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VOL. 14 No. 7

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Vancouver, British Columbia, February

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PRICE TEN CENTS

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U.S, DICTATION LOSES

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[PP takes

issues to Victoria

VICTORIA, B.C.

The first Labor - Progressive Party delegation ever to demon- Strate before the B.C. legislature Baverged on the Parliament vuildings here Wednesday this moe demanding action to halt ve US. grab of British Colum- la’s natural resources.

Arriving in Nanaimo early in Q © morning, 48 Lower Mainland ‘elegates were joined by 37 More from up-Island and Victor- 1a. Marshalled into a car ‘aval- Cade by LPP island organizer Adolph Pothorn, the delegates “Tove to Victoria and organized * Placard demonstration in front of the Parliament Buildings. : Stretching in a long, continu- aa line, the LPP members hand- ; leaflets to MLAs and visitors ® the legislative galleries as they Passed in and out.

uring the afternoon a seven- Pase brief outlining LPP views Bee demands was placed before yery member of the legislature M LPP provincial leader Nigel tteaey who headed the delega-

The brief made the following mands: ‘hed That Premier Bennett give € legislature the facts about ee Westcoast Transmission na- Ural gas agreement. 1 That a public inquiry be @unched to determine how best a develop our natural gas and Ydro in the people’s interests. h That export of natural gas, Sod oil be licensed; licenses

‘be subject to approval and Periodic review -by the _ legis- ature,

® That the B.C. pipeline be Rees to a Trans-Canada line to Stablish an all-Canadian grid. “Reh That further consideration

siven to the advantages of the Se Power Commission provid- na a publicly-owned pipeline, i cheaper gas for home and Ndustry, ue That the Kaiser deal he op Ped and the Columbia Riy- Vs full Canadian potential be see under a government . Ority like that of the Ten- €ssee Valley.

ttention was drawn to the ieee signatures already col- tit €d on the LPP resources pe-

10n, which will be presented

‘Let’s build ships’

That's the attitude of shipyard workers angered by the St. Laurent government’s rejection of Soviet ship contracts when many of them are unemployed. Since the war they have seen the ship- building industry in Vancouver and Victoria reduced from thousands to hundreds of workers as a result of the government's policies.

Ralph Parker reports

from the Soviet Union page 3

What scientists say about

victims of the H-bomb page 9

10 the cabinet soon.

VIET ORDER FOR BC.

3000 shipyard jobs disappear

Because Ottawa has bowed to pressure from Wash- ington and refused a Vancouver trading company a permit to contract for construction of a 10,000-ton cargo motor ship here for the Soviet Union, jobs for 3,000 workers over a one-year period have been lost, and the local ship-

building industry has ‘been denied a much-needed shot in the arm.

During the Second World War this country built up a great shipbuilding industry and West Coast shipyards employed more than 30,000 workers.

Since the war the industry has dwindled until today less than 5,000 are employed in all British Columbia shipyards. :

Hopes for a revival of the in-

‘dustry soared last year when So-

viet Ambassador Dmitri’ Chuhavin said his country was prepared to purchase ships from Canada, such as trawlers and freighters.

On the basis of this report, East-West Export-Import Com- pany. Ltd. of Vancouver wrote to the Chamber of Commerce in the USSR, offering to secure firm bids for the .construction of ves- sels according to “Russian speci- fications. ‘

A reply from Sugoimport, Mos- cow, said that “we would be ready to consider your offer for cargo motorships of about 10,000 tons deadweight and service speed 17-18 knots subject to prices not being higher than those of your competitors and your assured- ness that export licenses can be granted.”

The trading company promptly opened negotiations with Burrard Dry Dock, Canadian Vickers, Vic- toria Machinery ‘and Davie Ship- building, obtaining quotations from these firms for construction of the type of vessel required.

A contract for construction of a $4,000,000 general cargo motor ship, 10,000 tons dead weight and 15,500 tons displacement, appear- ed to be a certainty. First, how- ever, an export permit had to, be secured.

On February 3 J. G. MacKin- non, chief of the Export and Im- port Permits Section, Department of Trade and Commerce, Ottawa, wrote this letter to East-West Export Import Company.

“| have for acknowledgement your letter of January 24, en- closing an ‘application for export

Continued on back page See SHIP

WILLIAM MOORE, MLA

Moore urges China trade

By ‘KEITH RALSTON VICTORIA, B.C.

The ‘“do-nothins’” attitude of the Bennett government on un- employment has- been attacked in the House by William Moore (CCF, Comox) who advocated the opening up of trade with China and other Asiatic countries as a means of putting the jobless to work.

A B.C. trade mission should be sent to People’s China for the purpose of establishing better trade relations between that coun- try and our own,” Moore said, adding that it was his belief good economic relations between Canada and Asian countries were essential to lasting peace.

Moore scored Labor Minister Lyle Wicks for his remarks. to the House on unemployment.

Continued on back page See MOORE