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EDITOR - Grea Middleton
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TERRACE & KITIMAT

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aa ): 29
\ r
a}

DON SCHAFFER |

\.

Canada Week is coming, from June 25 to July 2, and
even though it is just over.a month after the Quebec
referendum, enthusiasm in the bureaucratic corridors
is building undaunted by Rene’s threats of rain on the
parade. ‘

Even though we don’t know what will happen in the
great vote back East, we can get an idea about what is
in store for us during that week of June by listening to
people like Sigrid Somerton, the Western Canadian co-
ordinator of the Council for Canadian Unity.

The Council for Canadian Unity is a non-profit
organization which has existed since the mid-sixties,to
promote celebration of the July } weekend.

Incase you don't recognize the date, that’s Canada’s .
birthday. - Many forget it with all the great
celebrations which take place,
regularity, south of the 49th parallel July 4. .

Forget the fact-that our national holiday is on a
Tuesday this year, lousing up any hopes most of us.
might have of getting a long weekend, while the
American holiday falls most conveniently on a Friday
this year. . ; - Be,

The council still feels that we, as Canadians,
should go out of our way to celebrate the birthday of
our nation, as inconvenient as it may be. -

To this end, they are sending people like Somerton
around to all of the communities in the nation who are
planning celebrations around or on the historic day.

Iwas privileged tate taethisie ofySémierton :to
our fair city of Tagebusiy Shig.was, hove. ta,givesen-
couragement, or discouragement as the case may

Dear Sir:

with dismaying’ | |

1 thought I would accept
Stan Persky’s invitation for
“one of those urrelected
union staff...” to write in. and

- respond ‘to his April 29th -
- column,

I have been a member of
‘the B.C. Government Em- |

' ployees’ Union for. twelve

years and held the elected
olfices ‘of Steward, Local
n and Provincial

“ Byecutive. member prior to

joining. the “unelected:
staff” '

The B.C, Government
Employees’ Union has a
unique ‘structure — it is a
unique union. The ultimate

_ suthority in our union is our

convention: To be a delegate
to aur convention you must.
be elected by the rank and
file of a local. You also must.
be'a rank-and file tember.
Staff cannot be’ delegates.
_ Between conventions, our

union is governed by our

provincial executive. To be
on ol provincial executive

you must bea rank and file

member. You don’t get paid
for the position. You work for
one of. the employers we
bargain with.  ..--
‘You ‘see, Stan, our
members feel that the union
leadership should never lose
touch with the rank and file.
They. think that if the
leadership hold full-time,
high ‘paid office, there is a
danger that their elected

_ unionists... Maybe.

politicians

because most oft them work.
for the full-time politicians in

Victoria that they don't fiave' - r
a lot of faith in that: kind of ¢

syatem.. -

In any case, we do‘ajree

on one thing: That: is: that”

its up, to “the. BCGEU: :

membership to decide how tai:

run their union”. and that’s,”

how they’ve decided. = 7°.
Another thing .they ‘have.

already decided Is. that, the:
forum for ~debate ‘among .

union.members is the-wnion. . ,

local. ‘So, when a group of ‘se

self-proclaimed rank and file

activists decide to set up a’
dual union structure ™.ouy |
members ate not pleased...

The first meeting of the -
“open?” caucus’ refused. 10.

‘admit members of the union.

staif who, by she way, have:
voice but. no vote. in: our
union, who pay: full. union

dues for that right, and. who, °

are bound by our union's
constitution, _ o

nev

nighicaps in
_SpBicians. cossetted by image-making advertising <

ted ~“ executive’ shiould. know. better ‘than {0 So indulge... .,:

ern voters, who take exception tosuch nit-picking,...

‘voter's choice ofa leader is that of personality, not the *

“sates... es a ee aaeer
-4" Ifyou think about it, this conclusion - produced bya:
group of, Canadian | political. scientists: - makes.a

; : led ‘mockery : of the: whole campaign . process. The

have been, to the organizers of the Terrace Fun Fest |. . |

. last week. a

The point is that while the motives of a non-profit
organization dedicated to stirring up some flicker of
nationalistic flame in the apathetic folk of our.
notoriously reserved nation may be above reproach,
especially in, these troubled times, the methods they.

‘are using are ‘a bit ‘odd, to. say” the least. ©

For instance, while Somerton seemed impressed
with the planned Fun Fest, there wasn’t enough flag-
waving planned, Flag-waving, you see, appears to be ~
an integral part of the Canada Week celebration. . In
fact, the council is planning to put a flag in the hands —
of every school-child in Cariada. -.. 0

Very nice, indeed, but really, so what? - Where are moe

we going to have the children wave the flags:on .
Tuesday, July.1? ~ ve tie hte Oat

“Where, indeed, are these school-children going to -

be? A simple check of the calender will show, without
a shadow of a doubt, that every single schoolchild in
the Terrace-Kitimat area will be out on summer
holiday on July 1. .

“in fect, the only kids that will be in school will bein |=!’
Australia, I doubt that they'll be all that interestedin |.

celebrating Canada Day, let alone Canada Week.
The council is also handing out, through its

representatives, a list of “attractive items” that it is -

selling to prospective patriotic Canadians to help them
to celebrate Canada Week in the proper spirit. -

The council, you see, is a non-profit organization -
that raises its funds through sales of such items. : The
only money it gets from the government is for its work
in organizing communities to prepare celebrations. —

The council has received, according to Somerton. ere

about $40,000 for aid to all the communities in B.C.
This munificent offering was extended to the council
in the now-fashionable line of fiscal restraint, and is
meant to be doled cut to the communities to help them
organize. © . ; .

The items for sale include: lapel pins (epinglettes,
in French, also on the brochure; we must be
bilingual), bumper stickers, maple leaf and beaver’
key-chains, maple leaf spoons, dark blue ties’ with
your choice of red or white maple leaves (clip-on ties,,
yet), gold-plated beaver pendants and beaver stick
pins, frizbees, visors {or beaks, they are the hats with
no tops), and tote bags.

And, to top it off, playing cards, cards with red-
coated Mounties on them, one on a horse and one with
a German shepherd. | .

Now, Somerton said that the council is not in the
business of selling souvenirs. I believe her.

What Ihave a hard time with is the idea that any of
this trinket-selling and flag-waving is going to .ad-
vance the cause of Canadian unity one little bit, one

’ serap, one inch.

_ At this late date, selling Mountie-ade-ned playing
cards and having school-children waving flags lan’t:
going to do a‘damned bit of good for the unity cause. -
This Canada Week stuff has been going on since
1969. The same Quebecois kiddies that were waving
flags and wearing beaver pins in the original Canada
Week are the same angry Quebecois adults that are
voting vehement “ouis”’ in the referendum, on, the
twentieth of this month. mo, ye
Tell me, what are we having Canada Week for? It’s
too bloody late, too late to do anything on such a scale
as this, on
I ean’t see it, sorry. To
For this month, at least, I think we should hold off on
Canada Week celebration plans. Come May 21, we
may be preparing to kiss our country goodbye, not
celebrating its birthday. ; 2 .

VICTORIA (UPC) ~ After
two years of Initial study, a
Victoria University biologist

prove his theory that sea
urchins and starfish can play
a major role in the repalr
and treatment of -broken

bones. .
“Tam convinced that bad
fractures can be. ired
more effectively with the use
of materials from ‘the
skeletons of sea urchins and
starfish,” said Dr. Arthur.
Fontaine. ‘Initial ex-

Derimenting with auimala to [B ACKGROU N D .

perimentation has been very

successful.”

Fontaine said the bones of
humans and other animals
are a..mixture of stony
material and  fltxible

inorganle tisave. But tests

carried out by himself and
research assistant Bey Hall
found that the skeletons of
starfish and sea urchins are
composed entirely of
limestone.
Limestone, apparently, is
the key, Fontaine said,
because it providea two
friajor advantages from a
medical viewpoint — it is
native to the the human
body, eliminating problems

‘involving rejection, and it
can be cleaned and sterilized
to eliminate. all. foreign
matter. . mt a
ares alninated after {8
can od a .
no Longer required to act as a
scaffolding: for the new
bone,” Fontaine sald. |: °
But before Fontaine's
theory can be applied in
- general medicine, must
prove it works and he hopes
to begin laboratory ¢x-
periments with rats within a
few weeks, fae
Generally; however, the
medical profession
skeptical
Celene epecta list ‘Dr. AE
Bone alist Dr. :
Wall of Victoria said he was
“very doubtful’ about the
technique and said seyéral
factors were. béing
overlooked. woo
“There is always an
_@lement of ‘infection when
introducing foreign. matter
into the human body, quite

_ he said, “Packing
cells ‘with Himestone or .

of: Fontalife a impede

part from . the’ rejection
feetor,"" be sald. “But more:
important, it would delay the
“healing process and could

ever preventregrawth of the
bone in some cases.”

.. Wall said a vital part of the
healing process. was the
Invasion of the.injured bone
by blood yeasels to provide
the basis for growth of new

tissue. which eventually .

hardens irito bone. .
“Bone [sa living tissue and

bleeds when it is damaged,” .

the bone:

calcium. substance would
the
delay bedling.”” -
Scientists. in California,
experiments, ref the.
skeletal structure. was too
weak. Dee
Fontaine, however,
remains convitced he ts on
the right track,

- foundation

sprendof the new
. blood. veseeld and therefore —

felt the |

Te

He: sald: ‘human ‘bone ‘is

_ perforated by millions of
Foie 1 spiral wetwoek

pattern. Human. fibroblasts
(cells that decret a material

| Which bonds bones together)
lodge: in. the holes and:
-. provide the first stage of |

rebuilding new bone.
“Other cells build on the
provided by
fibroblast ceils,
components necessary to

-healing ‘and remove foreign |

matter suchas sitvera of

bone arid infection,” he said.
- Fontaine sald the softness

of limestone is a key. factor.
“We ‘think the softness is.a
ink: thie sub-

sue:to grow within it.
_ It would hold ‘the bone in
plate until the tissue had

rejoined’ and. would then, :

theoretically, be removed by

Hormal cetiular function, he -

said. a

add other |;

'The:need for. thrift, diligence, delayed satisfaction,
strength in the face of enemies made sense in simpler
times.- ae me .. i ' 7 oo te
‘But not so today. Now, we are faced with in-depth ©
‘examinations of each and every issue, topics which - in
getail - are often beyond the comprehension of all but
the specialist. On foreign affairs leaders are seen a8
- powerless because: the international economy is.:80
‘complex and interdependent. 9: 200°) ue ek
\' "The old certainties:have become; the. new. over:.;
fimplifications, ‘Just'agithe movieland bad. guys ne":
“Jongei“are confined to the wearing of black hats, just
as literary. and-film notions of. good. and-evil have —
becomé blurred, so too in real life. That which seems ~
to’ bea. matter of common sense - on closer
‘ examination’- may be nonsense... oF
. ‘Try as they might voters can never be expert in all
the important matters. Few would wish more than a
capsule summary’ of the facts. Such distillation of
‘ truth - where it is posaible- is itself a distortion. os
.. But a decision is required. For many voters that is
the eaay part. Don’t ypte, But. where conscience and
good citizenship prevail, @ fasis is needed'on Which to °
.. An X must somewhere be placed. a
Hence personality. A factor which has. little to do

with’ decision-making . ability,and Jess to do with.»

every the same. |
d moo:

(LETTERS TO

would like to bring to the
attention of your-readers, for
* their help. Guest speakers
_ have been invited to discuss
- - a-varilety of issves including
- unions and human right. We

would like to invite.a woman °
#0 speak who has liad per-

- sonal Involvement in a
- human rights case. Should
any woman reading this be

- interested in sharing her-
‘‘experlence, please call Beily
or. Mary at 635-7134...
“2... , Sincerely,

’ Betty Barton:

TS TETTERS WELCOME

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