TORONTO — The Com- Munist Party of Canada is op- Posing the construction of a Natural gas pipeline through the Mackenzie River: Valley in the Orthwest Territories ‘‘until there is assurance of Canadian Control and ownership of the pipe- and energy resources, and their use for Canadian develop- Mment,’’ and the Native people’s Just land claims in the area are solved to their satisfaction. be Is was the position advanced before Justice Thomas Berger’s Nquiry commission on the con- Sttuction of the Mackenzie Valley , Peline by Communist Party fader William Kashtan, May 26. ne commission heard sub- Missions from more than 80 in- ‘from May 25 to 28. Four Points - Kashtan, in delivering the brief © Justice Berger, made four Sssential points. e Selling out this precious Natural resource to U.S. multi- National corporations would been placing the control of the tire Canadian economy in © hands of U.S. imperialism. “pletion of Canada’s reserves of and natural gas at this time iN mean “‘to depléte them in € interests of the U.S. multi- eonal corporations, in the in- Tests of industry in the USA, “9 hot in the interests of Can- | “a, Kashtan noted. ‘‘The P Fesent reserves of gas and oil can te left in the ground for future use 4 time and pace that coincides With the best interests of Canada, ae and the peoples of the . © Ownership and control of the Pipeline should be. im Canadian pens and there should be no pro- Pssing with the project until such Sbemances can be given. The are Pointed. out that under Eerent projections Alberta Ould become a corridor like the ama Canal for shipment of oil gas to the USA. The brief said at “once ownership lies in the ’nds of U.S. multi-national cor- Tations; once the energy is used Satisfy mainly the U.S. market US comes indispensable to the c. 4» it will mark the end of a ladian resource and an asset.”’ ne, Those who advance the pro- sition that the building of this eline constitutes a policy of “pathern Development are brieg ov inking the people.’’ The coula admitted that a pipeline Vel be part of northern de- no ot ‘*but it is not basic to ‘ rm development.’’ Kashtan eo out: ‘‘What is involved of a 18 not only the construction Prob Pipeline. The core of the lem is the development of the ety and its resources by whom, Rone hom, and under what condi- Warn This pipeline, Kashtan ed, would not bring wealth KC? General Secretary William ®shtan Presenting brief to Thomas Berger. : ieee BULL LL A dividuals and groups in Toronto’ APRRITE | a a = BEAUFORT SEA BRITISH } COLUMBIA eommemncanemeane Trane Canada Pipeline Map shows routes of proposed pipelines. to the north but'would ‘‘siphon it away from the north-and leave ugly scars in its place.’* The aim of the projected construction, he said, is not the ‘‘national interest”’ but maximum profits for the multi-nationals and their Cana- dian subsidiaries. Kashtan pointed out: ‘‘No solid economic base is being proposed which will have permanent value to the North and its people.” e Neither any discussion. of a proposed pipeline nor the broader question of northern develop- ment can be entertained without recognition of the just land claims of the Native people and the satis- faction of their demands in full. The brief declared that Native demands for their land, a voice in northern development policy, protection of their culture, their identity as a people, their fishing and hunting rights, are all “‘just demands which cannot and must not be ignored.”’ *‘ Tokenism here cannot and ‘must not substitute for recognition of these basic rights,”’ Kashtan said. On Native Rights The brief called on govern- ments at all levels toTecognize the national identity of the Native Peoples as distinct, with the aboli- “tion .of the government ward status and full political equality, including the right to decide on all matters pertaining to the distinc- tive development of Native Peoples. Kashtan also called for the resignation of David Searle, Speaker of the House in the NWT, for his ‘‘wholesale attack on the (Native People) as a people,’’ The Communist Party leader went on: ‘‘The time is long past when the rights of a people can be ignored, set upon, or spat upon.”’ The party's proposals in its program, ‘‘The Road To Socialism in Canada”’ would have the government ‘“compensate the Native Peoples for the historic in- justices perpetrated upon them by the British and French colonizers in Canada and continued under the rule of monopoly capital,”’ he said.’ Public Ownership Before a pipeline can be built in the Northwest Territories, Kash- tan said, the following conditions would have to be met. e The Native Peoples’ land claims would have to be resolved to their satisfaction -and incor- porated in a treaty with the peoples of the Northwest Terri- tories. e Economic development in this area must be based on agree- ment with the Native Peoples. e The principal of preferential treatment for the Native Peoples must be clearly established as part of any such agreement. The brief concluded with a call for ‘‘an inventory ... of all energy resources in Canada and the prospects for their utilization, so that Canadians will know the scope of the problem and how to solve it.”” The achievement of balanced economic development, job op- portunities rising living standards and Canadian independence, the brief declared, can only be en- sured through ‘‘a fully integrated all Canadian energy policy based on public ownership and demo- cratic control. ‘“‘The debate around the Mac- kenzie Gas Pipeline raises ques- tions much larger than the pipe- line,’’ the brief pointed out. ‘“The underlying issue involved is whether Canada shall continue the role of supplier and reserve of raw materials and energy for the USA, with-its attendant regional inequalities under monopoly control, or strike out ina direction assuring Canadian development and control through public ownership.”’ Nuclear treaty a ‘link in chain’ By JOHN WEIR MOSCOW — The Soviet press daily reports favorable comments by statesmen and papers on all continents on the USSR-USA Treaty regarding underground nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes, including the Montreal Gazette and Toronto Globe and Mail. Describing the Treaty as “‘a link in the chain of measures aimed at curbing the growth of armaments and complete cessa- tion of nuclear weapons testing’’, Pravda recalls that even yet some states that have nuclear industry or potential have not signed the nuclear non-proliferation agree- ment. ‘While upholding the policy of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the USSR at the same time favors broader utilization of atomic energy, including nuclear explosions, for peaceful pur- poses’’, writes Pravda. An artificial water reservoir with an area of 3,000 square kilometres (about 1,200 square miles) has been formed ‘in Soviet Central Asia with the aid of an underground atomic explosion. Carried out in a dry river channel in a desert area far from populated places, this explosion of over 100 kilotons resulted in a crater that during the first spring flood took in 18 million cubic metres of water and for several years has been supplying water to the surround- ing territory. Scientists established that within a few days the radioactiv- ity in the reservoir was within normal levels and its water is used . not only for irrigation but also for watering cattle. weapons, but full utilization of nuclear power is the USSR’s pre- scription for its peaceful use. Above, a youth team of buliders of Transcaucasia’s first atomic power station. Underground explosions have also proved effective in formation of storages for burying toxic in- dustrial effluents. An experimental group explo- sion of three nuclear devices formed a trench on the planned route along which the waters of the northern river Pechora are to be diverted to the Volga, helping to raise the level of the Caspian Sea that has been growing shal- low of late. The people of the Soviet Union are now launched on a campaign of signatures to the new Stock- holm petition for disarmament, which ‘illustrates the Soviet Union’s efforts to end the arms race, while putting science to use for mankind’s benefit. TORONTO — More than 200 demonstrators crowded the side- walks of Toronto’s King and Bay Streets on April 30 to protest the proposed investment by Noranda Mines Ltd. in Chile. Demon- strators walked an informal picket line in front of the Commerce Court headquarters of Noranda Mines -to inform lunchtime crowds that the mining company is supporting the Chilean military junta’s regime of repression. Last December, the junta an- nounced that Noranda Mines would be its partner in a $350- million joint venture to exploit a new copper mine in northem Chile. It is the first major invest-_ ment announcement for Chile since the military took power in a bloody coup d’etat in September, . 1973, and may signal the start of a new wave of investments. — Fhe Commerce Counrt de- monstration coincided with Noranda’s annual general meet- ing where representatives from Protestant and Catholic Churches demanded that the Chilean in- ‘vestment be halted- until human rights and democracy are re- instated. During the Church pre- sentation to shareholders, a recently arrived Chilean refugee, Georgina Ocaranza, described her personal experience of being arbitrarily arrested, detained and Part of the demonstration of over 200 people against Noranda invest- ment in Chile. tortured by the military junta — practices that are regular occur- rences in Chile today. Noranda shareholders, how- ever, voted down the Church resolution, a response which, ac- cording to the Church groups, is tantamount to voting against human rights and democracy. Noranda Mines president, Alfred Powis, despite the Ocaranza testimony and United Nations documents on repression in Chile, claimed that he had no way of knowing if these descriptions were accurate. He claimed that the majority of the Chilean people presently support the -military government. Powis said, ‘“‘we can operate in the country with a clear conscience and with some as- surance that the arrangement will be a lasting one.”’ Rev. Robert Smith referred to “‘destabilization’’ applied against the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende. ‘‘Foreign-ex- ploitation is the cause of Chile’s problems today,’’ said Father Smith, ‘‘and Noranda’s continua- tion of this situation could hardly offer Chile a solution.”’ PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 11, 1976—Page 7