BRITISH COLUMBIA

Health and fire safety condi- tions in sleazy beer parlors and dirty rooming houses in the downtown eastside area of the ci- ty have become an unending pro- blem. Time and again city inspec- tors have made thorough inspec- tions of the premises, issued orders to the owners or operators to make the necessary im- provements to make them con- form for city bylaws. What hap- pens? In many cases, next to nothing or nothing at all.

When the inspectors come back some months later they find that nothing has been done, or just a few changes have been made. Sometimes there is a new Owner or operator who often pleads ignorance of previous orders and the process starts all over again. If an order has been issued to clean up both the beer parlor and rooms in the same building, usually what happens is that the owner or operator will make a few changes in the bar so he can continue to get his liquor license, but will ignore the rest of the building. And some of these

awful.

Let me give you some ex- amples:

Hildon Hotel, 50 East Cor- dova Street: .

This was owned by Army & Navy Department Stores. The ci- ty director of permits and licenses reported a year ago that ‘‘this building has had a long and un- satisfactory record of perfor- mance as housing accommoda- tion in the downtown east side”’ and that ‘‘extreme pressure had to be exerted on the owners to force them to put a new roof on the building at one point.’? The Hildon has a pub on the ground floor and four floors of rooms above it.

conditions are nothing less than ,

The Army & Navy Store then sold the building to Paul Zanet. He was ordered to submit a plan and schedule for upgrading the whole building, but failed to com- ply. A year ago, on Sept. 25, 1981, the pub was found to be in an unsafe condition and represented a hazard to the lodg- ing house portion above. Its public house licence and liquor licence were both suspended. In Jan., 1982,:a new operator, Geramy Harper, took over. Renovation of the pub was undertaken and the new operator was granted a permit that enabled him to get his liquor licence.

Harry

Rankin

My position, as chairman of ci- ty council’s standing committee On community services, has always been that if a beer parlor licence is revoked, no building licence should be issued until such time as the building is completely upgraded. I think the director of permits and licenses erred when he granted the new operator a permit when even the pub renova- tion was still incomplete. Bruce Eriksen and I made a motion in the committee that the interm operator’s permit be revoked un- til such time as the whole building was brought up to the city’s stan- dards of maintenance, but this was voted down by aldermen Boyce, Divinsky and Bellamy.

When, if ever, the rest of this building will be renovated is any- body’s guess. With such tolerance of the violations of the city’s by-

TEAM, NPA look other way as slumlords flout bylaws

laws by city council, the owner need not worry.

King’s Rooms, 210 Carrall Street:

Following an inspection of these premises; the owner was in- formed on May 5, 1982, that 33 deficiencies were found in this building in violation of the city’s standards of maintenance bylaw. The owner was also given a list of 72 different repair jobs that had to be done. Nothing has been done to comply with the city’s order. Our inspection service reports that the building is “generally poorly operated, dirty throughout and should be

'-

vacated’’. The owner has been in- structed to appear before council

to show cause why his business _

licence should not be cancelled. Our committee has recommend- ed also that if his licence is suspended, no further licences be issued until the building is altered to comply with the standards of maintenance bylaw.

What will actually be done re- mains to be seen. So far the NPA- TEAM majority on council has

- been most reluctant to prosecute

the owners of slum buildings when they violate city bylaws.

The solution is to put in a majority come next November that is pledged to enforce the city bylaws in the downtown eastside area. To date the only group pledged to do this is the Commit- tee of Progressive Electors, (COPE).

—

VSB presses case despite Socreds’ threat of recall

The Vancouver school board’s anticipated legal action against the B.C. education ministry’s latest cuts the. school budget has’ the backing of the provincial trustees association and a growing number of district school boards.

This is despite the recent threat by newly-appointed education minister Bill Vander Zalm of new legislation to counter the court challenge. The minister has said he will recall the legislature from sum- mer recess and pass the necessary legislation to make the cuts legal.

Meanwhile, the VSB has sent a letter to the ministry rerquesting restoration of $800,000 chopped from this months’ expenditures grant in accordance with the new ministry directives ordering the cuts, and said it expects a reply by Friday.

The trustees’ action is based ona recent legal opinion received by the B.C. School Trustees Association that the latest cuts are illegal because legislation has already been passed regarding this year’s school budgets. ~

But in a telex to the BCSTA Monday Vander Zalm said he could have new legislation legaliz- ing the cuts, ‘‘within seven days, if necessary”? following any court challenge.

That task may prove difficult with many MLAs and cabinet ministers on vacation, according to a BCSTA spokesman. Steve Bareham said the association, which last week received the legal opinion that the latest cuts are il- legal, views the VSB action as a “test case.”’

On the advice of the BCSTA ex- ecutive, which met to deliberate the issue Aug. 17, other school boards will not take actions of their own,

but have been urged to express thé! support for Vancouver’s actidl) Otherwise, the separate actiot might clog the courts and prevent#) speedy resolution of the case, & pected within a month, said Bareham. So far the trustees of NéW Westminster and Richmond hat’ sent words of support for the VSB action, and others are voting onthe question, according to scho0 board chairman Pauline Weill’ tein. The board’s challenge to tht latest cuts, which province-widé will chop $37.5 million for the ret! of 1982, and $22.5 million for the) first quarter of the 1983, is based 00 | the opinion that the 1982 shortf violates Section 14 (2) of thé Education (Interim) Finance AG by which the VSBhas already pas* ed its by-law governing tax rates fol | the year. In Vancouver these cuts: initiated July 30 following the a nouncement of the federal government’s 6 and 5 wage I& straint program, would chop ¥) million and $10 million from thé budget for the respective periods. Across the province, a total 0 4,200 school staff could facé layoffs, according to BCSTA president Gary Begin. Critics have argued that the latest cuts — particularly those sé for the last quarter of 1982 — are unconscionable as well as illegal, since taxpayers have already financed education this year with taxes set according to the budget laid out in the interim finance act. Any further cuts in 1982 would mean British Columbians have paid more for education than they will receive, and this constitutes @ deceit on the part of the S

government. —

T hey will probably come as little surprise to building , trades workers but the comments last month in

At 49, Ozzie is a good Many years away from the age oup usually associated with strokes, but as many readers |

Halifax by Treasury Board chairman and Liberal cabinet ws Who have known him as the manager of the Co-op

minister Donald Johnston are graphic in revealing just what forces are at work in the current construction in- dustry negotiations which have been at a slatemate for three weeks. :

Johnston, who is particularly hawkish in his pro-big business views, was in familiar company — the Canadian Construction Association — when he made his speech. But his address wasn’t just the usual platitudes for pin- striped executives; his message was a not-so-subtle de- mand that they get together to force construction wages down below the level of inflation in order, as he so quaintly put it, ‘to break the vicious circle on which inflation breeds.”’

In making his pitch, Johnston took inspiration from Robert Campeau, the president of one of the largest diver- sified real estate and building corporations in the country, who said: “‘We have allowed ourselves to become too weak. We should have had a showdown with unions and provincial governments a long time ago, not individually, but collectively. On too many occasions, because of frustration and lack of effort, business has taken the easy way out by simply passing on increased costs.”

Johnston pointed to construction settlements in Ontario and Alberta as ‘‘excessive,”’ complaining that the increases would add $4,000 to the cost of a house (based on a man- year of labor to build it). “How do you think we in govern- ment view that, when we are urged on all sides to provide more help to build houses?” he asked. ‘‘Our new subsidy on housing barely covers the amount of pay increases in excess of our target. What do you think our reaction is when we subsidize capital projects to generate construc- tion’ employment and then see the costs rise to cover wage increases of 15 percent or so?””

Not ing the Liberal mentality, we wouldn’t know what the government’s reaction would be. But we know for certain that Johnston’s line of argument is a crock.

eR I PEOPLE AND ISSUES -::

First of all, the overwhelming majority of houses— un- fortunately — are built non-union. The labor costs, based on substandard wages and conditions, have little to do with the rates paid in the union sector. Second, the only houses which might require a man-year of labor to build

are the kind that Johnston, himself, or Robert Campeau

would own. According to a study completed in 1974 and still considered valid by the government’s own Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, only .62 man-years of labor are required to build the average single-family house. And that figure drops to .502 man-years of labor for a duplex and even lower, to .434 man_-years, for a semi- detached townhouse. \

In fact, the main villain in soaring housing costs is in- terest rates as anyone trying to buy a home or re-negotiate a mortgage knows only too painfully well.

But it is intriguing that Johnston should mention the figure 15 percent — because that is exactly the amount that B.C. contractors added to their estimates, even before they went to the bargaining table. No matter what the wage set- tlement, construction costs will go up accordingly.

But of course Johnston didn’t chide the contractors for that contribution to the inflationary spiral. Instead he chided them for their failure to take on the workers by “coordinating management’s bargaining approach.” And he told them directly, “I would hope that your re- sponse to our call for wage restraint will produce a tougher management posture.’’

Judging by the B.C. constriction talks, Construction Labor Relations Association together with the Employers Council and the provincial government has done just that.

* * *

bi ell have to stick pretty close to quarters for some time yet, but at least Ozzie Lahti was expected to be released this week from Vancouver General Hospital having spent ee se the past two weeks there following a minor stroke

_ however. At this moment, he has to down some 22 pills

_ since that time, we understand that the four cyclists mak-

with the reception they’ve been receiving for their message

Bookstore may recall, he underwent open-heart surgery tO repair a heart valve some years ago, and as it turns out, ac cording to Ozzie’s daughter, Judy, a small blood clot slip- ped by the valve, causing the stroke and temporarily affec- ting his speech. * * * A Iso expected home from hospital this week is Dusty Greenwell who has just spent the last two weeks in Shaughnessy Hospital with heart-related difficulties. Normally, he’d be a candidate for surgery but various complications make that option too risky and doctors havé been trying to offset the problem with medication. Even that option involves a lot of work on Dusty’s part,

every day.

€ were On our two-week summer shutdown when the

of Cyclists for Peace began its Vancouver-

Toronto cycle marathon and were therefore unable to cover the marathon beginning in Vancouver July 31. But

ing the historic trek — Bob O’Neil and his son, Mark, Brian Bion and Wayne Stokes — have made considerable Progress and were expected to pass through Manitoba some time this week.

The trip hasn’t been without problems — two vans which were to travel with them to carry sleeping bags and other gear failed to make it at the last minute, forcing cyclists to carry their own gear — but the four are happy

for disarmament. As readers may remember, the trip was originally conceived to publicize the petition drive by the Peace Congress. The four cyclists, who will be joined by at least one other member, Stan Dalton, in Thunder Bay, are to arrive in Toronto Sept. 6 to join the annual Labor Day parade.

ee

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUGUST 27, 1982—Page 2