Hemisphere parley © opens in Montreal Fifteen British Columbians from many walks of life are attending the Hemispheric Conference to End the Vietnam War which opens in Montreal Thursday of this week and will continue until December 1. Joining with large delegations from other parts of Canada, Latin American countries, and the U.S. the. B.C. representatives will seek ways at the Montreal parley to co- ordinate efforts looking towards an early end to the war. Person from B.C. attending are: Dr. A. M. Inglis, Canadian Aid to Vietnam Civilians; Mrs. Sheila Young, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; Dr. James Foulks, Department of Pharmacology, UBC; Mrs. Rosaleen Ross, B.C. Peace Council; Harvey Murphy, representing a committee of B.C. trade unionists. Also attending are: Dr. Kathleen Aberle, Department of Anthropology, Simon Fraser University; Mrs. Harry Rankin; Mrs. Lillian Zimmerman, Ad Hoc Committee of members, of the Jewish Community Against the War in Vietnam; John Boylan; -Mr. Ely Engle, Canadian Committee for Nuclear Disarmament; Mrs. Alice Moore, provincial council AUUC and Vernon Peace Committee; and Frank Cox of Victoria, B.C. He is being joined by three other young people from Victoria. At press time the organizers of the conference had received word that three representatives from the Democratic Republic ar Vietnam. and two representatives from the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam will be attending the parley. Keynote speaker will be Wilfred Burchett, Mrs. Martin Luther King will be among the honored guests. HARVEY MURPHY, above, and DR. ALAN INGLIS, below, are among 15 British Columbians attending the Montreal parley. Soviet citizens visit city Thirteen Soviet citizens, some of them leading agriculturalists and educational workers, are visiting Vancouver this week for four days. While here they will see Vancouver's ‘sights and study the economy, agriculture, law and education. The delegation has already visited several other Canadian cities. Included in the delegation is Mrs. Zinada Maslova, who is vice- chairman of the board of education in Moscow. Leader of the group is Vetheslrav Chikun, a mayor of a district of Moscow. A reception was held Tuesday at the Russian Peoples Home where a warm weicome was extended to the guests. Landlords spy on fenants Cont'd. from pg. 1 exhorbitant rent increases and other unfair practises. At the top of the list for the proposed Charter of Tenants Rights is the establishment of a three member Rental Appeal Board by the city to include a representative of the tenants, landlord, and a full time chairman appointed by the city. Tenants and their associations would have the right to appear before the Board to present their case. The Tenants Council also proposes that such a charter spell out the right of a tenant toa years lease if he so desires; that notice to increase rents be given at least three clear months in advance; and that evictions be prohibited during the months of November through February. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 29, 1968—Page 12 The Charter would also require that landlords maintain certain conditions in apartments, such as proper heat at all times; regular painting of suites every three years; electrical, plumbing, heating and water facilities be repaired promptly; and that the landlord have the responsibility to provide adequate safety and health conditions. The proposed Charter would also require landlords to supply the Rental Appeals Board with any changes in rents and any other statistics required; and that the rental structure in each apartment be prominently displayed in the foyer. Tenants also urged that the Charter of Tenants include a prohibition against racial and religious discrimina- tion. * Rights — LABOR SCENE: Grape boycott pickets extend across Canada — Supermarkets in Ottawa have been warned by the Ottawa Labor Council (CLC) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) that they will be picketed if they sell California grapes, and especially during the Christmas season. Also in Toronto last week some 800 citizens staged a march in support of the striking California grape workers and the grape boycott. This demonstration signalized the day designated as ‘“‘Boycott California Grapes Day’’ by Toronto’s Mayor William Dennison. (Mayor Tom ‘Terrific’? Campbell of Vancouver please note). At a big rally in a prominent Toronto cathedral the marchers, which included church leaders, MLA’s, etc., were also urged to picket all grocery stores which do not cooperate with the grape boycott effort. At last week’s session of the VLC it was reported that the committee working on the California grape boycott issue had been assured by ‘‘The Bay”’ management that they would not handle California grapes until the dispute was ended. Committee spokesmen also expressed optimism that other big chain outlets with whom they are in contact, may take similar action. * KO Despite continued efforts on the part of the strike-bound Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to reach agreement centers of Kamloops, Vernon and Kelowna, last week’s conference between CUPE and the Okanagan Mainline Municipal Association (OMMA) representing these and other municipalities, again ended in deadlock. While CUPE negotiations committee made extensive efforts and concessions in the hope of solving the crisis, the OMMA chief spokesman R. S$. S. . Wilson of Vancouver brushed off all CUPE proposals for settlement as ‘‘unrealistic’’. in the Okanagan - Vernon’s civic workers have been on strike since September, with Kamloops and Kelowna taking similar action a few weeks later. Now Penticton and Revelstoke are facing similar action unless OMMA climbs off its high horse and gets down to bargaining in good faith, a principle that has been painfully absent since OMMA insisted on regional bargaining. At last Thursday’s conference between the union and OMMA, the union scaled its wage demands down from 12 to 10 percent in an effort to get serious negotiations under way. To these and other propositions for settlement the spokesmen for OMMA, attempting to pose as the ‘‘guardians’’ of the — taxpayer’s dollar had only one — answer to all union proposals, Sno! Following the conference the union charged that OMMA are not bargaining in good faith, and adopting a very provocative attitude . Unless an early settlement can be achieved there is every likelihood that Penticton and — Revelstoke civic workers will also ‘‘hit the -bricks’’ and thus extend a growing regional crisis. So far in order to reach a settlement it has been the union that has made all the concessions. et Protest RCMP action Cont'd from pg. 1 indicated they do not agree with the manner in which our universities are operated. The major demands being put forward by the students are: (1) That the present restrictive admission policy at SFU (and it is charged UBC is planning to do the same) be changed; (2) That students from junior colleges be given credits, instead of these credits being denied arbitrarily as is being done now; (3) That student bodies have an opportunity to investigate administration files to ensure there is no discrimination; and (4) That more funds be directed © by the provincial government for higher education. It was the refusal of the SFU Senate to discuss these demands with the students that aroused the student community and led to the sit-in and the subsequent disgraceful police action by the acting president of SFU and the attorney general’s department. These problems are not resolved by massive police actions, such as Mayor Daley of Chicago engaged in, with fire- trucks standing by, and mass arrests. In this particular instance 114 students have been arrested and charged. One of the- Natal disaster points up strip mining hazard Last Sunday’s tragedy at Natal, B.C: in which a mountain of mud, rocks and Kaiser Coal Company mining waste crashed down on the Trans-Provincial Highway near Natal, crushing to death two occupants in a car caught in the slide, points up the contention in this week’s PT editorial on the hazards and destructiveness of strip mining. : It also points up the fact that Kaiser Coal Company, the recipients of this vast B.C. coal resource from the Bennett government was not placed under any obligations whatsoever, either as the ‘‘reclamation’’ of the area so “‘mined’’, or under any restrictions of statutory law affecting the public safety. No such laws exist, federally or provincially. Thus while the Natal ‘“‘Aberfan’ was the mountain of waste left in the wake of Kaiser ‘“‘mining’’ operations that crashed down on the highway killing two people and their dog, there may yet be more when the debris is cleared away. It is already alleged that “‘no one is to blame,” and that in- cludes primarily the company and the government. That excuse was widely peddled during the Aberfan, Wales slide tragedy which buried over one hundred school children alive. It was ultimately and completely exploded — as it will be in this instance also. The government of British Columbia and the Kaiser Coal Company are the guilty parties in this initial tragedy of strip mining in B.C. - higher Whatever one may think of this major demands now of the students is that the charges against those arrested be dropped. SS An example of the way university students see the problems was given this week bys Al Birnie, editor of The Ubyssey _.. Ina special article in the — November 25 issue Birnie writes: ‘© The people who dictate higher education policy in B.C. have shown once again, that they are unable and unwilling to - manage public affairs in the best interests of the people of the province. “The education policies of this — province and university are closely tied to the resource- exporting economic nature of industry and government in the province. _“As the government spends money for dams and superports to export electricity and raw minerals, and ultimately, water. the major industries base their operations on export of minerals and lumber, and the university exports technically-trained pel sonel. “The lack of major secondary- industry development in the province, and even rejection by government and _ industry officials of this as a future goal. accounts for the lack of employment opportunities for youth, given the increasing mechanization of raw material — extraction and shipping pre- cedures. “This results in youth being crammed into inadequate junior colleges and universities to get them out of the way, after they graduate from high schools, with no provision made for their employment after they have completed their higher educa- tion.” Working people should not — allow themselves to be taken in by the propaganda of the press. radio and TV to oppose the students’ fight for justice and education needs. or that tactic they use to draw attention to their demands, the main body of university students are deeply concerned about present trends, and are asking ~ for action which is to the advantage of higher education and the needs of this province.