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Wie! Letters

Walter Tickson, secretary Nanaimo, Dun- can and District Labor Council, writes: The Nanaimo, Duncan and District Labor Council at its regular meeting on Sept. 19, condemned the Macdonald Commission recommendations for free trade with the U.S. and urged the Canadian Labor Con- gress, MPs and the trade union movement to mount a public campaign to reject the sellout to the U.S. under the pretext of “free trade.” Such free trade would make Canada a total satellite of the U.S. — a hewer of Wood and drawer of water.

The immediate consequence of free trade would be the closing down of U.S. manu- facturing plants in Canada. Many of these Plants were established here to get under the tariff protection to produce for the Cana- dian market. Once the tariff barriers are Temoved the reason for the existence of these plants disappears. The U.S. corpora- tions would supply the Canadian market from their highly integrated U.S. manufac- turing plants.

_The Canadian market would imme- diately be flooded with cheaper goods from the U.S., driving Canadian manufacturing plants out of business. The result would be the loss of hundreds of thousands of Cana- dian manufacturing jobs in machine build- Ing, textiles, shoemaking, electrical goods and many others. All this is offered with the Promise of lower consumer prices. But once the Canadian producers are out of the way, the U.S. corporations will raise the prices to what the traffic will bear.

There are other far-reaching changes that would come with free trade. The idea of free trade is based on the principle that compet- ing companies in the two countries are on an equal footing, with neither group enjoy- ing special privileges which give them an advantge. This means that many of the laws

-~NDDLC hits free trade

and business practices of the two countries would have to be changed to be in line with each other. It isn’t hard to predict which country, Canada or the U.S., would change to match the standards of the other. The U.S. with its manufacturing and military might and population ten times greater, is not about to change its business practices for the purpose of accommodating Canada. Canada would be forced to change its prac- tices and institutions. This would mean “a fundamental shift in the philosophy of government and the economy” in Canada.

Free trade would mean a loss of whatever economic independence we have left; it would completely undermine our national independence and national sovereignty.

Instead of free trade we need to protect and extend Canadian manufacturing indus- try. We need to build an east-west power grid to supply cheap energy to Canadian manufacturing industry.

We need to protect Canadian manufac- turing industry by giving priority rights to raw materials to those companies that are prepared to manufacture machines and other commodities in Canada for the Can- adian and the world market.

We need to provide long term credits to those countries buying our machines and other manufactured goods. Countries like Nicaragua, those in the third world and the socialist countries have expressed great interest in such trade arragenemetns.

We must compel our politicans to reject free trade with the U.S. To do nothing is to allow the right-wing opportunists and U.S. agents to reduce Canada to third world country economic status.

Again we urge the CLC and all patriotic Canadians to unite to defeat the sellout that is in the making under the free trade prop- osals.

Hal Banks demise no loss

Stan Wingfield, Montreal, writes: In the Montreal Gazette of Sept. 25 Paul Delean Teported that Hal Banks of the Seafarers’ International Union had died that week in the U.S.

As an ex-seaman and member of the Canadian Seamen’s Union, along with thousands of other seamen who were black- listed 36 years ago by this American thug, there is no feeling of a loss on our part. As

€ Is going to be given a sea burial by the in San Francisco with his ashes to be Scattered on the water, we hope that the ashes will end up by the shore at the sewage Outfall for that city.

Delean states that Banks came into Can-

ada at the invitation of the Trades and abor Congress of Canada. For the record, Want to point out that the TLC supported

the Canadian Seamen’s Union in its legal

deepsea strike. Delean also omits to say that Banks had Served time in the San Quentin peniteniary, fore he came to Canada. There is no doubt that all authorities knew of his crimi- Nal record, yet allowed him into Canada, to Serve the purpose of the shipowners and the

__ Bovernment of the day.

t’s remember that part of our deepsea et at that time was owned by the Cana- 4N government (the Canadian National teamship Lines).

. he shipowners for years had tried to get Nid of the Canadian Seamen’s Union, claim- ig they objected to some Communists in its

fadership. Their point was that they could Not make sweetheart deals with a leadership Which came from the rank and file and were

elected democratically from those same Tanks and could not be bought off at man- @gement’s bidding. © Canadian Seamen’s Union was Smashed because of greed for more profits by the shipowners. They wanted the likes of ~anks who would not throw up picket lines fa ship was beirig sold to other countries or the shipowners were trying to put Cana- Vessels under foreign flags using cheap

labor. Nor did they want the seamen to raise their voices in protest of conditions as they had always done under the CSU banner.

During the Second World War, Cana- dian merchant seamen from the CSA made a no-strike pledge for the war effort. In turn, the federal government promised that once the war was over they would have a modern merchant marine and ouz shipyards would be busy building them and doing the repairs.

It’s been many years since the end of that war and the false promises that were made. Canada no longer has a deepsea fleet and our shipyards are very nearly idle.

No doubt the shipowners and some people on Parliament Hill will now feel more at ease that Banks is finally dead. There is no longer any possibility of him talking and causing them problems. That’s the real reason he was never brought back to face criminal charges in Canada.

The attack on the Canadian Seamen’s Union was a black mark against those who arranged it. They broke a democratically- run union, but they never could and never did break its spirit.

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 23, 1985 e 11

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