THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER LABOUR COUNCIL PROTESTS TAX (Editor’s note: Following is the text of a letter of protest sent by the Port Alberni and District Labour Council to the Minister of Finance in Ottawa resulting from his recent an- nouncement of a tax in- crease.) Honourable Mitchell Sharp Minister of Finance, ; Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Ontario. Dear Sir: A recent delegated meeting of the Port Alberni and Dis- trict Labour Council repre- senting approximately six thousand workers in the Al- . berni area has directed me to protest in the strongest pos- sible terms your recent an- nouncement of a tax increase. It is our opinion that a tax increase as proposed by your- self will place additional finan- cial burdens on working class people, who are already over- taxed and incapable of keep- MAURICE CORBEIL ... for Carter Report ' ing up to rising costs of living such as housing, food, cloth- ing, etc. It is our opinion further, that this will create unem- ployment, thereby precipitat- ing a recession in the econo- my of our nation, and will do nothing to curb spiralling liv- ing costs. We are certain that the solution to the problems of our economy, and our pres- ent inequitable taxation sys- tem, is provided for in the Carter Royal Commission Re- port, and we would respect- fully request that all the re- commendations in the Carter . Report be implemented im- mediately in order to equal- ize the tax burden on our nation so that everyone will be paying according to their means, Yours truly, M. J. CORBEIL, Secretary Treasurer “OPERATION NEW CANADA" IMAGINATIVE PLAN FOR NATION OTTAWA — Two McGill University profs with a flare for the public eye proposed to the federal council of the New Democratic Party an imagin- ative plan to involve thinking people across the country in redefining basic objectives of the nation. To be called ‘Operation New Canada,” this re-think- ing is to provide a new un- derpinning for Confederation based on a “New Alliance” and a new constitution. The two .sponsors of the project were Council chairman Charles Taylor and federal Vice-President Laurier La- pierre. The project was enthusias- tically endorsed by the Coun- cil which is composed of mem- bers elected at the federal NDP convention, by provin- cial conventions, by the NDP Youth movement, and by the caucus. It is the governing body between biennial con- ventions. The meeting of Council held November 17th, 18th and 19th was opened to the press for the first time during. the discussions of party policies. The statement on “Opera- tion New Canada” said: “The NDP firmly believes that Canadians have more in- terests and needs in common than they have reason for separation. ; “The aim of this operation is to arrive at a declaration of common objectives which will form the basis for an alliance to achieve reforms so vitally needed for a new, dynamic and viable Canada.” “We do not subscribe to the oversimplification that what ails this country is merely a clash between two linguistic groups. We believe that Can- ada is a country of many soli- tudes — cultural, regional, social and economic — which combine to form a far more complex crisis than our tradi- tional politicians have been capable of: recognizing.” The operation will be car- ried out through a country- wide survey conducted with volunteers who will interview representative people. The ob- ject is to discover what Cana- dians really want and will agree upon by way of con- stitutional reform. Speaking to the resolution, federal NDP leader T. C. Douglas said, “Before decid- ing what sort of constitution we should have, we have to find out what the country needs and wants.” Canadians . generally want such things as full employ- ment, economic growth, good housing, education and an un- polluted environment. _ What powers the federal government must have to pro- vide these will affect the kind of constitution which is de- cided on. Such a constitution must protect the prerogatives of French Canada, he said. When the opinion poll re- sults are in and tabulated, a series of conferences will be HANEY BUSINESS GUIDE ESQUIRE MEN’S WEAR (Graham Mowatt) Complete Stock of Work and Dress Clothing “THE STORE WITH THE POPULAR BRANDS” HANEY BRITISH COLUMBIA held across the country in- volving people from all areas and all walks of life. These conferences will be the prelude to a special fed- eral NDP conference to adopt a Declaration of Common Ob- jectives. LOW WAGE RICE SHIPPED INTO CANADA? VANCOUVER — The Re- tail, Wholesale and Depart- ment Store Union believes it has uncovered a scheme by strike-bound Canada Rice Mills Ltd. and Martin & Rob- ertson Ltd. to ship rice pro- ducts from the southern Unit- ed States into Canada. John Squire, RWDSU In- ternational Represent ative, said the union has received information from reliable sources that the company is processing and packing rice at an Arkansas mill in the heart of the low wage area of the United States. Containers have been printed in Vancou- ver and shipped to the Arkan- sas mill since our dispute com- menced. “This is an obvious attempt by the company to circumvent a legal strike and force our union to accept similar wages and conditions that exist in the south,” said Squire. The Canada Rice Mills and Martin & Robertson compan- ies have been strike-bound by a strike of their 100 employ- ees since October 30th. The strike is over the union’s re- quest for a 50c per hour wage increase. Present rates range from $1.65 to $2.56. [ssn nS TO SESS SSO ad INFLATION "PAPER TIGER" TORONTO — A Lakehead University economist has written a book contending that inflation is a “paper tiger” in Canada. In “The Myth of Inflation,” Dr. K. J. Charles charges that many authorities give the impression Canada has the type of runaway inflation that has crippled some coun- tries. Actually, he says, Canadian prices have advanced slower than those of any other de- veloped nation, except the United States. “The aim of policy should be to stimulate growth and increase productivity, not to fight a non-existent inflation,” he says. The Hiss mM (Craftsmanship A series from the Masters dedicated in Canada's Centennial Year to the men privileged to wear footwear created by the skilled hands of Paris craftsmen, working in living leather for over half of Canada’s Centennial, VINCENT VAN GOGH, Black Crayon. The Municipal Museum of Amsterdam, Holland. OUR PROUD BOAST: “WHEN BETTER BOOTS ARE MADE, PARIS WILL MAKE THEM” PIERRE PARIS & SONS 1967 51 West Hastings Street Vancouver 3, B.C. Family Teamwork in Craftsmanship since 1907 Prof. Charles says popular ideas that wage increases are a major cause of inflation re- sult from publicity given to increases won by some un- ions, “often a corrective of long-standing disparities.” Inflation hurts the retired and aged, but a fraction of the output of increased employ- ment can be used to help them, he says. TOUGH A cop, according to Kam- loops Katie, is the only guy who gets paid to go around pinching people in the wrong places.