DERA faces cut in staff as council slashes grant

Vancouver city council this week developed a new strategy to blunt the criticism of the Downtown Eastside Residents’ Association by voting to reduce DERA’s city grant from $36,000 to $12,000 for 1978. The move to cut DERA’s paid

staff from three to one was

sponsored by the TEAM majority on council over the opposition of aldermen Rankin, Harcourt and Marzari.

“They can’t say that their op- posed to DERA anymore,”’ DERA vice president Libby Davies ex- plained to the Tribune Wednesday. “So they have given us token support and token financial backing, which they know will

make it difficult for us to maintain our activities.”

Council’s refusal to grant funds for three salaries was motivated by their fear that DERA president Bruce Eriksen would be elected in the 1978 civic election. At one point alderman Don Bellamy attempted

to make the grant conditional on the guarantee that Eriksen would be excluded from the paid salary positions. When Bellamy’s motion failed, the TEAM members opted to reduce the grant to one salary.

The right wing majority on council are hopeful that the token support for DERA will make it difficult to mobilize the community support that last year won an appeal for DERA.

DERA will appeal the grant, Davies said Wednesday, and it is confident that the same support will be behind them again this year.

An ironic twist on the. debate over DERA funding came in the evening session of council when DERA presented its arguments in favor of cleaning up slum housing in the downtown ‘eastside. Right wing alderman Bernice Gerrard, a vehement opponent of DERA, lauded the presentation and suggested that DERA officials —

and COPE candidates — Libby Davies and Jean Swanson be hired by the city as social planners.

DERA wants council to enforce standards of maintenance bylaws and begin to close slum rooming houses on a ‘“‘one chance is enough” basis, where matters of sanitation and light are involved.

City health inspector Bonham argued against DERA’s recom- mendations on the premise that if the city moved against the slumlords, a majority of the housing accommodation would be lost.

‘“‘We say he’s wrong,’ DERA secretary Jean Swanson told council, ‘‘Most of the real filth in these places could be cleaned up by one person working for a week or less. We doubt seriously whether any owner will allow closure for failure to comply with this bylaw. You all remember how the lan- dlords screamed at the fire bylaw, but 90 percent of them did com-

ply.”

EUNICE PARKER

HARRY RANKIN

School taxes meet set.

The five mill increases in school taxes for Vancouver property owners will be the subject of a public meeting March 22 sponsored by the Committee of Progressive Electors.

‘“What’s Up? School Taxes!”’ is the title: of the public meeting aimed at explaining the tax in- creases and rallying public support for a demand that the provincial

government back off the tax hike. |

COPE education committee chairwoman and school board candidate Dr. Pauline Weinstein will chair a panel discussion on the

Alternate park sites available

Jobs should be first priority at Granville Island

By ALD. HARRY RANKIN

What’s more important — jobs or grass? That’s one of the issues city council is faced with in making a decision on the direction of re- development of Granville Island.

The federal authorities, through a body called the Granville Island Trustees, have come up with plans for the redevelopment of Granville Island aimed at making it a tourist and commercial centre, for the benefit of business interests, of course.

City authorities are worried that any new businesses starting up in Granville Island will be in com-

businesses in the downtown area.

City manager Fritz Bowers, reflecting the concerns of these downtown business interests, on February 3, presented a report to city council highly critical of the plans proposed by the federal authorities. The feds have proposed, for example, that

Morrison Steel and Wire which’

occupies an area in the south east section of the Island, just south of Cartwright Street, be allowed to remain and that its lease, which expires in 1982, be renewed.

On the other hand, others want Morrison Steel kicked out and want

public park.

The Marine Workers and

Boilermakers Industrial Union,

which represents the ap- proximately 50 workers in this plant, has taken a strong exception to the demand of the city manager.

“Our members don’t want to be left sitting on a nice grassy lawn

unemployed,’’ said union president - Jeff Power. We haven’t yet learned’

to live on grass, green or other- wise. Our jobs are more important to us than another park, desirable as that may be.”

The union also points out that for the authorities to force the closing

comprehensible. It notes that we’ve been in an economic dep- ression now for three years and there is still no sign of an economic up-turn. “‘What’s the point of talking about the need for secon- dary job-intensive manufacturing industries if we’re going to close down the ones we already have?’ it asks.

My stand too is that while we all enjoy parks, jobs at this time are more important than another park. Furthermore, there are other areas on Granville Island than can be used for park purposes without

tax hike between COPE alderman |

Harry Rankin, Vancouver Labor Council president Syd Thompson,

Vancouver School Board trustee

David Pratt, Coquitlam School Board chairwoman _ Eunice Parker, COPE school board candidate Wes Knapp and B.C. Teachers’ Federation represen- tative Norm Ornes.

The meeting begins at 8:00 p.m. at the Charles Tupper Secondary School, 419 East 24th Avenue, Vancouver,

Tenants backed

The Grandview Tenants’ Association won the backing of Vancouver city council’s com- munity services committee last week in its bid to win continued funding for its Tenants’ Advisory Counselling Service (TACS) office.

Both the GTA’s and the West End Tenants’ TACS offices — the only tenant advocate services in the province — will be shut down

March 31 by the Department of |

Human Resources, apparently by the direct order of minister Bill Vander Zalm.

If city council agrees with the community services committee on March 21 it will make direct representation to Vander Zalm on behalf of the tenants.

The GTA has called the closure “political”? and has appealed to

petition with and hurt existing

month ago, trade unionists in this province were

compelled. to speak out in repudiation of the remarks made by Canadian Labor Congress secretary Donald. Montgomery who had suggested during a CLC conference speech that jobs could not be jeopardized by environmental concerns. But now, as recent events. have demonstrated, we have only begun to see how twisted the ‘‘jobs or en- vironment” question can become when it is posed by those who have vested business interest to promote.

The latest case involves the Cowichan estuary on Vancouver Island, an area of immense importance to both the salmon and herring fisheries and, until the defeat of the NDP government in 1975, an area protected from increased industrial development under the recommendations of a task force.

In recent months, however, Doman Lumber Industries, which already has industry in the area, has proposed fur- ther expansion. Inevitably, the rumor has grown that the company might pull out if environmental demands result in

its plans being thwarted.

In addition, application has been made for a pulp mill on reclaimed land in the area and for a cedar shake mill — all plans which would entail extensive dredging and in- filling.

Yet the campaign to sacrifice the vital estuary in the interest of industrial development has already begun and local developers have stopped at little in their bid to get what they want. Already an “action group”, representing mainly real estate interests, has launched a phony ‘Jobs Now” campaign, labelling those concerned with the en- vironment as ‘“‘emotional” and “standing in the way of progress.”’

But the tipoff comes with the economic development committee of the local chamber of commerce which reportedly has spent $3,000 on a series of ads to publicize a public meeting, supposedly called to discuss the jobless situation.

Who is the chairman of the committee? Why, he’s the local Social Credit party president. And among his business connections is his association with a 1,200-lot subdivision in _ oe area.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 17, 1978— fae 23

that whole area turned into a

down of this plant in in-

PEOPLE AND ISSUES

ore than once, prime minister Trudeau has accused

Quebec premier Rene Levesque of trying to isolate French Canada from Canada and from the rest of the world, but when it comes to international contacts in the interests of peace and friendship, the Parti Quebecois government is light years ahead of its counterpart in Ottawa.

Susan Radosevic, publicity committee chairwoman for the World Youth Festival Committee, tells us that the Levesque government has lent considerable support to the Quebec Festival Committee — and really tangible support at that. The government, in addition to meeting the ex- penses incurred by the committee in carrying out its preparatory work, will pay the travel expenses — estimated at some $500 — for every Quebec delegate at- tending the World Youth Festival which is slated to take place in Havana, Cuba from July 28 to August 5.

But from the federal government? Not a penny. After some delay, the committee received a reply to its requests for financial assistance — the Trudeau government stated simply that there would be no money for the committee or for delegates.

Of course, the PQ government decision in Quebec probably had a lot to do with the immense popular support enjoyed by the festival in that province. In addition to the Quebec Association of Students (ANEQ), all three trade union centres, the Quebec Federation of Labor, the Con- federation of National Trade Unions and the Quebec Teachers’ Corporation, have endorsed the festival com- mittee. And Quebec expects to send upwards of 80 delegates to Havana.

se *

‘enote by the latest issue of the Waterfront News, issued

‘by the Canadian Area of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union, that Emil Bjarnason, whose incisive articles on economic issues are familiar to Tribune readers, has just had bestowed upon him an honorary membership in the ILWU — an honor reserved for a deserving few.

For a number of years, Emil has given considerable assistance to the ILWU in its pension plans, _Contract negotiations and many other areas.

r, Emil told the

closing down a plant of this kind. to Vander Zalm.

supporters to write protest letters

convention which accorded him the honors, ‘We find _

ourselves in an economic situation . . . with the indicators pointing to more inflation, more unemployment and more debt.

“The only thing you can do about it, as.long as the present government is there,’’ he said, ‘‘. . . is for the labor movement to use all of its united ed strength to demand a change in government policies .

s* &

) eaders may remember from January, 1976, a cartoon in our pages drawn by cartoonist Linda Chobotuck which showed staff writer Fred Wilson sitting before his typewriter with a cobweb-covered dictionary beside him, The cartoon was one of several Linda drew to mark the occasion when Wilson left for Toronto to take up the position of general secretary of the Young Communist League. Much has taken place since that time: Fred is back at

‘the typewriter, he has a new dictionary — without cobwebs

—and Linda Chobotuck has now compiled several dozen of her cartoons into a book, just published by the Peak, the Simon Fraser University newspaper for which most of them were originally drawn.

Entitled Snafu Review — the ‘“‘Snafu” being the name with which SFU was dubbed practically from the begining — the collection is centred on student issues but even those outside the university can appreciate the wit. For a dollar- and-a-half you can get a copy from the People’ s—Co-op Bookstore at 353 West Pender or, if you’re up at the. university, from the bookstore there.

Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN Business and Circulation Manager — PAT O’CONNOR -

Published weekly at Suite 101 — 1416 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. VSL 3X9 Phone 251-1186

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