z Editorial The election stakes The swiftness — and the ferocity — with which Tory cabinet ministers and corporate heavyweights reacted to the news that the Conservative Party had dropped in the polls along with the popularity of the trade deal should leave no doubt as to the stakes in this 1988 election campaign. Almost as soon as the poll results were announced, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney warned darkly that thousands of jobs, and even whole towns would be in danger if the trade deal didn’t go through. Finance Minister Michael Wilson predicted that if the deal were rejected, the U.S. could tear up the Autopact — virtually inviting the Americans to do just that. At the Royal Bank, vice-president Boyd Robertson warned that the trade deal’s demise would result in “‘a 70-cent dollar” — a claim that even the bank’s chief economist couldn’t endorse. Ironically, the trade deal’s advocates have repeatedly accused opponents of “scare-mongering.” But it is those very same Tories and corporate spokesmen who are now scare-mongering on a scale not seen since Orson Welles famous War of the Worlds radio play. But there is more to it than dire predictions. There is already a $1.5 million corporate war chest which has been set up to attack the opposition and promote the Tories and their right-wing program. And that will doubtless be only the beginning of a down-and-dirty campaign as big business resorts to every device in a desperate effort to save the Tories and the trade deal. They have already turned their wrath on Liberal leader John Turner. But itis not John Turner who has turned the Tory tide, although the Liberals have certainly been the beneficiary of the change in voters’ attitudes. Rather it is the thousands of people in organizations such as the Pro-Canada Network, the Coalition against Free Trade and Citizens Concerned About Free Trade, which have made the difference. Their independent political action and their efforts in getting the message out to Canadians have gathered momentum in the last two weeks — and they’ve changed the political map. Over the next two weeks, those thousands of Canadians are going to need to be more vigilant than ever. The next 14 days are going to generate political heat of an intensity we have likely not seen in this country for many years, as corporate Canada seeks to reverse the Tories’ slide and change the direction of Canada along with it. The last two weeks have demonstrated that the Tory steamroller can be stopped. Now Canadians have two more weeks to ensure that it never gets started again. B-A- THE TORY ECONOMY NEEDs QUALIFIED STUDENTS Shea FIRIBUNE . EDITOR Sean Griffin ASSISTANT EDITOR Dan Keeton BUSINESS & CIRCULATION MANAGER Mike Proniuk GRAPHICS Angela Kenyon Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C., V5K 1Z5 | Phone: (604) 251-1186 | Fax: (604) 251-4232 | Subscription rate: Canada: @ $20 one year @ $35 two years @ Foreign $32 one year Second class mail registration number 1560 a — hen Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Finance Minister Michael Wil- son do the pinstripe-and-cognac luncheon circuit talking about Canada’s “vigorous economy,” you know that they’ve never looked past the corporate reports in the business pages. And if you restrict your vision to the boardroom, the view does indeed look pretty good. . According to the survey of 133 compan- study, entitled Trends in Labour Income, which shows that, ona Canadian average, “wages and incomes have dropped by 6.2 ies prepared by the Globe’s Report on Business Oct. 28, corporate profits again hit record levels in the third quarter of 1988, with the chartered banks leading the way. Overall, profits were up five per cent over the second quarter — which, we might add, was itself a record period — but the banks surpassed even that record with a 27 per cent increase in profits over the second quarter. Subsequent reports filed by British Columbia’s forest companies showed the same pattern, with Macmillan Bloedel leading the pack, along with Fletcher Chal- lenge Canada, the New Zealand-based multinational which owns Crown Forest and B.C. Forest Products. M-B boosted its nine-month profit by 18 per cent, from $217.7 million in 1987 to $256.6 million in 1988. As the Tories would have it, of course, it attests to a “strong national economy.” That’s a good line, especially at election time — except that, in this case, the profit- taking is coming in almost direct propor- tion to the impoverishment at the other. end of the income scale. The Globe’s survey comes just after Sta- tistics Canada released a new national per cent in real terms in the years 1978 to 1987. In British Columbia, the drop over that period was six per cent. The picture is even worse because the StatsCan study did not take into account losses resulting from rising taxes — which in the Tory government years especially have benefited the corporations at the expense of working Canadians. And the vigorous national economy that has given such changes to the corpo- rate bottom line has still not changed another kind of line — the kind that grows every week around the food banks and the church soup kitchens. * * * ver since she started assisting some of the old timers in the Ukrainian com- munity with various government forms, Stella Moroz, an activist in the Ukrainian Senior Citizens Club, noticed that some were paying far more than they needed to for Medical Services Plan premiums. In many cases, she tells us, seniors were entitled to premium assistance under the plan but because they didn’t know about their entitlement, they paid the full pre- mium when their annual billing arrived. PEOPLE & ISSUES ‘aR egg ee in RE PERI IE ET SS SE ERI SE As she later pointed out in a letter to Health Minister Peter Dueck, the forms that seniors receive do not indicate clearly who qualifies for premium assistance. And even though, in many cases, the government’s own records would show which seniors do qualify, those who over- pay get no notice from the health ministry to that effect — and no refund from the government. In her letter, Moroz asked that seniors be given a form similar to that sent out by municipalities for property taxes, clearly showing what amounts are payable depending on the pension and supple- ments received. It sounds like a reasonable request to us. But Dueck, it appears, wasn’t really listen- ing. In an Oct. 7 reply, he gave her a long song and dance about the government's need to recover 50 per cent of medical costs from premiums and then reminded . her that applications for premium assist- ance are available “on request.” Mean- while, many seniors continue to pay the full amount, unaware that they may qual- ify for reduced premiums. (And it’s unlikely that the Socreds will be greatly concerned about the windfall revenue.) But Moroz says she hasn’t given up and the seniors club will continue to press the government for the change. pvr who was listening to the conversation at the Progressive Con- servative Party’s table at Sunday’s all-can- didates- meeting in North Vancouver would have wondered how it was that several Tory campaign workers were going to be taking part in the election process in the U.S. on Nov. 8. U.S. repre- sentatives, apparently from the Republi- can campaign, were instructing them to drive to Bellingham where they were to be picked up and assigned to various polling stations as scrutineers. | We wonder if there is a reciprocal © arrangement — and how many Ameri- cans are going to be coming the other direction to take part in the Canadian elec- tion campaign, acting as scrutineers for the Tory campaign. And we also wonder — is this yet another unseen Tory dimension to the Canada-US. trade agreement? * * ow you can fight free trade and enjoy Canada’s top performers for the incredibly cheap price of $5.50. The Coali- tion Against “Free” Trade presents the concert Stop the Deal, I Want to Get Off, at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver Saturday, Nov. 12, 8:30 p.m. It features k.d. lang, Spirit of the West, Shari Ulrich, Simple Folk, Valdy and a host of others. Tickets are available at the Committee of Progressive Electors office, 2240 Com- mercial Dr. and several other outlets. Phone 434-7611: And be there. ae 4 e Pacific Tribune, November 7, 1988