UVRBUDOVTL | Ra | il preven tie en ne el ions n) Avert {deat aiy Vol. 16,° No. 48 VANCOUVER, B.C. 28 Authorised as second class mail by “the Post Office Department, Ottawa ee labor, independents challenge NPA rule By MAURICE RUSH : With less than two weeks to go before Vancouver s civic election Wednesday, December 11, more public interest 1s being Shown this year than usuaul. All signs point to a larger vote than last year’s post-war low of 25.5 percent. y' P To be elected this year are: SIX aldermen, (five for two years) one for one\ year); School trustees, (four for two Years, one for one year); three Park commissioners for two- Year terms. Also to be decided by voters Will be: * two money bylaws, the $72,- 500,000 five year civic de- Velopment plan and $18,- 500,000 school bylaw; two plebiscites on Sunday Sports and fluoridation. The NPA, which for more han 20 years has dominated Ncouver politics faces its Most severe challenge this Year, Public discontent with he NPA has grown over the Years-and was shown last year When anti-labor NPA Alder- ee Bill Orr was barely re- Rae with less than 800 Stes over his closest inde- Pendent rival. 4p € most important new cing opment in Vancouver ‘had politics has been the ioe of organized labor with €€ candidates for council, ce Jenkins, Charles La- che and C. P. Neale. Stand- ing on a progressive program which should be supported by wide sections of people, labor is showing new strength in civic political action. This year has also seen the emergence of the Civic Voters Association which has nomi- nated a full slate of candidates for council. Starting out at the beginning. of the year with an appeal to ratepayers and reform - minded people | the CVA has degenerated into a political organization similar to the NPA. It is dominated by Tory and Liberal elements with the backing of B.C.’s leading Liberal daily news- paper. Its president is a lead- ing Liberal,, its vice-president a leading Tory. Neither the candidates or program of the CVA offer any real alterna- tive to the NPA. Formation of the CVA rep- resents an attempt “by. re- actionary circles to establish a new organization to steer public discontent with the NPA into “safe” political channels Continued on Back Page SEE NON-PARTISAN Unemployment is a national emergency, and Canada’s labor movement is organizing a “fight for jobs” movement from coast to coast. The mass public rally on unemployment in. Georgia Auditorium sponsored by Vancouver Labor Council, and a similar rally held in Windsor recently, may spark a country-wide series,of meetings by united labor councils to combat the creeping economic paralysis which threatens this country. On national, provincial and local levels the trade union movement is taking up the battle for jobs. ; Canadian Labor Congress, in its‘ annual submission to the federal. government, siressed the jobless crisis and strongly urged relaxation of anti-infla- tionary’ measures, release of more money for housing, re- duction of NHA down pay- ment and interest rates, tax reductions and higher social security payments, and sup- is Jobless lines are lengthening across Canada, and National Employment Service offices, are beingswamped wih workers seeking employment. “Not one worker need be unemployed,” is the stand taken by organized labor, which is battl- like the one shown above, plementary unemployment in- surance benefits. B.C. Federation of Labor, at its recent convention, called for an immediate increase in unemployment insurance bene- fits, and a stepped-up pro- vincial and federal works pro- gram. A resolution demanding recognition of China and ex- tension of trade with all coun- tries was unanimously endors- ed. Vancouver Labor Council has urged increased benefits for unemployed workers, a construction program and de- velopment of foreign trade. There are twice as many un- employed Canadians today as there were at this time last year. But organized labor is not sitting back — it is using its strength to force govern- ments at all levels to act te cure this man-made unemploy- ment problem. ing the economic crisis by demanding public works programs and extension of trade.