EDITORIAL

The military ‘solution’

Even if they do not find their way into the final
recommendations of the MacDonald Royal Commis-
sion, there is no reason to dismiss the suggestion of
Employers’ Council president Jim Matkin that unem-
ployed youth should be conscripted into the army as
merely either off-the-cuff remarks or the utterances of a
crack pot. For Matkin is not given to offhand remarks
before a federal commission and, whatever the policies
of the Employers’ Council, it is not given to naming a
crackpot as its chief spokesman.

His statements are ominous not so much because
they will be seriously contemplated by the Liberal

_ government but for what they signify.

The drive to war of a capitalist economy in economic
crisis is part of history, a history tragically repeated over
centuries. But when the world is in the shadow of
nuclear holocaust, to suggest that more youth should be
made into soldiers is disturbing, indeed.

But Matkin was not just concerned with conscription
to lessen the number of unemployed. His comments
suggested that Canada should take on a greater burden
of the enormous U.S. military budget.

Putting aside his ludicrous notion that by so doing,

Empty Tory

Brian Mulroney’s neo-conservatives, breathless to be
elected to government so they can run Canada for the
U.S. military-industrial complex, profess to be incensed

' about the 1,460,000 Canadians who are unem-

ployed — 11.7 percent of the work force, according to
official sources.

Yet, Mulroney’s attempt to back up his “jobs, jobs,
jobs” slogan with more words, words, words showed
again the credibility gap that exists both for the Tories
and capitalism as a whole.

The magic words, job creation, don’t mean a thing if
he can’t say how to do it; and since he is admittedly the
echo of Reagan and the multinationals, he is not likely
to reverse their program of more layoffs, more closures,
and an all-out assault on labor. Dickering over what
level of government will pay how much for retraining is

irrelevant when there are no jobs to retrain for. The only

part of his jobs program one can count on is the part
that says any government of his will try to beat more
workers out of their unemployment insurance.

What the arch-reactionaries of the Tory party hope
for is to turn disgruntlement with an often sorry Liberal
record into an election victory for neo-conservatism.

Canadians could obtain lower interest rates, that sug-
gestion leaves little doubt as to the stand of the Employ-
ers’ Council. It has revealed itself to be a part of the U.S.
quest for rearmament, a part of the U.S. war machine.
That, together with the participation of several B.C.
employers and the provincial government in the U.S.
Defence Department seminar in Vancouver last year,
give a clear warning signal as to where the policies of the
Employers’ Council, the Fraser Institute and the Social
Credit government are taking us.

If, as Matkin claimed, his statement followed similar
suggestions by business executives at a Banff confer-
ence, it can only but show the hypocrisy of the corpo-
rate elite, who clamor for slashing government
spending to reduce the federal deficit — but who are
only too eager to boost that deficit to massive propor-
tions for military purposes.

More than anything, it reveals the utter bankruptcy
of that same corporate elite and the governments that
speak for it. Having first created the unemployment
that has devastated a generation of youth, they want to
bury its victims on the battlefield. As Matkin put it
before the commission, that is all they have to offer.

talk of jobs

The process was helped along when Acting Prime - =m
Minister Jean-Luc Pepin told the House of Commons,
June 7, that one reason so many young people are

without jobs (788,000 according to an independent
study) is because they are “lazy”.

Profiteer of the week

Car prices got you looking at roller skates? Be calm; some-
body’s a winner. Magna International Inc., Toronto, which makes
car trim as well as electronics and aircraft components and struc-
tural steel, had a nine-month after-tax profit of $22,635,000 as at
April 30. Same period a year earlier: $6,487,000.

That’s a very old refrain, and the Liberals can’t claim
to have invented it. It was slung at the jobless in the dirty
thirties by the dirty government in power — the Tories
under Iron Heel Bennett. It is no more acceptable now Ee
than it was then, and the Tories are no more likely to

rescue the working class from capitalism than they were y > L [am LJ Ni =

then: , : —— eee eee
Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN .

After all the bitter experience of Canada’s working
people, the coming federal election should be an ideal
time to refuse to be bounced from one old-line party of
the monopolies to the other. Between now and the
yet-to-be-announced election date there is time to get
down to serious work for a progressive electoral coali-
tion of forces. Only that route can lead to the election of
a large progressive group which can block plans to
“Reaganize” Canada, and to formulate policies which Second class mail registration number 1560
meet the needs of the Canadian people. ' —

Assistant Editor — DAN KEETON |
Business & Circulation Manager — PAT O'CONNOR :
_ Graphics — ANGELA KENYON s

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fter the Social Credit government
sent a message for disarmament to
the Walk for Peace in Vancouver Apr. 28,

which first drew attention to it and con-

and 15 that admits children aged 3-12 for
only $3.

And, again this year, seniors are admit-
ted free.

- People and Issues

tinues to frustrate municipal council, the

cea

trasted it with the obstinate stand taken by
the Ministry of Highways towards efforts
by the Sunshine Coast Regional Board to
erect signs declaring the area a nuclear-free
zone.

As readers may recall, Premier Ben-
nett’s message to the peace rally stated,
among other things, “...it is of vital
importance that we continue to...make
our views known to others.” And in a
letter to Bennett — published in the Trib-
une May 30 — Peace Committee repre-
sentative Carol McGillivray pointed ‘out
that the committee’s efforts to have the
sign erected as a “‘symbolic gesture” were,

in fact, part of its campaign to achieve the _

disarmament goals referred to in Bennett’s
message.

As readers of McGillivray’s letter know,
the Ministry of Highways didn’t see things
that way and after a lengthy campaign of
correspondence with the regional board,
ordered the signs torn down.

But it seems that the Sunshine Coast is
not the only place that is encountering
difficulty with the Socred government in
seeking to make symbolic declarations for
peace.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of
Highways under Alex Fraser — the man
who refuses to make child restraints man-
datory because to do so would “‘infringe

on individual freedom” — stripped the
“nuclear weapons free city” signs from
three locations outside Vernon even
though they had been placed by a decision
of the Vernon city council.

“The signs do not meet ministry pol-
icy,’ said a technician after he had
checked with ministry officials in Victoria.

The instances of interference by the
highways ministry aren’t the only occa-
sions where the government has thwarted
disarmament initiatives, either. The Minis-
try of Municipal Affairs made several
attempts in 1982 and 1983 to block munic-
ipal referendums on disarmament. And
more recently, efforts by the NDP to have
the cruise issue debated in the legislature
have either failed to get unanimous con-:
sent or have been blocked by the speaker
without a peep of support for debate from
the government side.

If there was a change in the govern-
ment’s attitude signified by Bennett’s mes-
sage to the Walk for Peace, it certainly
hasn’t been demonstrated in government
action. The quickest way for the govern-
ment to give that message some substance
would be to allow the signs to go back
up — after all, they were the result of an
overwhelming public mandate for disar-
mament echoed by a vote in elected
councils.

If the government doesn’t act and con-

participants in the peace walk can only
conclude that Bennett’s message was
nothing more than an empty gesture, a
cynical attempt to turn an overwhelming
peace sentiment into political capital.

* * *

FF” those who have found prices for
concerts prohibitive in these times of
unemployment, wage cuts and Socred-
inspired “restraint,” there’s a bit of good
news from the organizers of the Vancouver

Folk Music Festival.

Following on an initiative started last
year, the festival — the seventh of which
is being held this year — is offering a spe-
cial reduced rate to unemployed patrons.
An “unemployed advance weekend pass,”
available only through the festival office at
3271 Main Street in Vancouver, can be
purchased at the reduced rate of $32. The
regular weekend rate is $42, for two full
days of workshops or mini-concerts and
three evening performances at the festi-
val’s centre stage. Tickets are avilable at all
Concert Box Office/Vancouver Ticket
Centre outlets.

The unemployed pass, available until
the festival’s opening at 6 p.m., July 13,

could still be steep for many families, who_
_ may wish to attend only one day. If so,

there’s a special rate, applicable July 14

The annual festival always features pro-
gressive performers. This year Canadian
singer-activist Nancy White returns, joined
by Canadians Rita MacNeil and String-
band. Themba Tana, the African drummer
who was a feature performer at several Ash
Street productions, and veteran bluesman
Brownie McGhee are also part of the more
than 60 acts at Jericho Beach Park this
year. For more information, phone the
festival office at 879-2931.

*. * *

hen top Tribune sub-getter Elias |

Stavrides left Vancouver two years
ago, he was on his way to Kingston,
Ontario where his wife was to attend uni- —
versity. From there, he had hoped eventu-
ally to return to his native Greece. We’ve
heared from him only rarely since then but
we did know that Canada was continuing
to exert a considerable hold on him. Still, it
came as a surprise when we got a letter
from him last week since it came accom-
panied with material from the press office
of the USSR Embassy in Ottawa where, he
tells us, he is now working as a press :
offficer. ; :

Actually, the material that accompan-

ied the letter included an informative arti-
cle on exploration in the Arctic which we
have published in this issue. It appears on
page 10.

a

4 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JUNE 20, 1984

EB Se Weil Lage e me Le ee! ere. OS, Sy ee