EDITORIAL Go beyond parliament Now that the joint House-Senate hearings on the Meech Lake Accord have concluded, it is time to take stock. During the first ministers’ gathering while the hearings were in pro- gress, they — who have the final word, as it now stands — emphasized that no substantive alteration of the constitutional deal was envisaged. This gave even more credence to the general impression that the House- Senate hearings were merely a sop thrown out to the public, rather than a forum with any real power that might seriously consider and recommend changes on the basis of public input and discussion. _ Groups and individuals representing a substantial number of Canadians — from trade union and political parties to women’s organi- zaions and aboriginal people’s movements — either sent in briefs or appeared before the joint committee. Native people, who realize that Meech Lake will freeze them out of the constitutional process, were not reassured by Senator Lowell Murray, the man responsible for steering the accord through parliament, that no such “slights” were intended. Those who say the accord does not recognize the bi-nationality of Canada, that the French people in Quebec area nation and have the right of self-determination — as do the Native peoples — will probably not find any of their worries addressed. Those who believe the accord is a constitutional prison whose balkan- ized set of provincial rights provides a loophole for the undermining of important social programs can take no solace from the joint hearings. Nor can those who rightly say the accord is a setback for women’s equality, or who want to see trade union rights entrenched in Canada’s constitution. _ The “parliamentary process” of tailoring the Meech Lake accord to fit the democratic concerns of the Canadian people has been little more than a joke. It is time now for all democratic, patriotic Canadians to raise their objections outside Parliament, that Meech Lake does not serve the interests of Canada. r SOUTH | AFRICAN TICE FIRIBUNE EDITOR Sean Griffin ASSISTANT EDITOR Dan Keeton BUSINESS & CIRCULATION MANAGER Mike Proniuk GRAPHICS Angela Kenyon Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. V5K 125 Phone (604) 251-1186 Subscription Rate: Canada @ $16 one year @ $10 six months @ Foreign @ $25 one year Second class mail registration number 1560 _ — — t’s hard to believe that just a few years ago Charlotte Diamond, for ages a well- known and respected singer around the labour and progressive movements, was unknown outside her circle of friends and people in the progressive movement. That was before her first album, 10 Carrot Diamond, was released and found popu- lar acclaim with children and their parents across Canada. That album went on to garner a Juno award for musical achieve- ment in 1986, and to establish Charlotte as a first-class children’s entertainer. Since then, Charlotte has been a fea- tured performer at the now famous Van- couver Children’s Festival and her second album, Diamond in the Rough, released last Christmas, has also been greeted with accolades. So it seems fitting that by now Charlotte should have her own television - special. The half-hour special, also entitled Ten Carrot Diamond, airs on CBC TV on Monday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. It will feature nine songs from the album, including such popular selections as “I am a pizza,” and “Each of us is a flower.” In the words of the CBC press release, the show will be a “magical concoction of moods, music and homespun philosophy.” Knowing Charlotte, we’re sure that description is accurate. CBC is on Chan- nel 2, Cable 3. * * * he show has played to audiences in Victoria, Campbell River and. other B.C. locales. Now, finally, those in the Lower Mainland will get their chance to see labour’s artists when the Jobs, Not Charity show hits New Westminster and Vancouver this weekend. The production features “three genera- tions of B.C. musicians and labour acti- vists,” notes the sponsoring organization, End Legislated Poverty. These include Willis Shaparla and Bob Jackson, original members of the 1935 On-to-Ottawa Trek ~ who, accompanied by singer and musician Tom Hawken, perform a musical and oral history of that benchmark in Canadian labour history. Other members of the show, produced by Vancouver’s Slim Evans Records and Tapes, include labour singer-songwriter Phil Vernon and the women’s a cappella group, Aya. The artists have been featured on Watch Over Liberty, a recent Slim Evans tape, and an earlier release, Hold the Fort. The On-to-Ottawa Trek show won recognition from the Vancouver Sun as “best on the site” following performances at the Folklife pavilion at Expo 86. The first concert takes place in New Westminster on Friday, Sept. 11 at the CAIMA W hall, 707 12th St. On Saturday, Sept. 12, it’s at the International Wood- workers hall, 13th Avenue and Commer- cial Drive. Both concerts begin at 8 p.m., and the admission — with proceeds going to ELP and the Vancouver Unemployed — Action Centre — is $7 “or what you can afford.” ; Ce ee n the final analysis, he can be said to have been one of those who comprise People and Issues a a A REIN EL SE OS ION TLE ELE SOOT IT SE a PEE the rank-and-file conscience of the labour movement. Never much of a holder of office or position, Stan Lowe, who passed away Sept. 2 at the age of 78, symbolized the working person’s commitment to class struggle throughout a long and active life. A familiar face to leaders of the labour and progressive struggles both in the pres- ent and throughout the decades since the 1930s, Stan was equally well known to the Tribune for his largess towards the paper, _ his legendary fundraising abilities and the contribution of his labour on mailing day. He was born in Dereham, England, on April 1, 1909. Stan himself, in an unpub- lished reminiscence, traced his commit- ment to the fight back to 1930, when he and a friend caught a boxcar and said goodbye to the harsh winter in Calgary to live in Vancouver’s more hospitable cli- mate. Once there, he was caught up in the unemployed struggles, becoming active in groups such as the National Unemployed Workers Association. It was there also that he met his first Communists, joining the Young Communist League — for which he was provincial organizer until 1935 — and then the Communist Party, in Princeton in 1932. Stan had gone to Princeton with the famous organizer Arthur “Slim” Evans to assist striking copper miners. In the book ~ Work and Wages, Stan — who was then known as “Pete” — recalled nightly visits to the hotel room he and. Evans shared by local police practicing intimidation, and cross-burnings by the Ku Klux Klan to try to frighten the unflappable Evans out of town. The police did succeed in charging Stan with vagrancy and secuing for himia three-month term in Oakalla prison. Throughout the 1930s Stan was to help organize relief camp workers, assist in picket line activities and organize for the YCL. But Stan’s most historic contribu- tion, it can be said, was revealed in a taped interview he gave the Tribune in 1985. Stan had been attending a meeting of the Communist Party’s provincial execu- tive and had dropped in on a meeting of the party’s relief camp fraction. The meet- ing had been stymied over the future of the month-old relief camp workers’ strike. Stan suggested that since workers were riding the rails eastward, “why don’t we go with them?” Evans is reported to have said, ““That’s it — on to Ottawa,” and the rest was his- tory. Stan served in a less historic capacity, although not less militantly, as a member of the Canadian Seamen’s Union around 1946 and later, from 1959 until he retired, in the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers (CBRT), Local 400, when he was a cook on the ocean vessels. His culinary skills were also put to use as chief cook for YCL schools for five years from the time that organiza- tion was re-established in 1970. In 1975, he was given an honorary lifetime member- ship in the CBRT. A memorial for Stan will be held in the Centre for Socialist Education, 1726 East Hastings St. in Vancouver this Saturday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m. - 4 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 9, 1987