Ford weaseling

on TEAM promise

to support wards

The NPA-TEAM majority on city council continues to sab- otage all efforts aimed at estab- lishing a ward system in Van- couver.

’ The NPA’s opposition, even if bull-headed and resulting from blind prejudice, is at least consistent. The NPA has always

Harry Rankin |

opposed it, refusing even to in- troduce it after the majority of Vancouver voters in 1980 ex- pressed their clear desire for a ward system.

But TEAM alderman Mar- guerite Ford is reneging on her promise to the electorate that she would support a ward sys- tem. That was one of the prom- ises that helped her get elected. Now she is weaseling out.

City council established a spe- cial committee on the ward sys- tem, of which I am the chair- man, It’s a committee of the whole, that is, all council mem- bers belong to it. At the Aug. 14 meeting of this committee every proposal aimed at carrying out an earlier council decision (made by a 6-5 vote) to work towards a ward system was de- feated. Mayor Harcourt recom- mended that council spend $15,500 to up-date the 1979 re- port on the ward system. That was the report by urban sociol- ogist George Gray calling for 12 wards. That motion was defeat-

ed. So was a motion to hold .

public meetings on the ward

issue throughout the city. These motions were defeated by a gang-up of four NPA al-

dermen and TEAM alderman -

Marguerite Ford. They made flanking attacks on the ward system. Alderman Puil, who opposes any kind of a ward sys- tem, now suddenly wanted only

five wards. And alderman Ford, who voted in council for 12 wards, now suddently came out for 10 wards. Obviously their in- tent was just to confuse the issue and prevent anything positive being done.

What do we do now? Where do we go from here?

My position and that of the other two COPE aldermen, Bruce Eriksen and Bruce Yorke, is that both council and the vot- ers have in their majority voted for a ward system and it is our duty to do everything we can to bring about its implementation.

Therefore, it is my intention to go ahead and call public meetings in every area of the city on the ward system. This will give the citizens a chance for some input and demonstrate to the provincial government (which has passed legislation en- abling every city in B.C. except Vancouver to adopt a ward sys- tem if they wish) and to both TEAM and the NPA that a ward system must be established and that their sabotage must be ended.

GREATER VANCOUVER

Sixty delegations oppose Socred plan for B.C. Place

More than 60 delegations are to appear before Vancouver city council next Tuesday to oppose provincial government plans for the development of ‘‘B.C. Place’’ — the massive 176-acre commercial-residential develop- ment on the north shore of False Creek, including the 60,000 seat amphitheatre.

Re-development of the area ‘will have a large impact on the core-of the city and the east end working class neighborhoods from Strathcona to Hastings Sunrise and

citizen opposition to the plans has grown steadily since the concept was unveiled by premier Bennett in Nov. 1980.

However, provincial legislation exempted the project from normal city planning processes and the provincially ented B.C. Place Corporation, run by a hand picked corporate elite, was given a free hand to create a conceptual plan without any public input.

B.C. Place brass were taken off

guard when over 200 angry citizens :

turned out to its first public infor- mation meeting last month, and a citizens committee to oppose the plans quickly formed.

As public controversy has grown over B.C. Place, Vancouver city council has avoided a confronta- tion with the Socreds on the issue, in spite of the province’s arrogant use of authority to unilaterally re- shape the heart of Vancouver, by-

~ passing the legitimate right of city

council to plan the overall develop- ment of the city.

The city was forced to face the issue, however, when B.C. Place officials asked the city to approve a road plan for the site which would connect the development with the rest of the city. Citizen groups im- mediately labelled the road plan a “freeway plan’? — it proposes a major six to eight lane arterial road through the centre of B.C. Place —

and seized on the opportunity to have their views heard on the entire B.C. Place concept. Tuesday’s special hearing to deal with the road plan will hear a strong call for the city to get tough with the Socreds and to force major revi- sions in plans for B.C. Place as a whole.

Major concerns with the project have been summarized in a motion from COPE alderman Bruce Yorke calling on the city to deny approval of the road plan until B.C. Place agrees to: ‘

@ Conduct a complete social and environmental impact study;

@ Provide a detailed transpor- tation plan which would ban the use of automobiles to service the amphitheatre planned for the site and eliminate parking lots from the site;

@ Reduce the proposed six million square feet of office and commercial space planned, which violates the Greater Vancouver Regional District ‘‘Liveable Region Plan’, to a maximum of two million square feet;

@ Shift the balance of floor space removed from commercial uses to affordable family housing, and ensure that a major portion of the entire housing component will benon-market housing for families with children;

@ Include in the plans a district park of 40 acres.

“We support Yorke’s motion,” Paul Lebofsky, a member of the Committee for Community Action and Participation for B.C. Place, said this week.

“We're saying, don’t approve this road system. Make no conces- sions to this project until there is a thorough impact study and we have evidence that this project

meets the needs of the community.”” The only real power the city has

to influence the character of the

development isits control over con- necting B.C. Place to the rest of the city, and it would be foolish to give that power up, he said.

City council will begin hearing delegations at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1 in. city council chambers. Council will then debate a report from city engineering recommending ap- proval of the road plan which must be defeated before Yorke’s motion can be considered.

ince few of the stories in the Tribune have a byline, readers may not immediately be aware of the change. But as of this week, one name will be missing from the columns of the paper. Staff reporter Janice Harris left this week for a stint in a fish plant where she hopes to pick up some overtime wages prior to taking off to England for a vacation. Janice, who came to the paper shortly after graduating from Simon Fraser University, was on the staff for two years and worked on a vari- ety of stories, ranging from film and theatre reviews to covering educa- tion and tenants’ rights issues. During her time on the staff, she also helped to found a tenants’ organization, now well established as the Greater Vancouver Renters’ Association. Her plans for the future are uncertain and, in any event, she tells us, she’s not going to make a final determination on anything until after that long-awaited holiday. We wish her well.

* * * e *

f we were given to paranoia (we’re not, of course) we might have s

been just a bit suspicious when one Captain Ryan, a public rela- tions officer with the Canadian Forces Base, Chilliwack called us up last week to offer us a free tour of the middle atmosphere aboard one of the new Aurora long-range patrol aircraft, recently purchased from Lockheed Corporation. After all, the Canadian Forces has never be- fore offered us a free ride on anything. And there’s no telling what a Tribune reporter might say or do when taken up in a Canadian Forces plane especially one which can keep flying for 17 hours without having to come down for fuel. . .

The whole exercise, of course, is intended as a public relations event staged for the benefit of media representatives who, it is hoped, will take a few turns up in the sky and then return breathlessly to their type- writers to tell everybody what a great plane this is even if it did cost tax- payers a whopping $1.132 billion.

What is the plane intended for? Actually, we asked Captain Ryan if the new Auroras, which are to be stationed at Comox, have a search and rescue capability. He allowed that they did but told us in his most authoritative militarese: ‘‘Their primary role is to locate and neutralize hostile submarines.”’

Well, now, the only hostile submarines that we can imagine are those that are armed with the U.S. first strike Trident nuclear missiles — which are about to be stationed at Bangor, Washington, menacingly close to Victoria. And frankly, we think that the best way to neutralize

PEOPLE AND ISSUES

them, and the threat to our security, is for the federal government to quit spending money on the military and instead: lobby the U.S. government to get back to the disarmament table and negotiate arms reductions.

Needless to say, we declined the free flight.

* * * * *

t may not have been like the labor picnics of the ’30s and ’40s when

there were scores of events and thousands thronged Confederation Park. But Sunday’s labor picnic in John Hendry Park still had the main ingredients — sunshine, good food, friendship, games and a few hundred people who came to take it all in.

And some of the traditions were brought back. As Bill Chobotuck barked orders, dozens of people lined up with their hammers at the ready for the nail-driving contest, or took opposite ends of the crosscut saw for the log sawing contest. In the end, the husband and wife team of Maurice and Pat Anderson was the swiftest in getting through the log while, in the nail-driving contest, Marilyn Lanz took the honors in the women’s competition and Nacson Espinoza took the men’s award.

Of course, we have a special reason for mentioning all of this: the Tribune team won the 1981 championship in the Young Communist League’s annual invitational volleyball tournament held this year in conjunction with the labor picnic. The eight-member team edged out five other teams to take the trophy which was first awarded to Co-op Radio in 1978.

* * * * *

EX. congenial and hard-working, veteran woodworker Sam Alcock has always been ready to discuss an important issue and to take an ° active part in doing something about it. Lately he’s found it difficult to do the latter, since he was confined to a hospital bed some weeks ago undergoing treatment for cancer, but he is still eager to discuss issues with old friends in the progressive movement. In fact, he would welcome visitors to his room in Vancouver General Hospital. He is in East 10 in the Centennial Pavilion and visitors should ask at the desk for his room number.

Landlord won't negotiate

The North Vancouver Ten- ants Association will be asking North Vancouver city council to revoke the lease of a 110 unit townhouse complex for ‘‘willful violation of landlord and tenant law.”

Association president Rich- ard Blackburn said that the de- cision to take the issue to the city was taken after the landlord, Cressy Developments, broke off an attempt to resolve issues by collective bargaining.

The tenants association have been authorized to represent 79 of 110 tenants at Rufus Park Village to fight illegal rent in- creases of up to $300 per month. Although the buildings were opened in 1976 and are not sub- ject to rent control, the rent not- ices were issued without the re- quired ‘‘form F”’ which informs tenants of their right to have the rent increases submitted to rent review, nor where the rent in- creases posted with the Rentals- man’s Office as required.

The tenants association did meet with landlord representa- tives and a mediator from the Rentalsman’s office which resulted in a request by the land- lord that the tenants prepare a detailed list of grievances and demands.

Alist of demands was prepar- ed, including recognition of a local tenants association, the right to negotiate rents and to send disputes to arbitration, and the establishment of landlord- tenant committees to oversee building maintenance.

However rather than meeting the tenants to discuss the de- mands, Cressy broke off talks and informed the Rentalsman that it.would deal with each complaint individually.

‘We had hoped to avoid 110 Rentalsman’s hearings and in- stead arrive at a collectively ne- gotiated deal, but Cressy has forced us to go the route,”’ said Blackburn.

The tenants association will appeal to North Vancouver city council which gave Cressy a 60 year lease on the land in 1974 for the low price of $12,000 per unit to become involved in the issue by ordering the company to ne- gotiate or to revoke the lease, which prohibits Cressy from breaking the law.

If North Vancouver city r re- vokes the lease the Greater Van- couver Housing Corporation would be interested in taking over the housing complex and

managing it, he said.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— AUG. 28, 1981— Page 2