_——— a & office at Kingsway and Gillies in Burnaby. Phone num ai ber of the free service is 433-3131. LOWER MAINLAND = - > Tenant aid office opens RIBUNE PHOTO—FRED WILSON | 7 couver property taxes. The VSB’s vote followed province. tural groups; munity; VSB protests Socred education tax formula The Vancouver School Board added its voice to a growing num- ber of school boards and municipal councils, voting unanimously Monday to support the Great Vancouver Regional District’s call for a revision of school financing to prevent huge increases in Van-— earlier decisions by the Delta and Coquitlam school boards endorsing a brief submitted by the GVRD to the provincial government in January. The brief, which has be- come the rallying point of protest over inequities in education taxa- tion, noted the sharp increase in school taxes facing homeowners in the metro areas compared to the rest of the province. Vancouver property owners, for instance, will be overtaxed $11 million this year according to COPE trustee Philip Rankin, as a result of skyrocketing property values and the current financing for- mula which applies a uniform levy on all assessed property in the ‘Also endorsed at Monday’s meeting was the board’s new race relations program to address the problem of racism in the schools. A working committee will be formed, among other things to: @ Meet with representatives from Vancouver’s racial and cul- @ Hold a public meeting to receive suggestions from the com- @ Meet with students and student representatives; e@ Recommend an effective race relations program for Vancou- ver schools to be in place by next September. : Gall, lies pose as theory on rents | The Fraser Institute of Vancou- ver has come out with another book called, Rent Control, Myths and Realities. It’s the biggest col- lection of unadulterated crap, dis- guised as economic theory, that I’ve ever seen between two covers. The Fraser Institute describes itself as ‘‘an independent economic and social research educational or- ganization.” Actually it is a group of propagandists financed by and propagating the far out, ultra right views of the most reactionary sec- tions of big business in Canada and the U.S. Its ‘objectivity’ is on a par with those doctors who, on be- half of the tobacco companies, swear that there is no conclusive evidence that smoking causes can- cer. Politically they’re somewhere to the right of president Ronald Reagan. What they lack in object- ive research and social conscience, they make up in gall and arrogance. With spurious and suspect evidence and with unfounded assertions, they attempt to prove that rent con- trols are the cause of “‘housing de- terioration,” ‘‘racial discrimina- tion” and the “‘worsening of the housing shortage.” Rent controls are not brought about by the need to protect ten- ants against unjust rent increases they declare, but by ‘‘tenant acti- vists’’ who ‘‘create a sense of cri- sis”? where none exists. They make the claim that ‘‘there areno compe- tent economists on any side of the political spectrum who have advo- cated rent controls’’ and that “‘eco- nomists voice virtually unanimous opposition to rent control.”’ This is completely untrue, of course, al- though it must be admitted that economists who do advocate rent control may well bein the minority, but that only proves what business interests they serve. As for the ‘journalists’ and “social critics’ who advocate rent control, they dismiss them with the insulting remark that “‘their argu- ments are hardly of the greatest in- tellectual moment.” How’s that for arrogance and conceit! They falsely claim that ‘“‘excessive profits / are not commonly earned in real es- tate.” One wonders how they have the | ttook months, perhaps even years, but the Silber clan of Stacy’s Furniture infamy — owner Ar- nold Silber and sons Stewart and Steven — may eve be getting their comeuppance — at least some of it. Readers will recall the sordid record: Forcing a bitter strike at the warehouse and refusing any negotiations with the Teamsters Union; assaulting, among others, a BCTV camera crew; and opening furniture stores in various locations, conducting phoney closing-out sales and then reopening at the same location with a new name. But it may be coming to an end. Earlier this month, Arnold Silber applied to the city of Van- couver’s license department for an extension on his closing-out sale license for his warehouse store on Southwest Marine Drive. Whenever he had sought similar applications before in other municipalities, Silber had encountered few problems, despite pro- tests that the sales were highly irregular. But this time, COPE alderman Bruce Eriksen intervened, getting endorsement for a motion calling for im- mediate referral to city council on any license ap- plication by Stacy’s. As a result, the sale extension was denied. Typically, Silber turned to the courts, seeking an order of ‘mandamus’ which would, if granted, in- struct the city to issue the license for the sale exten- sion. But the city has filed its own information, which states that Silber is in violation of two city bylaws. And this week Eriksen told us that Silber is also to appear before city council ina “‘show cause’’ hearing to explain why his license should not be revoked. The various bylaw violations are again at issue. Also last week, Steven Silber was convicted in court of common assault, the charge stemming from (peice pee neues amar amR cee eE EaS PEOPLE AND ISSUES an incident last September. He was only handed a» conditional discharge but at least he must keep the peace for a year. Significantly, both Arnold Silber and another son, Stewart, appeared in court at the same time — also on charges of assault. Trials for both were put over to a later date, however. For members of Local 31 of the Teamsters, justice moves more slowly. They’ve been on the picket line at Stacy’s warehouse in Richmond since last May 7 trying to wrest a first collective from an intransigent Silber. : : * * * * * M issing from the picture elsewhere on this page of the opening of the Burnaby Tenant Aid office is MP Svend Robinson, who played a key role in pro- curing the federal grant which funds the advocacy service. The Tenant Aid office, in fact, is situated directly about the joint constituency office of Robinson and Burnaby MLA Rosemary Brown. Robinson left the reception at the Tenant Aid of- fice Friday to head back to Ottawa for the resump- tion of the constitutional debate this week in parlia- ment. ft Before leaving Svend told us that he would “probably vote no”’ to the constitutional resolution, . thus breaking ranks with the NDP caucus. He also said he was under considerable pressure from caucus and that he would reserve his final decision for six weeks until the eve of the vote. Since then we hear that Svend has decided to vote yes. That is unfor- tunate for he appeared to be the lone MP from this province who would oppose the package for reasons which working people could support. oni PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FEB. 20, 1981 —Page 2 gall to even distribute their book in the Vancouver area at this time when profiteering in housing is so rampant. “Tenants are not exploited in the absence of rent controls,” they claim. I wonder how many of them would be prepared to face a meet- ing of tenants who have seen their rents go up by 50 percent or 100 percent in the last little while! Coming to the defence of the landlords they deny that they charge all the traffic can bear. The price of rent, these so-called econ- omists declare, is determined by “subjective phenomena’ and “psychic factors’? and that rents can never be ‘‘greater than the true value of an apartment.’’ What Alice in Wonderland country do these so-called economists live in. But they’re not satisfied with just attacking rent controls. They also attack all forms of public housing on the grounds that they ‘“‘have be- come synonymous with crime, ab- ject poverty, hopelessness and a prison-like atmosphere.” I would like to see them tell that to some of “our senior citizens who are enjoy- ing decent low-rental apartments in the Lower Mainland! ~ But they don’t even stop there. ‘Housing,’ they declare with righteous indignation, ‘“‘is nota hu- man right.” If we accept the idea that it is, they say, then we would also have to agree with the idea that people have the right to a “decent level of clothing, food, housing and medical aid,”’ which would be- nothing less than a ‘quite insidious demand for wealth.”’ Isn’t it awful that so many peo- ple should fall prey to the obviously Communist idea that they are en- titled as human beings to decent housing, food, clothing and medi- cal care? Why, some people even believe they are entitled to a job! What’s this world coming to? It - must give nightmares to econo- mists of the Fraser Institute and their bosses. To top it all off they come to the defence of the real estate develop- ers, whose only concern, they say, is to provide ‘‘the kinds of housing people want at the lowest possible cost.’? Need more be said. -281(2) of the Criminal Code. — Ban KKK — VDLC | Continued from page 1 racial attacks are subject to im- mediate prosecution . . . that the peace and harmony which British Columbians want and expect from their government can be maintained,”’ he said. Delicia Crump, chairperson of the B.C. Coalition Against Racism, said the call to arms by Klan officials in New Westminster added more am- munition to the Coalition’s de- mand that the attorney general allow them to press charges against the Klan under section “By refusing us our day in court, Williams has showed he had already passed judgment himself.’’ ‘He must now accept responsibility for whatever hap- pens in B.C.,”’ Crump declared. Tuesday, delegates to the Vancouver and District Labor Council voted to support a four- | pronged motion from thé Chinese Benevolent Association on banning the Klan. The motion called of Williams to amend legislation sO that the Klan could be outlawed in B.C. and to prohibit both the | Klan’s literature distribution under the Human Rights Act and its registration as a society under the Societies Act. It also demanded that the} education minister Brian Smith implement multicultural pro- ing in the schools which would include the teaching of the history of racism in Canada and the struggles waged by Ca- nadians against it over the years- In another alarming story picked up by the Vancouver Sut from the UPC, Alex Mc- Quirter, head of the Klan i0 Canada, Announced in Toron- to that the Klan will be training recruits to use guns and ex- plosives tc prepare for ‘ ‘possible race riots and foreig# invasion’’. :