B.C. defeated fight now agains

By HAL GRIFFIN

ee the next decade, oan ae the larger cen- : fen, celebration of Con- Ch, ation, we in British - Mbia will be marking ee of 100-year fa Ones in our history, sa x ‘greater signifi-

an the official cen-

tena 1958. We celebrated in

Si is November 17, 1966, ary of the union of Union of Vancouver ' oo British Columbia their. §; the colonists took Ward ae decisive step to- orn ee to the still un- Other adian Confederation. Cente S are May 21, 1968, Nary of the founding of nfederation League at a September 14, nVentio €nary of the Yale : 2agUe or. from which the ampai rganized the popular sible 8n that won respon- eerament for British into la and took the colony Onfederation.

Ce

Tslang

: Victor;

e 2 Cc if “hat entenary, however,

it eels. Pass unhonored 29 pases is December 9, unless James Nes- be commentator ects the ancouver Sun, sel- - Other Sccasion to write an- Biega go Ch anti - national 1g 1a his column of June sults Tpreting the elections a setback = for s Firsters.”

that 4 On this day in 1869 eeveat Grant received em a group of _Onists, for the most Yoicin ictoria merchants, impengi their alarm at the Columbia’ entry of British at ae into Confederation ‘help Fealing to the U.S. for they akin. Canadian | tariff, Tuin of med, would “be the ; ee farmers and the _y Only a “ our chief cities.” Vancouy Sht years ago, in the ‘154g SUR of May 22, Liberal €shitt was urging the Cos be to claim Amor De ‘Vion .2 OUtstanding cham- atugle aS Colonists in the . it and entry into Con- _“as their father Ignoring the fact Cosmos represented EAE ‘a the House of a but th ‘ae Conservative. at t : en,” added Nesbitt* Sts oy me: “the Commun- fins, is Claim him as B.C.’s Slon to munist” — an allu- : De Cosmos’ defense aris Bey, apes of the

‘Ap une of 1871. Steg Parently Nesbitt now Cather ‘Story through US. pew an Canadian eyes. . Snore : he vould ‘not © historical outldok

Deti Nex,

»

PRINCE EDWARD 'SLAND

‘lumbia

t responsible gov- _

‘policy of

NEW BRUNSWICK

which links Premier W. A. C. Bennett with the annex- ationists of nearly a century ago.

bo * *

The annexationists saw un- ion vvith the U.S. as the easy solution to maintaining their north-south trade ties with San Francisco, at that time the colony’s main link with the world.

Against this De Cosmos and the leaders of the Con- federation League inspired the colonists with the dream of creating a new state stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The annex- ationists were defeated and on July 20, 1871, British Co- entered Confedera- tion.

But, however strong its political heart, Confederation could not function long with- out an economic artery run- ning east to west, and until

the railroad was completed

British Columbia’s continu- ing in Confederation remain-

ed in doubt. Only then did the develop-

“ment of B.C. begin. It was

ruthless, brutal exploitation, this plundering of the new

province’s natural wealth,

from which great fortunes were extracted. And out of the struggle against exploita- tion the working people founded the beginnings of the socialist movement, con- tinuing the traditions of the colonists in their strugggle for responsible government.

Yet even for the new Can- adian ruling class, interpret- ing the British North Amer- ica Act to strengthen its own position, the aim was still that voiced by De Cosmos in the last speech to the House of Commons on April 21, 1882, ‘I see no reason why the people of Canada should not look forward to Canada becoming 4&2 sovereign and

independent state.” a * *

It would have been diffi- cult indeed for a premier of BiG: to call, as Premier Ben- nett did during this past fed- eral election, for economic union with the U.S., a course that would ruin many of our farmers and destroy much of our manufacturing industry, one third of which is already

U.S. owned.

A century ago the had not depleted its own huge resources. But increas- ingiy over the past few dec- ades, as its own rese came exhausted, the U.S. has reached out to seize those of our own country. :

The Liberals under St. Laurent hastened the pro- with their cold war “integration.” The

U.S. still

cess

NOVA SCOTIA

rves be-

atinexationists in 1871-

‘ LC bor Be

~PLAN FOR BETRAYAL. Here is the plan of development for B.C. hydro drawn up by the Peace River Power Development Co., and favored by Premier Bennett. north it would link up with the U.S. at Alaska, and in the south, would feed B.C.

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hydro into the U.S. national power grid. This north-south plan is part of the overall plan to integrate B.C. in the U.S. economy. The Communist Party fights against this

It advocates instead an all-Cana- east-west,

publicly-owned, national,

power grid to serve Canadian needs.

Conservatives under Diefen- baker, promising to restore independent national policy, have continued it.

In B.C., Social Credit has based its policy on a north-

south development that must

inevitably increase U.S. dom- ination and weaken the east- west concept upon which ‘Confederation is founded. The fact that 64 percent of our oil industry now is

Ceratinryy, SASKATCHEWAN

controlled by foreigners, chiefly in the U.S., reflects Social Credit giveaway policy carried through at the expense of national develop- ment. :

And now, if Bennett pre- vails, the hydro - electric power of the Columbia River © will flow with our oil and natural. gas to the south when every consideration of national development cries

SEB nE ii CoseILire

ALBERTA

BRITISH COLUMBIA

aloud for Canadian develop- ment tied in with an east- west power grid—a new ar- tery to give new economic vigor to Confederation.

7 When Nesbitt asserts that a majority of the people of Canada don’t want this Can- ada-first - and - last nonsense the Diefenbaker government dreamed up,” he turns the issue upside down.

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

June 29, 1962—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5