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Stewart to run

in neglected Hamilton ward

Don Stewart has announced that he is again in the alder- Manic race in Ward 4 in Ham- ilton.

Stewart stated that although.

the largest and most productive Industries, including steel, are centered in this Ward, “in some

‘Tespects the needs of the people

living here are most sadly neg- ected.” “Broken pavements, bad Street lighting, inadequate Schools, lack of recreational facilities for the youth are some Of the issues that need atten- tion,” he added.

“A new approach to the out- dated method of raising the tax ollar must be found,” says tewart. “Big business must be Made to pay a larger portion of their huge profits for the main- tenance and extension of servic-

€s necessary for a modern grow- Ing community.”

He also proposed that a per- Son whose property is exprop- Mated for urban redevelopment Should be fully protected so that

‘ey do not suffer any economic or personal discomfort.

DON STEWART

If elected Stewart says he will work for the “calling of a city-

-wide conference of all interest-

ed people to discuss the present municipal tax structure with a view to finding ways of chang- ing ites]

Stewart, who has been. an ac- tive trade unionist in Hamilton for many years, received wide support in the last two elections which he contested in Ward 4.

Workers being made

be a public meeting in the Kingston Hockey Arena, Tom-

my Douglas, national leader of the New Democratic Party, charged that the federal govern- ment and industry are making the workers the scapegoat in the eyes of the public for the high cost of living.

The public meeting which was held in place of the usual Politi- cal Action Conference of the Ontario Federation of Labor at- tracted some 2,000 people to hear Douglas document his charge that “profit gouging” was the cause of the spiralling prices. Douglas claimed that 82 percent of the recent increases in prices were due to price increases-and not the fluctuations in the law of supply and demand.

Douglas quoted recent Domin- ion Bureau of Statistics com- parison figures which by using 1961 as 100 show that by 1965

labor productivity in Canada had risen to 136.8. In this same period wage rose 135.3, profits rose by 152.9 or 15 points above productivity growth. He also stated that in 1965 wages rose in Canada by 5.2 percent (wages and salaries when taken together are up 11 percent . . .) but profits gained over 13 percent.

Citing the steel industry as a

case in point, he said that dur- |

ing the past five years labor cost per ton of steel declined by $5.36. Overall in this period the profits in the steel industry rose by 106 percent.

Sticking solely to the theme of high prices and profiteering, he reiterated NDP proposals for a prices review board and a de- partment of consumers affairs. He also called for an economic planning board made up of con- sumers, workers, farmers and management to plan for a fair

New trade policy needed to develop Cape Breton

By GEORGE MacEACHERN

Cee BRETONERS are far from united in their atti- R tude toward the Donald port which recommended, among other things, the “phas- ng out” of the. coal industry within the next 15 years.

The extension department ‘of t. Francis Xavier University, and its followers, think it best hat the coal industry be done aay. with and be replaced by everal new industries to employ

€ miners who would then be retrained.

To this. proposition William arsh, president of District 26, ners Mine Workers of Ameri- a answers that there has been ‘ampaign going on for years _ lave new industries come to es Breton to re-employ the usands who have been dis- 3 aced in coal and steel and at BG Closed-out naval base. In ais of the fact that millions a8 Ollars have been spent to ae new industries, permanent fo Ployment has been provided " only a few hundred.

inistrict 26 Vice-president he Dolhanty warned St. F. X. 4 ‘t this could be its “last eek to influence our people,

ner materially or spiritually.”

Actually, while employment in a Coal mines is hardly more pan half of what it was 10 ee ago, they still offer the ae hope for employment—500

W employees having been

taken on by the Dominion Coal Co. (Dosco) since last March. These may have been replace- ments for workers who had gone on pension, or left the mines for other reasons, but, as the Cape Breton Post pointed out, it

would take a lot of new indus-

try, of the size we have been getting, to match this.

Some people here are of the opinion that the investigation by Dr. Donald should have brought forward answers to the follow- ing questions: Where, and to what extent can imported soft coal be replaced by Cape Breton coal? Where, and to what extent can imported hard coal be re- placed by Cape Breton coke? What are the possibilities of a secondary industry — chemical, plastics, explosives, fertilizer — based on the by-products of Cape Breton coal?

At the present time the coke ovens here (a department of the Dosco steel plant) have been processing American coal, the coke of which is found to be superior to the local product for steel making, but lacking in by- products.

One result of this change has been the closing of the Dominion Tar and Chemical plant which had operated for 40 to 50 years and which received all the tar from the coke: ovens. :

Another result is the closing of the benzol, toluol, salamoniac and acid sections of the coke

ovens department.

It is noteworthy that none of these closures caused even a ripple of protest, even from those who are going to -great lengths to get new industry.

Probably the most important effect of the change to American coal is the loss of markets for the coal, industry. At one time the coke oven plant used up to 1,100 tons of coal per day.

With most householders con- verting to oil for heating the emphasis was being placed on the possible market in thermal generation of electricity and hundreds of thousands of tons were sold to: Ontario.

Here there seems to be some confusion. At one time we are told that our problem is lack, of markets, again low productivity and the consequent high cost is given. In any case we are aware of the fact that much more coal is imported into our country than we produce.

The United Mine Workers is demanding the fulfillment of the election promise by the Hon. Allan MacEachen, that aid to the extent of $25 million would be granted by Ottawa to the coal industry. This money was to be used to modernize the existing mines and open a new pit at Lingan.

In the division of opinion which now exists where com- plete unity had prevailed (UMW

leadership and St. F. X. Exten- sion) it is not possible to ignore the. responsibility of Allan Mac- Eachen. Nor can the fact that MacEachen is a former St. F. X. professor be discounted when reasons for the almost all-out endorsement of the Donald Re- port is being considered.

Whatever argument the UMW

had for maintaining the industry -

‘we now have, was strengthened last week by serious layoffs (and serious rumors regarding future Operations) in the Dosco steel plant..

‘Truly, Cape Breton has a seri- ous economic problem but it need not have its origin in our geographic location as we are frequently told. There is the dis- tinct probability that its source may be found in the foreign re- lations policy of the federal gov- ernment.

Surely a market can be found in the newly independent coun- tries for all the steel and steel

'_ products, all the products which

can be made from coal, as well as the products from plants yet to be built, if our government really wanted to help in the development of these countries while boosting the economy of our Own depressed areas.

A “Made in Canada for Cana- dians” policy must replace our government’s subservience to American policies which restrict our trade and force our people into unemployment.

distribution of the national in- come. :

Douglas sharply attacked Mitchel Sharp’s cutback of so- cial expenditures, The postpone- ment of Medicare he said. was the “greatest hoax perpetrated on the Canadian people.” He Said .that if the government couldn’t find the $80 million needed for Medicare they could have have postponed color television which cost the tax- payers $60 million or postponed the construction of the $160 mil- lion Taj Majhal for the defense dept. Lumping the proposed 10 percent tax increase upon the people with the five percent re- fundable profit tax (refundable with five percent interest), Doug- las asked, “Who cannot say there is one law for the poor and one for the rich?”

The speech was classic Doug- las, a little humor, lots of statis- tics, with a generous sprinkling of analogies about the system, “The Jungle” as he termed it many times. He likened the sys- tem to a cream separator with the farmers pouring in the ma- terial and the workers turning the handle, with the owner of the machine taking the cream, leaving the skim milk for you- know-who. He added that the NDP didn’t want to take the machine away from those who owned it, but felt that the’ peo- ple were entitled to control the regulater so that we all could get our. share of whole mik. Thus in Kingston on Nov. 6, 1966, Tommy Douglas, as he has often done, homogenized the

‘class struggle.

William C. Beeching, candi- date in the recent civic election in Regina, received 1,953 votes. This is more than double the number secured by a progressive candidate in last year’s contest.

He attributes the results to the stand he took against a pro- posal for night opening, which was defeated by the voters, and to the fight against high prices which has developed in Regina.

November 18, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5