Calling all you Martians MP heads off into space MIKE SCOTT wants to see several million Canadians identify themselves as Martians in next month’s census. The Reform MP for Skeena says that would be one way for people to prolest census questions aimed at identifying Cana- dians on the basis of race — and thereby disrupt plans for federal hiring quotas. “Tt would send a signal to the federal government that Canadians have had enough of this garbage,” Scott said. “Tt would thwart the objec- tives of the social engineers in Ottawa who feel they have to have the guiding hand jin determining who gets hired for what job.’’ - Census forms have always asked residents’ country of birth and to which ethnic groups their ancestors belong. ‘People more and morc are putting ‘Canadian’ down as their ethnic origin, so you're losing the precision of the data,’’ Census Cana- da’s_ Marion Smith ex. plained, ‘In order to sup- port the Employment Equity Act we had to go and ask a more direct question.”’ That legislation —_-will change federal hiring prac- tices 10 ensure the federal workforce better represents women and visible minorities, New on this year’s census form is a question thal asks “Is this person: white, Chinese, South Asian, black, Arab/West Asian, Filipino, South East Asian, Latin American, Japanese, Korean, or other (specify).”” “This census question is all about setting quotas for hiring on race,’’ Scott said. He maintains hiring should be on the basis of qualifications, not race, “We should be colour blind when it comes to recruiting people for the RCMP or filling federal job postings wherever they may be,’’ he said. Scott also suggests that by answering the ethaicity question, Canadians will be giving the government the means to bring in more employment equity rules beyond the federal govern- ment, “"Who’s to say they won’t aftemp! to expand that into the ' private sector?’’ he asked. ‘“How would you feel if you were a business person. in Terrace and the quola police showed up to see Whether you had a fair representation of employces based on cthnic origin? That’s where this is all lead- ing.” - Scott says he doesn’t want to urge people to break the law by lying to census takers, but admits he likes the idea of people writing in ‘Martian’ or ‘other’ on that line. “The imagery of human resources minister Doug Young and his department scrambling to cope with employment equity — pro- grams for several million Martians is wonderful,” Scott said. Gasoline prices go up TERRACE MOTORISTS are taking a beat- ing at the pumps. Early last week all stations in town jacked up their prices to 61.9 cents per litre, but a Petro Canada official says that doesn’t mean we're lining the pockets of the oil companies. this,””. says Rocco Ciancio. ‘“This is not what you'd call a robust business.’’ He explains the current price of crude is about 19 cents per litre. The provincial tax is: 11 cents, and the federal tax is 14 cents. That makes the cost to the vender 44 cents per. litre. After that come refining and markeling costs before the product is delivered to local retailers. Increases added after that, Ciancio says, are determined by each market area. ‘The . decision is made in the marketplace,”’ be says. ‘The retailer has to ask what the rationale for dropping prices would be.” A survey of northwestern gas prices indi- cate retailers in different communities act differently when it comes to pricing their “They’re not making a killing from gas. The Terracc increase to 61.9 cents was up from 59,9, In Smithers prices jumped from 57.5 to 60.9 last weck. And in Prince Rupert the price per litre has gonc up from 59.9 to 61.9 and 62.9, In Kitimat the price is 61.5 and in Prince George it’s 58.6. Municipalities elsewhere in the province also levy their own taxes on gas sold at the pumps to help finance bus service. aD = wa a b, ; T-SHIRTS! THIS 1S JUST A SAMPLE OF THE GREAT SAVINGS INV STORE FOR YOU! ing Store § “ALL LADIES" WINDSUITS! “ALL BOYS’ SPRING JACKETS! “ALL GIRLS’ SPRING JACKETS! “ALL OUR ATHLETIC FOOTWEAR! (DOES NOT INCLUDE “HERE'S VALUE”) -ALL MEN'S “LOONEY TUNES” AGENDIS COMPANY Mike Scott Smith said Canadians are required by Jaw to truthfully answer the census. She said people who write in ‘Martian’ might get a call from census-takers trying to clarify their answer. Smith said census officials have not yet seen any sig- nificant opposition to the question emerge. : In the 1991 census, she said, many people in the Toronto area protested an ethnic origins question by writing in ‘Canadian’, “But I don’t think it went far beyond Toronto,’’ she said. 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