UI changes make

Prominent citizens voice
demand for full oil inquiry |

Warning that further oil spills on British
Columbia’s coast are not just possible but
“a certainty,” more than 170 of the pro-
vince’s prominent citizens, including
Native leaders, called Tuesday for a full
public inquiry into the “exploration, pro-
duction and transportation of oil and
other dangerous substances along the B.C.
coast.”

The demand for a inquiry, made in a
letter to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney,
came as oil from the massive Exxon Val-
dez spill continued to flow into the Gulf of
Alaska despite efforts by clean-up crews to
contain it. That spill followed an earlier
disaster off Grays Harbour, Washington,
Dec. 22 when a tug owned by Sause
Bros. Towing Inc. of Oregon collided with
the oil barge it was towing, dumping
875,000 litres of bunker-C fuel.

“All of us have been very concerned
about the two oil spills in the last two
months ... which have been an extraordi-
nary coincidence,” former West Coast Oil
Ports Inquiry Commissioner Dr. Andrew
Thompson told a press conference in Van-
couver. ‘“‘But we would be wrong to see
these as isolated incidents ....”

“This (oil spill) is a tragedy of unknown
dimensions — and we feel that if we miss
this opportunity to look into the causes,
we’re simply creating the same situation
again,” warned biologist Dr. Adrienne
Peacock, the chair of the West Coast
Environmental Law Association.

Dr. Thompson and Dr. Peacock were
among several leading figures at a news
conference called to release the group’s

statement and the letter to Mulroney cal-_

ling for a public inquiry.

Biologist Dr. Adrienne Peacock (I) and UBC law professor Dr. Andrew Thompson at press conference in Vancouver
Tuesday.

With the on the platform were oceano-
grapher Silvaine Zimmerman; artist Toni
Onley; musician and »writer Bob Bossin;
and former United Church moderator the
Very Reverend Robert Smith.

Bossin said the list of sponsors of the
statement had grown to .over 170 names,
including Surrey mayor Bob Bose and
Victoria mayor Gretchin Brewin; trade
union leaders Jack Munro, Ken Georgetti
and Jack Nichol and teachers’ federation
president Elsie McMurphy; Native leaders
Saul Terry and George Watts; writers
Peter Newman and Dorothy Livesay and
numerous environmentalists, including
Dr, David Suzuki, Dr. Paul Spong and
Cliff Stainsby.

“What has united is our deep concern
for our west coast environment,” the

see FULL page 3

April 17, 1989
50°

Vol. 52, No. 14

The federal government Monday launch-
ed the first phase of what are expected to be
major cuts to the country’s 49-year-old
Unemployment Insurance program, cut-
ting the length of time benefits are available,
increasing the work time required for a
claim and funnelling UI money into re-
training schemes.

Canadian Labour Congress president
Shirley Carr called the changes “‘a punitive
and cynical manipulation of the work-
force.”

B.C. Federation of Labour president
Ken Georgetti termed them ‘a payback for
business support for the free trade deal.”

And unionists and anti-poverty activists
in this province said they would be taking
up a campaign against the changes begin-
ning this week.

The changes announced by Employment
Minister Barbara McDougal! in her posi-
tion paper Monday call for:

@ An increase in the minimum work-
force attachment for a UI from 10 weeks to
14 weeks;

® A reduction in the maximum period

Rally against UI changes and budget
April 19, 12 noon
Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre

for benefits depending on the unemploy-
ment rate;

@ An increase in the threshold unem-
ployment rate, used to calculate regional
entrance requirements, from four per cent
to six percent;

® Increased waiting periods for benefits
for those who are fired or quit their jobs,
from seven to 12 weeks and a cut in benefits
to 50 per cent of previous earnings.

The CLC was particularly critical of the
change which sets six per cent unemploy-
ment — instead of four — as the base for
calculating regional entrance requirements
for benefits. “It effectively conditions peo-
ple to accept a higher unemployment rated
as normal,” the labour central stated in its
synopsis of the proposed changes.

Four other changes, the result of chal-
lenges of existing UI regulations based on
the Charter of Rights, were also introduced.
They include new provisions for 10 weeks of
parental leave beyond maternity leave,
available to either parent; provision for
workers over 65 to receive benefits; removal
of the 15-week ‘limit on special benefits,
allowing people to “stack”’ maternity and
sickness benefits; and payment of special
benefits during a strike or lockout.

Although the parental leave provision is
one of the few changes welcomed by unio-
nists and women’s groups, it is not expected
to used to any extent because of the lack of
any provisions for such leave in provincial
labour legislation.

see NEW page 12

Operation Rescue:

shock troops of ultra-right

— page 7

pay