- EDITORIAL - Defend our sovereignty | - The arrogance of the Reagan administration in riding roughshod over the sovereignty of other. nations appears to know no bounds. The mining of Nicaragua’s harbors was an extreme case in point. Now we have one much closer to home. Recently the U.S. government advertised the sale of leasing rights for exploration and development of a large chunk of offshore Canadian territory to U.S. oil companies. Involved is about 400 square miles of terri- tory at the Dixon Entrance, near Prince Rupert. On May 14 the Canadian government officially pro- tested to the U.S. the violation of Canadian territorial sovereignty over the continental shelf in the Dixon Entrance which contains rich oil, gas and mineral resources. Involved also are the important fisheries in the Dixon Entrance. The U.S. laid a claim to the area after the 200-mile zone was declared, claiming that the so-called A-B line set by the Canada-U.S. boundary commission in 1903 was not its territorial limit and that its offshore rights extended into almost half of the Dixon Entrance. The U.S. claim has been disputed by the fishermen, Native Indians. and by the federal government, although the government’s position has been very weak, thus encou- raging the U.S. to take the bold action it has now taken to lay claim to the territory by putting it up for lease. The ‘action of the U.S. government violates an agreement last fall between the two governments that no action would be taken until the World Court in the Hague delivers its judgement on the East Coast boun- dary dispute over the Gulf of Maine. The principles laid down by the court are expected to have a bearing on the - Dixon Entrance issue. ‘The U.S. has now violated that agreement. This is in Shorter hours, more jobs : When 13,000 metal workers went on strike in the Federal Republic of Germany, May 14, it was for the shorter work week. Demanding a five-hour cut in hours without loss of pay, the metal workers, mostly in parts plants feeding the auto industry, are arguing, along with the printers’ unions, that the 35-hour week would create more than one million new jobs. Employers, of course, as they did when labor was battling to reduce the 14-hour day to 12 hours, wail about collapse, and threaten layoffs to reduce the pay-. roll. The FRG has 2.4 million unemployed, 10 per cent of the work force. ’ The stand being taken by this section of German labor is remarkably similar to that taken in February by delegates representing some 120,000 Canadian auto workers of the UAW. The bargaining plan unveiled at that time said: “‘Reduced work time is affordable, it fulfills a fundamental need of the working people, it addresses the critical issue of. os and it will be a priority in 1984.” U.S. government, to this day, a year later, has not even line with recent U.S. declarations that it would not recognize international law and the Hague Court in the - case of Nicaragua and would act in what it considers its own “national interests.” It intends to do the same with Canada. Letter writing by the federal government seems to have no effect whatsoever. A year ago the U.S. adver- tised the sale of leases for offshore territories in the Beaufort Sea, another area in dispute where Canada’s sovereignty is also being violated. The Canadian government sent a letter of protest at that time but the acknowledged receipt of that letter. They will likely do the same with the May 14 letter from Ottawa. Unless strong action is taken to protect Canadian sovereignty at the Dixon Entrance and the Beaufort Sea the U.S. intends to establish de facto control of the territory. It should also be noted that the U.S. is making similar claims over a large area in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Vancouver Island and Washington State. At the moment the U.S. is not pressing its claim there, hoping that if it can establish its right to lease the offshore territories in the Beaufort Sea and Dixon Entrance that it would strengthen its position later in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Obviously, big stakes are involved for both Canada and British Columbia. Letter writing and diplomatic protests will not be enough. The Canadian government should put some teeth into its protest by declaring that anyone violating sovereign Canadian territory will be arrested and tried under Canadian law. We should stand prepared to defend and enforce Canada’s sover- eign rights. - . reer. | What kind of outcry do you think there’d be if a group of wort doubled their pay in one year? Well, when a group of capital ad double their profits it’s great stuff. Cadillac Fairview Corp., the 7 real estate outfit had after-tax profits of $27,631,000 for the ft ended Feb. 29, up from $12,615,000. ‘don’t bring it down, then we won’t be doing our job for 1g a | “Whatever way we do it, whether we reduce the work day to seven or six hours, or take some other route, the work week has to come down now,” Ford worker Ron Perlerin, leader of Local 1520, said at that time. “If we our members, our neighbors who are unemployed, or Fa the communities we live in.’ =] Ni E = | —oo I ———{£E* [jj ‘T>™qT—>T[>>>**—*<_<=_=_=_