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CURB THE MONOPOLIES

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1970

MAJOR THREAT TO B.C.’s WELFARE

Curbing the power of foreign and Canadian
monopolies who now dominate every aspect of life in the
province and have seized control of our natural

An Indian youth writes on

problems of his people-Page I] —

HOME AND PLAYGROUND FOR INDIAN CHILDREN. Picture shows cardboard shack in which
Cowichan Indian family lives, amid rubble. A higher standard of life, a chance for education and

decent housing are some of the needs of B.C.’s native people.

Tenants lobby Victoria

“ The fight for a tenants bill of rights
a for action to halt runaway rents will
ach a peak next Tuesday, Feb. 17 when
€ tenants mass lobby converges on the
€Sislature to demand action.
ap dging from the number of tenants who have
Bina. registered for the lobby, upwards of one
‘Cred will be going from the mainland and will
. pated by a similar number from the Island.
ena tered buses will leave Oakridge Shopping
wi € at 5:45 a.m. Tuesday morning, Feb. 17 and
ae on the 5 p.m. ferry the same day.
trip cost is $5. For fuller details phone the
Tenants Organization at 688-1727.
c Cting B.C.T.O. secretary Bruce Yorke reports
x t they have received replies from the Liberal

and NDP caucuses agreeing to meet with the
tenants in Victoria.

Lobby members plan to buttonhole as many
individual MLA’s as possible to bring pressure on
them to end their ‘‘second class Citizenship’’, to
halt runaway rents, and to provide security and
dignity in their accommodations.

The lobby will be taking with it a petition signed
by large numbers of citizens which calls on the
government “‘to enact an up-to-date and equitable
Landlord and Tenant Act at the 1970 session of the
Legislature.”

Tenants will also take with them the draft-of a
Tenants Bill of Rights which will, among other
things, call for the setting up of Rental Boards by
every Municipal Council in V.C. to enforce the
new Act.

resources, is the most important issue facing British

Columbians today.

This was the main theme of
the B.C. Communist Party con-
vention which met in the Van-
couver Labor Temple over the
weekend of Feb. 7-8, attended by
nearly 100 delegates from clubs
throughout B.C. :

Speaking in front of a huge
banner which read: ‘‘Curb the
power of monopoly, build an anti-
monopoly people’s alliance,”
Nigel Morgan, provincial party
leader, said in his keynote
address that ‘‘the most signi-
ficant change in B.C. in recent
years is the sharp increase in the
power of the monopolies .’”

Pointing to their insatiable
greed for profits, Morgan said
the policies of the monopolies
“are coming into sharper
conflict with the interests of the
people of B.C.’’ He said the most
vital need today is to build the

unity of all anti-monopoly forces

in B.C. to beat back monopoly’s
offensive against the people.

RESOURCES ISSUE

Branding the Social Credit
government as the government
of the monopolies, Morgan
charged that ‘‘the Bennett
government’s record of give-
aways of timber, petroleum,
mineral, water, natural gas to
the big monopoly concerns is
unmatched in Canada.”

He said: ‘‘Millions of dollars in
potential government revenue is
lost that could easily provide for
needed expansion of social:
expenditures and help reduce
the excessive tax burdens on
homes and eliminate the hated
sales tax.”

Morgan traced the record of
giveaways to a few powerful
monopolies, mostly U.S. and
Japanese, in the forest, mining
and other industries, and said:
“Rach month brings new
announcements of fresh give-
aways. No: attempt is made to
process resources in B.C. The
Socred government spends
millions out of the public
treasury to build facilities such
as Roberts Bank to speed up the
export of raw ores and thousands

of job opportunities, while
claiming it has no money for

schools, hospital beds and:
housing.”’

“Stopping the plunder of B.C.’s _
resources by foreign and
domestic monopolies, and

adoption of new economic
policies to restore public control
of the people’s resources, and
utilize them for the benefit of the
people is one of the most
decisive issues in B.C. politics
today,’’ said Morgan.

LABOR’S FIGHT

Pointing to the rising struggle
of the people against the govern-
ment’s austerity program,
Morgan drew attention to the
fact that workers in all major
industries will be involved in
wage negotiations this year,
with over 125,000 workers
affected. “‘A period of sharp

class struggle is here,”’ he said,
and stressed that above all what
labor needs to win improve-
ments is unity and co-ordination

See CP PARLEY, pg. 12

NIGEL MORGAN was re-elected
provincial leader of the Commun-
ist Party at last weekend’s conven-
tion of the Party.