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intense news blackout of the Communist election campaign. The
lew took place in front of the Toronto Star, the worst offenders.

Decent annual income is
4 must for all Canadians

bantNDSOR — The Communist
fey ‘S in favor of a guaran-
annual income for all at
heal, Which will allow for
all end decency standards of
lar adians, Ed. McDonald de-
here. at a Public Forum session

cont Bat We propose is that in-
Sho] Security and pensions
Of g Not go below a minimum
and gs 0 for a single person,
Tight p¢000 for a family, as a
Means €very Canadian with no
ndj est,” the Communist
im tte Stated.
Come. basic thing about in-
ary Security, or a minimum
Working ¢ nual income for
Tus e People is that there
*00 pe, a minimum wage of
fame ad hour, so that no wage
t Subsis taxpayer is called upon
tts g. ize low wage employ-
at shop operators.
.'Pon the foregoin
tinpjg nSider it is ees
N arrive at a minimum
ve stated, but with the
inj m derstanding that this
ily j . be adjusted periodi-
Ving ; “CCordance with cost of
ca eases,
wet and we do not propose
a g oeatanteed annual in-
nee sad be a substitute for
as, isha security provi-
Ytance | 8S unemployment in-
family allowances.
tS ete. pompensation, pen-
Slon sh. a4 that the GAI pro-
int he be for adjustment
Me .. SUarantee a level of

Now 8 i
nae “Y other payment
ely effect payments

pe SW
ve Pased

of “Ant yp. Ave become re-
ft While a growing body
nteecome sia young people
he °d en Perfluous, an un-

Boe. These are
de, &h Jce€s of a so-called
“higg terprige system hich
8 and old the right
Conomic insecurity
yment, these have
Primary threat to
People of our coun-
Workers of hand or

theme t
thy Workin
Re be th g
cy ey

Ork;

ge People are not op-

hy” What ation, to the con-

are) are recogniz-
€manding is its
form of reduced

hours of work, with no reduc-
tion in take-home pay, and a
redistribution of the national in-
come which could begin to cope
with poverty. Instead, the fruits
of automation are going to cor-
porate wealth which is amass-
ing huge profits by intensified
exploitation through technolo-
gical changes, made possible by
government free grants. In the
meantime working people are
being blamed for inflation, when
the truth of the matter is that

the U.S. war in Indochina, and.

the present Liberal Govern-
ment’s so-called anti-inflation
policy are totally responsible.
Working people are the victims
of the twin evils of our free
enterprise society, unemploy-
ment and inflation, not the crea-
tors of it.

“The productive wealth of our
country is adequate now, and
will be even more so, by institu-
tion of a policy of full employ-
ment without inflation, to pay
for and sustain such a GAI as
we are talking about.

“Naturally this calls for a
more just distribution of our
national income than we have
at the present time.

“It means a shift of the tax
burden away from tax on con-
sumption and onto the growth
field of productive activity, Cor
porate wealth, high personal in-
comes and capital gains.

“In fact to guarantee a decent
standard of income for all, ae
should be no income tax pay-
able on any income below $5,000
per year for a family and $3,000
for single people. :

“This we see as realizable.
This we see as the right of
every Canadian, this we advoc-
ate during this election cam-
paign, this the Canadian people
can achieve by curbing the
power of the parties of mono-
poly, and the election of a
progressive bloc, by electing
Communists.”

Ontar; TRIBUNE PHOTO —JEDYA WEIR
lo Communist Party leader William Stewart last Saturday
to radio station CKEY on behalf of the delegation protesting

[in 1972 individuals paid

BY BRUCE MAGNUSON

On Friday, Sept. 29, 1972, the
Toronto Globe and Mail pub-
lished an article by Edna Hemp-
ton which gave an overall re-
view of rapidly rising food
prices. A survey of such chain
stores as Dominion, Loblaws,
Miracle Food Mart, A&P and
IGA revealed that from Jan. 26
last to the last Wednesday in
September Grade A large eggs
increased from 38 cents to 60
cents, Swifts Bacon from 74
cents to $1.18 per pound, Domi-
no instant coffee from 87 cents
for 8 ounces to $1.09. While
prices on some items remained
the same, other items showed
increases from 20 to 25%.

Maryon Brechin, president of
the Consumer Assoc. of Canada
was quoted as saying that
no simple statement can be
made about food prices. ‘“‘They’re
part of the whole inflationary
spiral. You can’t expect food
prices to stand still when wages
are going up.” One shopper was
quoted as saying that price in-
creases seem already to reflect
recently granted wage increases
to Miracle Mart and Dominion
Store workers. At the same
time Morris Huff, secretary of
the Ontario Food Council was
reported as stating that while
wages have contributed to food
prices, so have high interest
rates, hydro and other factors.
The Ontario Food Council,
which. charts the cost of 147
food items in five major food
chains in Metro Toronto, put
the cost at an all-time high in
June, July and August.

* *

It is of course to be expected
from capitalist newspapers that
make millions from food chain
advertising to stand up for
monopoly price fixing and cheap
propaganda to put the blame for
higher prices on labor and pro-
ducers.

But sometimes it is difficult to
hide the real facts of life in the
constant drive for private mon-

26.7% of the total.

49:9%o. as
The profits of three major
Canadian manufacturers also
showed a change over the
years:
1954-58 — $ 5.9 billion profits
1959-63 — $ 8.3 billion profits
1964-68 — $12.7 billion profits

ARE YOU ON THE
VOTERS LIST?
The last deadline to make
sure you can vote is
Oct. 11.

CHECK NOW!

“We don’t advance the Pp
that; and we don’t think i

where we run would vote
munists because we think
is a meaningful alte
policies those part

The meaningful alternative

ropositio se
i Communist government. We
redeeees g ge? t’s realistic at this stage.
i i ious constituencies
. ‘nq for is that people in the vario
we're asking Leena
that would really sh

rnative to the

ies pursue.” —Wm. Kashtan.

n to the Canadian peo-
don't propose
What

possible elect, Com-
ow that there
~resent parties and the

at workers’ expense

opoly profits. Even the White.

House of the United States has
been forced to engage in some
arm-twisting of U.S. super-
markets to put the breaks on a
rapidly widening farm-to-con-
sumer meat-price spread. A
Washington agriculture depart-
ment report admits that cattle
producers suffered a drop of
8.4% in cattle prices in August,
while middlemen representing
packing plants and retail stores
widened their margin 12.6% by
continued price increases rather
than passing along to consum-
ers the benefit of the decline in
the price of beef cattle paid to
farmers.

The: same story can be ap-
plied here in Canada. (See Trib-
une Sept. 13 issue for complete
details about falling wages in
meat industry.) .

* *

At the same time more and
more working people find them-
selves squeezed up against the
wall by unsavory tactics of cor-
porate interests, who seek not
only to freeze wages of work-
ers, but to deprive them of jobs
and earnings altogether when
that suits their own selfish pro-
fit motives.

A case in point is Canadian
Acme Screw and Gear Lid.,
which has permanently closed
down its Toronto plant when
the workers refused an offer of
a second 18-month wage freeze
contract in August. Not only did
this company play a cat-and-
mouse game with its employees
over this second wage freeze so
as to provoke a strike before
closing the plant permanently,
but by doing’ so it was able to
make use of a technicality in
provincial legislation to avoid
paying severance pay to its 510
employees. :

Ontario law provides that a
company laying off 500 or more

workers. must give them 16

weeks’ notice or pay them in-
stead, but this does not apply
when a strike is in progress.

AAMILTON EAD!

JOBS OR HM ADEQUALE ACME

Bob Jaggard and Den Stewart at their campaign headquarters at

These members of Local’ 284
of the United Automobile Work-
ers, who picked up their last
pay cheques on Aug. 3], nine
days after the strike for a new
contract began, deserve the full
support of all organized work-
ers in Ontario in pressing for
severance pay in lieu of proper
notice of permanent layoff

_ which the company had obvious-

ly planned for a long time. They
must not get away with such
shabby treatment of workers
who spent a lifetime producing
profits for this corporate branch
plant.

Recent layoffs at General Mo-
tors auto assembly plant in Ste.
Therese, 15 miles north of Mon-
treal, are also cause for great
concern. During the past ten
months over 1,500 workers out
of a total work force of 2,700
have from all present indica-
tions been permanently deprived
of their jobs.

Decisions such as these, taken
by corporate head offices in the
United States and affecting
thousands of Canadian workers
and the economy of this coun-
try raises serious questions
about where we are actually
heading.

Being, as we now are, in the
midst of a federal election, this
is a good time to see that the
issues of jobs or an adequate in-
come for all Canadians as a
right, a curb on monopoly con-
trol of our economy and steps
to assure our independent deve-
lopment by means of a com-
plete about-turn in our national
and economic. policies are
brought to the forefront.

A united left behind a pro-
gram such as advanced by the
Communist Party of Canada in
this election campaign and the
defeat of the old line capitalist
parties can go a long way to
bring about the needed changes
and open new paths of advance
for labor and the ordinary folks
in this great and rich country.

ssaauTON WEST |

HE SELLOUT

NATURAL RESOURCES

SICAL

474 Barton Street East, Hamilton. Tel. 526-8526.
PACIFIC-TRIBUNE--FRIDAY,,OCTOBER.6, 1972—-PAGE 5