POTD A a TG EE al Pe ee ae hee bas Boas was denounced this week as ‘‘an autocrat attempting to frustrate the will of the majority‘on the ward system.” The charge came from COPE president Bruce Yorke who responded to Volrich’s first press conference since the election in which he told reporters that the 51.5 percent majority was ‘no mandate for change.” “The people have spoken and no one, not Jack Volrich, not the NPA, not Victoria, will be allowed to subvert the rule of the majority,” Yorke said Monday. “‘The new city council is under a_ strong democratic mandate from all parts of the city except the one ward in south-west Marine Drive to take the necessary steps to implement the full ward system.” With the addition of about 2,500 affidavit ballots counted this week, . . . tell them we've got a goddamn newsprint shortage. .. . the margin of the ward plebiscite victory widened to nearly 52 ‘Reform Metro’ sweeps Toronto percent, a clear majority and far greater than the 35 percent that voted for ‘the ward system in 1973. Election results also revealed that the ward plebiscite carried in Vancouver mayor Jack Volrich - Reform Metro, the progressive civic coalition in Toronto, made significant gains in last week’s municipal election, electing half of the 18 candidates it endorsed for Toronto city council and electing eight of 17 candidates for the board of education. For the first time in 28 years a member of the Communist Party won office in Toronto, as 28 year old printer Pat Case topped the polls for school trustee in the ent concentrated Ward our. Reform Metro also backed victorious John Sewell in the mayoralty race, who beat his right wing opponent, Tony O’Donahue by 10,000 votes. Although not a socialist, Sewell has supported civic reform and ran on an issue oriented program of transportation taxation, and rational planning and development. Reform Metro also saw Gordon Crann, their choice for major in East York, beat the incumbent. In York Borough, Alderman Oscar Kogan was re-elected for a third term. Allan Sparrow and Dan Heap were handily reelected in the downtown Ward six, although Heap broke with the reform movement during the campaign. In another close race, Reform Metro’s Susan Atkinson won 3,500 votes and narrowly missed election as alderman in Ward two with the backing of almost 150 campaign volunteers, despite a concerted red baiting campaign against her by right wing emigre organizations and the daily press, stressing her membership in the CP. The advances made the reform movement were held back, however, by a go it alone policy of the New Democratic Party and the Toronto Labor Council which refused to unite with Reform Metro and instead nominated in- dependent NDP candidates. The NDP’s policy met with mixed success at best and contributed to the defeat of a number of good candidates, such as Marilyn Mesh- berg, an alderman on North York council with an almost perfect pro- labor voting record. The NDP ran against the incumbent Meshberg and narrowly defeated her. In Ward four in Toronto, two aldermanic candidates running on a high profile NDP ticket, Joe Pantalone and John Madeiras were defeated while Pat Case in a! broadly based Reform Metro campaign won election in the same ward. 95 out of the city’s 134 polling divisions, showing support for the ward system over most of the city. . The plebiscite actually did not leave any room for the mayor, or council, to interpret the results. Rather the plebiscite, as published | Mayor disregards ‘rule of majority’ in newspapers throughout the city, including the Tribune, stated “Should the majority of voters indicate they prefer a ward system, the following would occur: 1. Council would appoint a Com- mittee to consider and report on the number of wards, boundaries of each ward and any other related matters; 2. Application would be made by council to the provincial government to amend the city charter; 3. If granted by 1980, you would then elect aldermen to — council by wards.”’ Neither did the plebiscite make an application to amend the city’s charter conditional on the results — of the council’s committee study of the matter. The clear wording indicates that council must ask for the charter to be amended on the basis of the ward system, if the | majority favored it. Volrich intends to sidestep the issue by “‘conveying the results to Victoria.” That is quite different, however, than applying for a change in the charter as the vote instructed and would not likely stand up if challenged in the courts. Yorke said that the COPE executive would meet Tuesday and map out a plan of action to see that ‘‘the will of the majority is carried out.” Debate over affidavit votes could result in city recount The result of a far reaching debate over 3,800 ‘‘affidavit ballots” from the Vancouver civic election could be a judicial recount that may elect COPE’s Phillip Rankin to the Vancouver parks board. Rankin finished runner up in the Parks board vote last week, only 958 votes behind NPA candidate Philip Mowat. But with the counting of 2,303 affidavit votes this week, Rankin narrowed the margin to 577 votes, and another 1,497 disputed affidavit votes are yet to be counted. The disputed affidavit ballots opens up a broad issue that may have to be settled in the courts. COPE is insisting that all 3,800 of the affidavit ballots be counted, instead of the usual practice of the city clerk to count only those ballots cast by voters on a previous voters’ list. The source of the problem goes back to the decision of former city — clerk Doug Little, now an NPA alderman, to economize during enumeration and not ‘‘call back’’ to homes of tenants. The result was fter three years of shamefully refusing to honor its commitment to provide over $2 million for Vietnamese children, victims of the 10 year U.S. war of aggression, our Socred government can hardly claim credits in the humanitarian aid department. Against that record it was incredulous, to say the least, this week to hear human resources minister Bill Vander Zalm rush to-the aid of the so-called refugees on a boat in Malaysia that none of Vietnam’s neighbors want anything to do with. ; : Those “‘refugees”’ were supporters of the U.S. invasion of Vietnam who found the war profitable enough to be able to buy their passage out of the country in gold when the liberation forces swept Saigon. Regardless, their plight has evoked the ‘‘mercy’’ of Vander Zalm who says the B.C. government will put up the money for education, health care and other things for 600 ‘‘refugees” to live here. If the provincial government has the money, and “mercy’’, to dole out for them, why can’t it find the integrity and decency to honor B.C.’s outstanding commitment, since 1973, to assist Vietnamese children. It was in February, 1973 that the present labor minister, Alan Williams, then a Liberal member of the opposition, introduced a resolution to send $2.25 million in aid for children fallen victim to the war. The resolution received unanimous support from all parties in the legislature. : In May of 1976 during the legislative estimates debate, premier Bill Bennett reaf- firmed the province’s commitment. “The money will have to be found, there is no doubt PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 24, 1978—Page 2 ~ Vancouver have Harry, for his years of PEOPLE AND ISSUES" that the people of B.C. have made a com- mitment in this area,” the premier was quoted in the legislature. That same day, Bennett told a Vancouver Sun reporter that he felt per- sonally involved in the issue because “‘the misfortune of the children of Vietnam is urgent to me.”’ Somehow it became less and urgent to Bennett and the Socreds, however, and numerous appeals from the Canadian Aid for Vietnam Civilians, various people’s organizations and from the Vietnamese themselves, have since fallen on deaf ears. Only recently a delegation of Vietnamese women renewed the appeal to Bennett, but received no reply. And three weeks ago, the Voice of Women, in their national conference in Toronto, again reminded the Socreds of it, demanding it make good on the promise. It says a lot about the Socred government that it would spend public funds to settle more right wing emigres in B.C., while the account owing the children of Vietnam remains un- settled. And on this. score, the government should be particularly vulnerable to public criticism of its continuing betrayal of the lawful pledge of our legislative assembly. * oe : * 4 ~ hen the polls closed last Wednesday in | Vancouver, for the second time in as many years, alderman Harry Rankin emerged as the most popular figure in the city, receiving more votes than any other alderman and more votes than the mayor. The vote was the best possible expression of the tremendous respect that the people of 10,000 fewer tenants on the voters’ service to them and for his characteristic frankness in stating his politics bluntly. The day after the election, as candidates and campaign workers slowed down for deserved holidays, Harry set out for his long awaited vacation, a rather rugged respite from politics, mountain climbing in the Himalayas. It was all going fine until he arrived at the U.S. border on his way to catch a plane in Seattle and was told that he was classified as an undesirable element and would not be allowed to enter the country. Apparently, the same qualities that have made him the most popular civic figure in Vancouver have also made Harry an enemy of the U.S. establishment and have earned him a place of honor in their “black book’ of ‘“‘communists and _ sub- versives.”’ No doubt the border guard experienced first hand Harry’s bluntness before he returned to Vancouver and set off again to join his group, but via London, England. Harry will likely have more to say about it when he returns, but the incident certainly provides a vivid contrast between a growing popular movement in Canada and the outdated, McCarthyite policies of the U.S. State Department. * * * R ecovering well from a recent heart attack is Walter Gawrycki whose innumberable friends in the progressive movement will be pleased to hear that Walter returned home from St. Pauls hospital this Friday. At 71, Walter is still a fighter and should be back in his old form very soon. list this year than in 1976 and a marked increase in the number of affidavit ballots. Voters not on the voters’ list can swear an affidavit and vote, but the ballot is put aside and counted last, only after verification with a previous voters’ list. In a statement to the city clerk, Bob Henry, requesting: that no ballots be destroyed, COPE president Bruce Yorke said Sunday ~ that all the affidavit ballots should be counted because each of the voters has sworn to be an eligible. voter and each are under the impression that their vote will be counted and none have been in- formed of the possibility that their vote will not be counted. Even mayor Volrich stated repeatedly during the campaign that any eligible voter not on the list would have their vote counted. The practice of using only past — voters’ lists as verification leaves — out whole classes of people such as those who have only come of age to vote in the prior two years or those who have moved to Vancouver in that period. COPE also sent a telegram to minister of municipal affairs Hugh Curtis requesting a judicial decision be made on the 1,498 disputed affidavit ballots. “The principle at stake is the unfettered right of all citizens who are eligible to vote to be able to actually exercise this most fun- damental of all rights,” it said. The political signficance of the - dispute is seen in the nearly two to one margin that COPE has over ~ the NPA in the counted affidavit ballots. If the same margin applied - to remaining 1498, Rankin would come within 439 votes of Mowat, which may be close enough to ask ° for another count. But if a similar margin was applied to the 10,000 tenants left off the voters’ list this year, the result could be a significant shift in the popular vote towards COPE and the election ofa ~ ___number of COPE candidates. a next