‘By BOB BEECH

So. Jim ‘Smith and the
‘Canadian — “Federation ©. of
Independent Business think
high unemployment
benefits are the cause of high
unemployment,
That’s tantamount to saying

fractured bones.

In ‘an ‘editorial
by. the -C.F.1.B.
News, April 16) and titled,
aptly, THINK SMALL,
C.F.1.B. executive Jim Smith

sponsored

makes the remarkable asser- —
tion ‘that - increased ULC.

We ee
UGHEDtS ©

‘present such an
attractive. . alternative to _
steady — “employment. ‘that

nobody wants to work, and
. that small business, “unable
to compete with the exorbi-
tant wealth offered by the
government, - . afte . lnosine
. manpower to the dole at an
alarming rate.

supposedly ‘‘prove”’ his
argument, that as U.I1.C.
benefits rose from 25% of a
claimant’s gross income in.
1971 to the currently luxur-
ious 40% of today, so also

rose. the number of jobless i in
Can ada. co.

Statistics mean nothing
when speciously handled.

the. entire cast unabashedly |
applauding | one another’s
bows. Afterwards the per-
formers mingle freely with
the audience reaching out for.

reinforcement, praise or
affection. The whole atmos-
phere, in a word, is one of
liberation.

The uncontestable power |
of Matsqui’s Three Penny |

Opera is drawn, I think, more
from the result of the
prisoners having been emo-

tionally locked-up than phys- .

ically confined. Repression

- then, rather than oppression |
from authorities, makes the .

evening the theatrical
steamroller that it is, for both
audience and performers.

Director Leon Pawnall,
who began these _perfor-
mances several years ago,
has singlehandedly come
into Matsqui and given these
men a voice. Three Penny
Opera, as a play, serves as
the perfect vehicle for the
prison population to express
their unique perceptions of

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do they? :

lacine...

flae dash e Pret ke, we:

One el could show Mg ‘“‘statisti-

caliy’’ that french ‘fried .

- potatoes cause crime merely
by demonstrating that most —
(of the immates of the B.C.

Penitentiary had eaten them

within three days of commit-

ting the acts for which they

. were currently serving time.
that splints are the cause. ot - .

What Mr. Smith has done
is to take the figures for the —

. tising ~~ jobless rate and ~
“(Sunday

perform ‘a kind of shotgun .
wedding, marrying them to

‘the increased benefit. rate, —
‘ which, in reality, reflects not

the number of: unemployed,
but the rate of inflation.

Smith, shooting from the:

. lipalset blamesthe inability of |

small business to attract and

iy ‘hold on to personnel directly

“high - unemployment
benefits _

"This i is simply not so. What
he chooses to ignore is that

‘ small businessmen demand -
He quotes. statistics that

that their employees display

the same level of commit-
ment to the enterprise as
they, the owners, do. At the

same time, they. cannot offer.

an employee much in way of |
" Wages, pension, medical and —
dental benefits, or the room

am tlhe one cn en ran dant. Lanmcm

in short, whet. is luring ~

teations of “being nerpetual

low men on the totem pole of ._
- social and economic respect- —
; ability.

Sure, I may have trendy,

Pate

ui ARV GEV CMEC ARE CEG. Seat — eel :
‘corporation -hold- out .as —
~ enticements for employment.

: cociety and therefore liberate:
themselves 40 some extent
from the aconies an@ frus-

so-called enlightened liberal.

views of our. disgracefully
antiquated penal system

‘ which probably contribute to

my ‘enthusiasm for this
production... but I am not so

naive to believe that all the.

v.

prisoners up on stage would”

bg Aa ed BASE bie a WA. Eat Blic HA 4 otis abe tel a

: claimed ©

‘ronments, -.

~ poorer

. manpower ‘away y from. ‘small of
‘business is good. old fash-
-foned- con from :

_ larger. concerns.

‘The ‘Canadian Federation 7
of Independent ‘Business is. -

ations for labour, and they’re

‘bitter. One of the tenets of
“the liberal-capitalist ‘ethic is ..
‘the principle of open, ‘Mar-
- ket-place-’ competition, and —
‘that if an enterprise cannot - ,
" compete, then it must go...
‘under, economic Darwinism, and
. pure and simple. -

But what do_

- free

nomic forces turn against
them.

_ Finally, what Jim. Smith
- chooses: 40. ignore is the Fact

that. “ small.

Cariada- ‘would ‘not ‘exist in

Spas Simess

Canada ‘were it ‘not for the

facts of U.L.C.. and Welfare:

| make ‘ideal nextdoor: neigh- .

ee eer Ne a a

bours. Convicts are not. “all °
_hard-luck lads ‘led astray im 0
economically | deprived Envi- .
victims © of. our

nasty rich-get-rich, poor-get-
. capitalist:
That’ s gui.

_ But the fact remains, after
experiencing this. stagger-.
ingly effective production, 1
can’t help believe that the
majority of these men belong
somewhere other than the
‘Matsqui prison. Three Penny

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_ of consumption: then’ created -
| - services, which in turn led to” PRICES. FFECTIV “WEDNESD
a slackening. of: re ab ae

-. sounding: bd vaciotion upon ae and other workers were. laid =.
: tired-old theme. They: can’t .- demand, ‘which ca even
compete with major corper-. "more lay-offs, b exesed crea

. viciously dwindling spiral. pe

UE

we see ,
‘instead? The. spectacle of a
hypocritical C.F.LB., in fail-
ing to compete, railing at the
‘government in:a politically
‘motivated attempt to create —
- Prescure on the’ unemployed ee
to accept less than. accepted. -
. ‘market value for the labour.
‘It is always the ‘self-pro-_

enterprisers _
- who are the first to demand ._

protection ‘when the eco- _Breposters the a thing that

pat tical of the Tee

elsewhere.

: Par is just too > goddamn :

moving. to feel otherwise.

performed. every Saturday. : ae
and Sunday at the Matsqui =~
_ System. Prison at 6:30 | p-m. Reserve.
7 _ tickets four days in advance. .

. (O84-4496)

_These ‘schemes were. not.

stopped me, oe ils lack = 7

amd
production, Bes

off, . creating . even“ less"

“IN RETAIL QUANTITIES ONL Y.

“In Canada. today,. with’ a
faltering economy, without
and. Welfare _

"So, for Mr. Smith to ti atte oS 7

Keeps small business afloat.

So please, Mr. ‘Smith, ‘if :
you wish to think sneall; do it

Thee Bemsy Opeza .

by wee Duthie. Books.’

about getting active : q ee
gstarted.

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