Says deal
could cut

_ Canadian

gas supply

Roland Priddle, National Energy
Board chairman, has confirmed that
Under the U.S.-Canada Free Trade
Agreement, the NEB’s role in authoriz-
Ing or denying energy exports, including
Natural gas, would be undermined. In
fact, the FTA would remove such
authority from the NEB and place it in
the hands of the federal cabinet.

In an appearance before the Senate
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Priddle said if an export application were
denied by the NEB it would have to refer
the case to cabinet. In this case, the pro-
Portional access clause of the FTA could
Come into play.

he question is, would the govern-
Ment of the day impose the proportional-
ity clause? There is a certain element of
Nisk introduced into the export approval
Process when such decisions are placed
In the hands of politicians rather than an
Neen regulatory body such as the

_ In the case of natural gas, there is no
mmediate danger of an export applica-

Mittnenear cee sina cae USE

é Canadian gas users
Could be competing with
American gas consumers

for Canadian gas, as

Prices set, not in Canada, |
but in the U.S. %

ee  —————E

Po being rejected by the NEB for secur-
| _ of supply reason because of excess
Pplies, both in Canada and the U.S.
Owever, in the longer term, as domestic
Ee 88 supplies dwindle, the demand
| Canadian natural gas will increase,
pepe dramatically, and Canadian
Ural gas users will be competing with
oe €rican gas consumers for Canadian
at prices, set not in Canada but in the
ten? where the gas market will be much
Ba ter. Canadian gas users will then be
ee US. prices for Canadian gas.
. Tguably, higher prices will encourage
om XPloration and development of
eee natural gas reserves, perhaps at
de €lto meet the increased demand. But
Ntually, these will be high-cost Arctic
ifj ne Shore natural gas reserves which,
€ren’t for high U.S. demand, would
Needed later rather than sooner.
Quick} unless Canadian gas users act
not Y, €ven the higher-priced gas many
© available. Just recently, two large
te-< terstate pipelines have signed let-
of intent to contract for the natural
ear pat the Mackenzie Delta for a 20-
~_ Petiod beginning in 1996.
| Tom Natural Gas Market Report,
| Oct. 1988

e

NEB head |

Canada

Subsidies ‘were on the table’

At a crowded press conference Nov. 14,
representatives of GATT-Fly, the inter-
church coalition for economic justice,
released a confidential document showing
the Canadian free trade negotiators offered
to restrict regional development programs
by prohibiting subsidies to specific enter-
prises and industries, but the offer was
turned down by American negotiators as an
insufficient concession.

This new evidence, taken from a confi-
dential briefing of provincial officials by
federal negotiators held on May 12, 1987,
directly contradicts claims made by Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney during the leaders
French language debate in October. Mul-
roney told viewers he “gave specific instruc-
tions to Simon Reisman that on no account,
for whatever reason, would we accept res-
trictions on our ability to provide regional
subsidies.”

The information, provided by an anony-
mous provincial officiat who attended the
May, 1987 meeting, revealed the Canadian
negotiating team had offered to prohibit
either provincial or federal governments
from giving subsidies if they are: “preferen-
tial; are specific to enterprises or industries
and not generally available; or distort pro-
duction, trade or investment in the free
trade area.”

Dennis Howlett, GATT-Fly’s staff re-
searcher, said if the offer had been accepted
by the U.S., several different regional pro-
grams currently in operation would have

Micuel
Figueroa

ERO Meat Bre
MARTIMES

been ruled out under the deal, such as
assistance grants to east coast fish compan-
ies, or special tax and investment incentives
for Cape Breton.

Howlett also revealed that on Sept. 23,
1987, the day Reisman announced the free
trade talks had died, U.S. trade representa-
tive Clayton Yeutter was telling Congres-
sional representatives the reasons the talks
had broken down, citing regional subsidy
and dispute mechanism issues.

Yeutter told Congressmen the ceiling for
allowable subsidies was at stake, with the
Canadian negotiators seeking a $2-million
limit while the Americans insisted on
$20,000.

(Because agreement could not be reached
on the subsidies issue, the current deal states
these will be negotiated over the next five to
seven. Only subsidies on energy and mil-
itary goods have been specifically exempted
from potential restrictions.)

The GATT-Fly representatives argue

these revelations lead to the following con-
clusions:

@ “The categorical insistence by (Mulro-
ney) that his government has never and will
never offer to substantially reduce Canada’s
existing regional programs ... is false and
misleading.”

@ “Canada’s regional programs were on
the table and are still on the table.”

@ “There can be no reasonable doubt
that present regional programs in Canada

will be cut back during the next five to seven —

years of negotiations.” s

© "Canada’s bargaining position in the
next round will be even weaker than in the
first round of negotiations, as we have
already traded away most of our bargaining
chips.”

@ "Subsidizing energy mega-projects and
directing military spending to under-
developed regions may become the only
option available for Canadians.”

Later the same day, Trade Minister John
Crosbie scrambled to play down the impor-
tance of the new information concerning
the trade deal, and attempted to attack
GATT-Fly’s motives by questioning the
timing of the press conference.

The church organization’s ‘chairman,
Geoff Johnston, said GATT-Fly had hesi-
tated to release the confidential document,
but felt forced to make an ethical choice
“because of the grave injustice to all Cana-

dians which might otherwise be done” if the

material was withheld.

Reform candidates sweep Toronto

By MARK SYDNEY

The people of Toronto have voted solidly
for reform.

That was the message handed to the
developers and corporate community Nov.
14, as voters in the city swept out many of
the pro-development and right-wing coun-
cillors, replacing them with people commit-
ted to fight on Toronto city council for a
better quality of life, and to ensure that
Toronto remains a people-oriented city.

Torontonians voted for reform candi-
dates, said Geoff Da Silva, chair of the
Metro Committee of the Communist Party
of Canada, “because they were obviously
concerned about the fate of their neigh-
bourhoods, about the environment, and
about the crying need for accessible, affor-
dable housing and child care — concerns
the pro-development, big-business backed
majority led by Mayor Art Eggleton on the
outgoing council would not address.

For the first time ever, Toronto will have
reform majorities on both its city council
and board of trustees. It was the biggest
turnover since 1972. Voters elected six new
council members — all of them reform
candidates — who say they will work to
make Toronto a more livable city.

Also victorious were two of the four pro-
gressive candidates for board of trustee
supported by the Canadian Tribune: Eliza-
beth Hill, in Ward 4, City of York, who with
760 votes, almost doubled the total of her
closest runner-up; and Ruth Weir, in Etobi-
coke’s Ward 2, who tallied 1,601 votes ina
victorious effort. For Hill, the. victory was
especially impressive: she is the only new
trustee on the York board, and the only
candidate to beat an incumbent.

two others, Louise Fawcett in
part Ward 2, and Jayne Cowl in the
city’s Wards 11 and 12, turned in excellent
showings in their municipal debuts. Faw-
cett, running against entrenched trustee
Irene Atkinson, garnered 1,452 votes —
about 40 per cent of the winner s total; while
Cowl, up against tough opposition that
included two popular reform candidates,
came within less than 500 votes of being
elected, collecting 2,416 votes in all. ie

The extent of the reform, anti-unlimited

development sentiment in the city core
could be seen from the large vote picked up
by mayoralty candidate Carolann Wright,
running on an anti-poverty, people’s plat-
form. Conducting a last-minute campaign,
with a shoestring budget of about $1,000,
against developer-backed incumbent Eggle-
ton (returned with 89,156 votes), with virtu-
ally no initial endorsements or publicity,
and a virtual media black-out, Wright still
managed, thanks primarily to word of
mouth, to poll a more than respectable
24,031 votes. This surprised almost eve-
ryone, including the NDP which, although
its candidates were almost all successful in
Toronto at all levels, shied away from sup-
porting Wright; and Reform Toronto, the
loose reform coalition formed last July,
which gave her only a small plug in its
newspaper, Badger.

Where progressive and reform candi-
dates ran, both in the city of Toronto and in
the other five municipalities of the metro-
politan area, they were almost all successful.
A quick tally of the candidates on the
Tribune-endorsed list shows that 90 per cent
of those candidates, many of them also
endorsed by the Labour Council of Metro-
politan Toronto and Reform Toronto, were
elected.

On the Toronto school board, the NDP
has regained the majority it lost to the right
in the 1985 elections, with an 11-9 edge.
Going down to an ignominious defeat were
the two outspoken right-wing ideologues on
the board, Nola Crewe and Ron Marks —
beaten handily by two NDP-supported
candidates. “‘What is so significant here is
that the right-wing majority was beaten
after just one term in control,” commented
Da Silva, “showing that the ultra-right and
their spokespeople do not command the
hearts of the people, especially when a clear,
progressive alternative is presented.”

A key factor in the reform victory in
Toronto was the changed approach of the
NDP, whose candidates, especially down-
town, were all successful. Instead of taking a
narrow view of municipal politics, support-
ing its own candidates and no others, and
virtually compelling the Labour Council to
follow suit, the NDP in fact formed a loose,
informal alliance with reform-minded pop-

ular groups, including Reform Toronto,
and other progressive forces and individu-
als. This recipe ensured success, and in a
sense, confirmed the validity, in municipal
politics, of the direction taken by Reform
Metro in the 1970s, when it elected succes-
sive reform majorities on city council.

Another factor was the emergence of
Reform Toronto, a group of people —
several of whom were elected municipally in
the 1970s — who coalesced around certain
demands and come forth with a slate for
city council of candidates who meet the
concerns of the people.

Equally, the labour movement in the city,
via the Metro Toronto Labour Council,
had a hand in ensuring the success of the
reform candidates. Not bowing totally to
the pressures of the federal election, the
labour council provided money, direction
and input to the reform current.

While the reform current was not as
strong or as dramatic in the other five
municipalities, one thing is certainly evi-
dent. Based on the victories scored by Trib-
une and labour council-endorsed candidates
across Metro, it can be said that where a
clear, progressive reform alternative does
exist, at whatever level of municipal
government, it will do well, and reform
candidates can win. This is something to
consider in the period leading up to the next
municipal election.

The informal alliance which swept to vic-
tory in Toronto showed that despite the
“development boom” so lauded by corpo-
rate interests, people are not taken in by this
apparent prosperity. They have realized
that huge mega-projects downtown, the
unbridled development of Toronto’s water-
front, the Dome, and words about making
Toronto a “world class city” — which
brought millions to the developers — gave
them little, either materially or morally. It
did not translate into a clean city environ-
ment, making Toronto a livable city,
improved municipal services, lower prop-
erty taxes, quality education, an end to
streaming, the chance of affordable hous-
ing, or accessible, affordable child care. And
Torontonians voted for candidates who
have said they will makes these issues a
priority.

Pacific Tribune, November 28, 1988 e 7

i aa i ea

SINE SETESTANES, | REEAGAR TRB DAMNING iE At eR AD PY MASE MERON SE