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CP poised
for May

election
campaign

Anticipating a provincial election call
Thursday as the Tribune goes to press,
the Communist Party has announced
that it will kick off its election campaign
with a public rally Thursday, Apr. 14,
7:30 p.m. at the Ukrainian Hall, 805 E.
Pender, in Vancouver Centre where party
leader Maurice Rush has been
nominated.

CP provincial campaign manager Fred
Wilson said that the rally will proceed on-
ly if an election writ is issued this week,
but the party fully expects it and has
already put its election plan into effect.

The CP will field five candidates and
campaign around its program
everywhere it is able, Wilson said. The
five candidates are: Rush in Vancouver-
Centre, trade unionist Bert Ogden in
Vancouver-East, CP organizer Miguel
Figueroa in Burnaby-Willingdon, com-
munity activist Viola Swann in Surrey,
and school trustee Gary Swann in Alber-
ni.

The short and intensive campaign —
just 29 days — works against the opposi-
tion and especially against smaller par-
ties, and has made it necessary for the CP
to be well prepared. But Wilson stressed
that a quick response from party
members and supporters will be essential
to raise campaign funds and organize

istribution of literature and campaign
actions.

Campaign donations can be brought
to the rally on Apr. 14 or sent directly to
the CP provincial offices at 102-2747 E.
Hastings, Van., VSK-1Z8. All donations
are eligible for income tax rebates under
provincial income tax provisions.

The party must raise $20,000 within 10
to 14 days of the campaign to finance
constituency campaigns and pay for elec-
tion literature, Wilson said.

Among several new features of the
B.C. Election Act is a provision which
allows voters to be put on the voters list
for the first 14 days of the campaign, and
to vote on election day by swearing an af-
fidavit if left off the list. Voters can find
out if their name is on the voters list by
contacting the registrar of voters. In Van-
_ | couver the phone number is 879-6571; in

| Surrey the number is 531-2077; in Alberni
the number is 723-3501. ~

The CP will have two objectives in the
| election, Wilson said: to do everything
possible to help defeat the Socred govern-
ment, and to build a large Communist
vote in the selected ridings where the par-
ty has nominated.

The Communist Party has been urging

the labor movement and community
organizations to mobilize to defeat the
Socreds for months, and the party’s com-
mitment to winning a new government is
unquestionable, Wilson said. But for the
left, he added, change only has
significance if it reflects increased support
for socialist alternatives, which the CP
will represent.
_ Wilson said it is already clear that the
CP campaign will receive warm support
from a greatly increased number of peo-
ple, and the potential exists for organiz-
ing a very substantial Communist vote.

The CP’s main task will be to show
why change is needed and to demonstrate
that there are real alternatives to the
capitalist policies which have led B.C.
and the capitalist world into the worst

munist vote will increase.

BRITISH COLUMBIA _

Tax lobby masks Socreds’ guilt

City council’s evening meeting Mar. 29
was devoted to hearing delegations from
business people on the subject of business
and commercial property taxes. The meeting
was organized at the request of former NPA
candidate Dominic Watson so that he anda
number of similar-minded business people
could make presentations. Some 26 in-
dividuals and organizations were scheduled
to address council; about half that number
showed up.

Those appearing could be divided into
two groups — small business people and cor-
porate interests. The latter were represented
by the Downtown Vancouver Association,
whose representatives included Philip
Owen, also a former NPA candidate.

The small business people there wanted
their taxes reduced and that is a legitimate
demand. They are having a rough time try-
ing to weather the economic recession. Their
spokesmen seemed to agree that reducing
the business tax would not solve their pro-
blem, that the main beneficiaries of this
would be big business. They proposed in-
stead that city services be cut and property
taxes reduced, or alternatively that residen-
tial taxes be increased so that taxes on com-
mercial properties could be reduced.

The representatives of big business (the
Downtown Vancouver Association) also
wanted their taxes reduced by the abolition
of the machinery and equipment tax and the
business tax (which they called
“‘prejudicial’’). They also demanded that
homes (which do not produce revenue) pay
the same mill rate as commercial and in-
dustrial properties (which generate revenues
and profits). Finally, they proposed that
“user pay”’ fees be imposed on property

owners whenever they require or request |

more local services. You certainly could

never accuse these corporate business in-
terests of lacking gall!

When some of those speaking for small
business began attacking labor and the
wages paid to civic employees, the meeting

_ developed into a shouting match. Two

things quickly became clear:

e It was obvious to us (even before the
Meeting started) that it was organized by the
NPA, with the help of TEAM, to pressure

Harry

Rankin

council to lower taxes on business by increas-
Ing taxes on homeowners and by cuts in ser-
vices to citizens.

@ The NPA and TEAM know quite well
that city council has few options when it
comes to property taxes, because the basic
decisions about the levels of tax rates for
various types of property are set not by city
council but by the provincial government.
But the aim of the NPA and TEAM was to
make it appear as if city council, and
especially the COPE aldermen, were to
blame for high taxes. The NPA aldermen
weren’t even there — alderman Puil was
reported to be out of town, alderman
Bellamy didn’t show up, and alderman Ken-
nedy stayed only a little while and then left.

Both the NPA and TEAM have been run-
ning interference for the Socred government
for a long time — their role on council is that

4

-size and ability to pay and where thosé

_ taxes only for those services directly p'

of amouthpiece for Social Credit. As fo! the
TEAM aldermen, their role at this m
was to agree with the business people Ee: of
leave the impression that city council an ;
the provincial government was the cause ei
the tax burden that small business are for
to carry.

I proposed to the delegations from a
business that if they want a change,
should join with us in demanding ©
necessary reforms from the provi
government, that their anger should not ty
directed at city council but where it righ
belongs — at Victoria. ae

The provincial government has said pee
than once that it is preparing to makes
major changes in the whole tax system, t
so far it has done nothing but talk. We ai
still waiting for it to introduce its SO
variable mill rate, under which various typ?
of property could be assessed by muni¢l
councils at different rates. *

This, however, would not solve the Pl
blem of the small business people. What
need is a lower rate of taxation thal | hy
business and this could only be accomplis
ed if we had a graduated business or prop
ty tax where the level of taxation is b wit

big properties pay the highest rates of we
Winnipeg has had such a graduated busi 1!
tax for many years and it works very Wo"
could be extended to all types of property
However thereis still one other principle th
needs to be observed. General revenl
should not be raised from non-revenue P!
perties such as homes. Homes should | 4
rovie
ed to homes. General revenue should ber@®
ed from industrial and commercial prop
ties and based on ability to pay.

depression of the post-war period. If it is |
successful, he said, the defeat of the
Socreds will be ensured and the Com-

T he usually sombre economic forecaster for the B.C. regional
branch of employment and immigration Canada must have had
instructions this month to put out a more upbeat report than usual
— perhaps in anticipation of a provincial election or something like
that.

Whatever it was, he did it, notwithstanding the economic in-
dicators.

According to the March Economic Review, put out by the
department, ‘‘It appears that most of the recession is, at last, finally
over.”’ :

Most of the recession over?

It’s painful to dampen all that economic joy but we do have to
point out that in the same bulletin, the unemployment figures show
a cross-Canada increase in the jobless rate from 12.4 percent in
January to 12.5 percent in February — seasonally adjusted, of
course.

Worse, the report also concedes that ‘“‘up to 50 percent of the jobs
that are lost will not be reappearing as the economy turns around.”

So there you have it. The bottom line for the unemployed is a
grimmer picture than the opening words of the report would in-
dicate. In fact, it’s a lot grimmer.

bably has a lot to do with the growing organization of the

unemployed. :

' Ata time when more and more of the unemployed are seeing the
urgency of organization and action — in conjunction with the labor
movement — the federal government would rather downplay the
unemployment crisis, in the hopes of heading off action by jobless
workers. Thus every twitch on the economic graph becomes a signal
that “‘most of the recession is over.’?

But the fact that the employment ministry can make that state-
ment and at the same time report that 50 percent of the jobs will be
permanently lost, suggests something more ominous.

It suggests that the government would find it acceptable that
unemployment remains high, that thousands of workers will never
get their old jobs back as long as business can restore its profit levels.

And if thousands of workers are made redundant in that process,
so be it, say the economists. In fact, they suggest it may be better
since business will be ‘‘more competitive’? and labor more com-
pliant because of the increases in the number of jobless.

The samd idea has come from Socred forests minister Tom

-Waterland who wrote in the ministry’s magazine Forestalk this
month that “‘as we emerge from this recession we’ll be a leaner,
more productive, more competitive forest industry...” :

Leaner indeed — when the IWA reckons that 14,000 of its
members are out of work, when mills are closed all over the pro-
vince, some of them permanently, and the millions taken out of the
forest resources of this province are going to Alabama and Brazil.

That kind of ‘‘supply-side recovery’’ just isn’t acceptable — not
to us, not to the labor movement.

And certainly not to the unemployed.

‘ * * * cd
T he Socreds capacity for self-congratulation is obviously vast, as
the television ads, the “Year in Review” and the various issues
of B.C. Government News all attest. But the letter sent out last

_ So why the wild-eyed optimism of the opening paragraph? It pro--

4

PEOPLE AND ISSUES

month by health minister Jim Neilson adds an entirely new dimen-
sion. ;

The letter is directed to deputy health minister Peter Bazowski
and read: ‘“‘As we draw to the close of another fiscal year, I want t0
take this opportunity to express my thanks to you and all of thes
in the ministry of health for a job well done... In spite of the fiscal
restrainst that had to be imposed and, in some cases, staff shortages
we have achieved our goal of providing the best possible health set
vice to the people of British Columbia....”’

Remember the staff cutbacks in hospitals throughout the pro-
vince, the huge lists of people waiting for elective surgery,
documented cases of people who suffered and, in at least one case
died because of the excessive wait for surgery? Remember the case
just last week a young boy, who died from the shock and trauma of
acar accident — a boy who just might have lived if the intensive care
facility at Children’s Hospital, restricted to 16 beds instead of 24

- because of Socred cutbacks, had been available to him?

Anybody who was affected will remember. But the Socreds have
wiped it all off the slate as they look to the impending election.

The letter wasn’t just an internal memo either. Bazowski sent
copies of it out to all health ministry staff, together with his owD
covering letter noting, ‘‘It is indeed a pleasure for me to receive such
a letter from the minister...

What makes it all ever more ludicrous is that government
ministers rarely write their own letters. They’re are almost always
written by an aide — or by a deputy minister, thus making it the
ultimate in self-congratulation. \

* * * *

T he Vancouver and District Labor Council’s Unemployment Ac
tion Centre got a welcome praise for its efforts and a boost toits
strained budget last week, although from an unexpected source.

Myrna Poisson, who assists the centre in its advocacy work, told
the labor council Tuesday the story of “Marco” who, because of his
difficulty with English, had been repeatedly disqualified for 4
unemployment insurance claim by the UIC.

“‘T tried to explain my case to them but they don’t listen,’’ Marco
had said, in appealing to the centre for help. :

“So I went with him, and sure enough, it was right there in his file:
he was entitled to 25 weeks of benefits,”’ Poisson told the labor
council. ,

“Yet he had been unemployed for ayear and a half without any
UI benefits.’’ ; :

Last Saturday, a grateful Marco appeared at her door, hurriedly
handed her an envelope and fled to his car. Inside the envelope was a
brief note, thanking her again for her assistance and saying “I
wanted to get a gift but I didn’t know what to buy.”

Wrapped in the note were 10 $50 bills. And Marco refused all en-
treaties to take the money back. :

Son on Tuesday, the money was turned over to the labor council
for the action centre.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 8, 1983—Page 2