that, according to a
not-yet-released city report, will see more
than 1,000 tenants evicted this year.

And he said the city should not pay
more for social housing on the Expo site
than it normally pays.

“In COPE, we say that the city should

using policies
— Rankin

not pay one cent above what we pay
anywhere else. If that can’t be done, then
we should hold up the zoning for the
site,” Rankin said.

News about a deal whereby the city
will purchase land for 176 units of social
housing to be located in Concord Pacif-
ic’s International Village project adjacent
to Chinatown emerged last week. Under
the scheme, the city will pay Concord
between $28 and $30 per’ square
foot — about three times the amount

see HOUSING page 2

Fred Wilson

(Le eae
restructure the Soviet federation.

These separate events are connected by
their source in the Stalinist era which has left
modern socialism a legacy of historical
injustice and contemporary economic and
democratic problems.

COMMENTARY

Marxists throughout the international
communist and socialist movements have
for some time seen the necessity of a politi-
cal and ideological renewal to excise the
Stalinist legacy from the body politic as the
basis for advanciiig socialism.

September 4, 1989
SO

Vol. 52, No.3]
eais>

The trade union movement and com-
munity groups have set a major rally to
protest the Tory government’s proposed
$1.2-billion cut to unemployment insurance
when the Commons committee studying
the changes comes to Vancouver for two
days of hearings Sept. 11 and 12.

The B.C. Federation of Labour, the Van-
couver and New Westminster labour coun-
cils, as well as the Canadian Labour
Congress and the Coalition Against “Free”
Trade are sponsoring the rally, set for Sept.
Pat 12-15 p.m. at Robson Square, Robson
and Hornby. Among the speakers planned
are the two New Democratic Party
members of the committee.

B.C. Federation of Labour communica-
tions director Joy McPhail said that the
federation is also encouraging as many
people as possible to attend the hearings,
including many groups which have been
denied the right to appear. The Commons
committee opens its session at 9 a.m. Sept.
11 in the Meridien Hotel, Burrard and Rob-
son.

Across the country, the committee has
scheduled hearings only in major centres
and has frozen out dozens of trade union,
community and political groups, including
such organizations as the Canadian Paper-
workers Union, the Anglican Church and
Solidarite Populaire Quebec.

In this province, the committee will hold
hearings only in Vancouver and only for
two days, Sept. 11 and 12. Only about 30
groups will be heard, although McPhail said
that the registrar of the committee has
clearly been under some pressure and the

see CUTBACKS page 12

As complex as the events of last week are,
and as uncertain they render the future of
socialism in Europe, these historic changes
are accelerating the renewal of socialism.
Socialists everywhere will be filled with con-
cern that the result may weaken socialism
and allow Western imperialism a dangerous
world advantage, but this concern must be
tempered by the appreciation of the neces-
sary process of renewal in the socialist camp
that can’t be turned back.

This is a time for Communists and social-
ists to return to some basics and to sort out
real socialism from some old models cur-
rently being overhauled. For example, the

see REFORMS page 9