NDP victory in Ontario raises election prospects

TORONTO — New Democrat James Renwick won a smashing victory in Riverdale by-election Sept. 10, doubling his party’s vote of a year ago and capturing a Conservative provincial strong- hold.

The result: James Renwick (N.D.P.) 7,326; Kenneth Waters (P.C.) 5,783; Charles Templeton

(Lib.) 5,758; Fred Graham (Ind.) 92.

Welcoming the N.D.P. win in Riverdale the Ontario leader of the Communist Party, Bruce Magnuson, said:

“It is difficult to over-estimate

JAMES RENWICK

the importance of this victory, It shows the possibilities that exist for a tremendous advance of democratic and progressive forces in Ontario, provided they are united,

“In some respects the River- dale victory has an affinity with the wartime election of Joe Nose- worthy in South York in 1942 in a federal by-election. It .was a forerunner to the greatadvance made by the C.C.F. in the 1943 provincial elections in Ontario.

“A similar opportunity exists for the N.D.P. today, provided the working people and all progres- Sive forces are brought into ac- tive participation during the next provincial election campaign.

“In Windsor there was not the same campaign spirit that existed in Riverdale, The result shows that at this time no spon- taneous shift can be counted on — success for the Left willcome only as a result of hard work and good organization.

“Public feeling is rising against the Robarts government, but as yet the people do not see a clear alternative,

“The Communist: Party wel- comes the N.D.P, victory in Riverdale, and‘hopes that greater unity of the working class will be achieved throughout Ontario between now and the next pro- vincial elections.”

"Peg labor veteran honored

WINNIPEG — A veteran trade unionist and one of the leaders of the 1919 General Strike, R.B. (Bob) Russell, was presented on Labor Day with an address of appreciation signed by Premier Duff Roblin and Labor Minister O. Baizley. ‘

Students hit apartheid

A round-the-clock picket for one solid week of the South Afri- can Embassy in Ottawa will be staged by Canadian students to demonstrate their opposition to apartheid,

The picketing program is one of a number of actions endorsed by the international affairs com- mission of the Canadian Union of Students Congress held at York University recently,

He is the first trade unionist to be so honored by a govern- ment in Manitoba “in recogni- tion of,” as the address declares, “his long and devoted service to the cause of the labor movement in this province.”

Russell, now 75, retired two years ago because of ill-health as executive secretary of. the Winnipeg Labor Council and as a member of the Manitoba Labor Board,

For his participation in the 1919 General Strike he was charged with seditious con- spiracy and jailed for two years, Russell served for many years as secretary of the One Big Union. After the merger in 1956 with the Trades and Labor Congress and the Canadian Congress of La- bor, he was appointed to the Win- nipeg Labor Council,

Rm. 502 FORD BLDG.

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CARON HITS DAVIS STAND

Liberal MP charged w ‘gigantic hoax’ on pub

charge that Jack Davis, par- Doe. secretary to Prime Minister Pearson and Coast-Capilano M.P., is again playing a key role in a gigantic hoax on the Canadian people, was made this week byB,C, Commun- ist Party organization secretary Charles Caron,

In a letter sent to North Van- couver and city newspapers, Caron, who opposed Davis in the last Federal election, said, “Mr, Davis is urging that Canada ex- port vast quantities of our fresh water to the United States, all the while stoutly maintaining that such a policy would be in the in- terests of Canada,”

Recalling that in the last Fed- eral election Davis appealed that “We must keep Canada strong and free,” and told the voters that the draft Columbia River Treaty was a “sellout in aseries

of five feature articles appearing -

in the Vancouver Sun,’ Caron pointed out that “when elected to office Davis completely reversed

his opposition and became an ac- tive spokesman for the sellout and even directly participated in the formulation of the precise terms,”

Caron said, “Mr, Davis could not summon up the courage to be in the House of Commons the day the final vote was taken, He could not bear to listen to his Own words being read back to him by those patriotic M,P.’s who took part in the debate in an unsuccessful attempt to save this mighty resource for Canada,”

Caron’s letter states:

“For $275 million the Colum- bia River was placed under U.S, control, This resource is possib- ly the greatest undeveloped water source on the North American continent,

“With this much control al- ready surrendered discussion are now taking place in the U,S, Senate on a $100 billion plan to drain off to the U.S, all of the

remaining waters from Mountain Trench,

“Mr, Davis’ ‘Great V the development of our ™ sources for Canada is ae tical froth, Canada is Me™ with the abundance of W the United States, His consists of another & foreign power of animpoh” tural resource that is ney for the future of our ¥

“We have the ability !! our water resources 1! hydro power for the it? of the prairie province: extension of interior Wa@™

Caron said Davis’ ¥ our future is one of dep on the U,S,, the obvi" come of which is less over our resources asilll | in the Columbia Treas | is not Canadianism but & tician’s talk, leading to", ordination of Canada tote” concluded Caron,

- in SELLING CANADA BY CHECK. Here’s the $273,291, 661.24 for which Socred and Liberal politician’ Ottawa and Victoria sold the Columbia River to the U.S. Future historians will view this check in ™ same light as the purchase of Manhattan Island from the Indians and Alaska from the Russians.

B.C. gas users subsidize low U

A charge that B.C, natural gas users are subsidizing cheap gas rates for the U.S, and that the present deal with the U.S, be- tween West Coast Transmission and U.S, gas companies is the “biggest bargain” for the US,, was made by the Victoria Daily Colonist in last Sunday’s edition,

Written by the paper's business expert, Harry Young, the article makes these points:

“For the past six years West- coast Transmission Company has been selling up to 400,000,000 cubic feet a day of B.C, natural gas to the United States at a

price of 22 cents athousand cubic feet,

“This colossal amount of ener- gy is being sold under a 20-year contract to Pacific Northwest Production, an affiliate of El Paso Natural Gas, and is perhaps the biggest bargain in this type of energy available in the North American continent,”

“Unfortunately the contract is so unfavorable to Westcoast that this company is unable to profit from it, and is forced to ask its B.C, customers — mainly B,C, Hydro and Inland Natural Gas — to keep it going by subsidizing its U.S, customers,

“The tragedy for B,C, is that

this contract has another 14 years to run, So long as it is in exis- tence, the future development of the B,C, natural gas industry is at a stalemate and cheap gas for B.C, is only a dream,

“As long ago as 1958, the Bor- den Royal Commission on energy established the fact that West- coast had made a bad deal. .., The analytical firm of Stone and Webster informed the Borden Commission that Westcoast could make no profit from its U.S, con- tract,”

Explaining how the deal was put across by the U.S, companies (with complicity of Westcoast Transmission and the Socred government, ed,) the Colonist article points out that the Borden Commission was told that, “Pa- cific Northwest Production had set the price on the estimate that Texas natural gas could be delivered to San Francisco at 34 cents per thousand cubic feet,”

But this figure was later proven false as were the promises made by the companies involved, Young writes:

“The Borden Commission then discovered it was erroneous that Texas gas could in effect be laid down inSan Francisco at 34 cents, and also that none of the West- coast gas was indeed going to San Francisco, but to Washing- ton, Idaho and Oregon, where

the delivery costs wet®

“The Borden Commis? not advise that the contrat be broken but it reco™ that a better cost formul?” be’ insisted upon before | licences to export natur were awarded any Canadl 4 pany, What makes it all™ galling for British Colm says Young, “is that a Transmission Company ~ | largely owned by US:

_ panies,”

The fact that U.S. be interests control Westet brought out often in the © of the Pacific Tribun® charged repeatedly that we McMahon, president 2? y coast, was the front ma? ti? which theSocred govern™® fe tified the deal as being interests, é

¢

The Colonist article PO” that a solution to the pr “without raising internatle cidents” is not easy, but gests that one solution "i to install a rival pia Westcoast, which would act from a restrictive com!’ g this way, it is suggested ig might be able to get away y the control Westcoast over the natural gas ind B.C.

September 25, 1964—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—