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STRIKING feature of the -
‘new Ontario legislature has
"ien the low calibre of criticism
Jom the opposition side. In
ict if there weren’t a couple of
»>P’ers in the House (and they
Hive been receiving so much
[ce that at times one -wonders
» the legislature was gathered
settle the affairs of the pro-
ace or the evils of Commun-
‘a) it seems doubtful if there
wuld be any life in the opposi-
on Side at all.”

The above sentiment, ex-
‘essed by D. P. O'Hearn in
iturday Night, Toronto week-
, pretty well sums up the feel-
& of the entire press gallery
i. Queen’s Park. It is a senti-
Sient that has also been ex-
2essed by scores of gallery vis-
ors and, indeed, in an oblique
ay, by legislative members
):presenting all parties.

| lf Premier George Drew had
‘lanned the Canadian “spy
Pare”’ Churchill’s Fulton
Hseech, and the current global
ang-up against the Soviet
inion, he couldn’t have timed
more perfectly. The overall
icture coincided with the open-
g of Ontario’s legislature—and
ave the colonel two opportuni-—
es: Qne, to evade the issues _
ficing the province via an at-
ick on the economic rights of

» Feature Section

ore Jobs--

See

the people (clumsily disguised
in a red-baiting shroud), and,
two, an opportunity to play a
leading part in reaction’s cam-
paign for preparation for World
War 3. :

And Mr. Drew took full ad-
vantage of the smoke-screen
opportunities before him. A re-
view of the government bills be-
fore the house shows a dearth of
any legislation which even
faintly meets the needs of the
province. Government boldness
and vigor are only revealed in
bills that provide “The Wolf
and Bear Bounty Act, 1946,”
“The Weed Killing Act,” etc.,
but there is a complete lack of
legislation dealing with hous-
ing, wages, hours, etc.

Bogeys and Beer

HE government's main con-

tributions to the current Ses-
sion has been red bogey
speeches, an act which will
swamp the province with liquor,
and a challenge to Ottawa that
it had better not tax the $2,000
paid members for sitting 30 days
a year.

There are bills on the order
paper dealing with hours of
work, vacations with pay and
minimum wages, sponsored by
CCF and LPP membexs. There
is also J. B. Salsberg’s motion

OANA

SEE. ..:

Has Nothing
Changed?
Page 10

Jap Elections
Page 12

A Labor Code -

SANESS

who have come home.

urging “that this house request
the government to proceed im-
mediately with the appointment
of the select committee on labor
legislation.” The appointment of
such a select committee was
agreed on during the last ses-
sion and came about as a result
of a motion of Mr. Salsberg’s
which received the universal
support of Ontario labor.

The government never acted
upon the mandate it received
from the legislature at that time
and there appears every likeli-
hood that Mr. Drew will use his
large majority to scuttle the’
present motion when, and if,
it reaches the floor of the house.

Labor Unwelcome

ABOR and labor’s problems
are not welcome at Queen’s
Park. Nor is criticism of the
government's edict that people
who need homes can find refuge
in new cocktail bars. The op-
position, CCP, LPP, Liberal and
Independent, have sat through
the present session in an atmos-
phere that can be labelled “Un-
welcome.” Government bills
have been rushed through with
indecent haste, frowns of annoy-
ance furrow the brows of Mr.
Drew and his cabinet when too
many questions are asked.
Ghange the setting and the cos-
tumes and a visitor could easily
imagine Louis XVI sitting
where Mr. Drew now holds
court. “Inet them eat cake,” said

Marie Antionette. “Let them
drink booze,’ says Colonel
Drew.

The government’s budget is 2
first class indication of the type
of regime that sits at Queen’s

“Now Mr. Speaker, red-baiting does not selve any prob-
lems for the province of Ontaria; it gives no homes to the
homeless, no jobs to the unemployed, no wage inereases to
those whose incomes are insufficient; no security to the men
Lest anyone in this House falls for
that ‘lime’ may I say to the Honorable members that the
tactic is as old as reaction; there is nothing new; there is
nothing profound; there is nothing valuable in that Kind of
speech.”—J. B. Salsberg, MPP, March 18, Ontario Legislature.

TTT TT TT

eople Of Ontario Need New Homes--

Park. The budget is political

in nature, giving Mr. Drew a
base to work from at the next
Dominion-Provincial conference.
The government makes much of
an alleged “deficit,” a “deficit,”
incidentally, which disappears
in favor of a profit when some
$29 million dollars due the pro-
vinee from the Dominion -is
taken into account.

Challenged Budget

HE} $29 million was conveni-

ently “overlooked” and only
admitted when A, A. MacLeod
challenged the provincial treas-
urer over his figures. But the
main point, and this was
brought out clearly when J. B.
Salsberge took part in the budg-
et debate, is not whether the
government has a balanced
budget, but whether it is pre-
pared to come forward with a
program that is in the best in-
terests of Ontario.

The member for ‘Toronto-St.
Andrew pointed out that it
would be no more wrong to
present a budget which made
borrowing necessary than it
would be for a farmer to bor-
row money to clear his land
in order to produce a bigger
harvest.

“What is necessary in Ontario
today,” said Mr. Salsberg, “is not
So much a balanced budget, but
a budget that will make possible
the unparalelled development of
all the productive forces in the
province. A budget that will
make possible the settling of
large numbers on the land, that
will provide jobs, that will open
up the natural resources, that
will build houses, that will pro-

e

By Mel Colby

J. B. SALSBERG, LPP-MPP

vide institutions to care for the
young and the sick and the
aged, that will, in general, cre-
ate a condition of not only a
higher standard of living im-
mediately, but a greater market
for everything we produce and
greater employment thereby.
That is the kind of budget we
need far more than a balanced
budget.”

‘A Place For Ali...’

HAT the member for St.

Andrew placed before the
house in such logical and clear-
eut fashion is, in a nutshell,
what he and LPP House Leader
A, A, Maci.eod have been stress-
ing since this session began.
Unfortunately, as was pointed
out in the Saturday Night ar-
ticle, they have had to carry
the load of opposition almost
entirely alone. The scandalous
red-baiting attacks on labor
made by Colonel Drew have
been listened to, for the most
part in silence by the eight CCF
members, an honorable excep-
tion being R. H. Carlin, mine
workers’ leader and member for
Sudbury.

A poll would undoubtedly
show that that average citizen

of Ontario
words of Mr. Salsberg, spoken
last week. He spoke of repre-
senting a constituency where

agreed with the

lived many “new Canadians,”
and said that all
“old and new, should have a
eriterion and a test, to see that
the province will really develop
and grow, and that there shall

Canadians,

be a place for all to work in

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