THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

2nd Issue
August, 1966

NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY CANDIDATES

The following is the complete list of New
Democratic Party candidates nominated as
the Lumber Worker went to press:

Alberni — John Squire, IWA Officer.
Atlin — Frank Calder, Business Executive.

Boundary-Similkameen — Mrs. Lois Haggen,
Housewife.

Burnaby-Edmonds — Gordon Dowding,
Lawyer.

Burnaby-North — Mrs. Eileen Dailly,
Chairman, Burnaby School Board.

Burnaby-Willingdon — Fred Vulliamy,
Chartered Accountant.

Cariboo — Rev. Hartley Dent,

Minister.
Chilliwack —
Columbia River —
Comox — Neville Shanks, Publisher.
Coquitlam — Dave Barrett, Welfare Worker.
Cowichan-Malahat — R. M. Strachan,

NDP Provincial Leader.
Delta — Jack Thomas, School Teacher.
Dewdney — Bill Franklin, former IWA Officer.
Esquimalt — John Bartanus,

IWA Camp Chairman.

4

N.D.P. POLICY STATEMENT ON

OBERT STRACHAN, MLA
aoe NDP Provincial Leader

Fort George — Patrick Denton,
Radio Announcer.

Kamleops — Lance Randle,
Engineer custodian.

Kootenay — Leo Nimsick, Smelter Worker.
Langley — Martin Thomas, Berry Farmer.
MacKenzie — A. J. Gargrave, Lawyer.

Nanaimo — Dave Stupich, Chartered
Accountant.

Nelson-Creston — Jack Munro, IWA Officer.

New Westminster — Rae Eddie, IWA Officer.

North Okanagan —

North Peace River —

North Vancouver-Capilano — Michael Toren,
Teacher.

North Vancouver-Seymour — Harry Greene,
Municipal Worker.

Oak Bay — Mrs. Myra Yarwood, Housewife.

Omineca — Cornelius Bergen, Logger.

Prince Rupert — John Lennox, School Teacher.

Revelstoke-Slocan — Ran Harding, Farmer.
Richmond — Robert McMath, Richmond

Saanich and The Islands — Ed Haw,
IWA Officer.

Shuswap — Alver Holm, Logger.

Skeena — Ron Douglas, Steelworker.
South Okanagan —

South Peace River — Ray Cowan, Farmer.
Surrey — Ernest Hall, NDP Provincial
Secretary.

West Vancouver-Howe Sound — Jim
McKenzie, Businessman.

Yale-Lillooet — Bill Hartley, Insurance
Representative.
Vancouver-Burrard — Tom Berger, Lawyer;

Dr. Ray Parkinson, Psychiatrist.
Vancouver-Centre — Chris Huddleston, Insur-
ance Agent; Paul Phillips, Economist.
Vancouver-East — Alex MacDonald, Lawyer;

Robert Williams, Alderman.
Vancouver-Little Mountain — Bob Clair, IWA
Officer; Joe Corsbie, CU & C Manager.
Vancouver-Point Grey — Garth Brown, UBC

Student; Ed Lavalle, former Civil Servant.
Vancouver South — Norman Levi, John How-

Concepts of automobile in-
surance have changed rapidly

Councillor.

Rossland-Trail — E. Campbell, Co-op

. Manager.

PUBLIC AUTO INSURANCE

certainty. Thusinsurance
meets a basic human need and

ard Officer; Joe Warnock, Teacher.
Victoria — Rev. A. T. Allen, Minister; Mrs.
Dorcas Blair, Housewife.

they willing to give the con-
trol they collectively hold
over the selection of those to
whom they will provide in-
surance. These companies can
hardly be expected to be will-
ing to insure significantly be-
yond the area of legal liabil-
ity. As long as this tremen-
dously important aspect of in-
dividual well-being is left to
the caprice of private com-
panies, we cannot expect the
greater interests of individual
security to be adequately
served.

Automobile insurance must
apply beyond the concept of
legal liability or negligence.
Automobile insurance must
now provide a reasonable
minimum for compensation for
losses arising from motor
vehicle accidents regardless of
fault. This coverage can and
must be provided at reason-

-able cost to all who otherwise

qualify to operate a motor
vehicle.

It has been accepted as.

sound policy that the major
part of the costs of industrial
accidents to employees should
be borne by the industry, and
it is proposed that the major
part of the cost of those
caused by the operation of
motor vehicles should be cast
upon the persons for whose
benefit the motor vehicles are
being operated, namely the
owners and drivers of the
automobiles involved in the
accidents. :
Automobile accident insur-

ety in general, paying the
penalty of excessive price and
social distress for the dubious
privilege of preserving the
free enterprise application of
what is now properly a serv-
ice function of a government
utility. aii

The whole concept of legal
liability in automobile insur-
ance is obsolete. The insur-
ance requirements of today
are being denied to the whole
population because of a prim-
ary interest in profit by the
liability companies.

Before we can institute a
system of compulsory auto-
mobile insurance in British
Columbia, we must be sure
that such a scheme will elim-
inate all intimidation, discrim-
ination and excessively high
rates. The hundreds of priv-
ate insurance companies oper-
ating in this field in British
Columbia have demonstrated
their inability to meet these
requirements. G

“Consumer Reports,” after _

a lengthy examination of auto-
mobile insurance, states that
“an efficiently run government
insurance plan can provide
more coverage at less cost
than any private plan of com-
parable quality.”
Such a plan would:
(1) Provide speedy payment
of claims.
(2) Protect every person in-
volved.

(3) Eliminate the cost of liti-
gation,

Everyone agrees that the

: n motor vehicle is indis-

e to our social and
¢ way of life. Every-
’ a Se we
ia all be protected against
suddenly befall

iver or the victim

‘ome

in recent years, but their ap-
plication by private insurance
companies has not kept pace

_ with the needs of our mechan-

ized society. Too often the in-
novent victims of automobile
accidents are unable to obtain
any or sufficient compensation
and must live out their lives
under a crushing financial

The object of any insurance

to provide security through

a fundamental requirement of
any economic system. No priv-
ately operated automobile ac-
cident insurance plan satisfies
the increasing need for wider
coverage conforming with
more recent concepts of com-
pensation insurance against
the increasing perils of our
automotive age.

Private automobile insur-
ance companies are neither
equipped to do the job nor are

ance can be provided more
efficiently and with greater
benefit by a government
agency. Through the opera-
tion of such an agency, there
is no conflict between the prof-
it motive and adequate cover-
age at fair and reasonable
rates.

Automobile insurance in
British Columbia provides us
with an example of each and
every driver, as well as soci-

ee ee

(4) Free our courts of most

of the cases now taking so
much time.. :

(5) Allow criminal law to

continue to operate to pre-
vent carelessness,

Therefore, we of the New
Democratic Party say that we
will introduce into this prov-

ince an adequate compulsory
automobile insurance scheme

agency with b

geeks