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ADA-USSR
SOCIATION

Northern Neighbor

It was evident from the tone
of all sessions, that the deleg-
ates were united in a desire to
see the organization flourish and
establish bases from Atlantic to
Pacific, dedicated to the highest
interests of our country. A
policy of goodwill and under-
standing between the peoples of
our country and those of our
northern neighbor, the USSR,
would benefit Canada.

To the Conference came de-
legates from six Canadian pro-
vinces. Representatives of two
maritime provinces where
groups have been formed were
unable to attend. Groups came
from: Vancouver, Regina, Win-
nipeg, Thunder Bay, Edmonton,
Toronto, Hamilton, Mt. Pleas-
ant/Brantford and Windsor. Dr.
A. Paquin of the Quebec-USSR
Society was present as an ob-
server. St. John and Halifax sent
greetings.

The Council elected will have
a representative from each pro-
vince together with an Execu-
tive Committee. A draft Consti-
tution was prepared for the
study of all members.

The ~-Executive Committee
members are: Robert S. Kenny,
president; Michael Lucas, Exe-
cutive director; Helen Lucas,
financial secretary; Ann Mc-

The people of Czechoslovakia
recently celebrated the 25th an-
niversary of a- momentous peri-
od in their history — a victory
of the workers and peasants
over the remnants of the old
ruling class, thereby setting
Czechoslovakia “on the road of
revolutionary social changes, the
road of building socialism.”

In February 1948, in the face
of an attempted coup by the
right wing,. Czech and Slovak
workers and peasants, respond-
ed to a call by the Communists
and other progressives to de-
fend their republic, and crushed
rightist attempts to seize power.

‘Deep and _ revolutionary
transformations took place in
Czechoslovakia after its libera-
tion from the Nazi yoke in
1945,” writes Jaroslav Cesar, in
the article, February 1948 in
Czechoslovakia. He points to the
formation of a National Front
government’ including Czech
and Slovak Communists, Social
Democrats, National Socialists,
People’s Party and Slovak
Democratic Party.

Leading Force

“New organs of people’s pow-
er came into existence — the
National Committees took over
administration in villages, towns
and districts . . . The property
of traitors and those who had
collaborated with Nazi occupa-
tion authorities was confiscated

. the economic and political
position of the bourgeoisie were
substantially reduced and the

A. N. Kosygin, Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, and Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau of

Canada signed an arrangement on exchanges between the USSR and Canada in Ottawa. on October

20, 1971.

Donald, recording — secretary;
Stanley Ziniuk, member at
large.

Many Organizations

The Conference Room in the
Toronto Centre was enlivened
by an attractive display of the
work of Canadian artists, and on
one wall an excellent exhibition
of photographs of various aspects
of Soviet life. Credit for this
fine work in preparing the room
was due to Interarts, a sub-com-
mittee of artists associated with
the Canada-USSR Association.

John Wigdor, Toronto Branch
chairman, opened the first ses-
sion. Michael Lucas presented
the main report of the Initiating
Committee. The second session

working class, headed by the
Communist Party — became the
leading force in the country.”

In the May 1946 elections,
Communists won 38% of the
vote and became by far _the
strongest single political party.
A new government was formed
with Communist Party chairman
Klement. Gottwald as premier.

In the cold-war days of mid-
1947, leaders of the bourgeoisie
decided on, a counter-offensive,
utilizing the serious drought as
a weapon against the govern-
ment.

Ministers Resign

Foreseeing Communist elec-
toral success, and fearful of the
program of nationalization, they
struck on Feb. 20 with a plan
designed to bring down the govy-
ernment. A number of ministers
submitted resignations, expect-
ing isolation of the Communists,
after which they would form a
caretaker government.

“This plan ended in complete
failure,” relates Jaroslav Cesar.
“The Communists made it clear
to the Czech and Slovak people
that it was an attempt of the
bourgeoisie to stage a counter-
revolutionary coup,.and . . . at
a massive rally of working peo-
ple in Prague on Feb. 21, Kle-
ment Gottwald voiced the de-
mand for the formation of a new
government of a regenerated
National Front, without any of
the ministers who had resigned.”
Giant demonstrations in sup-
port of this call took place
‘throughout the country.

was chaired by Louise Koto-
vitch, secretary of the Windsor
Branch; the third session by
Mary Kardash, secretary of the
Winnipeg Branch; the fourth
and concluding session by
Harold Dean, president of the
organization in British Colum-
bia.

Greetings and expressions of
confidence in the work of the
Conference were brought by the
Voice of Women, the Canadian
Peace Congress, the Congress of
Canadian Women, and represen-
tatives of progressive organiza-
tions of Ukrainian, Hungarian,
Bulgarian, Russian, Carpatho-
Russian, Finnish, Polish, Greek,
Jewish, Slovak and other groups

The Congress of Works Coun-
cils called a one-hour general
strike on Feb. 24, backing the
demands of the working class
and small farmers. “In the hours
and days that followed, the
bourgeoisie suffered one set-
back after another.”

On Feb. 25, President Benes
accepted the resignations of the
reactionary ministers, and ap-
pointed a new government with
Gottwald again as premier.

“By the 1948 victory, the
Czechoslovak Republic entered
a new, socialist stage of its de-
velopment.”

Another writer, Vlastimil
Cherny, commenting on develop-
ments since 1948, in a country
which formerly knew the pover-
ty and unemployment typical
today of the Western world,
says:

“The fact that since 1948
Czechoslovakia has _ increased
its industrial production about
sevenfold and now ranks among
the industrially most advanced
countries in the world, that the
socialist sector agricultural co-
operatives and state farms are
managing more than 90% of all
agricultural land, and that the
national income is almost four
times as much as it was in 1948,
has allowed a rapid improve-
ment in the living standard of
the entire population.”

Use More Meat

Consumer spending has under-
standably risen. ‘So, for inst-
ance, consumption of meat and
meat products more than doubl-

so Vital a part of the fabric of
our country. Greetings were
read from Sydney, Australia,
from the United States of Ame-
rica and from Soviet cities who
have sister societies with com-
parable aims. Dr. A. Paquin
brought to the Conference an
expression of the esteem of the
people of French Canada for the
work undertaken by the Con-
ference.

Delegates and obervers re-
viewed very warmly the greet-
ings from the USSR-Canada
Society in Moscow, and from
the Embassy of the USSR, deli-
vered by Valentin Majorov,
second secretary of the Soviet
Embassy in Ottawa.

ed in comparison with 1938,”
says Vlastimil Cherny, “and is
now higher. than in Denmark,
Italy, Austria, Sweden or
Switzerland.” As a_ result,
“Czechoslovakia for some time
now has not been dealing with
the quantitative aspect of nutri-
tion but rather with the question
of its correct structure from the
view of good diet.”

There have been other drastic
changes. Since 1948 sums paid
in health insurance have increas-
ed ninefold and pensions seven-
fold. The number of pensions
has risen by 2.6%. Men now re-
tire at 60, women between 52
and 57. Entirely free medical
services are among the best in
the world.

The constitution of May 9,
1948 guarantees the right to
work, to just remuneration for
it, the right to relaxation, to
health protection, to education’,
of protection of the family and
the youth. Real wages have
more than doubled from pre-
war. Education and text books
are free. A vast housing plan
continues; and an apartment for
which a worker once paid with
58 hours of his month’s work,
he now rents with eight hours
pay.

The dramatic days of Febru-
ary 1948 indeed marked a turn-
ing point for the Czech and
Slovak people. The changes they
wrought then by legal and con-
Stitutional means, have abolish-
ed forever the ills of an exploit-
ing society.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1973—-PAGE 7