VICTORIA MUST LEAD WAY By MAURICE RUSH hot Federal government’s ac- ae iNraising the Bank of Cana- + ee erest rate from5%4 to6"4 vee avea devastating effect shh € cost of living and will ie Ss 4 Severe blow to the hous- aie €eds of Canadians which is €ady at the crisis point. frite the government’s an- ace cnt Monday that it will intere a lower ceiling ‘on 5 St_rates charged by ral Mortgage and Housing for mortgages to municipali- ties, provinces or non-profit or- ganizations, theoveralleffect of higher interest rates will be felt all the way down the line. It will make housing for the needy even less available than now. According to recent figures it was reported that only four percent of Canadians could afford to buy ahome. That was before the latest boost in interest rates which is bound to reduce that tiny figure even more. It alladds up toa major hous- ing crisis for Canadians whichis worse in B.C. than in most of Canada because building costs here have risen more sharply than anywhere else in the country. In the last 12 months building costs jumped 17 percent inB.C. compared to 11 percent for the rest of Canada. Not only are very few new homes being built to meet grow- ing needs, but there has beena slowdown in apartment construction by ~ private interests who demanda bigger profit before they undertake ~ new construction. According to estimates, the Greater Vancouver Regional District will need about 10,000 housing units just to keep up with the growth in population, let alone provide housing for tens of thousands now _ inadequately housed. This situation is particularly difficult for young couples start- ing out to establish a family. They can’t get their own home be- cause the cost is prohibitive Finding an apartment which allows children is hard enough, but now its difficult to find apart- ment accommodation even at the current high rents. A survey in Vancouver in December showed that only one in 175 apart- ments are empty, which is a vacancy rate of 0.6 percent— the lowest ever. If ever there was a situation which proves the absolute bank- rupcy of the capitalist system See VICTORIA, pg. 12 “ii : Wh Xt Nt K . er Issue &ca hydrg © To > ga \ Canadiay d i The me ottant appre fro Tr Carp; ech t velopment. today That j Nergy crisis” in the U S. S s ment Ee Canadians welcomed the announce- eek by NDP national leader David €NDP placed major stress onthe Laws ast Th. . Nati . allure Stop pMPreh onal energy policy. cS. = *.. \ a ah be no doubt that one of the major tiona) e. © Canadians today is the need fora nergy policy which will see Canada’s S and petroleum resources used for rt Jor reason why this issue is so all- is because of mounting ™ the United States for a continental cae Bron resources which will see them Alleg « South of the border to meet the so- of the federal government to draw €nsive energy policy which would ~OVer of Canada’s energy resources has facilitated the north-south de- \ch sees increasing amounts of na- ang hydro power going to the U.S. 80vernmentinB.C.,throughits. . FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 1973 Zarrett govt olicy? hydro chairman David Cass-Beggs has outlined a grandiose scheme for the building of a vast continental hydro pool which would, through inter-connecting lines, make it possible to switch power between major population centres in North America. This continentalist approach by the head of B.C. Hydro should bea matter of major concern. Allthe moreso because there are negotiations going on now between B.C. Hydroand the U.S. Northwest Power Pool for a ‘‘full co-ordination needs. J gape agreement’ Ww tween B.C. an hich would see a closer link-up be- dthe U.S. Northwest, with more’ hydro pouring across the border to serve U.S. Obviously there are plans for B.C. Hydro to. go ahead-with plans fora south link-up between tates. This would be Canada: Premier Dave Barrett should. lose no time in clarifying where the B.C. government stands on this crucial issue. on nexpansionof the north- B.C. and U.S. northwest disastrous for B.C. and Vol. 34, No. 24 & rise again Despite attempts by the Liberal government to put 15° the most optomistic interpretation on figures re- leased this week by Statistics Canada, they show that the cost of living is continuing torise at analarming rate while unemployment remains very high. Statistics Canada showed that consumer prices rose seven- tenths of one percent in May which is still higher than usual. If the present trend continues the cost of living index will show a rise of 7.3 percent between last May and May 1973. This will be more than 2 percent higher than the previous year, which stood at about 5 percent. There is no cause for elation in these figures. While certain food prices, such as meat, showed a decline in May (un- doubtedly due to the beef boy- cott), early in June beef prices took another spurt forward which has not yet shown up in the statistics. While there is some Satis- faction that there has been a small decline in unemploy-. ment figures, there can be no comfort in the fact that Sta- tistics Canada reports there were 493,000 Canadians without work, 62,000 of them in B.C. IN THIS ISSUE Natural gas — hearings open Consumer protests against rising food costs and highrents are being stepped up. In Van- couver the Co-ordinating Com- mittee of Concerned Organiza- tions is continuing its petition campaign demanding that the Prices Review Board be given new powers to enable it to halt price increases and roll back prices where they are unjusti- fied. In the meantime, the newly- appointed board is doing what the public feared it would do: nothing. Taking the fight against soar- ing prices to the steps of Parlia- ment, the Communist Party Tuesday sent a large delegation to lobby MPs. The delegation demanded aprices review board which will have power to stop runaway prices and roll them back. (Next week the PT will pub- lisha special supplement deal- ing with the fight against the ‘high cost of living). -SEE PAGE 3