BRITISH COLUMBIA

TRIBUNE PHOTO—SEAN GRIFFIN

A sheaf of other appeals piled on the counter beside him, Vancouver alderman Bruce Yorke (right)

«turns over assessment appeals on behalf of 56 Vancouver residents at Assessment Authority office

Wednesday. The office has been filled for several days with angry homeowners appealing their assess-
ments and scores of people like longtime Vancouver resident Albert Dettman (left) were still there at.

noon to get their appeals in before the Jan. 20 deadline.

_COPE, progressives lead
campaign for new policy

Continued from page 1

Westminster and West Vancouver
are obliged to send to Victoria
whatever excess amount they raise
from the basic education levy as
determined by the uniform mill
rate set by the provincial govern-

Seinent.

If that sounds complicated,
there is nothing complicated about
its effect. Despitea reductiort in the
uniform mill rate from 11 to 10 per-
cent, inflated assessments will swell
the government’s coffers.

Last week, Greater Vancouver
Regional district board voted
unanimously to education minister
Brian Smith for immediate changes
to the education finance formula,
declaring that disproportionate
taxes faced lower mainland
governments with a grave financial
problem.

Individual municipal councils
and school boards are adding their

- Own protests and demands.
In North Vancouver district,

council voted 5-2, with only -

aldermen Powell and Segal dissen-
ting, to adopt labor-endorsed

~ alderman Ernie Crist’s motion that

Jt appeal the entire assessment roll.

Following the lead of Maple
Ridge, other lower mainland
municipalities to appeal all
assessments include West Van-

couver, Port Coquitlam and »

Langley. On the Island, Nanaimo
and Saanich are among those
municipalities appealing their
assessment rolls.

On the North Shore, where the
Committee for Fair Assessments
Initiated the campaign a year ago,
North Vancouver city council was
drawn into joining the protest
following a presentation by
Richard Blackburn, unsuccessful
aldermanic candidate last year, for
the committee.

Aldermen voted 4-3 on a motion
by alderman Gary Payne, second-
ed by alderman Stella Jo Dean, to

"ask the provincial government to

remove the special municipal tax

‘exemption given to Burrard-—

Yarrows for its new drydock.
Council also voted to appeal all
assessments along its industrial
waterfront.
As Blackburn pointed out to two

aldermen, both renters, who were
disputing his presention, the in-
flated assessments mean higher
rents for tenants.

Without mentioning their
names, he gave the addresses of
two apartment buildings, adding,
“The land assessments for both
buildings have gone up by 75 per-
cent.” :

Greater Vancouver Real Estate
Board, in fact, already has advised
tenants that they can expect rent in-
creases.

Vancouver Labor Council threw
its weight behind the campaign at
its meeting Tuesday by
unanimously urging members of
affiliated unions to appeal their

‘assessments, calling for extension
of the appeal deadline and offering
to assist union members in presen-
ting their appeals.

UFAWU delegate Hal Griffin
warned that the provincial govern-
ment would attempt to use the pro-
test to introduce ‘‘still worse

legislation imposing new financial
restrictions On municipal govern-
ments and making further inroads
upon civic democracy.”

Earlier, Port Alberni Labor
Council had received a big response
to forms it mailed out to unionists
authorizing it to represent them in
presenting their appeals.

Typical of the Assessment

_Authority’s response was the state-

ment made by commissioner Ted
Gwartney at the close of appeals
this week. He said he had received
no applications for an extension,
dismissed the larger number of ap-
peals as being only three percent of
property owners and asserted that
the authority was well prepared to
handle them by Feb. 28, by which
date all appeals must have been
heard. :

Ignoring the fact that no provi-
sion is made for night hearings,
making it difficult for most work-
ing people to appear personally, he
said he did not expect all those who
has filed appeals to show up.

Former Black Panther Larry
Pinkney is continuing to fight
for his right to remain in
Canada despite an immigration
department ruling ordering him
deported back to the U.S.

The National Black Coalition
has taken up the issue for
Pinkney who is seeking refugee
status on the basis that he would
face persecution if he were
deported.

Lawyer Stan Guenther said
that Pinkney is seeking a
declaration from a federal court
that he is a ‘‘convention
refugee’ according to the Im-
migration Act based on ‘‘a well-
founded fear of persecution, for
reasons of race, nationality,
membership in a particular
social group. . .”

Federal Court Justice George
Addy was still hearing the case
at Tribune press time Wednes-
day.

Pinkney has just completed a
five-year prison sentence in
B.C. for ‘‘attempt to, extort.”
But he has repeatedly maintain-
ed his innocence — and a
strange series of events surroun-
ding his case have lent con-
siderable credence to his conten-
tion, -
At the time of his arrest he
was working for several African
embassies, investigating smug-
gling of currency by emigrants.
And much of the evidence he
had gathered was in a briefcase
he had with him when he was ar-
rested.

But the briefcase disappeared
after his arrest and has never
been recovered.

Pinkney fighting
deportation order

. Movement leader Leonard

In addition, although
transcripts of a trial are usually
made available in a month’s
time following conviction,
Pinkney’s court transcript was
not produced for nearly two
years.

As a result of that delay, the-
United Nations Human Rights
Commission ruled on Dec. 3 last
year that Pinkney’s human
rights had been contravened by
the federal government. The
decision carries no judicial
weight however.

Guenther has also cited a
1981 report from Amnesty In-
ternational which accuses the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
of deliberately falsifying
evidence to secure convictions
against U.S. Native Indian and
black activists.

The case of American Indian

Peltier has provided graphic
evidence of Amnesty Interna-
tional’s charges. Peltier was
deported from Canada on the
basis of testimony deliberately
fabricated by FBI informers.
The 31-year-old Pinkney was
in several black activist
organizations in the U.S. in-
cluding the Black Nationalist
Independence Party and the

Black National Draft
Resistance League.

As an alternative to staying in
Canada, Pinkney has indicated
he would be prepared to go toa
west or east European country
although the immigration

department so far has insisted
on deportation to the U.S.

of a switch

JOIN THE GREAT

AWS

With
GLOBE

For any of your travel
needs, big or small.
Let Globe Tours find
the best way for you!

Hawaii @ Mexico @ Fiji

Las Vegas @ Reno @ Calgary
Montreal @ Paris @ London

‘GLOBE TOURS

2679 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C. V5K1Z5

ADA

@ 83 hp. 4 cyl. engine
@ 4-dr., roomy interior
@ Reclining bucket seats
@ 21-pc. tool kit standard

See it now — the new
dual fuel model. Gas
or propane at the flick

IT GOES AND GOES anp GOES
WITH MAXIMUM ECONOMY

* Rugged 4. Reliable- * Reasonable

A car that comes with a lot
and goes for so little.

NIVA

@ Goes anywhere, tackles the
worst terrain.

@ All weather transportation

@ 4-wheel dr., dual range

@ Power winch, snow plow

_ For information call George or Larry
291-7764

Simon Fraser Lada Inc.

DEALER #6376

6081 Hastings Street,
‘Burnaby, B.C.

Full parts and service available.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JAN. 22, 1982—Page 3