BRITISH COLUMBIA There's one party that’s clear on jobs and peace The television debate between Prime Minister John Turner, Tory leader Brian Mulroney and NDP leader Ed Broadbent on women’s issues Aug. 15 focused national attention on the inequality facing Canadian women, especially in the work place. The debate and the questions by panelists brought out a lot of significant information. Both the prime minister — the Man from Glad — and the Tory opposition leader — Mr. Clean of the “[ll promise anything to get elected party” — showed themselves masters of the art of evasion, not to mention putting on a sincere countenance when making promises they have no intention of keeping. But the key question was posed at the end of the debate by panelist Key -Sigur- jonsson. Pointing to the dismal perfor- mance of the two parties over 20 years, she asked: “Why should we trust you now?” Again we had protestations of sincerity by the two leaders, but they couldn’t answer this question in a way that would convince any objective observer. The sim- ple fact is that neither leader can be trusted and the best proof of this is the perfor- mance of their parties. The inequalities revealed by the pane- lists could have been attended to by the federal government in office for two decades, and by the seven provincial Tory governments. None of them did so. Their actions, or rather their lack of action, speaks louder than words and renders their election promises worthless. They are not committed to, nor will they implement legislation providing equal pay for work of equal value for women, affor- dable daycare centres for working moth- ers, and adequate pensions for women who have neared or reached retirement age. The fact also is that neither Turner nor Mulroney have yet tackled the two key issues in this campaign — peace and jobs. Neither of them have any program to create. jobs for the almost two million Harry Rankin unemployed. Paying employers to train or retrain young people for jobs that do not exist will not solve this problem. Leaving it to so-called “free enterprise” to provide jobs by giving big business tax breaks and subsidies is not solving it either — it’s just aggravating unemployment while bleed- ing the public treasury of money that could be used to create jobs. The only solution to this problem is to establish Canadian control over all corpo- rations operating in Canada, to national- ize the key industries in the country and place them under public control (including the banks) and to establish a strong manu- facturing base in Canada by“using our natural resources to produce the things we need. This is the only solution but even NDP leader Broadbent shies away from this one. For peace, what is obviously needed is a world-wide freeze on the further develop- ment of any nuclear weapons, both for use on earth or in outer space. The knowledge that both the Soviet Union and the U.S. have of each other’s nuclear weapons proves that such a freeze could be verified by satellite observation. Broadbent supports such a freeze, but both Turner and Mulroney oppose it. Mulroney wants Canada to spend still more on armaments and to slavishly fol- low President Reagan in his insane plans for a strike-first nuclear war. And Turner opposes the. freeze on the really phoney grounds that he wants not a freeze but disarmament, meanwhile giving full sup- port to the U.S. and NATO! Interestingly enough, the one party _ “the annulment of U.S. cruise missile test- - Production Sharing Agreement with the | . itary expenditures.” which has addressed these issues squarely (and which has been completely blacked out by the corporate-owned media, which claims to represent the free press) is the Communist Party of Canada. : It calls for a policy of full employment to be achieved “through nationalization of U.S. branch plants in Canada, combined with nationalization of natural resources and the banks. “This (it declares) would open the door to all-sided, balanced and planned economic development in all parts of Canada.” On the issue of peace the Communist Party calls for an independent foreign pol | icy. As steps in that direction it proposes — ing in Canada as well as the ‘umbrella’ U.S. weapons testing agreement of which - it is part; make Canada a_nucleaf weapons-free zone; an end to the Defence U.S. which leads to the militarization of Canada and its further subordination to U.S. imperialism. A curtailment of mil- Not only the Communist Party but many trade unions, peace groups and other groups have come up with similat proposals, and recent public opinion polls revealed that 80 to 85 per cent of Canadi- ans favor a nuclear freeze. In my view, all the parties in this elec tion should be judged by how they stand on the two issues of jobs and peace. Reject Tory reliance’ on business, CP urges ‘Continued from page 1 Despite the repeated chants of “Carney, as a job-creating measure. The CP’s full employment policy calls for, among other things, massive housing construction, refo- COPE nets $10,000 restation and, particularly important in Vancouver East, the creation of a merchant marine, said Figueroa. Rush also hit the Tories’ reliance on bus- iness to create jobs. ““We’re told the corporations will create jobs. But who has been running the country so far?” he asked, noting that recalling even part of the $25 billion in deferred corporate taxes would go a long way to easing unemployment. “Increased purchasing power of the people is what is needed for the economy. That will require massive government action,” Rush declared to strong applause. The Communist provincial leader also said the principle of equal pay for work of equal value should be enshrined in federal legislation. Carney,’ * from sign toting supporters, the Vancouver Centre Conservative stood out for her efforts to dodge questions on taxa- tion, equal pay for work of equal value legislation, and how the Tories reconcile their Socred-style restraint-oriented policies with the massive expenditures they've promised voters. Tory hopeful in Vancouver East, Jack Volrich, was booed repeatedly during the open air debate by participants who recalled his undemocratic record as mayor, includ- ing the refusal of his Non-Partisan Associa- tion dominated council to implement a ward system approved by voters in a plebis- » cite, when the issue was raised by Figueroa. “A Tory or a Liberal majority must be prevented,” Figueroa asserted, rejecting Volrich’s call for tax incentives for business Jonnie Rankin, campaign worker for the Committee of Progressive Electors and host of the annual COPE garden party last Sunday, reads tally of donations to MC and step-son Dennis Ottewell during fund-raising part of affair. ie CP’s Rush\ hits Carney for burying of energy Tory energy critic Pat Carney’s state- ment that Conservatives and Liberals have a de facto agreement not to discuss energy policies amounts to a “betrayal” of Canadians and is enough reason for voters to reject her Sept. 4, Communist Party candidate Maurice Rush has charged. Rush made the charge during an all- candidates meeting in Vancouver Centre, Carney’s riding, Aug. 18, during which he also called for whatever government is elected to reject a B.C. Hydro export deal _ recently approved by the National Energy Board. Ina statement released to the media and sent to other groups which intervened dur- ing the NEB hearings into Hydro’s pro- posed sales of firm power to U.S. utilities, Rush called the decision “‘a dangerous precedent” that “represents a giant step . towards the integration of B.C, Hydro debate resources with the U.S. hydro grid.” The provincial CP leader said the sale of export hydro during a four-year period at the rate of two cents per kilowatt hour — one third the price charged B.C. “ residents for hydro service — was “a bloody scandal. : “B.C. Hydro has deliberately overbuilt hydroelectric capacity in order to justify its application for the export of firm power to the U.S. on a long-term basis. This has been the strategic aim of B.C. Hydro and the Socred government for many years, and now the National Energy Board has opened the door for the fulfillment of this plan,” he charged. In his letter to the other intervenors, the ‘CP federal candidate noted Hydro’s con- tinued projects “mean the destruction of much of our environment, the flooding of many valleys and the destruction of the habitat upon which our Native peoples depend. “T therefore strongly urge that all organ- izations which intervened on this issue join together and demand that the decision be rescinded, and failing that, that the NEB _ be fired and replaced by a board that will protect the public interest.” The letter was sent to the B.C. Wildlife Federation, the NDP legislative caucus, ‘bal Council, the Green Party, the McLeod Club, and others. the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, the Consumers Association, the Gitskan Tr Lake Indian Band, the Peace Valley | Environmental Association, the Sierf@ Rush said the big business parties should state their position on whether 4 cabinet under their government woul accept or reject the NEB decision. But so far, Rush noted, energy as 22 issue has been buried by both parties. He blasted Carney for her statement tO the press last week that “the producing provinces and the premiers and energy ministers have a quiet little accord going that we did not want energy to be an issue in this campaign.” Rush pointed out that among the items avoided by such a pact are the Tories’ an@ Liberals’ plans to raise the domestic oil price to the world level, resulting in what the Communist Party calls “a $24 billion gift” from the taxpayers to the energy corporations. “Her statement shows that Carney can’t be trusted, and she should be rejected by Vancouver Centre voters,” Rush said. 2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, AUGUST 22, 1984 ke A De