FEATURES

The media versus -

By ALEX McLENNAN
The Canadian Constitution in Schedule ‘*B’’, Section
= 2, entitled Canadian Charter of Rights and Fundamental
‘tTeedoms, states as follows:
2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
_, (0) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expres-
Sion, including freedom of the press and other media of
Communication; :
(C) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
(d) freedom of association.”
The arbitrary refusal of the Canadian Broadcasting
Srporation (with minor exceptions), CTV and others,
‘0 permit the Communist Party to participate in election
ebates is an abrogation of the fundamental rights and
doms of the Canadian electorate to be made aware of
the options open to them in the choice of a program
and a candidate in the present election.
Nder sub-section (b) as quoted above, everyone has

€ right to freedom of expression. But how can there be ~
‘€edom of expression, if access to the media of commu-

Nication is forbidden for the exercise of that freedom?
nd how can we speak of the freedom of thought, belief

°F opinion, if the people are deprived of the right and _
Teedom to learn about and discuss a program advocated

°Y & given political party?

The denial by the CBC of the
fundamental freedom of the people to
hear and to express ideas is in direct
contradiction of the fact that the

government is responsible for the CBC
Policy and is therefore obliged to
Jealously guard and ensure that those’
freedoms are ever available for all
Canadians. ~ :

peg re

© CBC states that only ‘‘major’’ political parties

..existence, they. would realize. that its contribution.to the .

he right to know

may participate in programs sponsored by the CBC. Are
we then to understand that only those parties rep-
resented in the House of Commons have the right to be
heard? Is this the only criterion which determines whom
the people of Canada have the right to hear? The fact that
a political party has not had the opportunity to present its
program publicly does not mean that that program would
not be beneficial to the country, nor does it mean that it
would not be acceptable to the Canadian people if they
had the right and the opportunity to hear it.

Did the Fathers of Confederation envisage a democ-

-_ racy in which only those who represented the privileged

classes would have the right to participate in the demo-
cratic process? If this were true, then it follows that no
one in Canada at that time would have had the right to
express himself, because, prior to confederation there
was no parliament, and consequently, no ‘‘major’’ poli-
tical party.

The denial by the CBC of the fundamental freedom of
the people to hear and to express ideas is in direct
contradiction of the fact that the government is re-

‘ sponsible for CBC policy and is therefore obliged to

jealously guard and ensure that those freedoms are ever
available for all Canadians. es

The section on fundamental freedoms in sub-section
(c) and (d) of Section 2 of the Constitution, states that
“everyone has the freedom of peaceful assembly and
freedom of association’. Here again, the Constitution is
subverted, because, if persons are to assemble or to

_ associate, they must first decide why they wish to as-

semble, or with whom they wish to associate. How can
persons make such a decision unless they have the right
to learn the facts upon which to make an informed
judgment?

If the people of Canada were aware of the numerous
presentations and briefs addressed to the governments
by the Communist Party over the past 62 years of its

political and economic welfare of this country is second
to none.

It could be pointed out that much of the philosophy
contained in the programs of past governments has in fact
originated in briefs submitted to the Canadian Govern-

A BILL OF
RIGHTS FOR LABOR

— the right to organize

— the right to collective bargainin,
— the right to strike ‘
— the right to a job

Defend & Extend
Democratic Rights

(aes,

\
\

Vote

Communist

Communist Party election poster

ment by the Communist Party. It is also a fact that
anything progressive to be found in the electoral pro-
grams of either Liberal, Conservative or the New Demo-
cratic parties has been advocated by the Communist
Party since its inception, proposals which were pre-
viously rejected by those ‘“‘major’’ political parties.

Before the Canadian people can become acquainted
with the program of the Communist Party for peace, jobs
and Canadian independence, they must bring about an
end to the media blackout which is calculated to prevent
the people of Canada from becoming familiar with the
party's program,

The Canadian Constitution as presently written does
not prevent the CBC and other media from discrim-

_inating against. individuals,or, organizations,,who ady.o-..

cate policies other than the status quo, but rather permits
the media to favor those who support the financial estab-
lishment and those who would drive Canadian politics
further to the right.

_ The time to establish democracy in Canada is now.

Special to the Tribune

meeGINA — Years of govern-
Ae Policies designed to elimi-
i € smaller farms, followed by
de. interest rates and capped by
year’s scrapping of the Crow

te, have combined with this

at's drought to create a crisis

| the Western farmers. Not since

Dirty Thirties have prospects

down from 28.8 last year, and the

| Spectre of Dirty Thirties haunts

_ From Saskatchewan

Kimball Cariou

: Another piece of bad news in

West

of a four point ‘‘relief program’’,

trously high interest rates, have
created this situation.

Today, many farmers are so
far behind that one bad year
means the end. If Turner were
seriously interested in he!ping the
majority of western farmers, he
would tackle interest rates, as the
Communist Party has proposed,
or bring back the Crow. Turner

ont

a)

io So bleak for so many. And

Situation may have devastat-.

M8 results for the rest of the
Me economy as well.
€ driest summer in memory
the ae Southern prairies has led
regi katchewan Wheat Pool to
va a $1-billion loss for this
. Ince S farmers, while the Un-
will Grain Growers says the loss
total $1.5-billion for all prairie

ers i
| Wg,” OF More if the Shen

Saskatchewan's gross farm in-
Se totalled $4. 1-billion in 1983,

€ drought means a 25 percent
this Even if crops had been good
ton, “ew it whould have been

iba hag times. Statistics Canada
| total

Predicted . Saskatchewan’s

lage Million, from $876-million
: year and $1.2-billion in 1981.

 g.{'8 it is, crop yields are way

Ow,

to a Wheat yields are expected

het farm income could fall to.

Verage 21.5 bushels per acre,

trend is much the same for less
crucial crops. ;

Bankruptcies Up

Farm bankruptcies across
Canada continued to climb in the
first half of 1984, 313 compared to
228 in the same period last year.
Quebec producers were hardest
hit, accounting for 101 cases,
while 97 were from the Prairies.
The Ontario Federation of Agri-
culture reports that for every
farmer who voluntarily declares
bankruptcy, up to 10 others are

forced to sell out or leave their

farms without formal pro-
ceedings. Sask. Wheat Pool pres-
dent Ted Turner predicted Aug. 3
that a major financial crunch will

hit grain producers early next ©
~ year, when they run short of cash

for seed, fertilizer and pesticides
for the spring 1985 planting. That

would mean a big jump in bank- _

ruptcies..

July from the Senate Standing
committee on Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry. Its report
on soil degradation confirmed
fears of a devastating long-term
problem. Soil degradation, in-
cluding wind and water erosion,
higher salt content, and soil com-
paction are costing Canadian

. farmers $1-billion a year. On the

prairies, the report says, farmers
have been forced by economic
necessity to ‘‘mine the soil’” with
dangerous consequences. “‘In

these days of high costs and low -

commodity prices, the least ex-
pensive way to operate is often
the only way a farmer can sur-

vive’’, the report says — and con-

servation is simply ‘‘uneco-
nomical’’ in the short run. —
Program or Ploy
Responding to pressure, Prime
Minister Turner made an Aug. 2

announcement in Prince Albert, _

but admitted that most of the
money will come from funds al-
ready belonging to farmers. His
plan includes;

e Cancellation of the Canadian
Wheat Board’s scheduled grain
price reductions, totalling up to
$250-million.

e Payments up to $600-million
from the Grain Stabilization Fund
paid into by farmers.

e The only new money will be

‘for two programs: $21-million to

livestock producers to- help buy
feed, and up to $16-million assis-
tance to farmers in northeastern
Saskatchewan hit by floods this
spring after several previous bad
years.

The Turner announcement is lit-
tle more thanan election ploy. Lib-
eral and Tory governments, with
their long-term goal of ‘rationaliz-
ing’ prairie agriculture by driving
thousands off the land, and disas-

has. in fact refused pressure to
cancel the 33 per cent increase in
freight rates which took effect
Aug. 1, and which will cost grain
producers $60-million this crop
year and more every year to
come. But then, one should not

_expect anything different from a

former director. of Canadian
Pacific.

In the current election cam-
paign, the Communist Party calls
for sweeping measures to save the
family farm. Interest-free
government loans, free crop in-
surance, a policy of 100 per cent
parity (i.e. close the gap between
farm costs and farm incomes),
and a moratorium on foreclosures
are among the party’s recom-
mendations.

Kibale Catigg! is theConemusist
Party candidate in the Saskatchewan
riding of Regina West.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, AUGUST 29, 1984 6 5

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