Make Parliament curb inflation! @ Continued from page 4 liament to protect the people: from its evil effects,” he said. “In both cases, the Conser- vatives and the Liberals propose . to protect profits instead of pro- tecting the people of Canada. “The Communist Party pro- poses that there be energetic measures taken to protect the working people from the effects of inflation. This should be done by supporting the trade union movement in their efforts ‘to win substantial wage increases, including cost-of-living _ esca- lator clauses, and by legislation if necessary, to ensure that wages are protected by such cost-of-living escalators; and where long-term agreements have been signed, ‘that- wage openers be established so that the working people can protect themselves from such inflation- ary spirals.” Protect Savings Mr. Kashtan said that, “along- side such measures, the govern- ment must undertake legislation to roll back prices on food, fuel and rents, and further increase pension payments to $350 a month, adjusted periodically” to cost-of-living rises. “In addition, the government should undertake legislation to protect the savings of working people — small deposits that they may have in the banks, as well as insurance policies — so that the limited savings they have built up over the years are adequately protected,” and not eliminated by inflation, which adds to the profits of the big _ corporations. He pointed to Communist Party demands that energy be made a public utility; that a Canadian energy and _ petroleum * corporation be established, re- sponsible for development, dis- tribution and all aspects of ener- gy utilization; and that one price be maintained, but that it be rolled back to January 1, 1973, and added “that not only should there be one price for oil and oil products, throughout the country, but that measures be taken . . . to ensure that thete is one price for lumber, for steel, - for automobiles, for other pro- ducts which the people of the West need to buy.” The goug- ing by the U.S. multinational. oil corporations must be stopped. A new national policy for West- ern development must be under- taken which includes essential changes in freight structure. An all-Canadian pipeline on an all-Canadian route and a power grid is the basis for adop- tion of an integrated all-Cana- dian energy policy, to serve the Canadian people, he stated. Full Employment Possible Economic and social policies CITY WORKERS REJECT AWARD EDMONTON — Edmonton’s outside workers turned down a ‘eenciliation board award last week and called for a strike vote against the city. Members of Local 30 of the Canadian Unison of Public Em- ployees rejected a two-year con- tract proposed by the concilia- tion board in a standing vote at a meeting attended by about 700 of the union’s 1,900 mem- bers. The award would have given workers three wage increases of 9%, 6% and 4% on a basic cur- rent wage of $3.75 an hour. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 19 must be adopted, he said, “to ensure full employment — the right to a job for all Canadians who wish to work, and this is possible to do providing that the government moves away froma policy’ of creating _unemploy- ment, and building up a reserve army of unemployed, of between 5 and 6% of the labor force, which is what the corporations demand. In line with the policy of full employment, the Communist leader said, measures must be taken to process the natural re- sources of our country, and to build industry close to those re- sources, thereby strengthening the independence of Canada. and weakening the control by Unit- ed States multinational corpora- tions. Such a policy of full em- ployment should include a vast 300,000 low cost, low rent hous- ing program, urban develop- ment, a modernized urban trans- portation system. In the fourth area of urgency lay the need for a guaranteed market and a guar- anteed income for the working farmers of our country. Dealing with social security, Mr. Kashtan condemned “the proposal that the Conservatives are advocating ... that the Unemployment Insurance Act be rewritten or emasculated: and, with the same aim in mind —to help to create an adequate reserve of unemployed as a pressure upon the working peo- ple to accept low wages and poor jobs, dead-end jobs, rather than pursuing a policy of full employment ...” It-is in line with this thinking that they are for the proposition that full em- ployment equals five to six per- cent unemployment — a propo- sition which the Canadian peo- ple must reject.” He called for an increase in unemployment payments to 80% of earnings with payments ad- justed periodically, based upon the changes in the cost of liv- ing; adoption of the guaranteed annual income, the $3 minimum wage; and legislation to insti- tute denticare and pharmacare. NDP Role “These, we believe are some of the measures which this ses- sion of parliament should consi- der. It is unfortunate there are no Communists in parliament to raise these questions. “However, the New Democra- tic Party can play an important role, in pressing for those poli- ‘cies that will unite the majority of the Canadian people and help to bring about some protection of their well-being. “However, the Canadian peo- ple and the working people can’t depend on NDP or on parlia- ment to do what they want. They need to depend on their organized and united strength _ and develop the maximum of ‘pressure on parliament, on every member of parliament in order to help make parliament work in the: interests of the Canadian people, and not allow the reactionaries to push poli- _ tics to the right. The Communist Party, Mr. Kashtan said, would do what is necessary to arouse _ public opinion and unite democratic support — in the first place the working class and trade union movement — to press for those pores that can affect the well- ing of the Canadian people and advance the interests of Canada. 74—PAGE 10 Viet prisoners need outside he ® Continued from page 4 cially as a Member of Parlia- ment), the only people that he was able to meet with first were Officials, either from the Canadian peace-keeping forces, the Thieu government, and DRV representatives. . Outside Enquiries Vital “T realized that to ask for any help in. getting in touch with political prisoners or ex-politi- cal prisoners while in Saigon would only expedite my exit from the country. Also, it would endanger the freedom and pos- sibly the lives of the people with whom I was trying to contact.” Mr. Rowland said _ that through certain channels he managed to contact several pol- itical prisoners.. “I was invited to the house of Mme. No Va Than, a representative of the third force, who was arranging a meeting of former political prisoners. Police ringed the house and through intimidation tried to keep people away. SETTING UP FARM LABOR POOLS OTTAWA—The federal man- power department is prepared to pour $3-million this year into setting up farm labor pools to try and avert last summer’s problems in harvesting crops. Department officials feel that the fact that there was no ma- ~ jor loss in food production due ‘to a shortage of field workers was more a matter of good luck than good management. They don’t know whether the Canada Farm Labor Pool pro- gram will be effective in match- ing workers with employers, but they feel it is worth a try. The pools will be local-opera- tions, run by farmers for farm- ers, with assistance and exper- tise provided by the local Cana- da Manpower Centre manager. CLOTHING WORKS STRIKE MORE CITIES TORONTO—More than 3,000 clothing workers have struck 14 plants in Toronto and Ham- ilton to back demands for a $1- an-hour increase over two years. They join 6,000 members of the * Amalgamated Workers on strike in Montreal. The Ontario members voted to’strike after working without — a contract since Dec. 1. Management has offered $1 spread over three years to the members, who earn between $2.20 and $6 an hour. MORE WOMEN IN WORKFORCE TORONTO — New. informa- tion indicates there is a greater ‘percentage of women in the work force than has been esti- mated, Sylva M. Gelber’ said last week. But she said there are also. indications that pay differences between men and women, job segregation and lack of oppor- tunity for women are getting worse. soe Miss Gelber, director of the Women’s Bureau in the federal department of labor, was Speaking to The Conference Board in Canada, a non-profit business research organization. Miss Gelber said data from the 1971 census indicate 39.9% of all. working age women are in the labor force. Statistics ‘Canada: has been showing a cur- rent rate of less than 37%. Clothing . és Through the same channels I managed to meet with other ex political prisoners, who told me that the only ‘way those still in jail would be released by the Thieu government. was to have people in other countries en- quire. after them personally.” The, final workshop was con- ducted by Nancy Pocock and Ann Buttrick, members of the International Committee to Free South Vietnamese Prisoners from Torture, Detention and Death. Mrs. Buttrick had visited Vietnam, but was prevented by the Thieu government from ent- ering Saigon. Says: Write Sharp Nancy Pocock urged that Canadians write to Mitchell Sharp, minister of external af- fairs, demanding. that Canada speak out officially for the re- lease of civilian prisoners *in Vietnam. While in the DRV, she said, she found people every where concerned about the fate of their brothers and sisters dy- Ontario jobs prograf fails youth, The following letter was sent to Margaret Birch, head of the Ontario Youth Secretariat by Elizabeth Hill, leader of the “Young Communist League on Feb. 21: “We have noted your vigorous attacks on the Federal govern- ment’s programs, Opportunities for’ Youth and Local Initiatives Program. But you yourself are embarking on a program which is basically the same — totally in- adequate project programs for students and no permanent jobs, even though the initials are dif- ferent. : “When you said it will be ‘good value’ for the taxpayers dollars, you must have meant ‘good value’ for the taxpayers’ cause in reality it is nine millton dollars spent trying to convince taxpayers that the government is doing something rather than ac- tually doing it. The 7,388 jobs that “Ontario Experience ’74” is supposed to provide will only cover 3.5% of. the students who will be looking for work ‘this summer. “Where will the other 212,612 — jobs come from? Your youth sec> retariat has suggested they will Trib’s new Moscow correspondel The Canadian Tribune is pleased to announce that John Weir, veteran Communist jour- nalist and former editor of the Tribune has been appointed Tri- bune correspondent in the Soviet Union. He will take up his Moscow post in the near future. As a Canadian who has lived in and has a deep-going know- ledge of the USSR, one who speaks fluent Russian and Ukra- inian, who has an inquiring and analytical approach, John Weir has excellent qualifications to offer readers an insight into de- velopments in the first land of socialism. ’ At a Bon Voyage party for John and his wife Edya, Wil- Jjiam Kashtan, leader of the Communist Party of Canada, commented that ‘John ‘can per- ‘told me,” she said, “that he said, “will be abl ing in Thieu’s prisons. * can handle the other things, not the prisoners. We need) help’.”’ ee Mrs. Buttrick also urged 4 adians to write Sharp, and that individual persons in gon’s jails also be conta’ Outside of the humanité question, she noted, # 200,000 political prisoners, if leased, would contribute to the physical task of struction”. 5 After a Vietnamese buffeb evening was given up to @ cert performed by the namese and Laotian pall cultural groups, along wi assist from the Toronto Association. It, along with Communist Party, Ontario Democratic Party, Voice Women, the Canadian Com tee for Solidarity with 4 cratic Chile and the Can@® Peace Congress were amone sponsors. YCL says come from the private seCt case /you hadn’t noticed, people presently are facing, employment which is more double the already high le unemployment, You might “ti noticed also that. subs) numbers of young people 4 ing laid off — thousands i1® and 300 discharged from D® Aircraft. i. “The Young Com muy League urges the Ontario Secretariat to meet the n& young people in this prov’ | ensuring them decent usé creative jobs at trade unio® of pay. This requires a p along the following line ¢ Raise the minimum $3. per hour ¢ A 32-hour work week no reduction in pay ¢ Training to be provi young people without reste” and with adequate provis living allowance. ¢ A public housing cas sf for building new low homes ¢ Unemployment : benefits for youth unable jobs” 0 from an_ historic role,” J period of contrast betw® cialism, increasing the a” of the people,” and imp which is bankrupt but ¥ a danger to world peac Canadians to see the socialism.”