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‘Sold American’

Not long ago natural gas was being squandered, as this burning
well at Leduc, Alberta, shows, while Canadians clamored for its

~ development.

Now, under the agreement concluded with Westcoast

Transmission, four-fifths of it will be lost to the United States.

Thousands utterly destitute

50,000 jobless walk
streets this Yuletide

By BERT WHYTE

It won’t be a very merry Christ-
mas or a happy New Year for
British Columbia’s 50,000 jobless
workers and their families, and
it will be even grimmer for an
estimated 1,000 men in Vancou-
ver who have reached the ‘“desti-
tue” stage—no possessions, no
clothes except the rags they wear,
no food and no lodgings.

Prodded into action by the
labor movement and the unem-
ployed committees of some trade
unions, Vancouver City Council
and the provincial government
have agreed—after a long period
of stalling—to begin a joint pro-
gram of emergency relief for
destitute jobless immediately.

The province will pay 80 per-.

cent and the city 20 percent of
the cost, and relief will be distri-
buted by the city’s social service
department. Single persons re-
ceiving assistance will get $45 a
month and married persons $69.50
a month. :
Don‘t think for a moment that
this decision will aid the vast
_ majority of the unemployed. It
applies only to a small number
of “destitute” cases — for ex-

ample, last year a similag setup |

resulted in 660 single men and

375 families getting assistance. —
Better than nothing, certainly

—but what about workers from
other parts of Canada who came

to B.C. this summer and fall hop-.

ing to find work? Most of them
were lured west by the glowing

accounts of B.C.’s “industrial
boom.” Yet all’ are ineligible
for this relief, because they

haven’t lived in the province for
12 months.
Many of these workers have

Continued |

ARMS |

all in our power as mothers, as
women, the givers of life, to prev-
ent the destruction of future gen-
erations.”

The appeal asked women to
write, wire or phone their MPs
urging them to oppose ratifica-
tion of the London-Paris agree-
mnt. :

reached the stage of complete
destitution. The six private re-
lief agencies operating in the city
can’t begin to assist them all.
With most, it’s a case of “pan-
handle or perish.” So they bum
dimes and snipe butts, and sit up
all night over a cup of coffee in
the White Lunch.

Here are the private relief
agencies which are trying, un-
successfully, to cope with the
growing number of destitute job-
less: ‘ ; :

Central City Mission, 233 Ab-
bott. Its 266 beds are filled every
night and at least 250 men crowd
inte the basement each morning
for hot soup and bread.

Dunsmuir House for Men, 500
Dunsmuir. Of the 40 beds, 25 are
given free each night and a 50-
cent charge is made on the other
15. Men are turned away each

. night.

Harbor Light Corps. 56 Powell.
This Sally Ann skidroad agency
feeds 300 men twice a day.

First United Church, 320 East
Hastings. A destitute man is only
allowed to call here twice a week,
when he receives a 43-cent meal
(‘icket or an article of clothing.
About 70 men line up daily.

Returned Soldiers’ Club, 445
West Broadway. Some 25 desti-
tute veterans are given food and
clothing daily, and the club is
helping more than 100 veterans
who have post office jobs during
the Christmas rush but won’t be
paid until December 28. ;

St. Vincent’s Home and Shelter,
853 East Pender. Only six job-
less can sleep here, but pack-
ages of sandwiches are given out
to about 30 men a day. :

Many jobless workers manage
to “hit” a bed or a meal at these
agencies only on rare occasions.
The line-ups are long and the
rewards meagre. So they turn
to panhandling as a last resort.

The plain truth is, jobless
workers don’t want handouts.
They want jobs at decent wages.

It is time our governments at
municipal, provincial and federal
levels realized that the only solu-
tion to unemployment is jobs,
and begin to carry out public
projects and follow political poli-

_ cies which will create jobs.

LPP asks B.C. pipeline
as Trans-Canada link

A. B.C. pipeline under Canadian control linked to the Trans-Canada pipeline as
the alternative in the national interest to the Bennett government’s deal with Westcoast
Transmission which will send four-fifths of the Peace River natural gas to the United
States. This is the demand voiced by the Labor-Progressive party in a statement issued
by its provincial executive this week.

The statement, signed by Nigel
Morgan, provincial leader, urged
that the government take no fur-
ther action on the deal with West-
coast until the legislature has
been given full opportunity to
discuss it.

Text of the statement follows:

A conspiracy is afoot to deprive
our province of the advantages
of natural gas! The benefits
which should accrue to the peo-
ple of B.C. as a result of the dis-
covery of this new source of pow-
er, are about to be snatched away.

Under the false pretense that
we cannot enjoy the advantages
of natural gas without surrender-
ing control of this vital resource
to the U.S., Premier Bénnett is
bartering away British Columbia’s
future development. Instead of
building a pipeline on the basis
of guaranteeing this province’s
ever-growing needs first and ex-
porting only the surplus after full
provision for future needs, Pre-

mier Bennett is subordinating our |

interests to the greedy demands
of a U.S. monopoly.

The Bennett government’s deal
provides for 20 units of natural
gas to be delivered to the U.S.
for every unit used in B.C.

The needs of the southern In-
terior, including the big indus-
trial requirements of the Trail-
Kootenay area, are to be supplied
by way of the U.S.

Previous U.S. objections, based
upon the fact that Canada had
authority to curtail the export of
gas as Canada’s interests. requir-
ed, have apparently been satis-
fied ‘through secret agreement.
Westcoast Transmission Company
(Canadian registerd, but U.S.-con-
trolled) has joined up with El

,

Paso Natural Gas and Pacific
Northwest Pipelines Corporation
to give a powerful group of U.S.
financiers complete control over
the development both sides of the
line. :

Three hundred million cubic .

feet per day for U.S. consumption
means the export of thousands of
B.C. jobs. i

It means depriving B.C. of the
possibilities of a vast petro-chemi-
cal and metallurgical develop-
ment which can now be exported
to the U.S. along with the cheap,
efficient power.

Tt means denying many B.C.
and Canadian communities the ad-
vantages of natural gas, because
instead of B.C. being tied in with
a trans-Canada system serving
Canadian communities from
coast to coast, B.C. gas will be
controlled by the U.S. grid.

It means surrender of Canadian
sovereignty and control over this
vital resource.

It is abundantly clear that the
people are going to be sold short

unless they take this crucial issue

into their own hands, unless they
make clear to their elected rep-
resentatives in Victoria and Ot-
tawa that they want them to put
Canada’s interests first, that they
will not permit the grabbing of

our natural gas or other resources -

by a foreign power.

2 We muster ©

® Insist that the legislature stop
the sacrifice of B.C. natural
resources to. U.S. interests
and build a B.C. pipeline un-
der Canadian control for the
benefit of our people and for
the development of B.C. in-
dustry.

@ Demand that no further ac- ©
tion be taken by the Bennett
government until the legis-
lature has been given the full
facts and had an opportunity
to debate what is best for

: B.C.

@ Insist that any B.C. pipeline
be linked to the national |
Trans-Canada pipeline east
from Edmonton, thus provid-
ing a Canadian market for
B.C. gas and assuring that
Canada’s future needs will be.
guaranteed before any ex-
port is permitted.

@ Ask the legislature when it
meets in January to take
steps to get the B.C. Power
Commission started on con-
struction of a Canadian-con-
trolled pipeline which will
provide B.C. homes and in-
dustry with natural gas at
the lowest possible cost.

The plot of the U.S. gas mono-
poly to rob the people of B.C. of
the benefits of Peace River nat-
ural gas can still be prevented. ©

Public protest can compel Pre- —

mier Bennett to withdraw the

agreement. We appeal to all
patriotic Canadians to make this

issue their own. i

Take this issue up in your org-

‘anization.

Send delegations to your muni-
cipal councils and MLAs to win
their support against the betrayal
of our national interest.

Flood Premier Bennett's office
with wires, letters and resolutions.

Sign and get others to sign the
Labor-Progressive party’s petition
for 100,000 names to stop the
U.S. grab of British Columbia‘’s —
resources, '

Continued from page I

L. S. GILMOUR, director

Cc. M. WHITTELSEY, director

U.S. controls ‘Canadian’ company

Eastman, Dillon & Company

Minneapolis Moline Company

U.S. Plywood Corporation
Suburban Propane Gas Corporation

oe

M. Lowenstein & Sons Incorporated
Suntide Refining Company ©
International Refineries Incorporated

Ford, Bacon & Davis Company

- FRIDAY
DECEMBER 31

9to??
‘ 4 te
FISHERMEN’S
HALL
138 East Cordova ~

Good Orchestra
@- Favors

Smorgasbord

Single Ticket $2.00
Double Ticket $3.50

NEW YEAR’S EVE
Pacific Tribune Cabaret Dance

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — DECEMBER 24, 1954 _ PAGE 12