By MAURICE RUSH .

Since early March Premier Dave
Sarrett has made a series of
Statements which have caused
concern among many progressive
and left-thinking workers and
brought many to ask: Where is the
P government heading?
First was his announcement that
8 8overnment takeover of B.C. Tel
8s been moved further down the
list of priorities, and according to
| © premier, will not even be a
Mority during the second term of
Office of an NDP government.
This was followed by a speech
fa premier gave before the annual
aculty of commerce dinner at the
hiversity of B.C. on March 5 at
Which he told some 400 guests that
)Wst because his government gets
;Nolved in some business en-
prises that does not mean
) 'adical policies are being followed.
| *€ told his audience that the NDP
/%vernment. has no intention of
Nationalizing major industries
| Such as the forest industry:
| He followed this assurance with
Statement that the policies being
i. veloped by the NDP are not
| fadical and follow a long historical
adition in B.C. “‘We have always
),¢ an exciting, colorful form of
jpulism in B.C.,” said Barrett
mins that during the 1930s B.C.
)78d “an innovative and dynamic
eral government”? which in
hy respects was as forward

Hoking as the NDP is today, he is

“ported to have told his audience.
n Premier’s comparison of the
a 'government’s policies »with
at of a “dynamic Liberal
povernment” of the 1930s is a very
)‘“vealing insight into the concept
€ premier has of the present
/80vernment and its policies.
Pr se public announcements by
a Barrett were followed
hin a few days by meetings of
€ premier and leading cabinet
€mbers with the top men who
.-Minate the forest and mining
dustry in B.C. The session with
© forest industry tycoons was set
A by Denis W. Timmins, president
Ino MacMillan Bloedel, who an-
:. ‘ced afterward that it had been
‘ as! ed the session would be off the
a, ord — meaning there would be
i Public report of the talks. But it
More than certain that the

i

si

premier repeated the assurance he
gave the forest companies in his
UBC speech.

The meeting of the cabinet with
officials of the B.C. Chamber of
Mines, held Thursday, March 6,
was followed by statements by
executives of the Chamber that the

NDP government had _ reacted

positively to their complaints “‘for
the first time,’’ leading to strong
suspicions that the government has
asked the industry to submit its
proposals for changes in the
mining legislation, and that the
government is prepared to make
concessions to the mining com-
panies. :
* * *

What is the significance of these
statements and actions by the NDP
government? Obviously all this
activity is not accidental. One
would be extremely naive to
believe that they do not mean
anything. Rather, it is more than
likely that the premier’s speeches

‘and meetings by the cabinet with

representatives of big business is
part of a deliberate and well
thought out policy by Premier
Barrett and the top government
leadership. Its purpose appears to
be to set out the limits beyond
which the NDP. government will
not go in policies affecting the vital
interests of the big corporations;
and to assure them that the
government intends to go only so
far — and not any further.

The objective of this exercise
would appear to be to get big
business to call off its campaign of
pressure against the NDP
government and to neutralize or
win over their support for what the
government is trying to do. All of
this is undoubtedly part of the
preparations for the —next
provincial election which may
come in the next 12 or 18 months.

Members of the government and
supporters of the NDP would be
guilty of dangerous illusions if they
thought that by making con-
cessions to the multinational
corporations who dominate B.C.’s
economy that they would thereby
lessen or give up their opposition to
the NDP government. These
corporations are the mortal
enemies of the working class and

‘i Sinking of the herring seiner
al ado last week, bringing the
Sas losses to nine men and 10
ish; Is in the 10 days since herring
‘ has

in emen and Allied Workers
Thy ct that all fishing vessels be
~Ught under the Canada Ship-
Th Act regulations.
j with jou is seeking a meeting
Ministe, Marchand, the federal
inelusices responsible to press for
Act. lon of fishing vessels in the

whe Bravado went down March
the loss of six men. Only a
fore, the search had been
| ce for the three crew
7 his twos — Thomas Goshko and
the gill Sons, Tom and David — of
Dsiz, hetter, Lady Sylvia 2, found
a off Nootka Island.
me oa other boats have also
Own since fishing began
17 after the month-long
-Native | Brotherhood
» but their crews were
by other vessels in the

the ards on all fishing vessels is

nly way to prevent still

losses which are inevitable
tuat; as the present intolerable
On exists,’ UFAWU

‘loss of fishing vessels
brings demand for action

president Homer Stevens stated
following a meeting with officials
of the department of transport
March 25.

The meeting reportedly ac-
complished little since officials
took the position that safety was
the responsibility of individual
fishermen and claimed that, even
if safety regulations were imposed,
the department would not be able
to enforce them.

“Dhat's; nonsense,’ Stevens
declared. “‘There are safety
regulations governing every other
dangerous occupation and fishing

should be no exception.
“How many more deaths does

the department require to
recognize the need?” he deman-
ded.

Efforts to gain inclusion of
fishing vessels, presently exemp-
ted from the safety regulations in
the Act, have thus far been suc-
cessfully blocked by fishing
companies along with the vessel
owners.

The UFAWU standing .com-
mittee on ‘navigational aids and
safety at sea has long sought to
bring fishing vessels under the
umbrella of the Act as well as
pressing for greater enforcement
of regulations that already apply.

it

people of B.C. and will undoubtedly
throw their enormous economic
and political power behind any

right wing political party or

grouping which it thought could
reverse the left trend represented
by some of the government’s
legislation; wipe out or reverse the
progressive legislation; and put a
big business government in office
more susceptible to their class
interests.
* * *

The recent provincial conference
of the Communist Party warned of
these objectives of big business in
B.C. It took a positive view of many
of the reforms passed by the NDP
government and called for a united
anti-monopoly movement to keep

B.C. moving left and prevent the

return of big business government
to Victoria. At the same time the
conference pointed out that the
mass movements of the working
class and other democratic forces
was essential to press the NDP
government to move to the left and
to counter the pressure of the
multinational corporations to halt
or reverse the left trend in B.C.

Recent events prove the
correctness of the Communist
Party’s analysis of the political
situation in B.C. The conference
warned that if such a mass
movement of the people is not

developed, right wing members of

the NDP government might decide
to retreat before big business
pressure and halt or check the
leftward trend in government
policies. The recent statements
and actions by the leaders of the
government point up the fact that
this danger is real. Any idea that
“it should be left to the govern-

ment” and that the labor and
democratic movements should not
put pressure on the NDP govern-
ment for fear of embarrassing it
plays into the hands of big business

-and is false and self-defeating. It’s

the surest path to retreat and
defeat.

* * *

The recent statements by
Premier Barrett and the meetings
with representatives of big
business make it clear that the
present NDP government
despite what many militant and
socialist-minded workers would
like to think — has no intention of
bringing about any fundamental
change in the control of B.C.’s
economy by the multinational
corporations. Even the U.S.-owned
B.C. Tel, which holds a complete
monopoly on phone services in
B.C., is not earmarked for public
ownership in the foreseeable
future! .

_ Inshort, the NDP government is
a government which aims to bring
about reforms to eliminate the

‘excesses of the big corporations in

fleecing the people — but not to
fundamentally challenge their
economic power in B.C. In other

-words, the limits the present NDP

government has set for itself are
those of a reform capitalist
government, leaving the capitalist
structure pretty well intact. Jt is
necessary for the working class,
and especially socialist-minded
workers, to see the limits of the
present NDP policy. When one
grasps this, the political direction
of Premier Barrett’s thinking
becomes more obvious.

* * *

The Communist Party in B.C.

: corporations;

here is the NDP gov't heading?

has taken a stand to join with other
progressive forces to defend the
gains which have been won, and to
press for a further left direction in
B.C. — to win many other needed
reforms as well as to begin to curb
the power of the multinational
corporations.

The main difference between the
NDP and the Communists is that
the Communist Party stands for an
anti-monopoly program which
would curb the multinational
restore resources
such as the forests to public con-
trol; nationalize under democratic
control the entire energy industry
in the province, and other vital
industries; place B.C. Tel under
public ownership; restructure the
tax system which now favors the
corporations. and eliminate the
‘sales tax; establish Crown-owned
manufacturing industries in
forestry, petrochemical, steel and
copper refining, etc.

In short, the aim of the Com-
munist Party is to weaken and
break the grip of the monopolies on
B.C.’s economy. Those who wonder
why the Communists run. can-
didates in elections, often where
the NDP is also running, should
realize the fundamental difference
in the program between the two
parties; and realize that only the
Communist Party stands for an
anti-monopoly program which
aims to break the power of big
corporations, and build peoples’
support for measures which would
open the door at a later stage to
abolish capitalism and replace it
by socialism.

The Communists work in B.C., as
they do across Canada, to unite all
anti-monopoly forces in a broad
alliance to work toward that goal.

Zz

can get involved right now:

at the QE Playhouse.

+4000

Wisi PAO ZAZZ—e

For the next two months every ounce of our
energy will be applied to one overwhelming
task: to raise $40,000 and keep our paper growing
and improving through a tough economic period.

There is a gap in our plans. A gap of $8,000
between the total of the club targets and our final
target of $40,000. There is only one way around it.
The clubs will have to go far over the quotas they
set themselves, and readers of our paper will
have tolend their hands to help fill in the gap.

We know it can be done if we can involve our
readership in the drive. Here are some ways you

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.

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Press

drive.

e Plan your

\1935- 1975

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 1975—Page 3 .