ic Tribune

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MUST NOT SELL OUR
SOULS TO THE U.S.’

ae Labor hits Bennett plan,

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Sy calls for new policies

‘‘We will not sell our souls for an increase in trade
with the U.S.’’ This was the reply of B.C. labor to
Premier Bennett’s plan for economic union with the U.S.
as the B.C. Federation of Labor, representing 160,000
workers, adopted a strong statement on economic policy
at its annual convention last week.

Labor demanded that the U.S. be told in clear terms that
Canadians will not tolerate the demands of the U.S., and called for
new alternative policies of expanded trade with all countries, full

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1971 Vol. 32, No. 47

TTY
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—

on the auction block

Of Premier Bennett’s call at the
lop a Premier’s Conference
ent Common market arrange-
Woula With the United States
th, . Put British Columbia on
Mor tction block,’’ Nigel
the 88n, Provincial leader of
thie °Mmunist Party, declared
Week.

On t would be disastrous not
PoyjOt the people of this
Who} mee but for Canada as a
Pee

thet Could only serve to tighten
Oh et? Of Yankee imperialism
ih ine resources and result
“Dor her disastrous loss of job
inde, UNities and Canadian
oT fndence”’, he said.

“bones « U.S. monopolies make no
‘Mo, °f the fact that they want
fa) Of our natural gas, oil,
| * @Minerals, wood, pulp and

particularly our water reserves.
Premier Bennett is obviously
determined to put this
monstrous betrayal across.
“Bennett made Washington
headlines with his ‘surrender
now’ line. But Canadians know
only too well that his claim that
Canada needs the American
common market scheme to
develop is ae) phoney,
an claimed. :
OS. corporations are taking
far more ($1.6 billion) out of
Canada annually. In addition to
all that profit out of our hides,
they are using Canadian money
from Canadian banks to finance
expansion of their holding inside
Canada. In 1969, 60 percent of the
expansion of U.S. companies in
Canada was paid for in Canadian
currency’’, he charged.

“Over forty billion U.S. capital
is now invested in our country
giving control over such
industries as auto, rubber,
petroleum and oil. About one
thousand Canadian companies
have been taken over by
powerful U.S. conglomerates in
the last ten years. Bennett's
common market scheme would
be the last straw.

“Instead we need a full
employment policy with our
natural resources processed in
B.C. and Canada to provide jobs
for Canadians and a better
return for our government
treasury to provide the social
expenditures our people re-

quire. ;
‘We cannot permit our govern-

See BENNETT, pg. 2 _

employment, and growth of secondary industries.

Taking a stand for an indepen-
dent Canada, labor’s statement
charged that the U.S. policies
are designed to make Canada
pay for the war in Vietnam and
to finance the purchase of our
country by American corpora
tions.

Because of the importance of
labor’s stand, the Editorial
Board requested Jack Phillips, a
delegate from Local 1004,
Canadian Union of Public
Employees, who participated
prominently in the debates, to
write his impressions of the con-
vention for our readers. Follow-
ing is his account:

wk

By JACK PHILLIPS

The 16th annual convention
of the B.C. Federation of Labor
held in Vancouver last week will
long be remembered as a major
turning point for organized
labor in B.C. The repercussions
from this gathering, the largest
in the history of the Federation
with more than 500 delegates in
attendance; will extend to every
part of Canada and far beyond its
borders.

It was a colorful, dramatic
convention, rich in the quality
and breadth of debate. In the
words of one of the younger dele-
gates, it was completely in tune
with the realities and problems
of today. As another delegate put
it, ‘instead of piling problems
on top of problems, we looked for
the answers and came up witha
lot of good ones.”’

A careful study of the pro-
ceedings discloses that on
almost every vital issue, the
officers and key committees
were tuned in to the angry mood
of the delegates. The delegates
were angry about mass unem-
ployment, angry at the attempt

of the Nixon administration to
export-the American crisis into
Canada, angry at the contin-
uation of the war in Vietnam,
angry over the Amchitka blast
and very angry at the Trudeau
government in Ottawa and the
Bennett government in Vic
toria.

From the very beginning it
was evident that there was a
unanimous feeling that Canada
must make a more rational use
of its natural resources and
industrial potential and get out
from under the crushing
embrace of the American
elephant. ‘

One of the first resolutions to
hit the floor called for the finan-
cing of educational costs by
heavier taxes on the extraction
of natural resources. The resolu-
tions committee recommended
non-concurrence and a storm
fell around their heads.

“We are not opposed to this
idea’, they replied in essence,
“but it is too one-sided. What
about heavier taxation on the
great fortunes which are made
from industries other than the
extraction of natural resources?”

More spirited debate ensuea
and then the resolution was
unanimously referred back,
with instructions to include
increased taxation on those who
extract our natural resources in
order to meet education costs.
This was an early indication of
the mood of the convention. The
wide number of delegates who
opposed the committee covered
a significant spectrum of
opinion within the Federation. It
is a matter of record that the
resolutions committee took the
hint and was never again in
serious conflict with the floor.

See LABOR FED., pg. 12