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CANADA

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_ Once again, Saskatchewan’s potash
industry is the focus of intense debate.
It also seems the Tory cabinet is step-
Ping up preparations to privatise the
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (PCS).

The latest developments were
Sparked in late August when the U.S.

pt. of Commerce slapped prelimi-
Nary import duties ranging from 9.14
Per cent (in the case of International
Minerals and Chemicals, the biggest
transnational potash producer operat-
ing here) to 51 per cent against PCS,
and as high as 85.2 per cent on smaller
Companies. The decision was in re-
Sponse to complaints from two New
Mexico mines that Canadian potash
Was being dumped below cost in the
USA. Over 80 per cent of potash
bought in the U.S. comes from Canada,
as the New Mexico mines are unable to
meet more than a small part of the
demand.

Conservative premier Devine has in-
troduced legislation allowing the prov-
Ince to set production limits on all Sas-
katchewan mines — now working at
Only 67 per cent capacity — saying he
Wants to stabilize the world potash
Market. Saskatchewan mines have half
of the world’s curent 4 million tonnes of
Surplus potash. But Tory actions and
Statements suggest the bill may be in-
tended to create more favourable
conditions for the sale of PCS.

Since its discovery here in 1943,
potash has had a turbulent history. The
CCF government of Tommy. Douglas
was unwilling to develop the mineral as
a public resource, instead encouraging
private ownership. U.S.-based mining
Corporations grabbed a dominant posi-
tion by the early 1960s, followed by
Canadian capital. But overproduction
led to disastrously low prices by 1969,
forcing Liberal premier Ross Thatcher
to impose ‘‘prorationing’’, or produc-
tion quotas, and a floor price. That ac-
tion, and the stronger farm economy of
the early 1970s, led to a boom in profits
for the industry, which bitterly resisted
the new Blakeney NDP government’s
efforts to raise taxes.

Public Ownership

Faced with the prospect of years of
Court battles against the mining in-
terests, Blakeney’s government
Moved in 1975 towards public owner-
Ship, eventually nationalising about
half the industry under PCS. The
action was popular, and during 1980-81
PCS earned over $300-million in profit

for the province.

The last few years have seen insta-
bility in the industry. Declining farm
incomes in the USA, which buys 60
Per cent of Saskatchewan’s potash,
has reduced demand below the rosy
Projections of 15-20 years ago. But
“offshore”? demand, while fluctuating,
is on the rise. China and other Asian
and Pacific countries are becoming
Major buyers, so it seems the industry
here does have a long-term future,
particularly as Saskatchewan potash is
the highest quality available.

But the Tories appear determined to
take advantage of the gloomy current
Situation to privatize PCS quickly.
“That would solve our problems,”
Said New Mexico potash industry
spokesman Bob Forrest last February
when the anti-dumping petition was
launched. Forrest charges that the
Saskatchewan treasury has absorbed

i losses of $70-million in 1985 and

Tory moves to
privatise Potash

From
Regina

Kimball
Cariou

$150-million in 1986, making for unfair
competition:

Since coming to office in 1982, the
Tories have worked to undermine
PCS. The crown corporation is a
member of Canpotex which, for exam-
_ple, handles offshore sales for all
Saskatchewan mines. Although it has
nearly half the provincial production
capacity, PCS has only one Canpotex
board member, as does each private
company, and only one-third of the
total sales. During the 1982 economic
downturn, PCS operated at only 50 per
cent capacity, while private munes

worked at 70 per cent.
Privatization Strategy
Atter presenting the provincial

budget in June, finance minister Gary
Lane said ‘‘the correct decision would
be to write off the debt (of PCS) and
write down the value of the asset’” —a
move which would by itself only
strengthen the anti-dumping campaign
by U.S. firms.

But together with some form of
privatization, such a course would fit
Devine’s neo-conservative agenda
without ruffling U.S. feathers. PCS
Chair Paul Schoenhals, a former
Saskatchewan Tory cabinet minister,
told Mark Stobbe, an assistant to
Saskatoon Nutana MLA Pat Atkinson,
during a recent Fraser Institute confer-
ence that PCS would be sold within a
year. Shares will likely be offered to
Saskatchewan citizens as a bribe,
according to a copy of Stobbe’s report
on the conference obtained by the
Tribune. Other shares will be offered
to PCS management and employees,
and a bloc of 25-35 per cent sold to an

- established mining company. This ap-

proach would be used by the Tories to
claim a ‘‘victory’’ for free enterprise,
and would give the mining company
control with only a minority of shares.
Stobbe predicts that PCS privatisation
would be used as a springboard to
begin the same process with ‘‘crown
corporations that are more dangerous

politically, such as Sask Tel and Sask -

Power.” :

In the meantime, the Tory legisla-
tion has come under fire from the NDP
and Liberal opposition. Any move to
cut back Saskatchewan production,
both parties say, would only mean
eliminating jobs in this province, and
would allow producers in New Bruns-
wick, Israel, the FRG, Jordan and
New Mexico to fill the gap. Sas-
katchewan offshore and North Ameri-
can markets could be lost in the
process.

Devine’s reply is that the rest of the
potash industry is waiting for Sas-
katchewan to ‘‘take a leadership role’’.
However there is no indication that the
government has discussed the situation
with producers elsewhere. Instead, it
seems the government’s action is
geared towards creating better condi-
tions for private buyers to consider
buying a sizable piece of PCS.

NEXT: The Saskatchewan Tories
privatization program.

ay

TEMAGAMI: > A story

of peacetime genocide -

By PAUL OGRESKO

LAKE TEMAGAMI,
Ont. — They have stood
for more than 200 years. If
the Ontario Ministry of
Natural Resources has its
way they won’t stand for
much longer. ‘They’ are the
white pinetrees along the
Lake Temagami shoreline
in Northern Ontario. One of
the last prime examples of
virgin forest in Ontario.

The decision to allow the
William Milne & Sons log-
ging company to cut the
trees has sparked a flurry of
protest from environmentalists and
tourist workers. Celebrities such as
Margaret Atwood, Timothy Findlay
and Farley Mowat have formed the
Temagami Wilderness Society to pro-
tect the 637 hectares of previously pro-
tected timber. But for the 800 members
of the Teme-Augami Anishinabai na-
tion it is a question of protecting their
homeland — a land they have occupied
for over 6,000 years.

‘*We know we’ ve been here for 6,000 ~

years. We know its our land.’’ Gary
Potts, Chief of the Teme-Augami
Anishinabai told the Tribune, ‘‘The
timber interests, everyone, wants to
designate our land. No one is paying
any attention to the fact we own the
land. Especially not the government

_which is actually practicing peacetime

genocide against us.”

For the people of the Teme-Augami
Anishinabi the logging of Temagami is
one more chapter in an almost endless
book of frustrations. They have never
signed a treaty with the Canadian
government giving up the 4,000 square
miles of their aboriginal homeland.
From 1877 to 1972 the Teme-Augami
Anishinabi negotiated with the federal
government for recognition of their
land claim. They got nowhere. In 1973
they took their case to the courts. The
first nation lost at the Supreme Court of
Ontario and have since launched an ap-
peal expected to be heard this winter. If
need be they will take it to the Supreme
Court of Canada.

“It’s like war but instead of using
guns against us, the government’s using
political and legal weaponry.’’ Potts
said, ‘‘Now the federal government has
stopped assisting us financially in our
appeal. They are really playing hard-
ball. You're alright as long as you’re
agreeing (with the government). As
soon as you start questioning their
motives, advocating your rights, you’re
funding is cut-off.”

The Ministry of Natural Resources is
claiming the logging is necessary to pro-
tect the jobs of the 180 loggers working
at the Milne company. Yet the sacrifice
of this unique woodland will only post-
pone the inevitable lay-offs by two
years at the most. Environmentalists
are charging that there are less than two
seasons of logging to be had from the
2.5 square miles of wilderness before it
is gone.

It is acharge that Potts concurs with.

‘The logging of pine forest in the area
is almost finished. This has been con-
firmed by owners of the logging com-
pany itself.’’ Potts charged, ‘‘We feel it
is best to do an orderly transition from
the logging jobs to other types of long-
term jobs while there are still some

Gary Potts

trees left. We should
have this retraining
rather than have all the
trees cut till there are no
jobs left.”’

To the people of
Teme-Augama Anishi-
nabai it will be a
double loss if the logging
commences. Not only
will there be no long term
employment in the
Temagami, but an aborig-
inal homeland will be
further destroyed. The
first nation has an-
nounced they will apply for a court in-
junction to halt timber cutting and the
construction of logging roads in the
area.

Potts wonders how the ministry can
feel comfortable about allowing the
logging to go ahead without any studies
of the eco-system the Temagami pines
support.

“Its like war but
instead of using
guns they're using
political and legal

_ weaponry.»

“‘Our concern is that the last pines in
the 4,000 square mile area are being
depleted. There is no understanding of
how the natural area developed. We’ ve
found our campsites four feet down —
those campsites are 6,000 years old. We
know the important role the trees and
vegetation play. What we are saying is
‘for god’s sake stop and take a look at
what you’re doing.”’ Potts said.

The Meech Lake fall-out has given
the Temagami controversy, like first
nation disputes across Canada, a sinis-
ter atmosphere. The increased powers
given to the provinces are threatening
to override aboriginal rights. The As-

- sembly of First Nations has pointed out

that section 35 of the constitution and
the British North America Act, which
guarantee aboriginal rights, are being
violated by the accord.

The alarming thing for the Ontario
first nations is the ignominious record
of the Ontario provincial government in
dealing with aboriginal affairs. Minister
of Indian Affairs Ian Scott has ap-
proached the first nations with an air of
delegated authority — an approach that
will likely worsen with the Meech Lake
accord. The Liberal government has
shown that dealing fairly with aborigi-
nal people is low on it’s priorities.

‘‘We will get no assistance from gov-
ernment,’ Potts said, ‘‘what we are
looking at is establishing ourselves out-
side the parameters of the provincial
and federal jurisdiction.”

The pines have stood in the
Temagami for over two centuries. The
people of Teme-Augama Anishinabai
have been there for over 60 centuries.
The pines may fall because of a
government decision — the Indian
people of Temagami are determined
that their first nation will not.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 23, 1987 e 5