LL ML JL LL ARM Ai fe i "BRITISH COLUMBIA Budget seen prelude to new Tory tax bite The federal budget released by Finance. Minister Michael Wilson last week is “cruel, cynical and continues the Tory attack on working people’s living standards.” That analysis — significantly different from that of most commentators, who have dubbed the 1987-88 budget a “stand pat” fiscal plan — comes from Communist Party of Canada leader Bill Kashtan. In a statement on behalf of the CP’s cen- tral executive commitee, Kashian charged that the budget does nothing for the coun- try’s more than one million jobless, con- tinues the - steady erosion of workers’ income through tax hikes and opens the door wider to free trade. e And, Kashtan warned, the budget presages the upcom- Ing tax reform expected from Wilson later this year — tax reform that will shift the KASHTAN ers. Social groups and trade unions also hit the budget, noting that it contains nothing for lower income earners. Nancy Riche of the Canadian Labor Congress said the 12- per cent tax slapped on sales of soft drinks, chips and other quick snack items means the budget is ‘‘anti-kids.”’ Louise Dulude of the National Action Committee on the Sta- tus of Women noted the budget maintains the previous exemption from inflation indexing of the first three per cent of the family allowance cheque. Ontario Federation of Labor chair Gor- don Wilson hit the budget for the lack of job-creating initiatives. That criticism was echoed in British Columbia, with B.C. Fed- eration of Labor president Ken Georgetti slamming the federal Conservatives for “taking credit for a nine-per cent unem- ployment rate.” The budget chops a planned $200 million from the military. But the money, part of a planned $10-billion expenditure on upgrad- ing early warning systems and other hard- ware that peace activists state are linked to the U.S. Star Wars scheme, has merely been deferred one year. burden even more onto individual taxpay- : The budget imposes a cent-per-litre hike on gasoline at the pump, which Kashtan said “dips into working people’s already tight travel budget.” But eyes are mainly on the tax reform announcements yet to come in 1987. Speculation by business media com- mentators is that Wilson will end some per- sonal income tax breaks that mainly benefitted upper-income earners and cor- porations. But so far those forces have escaped the axe, with the new budget main- taining items such as the $500,000 capital gains tax exemption and the $1,000 invest- ment income deduction. A more realistic guess may be made by noting that the Tory finance minister is looking south of the border, where corpo- rate taxes are being cut in a supposed effort to make U.S. business “more competitive.” The fact is that since 1984 the share of income tax borne by individuals has been steadily rising, while the corporate share has declined. Personal income tax will account for $43.3 billion, or 46.4 per cent of the anticipated $93.2 billion in revenues for the government in 1987-88. Corporate tax 1s likely to account for only $10 billion. For the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, individuals have been paying 44.6 per cent of the 1986-87 budget. Mean- while, corporations will enjoy at reduction of one per cent each, in 1987 and 1988, of the percentage of their gross corporate earn- ings they pay as tax. For 1986-87, the figure is 46 per cent. In an analysis, the Financial Times noted that, by comparison, individuals paid only 17 per cent of government revenues, while corporations paid 27 per cent, in 1950. The question is “tax reform for whom,” Kashtan remarked. Kashtan also said that the removal of the import tax on books, Christmas trees and computer parts means the federal govern- ment is sending signals to the U.S. that a free trade deal can still be struck. In calling for a “people’s budget,” Kash- tan said the budget “shows the truth of the demand that ‘the Tories must go.’ It con- firms the need for the instrument to make this possible — a people’s coalition with people’s policies,” he said. Environmentalists, trade unionists and others will be demonstrating in both Vancouver and Victoria this week to protest the Social Credit govern- ment’s lifting of the seven-year morato- rium on uranium mining in_ the province and to demand that cabinet impose an outright ban. On Friday, Feb. 27, the Coalition against Uranium Mining will rally out- side the provincial legislature at 11 a.m. Speakers include Joel Kovel, a U.S. political analyst, Dr. Mary Lynn Ash- ford from Physicians for Social Res- ponsibility and Surrey NDP MLA Joan Smallwood. The following day, Feb. 28, several organizations, including the Society Promoting Environmental Conserva- tion (SPEC), the B.C. Medical Associa- tion, CAIMAW, the United Church and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, are sponsoring a march and rally beginning at 2 p.m. in Vancouver’s Robson Square. Addressing the rally will be David Garrick, an expert on uranium mining for the environmental group Earth Embassy; Kathy Walker, CAI- MAW; Rob Rainer, SPEC; and Lois Boyce, United Church. Rainer, who is co-ordinating the campaign in Vancouver for SPEC, said Monday that opponents of uranium mining may have a better idea of what Uranium protests set they’re up against following a meeting — which was still taking place at Trib- une press time — between the B.C. Medical Association and the provincial cabinet. “Tf the BCMA, with all the material it has available can’t convince the cabinet that uranium mining isn’t safe, then we'll know we’re in for a tough campaign,” he said. Also this week, at the same as dem- onstrators will be outside the legisla- ture, Premier Bill’ Vander Zalm is to meet with Okanagan South Social Credit MLA Cliff Serwa to discuss uranium mining. Serwa has opposed mining in the province, an issue which has assumed particular importance in his riding because it contains a mining property — the Blizzard site near Kelowna — where an active uranium mine is being considered by a. four member-company mining consortium. Rainer said that sources had indi- cated that Vander Zalm plans to announce a one-year extension to the moratorium at the time of the meeting with Serwa. “Tf that’s the case, it will be of some benefit because it will give us time to prepare,” he said. “But it’s not the answer. There is no way that uranium mining can be made safe. It should be banned.” U End cruise tests: EAR Continued from page 1 The only way that a Star Wars “shield” can be effective is if a support system can be developed which will enable the U.S. to intercept incoming missiles that get in beneath the shield, she said. “By allowing Tuesday’s test, the govern- ment is indirectly participating in testing Spring brings thoughts of peace, and this spring — in the aftermath of the Reykjavik summit and the Reagan admin- istration’s violation of the SALT II treaty — will be the season for some serious peace actions. In Vancouver, the Sth annual Walk for Peace is slated for Saturday, April 25. While last year’s walk was scheduled to acknowledge the city’s nine-day peace fes- tival, this year the walk returns to its pre- vious format. 8 Assembly takes place at Kitsilano Beach park on the south side of English Bay, from which marchers will move promptly at 12 p.m. The route winds through the downtown core to end up at Sunset Beach park for the rally. A feature this year will be four Montreal Students who have been captivating audiences across Canada with their pleas for ending the arms race. Between 16 and 7 years of age, the members of the Stu- dents Against Global Extermination (SAGE) are “not your typical peaceniks’ according to a peace walk spokesman. End the Arms Race, the umbrella peace 8roup organizing the walk, heads before city council early next month to seek the traditional council endorsement: free ee ans barricades for the five- kilometre walk. While the political climate on council has changed since the civic elec- tion last November, EAR representatives say they trust Mayor Gordon Campbell — who walked at the head of last year’s march from Kitsilano Beach — supports Walk for Peace ‘Moksh molear weapons - Tun Aumauy needs Saturday, April 25 the peace walk. It already has the backing of the school and parks boards. The B.C. Peace Council also looks for- ward to spring and its upcoming confer- ence March 14-15. Organizer Tim Firth says the confer- Spring peace agenda moving up ence, at the Langara campus, will lay plans for the future and discuss the possibilities for peace “in the post-Reykjavik period.” Dr. Jim Foulks will lead a workshop discussion on prospects for disarmament while Dr. Tom Perry Sr., of the Physicians for Social Responsibility, will use his expe- rience at the recent peace conference in Moscow in a workshop on “confidence building.” A third workshop will deal with liberation movements and their link to world peace. The council.is trying to confirm the attendance of a guest speaker from the renowned Centre for Defence Informa- tion, based in Washington, D.C. And on March 23, member organiza- tions of the Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA) will be participating in a “national day of awareness” about the U.S. Star Wars program. March 23 is the day U.S. President Ronald Reagan first announced, four years ago, the space weapons scheme officially called the Strategic Defence Initiative, but quickly dubbed by obser- vers, “Star Wars.” CPA is asking participating member _ groups to send their plans to the office no . later than March 3, so the organization can send out a compiled list of activities by March 23. Star Wars systems which Mulroney said Canada would not do,” Lambert declared. There are a further two reasons that Canadians should be concerned about Tuesday’s test, she added. At a time of recession, Canada is spend- ing $550 million to upgrade the North Warning System, which is supposedly intended to provide a first line of defence against Soviet cruise missiles coming in over Canada’s north, she noted. But that system would be unnecessary if Canada had not participated in development of the weapon through testing — an action which pushed the Soviet Union in further developing its cruise missile — and if Canada had pressed for arms control agreements that would put a cap on further weapons developments. But perhaps more disturbing is that by permitting Tuesday’s test, the .Mulroney government signalled its agreement with the USS. violation of SALT II, “‘one of the few arms control agreements which have been reached and the one for which External Affairs Minister Joe Clark has repeatedly declared his support,” Lambert said. The air-launched cruise missile) ALCM) — the type being tested in Canada — has become the symbol of the Reagan adminis- tration’s breaking of arms control agree- ments. Last month, the U.S. deployed the 13lst ALCM on a B-52 bomber, thus exceeding the limit of 130 set under the SALT II agreement. Lambert said that EAR had sent letters to newspapers as well as telegrams to Ottawa calling on the government once again to cancel the missile testing agreement with the U.S. The coalition’s “phone tree” was also being activated and a barrage of phone calls to MPs on the issue was expected, she said. Several demonstrations against the test were also planned for Tuesday including a march to the Alberta legislature sponsored by the Alberta Citizens’ Anti-Cruise Com- mittee. PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 25, 1987 e 3