“PREVENT WAGE FREEZE’

Continued from page 5

posal for a control board as be-
ing unrealistic, he said that the
big monopolies can always tie
up a board and show good cause
for a rise in prices. Something
more than that is needed, he
said. If the workers can be told
to go back to work, ordered
back, even by the NDP some-

’ times, then the big corporations
‘can be told to cut their profits.

The Communist Party views
housing as a_ public_ utility,
which means that everyone has
a right to decent housing. Mr.

Kashtan ridiculed the home-in- °

vestment plan outlined in the
last Turner budget, which calls
upon people to save $1,000 a
year to accumulate a down pay-
ment on a house. At-the present
rate of inflation, he said, you’d

‘need double the amount of

money atthe end of the saving
period. The plan’s mirages and
make-believe are intended to
dupe the people. The Commun-
ist Party calls for lower mort-
gage rates, for rent control, and
the building of 300,000 new
homes annually.
Basic Pension of $250

Outlining other points in the
program of the Communist
Party, the CP leader said that
candidates of his party would
campaign for a basic pension of
$250, payable at the age of 60,
to end indignity and cope with
unemployment. The country is
rich enough to afford it, he said.

He also called for a guaranteed .

annual income of $4,500 for
single persons, and $6,500. for
married. with two children, and
for a minimum wage of $3.50 an
hour. (In Saskatchewan, on July
1, the minimum wage will be
raised to $2.15 an hour and,
sensing its inadequacy, the NDP
government of Saskatchewan
claimed that it was at least
higher than any minimum wage
called for by law in the United
States!) :

What’s Good for Monopoly

Fielding a question about so-
called black marketing in social-
ist countries, Mr. Kashtan said
that black marketing, arising
out of shortages within those
countries, was not a main feat-
ure of economic life under so-
cialism, but that steadily rising

Free air time
for Communists

The Communist Party of Can-
ada has met the qualifications
laid down by the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, en-
titling it to free-time election

broadcasts on radio and televi--

sion during the campaign.

Assurance came in a letter
from the CBC’s W. T. Arm-
strong, vice-president, public re-
lations, responding to a May 31
request from Communist federal
campaign manager, Bruce Mag-
nuson. Mr. Armstrong said that
upon presenting “definite evi-
dence of meeting the. provi-
sions,” after nomination day,
June 17, the Corporation “will
meet with representatives of
the Party to discuss an alloca-
tion under CBC Policy.”

The CBC provisions require no-
mination of candidates in 25%

of federal ridings; with six days

left for nominations, the CP al-

ready has 25% — 67 candidates
nominated. The provisions re-
quire nominations in three prov-
inces; the CP has nominated in
six. Other-provisions such as an
elected national
long’
_ course by the Communist Party.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE-FRIDAY, JUNE 14 1974—PAGE 10

leader, have
been met as a matter of

standards of living were main
features.

He pointed to the enormous
increase here in the price for
binder twine from $7 a bale to $25
a bale, and the hold-up in Sas-
katchewan last winter when
companies were charging $13 a
gallon for anti-freeze. :

Answering questions about
the effectiveness of the Com-
munist Party’s campaign, Mr.
Kashtan pointed to the news
shut out, and the limited res-
ources any working people’s or-
ganization has to draw on, com-
pared to the multi-million dollar
war chest made available by big
business for the old-line parties.

He said that. the Communist
Party had first raised the issue
of Canadian independence, and
the economic and political dom-
ination of Canada by big U.S.
monopoly. Now, he said, others
are taking that stand. It’s a case
where history proves who is
right and who is wrong, and
very often a minority view, if
it’s right, quickly becomes a
majority view, under the impact
of developing history.

Only Alternative

Regardless of the outcome of
the election, regardless of the
vote, the only party to present
an alternative to the pro-mono-
poly policies of government to-
day is the Communist Party, Mr.
Kashtan said. He said the Libe-
rals really stand for the status
quo, with vague promises as to
what they’ll do; the Tories stand
the same, but with a shift to the
right, expressed in their attack
on so-called excessive govern-
ment spending, which is really
an attack on unemployment in-
surance, subsidies, and housing
programs. The Communist Party
leader called for a shift to the
Left in Canadian politics.

French Language

Asked if he agreed with Stan-
field’s action in repudiating
Mayor Jones over the issue of
bilingualism, Mr. Kashtan said
that he did. He said that Bill 22
is not an ideal bill. We defend
the language and culture of the
French Canadian people, we ad-
vocate French as the language
of work, but we oppose unilin-
gualism as an expression of
extreme nationalism, while op-
posing the Anglophone chauvin-
ists who are against French as a
language of work. :

He said that bilingualism
should find. its expression in
state affairs all across Canada.
We stand for the recognition of
the French Canadian nation, said
Mr. Kashtan, but in Canadian
politics, we shouldn’t allow this
question to frustrate dealing
with basic economic questions
facing the Canadian people
everywhere in Canada.

Asked who finances the Com-
munist Party, Mr. Kashtan smil-
ingly said, the workers and
farmers, progressive _ intellec-

*

tuals, and a very few small busi-.-

nessmen finance us. We have no
other funds. When I travel, I
travel like all other workers —
economy class. But, despite dif-
ficulties, we get the job done.

Marlette, Charlotte Obse

saa
“1 wonder how the p

_ Lewis, Schreyer doubl

© Continued from Page 1
increases be limited to 2.or 3
percent above the increase in
the cost of living.

When asked in Winnipeg
about the Toronto interview the
Premier said it was “a grossly
condensed version of a 20-min-

ute interview” but he did not,

repudiate any of the statements
attributed to him.
While denying that he sup-

KASHTAN
IN WINNIPEG

Continued from page 5

come, Mr. Kashtan stressed that
the emphasis of his party’s cam-
paign in the present election was
on the need of the labor, farm and
democratic forces to curb the
power of the monopolies and
the multi-national corporations.

It is not the working people
who are responsible for the in-
flationary spiral, he pointed out.
They don’t set economic and
fiscal policies for the country.
Their wages are not the cause
for: soaring prices. They don’t
determine who reaps the bene-
fits from technological changes
nor which plants are to close
and how many employees are
to be laid off. All these are de-
cided by monopoly and its gov-
ernments in the interest of
amassing greater profits, -

In a direct reference to state-
ments made by NDP Premier
Schreyer of Manitoba in favor of
some forms of wage controls,
the Communist leader stated
that to advocate such a policy
is to imply that wages and not
monopoly profits are responsible
for inflation. That is totally false
and an insult to the working
people.

For an NDP premier, whose
government was elected mainly
by the votes of working people,
to come out at.this time for any
form of wages controls is doing
a great disservice to all working
people and is detracting from
the fight against the real enemy,
monopoly.

Not only do workers need
wage increases to cope with
Soaring prices, rents and taxes
but a wage freeze would under-
mine the very process of collec-
tive bargaining as well as the

right to srike, William Kashtan

pointed out.

A meeting of Winnipeg party
members addressed by the Com-
munist leader responded enthu-
siastically to the call to develop
the most aggressive campaign in
support of the Communist can-
didates. It was announced that
following the 22nd Convention
of the Communist Party a third
candidate had been nominated
in Winnipeg — Mary Kardash
— to join William Ross and
Harold Dyck whose candidatures
had been previously announced.

Election headquarters had been

Opened and the campaign was
beginning to roll.

Ower companies pass that cost along to

ported Robert Stanfield’s in-
comes policy, Premier Schreyer
maintained that any anti-infla-
tion program must include con-
trols on. incomes, including
wages and salaries, as well as on
prices, if it is to be effective.

This is not the first time that
the Manitoba premier had de-
clared himself in favor of wage
controls — no matter how he
sugar-coats the pill. He has been
criticized for that by represen-
tatives of the Manitoba trade
union movement. His position is
in direct conflict with the policy
of the Canadian Labour Con-
gress.

A meeting between David

Lewis and Premier Schreyer

was held during the NDP lead-
er’s brief stop-oper in Winnipeg.
What went on behind closed
doors -is, of course, not public,
but out of it came a statement
in which Mr. Schreyer ‘assured
Mr. Lewis that he was in full
Support of the federal NDP
policy of selective price controls
through a national prices control
board,” but still places the Pre-
mier on record as advocating
restraints on incomes in the
“upper echelons.”

Mr. Lewis declared himself in
full agreement with the state-
ment, saying that “the gap be-
tween higher and lower wages
has got to stop (increasing).”

This is in line with the appeal
made by David Lewis several
weeks ago to higher-paid work-
ers to go easy on their wages
demands so _ that
workers could benefit from in-
creased incomes.

This is but the thin edge of
the wedge to holding workers
and their wage demands respon-

lower-paid

sible for inflation. Who f
high-paid worker in these ©"
of galloping inflation?
should justifiable wage inet
for one group of workers rit
at the expense of another
of workers or shou e
ers join in winning
shi from their labor at
expense of the prices
and profiteering monop0
It would seem that sr
Premier Schreyer but
Lewis as well: is engagit
double-talk and hedging the @
question of how to fight
fects of inflation. At the of
the matter is the failure ©
NDP to adopt a fiym
sistent. anti-monopoly -
Only the Communis
clares that monopoly

Premier Schreyer’s 24V°
of wage controls is but
indication of his
policies. The trade
labor - movements 3 stab!

ve their clear an aie
Ne answer to the NDP PF’,
— that they are not Mae
accept any freeze on the of
incomes, neither from -
Robert Stanfield nor for ti |
Ed Schreyer. And votes in t
Communist candidates
election is the best way
this lesson home.

——————
WOMEN CANDIDATES

On CBC TV Weekday €
5, Toronto) Tuesday a
from 7 to 8 p.m,, interview"
women federal candidate?
include Liz Hill, A
standard-bearer in Toro”
Park. g

om)

Lobby to Ottawa

Continued from page 5

the-German Democratic Repub-
lic, North Korea, the Provisional
Revolutionary, Government of
South Vietnam and the demo-
cratic government of Guinea-
Bissau, while at the same time

giving recognition to such fas-

cist countries as Spain, Greece,
South Africa and now Chile,
makes a mockery of Mr. Sharp’s
oft-repeated statement that Can-
ada ‘recognizes only those gov-
ernments which are in control
of a country. ;

North Korea has had a firmly-
established government for 25
years, as has the GDR; and the
provisional revolutionary gov-
ernment of South Vietnam is
celebrating its fifth year, and
was recognized by all nations
including Canada, as a signator
of the Paris Agreement on Peace
in Vietnam. :

Remove Nuclear Weapons

Canada needs a Canadian
foreign policy which will work

for friendly relations with all

countries that starid for peace.
If Mr. Sharp wishes to win the
Support of democratic peace-
loving Canadians in the coming
election, he should take steps to
have Canada withdraw from
NATO, if agreement is not
reached at the June 18-19 meet-

ing to act on the Warsaw :

proposals. :
He could have all nuclear

_ Weapons removed from Cana-

dian soil, support general and
complete disarmament and the

adoption of an international con- _
vention outlawing the use of

a?

-refuse to allow inves

nuclear weapons, their manu ‘
ture and stockpiling.
-He could call for th? ig
drawal of all foreig? tion % |
from Canada, and rey |
the military budget. # (
Canadian ‘funds in Sout He
Greece, Spain and a ti
develop friendly trade erie!
with peace-loving coun anadi
which would help the *
economy, not rob us
natural resources.
Such proposals
wide support among
USA-dominated

N ; -
WILLIAM KASHTAD
TO TOUR ONTARIO

Ontario centres wher? .
munist candidates ©
ning. eee
The tour takes him me
sor — June 12; Kitch
Guelph — June 13;

Cannon Hall; Sudbury nit |
20 (public meeting); nce!)
— June 21 (TV appe? i
Toronto — June 26..Mr
tan will make a 5!
Montreal on June 25, |
gin a second cross
tour at the end of