‘istic? 4
their hy

| We had
have he

2 ib is it that every time some proposal is made that would
a) pa the stranglehold of the U.S. monopolies on Canada, we are
ated to lectures about not becoming anti-American and national-
Nd yet the well-heeled people who do the lecturing tell us
arts bleed for Canada . . .
1 2sked our next-door neighbor, Bill Plugg, about it, but first
4n argument. Bill insisted the persons concerned did not -
| ang arts, only cash registers, and moreover they didn’t bleed—
ae if they did, he claimed, it wasn’t blood.
it Was

interrupted when he started on a chemical analysis of what

to get pose fake Canadian patriots were exuding, and asked him
“# e own to the gist of the matter.

ae jist coming to it,” he punned, “and all I was going to

on 's that what they’re dribbling is a mixture of poison and pol-

and nf the think-box for the people, oil to Nixon’s war machine,

‘4m to the billionaires.”

ais Only a generalization,” we butted in again. “What about
“The wt’ question of nationalism and anti-Americanism?”
Deda) Concrete is in the heads of the guys that swallow and go
ne that kind of guff,” he retorted belligerently, “and you can
Peated tr MacDonald I said so—the Donald MacDonald who re-

Since
ince there’s three of them.”

at line at the union convention up in Edmonton, I, mean,

B
nr Gok: Bill, how about getting down to cases on that argu-
Don't ¢..+ Canadians are becoming nationalistic and anti-American?

n't :
It to to wriggle out of it.”

Was 4 while to get him cooled down over the suggestion that
| It  Builty of avoiding the guts of the subject, and then he laid

n &

F

the line far us,

st, when I stand up for Canada, I also stand against the Cana-

5

7, Abitalists who. are sucking the blood out of our country and

| Sel]
ne nt It down the river. If that’s being nationalistic, well! ... I

we! Want
feybaps

my Country to be for our people, so how can I let the U.S.
take it over? As for anti-Americanism, well, the gang

ht The American workers themselves, black and white,
ng it with all their might, so I’m in that battle together

‘| hi ening the United States is the most anti-American bunch”
¥
1

i With:
| fehting” Am

get the world.

BC erican buddies. Yes, and I’m with my buddies who are
6 Canadian bankers in Trinidad, and all my fellow-workers

i Img, Onalistic? Anti-American? Nuts, that’s good international-
800d Canadian patriotism. And plain common sense.”
* * *

be | :
| That, he qvhelmed by.a TV commercial for sex-appeal tooth paste
| ss man tims, he missed the brand name, Joe Wallace neverthe-

e

~~ '88€d to pen the following comment:
. -.. She’s only five. feet level
She’s that around the waist
« She hasn’t got good looks
at And she doesn’t show good taste

But who in hell

Can break the spell

Of her sex-appeal tooth paste?

SS

THE SPIRIT OF THE FACTORIES

{ Qt
of Pour ¢ © and! move

r
fag BH ae Crucible
ihe 3 Pc crucible
he P°Son the air

e
@ | %¥e,,P0int that

tly entire work area.
Y mat 'N the Daily Star
” attics and | read
Titer, 5. About Toronto
Y¥ Dr. Morton Shulman.
Sq “ escribed Toronto
WM yecn city
How Snt ©Nn to |
Toronte relate
f t}
Stourant
a World
e ;
Praigeq ulman S own words

Contained
truly great
s

q fe]
‘f wrvention to at their
® sett! had delayed
30 ect t € minimum wage
. "hour until October

a
0
Qoiy ty Work place

© Poisonous fumes

le

Song of the Crucible

Of the lead while we ponder

And weigh the thoughts

Of men of science.

In Dr, Shulman’s “‘bordello-like”

Restaurant there are no lead
fumes.

There is instead the poison

Of the sweat-shop wage;

There are only the fumes of

- A corruption that eats its way

Into the mind like the poisonous
Fumes of the lead.

My mate and. ! have decided
We would rather take

Our chances with the lead
Fumes than with the
“Bordello-like atmosphere”
Of Dr. Shulman’s favorite
Restaurant.

My mate and | have decided
That what men of science
Think in “bordello-like”’

_ Atmosphere requires

The cleansing heat of the
Crucible to cauterize

Their bordello-like indifference
To the sweat-shop wages

Of the waitresses

Who Dr, Shulman says

He enjoys watching

As they serve him his meals.
My mate and | are certain

As we leave the factory

At the beginning of dawn
That workers in Tokyo, London,
Paris, and New York would
Also agree with this

Modest opinion, :
Which we choose to call

The song of the crucible.
By Jefferson Hurley.

Native Peoples of Canada

‘New’ policy is still genocide

National Identity or Cultural
Genocide? A Reply to Ottawa’s
New Indian Policy. By Bea
Swankey. 35 cents. Progress
Books, 487 Adelaide St., West,
Toronto, or your local book-
store.

_ That poverty is widespread in
Canada is well-established. At
least one in five Canadians lives
in poverty. The most poverty
stricken are Canada’s Native
Peoples.

Ben Swankey, who has writ-
ten and lectured extensively on
Canada’s native peoples, says in
his latest work National Iden-
tity or Cultural Genocide? “Most
Canadians know that the condi-
tions of the Indian people are
bad. But many don’t know just
how bad they are. Here are the
facts. They may shock you.”

Swankey goes on to list the
statistics of the most dreadful
kind of the lowest standard of
living in Canada, a living stand-
ard that gives Indians and Metis
an annual income lower than
that received by some of the
peoples in countries in receipt
of special United Nations aid.
It is a standard of living that
gives the Indian people, “both
on and off the reserve,” the
worst housing in Canada. It is

-a standard of living that kills

the Indian people, whose life
expectancy is around 33 years,
compared to the over 60 years
for all of Canada.

“In the past three years. the
death rate for Indian women
has gone up 8%, while’ that of
Indian males has risen by 6%,”
says Swankey. .

In confirmation of Swankey’s
indictment of the capitalist sys-
tem, which creates poverty, and
which uses chauvinism and ra-
cism as a means of making pro-
fits, are some of the briefs pre-
sented to the Senate hearings
on poverty.

Destroy People

Stanley Daniels, president of
the Metis Association of Alber-
ta, said, “Most communities feel
that government _representa-
tives, be they civil servant or
politician, are condescending
and that the programs that they
have implemented in the past in
fact destroys people. Whites
are viewed with suspicion.

“The Welfare services to Na-
tives is a very disturbing situa-
tion! In every area there are
high numbers of people on wel-
fare. In one area it was as high
as 80% for eight months of the
year. There is a discrepancy in
application of welfare rates
from one region to another. The
welfare payment scale barely
allows a person to subsist. The
Metis is kept below the recog-
nized poverty line of $3,000.
The people are aware that this
system is degrading. The annu-
al average income on a provin-
cial basis is not over $2,000. In
some areas the average is as
low as $600 per year. In some
areas people have to travel
great distances in order to ob-
tafn welfare assistance. The as-
sessment of needs by welfare
officers is frequently unjust.
Most welfare representatives
are perceived as being very au-
thoritarian, disrespectful of peo-
ple and very indiscreet.

“Nothing goes further to keep

the poor down than the discri-

minatory attitudes and practices
of the white dominant society.
Such is encountered throughout
the Province. White pupils and

ra

surprising numbers of White
teachers are intolerant of Native
pupils. Whites will not give cre-
dit to Natives; if they do, atro-
cious rates are charged. Church-
es would just as soon not have
Native members! Nowhere is

help and encouragement given ‘

to bridge and cultural gap.
Agencies such as Manpower,
Forest and Wildlife and Welfare
do discriminate against wel-
fare,”

Menial Jobs

Dr. Howard Adams, president
of the Metis Society of Sas-
katchewan, had this to say to
the Senate Poverty hearing:

“In all areas of employment

we are given the menial and ~

low-paying jobs, which the
whites do not want, such as
picking roots, stones, beets and
fighting forest fires. In Saskat-
chewan the rate of pay for fire-
fighting is $6.50 for a day, which

averages 12 hours. According to .
, the- Indians and Metis there ‘are

no whites fighting fires except
in supervisory. positions.

“Beet-picking in southern
Alberta is the most degrading
and exploited employment situ-
ation in Canada. This is equiv-
alent to ‘slave labor’ and the
worst form of apartheidism.

“In conjunction with the
strict economic exploitation, the
job situation is based on the
white supremacy belief that the
Metis are physically and men-
tally capable of only menial,
unskilled and laboring jobs.

“On the basis of A. K. Davis’
studies, the per capita annual
income (of Metis, in northern
Saskatchewan) works out to be

_$420. This is comparable to the

countries of Africa, with an an-
nual income of $366; Asia with
$305, and Latin America with

$835.
School Statistics

The: brief the Department of
Indian Affairs presented to the
Senate Committee investigating
poverty, brings forward addi-
tional statistical proof of the
prevailing conditions of poverty
among Canada’s Native peoples.

Although: the Indian popula-
tion has increased, faster than
any other strata, only 691 In-
dian children were enrolled in
grade 12, and only 33 in grade
13, in 1968. On the other hand,
those enrolled in professional
and vocational school training,
have risen from 400 in 1959/60
to 11,363 in 1967/68.

Government agencies have
only placed 2,760 Indians in re-

gular employment, and only
9,301 in short-term employment.
‘Housing still remains a na-
tional disgrace, although the
government has built some
quantity housing, rather than
“good” housing.

Unity Essential

Ben Swankey ends his book-
let by quoting the position
taken by the Communist
of Canada as a solution for the
problem. The Communist Party
calls for unity of the white and
Indian workers in defense of
their needs as a class.

The rising militancy of Cana-
da’s Native Peoples is reflected
in the words of Stanley Daniels
who told the Senate Committee:

“Despite discouraging and ap-
palling economic conditions, .
there does prevail a strong feel-
ing at the local leadership level
that we are capable of
our own affairs. However, we
do need help to get started.”

There’s the challenge before
Canada’s labor movement which,
in the interests of all workers
and of social progress, should
enter the struggle for full social
and economic equality, and na-
tional identity for Canada’s na-
tive peoples. (WB)

Academy of Arts
in East Germany

BERLIN — The German De-
mocratic Republic’s Academy of
Arts has just celebrated its 20th
foundation anniversary with a
cultural program. The Academy
numbers 72 members and 20 &S-
sociate members in the sections
of theatre, ‘plastic art, literature
and music. 62 artists of other
countries are correspo:
members of the Academy.

When the Academ
founded in 1950, anti-fascist re-
presentatives of German culture

were appointed first members; .

they included the writers Bertolt
Brecht, Anna Seghers: and Ar-
nold Zweig, and the composer
Hans Eisler. The late Heinrich
Mann, who during the nazi
period left Germany, had con-
sented to be the Academy’s first
oe He died, however, in
e.U.S.A. before returni
the G.D.R. tems

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1970—Page 9