<=. Pree == Se =a = SS SS SSERAL : An : Mmunist HOUSING PLAN A FRAUD says Betty Greenwell, u candidate in Vancouver Centre, where she is opposing Ron porpan affairs minister in the Liberal government. She is apartment block in Basford’s riding where nine tenants with &ce eviction and have no other place to go. With her is Sommuni : . 12). nist candidate Fred Wilson. (See Renee * @riffin photo EDITORIAL living standards of the Canadian 8 : 3 : ing .P rise in the cost of Peoples the other evil of ‘>. &Qnoy ‘talism —.unemployment. In a = anada ae ie uy. ene which ne is normally a « -eMent that une i earlier Gecline in unemployment, the Mp] Ped again Oy meN month of May showed a further Ve te failure per up. Woe rise of from 5.3 in April to 5.5 in stent policies LiPer@! May. This means. that officially lin * figur (the actual figure is much higher) Whee in ai Show that the cost there are 524,000 jobless. | ay ch j % a by 1.7percent | Meanwhile profit reports f on, Month ighest increase for dicate a sharp rise across ~ ingjethe cost € major increase Canada. A survey of 162 Canadian Wonctions ar of food. At this rate, companies last week showed a gain West ear gictat 1974 will be the in profits of 53.1 per cent The : 4 Nee the end of World _ profits shown by B.C. Choir | tha, OW a ; remain among the highest in thel a Presence virtually certain history, with a particular sharp OD winued We f iberal policies are rise in the profits of realty com- ett i Cre Se More than a 10 panies in the last three months — Arp)’, 2nd a in prices for all reflecting the rise in rents an hag “4 30 per ikely increase of housing costs. ; on een isi cent in food which There we have the picture: Aly Y rate a at-an average rising prices and unemployment So With of 2.6 per cent. for the people; rising profits for the IS erosion of the big corporations — this is the result a in- solution to the crucia Tribune _ FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1974 VOL. 35, No. 24 By MAURICE RUSH The Liberal three-point housing plan announced by Prime Minister Trudeau amidst great The three points announced by Trudeau were: e That the government would make changes in the National Housing Act which would allow a five per cent down payment with 95 r cent mortgage funds to be made available, provided the price of a home in the Greater Van- couver area would be less than $44,900. : e That a mortgage interest reduction allowance under the Assisted Home Ownership Program (AHOP) would enable a person to save up to $600 a year, provided they were able to find a _ home worth no more than $32,000. e A $500 cash grant would be made available (which would require parliamentary approval) to a first-time house buyer, provided they can buy a house costing from $31,000 to a maximum of $44,900 (the price varying from ity to city). oe eee be the fly in the oint- ment is “provid ” they can find houses at the price range set by the Liberals. In effect there are no such houses available. The - Liberals have evolved a housing program for ghost housing — which simply does not exist. The Liberal plan has come under universal criticism even from Real Estate Boards who point out that there just is not that kind of of the Trudeau government’s liciess 7 The Tories are sure to try and exploit this situation by stepping up their campaign for a wage and price freeze. prices a profits at an jn aim 1S peut from getting needed wage increases. oThey are coupling their demand for a freeze with an attack on unemployment insurance — which, with rising unemployment, will further shift the burden of the crisis onto the backs of the workers and the unemployed. As William Kashtan, Canadian Communist leader, warned on a recent visit to B.C., the Tories will try to use inflation to attack the working class and shift politics to the right. Tory: leader Robert Stanfield’s reaction to the latest See EDITORIAL, ps- 12 housing around. And in some in- stances they point out that you can’t even buy lots for that amount of money. The average price of lots in the Greater Vancouver area is between $25,000 and $30,000 — if you can get it. The key Liberal proposal is that down payments of five per cent would be allowed with a 95 per cent mortgage providing the house does not exceed a maximum of $44,900. At current interest rates it is estimated that one would have to have an income of $18,000 a year to meet payments on this kind of mortgage. Not only that. A recent study showed that under present interest rates it would require a total payment of more than $120,000 to pay off a $40,000 mortgage over a 30-year period. And if during this period interest rates jump another ‘two per cent (which is quite. possible) that would add an ad-_ ditional $20,000 to this total. The Liberal plan, despite all the hulabaloo that accompanied it, would basically leave the housing problem as it is. It’s a do-nothing policy. Essentially, if one is for- tunate enough to find a low-cost hovel that meets the qualifications BUILDING JOINT _ B/RGAINING PACT ON STRIKE LABOURERS fanfare and publicity has turned out to be a gigantic hoax of the Canadian public and offers no real | housing problems facing Canadians today. set out, the Liberal plan would make them a victim for life of exorbitant interest payments. There is no proposal to launch a national effort to break the back of ‘the housing crisis in Canada. -Essentially it leaves Canadians -at the mercy of the banks, trusts and big real estate and léan sharks. Housing is one of the most lucrative profit-making en- terprises today and the Liberals do’ not want to interfere with cor- porate profits. Interestingly enough, only days after Trudeau made his less than -earth-shattering announcements ‘on housing, it was reported that the two major real -estate and development companies in B.C. — Block Brothers and Daon Development (formerly Dawson Construction) between them showed an average profit increase of 516.3 per cent in the last three months compared to the same three months in 1973. The Communist Party this week started distribution of the party’s platform in B.C. ridings which outlines the only realistic housing program put forward by any political party in the federal See HOUSING, pg. 12 ia \ Bs BUILDING Thies JOINT B/AIGAINING PACT ON STRIKE| LNROURERS CONSTRUCTION DISPUTE in B.C. reached a critical stage this week as building bosses rejected union demands and moved to take a lockout yote among construction companies. Photo shows building trades picket at new courthouse site in downtown Vancouver. (See story on page 12).