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Canada

By DARRELL RANKIN

OTTAWA — “The free trade agree-
ment is not directed to protect Canadian
industry, but to undermine it and to
undermine the jobs of Canadians”, Wil-
liam Kashtan, leader of the Communist
Party of Canada,
told a news con-
ference Feb. 22.

He called the
proposed deal “a
noose directed
against Canada
and the Canadian
people.”

The news con-
ference was part of . :
a new phase in the
Communist Party’s KASHTAN
campaign’ against free trade. A cross-
Canada speaking tour with George Hewi-

son, CP labour secretary, will highlight the
campaign and the coming federal election.

Kashtan, who is stepping down as head
of the party at its May 21-23 convention,

* will be speaking next in Alberta on the
same topic.

““We see that free trade may be one of
the main issues in the coming federal elec-
tion’’, Kashtan said. The CP will run 50 or
more candidates and “work for a govern-
ment pledged to carry through new poli-
cies ... policies that ensure full employ-
ment and policies that ensure Canada
speaks up for peace,” said Kashtan.

A call by some U.S. state governors for
the Mulroney government to drop its
efforts to protect the Canadian textile
industry is a warning signal to Canadians,
said Kashtan. “If the Mulroney govern-
ment gives way on the textile industry it
may give way in other directions, when

CP kicks off anti-free trade tour

US. interests see it is prepared to do so.

“Our party believes there is the need to
unite all progressive-minded Canadians,
irrespective of their political views or even
ideology, around two central questions
today. The issue of the survival of Canada
based upon a world at peace, and the
sovereignty of Canada which means
rejecting the free trade agreement.”

“We think that the time has come for
new policies, fora new direction for Can-
ada, and our party will do everything in its
power to fight for this objective,” he said.

Hewison, also at the conference, noted
“the absolute necessity to defeat the
Tories, a government which is anti-people,
neo-conservative in its agenda and the
favoured party of the United States
(administration) in the coming elections.”

Hewison is a candidate for leader of the
Communist Party at its May convention.

WINNIPEG — The NDP government’s
Speech from the Throne Feb. 12 contained
extremely sharp words for the Reagan-
Mulroney trade accord and threats to deal
concretely with the issue.

Declaring the.deal “a poor one which
should not be approved by Parliament”’, the
Manitoba government stated that address-
ing the issue will be one of its “highest
priorities”.

In the throne speech, the government
announced that a resolution would be
brought before the provincial legislature —
much in the way that Ontario did — to
enable members to assess the impact the
trade deal would have on Manitoba’s econ-
omy “and on the freedom of Manitobans to
shape their own future and that of their
children”.

The speech listed several principal rea-
sons why the NDP government opposes the
deal. Among them:

@ The accord does not achieve its major
objective of sheltering Canadians from the
“rising tide of U.S. protectionism;”

e It severely limits Canada’s -right to
review U.S. takeovers of Canadian com-
panies, “while the ability of the U.S. to
harass, block or interfere with Canadians
trying to invest in the U.S. remains intact;”

@ It gives the U.S. “far-reaching rights of
access to-Canadian non-renewable energy
sources;”

e For these huge concessions it brings
Canada “‘very little economic benefit;”

@ It calls into question the future of the
family farm;

e It threatens Canada’s cultural indus-
tries through retaliatory measures, and “will
have enormous impact on Canadian cul-
ture, our sovereignty and our national iden-
tity.”

Lone Robson, Manitoba leader of the
Communist Party, welcomed the priority
given in the speech to the trade issue. He
told the Tribune that in order to carry out
the promise of a full discussion by Manito-
bans, “the Manitoba government must
release — if they’ve got it — or do an
impact study on the province’s industries
and on the effects the trade deal will have on
us.

“The government says the deal will
increase jobs in Manitoba by 2-4 per cent
over the next 10-15 years,” Robson con-
tinued. “We believe this flies in the face of .
the facts that the garment industry here has __
little chance of survival, with some 10,000
jobs possibly lost. The fruit processing
industry, with some 12,000 jobs, will have
little chance of survival. Add communica-
tions and the impact on other industries, it is

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OH CANADA
WHO STANDS

ON GUARD
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difficult to believe the projected 2-4 per cent
increase is at all accurate.”

Robson criticized the provincial govern-
ment for not focussing on the fact that the
deal does not prevent the U.S. from launch-
ing “countervailing or anti-dumping safe-
guard protectionist” actions against Can-
adian exports, including hydro-electricity.

“That’s what the Manitoba government
is really complaining about”, he said. “The
government wants access to the American
market for the power that is to be generated
at the $1.7-billion Limestone project —
which it might not have, because coal pro-
ducers in North Dakota are opposed. The
question is: would the Manitoba govern-

Manitoba to oppose trade deal

ment change its position on the deal if the
U.S. were to accommodate that?

“We believe the Reagan-Mulroney trade
agreement is a disaster for the Canadian
people,” said Robson, “and should be
opposed as such. Its full impact on the peo-
ple of Manitoba should be brought for-
ward, and not just some half-hearted
opposition based on the blocking of possi-
ble sales of hydro power”.

In other areas of federal-provincial rela-
tions, such as the Meech Lake Accord, the
NDP government was more conciliatory. It
plans to introduce a resolution in the legisla-
ture to adopt the agreement, which the
throne speech said “has much to commend
ites

‘Like other provincial governments, the
Manitoba NDP government plans to con-
duct what it called “meaningful” public
hearings on the accord. The throne speech
also made it clear that Manitoba will
advance its own suggestions for “long-
overdue constitutional reform” in the area
of aboriginal self-government rights.

The throne speech, however, did not out-
line the mechanics of how this was to be
done.

“The problem is that they can’t adopt
and then reform the Meech Lake Accord,”
said Robson. “And this flies in the face of
widespread opposition within the NDP
here to it. The Manitoba government has
the power to stop the Meech Lake Accord,
but there’s a reluctance to take the federal
Tory government on.”

Robson said this ties in to other areas
where the NDP government throne speech
said there had been an “erosion of partici-
pation by the federal government” in fund-
ing health care and higher education.
Ottawa’s refusal to tax corporations, and
consequently its reduced federal transfer
payments, Robson said, has put the Manit-
oba government in difficult financial straits.
Its response has been to increase taxes all
around.

“The NDP government here seems reluc-
tant to expose the Tories for this,” said
Robson. “Furthermore, there is huge public
resentment at the auto insurance increase
here. The NDP government is on the ropes
because it won’t lead a fight and expose
what’s happening, it won’t lead a fight and
expose what free trade will do to this pro-
vince.

“Use the cheap energy from Limestone
to provide jobs right here”, said Robson.
“The NDP government doesn’t seem to
know how to hurdle its difficulties. If it
doesn’t, there is a good chance the Manit-
oba Tories might come to the fore again”.

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Pacific Tribune, March 2, 1988 e 11