Page 2 — Saturday, November 25, 1944

Rifles held ready for guick action, American soldiers push ahead through Hurtgen
Forest near Vossenack, where savage fighting has been raging in the last week.

LPP Provincial Convention Will

By TOM McEWEN

ark A Milestone InUnity Struggle

The coming convention of the British Columbia Labor-Progressive Party on December
8 and 9 in the Hotel Vancouver, will mark a milestone in the struggle for Canadian unity

for victory and peace.

Any review of the tremendous
events which have occurred since
our last provincial convention,

will bring out with compelling |

emphasis the need to strengthen
the unity of the people, and to
realize in’ fuller measure that
the chief ingredient for victory
over Hitlerism and a secure and
progressive postwar Canada is
unity of effort and objective.

ROLE OF OUR PARTY

The role our Party has played
in the shaping of events and in
the forging of this unity is tre-
mendous. Ours is the only party
of the common people that has
unreservedly adopted the prin-
ciples of the Teheran Concord
as a guide for Canadian post-
War domestic and foreign poli-
cies.

Ours is also the only party
of the Canadian parties which
has not permitted narrow
Partisan interests to obscure
Gr confuse the burning issues
of the day. We have placed
our Nation’s war effort and the
big problems of peace and
economic reconstruction as the

first responsibility of — our
organization and our mem-
bers.

“CONVENTION PROBLEMS

As the day of victory draws
nmear the great problem of re-
construction, job security, the
placement of our armed forces
under conditions of economic and
social security, must command
the attention of all responsible
organizations and people. The
whole question of Dominion-
Proyineial relations must com-
mand the attention of our con-
vention. The attempted ‘“putsch”
of the Tory phalange to seize
power on the issue of conscrip-
tion; their obstructive and de-
structive tactics in the key prov-

inces of Ontario -and Quebec,
confront our convention with the
need to realize more fully that
the lasting foundations of na-
tional unity must be built in the
provinces: to direct our efforts
towards building unity in pro-
vincial affairs and to have this
progress synchronize with the
progress of Canada as a whole.

Afly provincial policies af-
fecting postwar developments
which are built upon a narrow
concept of provincial “rights”,
ean only be detrimental to the
unity of Canada as a national;
entity.

This is the outstanding con-
clusion of the voluminous work
of the Sirois Commission. It is
the task of our convention and
our Party to bring it up to date
for-the masses of our people
and the welfare of our province.
In this we can make an out-
standing contribution to the unity
and wellbeing of Canada.

EVALUATE WORK

Our convention will record the
progress, achievements and in-
fluence of our Party with justi-
fiable pride; it will also draw
some sober conclusions from the
shortcomings in our work. We
shall have to study more closely
the task of building national
unity from the bottom up — of
raising the political conscious-
ness of the people of our prov-
ince by greater clarity and ex-
position of our program. Sec-
ondly we must make the neces-
Sary organizational changes in
our Party structure to permit a
wider participation of the people
in the work of our party.

Both of these tasks, political
and organizational, will com-
mand the full attention of the
delegates. The closest orienta-
tion of our party upon muni-

‘sion,

cipal and provincial affairs will
Zive the practical and scientific
experience for the larger task of
building national unity.

RAISE THE ISSUES

I would urge that between now
and the convention, members of
our Party and supporters avail
themselves of the invitation of
the “P.A.” to raise for discus-
thru the medium of its
columns, some of the big politi-
cal issues pertaining to local and
national unity. By so doing we
will add to the constructive work
of this convention, and a clearer
path for future progress.

IWA Member
Faces Charges

Charges of conspiring to at-
tack IWA. officers and mem-
bers, in violation of the TWA. con-
stitution, were laid against John
Ulander of Ladysmith, member
of the CCE Provincial Council,

at a meeting of TWA Local 1-80]|

in Duncan last week. The charges
were filed at a well attended
meeting of the local with only
five dissenting votes.

Ulander is accused of calling
and attending an illegal rump
meeting of a few TWA members
and certain individuals outside of
the IWA for the purpose of
drawing up such plans. The al-
leged meeting is reported to have
been held in the Malaspina Hotel
in Nanaimo on November 12.

A trial committee ,as provided
in the IWA constitution, will be
empannelled at the next meeting
of Local 1-80 to be held on De-
cember 17.

CCL-PAC Will Seel

C tive Actic
Political Action Committee of the Canadian Can;
of Labor, acting as the political instrument of CCL un
and wholly independent of any politicak party,” will
the cooperation of the like body of the Trades and [1
Congress of Canada and “other
labor and democratic bodies” in
order to advance I¢gislative
measures required by labor and
the whole people.

fulfils in the main the maje
mand of some o# the large
ganizations affiliated to the
namely the United Autom
Workers, the United Hlec#
Workers, the IWA and the {
yard unions, for a non-par:
political action program si:
to that of the CIO in the 0
States.

This stand was endorsed in a
resolution adopted by the CCL-
PAC meeting in Ottawa last
week, attended by Nigel Morgan,
board
International

international
member of the
Woodworkers of America (CIO),
and Garry Culhane of the B.C.
Shipyard General Workers’
Federation, who represented Pa-
cific Coast CCL unions’ views.

PLEDGE COOPERATION

The resolution pledged the co-
operation of CCL-PAC€ with all
ether democratic organizations
“to defeat reaction and to en-
sure the election of a represen-

Canadian

“The resolution takes the
away from being simply a J
ess for partisan support of
CCF and lays the basis f
united labor campaign on 4
like reconversion, improve
of the national labor code an
velopment of a real health
security program.”

PRESENTED TO LEADER

Morgan also reported tha
CCL’s immediate and long j

tative and responsible govern- lasisivitya peasenma has nom:

ment of the people federally and presented #6 the Ieee
provincially.”

“The resolution indicates a
welcome trend in the GCL-PAG

Morgan told P.A. “I¢

five political parties in Gz
namely Mackenzie King,
Bracken, John Blackmore,
Buck and M. J. Coldwell.

setup,”

LPP Financial Campaign

Well, friends, this time ’m going to ask your indule-
to read what I am writing as a little discourse on current ex
and not a financial report. If you’ll bear with me this time
editor has given his approval, by the way), I promise to &
you up-to-date on what’s doing in the drive in the next issu

What prompted this “detour” is something that struck
as being very curious. Here we are in the fifth year of

we're over the hump and look forward to victory over Na
in the near future, fascism and reaction all over the wor!
on the downgrade, the USA (which is supposed to influenc
very much) has just chalked up a resounding victory ovei
Drews and Duplessis, and where is Canada? Right bang in
middle of a Tory-inspired political crisis in which so far
action has been winning tricks altogether too far down the |

Now, I’m no oracle and I don’t know all the answers.
leave-that to all the smart columnists and commentators of
capitalist dailies and radio networks, who can smell an elec |
almost before Bracken tells them he wants one. But I can
gest one angle. , :

Where the left-wing labor movement has reached the pet
through its spokesmen, its newspapers and its literature, €
lesson of past history shows that issues have been and cat
cleared up to the advantage of the people and the country |
whole. This is definitely the lesson of the American elec
This also can be the case in Canada’s present difficulties.

If the people can be reached by those like Tim Buck
Fergus McKean who have already pointed the way out of
“conscription” crisis, then not only can one of the era
moments in our history be overcome but the people will 1)
moved a step forward in the defeat of Tory reaction.

I know you understand what I am driving at. If you do’
I ask you to measure up to that understandings: Every day. co)

-from now on. Pleading on my part now would be an imsul
you. The issue is too clear and too grave for either pleadini
commands. / :

Work, work, work every day harder than you ever I
before to put our financial drive over. Its success is the mea:
of Canada’s future, of your future. Every dollar now, to |
is a blow against the Tory drive to power, now open for al
see. Let’s stop that drive. i