British Columbia Facts now being made public demon- strate that the major prize the U.S. aimed for — and won — in the free trade negoti- ations was to gain control of Canadian energy resources. According to a story ir the Vancouver Sun March 18, the sweeping energy provi- sions of the agreement came as a surprise to most observers of the negotiations between Canada and the U.S. The paper reported that during the 16 months of talks, the Auto Pact, branch plants, grapes and garments were all on the bargaining table. Ontario Premier David Peterson is reported to have said that nobody even mentioned energy during the negotiations. Said Peterson: “On the Friday when we had that first minister’s meeting ... the day before the deal was done, energy was not on the table. It was thrown in at the last minute as a deal breaker.” A prominent Vancouver lawyer who followed the negotiations agreed “the rabbit came out of the hat on Jan. 2.” Obviously energy had been negotiated secretly behind the scene with the U.S. and was unveiled at the final moment. In effect; Canada gave up sovereignty over its energy resources and agreed to pro- visions which would ensure unlimited U.S. access to Canada’s hydro and gas resources. The trade deal commits Canada to remove all barriers to U.S. access to these resources. The province Maurice Rush It means that federal or provincial govern- ments cannot impose any taxes unless the same taxes are applied to Canadian consu- mers. It also means that Canada cannot cut supplies to the U.S. unless it chops its own consumption proportionately. Even worse than that, the US. is favoured if there is a shortage because the treaty stipu- lates that.Canada must guarantee that the U.S. will receive the amount of energy it received during the previous 36-month period, which almost ensures that the U.S. needs would come first. IN other words, Canada gives up the right to put domestic energy concerns ahead of American ones, and surrenders its sovereignty over energy. By agreeing to the continental energy deal, Canada strips itself of the competitive edge it had over other countries. What incentive will now exist for new energy- consuming industries to locate in Canada when they are assured the same cheap and abundant energy resources if they locate in the U.S.? Instead of manufacturing and job- creating industries in Canada, the new deal will encourage industrial development in the U.S., at Canada’s expense. But we haven’t got the full story yet of the sellout of Canada’s interest in energy. Pat Carney, International Trade Minister, let the cat out of the bag about the Conserva- tive government’s hidden agenda on future energy policy. In an interview in The Sun March 18, she said the new deal “‘keeps the government out of pricing. It’s a buyer- seller telationship — what the market will bear. The government does not set the price.” : In fact, the government has traditionally regulated the price of energy to Canadian consumers and for exports. To ensure ade- quate reserves for future Canadian needs, the extent of allowable exports and whether new dams are needed, were regulated by the The U.S. was given the energy store federal and provincial governments through the National Energy Board and the B.C. Public Utilities Commission. Is Pat Carney now proposing that all hydro companies in Canada be privatized and that federal and provincial boards be abolished? Is she proposing that the price to consumers of essential public utilities will be set by private companies at the whim of market forces and what the market will bear? If this is the hidden Conservative and Socred agenda, then consumers will be faced with sharp rises in energy prices in the future. These revelations by Carney throw more * light on the recent disclosure in the B.C. legislature by Energy Minister Jack Davis, that B.C. Hydro recently spent over $80,000 in a public opinion poll on whether the public favors privatization of B.C. Hydro. It also throws more light on persistent reports that Davis is involved in secret nego- tiations with U.S. financial interests to sell hydro sites in B.C. The free trade treaty opens the door wide ~ to U.S. interests, not only to acquire access to Canada’s energy, but also to dominate and control the energy industry in the future. That is the compelling reason why Canadians should reject the free trade deal and along with it the sellout of our energy resources. Wards, housing move When labour and community backed candidates head to the polls in Vancouver this fall, the future ward system, housing and fair wages will top the policies list. That’s the impression gleaned from the annual general meeting Sunday of the Committee of Progressive Electors, whose president, Jim Quail, predicted the tide is turning against right-wing politicians in the city and the province. Quail told a packed meeting of some 200 COPE members that the dominant Non- Partisan Association at city hill “‘will pay a political price” for their stand on illegal suites. And, he said,- Premier Bill Vander Zalm has faced a major political defeat over his anti-abortion policy. The meeting heard greetings from Van- couver Civic New Democrats president Jeff Hoskins. The new NDP civic group held its first policy conference the previous week- end. The two organizations, both of which will field candidates in the civic race this fall, have produced similar policies on housing, fair wages and several other issues. he NPA may mask themselves as liber- als, but their record shows they are carrying out the agenda of the province’s Social Credit government, elected COPE officials said. Ald. Libby Davies reminded the meeting that council’s dominant right wing abol- ished the union rates of pay policy for con- tracted workers, cut back on garbage collection and dropped a planned recycling program. Davies said the NPA was particularly vulnerable over its “complicity” in provin- cial government plans to sell off the former Expo 86 site to the highest bidder. Com- munity groups are organizing around the demand for public discussion on the fate of the site, crucial given the lack of low-cost housing in the city, she said. “Make no mistake about it, this is an anti-people city government,” Davies said. “People don’t know half of what (NPA Mayor Gordon) Campbell and his forces 2 « Pacific Tribune, March 30, 1988 are up to, because many of things they do are through task forces and secret meet- ings,” she charged. She said COPE, along with the Civic New Democrats, must get into “high gear”’ for a civic campaign. Phil Rankin, the lone COPE trustee on the nine-member, NPA dominated Van- couver school board, said the board is con- sidering a policy of allowing private firms precedence over the district’s own work- force in maintenance and construction — even if the private bid is more costly. He said this followed a private meeting with construction spokesman Alan Ben- nett, who is also a parks commissioner with the NPA. Rankin charged that the NPA has expressed token concern for poverty in the schools, allotting a small sum of money for hungry children and providing some special staff for four “inner city” schools, although administrators have identified 13 schools as requiring special aid. He said that despite ‘““mouthing some pious platitudes” about economic short- falls, the NPA majority still refuses to press the province to return industrial and com- mercial property taxing powers to the board. Former parks commissioner Pat Wilson said parks candidates will be opposing the Vancouver Aquarium’s plans to take over more publicly-owned land in Stanley Park in its latest expansion bid. Quail said the NPA aldermen are “‘split all to hell” on the ward issue and that may be reflected in the upcoming election, in which the question of implementing a 10- ward system will be on the ballot. : Quail said there will be a fight in the coming months over the ward system, charging that Campbell in a last-minute manoeuvre saw to it that a commission studying ward boundary proposals will only consider a 10-ward system. COPE has con- tinually argued for 12 wards, saying all 10- ward proposals will butcher traditional neighbourhoods. . SSS] PHIL RANKIN ... NPA trustees pose as poor’s defenders. up for ‘88 vote agenda LIBBY DAVIES ... Campbell’s council continues hidden agenda. Arkin to speak on Apr. 11 William Arkin, the U.S. policy analyst who in 1986 disclosed the existence of several secret military agreements which would allow the U.S. to assume control in Canadian jurisdictions in times of war, is one of a number of speakers scheduled to address audiences in Vancouver and Victoria as the two cities get ready for the annual Walk for Peace. End the Arms Race, Greenpeace and Science for Peace are jointly sponsoring a meeting for Arkin on Militariza- tion of the North Pacific. The meeting is set for April 11 at the Vancouver Planetarium at 7:30 p.m. Also in Vancouver, the day before the peace walk, EAR, Science for Peace and the Vancouver Chapter of Interna- tional Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War will be sponsoring a public meeting for Dr. Thomas Cochrane, the U.S. physicist who, together with the USSR Academy of Sciences, set up the independent joint U.S.-Soviet initia- tive to establish verification systems for monitoring a nuclear test ban. Cochrane, a staff physicist with the Natural Resources Defence Council, will speak in the Room 6 of the Instruc- tional Resource Centre at UBC at 8 p.m., April 22. In Victoria, renowned peace activist Dr. Helen Caldi- cott is scheduled to speak April 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the University Centre Auditorium. Admission to the meeting, sponsored by the Greater Victoria Disarmament Group, is $6 in advance or $8 at the door. Students’ admission is $4. i | |