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Trudeau's USSR trip

_could profit Canada

By MEL DOIG

Prime Minister Trudeau is
scheduled to visit the Soviet
Union later this month. Aa
by the Canadian Tribune “to
comment on_ the _ projected
prime ministerial visit, William
Kashtan, general secretary of
the Communist Party of Cana-
da, remarking that this will be
the first time a Canadian prime
minister in office has visited
the Soviet Union, said the visit
“could be an important event.”

It follows the visit some
months ago of Minister of In-
dustry, Trade and Commerce
Jean Luc Pepin, when an agree-
ment concerning trade, scienti-
fic and cultural exchanges was
signed with the Soviet govern-
ment. It is to be presumed, Mr.
Kashtan thought, that the prime
minister will also discuss ques-
tions related to such exchang-
es. “There is a wide field here
on these three fronts,” he said,
“and democratic Canadians will
hope Mr. Trudeau will work
out mutually satisfactory agree-
ments that could lead to an en-
largement of trade between
Canada and the Soviet Union.”

Replying to the comment that
trade between the two coun-
tries has been largely one way,
with the Soviet Union making
considerable purchases while
Canada has bought very little

_in return, Mr. Kashtan’s opinion

was this disproportionate ex-
change “cannot be pursued for
too long.”

“To sell, Canada must buy,”
he said. “Only on this basis can
long-term trade agreements be
developed.”

Act For Peace

Turning his attention to an-

other matter of intense interest

to the Canadian people, the
Communist Party general sec-
retary said, “Democratic Cana-
dians will also hope the visit

“softhe iprime minister will lead

to an agreeemnt on a common
position with respect to the
preservation of peace and elimi-
nation of the hotbeds of war.”

In this context he cited three
critically important issues: a
European security pact which
could lead to a detente in Eu-
rope and prevent West Germa-
ny from becoming again a
source of war; a politica] set-
tlement in the Middle East
which recognizes the right of
all peoples to exist and to their
security, based on the with-
drawal of Israeli troops from
territories it occupied in 1967;
and the complete withdrawal
of U.S. troops from Indochina.

Canada has two very large
neighbors, the Soviet Union to
the north and the USA to the
south. How, the question was
asked of Mr. Kashtan, does the
prime minister’s visit relate to
this fact? “The strengthening of
friendship and of economic
ties,” he replied, “between our
country and the Soviet Union
can be an important element in
withstanding the pressures of
U.S. imperialism on Canada’s
independence and sovereignty.”

Need Stronger Ties

Mr. Kashtan sees these pres-
sures from the USA mounting
on all sides — for example, in
the Arctic around gas and oil
resources, in the areas of for-
eign investments and _ trade
policies. “To surmount these
pressures,” he affirmed, * Cana-

da needs to strengthen its ties
with the Soviet Union and
other socialist countries.”

Canadians are getting used
to seeing Mr. Trudeau take off
on flying junkets to distant
places. What, we asked, if any-
thing, is different about this
trip?

“From one side, there is no
difference,’ Mr. Kashtan_ re-
plied, “The Canadian govern-
ment is - seeking through | all
these visits to strengthen its
position in the world and to
create outlets for Canadian
goods as well as for the export
of capital. With the visit to the
Soviet Union, however, there is
a qualitative difference involved
—here Canada is dealing with
a mighty socialist power that
plays an outstanding role in in-
fluencing the course of world
events.”

“No question of major impor-
tance,” he continued, ‘can to-
day be resolved without or
against the socialist countries.
We hope the prime minister
knows this, understands this,
and that his trip therefore is
not just another junket, but a
serious effort to strengthen the
bonds of friendship between
our countries.”

Nuclear-Free Zone

Many Canadians wish Cana-
da could become a nuclear-free
zone. We asked Mr. Kashtan
whether Mr. Trudeau’s visit to
the Soviet Union might advance
such a possibility. “I don’t
know,” he replied, ‘whether
this will be the case. I hope the
prime minister wil] take an in-
itiative in declaring that Cana-
da desires to be a nuclear-free
zone and that he asks for the
support of the Soviet Union in
upholding this stand.”

“[ve no doubt,” he asserted,
“that Prime Minister Trudeau
would find no difficulty from
that quarter. The difficulties

will come from the State De-
partment and the Pentagon in
the United States.”

The national question con-
fronts our country in today’s
grave constitutional crisis, aris-
ing out of the failure to recog-
nize the existence of two na-
tions in Canada and their un-
qualified right to self-determi-
nation. What, we asked, are the
chances that the prime minister
on his visit to the Soviet Union
may learn of the Marxist-
Leninist solution to the national
question there?

“That’s a good question, and
I would hope,” Mr. Kashtan re-
plied, “that Mr. Trudeau may
undertake a study of the na-
tional question and of its solu-
tion in the Soviet Union. Per-
haps, in the course of his visit
to a number of the republics of
the USSR this will be possible.”

“Canada can learn much
from the Soviet Union on how
to solve the national question,”
he continued, “just as it can
also learn from it how to under-
take the vast development of
resources and of the economy
for the good of the people.”

False Premises

Speaking in Niagara Falls
early last month, Mr. Trudeau
had spoken of what he consi-
dered the inevitability of un-

IFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MAY 7, 1971—PAGE 8
Se Seba YA QP A -BAUEAPT DAUNDAM

Union brief to Ottawa

‘Problems must be solve?

A delegation from the 25.000-
member United Electrical, Radio
and Machine Workers’ union
(UE), met with federal Industry,
Trade and Commerce Minister
Jean-Luc Pepin on May 3, and
submitted a comprehensive brief
on the crisis facing Canada’s
electrical manufacturing _ in-
dustry.

The union delegation said it
viewed ‘‘with growing alarm, de-
velopments taking place that
constitute a real threat to the
job security of our members and
Canada’s future as a first-class,
technologically advanced indus-
trial country.” The submission
was being presented at a critical
time when Canadians are once
again suffering from one of the
worst cyclical periods of econo-
mic dislocation since the Great
Depression of the 1930’s.

“We assert that such condi-
tions are avoidable under proper
government fiscal and economic
policy,” the statement said. “We
are also convinced, that the poli-
cies followed by this government
have massively contributed to
the present economic decline in
Canada today.”

“No Reason Why...”

Pointing to the growing domes-
tic and world demand for elec-
trical energy in the future, which
is rising at a rate doubling every
10 years, the statement said
there is absolutely no reason
why Canadian electrical manu-
facturing should not be expand-
ing rapidly in all sectors of the
industry.

By LIZ HILL

With banners blocking the
stairway to the Ontario legisla-
ture on April 30, members of the
Young Communist League and
the New Democratic Youth link-
ed forces in condemning the On-
tario budget handed down last
“week. One huge banner, ‘Do not
make youth the victim of the
constitutional crisis’ attacked
the Tory party’s policy of using
the unresolved constitutional
crisis to evade its share of the
blame for unemployment and
pass the buck to the federal
government. While unemploy-
ed youth walk the streets, many
without any financial assistance,
the budget sweetly pretends to
aim for full employment while
proposing steps to the opposite.
The 5% tax credit given to the
corporations to install modern-
ized machines and equipment
will hasten rationalization and
thus increase layoffs. The young

“There is also no reason why
secondary manufacturing of all
types should not be burgeoning
in this country ... We have the
advantage of vast domestic re-
sources of energy and raw mate-
rials and we have a work force
capable of the task.”

The delegation said that the
major reason that such develop-
ment is not taking place is the
attitude shared by government
and fostered by foreign-owned
corporations that Canada must
be a satellite of the United
States.

“This concept of Canada’s po-
sition as a minion in a continen-
tal relationship will guarantee
“that we have no industrial fu-
ture and will have an ever
weaker voice in domestic and
world affairs,” the brief declared.

Monopoly Giants

After citing figures to show
that productivity in the electri-
cal industry has risen signific-
antly over the past two decades,
the brief went on to analyze the
integration and rationalization
of the electrical industry which
illustrates how a handful of cor-
porate giants, who enjoy mono-
poly powers, can manipulate
manufacturing policy on a global
scale to the detriment of the
national interests of the country
they are operating in.

“Of these corporations . . . the
leviathans, General Electric and
Westinghouse, control the basis
of industry in this country and
the decisions made by them
have resulted in unemployment

picketers demanded ‘expand job
opportunities, not profits’, and
“Jobs now, Mr. Davis’’.

While students are already
worried about getting summer
jobs to finance their way back to
school, the budget makes no
move to abolish tuition fees for
post-secondary education or es-
tablish stipends for students to
make education accessible to
all. The posters called for the
establishment of emergency bur-
Saries to students unable to
continue their education due to
financial hardships.

“Give the 18-year olds the
vote,” one placard proclaimed.

With an Ontario election in
the offiing, the budget is a slick
deception aimed at the voters,
and it completely ignores the
needs of the youth. The picket-
ers called the budget nothing
short of a disaster for the work-
ing people of Ontario and par-
ticularly the youth.

employment in technologically
advanced economies, like Cana-
da’s. This he contrasted to
countries like the Soviet Union
which, in his opinion, are using
picks and shovels and where
/unemployment is consequently
unknown. We invited Mr. Kash-
tan’s comments on this.

“I think,” he said, “that very ~

few people can deny the tre-
mendous _ technological and
scientific development of the
Soviet Union. These great tech-
nological changes take place
there without any adverse ef-
fects on the working people.
The Soviet Union underiakes to
retrain and to raise the tech-
nical level of the working peo-
ple, to raise their living stand-

ards. Here in Canada, as’ we’

know, and in other capitalist
countries, technological change
leads to growing ~ unemploy-

ment.”

Continuing, he pointed out
that by its planned economy,
based on public ownership, the
Soviet Union has- demonstrated
Socialism’s ability to maintain
full employment, stable prices
and rising standards.

In conclusion, Mr. Kashtan
said the visit of Prime Minister
Trudeau can be an important
factor in strengthening peaceful
coexistence between Canada
and the Soviet Union—*“but to
give it meaning requires more
than. pious declarations.”

and job insecurity for tho
of Canadian workers ant
ed this nation of manula
capability that is vital
future.”
The brief said that Ut
try’s poor foreign trade Pr
ance and the loss of Pel
paratus and industrial equ
orders were a direct 1
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In the area of dome”
ances, the union statem
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the government policies
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