A mem TT ia BRITISH COLUMBIA The mayors of Seattle and Tashkent have called on their national govern- - ments to “exercise their greatest efforts” to ensure that the Geneva peace talks are successful. In a mutual declaration following a ceremony in Seattle Oct. 4, Mayors Cha- rles Royer and Shukurulla Mirsayidov pledged the sister cities’ backing for the settling differences.” Sponsored by the city of Seattle and the Seattle-Tashkent Sister City Com- mittee, the celebration included a U.S. film on relations between the citizens of the American and Soviet cities, and per- formances by artists from the Soviet Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan. Some 2,300 Seattle citizens attended the celebration, which included a tribute to the late Samantha Smith, the 12-year old American child who visited the Soviet Union two years ago at the invita- tion of then Soviet premier Yuri Vv. “It was one of the finest ceremonies marking the effort to achieve disarma- ment and detente I’ve ever seen,” said Vancouver Ald. Bruce Yorke, who attended the event at the Seattle mayor’s upcoming talks and rejected “the use of space and atomic weapons as a means of Seattle, Tashkent mayors demand success at Geneva invitation. He praised Royer for his “positive, constructive” speech at the event. The mayors declared, “in the name of their citizens,” their “deep concern” about continued nuclear arms buildup and cited as the main task of all people the “prohibition of production and use of all types of weapons of mass annihila- tion and to advocate peace in the whole world. “As sister cities, we reject the use of space and atomic weapons as a means of settling differences and consider that the mere existence of nuclear weapons is a serious threat to the future of mankind,” the declaration stated. “We call on all United States and Soviet citizens to unite to strengthen peace, reverse the arms race and dimin- ish nuclear weapon stockpiles, and to direct their efforts toward the improve- ment of the international climate on the eve of the summit conference in Geneva. “We believe that the bright future of mankind is in our hands and we shall devote all our strength to building a world where conflict between nations is resolved without the mass violence of © war,” the mayors declared. 2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 9, 1985 City needs gov't aid for Native services Native Indians are coming to Vancouver in continually growing numbers. They are concentrated in the slum areas of the city and their living conditions reflect this. They’re at the bottom of the economic ladder. City council must play a greater role in correcting this situation. This is the gist of a report given to council by our special committee on race relations. The picture is not a pretty one. No accurate count is kept of the number of Native Indians in Vancouver. Estimates vary from 6,500 to 45,000. Our committee . estimates that a reasonable figure would be at least 15,000. Natives are concentrated in the down- town core, Strathcona, Grandview- Wood- lands, Hastings Sunrise and Mount Pleasant. Although. only five per cent of B.C.’s population is Native, they account for 15.1 per cent of admissions to correctional insti- tutions. Infant mortality for Natives is four times that of non-Natives. Death rates are two to four times the national average. Suicides account for 35 per cent of accidental deaths in the 15-24 age group. Between 50 to 60 per cent of Native illnesses are alcohol-related. _ The number of Native students who complete Grade 12 is only one-quarter of the national rate. Between 53 to 75 per cent of Native Indi- ans are unemployed, living on social assist- ance that is far below the poverty line. This is what has happened to the original settlers of Canada — their lands were seized and their culture and way of life was destroyed by the colonizers. Urban Native Indians are in a particu- larly bad situation. The department of Harry Rankin Indian affairs only accepts responsibility for those on reserves. The province only receives federal funding for the education of Status (registered) Natives. The city receives no special funding for Native Indian programs. In other words, the two senior levels of government don’t seem to give much of a damn as to what happens to urban Indians, those who have left the reserves. The city has played a supportive role by funding Native Indian organizations such as the Vancouver Indian Centre. The city also funds organizations which have a large Native clientele, such as the Carnegie Cen- tre, Crabtree Corner, Downtown Eastside Health Clinic, Eastside Womens’ Centre, Downtown Eastside Youth Advisory Society, and Ray-Cam centre services. But all of the city’s efforts, it was reported to council, “have not had any tangible results in decreasing the problems faced by Vancouver Native population.” What can we do about it? Our race relations committee proposes that council set up a “special urban Native committee” composed of two aldermen, six Native representatives and two members of the race relations committee. It will advise council. Native participation in decision- making and community input would be a prime objective. The terms of reference of this special urban Native committee include “attempt- ing to improve their conditions in the areas of employment opportunities, housing, health, education and recreation.” It would conduct a review of the pro- grams and services offered by the city of Vancouver and develop initiatives to “increase the participation of Native Indian” residents in city programs,” and “increase the availability of city programs to Native Indian residents.” 4 It would review areas of concern to Natives — even those not necessarily withit the jurisdiction of the city — including health, education, training and employ- ment, economic development, community planning, culture, communication, recrea- tion and leisure. | All of these initiatives would, I think, bea step in the right direction. But I think we must also realize that the primary responsi bility for the plight of urban Natives restS with senior governments. 4 The government in Ottawa, that has bi lions to bail out banks that go broke, an the provincial government, which gives mi lions to help out its grape-grower friends in the Okanagan, surely can’t claim they haven’t the money to take care of Canada$” urban Natives. , Power discount boosts Lornex Talk about handouts to big busi- ness. A week ago, news reports of the shareholders meeting of Lornex Min- ing Corporation stated that the com- pany had raised its profit to $5.26 million for the first quarter of 1985, a dramatic increase over the same period in 1984 when the company posted a loss. But just a few days later, the pro- vincial Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources announced that Lornex Mining Corporation would be the first company to receive con- cessions on the rates it pays for power to B.C. Hydro. Under the new deal, the ministry said, the company will get a 25 per cent-cut in its hydro rates for one year. The saving will reportedly enable Lornex to pump more water at its copper-molybdenum processing facil- ity at Logan Lake and thus process lower grade ore that would normally be dumped as waste. In short, the company will obtain a — greater return of copper and molyb- denum from its ore body — and thus a greater profit — while the province, through B.C. Hydro, pays for the extra costs. According to the ministry, the deal is one of a number expected as part of a new arrangement whereby B.C. Hydro — which has a power surplus — will discount power to companies “to stimulate industrial activity.” But if Lornex is any indication, the result won’t be any increase in indus- | trial activity or jobs. The only result may be a more efficient use of the ore — which is likely to cease the moment the electricity discount runs out in a year. The Lornex deal highlights the purpose of the B.C. Hydro discount legislation: to bolster the profits of resource companies on the pretext of “stimulating industrial activity.” It also suggests that Premier Bill Bennett, in pressing ahead with con- struction of the controversial Site C dam, has in mind not.only selling cheap, below-construction cost powet to the U.S., but also providing hand- outs to corporations in the form of i a EET et 2 EISELE discounted hydroelectric power.