Friday, June 10, 1983 Newsstand ~ price 40c Action — not another study —isneeded tO combat racism in Canada, say leaders of anti-racist movements in response to a federal parliamentary committee that will tour the country shortly. € racism issue has been studied to death — now tough laws that alize’’ racial discrimination are Necessary, according to the chairman of Toronto’s Committee for Racial Equality, us Feldhammer. And Charan Gill, president of the B.C. ganization to Fight Racism, said federal Multiculturalism minister James Fleming’s Técent $1.5 million study should lead to Concrete action right now — we don’t another probe.”’ eming’s study, carried out in several Centres across Canada including Van- COuver, painted a grim picture of thousands of immigrants and Canadian nOn-whites who lead the lives of ‘‘second- “ass citizens’? because of racism. M © committee, consisting of seven Ps from the three parties represented in © House of Commons, is to collect sub- Missions in hearings and make recommen- tions to parliament within six months. t its terms of reference are unclear. €re is no indication that the MPs will Seek a legislative measure to counter racist activities or whether the committee will opt Or more liberal recommendations that Stress simply “changes in attitude,” said Feldhammer. nits submission to the committee, CRE will argue for immediate legislation mak- a ‘discrimination’? — including the Ssemination of hate literature — a crime. © doubt, said Feldhammer, CRE will be anded the well-used adage, ‘“‘you can’t “gislate attitudes.” fi And we agree. You can’t legislate ‘at- tudes,’ but we’re primarily concerned, Not with attitudes, but with the acting out “ One’s racism,” said Feldhammer. It’s like the idea of bank robbing. You fan’t put someone in jail for thinking about robbing a bank, but you domakeita hs to actually rob a bank,”’ he explain- Gar sting legislation—such as the provin- te Civil Rights Protection Act — are Otally toothless” when it comes to Garntns acts of racism, according to Recent incidents bear out Gill’s claims. "hen members of two racist groups : buted hate literature in front of Peo- Ple’s Co-op Bookstore two weeks ago, ancouver police could only promise the & Te management that the situation would ‘Monitored”’ by a patrol car. € material disseminated by the Jobmart, the private employment agen- cy that illegally sold lists of job vacancies culled from local newspapers to unsuspec- ting jobless has gone underground in the wake of a ruling that found the agency in violation of provincial law. A sign on the door of the Jobmart Publications at 1766 West Broadway in Vancouver states the office is ‘‘closed for renovations.’’ But the agency’s phone has been disconnected, and Jobmart lawyer Gerald Martin has claimed he is unable to reach his clients. A seven-member appeal board Monday found the company guilty of contravening Section 76 of the Employment Standards Act, following a hearing last week. The board upheld an: earlier ruling by the Employment Standards Branch of the pro- vincial ministry of labor that Jobmart’s charging of a $50 fee for its lists was illegal. The branch has been after Jobmart to refund the $50, considered under the Act as “‘wages owing,’’ and had succeeded in get- ting reimbursements for 26 people who complained to the branch. The board rul- ing also meant that Jobmart had to come into ‘‘compliance’’ with the Act and cease charging the fee. Branch deputy director Lynn Turner said the branch will also be attempting pro- cure Jobmart’s list of customers, to ensure everyone receives refunds, ‘‘but if they’ve left the province, that poses some pro- blems.”’ Jobmart proprietor Trevor Maddern has always maintained a low profile, ever since the days of the Vancouver housing crisis when he and others ran Canadian Homelocators, one of several rental agen- cies which charged a fee to people desperate for accommodation. Maddern failed to show up at last week’s appeal hearing, leaving his lawyer to argue the case. The lawyer, Gerald Martin, later withdrew, citing ‘‘lack of competent in- structions.’” Jobmart, which masqueraded as a publishing company during its brief stay in Vancouver, became the target of weekly demonstrations by the Vancouver and District Labor Council’s unemployed ac- tion committee. ‘Refuse-cruise’ drive set In a rally that linked unemployment with the arms race, 700 demonstrators from around Ontario demanded jobs on the steps of the provincial legislature May 28. The jobless heard speeches from United Steelworkers District 6 director Dave Patterson and Ontario Federation of Labor treasurer Terry Meagher, who stressed the importance of unity between trade unions and the unemployed. Speakers also called for the conversion of military to job-intensive civilian production. (See page 3.) TRIBUNE PHOTO—MIKE PHILLIPS Declaring that Canadians face ‘‘a summer of decision,”’ the executive of End the Arms Race is marshalling its forces for a major five-month campaign to counter the planned testing of the cruise missiles in Canada. ““Will we go along with the testing of the U.S. cruise missiles . . . or will we muster the political will to say NO,”’ the executive asks, in acircular to its members outlining a three- stage campaign involving public displays, a door-to-door canvas and at least two major demonstrations. An agreement allowing the U.S. military to test air-launched cruise missiles over nor- thern B.C. and Alberta is expected to be signed by the Canadian and U.S. govern- ments sometime this summer, EAR states. In response, the organization which has drawn more than 140,000 people to gigantic peace marches through Vancouver streets in 1982 and 1983 plans a short-notice demonstration to follow as closely as possi- ble the signing of the agreement. It would take place at noon on the first Saturday after the signing, unless the agree- ment was ratified on a Friday. In that case, the demonstration would take place one week from the following Saturday. ‘There is danger that after the signing the public and media will perceive the cruise testing as fait accompli, and that active public opposition to the tests has failed,’’ the organization warns its members. But, EAR notes, ‘‘the signing of agreements to station cruise missiles in Bri- tain and West Germany has intensified, rather than diminished opposition to the deployment in both those countries. Similar- ly, we should use the Canadian signing as an opportunity to step up our campaign.” Throughout the summer months EAR plans a “‘public information” campaign which includes booths at large gatherings such as the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, the Pacific National Exhibition, parks and ferry lineups. Speakers will be available for . public meetings and media interviews in what the EAR executive calls the ‘“‘first stage’’ of part two of the Refuse the Cruise campaign. The second stage is a door-to-door canvas in which citizens will be asked to sign a ‘‘con- stituency petition’? demanding their MP to oppose cruise testing. The kick-off will be a full page ad in the Vancouver Sun in early September explaining the dangers of the first-strike weapon and asking for volunteers and contributions. The ad and canvas will also promote the . third stage, a mass rally on Saturday, Oct. See GROUPS page 2 22. On that day.demonstrations will be held in Europe, the United States and several Canadian cities as part of an international day of protest against nuclear weapons in Europe.