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FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1967 VOL. 28, NO. 17 <> °°

Offers crying towels to municipalities

BENNETT REJECTS TAX AID

Huge tax boost
hits homeowners |

Homeowners in B.C. cities and municipalities are
up in arms this week over the sharp rise in civic taxes.
The increase is the largest in more than 10 years. Hard-
est hit are Vancouver and Lower Mainland centres.

According to civic officials,
here are the average tax in-

creases on homes expected in
Lower Mainland centres:

0.6, 0.0 0.0.6 0.6.0
ete teterere erste.
"eee ee ee ene 8

” Union of B,C. Municipalities have
called an emergency conference
this week on the tax crisis.

Meanwhile, Premier Ben-
nett arrogantly referred to civic
leaders protesting the lack ofaid
from Victoria as “cry babies,”
and offered them crying towels,
He indicated that the Socred gov-
ernment intends to do nothing to
help the hard-pressed munici-

_ palities.

-e Vancouver, $23.45.
e North Vancouver District, $35

e Burnaby, $25 to $50

969696",

e New Westminster, $26

Many Interior and Vancouver
Island cities and towns are also
hard hit, One of the biggest fac-
tors accounting for the tax in-
crease is the failure of the pro-
vincial government to meet rising
education costs. Leaders of the

In Vancouver, Alderman Harry
Rankin this week opened a cam- |
paign for drastic revision of the |
city’s tax structure and for great- |
er aid from senior governments.
Following are the main points of
his statement:

on e"e eee ee ee ste ee

4,0,0,0,0,0.¢.¢ 0.0
esecesetete terete e'

Attend the giant May Day rally, Pender Auditorium,
Sunday, 8 p.m. For details see page 12.

IN VIETNAM:

eR

Vancouver homeowners will be
faced with an 11 percent boost |
in taxes this year. Fortheaver-

Se

More U.S. escalation

The U.S. took another long step towards escalating the war in
Vietnam with its recent bombing of Haiphong and Hanoi, and air
strikes against North Vietnamese airfields.

This time Pentagon officials did not deny that their bombers
struck inside both of the two largest populated centres in North

Vietnam, Tuesday,

to widen its raids against the north to inc

hitherto immune,

Washington officials said that the U.S, plans’

lude targets which were

Also last week a Pentagon official said that in the last month
U.S. bombers had rained 77,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam.
The peak bomb load dropped on Europe during World War II in

any month was 80,000 tons.

Because of the difference in the size

of the target, the U.S, bombing of Vietnam is now the most concen-

trated in the history of war.

North. Vietnam charged Tues-
day that one of the targets bombed
by U.S, planes on the outskirts
of Hanoi was a hospital, and that
more than 100 persons were killed
and wounded in the attack. Radio
Hanoi said that 15 U.S. planes had
been downed during the attack on
the two cities, and that in Hai-
phong the British merchant ship,
Dartford, was hit causing injur=
ies to six crewmen.

These latest raids have brought
a renewal of world wide protests,
In the U.S, the National Commit-
tee for aSane Nuclear Policy sent
a letter to President Johnson,
signed by Dr. Benjamin Spock,
protesting the bombing of Hai-
phong,

The bombing, said the letter,
was “no doubt a preview of things
to come as our Administration
pursues its policy of escala-
tion,” and it declared that ‘‘no
negotiations are possible as long
as American bombs fall on North
Vietnam.”

Many leading American citi-
zens, including Senators, have
protested the new escalation as

‘¢madness’’ and sure to lead to a

bigger war.

In Ottawa Prime Minister
Pearson said the Canadian gov-~
ernment had not protested the
bombings..because it didn’t have

enough informations + « -

Expressing growing opposition
to the draft in the U,S,, world
heavyweight boxing champion,
Cassius Clay, refused to be
drafted. He said “the real enemy
of my people is right here,”

The world this week moun-
ed the death of Soviet astro-
naut Vladimir Komaroy,
above, who was killed when
the straps of his parachute
twisted and caused his space-
ship, Soyuz |, to descend at
foo great .a speed.

age homeowner it will amount
to $23.45.

Most of this increase is due to
higher educational costs, over
which City Council has no control,
At a time when school costs in
Vancouver are up by $4.2 mil-
lion over last year, the provincial
government has sharply reduced
its educational grant to Vancou-
ver by $860,000. Premier Ben-
nett is shortchanging us on edu-
cation,

The cut in educational grants
comes right on the heels of the
decision of B,C, Hydro (owned
by the province) to boost its elec-
tricity rates to homeowners by
an average of $1.50 a month or
$18.00 a year.

And it comes at a time when
Premier Bennettis pressing hard
to force Vancouver to accept his
bridge scheme (another bridge at
First Narrows) which would un-
load a further $13 million in new
costs on Vancouver and adjoining
municipalities,

Homeowners face an impos-
sible situation. We just can’t
stand any heavier tax burdens,
And yet, unless some drastic
changes are made in the tax set-
up, taxes on homes will continue
to go up and up,

Let’s face it — the whole sys-
“x See TAX, pg. 3