BRITISH COLUMBIA Dorothy Vint dies Tribune staff members as well as her many friends were deeply saddened with the news this week of the passing of Dor- othy Vint, bookkeeper for the Tribune until two years ago. Only 61, she died in the early hours of Monday morning. Al- though a battle with cancer had taken up the last two years of her life, she continued fighting with the same courage and quiet dignity that had won her the re- spect and friendship of scores of people. Born in the Grandview area of Vancouver Apr. 18, 1920, she spent most of her life here, grad- uating from John Oliver High School. She took up work as a housemaid during the lean years of the depression before be- coming a stenographer in the Royal Bank at the beginning of World War IT. She left the bank after she married Sam Vint in 1942 and became active in the old House- wives League, one of several progressive organizations in which she played a part over the years. She was a member of the Kingsway Club of the Com- munist Party at the time of her death, having joined in 1947. She joined the staff of the Tribune as bookkeeper in 1972, and continued until 1979 when the lengthy treatments she had to undergo compelled her to re- tire : She is survived by her hus- band Sam, three sons, Peter, Sam Jr. and Jim, a brother Richard Foster, and six grand- children. A funeral service was sched- uled for Jan. 15, 1 p.m. at the Hamilton Mortuary at 38th and Fraser. The family has request- ed that donations be made to the Vancouver city council must — crack down on landlords who © refuse to obey our fire preven- tion bylaws. That is one of the main lessons of the tragic death by fire of four people at the Jana Guest House in Shaughnessy on Dec. 30, 1981. Three of them could probably have been saved if proper fire doors had been in- stalled in this boarding house, according to officials of our fire department. Thanks to the continual pro- dding of COPE and the Downtown Eastside Residents Association, we now have the necessary bylaws but they are still not being enforced fast enough or strictly enough. Usually some costs are involved in upgrading an apartment or rooming house to meet fire prevention standards. As a result most landlords do little or nothing until visited by a fire in- Harry Rankin spector. Even then many simply refuse to do anything or they ap- peal their cases which stalls the upgrading for many months or even years. Bylaw enforcement measured in lived Another problem is ,that the courts are not imposing heavy enough fines. One fine recently was $2.50! Is this the price of a human life? Must more people die before judges realize the need for substantial fines for those who ignore or evade fire prevention bylaws? The community services committee, of which I amchair- man, is proposing to coull that we enforce not only 0 bylaws but also the B.C. Hi Code. This is even stricter thi our own bylaws. 4 The inspection process ale must be. speeded up al landlords must be told that th in the distant future, but 1 now. secutors that we want heav penalties and that we will app? fines which are nothing moi fo human lives that are involv here. Rights of municipalities at issue By FRED WILSON One of the more confusing: . moments at last December’s B.C. Federation. of Labor convention was when the legislative committee moved non-concurrence with a resolution from the Port Alberni local of the IWA on the subject of municipal democracy. - The resolution condemned the so-called ‘Planning Act’’, recently given first reading by municipal af- fairs minister Bill Vander Zalm as the ‘‘Land Use Act’’ (Bill 9). It charged that the legislation will “further restrict the ability of municipal government to carry out its mandate to the voters and will give developers and speculators a free hand to proceed with un- wanted developments regardless of public opinion or the requirements of a rational planning process.”’ It then called for the legislation to be scrapped and for ‘‘home _ Tule’, or autonomy, to be granted municipalities over planning and fiscal decisions, and over the method of election municipal of- Two additional demands were for increased revenue sharing with municipalities and for municipal government to be granted status in a new Canadian constitution. The recommendation of non- concurrence was a shock to many in the convention hall. And when the IWA’s Clay Perry justified the recommendation with the com- ment, ‘“‘We are all opposed ‘to tion. The motion to refer passed, but the great majority of delegates sat silent while the vote was record- ed. The effect is to leave the issue open, although it is common for the Federation executive council to deal with unfinished business ac- cording to the recommendations of the comittees. The explanation for the position of the committee and the odd state- ANALYSIS Margaret Thatcher, but home rule for Port Alberni is going to far,”’ it provoked laughter from some and plain bewilderment from others. Former Port Alberni alderman George Mcknight, a delegate from IWA Local 1-85 who had been nar- rowly defeated in an attempt to win the mayor’s seat two weeks earlier, moved referral back to the commit- tee — a tactic which usually signals that the committee’s recommenda- Tribune in lieu of flowers. j ficials tion is unacceptable to the conven- FT aerate because the nutritional value of their products is equally questionable, political parties seem to be going into competition with the corn flakes manufacturers in offering ‘‘free”’ gifts. Last November we had an offer of ‘‘a gold- colored provincial contour lapel pin’’ from Bernie Smith, president of the British Columbia Social Credit Party. Now Norman’MacLeod, president of the Liberal Party of Canada, is offering us ‘‘a hand- some maple leaf pin.’’ There’s a catch, of course. Like the corn flakes people, both parties require you to buy their products by making a donation in order to get the “‘free’’ gift. From where we sit in Vancouver, the national economy is depressed, more than a million are unemployed, the gap between wages and pensions and the rate of inflation continues to widen, and in- terest rates remain at a ruinous level for homeowners, farmers and small businessmen. But from where MacLeod sits in Ottawa, per- suaded by his pollsters that the government “through the Liberal Party, is very much in touch with Canadians, ‘things couldn’t be better — ” . - . your Liberal government is working — quick- fly, coherently and decisively. In a remarkably short time it has tackled these issues of immense conse- quence and ity, giving Canadians a solid base for freedom and stability in an increasingly unstable world.”’ Unfortunately for the corn flakes approach to political promotion, neither the Liberal nor the Social Credit product even tastes good. oa * * * * | bee , Betty Griffin appealed the assessment f Hooker Chemical, by far and away North 'Vancouver’s least desirable corporate citizen. Although North Vancouver district council is agreed t its operations should be moved from the North , the likelihood of its taking any action is , SO that the company’s assessment and the ‘vestigate because, by its own policy, a plant slated taxes it pays remain a lively issue with homeowners who have to pick up the tab. When Griffin challenged the assessment it stood at $45 million. On this year’s assessment rolls it is in- creased to $85 million, with the largest increase for machinery — up from $25 million to $62 million. ‘*This only confirms what the Committee for Fair Assessments contended when I appealed Hooker’s assessment to the Court of Revision and the Assess- ment Appeal Board,’’ says Griffin. “*The question now is whether the increase in the : assessment on machinery represents previous under- assessment or expansion over and above the $14 million upgrading of the caustic evaporation system announced last year. “‘The committee will be asking council to in-. for removal should not be expanding.”” * * * * * Ts page from the Pacific Tribune’s municipal _ Slaffairs issue reproduced as a paid advertisement in the North Shore News in an anonymous attempt to discredit progressive candidates in the municipal elections, is still bringing repercussions. This week we received a letter from Sears Hair Bazaar addressed to the North Shore News (Pacific Tribune) asking for publicity on its after Christmas | hamper appeal. Obviously they had picked up a copy of that particular issue, concluded it was a joint publication and addressed it accordingly. We hope North Shore News editor Noel Wright shares our amusement. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JAN. 15, 1982—Page 2 ment by Perry is to be found in the contradictory policy of the New Democratic Party towards municipal government. The NDP is opposed to the strident cen- tralism of the Land Use Act, but it does not agree that municipal government should have its status, power and jurisdiction enshrined in anew Canadian constitution. NDP provincial governments have been firmly opposed to municipalities having any autonomous jurisdic- tion. The former minister of municipal affairs during the years of NDP government, Jim Lorimer, did brand the Land Use Act as “*fascist’’ when first introduced as the Planning Act. And the authoritarianism of the legislation justifies the spirit of Lorimer’s reaction, if not the letter. Under the provisions of the legislation, the entire province would be divided into regional planning areas and each area will lay out a comprehensive land use plan according to provincial priorities. Municipal zonings and bylaws would be required to con- form to the regional and provincial priorities. The terms of the Act require that ; the provincial cabinet appoint a regional planning committee to prepare the regional planning statements. ‘“Where appropriate’, the committees may include elected municipal officials, but it is not a requirement. This new appointed . body will virtually replace the plan- ning functions of regional districts which although not directly elected a previously, remain under the ect control of elected municipal governments. The regional statements which would spell out, for example, if farmland or industrial develop- ment are of a higher priority, would be approved by the cabinet. Local government would then be required to develop an ‘‘official plan”’ designating the land use for all land within its boundaries, ac- cording to the policies laid out in the statement. If it failed to do so, the legislation states that « minister has the authority to amé local plans and bylaws.” In f@ P: the act requires that the ministé st municipal affairs approve the pr even before the municipal cowl ¢: votes on the official plan. The Land- Use Act goes om) detail procedures and time lif for the development of offi plans and zonings, and the suances of building permits licenses related to land deve ment. @ The powers granted the min! of municipal affairs are incre He can unilaterally change or land use decisions wi reference to a public hearing; can issue restraining orders p ting a municipality from iss building permit or carrying out subdivision; and he can scrap entire official plan if, in his OF j nion, the municipal council’’ ( ] ] en et et OD OO ds or an ng to consider the financial effect proposed plan.” 4 The Land Use Act can’t bem sured only against itself. It is pat the same policy which denied couver a ward system, even aitt plebiscite and a majority vote’ “Vancouver city council instrud that a ward system be put in | for the 1982 elections. The c | also refused to amend Nanaime ~ ward boundaries in spite of ad sion by its city council. : All of this begs the qu which Clay Perry and the F tion legislative committee stum! over. Do elected municipal gové ments have the right to-plan, budget and determine the daries Of wards, or whether tions will be on an at large or basis — or are these functio provincial governments? How the democratic wishes of p within municipalities be respe Who will be accountable for de sions taken? a Defining the areas where prov) cial interests and municipal dé sions could conflict is academic the main point facing the movement and _ progressiv municipal politics. If the Land Act is passed it will be used to tré ple on communities and 4 municipal government which 2 tempts to regulate the develope! The Land Use Acct is in essen an attack on the democratic rig of people to have a say over development of their communi and municipalities. It must be posed; but to oppose the Land Act requires the defence “municipal democracy a autonomy.