Free trade hurts printing industry The U.S. printing industry is eagerly awaiting the implementation of the free trade deal. The association estimates the elimination of tariffs will bring “an addi- tional $500 million of business” to U.S. printers, business that will be taken away from their Canadian counterparts. In 1986 the U.S. exported $579 million in printed matter to Canada while uns importing only $393 million. Ottawa language policy assailed The strike by 150 federal language teachers was raised in the Commons last week. The teachers, who provide lan- guage classes for federal civil servants, have been out since February. They want to retain the 15 hours a week preparation time for their courses, contained in past contracts. Ottawa MP Jean-Robert Gauthier presented the house with petitions last week accusing the government. of seriously “undermining Canada’s policy of bilingualism” by allowing the courses to be suspended. Z 4 4 Le Droit strike settled The 12-week strike by 185 Le Droit production and office employees ended May 3 with approval of a contract offer. Results of the vote were not released. The Francophone newspaper will resume publication as a tabloid for its readers in eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Union representatives report the con- tract contains fewer concessions than originally demanded. Before the strike, the 104 production workers earned $37,000 annually, while office staff earned $30,000. The contract provides for a nine per cent wage increase spread over three years until 1989. So far, 20 editorial staff have accepted termination offers. Publisher Gilles Lacasse wants some 10 office staff to voluntarily accept a compensation offer for termination, before imposing layoffs. : Environmental Act gets faint praise New Democrats will support the pro- posed Canadian Environmental Protec- : tion Act because “two per cent is better than nothing.” Spadina MP Dan Heap criticized the bill for failing to declare ‘‘a bill of rights” guaranteeing clean, air, water and soil. Heap told the Commons the bill is “ineffective against acid rain’ and doesn’t deal with pesticides, over- production or nuclear damage. Worse, he said, the legislation sets up a two-tier structure requiring the federal minister of the environment to first negotiate the Fm clean-up of environmental hot spots with his provincial counterparts before the federal government can take any action. ; “This is the type of delay and log rol- 4 ling that wealthy companies will use to a prevent a law like this from becoming 4 effective,” the MP said. 6 e Pacific Tribune, May 18, 1988 od Vancouver May 11 to protest contractin Angered by the loss of jobs and the federal government's Stalling in current negotiations, more than 200 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada and other unionists marched up to Treasury Board president Pat Carney’s office in g-out and privatization in the public sector and to demand that Treasury Board get — back to bargaining. PSAC first vice-president Albert Burke (r) addressed a brief rally outside the MP’s constituency office. NB unions question ‘assault’ By MIGUEL FIGUEROA MONCTON — Area trade unionists deny charges that the wife of the prime minister was assaulted by demonstrators, and accused Brian Mulroney of exaggerat- ing and misrepresenting events in order to gain “political mileage.” Speaking to a press conference May 10, New Brunswick labour leaders blamed poor security arrangements for the incident From the Maritimes Miguel Figueroa and called on Attorney-General James Lockyer to launch a full public inquiry. The confrontation occurred May 7 out- side the provincial Tory convention, held at a local Moncton curling rink. More than 200 people had gathered outside to protest Mul- Toney’s free trade and privatization policies and the closure of the Canadian National repair shops in the city, which has cost the area hundreds of jobs. ; Mulroney was quick to point an accusing finger at an unidentified assailant: “‘a big, burly guy with a picket — anti-privatiz- ation.” The prime minister went on to denounce the demonstrators for “assaulting ~ women and children with pieces of wood.” Saint John MP and cabinet minister Gerald Merrithew went further, linking the New Democratic Party to the organizers of the demonstration and hence to the alleged “assault” itself. He fired offa telegram to Ed Broadbent demanding the NDP leader “repudiate this violence.” ' But there is reason to believe that no “assault” occurred. Moments after the inci- dent, Mila Mulroney stated she could have been struck by an elbow, and some Monc- ton police officers on duty at the time sug- gested that she had probably been bumped by the prime minister’s own security people, not by any demonstrator. John Murphy, executive secretary of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour, told the Tribune the situation at the site became chaotic due to poor handling by the local police and the RCMP. “Regular security was lacking. Camera- men, anti-abortionists and the other dem- onstrators were all pushed together around the entrance and no corridor for the PM and his party was created,” Murphy said. While noting the incident was regretta- ble, Murphy condemned Mulroney’s “‘ex- aggerated and misrepresented account” of what took place, and called it a crude attempt “to make political mileage at the expense of the labour movement.” Murphy and other labour spokespeople accused the police of overreaction and excessive use of force, particularly in the manhandling of Greg Murphy, a labour activist and former NDP federal candidate in the Moncton area. Greg Murphy and protest organizer Ber- nard Buekeveld were detained but not for- mally arrested or charged. Murphy is considering legal action against the security forces involved. If Mulroney had hoped. to score some cheap political points by linking the NDP to” the alleged assault, he has been less than successful. NDP leader Ed Broadbent immediately labelled the accusation “I- credible.” The Globe and Mail called it “tenuous” and urged the Tories to “repu- diate this foolishness.” In New Brunswick, however, the local media, particularly the dailies controlled by the Irving empire, have distinguished them- selves for their one-sided coverage of the — episode. Several outlets withheld reports of Mila Mulroney’s second thoughts on the nature of the “assault” or of the lack of proper security, choosing instead to direct steady fire on the unions and the NDP. The one notable exception was the French lan- guage daily Le Matin, which supported the unions’ contentions and criticized Mulro- ney for “political opportunism.” Tory policies defeated in Sask byelections The May 4 provincial byelection in Regina-Elphinstone and Saskatoon-East- view were major defeats for Grant Devine and his neo-conservative agenda. But the premier’s track record shows it will take much more than that to derail the Tories. Although the Conservatives won only 21 per cent of the vote in the two ridings, Devine refuses to concede that his policies are deeply unpopular, claiming instead that “voters just don’t understand yet.” The NDP won both seats easily, with a 77- per-cent majority in Elphinstone, and 53 per cent in Eastview, campaigning on govern- ment budget cuts and last year’s changes in the prescription drug plan. Desperate Tory efforts to stir up hatred, bashing the NDP as “anti-family” and “pro-French,” seem to have backfired. For their part, the Liberals won slightly higher votes, but the signs point to a close race between the NDP and the Tories in the next election, with the latter trying to cling to a majority. of rural seats. The results are certainly encouraging signs that right-wing policies are rejected by working people in both cities, even in a. middle-income area like Eastview. But instead of waiting for an NDP vic- tory in 1990, progressive forces such as the labour and farm movements, and the Sas- katchewan Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ), should keep the heat on the Tories. Otherwise the right wing could climb out of the political grave as it did in the 1986 elec- tion. The fact that the NDP refused to zero in on free trade and other crucial aspects of the neo-conservative program weakened the impact of the byelection results. That, and the lack of a positive alternative for working people from the party under Romanow’s leadership, leave the Tories room to breathe. The role of the “‘extra-parliamentary opposition,” centred around the SCSJ, is becoming more critical — both to keep - mobilizing, and to develop the kind of vision for a new Saskatchewan that will give working people the incentive to fight for real change.