ME

Popular policies.

eource of the resentment was
recent Public Utilities
Mmission ruling that will
ce the Prince George Gas

Mich Inland, the B.C. Elec-

ce and U.S. interests will pay
eStcoast Transmission.

wo double-page ads appear-
"in local papers explaining
iw the Bennett government
@ its PUC are betraying the
al Interests of industrial and
1estic consumers of natural
of this northern interior
Btre. Repeatedly through-
t the day the radio pointed
the iniquitous character of
€ PUC ruling, winding up

ie the call, “It’s time for ac-

Addressing a meeting in
uth Fort George last Thurs-

¥, Nigel Morgan, B.C. leader
the Labor-Progressive par-
declared:

There is no reason why this
mmunity, which igs less than
i miles from the natural gas
#lds, should be compelled to
4 approximately 50 percent
gre for their fuel than U.S.
gMpanies are charged at the

Mder. Inland Gas is noth-
ise More than an appendage
alia, cstcoast Transmission,
se an interlocking director-
of 2nd an indirect pooling of
pi Otits. No valid reason has
= advanced to show why
une Prince George Gas Com-
ery should not buy gas direct
7 Westcoast without a pay-

+ of 30-40 cents per thousand
_ He ft. to Westcoast’s subsidiary
and
he ey .
ie nstead of giving in to-the
te €edy demands of the U.S. gas

ps

/

ennett’s gas
iveaway hit

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C.

Criticism of the Bennett government’s policy of cater-
3 to the U.S. gas monopoly, and of failure of the govern-
nt-run Public Utilities Commission to protect the public
ifare, reached a high pitch in Prince George this week.
Imblings of dissatisfaction from such diverse interests as
; Board of Trade, and the CCF and LPP, provide the
fewarning of a movement that could sweep the present
Vernment in Victoria out of office unless it changes its

monopoly for a double profit,
tiie government should see that
industry and domestic users
get their gas and electricity at
cost through public ownership
of these vital utilities.”

Meanwhile Board of Trade
president William Dale, along
with Mayor Morrison and
many other community lead-
evs and local businessmen, de-
nounced the PUC ruling as un-
fair. In a press. statement Dale
declared:

“The Board of Trade is work-
ing hard to attract industry to
this area and that while one
ct the prime requisites, cheap
power, is now on hand, the
other, cheap heat, will not be
if the PUC’s subsidy decision
stands. The higher price will
be a millstone around the neck
of Prince George citizens for-
ever, The Public Utilities Com-
mission is not there to protect
risk capital. Their job is to
protect the citizens so that they
will obtain gas in Prince
George at. the lowest possible
cost.”

The government’s attitude
and the action of their PUC
has created a solid wall of op-
position. As one prominent
member of the Board of Trade
said:

“If the government persists
in its policy it could crystalize
such an opposition, that even
an otherwise well-regarded
representative like Ray Wil-
liston (Minister of Education
and Lands) would be defeated
in the next election. We're
pretty sore over the treatment
we’re getting, and something’s
going to be done about it when
the next election comes if not
before.”

‘Trade with Russia’
Says leading banker

@ “Should Canada Trade With Russia?” James Muir,
+ of the Royal Bank of Canada. a recent visitor to the
a Union, gave a positive yes to this question put to

m by a CBC interviewer
cently.

f jnternational trade can be
yctitable and productive,” he

i
it

polsred. “Moreover it can
1% Way to peace.”
1 € firmly discounted the

ae that East-West trade
a be to Canada’s disad-
if eo ‘Trade is a two-way
f - The two-way flow is
i s © benefit both parties.”
f om ded that it was folly to

: that one could restrict
Be risly expanding devel-
F Bein, of some 225 million
ae by not trading with
16
y
fi

und t

What about the view that

on a national radio hook-up

trade with the Soviet Union
would make us vulnerable
from a military point of view?
he was asked.

“We've gone through two*

world wars in the past 40
years without economic aid
trom Russia,” he replied.

Muir dismissed the opinion
that trade with a state-owned
enterprise would be bad for
Canada.

“T don’t think so. After all
you still deal with one man.
If our man couldn’t get a good
deal, we’d just have to replace.
him.”

Veteran Labor MLA for
Fernie, Tom Uphill, an-
nounced this week that if a
provincial election is called
this fall he will be in the run-

ning again. Uphill, still go-
ing strong at the age of 82,
has represented Fernie in the
legislature for 36 years.

SRU urges
ward system

A return to the ward system
in Vancouver is being urged
vy Street Railwaymen’s Union
Division 101.

The union has asked Van-
couver ‘Trades and Labor
Council to support its demand
and the request has been turn-
ed over to the council’s new
Political Education Commit-
tee which is in process of for-
mation.

SRU supports the ward sys-
tem with these arguments:

ww An alderman elected to
represent a given ward is clos-
er te the problems of his con-
stituents — if he doesn’t give
voice to the wishes of the elec-
tors in his ward, it will be
much easier to defeat such
representatives.

’ The ward system, as
past votes for CCF and labor
candidates will show, will im-
mediately enable labor to elect
at least.a few candidates to an
almost solid Non-Partisan As-
sociation, big business support-
ed city council.

w The ward system will
kelp lead to heightened inter-
est in civic affairs.

Executive of Vancouver,
Iewer Mainland Trades and
Labor Council has already met
and discussed plans for labor
participation in Vancouver
civic elections in December.

Failure to get out the labor
vote was responsible for the
defeat of two labor leaders’ in
byelections this year. Vic
Forster was defeated in a Feb-
ruary byelection to fill the
seat left vacant by the death
of Ald. Birt Showler, and
Marine Workers president Sam
Jenkins. (running as an inde-
pendent) lost out in a recent
byelection caused by the death
ot Ald. D. E. McTaggart.

Jenkins made a return to
the ward system one of the
main planks in his election
platform.

Civic Reform Association is
also a strong supporter of the
ward system in municipal elec-
tions.

Continued from page I

CCF CONVENTION

was nothing in the Declaration
that specified the leading role
that labor should play in the
Cooperative Commonwealth.
in affording “appropriate op-
portunities” for private enter-
prises “no one will be able to
distinguish our party from the
Liberal party,” said Fred Tip-
p:ng of Winnipeg.

Amendments seeking to al-
ter this basic principle laid
down at this convention of the
CCF were defeated by votes
of approximately 150 to 35 or
4u,

The other big debate centred
on the efforts of delegates, led
by Ontario, to insert into the
Declaration of Principles a
statement affirming that the
CCF would fight for national
sovereignty against American
penetration.

This was opposed by Lewis,
Grace MacInnis and others on
the grounds that this was not
a question of principle.

Said Mrs. MacInnis: “Such
issues will be as dead as a
dodo in a-year or so. We should
not clutter up our Declaration
with transitory issues.” Inter-
esting in this regards was the
cpening address by Lewis
which contained the only ma-
for reference to the pipeline
debate and the role of the CCF
in it.

He said that there were three
lessons to learn from this de-
bate. First that the Liberal
party was “utterly immoral.”
Second, that the Tories were
only concerned with “political
expediency” and third that
Social Credit is “charlatanism.”
He drew no lessons, nor did he
make any reference to the is-
sue of national sovereignty
on. this. :

The amendment moved by
Spencer Cheshire of Durham,
Ontario was overwhelmingly
defeated. But later a resolu-
tion was adopted headed ‘“Am-
erican Investment” which
points to the increasing part
of industrial expansion in Can-
ada which is in the hands of
the United States corporations
threatening our economic and
political independence and
calls for “public planning and
investment through publicly-
awned national development
bank and’a national investment
board and the extension of
social ownership as the only
effective answer to the threat
of foreign domination of our
economy.”

The convention unanimously
re-elected M. J. Coldwell na-
tional leader ‘and national
president; David Lewis, na-
tional chairman; Lorne Ingle
as national secretary; Mme.
Therese Casgrain as French-
speaking national vice-chair-
man and Stanley Knowles as
English-speaking — vice-chair-
man. Ten others were elected
tu the national council.

The convention was address-
ad by R. H. S. Crossman, Brit-
ish MP and a leader of the
Labor party. His main theme
was that the CCF have been
slow in recognizing that capit-

August 10, 1956 —

alism “is not going to collapse”
and that “it can be regulated
and controlled.” He felt that
cold war victory depends on
“who wins the friendship of
the uncommitted areas of the
world.”

Coldwell made it clear, as
had Lewis, that in his opinion
the reason for the relaxation
of international tensions should
be ascribed to the possession
py both sides of nuclear -weap-
ons and that anyone who sug-
gests the new government of
Soviet Russia “is a model of

M. J. COLDWELL

democracy” is “practising a
form of self-delusion.” Never-
theless he did state that if the
Russians offered to negotiate

disarmament Canada must ac-
cept it In good faith.

The French-Canadian repre-
sentation of eight delegates,
seven from Montreal and one
from the Noranda area, plead-
ed for specific recognition of
the role of labor and farm
unions, for a Bill of Rights
which would include not only
freedom of speech but provide
the facilities for people’s org-
anizations to use the various
media of public expression;
end for the parliament of Can-
ada to assume the right to
amend our constitution, the
BNA act. They met with suc-
cess on the first and third pro-
positions.

Resolutions adopted include
one advocating a comprehen-
s.ve national health insurance
plan; the establishment of a
national social security sys-
tem; “A full enquiry ... to
prevent waste in the alloca-
tion of funds expended for
Canadian Defense and Secur-
ity”; a national Labor Code;
an immigration policy that
would take into account the
labor situation in Canada, “re-
sect any reservations regard-
ing -color, climate or other ir-
relevant considerations”. and
opposes exclusion of visitors
and particularly those coming
to Canada for “gentinely. cul-
tural. and scientific purposes
by reason of their political be-
hefs.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 98