Rationing Native rights _ The two-day constitutional conference on aboriginal rights, March 15-16, involv- ing the prime minister, the. 10 provincial premiers, and representatives of the In- _ dian, Inuit and Métis peoples, concluded --with the most modest of achievements, and a long road yet to travel. The only solid’ agreements, and even they brought grumbles from some of the premiers were that the drawn out process of entrenching Native rights in the con- stitution, should have as its next steps two more such constitutional conferences on Native rights by 1987; that the first amendment to the constitution include that provision, plus equality for Native men and women; and a guarantee of bene- fits won through existing and future treat- ies and land claims agreements. None of the three major points, which seem to be common denominators among the various Native groups, was adequately dealt with. They are points, also, on which the Communist Party has expressed its backing for the Native peoples. The long-standing demand for settle- ment of land claims with the additional guarantee that Native people have a say in the disposal of resources on those lands, apparently got little encouragement. The agreement appears to say that land claim settlements will be guaranteed, only after the Native people have been able to wring the best deal they can from government. Self-government by Native people on their own territories was not taken up by the first ministers; and negotiation of these demands remains a necessary and im- portant part of permanent, constitutional agreement on Native rights. Again, the powers that be in the federal and provincial government refused the Native request for a veto over constitution- alamendmentsaffecting Native rights. This is a wrong that will need to be righted. There must be no changes or additions affecting Native people, which are not fully approved by them. The promise to “con- sult” with Native groups is insufficient be- cause the opinions of those consulted need not be accepted. Even those minimal decisions agreed to must be approved by parliament and the provincial legislatures, with a Dec. 31 tar- get date, before they become part of the constitution. Regarding Rene Levesque’s refusal to sign the agreement, although Quebec gave _ up some of its delegate seats to Quebec aboriginal people, it spotlights the key flaw in the constitution sealed in a back room deal among English-speaking premiers and the federal government in 1981. The constitution so approved neglects to recognize the existence of the French Canadian nation. A positive point was the emergence into the mainstream of Canadian society of articulate Native organizations, with clear, and increasingly united, goals. Jobless getting run-around A Gallup Poll, published March 14, shows that 56% of Canadians think the present recession will stay the same or get worse. Only 40% expect recovery to begin. Sixty-five per cent believe the government should give greater attention to unem- ployment, as compared with 28% who saw curbing inflation as Ottawa’s priority. Officially, 1,585,000 were denied the right to a job in February, directly attribut- able to government policies, for a rate of 12.5% of the work force. Unemployment is -_ at its highest since the 1930s depression. Bind job creation programs have, so far, produced only a trickle, mostly tem- porary jobs. Job creation has to be based on _ real jobs planned to strengthen Canada’s economy, and give permanent employ- ment. : To cope with escalating demands by the unemployed, Employment Minister Lloyd Axworthy is reported to be proposing Who's driving? Of course, Newfoundland Premier Brian Peckford’s estimation could be wrong. He’s reported to have said after an economic dinner meeting of the 11 first ministers: “I think there’s general agree- ment that the recovery that’s coming might be short-lived and that we’ll be back in this situation again in a year-and-a-half or two years, and that for this decade Canada faces real real problems.” Such a response by a group who had been away studying the inside of caves for a year might be accept- able. But arén’t the prime minister and provincial premiers the people making the economic decisions in this country? PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 25, 1983—Page 4 changes to Unemployment Insurance to improve benefits for those on maternity leave, or sick. Nothing for the mass army of layoff victims and youth facing a no-job future. While Axworthy appears to differ with Finance Minister Marc Lalonde, they end up in the same place. Lalonde, preparing a Budget which, given present policies can- not overcome the system’s crisis, says blunt- ly: “I do not envisage any extension of the unemployment insurance program.” In the face of that insult, the unem- ployed organizations and labor as a whole will need to bring unrelenting pressure to bear on government for unemployment insurance from day one, and for the full duration of the workers’ inability to find a j0bS 2 In the camp of big business, Donald ($800-a-day) Macdonald of the Royal Commission on the Economy, says his group “certainly can’t make any substantial contributions” toward improving the economy. And his corporation friends say the same, despite Liberal/Tory tub-thump- ing about salvation lying in priming the “private enterprise” pump. A typical monopoly comment comes - from Charles Wyatt, of Imperial Oil: “On the whole, we are not looking at any major plans for hiring.” It becomes clearer every day that protec- tion of Canadian sovereignty and protec- tion of workers’ jobs and living standards are part of the same anti-monopoly strug- gle. It’s a struggle which needs as its foundation firm policies to curb the multi-nationals and Canadian corpora- tions, including nationalization and demo- cratic control. rll lll eM LLL UCU LITEM PEL | ERITREA. ‘ . we ees 3/48 va Flashbacks 25 years 50 years MENACE IN OUR SKIES On March 11, an unprimed atomic bomb dropped at Florence, South Carolina, from a B-47 bomber. Two square miles were cor- doned off. Five were hurt, a 50-foot crater 35 feet deep was made. The TNT trigger detonated, blasting a house to the ground. A nine year-old girl received deep gashes. The accident set off a storm of protest across the world. In Canada, the Defence Minister kept to his story that there was no danger involved in U.S. bomber overflights. He said that he had “personally okayed every U.S. plane that flies over B.C.”. The New York Times wrote that in another two years 700 bombers armed with A-bombs will be flying or ‘poised to take off. Tribune, © March 24, 1958 Profiteer of the week : NAZITERROR INGERMANY — BERLIN — The: fe police chief, Goering, 1ssU*, an emergency decree M ‘ 7 confiscating the aa Liebknecht House, hea quarters of the Commun. | Party, announcing that ©)” house will now become hea@ — quarters of a new departme | of the political police for the suppression of “Bolshevis™ ‘ Jewish people, frighteme at the vicious anti-Semitic 46” and threats by Hitler’s troops are leaving Germany by ue hundreds. They are fleeing™” Poland, France and Britall The reign of terror appe?”” to be growing more intense Goering issued orders chee only picked Nazis are tO recruited into the poli@ forces and auxillaries. Muni ipal councils are being 4% olved in hundreds of Germat cities and their power take™ over by fascists. a The Worke? March 18, 1937 A profit of only $74,235,000 may seem small for the Canadit, Imperial Bank of Commerce — but that’s just for the three mont i ended Jan. 31/83. Same period a year earlier it was $60,162, a As CUPE says, let’s nationalize these creatures which get rich |¥"_ shuffling other people’s money. RPiBUNE Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN Assistant Editor — DAN KEETON Business and Circulation Manager — PAT O'CONNOR Published weekly at Suite 101 — 1416 Commercial Drive. Vancouver, B.C. V5L 3X9. Phone 251-1186 Subscription Rate: Canada $14 one year; $8 for six months: . All other countries: $15 one year. re Second class mail registration number 1560 SER Ame eee 4 OA RL Re Se ce oe i ay Mei ee eae UEiio ey