Rall

Vi} my
UU

Ran
elit

Be Port of more raw materials
a above, or will it provide for t

Teating industry? The people of
flopment. (Photo from ‘‘Men and

Will Rathie’s Port Authority expand the port of Vancouver for

such as the logs shown in the
he flow of processed goods from
Canada have opted for the latter
Machines” ILWU. )

The amalgamation of the dis-
‘ict of Fraser Mills with
“Oquitlam resulted this week
Mrs. Eunice Parker winning
*Seat on the school board by
clamation.

The creation of the extra
School board seat was
nounced on Friday, and on
Monday, nomination day, the
‘nly other new candidate for
School board decided he would
‘ompete for a two-year seat
4ainst two incumbents who
re bidding for re-election.
“irs. Parker thus succeeded to
4 one-year seat on the school

0ard.

Get’s acclamation

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1971

‘socialist

Eunice Parker

FOR BASIC CHANGES

Top-heavy with ‘yes-men'!

By MABEL RICHARDS.

_ The port of Vancouver can be
the doorway to expanded and
diversified trade. with China,
Latin America, Southeast Asia,
the Soviet Union and other social-
ist nations or it can remain as a
loading point for millions of tons
of unprocessed raw materials.

The appointment of a Port of
Vancouver Authority announc-
ed this week will in no way alter
the situation outlined above
unless Canada as a nation, and
B.C. particularly, get out from
under their obsession with US.
and Japanese markets. Speci-
fically we must begin to view the
vast potential of the markets in
Latin America, Asia and the
countries as the
alternative to being tied to the
fluctuating and erratic economy
of the United States.

When Transport Minister Don
Jamieson named nine wealthy
businessmen and one labor
representative to the new
authority last week, he solved
none of the problems that have
nagged the port’s existence for
many years. With a few excep-
tions, the appointees represent
those industries which are tied
to the extraction and export of
raw resources. It is highly
unlikely they will take a new
approach to the development of

the port or to the materials
which cross the docks for
shipment overseas.

Even more unlikely is the hope
they will fight for expanded
marine and drydock facilities, or
a ship building program to tie in
with a modern, efficient seaport
complex.

MORE CARGO

While at the present time the
port of Vancouver handles more
cargo than any other port in
Canada, revenues and wage
figures do not reflect the fact.
Coal, potash, sawdust, sulphur,
iron and copper ores create less
man-hours of work and less port
revenue than does general cargo.
The above-mentioned raw
materials make up the bulk of
our shipments abroad.

For many months the Inter-
national Longshore and
Warehouse Workers have
brought to the public’s attention
that there are insufficient con-

tainer facilities in the port of
Vancouver. They have asked the
Federal government to expand
container sites and provide the
equipment necessary to give
Vancouver a better compe-
titive position with the modern
port at Seattle. Shipping bosses
such as Edward Strang, (B.C.
Maritime Employers Associa-
tion) have in the meanwhile
concentrated on putting the
blame for port tie-ups on labor’s
shoulders. The situation will
improve only with the objective
realization that labor, the
shipper, and his consignee are
the ones who suffer from
inadequate and crowded work
conditions.

So far as is known the one
claim William Rathie,
Jamieson’s appointee to head the
port authority, has to dockwork
is his piloting of the infamous
Block 52 giveaway through city
council. With co-appointees
Joseph Broadbent, of the
P.G.E.; Glenn McPherson,
former chairman of Okanagan
Helicopters; Edward Strang, of
the Maritime Employers
Association; Norman Hyland,
B.C. Packers; Gordon Draeseke,
Council of Forest Industries, and
other divers and businessmen
connected with the Upper 400 in
B.C. power circles, Rathie is to
make some momentous deci-
sions. They include: How to
make better and more use of the
costly Roberts Bank port; how to
tie New Westminster, Van-
couver and Port Roberts facili-
ties into the most efficient
usage; how much money is to be
spent and who or what is to
provide the money, as well as
issue licenses, leases, contracts,
design, maintenance and major
repairs, etc. Last but not least,

to work out terms that cover
labor relations and collective
bargaining.

It is difficult not to feel
sympathy for the one labor repre-
sentative on the Authority. He is
Don Garcia, the Canadian area
president of the Long-
shoremen’s Union. His and other
union men will do the work on
the port and must cope with the
facilities, but as it is structured
now, will have but one voice in
the planning!

At the same time it is acknow-
ledged that every section of the
labor movement in British
Columbia has shown vital
concern as to how the Port of
Vancouver is to be developed.
That was made clear when they
brought in any number of rele-
vant resolutions at the recent
B.C. Federation of Labor conven-
tion.

CAPITALIST PLANNING?

These resolutions dealt with
two very important matters:
One, the expansion of secondary
industries in B.C. and two, new
areas for world trade.

These demands of labor must
be kept in mind in further devel-
opments on the waterfront. The
expansion and development of
the Port of Vancouver must
encompass improvements
which accommodate = an
increase in manufactured goods
for export, and wholly new
markets.

The pious hopes of a writer in
the daily press that ‘‘there has to
be some planning, some organ-
ized program of expansion which
will encourage private enter-
prise to develop our natural

See AUTHORITY
Con’t on pg. 12

Canada’s Communists

meet in convention

—See inside