BRITISH COLUMBIA Burnaby independent launches campaign [AIREY RESTORE JOBS — & SERVICES — Sus dw Economist, tax activist and independent candidate David Fairey meets well wisher at opening of his campaign office for a seat on Burnaby municipal council Oct. 23. Fairey, a leading member of Operation Fightback, a citizens’ organization protesting council's consistent tax hikes on residential property, stresses ‘‘democratic” planning that favours affordable housing, maintaining and improving municipal services as publicly owned enterprises, making the municipal government a voice for world peace and strengthening, not dimin- ishing municipal powers as is threatened through the provincial government's proposed “‘regional district’ scheme. Volunteers for the campaign should call the office, located at 7611 Edmonds St. in Burnaby, at 525-8711. é TE oe your help. This year’s subscription drive offers _ subscribers. To find out more about it, and to aid in the drive, give usa call. And do the province a favour. Sell a sub toda Bill Vander Zalm has announced his [| government’s privatization program, hop- © ing to sell British Columbians on the idea of selling their properties to corporations. What we at the Tribune have to sell is more modest, but certainly more ethical. We want to glean 300 new readers to aid in the fight against privatization, but we need prizes to top sub-getters and to some new We need 300 new readers Coquihalla overruns spur anger over Socred health cuts A scheme for partial privatization that would create a two-tiered health care system favouring the province’s wealthy concen- trated public fire on B.C.’s Social Credit government over the weekend — bringing more heat on a government that is showing signs of running out of control. Health Minister Peter Dueck on Monday ,was forced to play down Premier Bill Vander Zalm’s remarks at last weekend’s party convention that the Socreds were examining legislation allowing private hos- pitals that would enable the rich to “queue jump” lengthy operating waiting lists caused by years of Socred cutbacks. The weekend’s developments showed that while the premier continues his far- right, shoot-from-the-lip style of govern- ment, his cabinet ministers are smarting under the glaring contradiction between health care shortages and the now-revealed scandalous cost overruns on the Coquihalla highway project. Last week the minister beat a retreat on one issue, when parents of children facing long and potentially dangerous waiting lists for surgery forced the government to pump funds into Children’s Hospital in Van- couver. Members of PATCH — Parents Acting Together for Children’s Hospital — hailed the infusion of an extra $20 million into this year’s budget for hospitals following their . public protest. But they said they are con- { tinuing their organization to ensure that | health care gets the required funding in the future as well. felt safe enough last weekend to announce a full-scale “review” of hospital spending. Senior cabinet ministers have also announced some government cuts under consideration. Among the changes appar- ently considered are limits on doctors’ incomes, allowing private hospitals for the wealthy, centralizing regional services in one hospital and closing some emergency wards. _ Obviously sensitive to the bad press’: _ handed the government because of the suf- ferings of sick children, Dueck nonetheless Kamloops rejects “privatization” By BILL CAMPBELL On Saturday, Oct. 24, Kamloops had the distinction of being the first city in B.C. to turn down a _ privatization scheme. Certain business interests had formed themselves into what they called a “waterfront project committee,” with the purpose of putting, among other things, a privately owned hotel in the middle of the city’s Riverside Park. Included in the scheme, subsequently backed by Kamloops’ right-dominated city council, was a private ice rink and convention centre in the city’s largest and prettiest park. This self-elected committee, later joined by two aldermen, proceeded to try and snow the citizens of Kamloops with a promotion campaign of unprecedented scope in this Interior city. Frequent, full page, two-colour ads in the local paper, large, coloured posters everywhere, an intensive phone-out and continual TV and radio material all urged residents to vote yes. 2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 28, 1987 The irony of the situation is that tax- payers, who were never asked for their very fine park to be altered in any way, will have to foot most of the $200,000 publicity bill. City council approved the money for the publicity campaign and backed the proposal after being approached to do so, and appointed two aldermen to the committee: John Cowell and John Skelly. The question went to plebiscite Oct. 24, but a majority of residents, displaying common sense, defeated the proposal. The vote last Saturday was close: 9,913, no; 9,661, yes. Perhaps the cause of this win for the no votes was partly due to the committee overplaying their hand. One thing is certain, and that is that the defeat of the proposal enraged some its pro-business backers on council, including Skelly, who had the arrogance to state: “I’m absolutely appalled that over 50 per cent (of Kamloops residents) could not care about the future of this city.” The “future” however is strictly a cor- porate dream. Among the committee’s backers was Canadian Pacific’s real est- ate arm, Marathon Reality, which owns the Thompson park mall next to River- side and which contributed $25,000 to the “vote yes” campaign. The committee was chaired by local businessman Terry McQuillan, a con- sulting engineer. Truly ironic is that the “yes vote” spent all that money and the progressive forces in the community, lacking the resources, couldn’t do anything except write letters to the editor. The commit- tee’s members are madder than a wet hen because we beat them with one hand tied behind our backs. It is obvious that, although there was no counter-campaign against the scheme, working-class citizens of Kamloops were not about to allow anyone to steal their park. Bill Campbell is a member of Kam- loops’ Municipal Electors for Responsible Action and a frequent contributor to the Pacific Tribune.. Finance Minister Mel Couvelier claimed that health would: get a $300-million increase next year, blaming the alleged waste in maintaining emergency wards at all Vancouver hospitals. “We simply don’t have that kind of money,” he said. Belying that claim is the scandalous waste of funds to build the Coquihalla highway. The bill, originally projected to be around $250 million, has now been pegged at $1 billion. . Hearings into the affair have shown that ministry officials falsified documents to obtain more funds — at one point to pay off the notorious anti-labour contractor, J.C. Kerkhoff, for cost overruns — and may have illegally procured some monies not earmarked for highway construction. Such revelations prompted B.C. Medical Association president Dr. David Jones to protest that health was being “scapegoated” for the waste in the highways department. The Hospital Employees Union has fig- ures showing that, despite Socred claims that funding is increasing, health care spending has declined since the restraint | cutbacks package was introduced by Bill Bennett’s Socreds in 1982. HEU press officer Lecia Stewart said that health care as a proportion of the provincial budget stood at 30.2 per cent in fiscal 1982- 83. It has fallen to 28.6 per cent in fiscal ‘1986-87. “If the government gave health the same priority today, they’d need to put $168 mil- lion more into the budget,” she said. The’ provincial. government was also undoubtedly moved to put more funds into Children’s Hospital following the premier’ announcement that Victoria would be bail- ‘ing out the financially troubled B.C. Lions football team. An editorial cartoon by the Vancouvel Sun’s Roy Peterson depicting Vander Zalm, dressed in football gear, punting a baby through goalposts marked “Alberta” — 4 reference to the fact that frustrated parents were taking their children to Alberta hospitals — may have been in somewhat questionable taste to Michie Hryd. , But the member of PATCH said it still expressed her sentiments regarding thé shortfall in Children’s Hospital funding. Hryd, whose son was ill last June wi suspected multiple sclerosis and who was turned away by the financially strap hospital, got together with other parents who also faced the same problem or delay$ in surgery. : The $2 million earmarked for Children § Hospital meant the reopening of closé beds on Monday and the gradual rehiring 60 medical staff who were issued lay? notices. An entire surgical ward to have closed Nov. 1. PATCH _ organizer Diana Williams? also hailed the cash infusion but said sh¢ hoped appropriate funding would be avail- able next year. She noted that the $20 mil- lion earmarked for hospitals was only @ fraction of the estimated $250 millio® gained when Vander Zalm withheld # promised one per cent reduction in thé social services (sales) tax to fund health cat®: Faced with constant delays in surgery for her 11-month old son Shane, who suffers from amniotic band syndrome, Williamso® began phoning other parents and forme PATCH some three weeks ago. Williamson said PATCH was incorp? rating as a society to “make sure this thin’ doesn’t happen again.” “Children’s health doesn’t just conce™ Children’s Hospital,” said Hryd, who noted PATCH “grew out of parents’ anger.”