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OTTAWA—Liberal Senators have been
averaging eight hours apiece, a Canadian
precedent, in their filibuster against the
Goods and Services Tax. The legislation
faces its third and final hurdle in the upper
house with the Conservatives, using their
newly-appointed majority, forcing 24-hour
sittings with weekends off.

If the Liberals, with support of three in-
dependents, can delay the bill past Dec. 31,
it will go back to the House of Commons
where it faces an uncertain future.

Although Mulroney’s Tories still retain a
23-seat majority in the Commons pressure
outside Parliament against the tax has been
so intense that anti-GST forces are banking
on backbenchers breaking ranks.

“We predict that there are enough Tory
MPs, particularly from Alberta, who will
find the prospect of sitting through three
more readings of the bill unbearable,” said
Murray Dobbin of the Pro-Canada Network.

Ifenough Tories do register their opposi-
tion or do not appear for any of the votes, the
legislation will fail. Prime Minister Brian

Fraternal Greetings
from the
membership of Local #9
Pulp, Paper &
Woodworkers

of Canada
to all trade unionists

and workers.
We wish you a very
Merry Christmas
and a prosperous
New Year.

Our hope is

a New Year

filled with

peace for all
humankind.

Retail Wholesale Union
Local 580

8 « Pacific Tribune, December 17, 1990

Mulroney would then be forced to call an
election before his mandate expires.

With the Senate as the last institutional
barrier against the GST, speculation
abounds as to how long the Liberals and
supporting independents can last. The
mainstream media is predicting the third
week in December, providing the Tory
majority does not break any more rules and
force a vote.

Last week, the Liberals put forward a
motion to adjourn the Senate sittings, an
action which, if passed, would have forced
the chamber to move to the top of its legis-
lative agenda, putting the GST into limbo.
Although the motion was expected to be
defeated by the Tory majority, it nonetheless
stalled proceedings an extra day.

The delay could still continue for some
time since nearly 40 of the Liberal members
have yet to speak.

Dobbin also brushed government predic-
tions aside that the bill could be passed
before year-end. “The media was saying the
legislation would pass in mid-November
and it didn’t. There’s plenty of variables.

“The Liberals have the moral high
ground, knowing they have the support of
the Canadian people. The Tories, especially
the new senators, are seen as hired guns,”

__ Dobbin explained in a telephone interview

with the Tribune.
Unaccustomed to a grueling schedule,

| the Tory senators are putting in 12-hour

shifts to ensure they have enough bodies in
the chamber if a vote is called.
“Given that Mulroney lies about every-

_ thing, we can assume he lied to the new 23,

assuring them this would be a piece of cake,
that they would only have to put in a couple
of weeks and then go back to their normal
lives.

“Tt is these guys who demanded the deal
with the Liberals to get weekends off.
They’re also used to taking three weeks
holidays at Christmas. They are very reluc-

_ tant to go past Dec. 13 —so all bets are off.”

The Pro-Canada Network, the coalition
of labour and a social organizations that has
been heading the fight against the GST,
hasn’t limited itself to Senate watching. Its
campaign has swung to popularizing fair tax
altematives. :

Based on a study by Osgoode tax law
professor Neil Brooks, the PCN has
produced a series of “Tax Facts” highlight-
ing why government coffers are bare and
who has, and has not, been paying their
share.

“Mulroney and (Finance Minister) Wil-
son are using the same ’TINA’ argument that
they used during the free trade debate with
some success. They’re saying ’There Is No
Alternative’,” said Dobbin.

“Tt’s the big lie technique. The more they
say it the more we feel beaten and conclude
that this is as good as it gets.”

Anti-GST forces predicting
doom for unpopular Tory tax

The PCN contends that the GST is a “free
trade tax.” It will take in $7.5 billion more
than the Manufacturers Sales Tax it was
supposedly designed to replace. That extra
revenue is needed to replace the taxes the
corporations will not be paying as Canadian
corporate tax policy is harmonized with that
of the United States.

Even before free trade was implemented
in 1988, and before the GST was announced,
the Tories had taken steps to reduce cor-
porate tax rates.

Their tax policy has been very successful
at creating billionaires, PCN briefing notes
point out. Since the Tories took office,
Canada has eight new billionaire families,
the highest per capita of any country in the
world. In the meantime taxation has in-
creased by 44 per cent on the lowest income
earners.

Getting this message out can play a major
role in defeating the tax, and defeating the
Tories. PCN affiliates have been picketing
large corporations who have paid little or no
taxes to publicize how warped Tory tax
policy is.

Civil disobedience has also become part
of the response to the GST. With less than
three weeks until its implementation, 70 per
cent of businesses have not registered.
Towns have declared themselves GST Free
Zones and have served notice they will not
collect the tax, regardless of the consequen-
ces.

The PCN rep also sees a split in business
that GST foes should use to their advantage.
Small business, which has traditionally seen
itself as part of the business community, is
seeing the difference between itself and the
corporations, Dobbin noted, pointing to the
number of small business operators who
have contacted the PCN to join in the cam-
paign, furious because local business
federations are inactive.

That, and more, has to become part of a
Strategy “to make the country ungov-
ernable,” said Dobbin in an oblique refer-
ence to a slogan used by the ANC to bring
down apartheid in South Africa.

Despite a cross-country tour to “meet the
people” coupled with new commissions, the
prime minister’s popular support remains
below 15 per cent.

Dobbin pointed to a perceived change in
the media indicating the Tories’ days may be
numbered. Pundits such as the Globe’s na-
tional affairs columnist Jeffrey Simpson, “a
Tory sycophant” has come out with his sixth
column attacking the prime minister.

“The ruling class is wondering if Mul-
roney can represent their interests. The only
sector of business that has benefited by Tory
policy is the banks, insurance and trust com-
panies. All others have been hammered by
this government,” said Dobbin, adding,
“They’re not only evil, they’re incom-
petent.”

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