Third Crossing } rally Sunday _ A public meeting will be held / In the Queen Elizabeth Play- house January 16 at 8:00 p.m. on the proposed Third Crossing. (see story, page 2). _ _ Sponsored by a score of organi- i zations, the rally will deal with | the need for a plebiscite before | any further action is’ under- _ taken. Representative speakers ' will address the meeting and a | Petition campaign for 200,000 _ hames will be launched. | The sponsoring committee urges the public to attend this Tally which will deal with the _ Most important decision to be _ Made in the Vancouver area for the remainder of this century. a _ Alderman Harry Rankin _ Tenewed his call this week for a _ Plebiscite to be held “within the _ hext month or so”’ on the setting _ Up of a ward system in time for _ the 1972 civic election. { In a statement released _ Monday, Vancouver’s fighting alderman said we need action _ how. He pointed out that ‘‘since _ We are now in a new year, alder- _ men are free to again raise this '4Ssue, regardless of what Council did about it last year. hat means we can and will have _ another full dress debate on the. Ssue of a ward system in the next few weeks.” “I hope that when it again comes up, more organizations _ than ever will send delegations. ' and briefs to Council. The Com- _ Mittee of Progressive Electors | (COPE) is circulating a petition ' Calling for a ward system — that _ Should help too.”” Referring to the overflow, public meeting at the Van- couver public library on Jan- uary 5th on the issue, Rankin said the meeting demonstrated once again not only that Van- couver voters want a ward system, ‘‘but that they are deter- mined to get it.” ‘Vancouver citizens simply refuse to accept the rejection of a ward system by the NPA majority on Council — they just won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Our democracy is more alive and vigorous than some people think.” Rankin said that the NPA majority on Council is so afraid of a ward system that it won’t even allow a plebiscite on the issue. But it is very much on the defensive on this issue — and very much alone. ‘‘With a little more pressure I think we may be able to budge enough of the NPA aldermen to change their ‘minds so that a new motion in “Pull the plugs out!" Ald. Rankin renews call for vote on ward system council for a plebiscite will carry,’ he said. In his statement Rankin said: “There is one more thing we can do. Municipal Affairs Min- ister Dan Campbell said at the January 5th public meeting (see page 2) that he has the legal right to-order Vancouver City Council to hold .a plebiscite on the ward system, but that he won’t exercise that right. “JT don’t think we have to take his ‘no’ as final either. After all, his government hasn’t hesi- tated to impose its will on the people whenever it felt like it. It forced labor to accept compul- sory arbitration. It forced municipalities to accept regional districts. It imposed educational restrictions on school boards. ‘These actions were all taken against the wishes of the people. Now Dan Campbell has a chance See RANKIN, pg. 12 VOL. 33, No. 2 JOBS NOW CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED BY LABOR 4 a { | PibUNe SetPRT 50 STRADES|Uacr COUNCIL > * om Ion. Unemployment takes another sharp rise The Canadian Labor Congress is launching a nation- wide campaign for full employment during the month of February. It has called on its 1.7 million members to throw their full energy behind the drive. The release this week of. the latest unemployment figures by Statistics Canada shows an- other sharp rise in the country’s jobless for the month of Decem- ber and underlines the vital need for every trade union local and the public to get behind labor’s jobs campaign. In December the number of unemployed Canadians rose to 930,000, a rise of 27,000 over November. These figures do not take into account thousands of men, women and youth who have given up looking for non-exis- tant jobs. Nor does it include , tens of thousands who during December got seasonal work because of the holidays. Also left out of the government’s totals is a large ‘‘hidden”’ group of unem- ployed — those undergoing train- ing or re-training. The latest official figures show that 6.2 percent of the labor force in Canada is without work. Statistics Canada says there are 64,000 unemployed in B.C. Hardest hit among the unem- ployed are Canada’s youth. This week’s” Statistics Canada figures show that 221,000 young people between the ages of 14 and 24 are jobless. That’s about 40 percent of the total unem- ployed! Last November the Economic Council of Canada reported that 1,400,000 new jobs will be needed by 1975 just to keep pace with the country’s growing labor force. Ottawa’s reaction to the serious unemployment picture was to announce it will spend another $50 million for provin- cial and municipal projects. But the actions of the Liberal govern- ment fall far short of meeting present unemployment without even making a dent in the overall problem of the growing labor force warned about by the ECC. What is needed are entirely new policies which will create a million new jobs in Canada as the Communist Party has pro- posed. This must include massive capital investment in development of new industries, particularly resource-manu- facturing industries; a shorter work week without reduction in take-home pay as well as raising people’s_ living standards. The CLC campaign will centre around the demand for ‘‘full employment legislation’’ and is based on the government assum- ing the responsibility to guarantee a job to every Canadian. The CLC is asking all af- filiates to pass resolutions demanding the government guarantee a job to those willing and able to work at fair wages. A sample postcard is being pre- pared to be sent to MPs which will say: ‘I urge your support demanding this government pass full employment legis- lation, now.” _ There is also growing support in B.C. union ranks for a mass lobby to Victoria on the unem- ployment issue. This action was proposed at the last B.C. Federa- tion of Labor Convention and officials said that would support it if there was enough demand for it. With the legislature in session in February it would provide labor with an oppor- tunity to present its demands for action to MLAs and the provin- cial government. NEW YEAR BOMBING FULL PROBE DEMANDED See page 11.