Socreds can be defeated on key issues _____ The Socred government shows signs Of weakness, and can be defeated on important issues dur- ing the present legislative session, Communist Party provincial leader Maurice Rush commented in an interview Tuesday. _ “The NDP is numerically a powerful opposition,”’ he said. “If it combines with a united move- ment of labor and community organizations outside the legis- ature, it is very possible that the _ legislature can be moved.” Rush was scornful of the govern- SSR. 5 iaiccet sh HERR ee rer ay i FOR OUR ® ny ; we. ‘ig CHILDREN EStARG NL ook Lat i 4 ‘ ? wa e . aa : : . solute numbers, the unemployed have reached an all time high at 119,000, but there is not a word of hope for them from the govern- ment. “The speech mentioned building roads and dams and some new mining — mostly resource give- away projects — but there is nothing that approaches what is needed.”’ The most dangerous note of the throne speech was the reference to energy policy contained in the ominous statement that “‘two- thirds of B.C.’s water resources TRIBUNE PHOTO—SEAN GRIFFIN Herring fishermen, members of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers and the Native Brotherhood, marched 200-strong to the federal fisheries department last week to reiterate the demand for a manage- ment plan for the depleted roe herring fishery. The department’s own pooling plan for allocating the catch has fallen apart but it still refuses a commitment to consider the UFAWU-Brotherhood quota | cal river it possibly to build larger madea killing selling the roe on the fices in Vancouver Feb. 27, thatif than accept cuts from last year’s 9 ~—«sFesource sellouts and fisca cel Singer pone rttothe Japanese market where it is con- prices paid to fishermen were minimum prices. restraint, but it hopesto “‘bolsterits _Surpluses Or expo ; ‘ hapten | ing fortunes” with a number U.S.” sidered a prized delicacy. reduced to: 1977 levels, “‘it will y ai ulist measures, he said, Oth il ¢ But company profiteering and mean fishermen will bear the brunt Nichol also told the labor coun- a ft pop s sea er resource sellouts can be action by the giant Japanese of effect of market manipulation cil that the claims of the Fisheries _ citing the ban on uranium mining — expected with the move to step UP multinational Mitsubishiin buying while companies past profits (are) _Associati f UFAWU and and the decision to bring perMa- exports of coal and in the proposal - ; ” e ata a 1 A der the LED up production to manipulate the protected. Brotherhood strength among herr- * nent hotel residents under to launch,a reforestation program. i ; i ims i a , ‘ : market led to organized consumer Spaee ing fishermen — claims intended to Residential Tenancy Act. __ The main thrust of the reforesta- resistance in Japan to the high The two. umonisis: also found dermine the strik “ ‘i “Thatisthedilemmatheyarein. tion program ‘“‘is that the public, prices and to carry-over of herring that consumer hositility in Japan =a as ran Sc oa es They have to serve the big business not the companies will pay for it.” was directed, not to organized gee ; eC ihe roe from last year. fish but to Mitsubishi whi He said that the two organiza- ) interests they represent. But Po- «ThemaximoftheoldW.A.C. “Nowthe fishing companies are psiermen, bit to Mitsubistiy whicl’ tions had the bulk of the seine fl ¢ ‘tically they feel compelled to eae psa ne sete ae had manipulated the market and 10ns had the bulk of the seine teet es it ae . Bennett government was: when in _ telling us: “You'll have to takea cut i : and solid organization in the gillnet ove to the left on certain issues in ae t : resulting prices. _ 2 33 trouble, build highways,” he re- in your earnings to restore buyer fleet '~ order to undercut the NDP. ked. “ 2 : ae The UFAWU has stated that the * : : 4 mae marked, “‘and that seemstobethis confidence’,’”’ Nicholtoldthelabor . Ae pleat The strike has remained solid 4 The biggest shortcoming in the Bennett’s strategy as well. More, council meeting. mae who is BQInE +0 pay: for since it began Sunday with only - _ thronespeech was thetotalabsence highways and bridges, but only lip Nichol and union vice-president stabilizing the market. boats from two independent co- - { ment’s throne speech read last Thursday projecting legislation for the session. ‘“‘Blacktopping and resource giveaways won’t provide any solutions to our problems,’’ he said. The government intends to con- tinue its right-wing thrust of flow untapped into the Pacific.”’ The government’s hidden energy policy is emerging more and more, the CP leader warned, ‘‘It appears that what we have been warning of is now on the agenda: the Socreds intend to dam every system. Union-Brotherhood strike ‘solid’ _ Continued from page 1 seine fish last year and companies Japanese market had fallen. They reported, in a telex to the union of- opening but has declared that it is prepared to lose a season rather 1 of any serious approach to the un- service to rapid transit for:the Nick Carr went to Japan last The union has made significant operatives in the north fishing dur- employment crisis, he said. In ab- Lower Mainland.”’ month toinvestigateclaimsthatthe reductions in its demand from its _ing the two openings. 4 ci Z i chai DI ili Di a dg Aiton Rea alee 2 I a eh TRL ne emer Initial jubilation with the seven year moratorium on uranium ex- ploration and mining in B.C. this week gave way to more sober assessments of the temporary ban, and the need for added pressure to secure lasting safeguards. _ Labor, environmental and political groups opposed to uranium mining were unanimous Uranium ban sparks call for indefinite moratorium South Korea. The deal, reported- ly, was made during Bennett’s politically motivated. ‘‘Clearly Bennett picked the shortest and environment minister Stephen Rogers this week concur- opposition groups in the Com- mission were planned, including a number of impréssive world fig- ures. Among those scheduled to appear: a Japanese radiation geneticist, Dr. Ichikawa, who has pioneered radiation monitoring in biological systems; a delegation of Navaho Indians from New Mexico who would have presented dramatic and emo- in hailing premier Bennett‘s Feb. _ trade sojourn in Japan. period of time which could pass ring in the moratorium but warn- _ tional evidence on the impact of BF 97 declaration as a victory for ‘B.C. Federation of Labor asameaningful moratorium, yet. ing “‘it only delays catastrophe uranium mining on Natives; a | public opinion. occupational health and safety will keep the mining interests in __ Seven years. . . U.S. nuclear physicist, Dr. di) But all viewed the government _ director Keith Graham expressed _ the field. _ “Nothing short of a total out- Chaunce Kepford, to testify on ; decisionasa purely politicalmove _ the mixed feelings of most in an “The moratorium should be Tight ban willsatisfythepeopleof —_ the long-term impact of radia- for immediate gain which could easily be reversed when the moratorium expires, or, before. Also of concern was the premature closing of the Bates Royal Commission into Uranium community safety and en- vironmental impact of uranium mining unanswered. Bennett’s announcement .of interview Monday: “I’m pleased as hell with the moratorium, but really concerned about the seven years. It was obviously just a political move. This government will have to go a long way to con- the whole battle could have to be fought again, Graham said. And neither could the recommenda- tions from the Bates Commission indefinite, until all the questions of safety and environmental protection are satisfactorily answered,’’ the CP leader declared. United Fishermen and Allied combination of Bennett’s desire “to curry favor with the public, which he is in sorry need of” and ‘ta more sinister motive.”’ B.C.,”’ the union said. Thomlinson said that the union is asking for the moratorium to be buttressed by regulations requiring all mining activity to contain radioactive ‘‘biological pathways’’ of radioactive materials. In par- ticular it wants controlled ex- periments on three generations of tion; a California nuclear physicist, Dr. John Goffman, one of the physicists who discovered plutonium. It is possible that, with the mor- atorium, the uranium industry es-° | Mining with still four months of vincemethatitisinterestedinour | Workers Union environmental — wastes, and by continuing re- —_caped the Bates Commission with technical hearings scheduled, _ health and safety.” director Arnie Thomlinson saw search by the provincial and more intact than otherwise may | leaving questions of worker and When the moratorium expires — the moratorium as a result of a federal governments on the have been the case. The pressure of public opinion was, however, undeniably decisive. As Bennett himself ’ remarked, ‘‘It is clearly the mood the moratorium, carefully timed be expected to help much because The dominant sections of the _ salmon to observe the geneticim- _ of the people of this province that for the day before the opening of the incomplete report on the B.C. mining industry were likely pact of radioactivity. ; they are not prepared to live with the legislature, recognized that technicalaspectsofuraniummin- _ pleased that the moratorium cut Both Thomilinson and Society —_yranium mining. | the tide of public opinion had _ ing will have been made “‘largely _short the work of the Bates Com- for Pollution and Environmental eae iat acen —— | swelled overwhelmingly against redundant” by seven years of mission, he suggested, because Control (SPEC) spokesman sehwledee cof thie SE ais : ‘| theuranium industry. Heknewas _ technological advance. the recommendations for the David Garrick said that the tim- say have pr 8 9 well that opposition spokesmen The moratorium is as yet justa containment of radioactive mine Ng of the moratorium was also the pottt pe its Progr a ei : were preparing to broadside the. statement from Bennett, he add- _ tailings expected from the Com- intended to cut short the Bates In- ceptable to B.C.” NS. % | government over the issue in the ed, and the Federation will be mission wouldhaveaffected their quiry before opposition groups ee : : legislature. pressing Victoria for legislationto mining practices as well. could mount their major attack. But what the people of the - One charge Bennett was sure to have been put on the spot over stemmed from last Nov.’s sudden news that the largest uranium mining company in the field, Norcen Resources, had signed a | contract to sell B.C. uranium to enforce it, ‘‘and to make it per- manent.”” 2 : ‘“‘Why. only seven years?” Communist Party provincial leader Maurice Rush responded Monday, joining in the assess- ment that the moratorium was Molybdenum and gold mines particularly have significant uranium traces in tailings, he pointed out, but at present mining companies have no regulations to meet. The UFAWU cabled Bennett “Most government and in- dustry witnesses had been heard,”’ Garrick said Monday. “In the next few months the en- vironmental groups would have brought a barrage of witnesses.’ About 65 submissions from the province are saying clearly is that ’ legislation is required now to put in place an indefinite moratorium which will ensure that all public and worker concerns will be answered before any further ex- ploration or mining is acceptable. wa PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 7, 1980—Page 3