S.¢ eh) cy, May 30, at noon. ‘AS HEARINGS NEAR Wedp. oMsulate in downtown Vancouver We Su Phort Qty ¢ 18'S of the Peace Action League are shown above demonstrating against dnesday noon. The protest will be repeated again next FRIDAY, MAY 25, 1973 U.S. bombing of Cambodia —Sean Griffin photo Far These. , tiss mcs’ Protest rally set for Ware, ¢ Y, May 27, at City Hall owinbie and 12th Ave. at Peak er Ml include among its llonay p S the head of the Na- Son, mers Union, Roy Atkin- Oth Paddy nsPeakers are NDP-MP tive tole anda representa- and Ajj © United Fishermen Man of tye orkers Union. Chair- or € rally will be Clitf: “Ouver n, named by the Van- jettteiy and District Labor he Spon representative of Ning; ering group, the Co- Cetneq 8 Committee of Con- Speak. "ganizations, will also rub p wroard with power to Wheses ecg, halt price in- : “ten Bian. back prices -members of the board. - The federal government has - decided to accept a recent recommendation from a parlia- mentary committee, to setup a Food Prices Review Board, but has beenstalling in naming the ROY ATKINSON Consumer reaction across Canada to the slowness of the government to act on high. prices, and statements made by Agriculture Minister Benson, that the publicare getting a good deal on food prices, have come under widespread criticism. - The failure of the government to actis playing into the hands of the Conservatives who have launched a national drive for a 90- day freezeon prices and wages— a totally unacceptable proposi- ° tion which would in effect leave profits where they are, freeze prices at their highest level, and . freeze millions of low paid workers ata standard of living below the poverty line. Elaine Podovinnikoff, rep- resenting the consumer group sponsoring the Vancouver rally, told the PT there has been a good response to their petition demanding federal action (see page 12). Vol. 34, No. 21 Much of the future of British Columbia’s energy resource development willbe on the floor for discussion when the hearings on ‘‘matters concerning the natural gasindustryinB.C.’’ open Tuesday June 12under the auspices of the * Commission. The June 12 hearing an- nounced Tuesday is the first called by the new commission and will include on the agenda the question of minimum reserves for natural gas for B.C.’s needs, present pricing structures, royalties on gas, and present agreements with El Paso Natural Gas in the U.S. which buys more than 70% of B.C.’s output of natural gas. Not on the agenda and the issue that will determine future use and development of natural gas is the question of provincial government takeover of West- coast Transmission which controls the natural gas pipeline in B.C. The demand for the take- over has been widély voiced in the past and in fact was echoed by Premier Barret soon after he: took office last September. The demand was based onthe monopoly ownership of West- coast which results in millions of cubic feet of B.C.’s natural gas being exported to the United States at what Barrett referred to as‘‘wholesaleprices’’ while domestic consumers pay vastly inflated prices— for their own natural gas. In addition, a newly-appointed B.C. Energy proper method of determining surpluses, taking into account the future development of secon- dary industry in the province, has never been used in assessing how much gas can be exported to the U.S. And while Westcoast increas- ed its profit 270% in 1971 with total sales of over $98 million, only $4.2 million accrued tothe province in royalties. The question of present and anticipated royalties on natural gas will be up for public airing at the hearing and several groups will be pressing for further revenue to be generated from companies engaged in resource exploitation. The Communist Party, at its last convention, called for greater levies against the resources industry as a means of phasing out the sales: tax, pointing out that the per- centage of total revenue de- rived from resources has de- clined substantially since 1958. The B.C. Federation of Labor also called for greater resource taxation along with a generalre- alignment of tax and revenue See GAS, pg. 11 GIVE TO THE PT With only afew days left to go before the June Ist deadline for our annual financial drive we still need $5,700 to reach our goal of $22,000. This is an urgent appeal to our readers and supporters. Weare sure you willagree that there never was a greater need for our paper. It is the only voice that speaks out clearly in defence of the needs and interests of the working people. We must reach and go over our objective if we are to maintain and extend the influence of the Pacific Tribune. That’s where your doHars can help. If you have not donated yet, please do so now. If you have given — givea little more to ensure the success of the drive. To each press club and press worker we say: bend every effort to go over the top by the end of the drive and strike a blow for peace, security and socialism.