Birr ‘ _ BROADBENT AT REGIONAL CONVENTION 6 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER JOB CREATION THE KEY TO MAKING CANADA WORK Editor’s note: ; The following is the address given by Ed Broadbent, Na- tional Leader of the New Democratic Party, to the re- cent IWA Convention in Van- couver. I would like to talk to you today about jobs and the job facing Canadian governments. I do so, because, I am con- vinced that job creation is the key to Canada’s future, . whether you live in Bella Coola or Bellechase. The NDP convention this past summer adopted a policy on national unity whose central emphasis can be summed up in like those of high prices and high unemployment — the bread and butter issues. We need a new deter- mination to make Canada work, to make it go and to make Canadians proud. Instead, the Liberal govern- ment in Ottawa gives us more of the same. For 10 years now they have been talking about constitutional mumbo jumbo and ignoring the economy. For 10 years now they have idly stood by while our manufac- turing and resource sectors de- clined. And, for the past three budgets, finance minister after finance minister has refused to deal with the rising unemploy- rate at which unemployment is growing. It is a program based on cur- rent economic realities. It is a program that a Liberal gov- ernment could implement immediately. It has no revolu- tionary elements. It is not utopian. Indeed, we designed it so that the Liberals could Ss borrow it. I want to see this govern- ment take action to do some- thing about unemployment and would be pleased to see them Swipe another good NDP idea. The first element of our four point program is a tax cut for low and middle income earners that would see $1.5 million SS ry Once again the Convention indicated its support for the New Democratic Party by approving a program which would have: © The Union reaffirm its all out support for the NDP. @ All Local Unions affiliated to the NDP. e@ All Local Unions provide all out support for the NDP during elections. © A comprehensive political action program developed to co-ordinate the activities of all Local Unions. e A political action program implemented as soon as possible. this fashion: ‘“‘The way to make Canada work as a nation is to put the nation back to work.” The sad reality is that unem- ployment has been insidiously growing bit by bit in recent years and has now reached alarming proportions. In fact, it has taken the Tru- deau government fully 10 years to bring us to levels of unem- ployment only exceeded by the depression during the 1930s. Bill Bennett, on the other hand is trying to do it in two years. In August this year there were ‘‘officially’’ 838,000 Canadians listed as unem- ployed. The real number out of work, when you include the “Hidden” unemployed was at least 1.3 million or 11.2 percent. Here in British Columbia the real rate of unemployment was higher than the national aver- age at 11.8 percent or 148,000 le. In New Brunswick and Newfoundland today, unem- ployment in real terms is al- ready the same as it was in 1932, the peak of the depres- sion. In Quebec, the real rate of unemployment was 13.8 per cent or 423,000 people, the vast majority of them under 30. Is it any wonder that 40 per cent of those under thirty years of age in Quebec favour separation, according to the latest polls? These young people are ridi- culed and ignored by the Tru- deau government. As a result, ve become the main of the P.Q. I am not going to quote you any more statistics on the oumber of those unemployed. _ We all know that it is too many and that it is costing us too much money. The logger in Terrace and want pay Temiscaming cheques not unemployment - They : t work, self-respect and security. They’d rather y taxes, than collect han- ment. Instead they have re- strained our economy to the point of a recession bordering on depression. The recent cabinet shuffle promises more of the same. The Prime Minister has moved Marc Lalonde into a depart- ment of Inter-Governmental Affairs so that he can work on constitutional problems. Warren Allmand, who was doing a good job in Indian Affairs has moved to Con- sumer and Corporate Affairs, not so that he can protect con- sumers but according to the Prime Minister so he can devote more of his time to the problems of minorities in Quebec. And Allan MacHachen has been made full-time deputy Prime Minister so that Pierre Trudeau can devote more of his time wandering about the country talking about the con- stitution. When the reality of Canada today demanded that our faltering national economy be given first priority, the entire emphasis of the shuffle was to- ward constitutional matters. Beginning the policies and grams necessary to reduce the numbers of unemployed and end the financial drain unem- ployment causes should have been uppermost in the mind of Mr. Trudeau. Instead, Jean Chretien, the new finance minister, said only that there would be no easy answers for unemployment. I want to tell Mr Chretien that the NDP and most Canadians know that there are no easy answers to solving the unemployment problem. No one is expecting miracles. But what Canadians are looking for is that this govern- ment finally get off their hands and start to do something about unemployment. _ That is why I have an- nounced a four point emer- gency job program. It is a pro- gram designed not to end un- employment but to arrest the pumped into the economy. With 34,000 fewer jobs this year over 1976 in the manufacturing sector and retail sales very low, we believe this has the po- tential of creating between 100,000 and 150,000 jobs. The second point we have proposed is a capital * works program for all three levels of government. Precisely the same sort of program all 10 provincial premiers urged the federal government to under- take when the premiers met at St. Andrew’s in August. We think this $400 million project could create up to 60,000 jobs. ' A housing and public transit program. which would empha- size housing at prices people can afford and immediate transit improvements could provide up to 70,000 jobs. This program would help employ- ment in the hard hit construc- tion industry and also boost. prospects in your own -in- dustry. The fourth point is a $50 million program for small businesses. This is a labour support plan which entitles each business to hire up to three extra employees. We think this would create 20,000 new jobs, many of which would become permanent. As I have said, the burning concern facing Canadians today is getting our economy back on the rails. Getting Canadians back to work, busi- ness booming and the future bright. Government action is needed to break the ‘‘de- pression psychology’”’ which is now settling in. The Liberal government must stop talking and con- stantly thinking about the con- stitution. We must begin today to take positive, fresh economic action or we won’t be able to afford the luxury of constitutional chit chat, let alone solve the hundred year old problems entrenched in our act. I say let’s get on with the real job; the way to make Canada work is to put the country back to work. a Se FEDERAL New Democratic Party Leader Ed Broadbent - OCTOBER-NOVEMBER,1977 addressing delegates. On his left are Regional 2nd Vice- President Bob Blanchard and Regional Secretary-Treasurer Wyman Trineer. SHOPLIFTERS TARGET OF CITY MERCHANTS By ALD. HARRY RANKIN Vancouver has an anti-shop- lifting group called (SAVE). It was initiated and sponsored in 1974 by the Vancouver Board of Trade, Vancouver ploice and Vancouver merchants. At present it’s conducting a drive to raise $200,000: from public (provincial government and municipal councils) and _pri- vate (merchants) sources fvr what it calls an “‘educational campaign’’ against shop lift ing. Roland Odell, the president says that his group is ‘‘seri- ously considering placing newspaper ads listing the names of shoplifters’”, while Gordon Stahl, the group’s liaison officer claims that it would be an “effective de- terrent to others if the names of those convicted of theft by shoplifting were printed’’. If merchants are so concern- ed, shoplifting must be a grow- ing problem. And it is not an offence to be condoned, but we also have to recognize that ost of the shoplifting is done by poor people, driven to it by high prices, unemployment, low income or no income at all. The merchants are concerned, of course, not over the moral aspects of the problem but be- cause shoplifting cuts into their profits. I don’t subscribe to the idea that we should give them public funds to protect their private interests. If, in the in- terests of society, an educa- tional program needs to be carried on, it should be by public authorities, provincial or municipal. Bae ~ ey posed to the plan to publish the names of shoplifters in ads sponsored by the merchants and. paid for by their own or public funds. There is no reason why shoplifters should be singled out any more than drug pushers, drunks, or those guilty of theft, fraud, swindlers or numberless other crimes. In fact most of those crimes are much more serious than shop- lifting. If we are going to start pub- lishing the names of people who break the law, I know a better place to start, and this involves some merchants too. Every year there are any num- ber of cases of corporations or , business people who try to de- fraud the law on income taxes. In most cases they are called to 1110 West Georgia and if guilty are quietly reprimanded, forced to make restitution or fined or assessed. No publicity is given to these cases. Never, or almost never, are they sent to prison for this offence. The reason, of course, is that these are respectable business men ° and corporations, pillars of so- ciety and the church, and their public image or their private lives mustn’t be hurt. Their cases are successfully diverted from the courts. How would the merchants like it if a group were organ- ized to take out newspaper ads to list the names of all corpora:. - tions and business people guilty of income tax evasion? Iam not advocating that this be done. And I’m damn sure the merchants wouldn’t advo- cate it either. What I am saying is that the merchants have no right to single out one group of offenders, just be- cause it suits their private fi- nancial interests.