Convention

"We feel that housing is one
the biggest issues,” Bruce
Ontario leader of the
Party, told the Trib-
this week, “and that is why
‘are going to deal with it in
special resolution at our com-
tion.”

his resolution which outlines
arty’s proposals to solve
tas in housing in Canada
“be discussed at the 20th
vi which opens in To-
April 4.

Asked about the form of the
paign for housing that will
‘carried on by the party, Mag-
ion said that the need was to
aw in all people concerned, to

all organizations with
reference to the trade
ovement. “The CLC has
i very keen on the housing
tion,” he said, “and that is
line with our approach.”
fhe emphasis according to
on is on public housing.
he pointed out, “see co-
housing as a substitute
housing. Not that we
n't support the idea of co-
housing, like that of
}UAW in Windsor, but we
that it cannot be the main

ber

his view all levels of gov-

This week a visitor arrived in
onto. He is Carlos Contreras-
arc Communist Sen&tor
Chile and he is here to at-
‘the upcoming Convention
Communist Party as a
delegate.
(A member of the Chilean
st Party since he was
student, and of their Central
ommittee since 1927, he has
i @ deputy and _ senator
ince 1925 representing the
MOvince where the copper and
trate Workers dominate.
Although at times the Party
ta l, he was minister of
te at one period and in 1945
aa Chile as their Am-
“ssador to the San Francisco
tence which established
© United Nations. It is his
ee that is on the UN

id the Tribune about the
Of the miners through
to win independence
Ural progress in Chile.
is the one where for-

the development of ac-

Action to
solve the
housing
crisis

ernment need to be involved, but
“the first responsibility is on the
federal government.”

Magnuson referred to the reso-
lution which says, “The housing
crisis calls for government inter-
vention on a grand scale and in
new and radically different ways.
Buck-passing arguments about
constitutional jurisdiction must
be cast aside in order to carry
out the drastic and far reaching
program required, through the
fullest cooperation and joint ef-
fort required of federal, provin-
cial and municipal government.”

“Housing must be a public uti-
lity,” Magnuson added. He point-
ed to some of the specific pro-
posals the Communist Party was
proposing in the resolution as
the way of implementing this.
Among these are the following:

e “A powerful initiative from
the federal government is need-
ed to provide the funds required
to launch a crash program in
public housing for rental pur-
poses at a level of rental not
to exceed 20 percent of family
income.

e “In line with the above we
demand that federal and provin-
cial governments embark with-
out undue delay in the construc-
tion of 100,000 public housing
units annually for the next ten

years to meet the need for new
housing and to replace present
substandard housing . . . This
to be supplemented by a pro-
gram to acquire for public own-
ership, and to rehabilitate and
conserve another 100,000 private
units each year which are decay-
ing and fast becoming substan-
dard.

e “The expansion of public
housing must go hand-in-hand
with basic reforms in public
housing operations. Tenant con-
trol must be brought to all levels
of administration and decision
making, from tenant selection
policies to project design. This
should be provided for in a Pub-
lic Housing Tenants’ Bill of
Rights.

e “Public ownership of all
vacant land is an inescapable
necessity. All such vacant land
must be acquired and assigned

Shilean Senator to

Convention

eign-owned corporations domi-
nate. Today, in the Chilean na-
tional trade union federation,
the miners play a decisive role
and the majority of the leader-
ship is Communist.

We asked him about the
gains in the recent election in
Chile. This is what happened.
The Communists, who entered
the election in a united front
with the Socialist Party—the
Popular Action Front—increas-
ed its popular vote from 14.4 to
16.5 percent. The number of
deputies increased from 18 to
22 and of senators from 5 to 6.

This he felt augured well for
the coming presidential elec-
tions. He spoke of the failures
of the Frei government and its
encouragement of the imperial-
ists. The party has called for
unity of all forces and Contre-
ras-Labarca feels that the left
wing will offer a definite alter-
native. For example, the trade
union centre has now brought
in Christian-Democrats and Ra-

dical forces through the strug-
gle to bring the resources of
Chile into the hands of its peo-
ple.

He felt there were big chang-
es throughout Latin America
because of the defeats for U.S.
imperialism in Vietnam. Not
only, he said, do people no long-
er regard the U.S. as a mighty
power, but Vietnam destroyed
the myth that the U.S. was a
democracy,

He felt that if Peru succeeds
in standing up to the U.S. over
the oil holdings this will have
repercussions throughout the
continent. In Chile itself there
are growing movements among
all sections of the people.

In addition to big labor strug-
gles, the students are very
vigorous in the universities,
both state and Catholic, for de-
mocratization of these institu-
tions which they describe as
monarchist and backward. In the
Catholic Church both among
the priests and the laity there

|

TINE TEs

to urban land banks until needed
for public construction. The
compensation must not be at
present inflated prices, but on the
basis of the price of the land at
a time before the “boom” in
values began.

e “Urban renewal projects
must guarantee improved hous-
ing without extra cost to those
presently living in the area af-
fected, and must be carried
through in consultation with
them. Much can be done with
public funds to rehabilitate ex-
isting houses, rather than simply
tearing them down, and add to
the housing shortage. Public au-
thorities can expropriate slum
landlords, renovate old houses
and make them available to the
people in that area at rents or
purchase prices they can afford
to pay.

e “Rent control, with strict en-

forcement provisions must be
enacted and made to cover all
rental housing. The object must
be to hold down rents and to
protect maintenance standards
for all tenants.

e “A government fund should
be * ectahinen to provide hous-
ing loans under the NHA at in-
terest rates not t- exceed 3 per-
cent. Such loans sould be avail-
able directly to purchasers
through the Bank of Canada,

e “Costs and profits in the
building materials industry must
be put under some effective
form of control, pending even-
tual public ownership and con-
trol with specific reference to
housing.

e “The cost of such services
as education, health, welfare,
pollution control and urban tran-
sit, must be removed from the
municipal property tax and plac-
ed on senior governments with
powers to tax individual in-
comes, corporate profits and ca-
pital gains.

e “All taxes on building ma-
outels for residential construc-
tion should be removed as part
of the implementation of general
tax reforms along the lines sug-
gested in the Carter report.

e “Financing is not in insur-
mountable obstacle to the above
proposals in the direction of
meeting the serious housing
crisis, What is physically pos-
sibte, is also financially possible.
A cutback in the present defense
budget by 50 percent would pro-
vide immediately one billion dol-
lars for public housing. Public
funds, including pension funds,
can be directed toward this area
of investment.”

Other resolutions scheduled to
be discussed at the convention
are on farm policy, the Indians,
Eskimos and Metis, a new con-
stitution for Canada, guaranteed
annual income, democratization
of post-secondary education and
for a labor bill of rights.

Congress of the Communist Party of Chile.

is a rebellion in process for de-
mocratization—— which has _ in-
cluded a sit-in at one of the
largest cathedrals.

All this, he said, the Party
views very positively. There is
a big fight now developing in
the ruling Christian-Democratic
party between the reactionary
leadership and the grass roots,
particularly the youth.

He also expressed the hope
for some form of solidarity be-
tween Chilean and Canadian
copper miners — both exploited
by the same U.S. monopoly.

At the same time as this dis-
tinguished Senator from Chile
arrived in Canada, the Commu-

nist Party’s Central office re-
ceived word from the Canadian
government that once again
they were refusing visas to all
fraternal delegates from social-
ist countries, on the grounds
that they did not “meet the con-
ditions.”

William Kashtan, leader of
the Party, has written Ottawa
asking what “conditions” are
not being met and whether other
political parties have the same
problem obtaining visas for
visitors,

It is expécted that the Con-
vention will also deal with this
discriminatory measure of the
Canadian government.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 3, 1969—Page 9
: Nae: