AA na as ‘ler itl

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Most Canadians would, I am sure, like
to see the governments of Canada, both
federal and provincial, arrive at a fair set-
tlement of Native land claims. .What the
Native peoples need and want is a viable
land resource base — so they can become
economically self-sufficient — recognition
of their right to self government, the main-
tenance of their culture, a way of life of
their own choosing and equality in Cana-
dian society. :

But such a settlement is not happening.
After 13 years of negotiations and the expen-
diture of over $100 million, only three land
claim agreements have been made, all of
them unsatisfactory to the Native peoples.
What’s the stumbling block?

The main reason land claims have not
been settled is the opposition of the corpo-
rate sector and the subservience of
governments to that sector. The oil, min-
ing and forestry corporations do not want
the Native peoples to have control over the
resources on land claimed by them. The
big corporations want to maintain their
monopoly on the exploitation of publicly-
owned resources for their own private

rofit.

Harry
Rankin

The Tory government in Ottawa has
gone right along with this approach. It has
demanded the extinguishment of Native
land claims in return for cash settlements.
Unable to achieve this, it has followed a
policy of endless negotiations in the hope
that the Native peoples sooner or later will
cave in.

Another game that Ottawa is playing is
the creation of a business class among the
Native peoples, a class that it hopes will
support government and corporate policy
in return for minor financial concessions.

An added stumbling block to settling
land claims is the attitude of B.C.’s Socred
government. In B.C., with a few excep-
tions, treaties were never made with the
Native peoples. The lands of Native Indi-
ans were simply seized and the Indians
interned on reservations. Under Canada’s
constitution the provinces have control
over land and resources and it seems
unlikely that settlement of Native Indian
land claims can be made without their
consent.

The position of the Socred government
is one of adamant and hostile opposition
to any settlement of land claims. Its rea-
sons are the same as those of Ottawa —
the big corporations in B.C. that exploit
our natural resources want to keep a
monopoly on these resources for them-
selves and not allow the Native peoples to
share in their exploitation.

Socreds fostering racism
in blocking land claims

To justify their position, Social Credit
government representatives are coming
out with all sorts of false and malicious
slanders. They are charging that settle-
ment of land claims will mean giving all or
most of B.C. back to the Indians, that
settlements will cost B.C. untold millions
of dollars and cause tax increases, that
forestry workers, fishermen and miners
will lose their jobs.

Attorney-General Brian Smith, accord-
ing to the Globe and Mail (Dec. 3, 1985),
maintains that settlement of native land
claims would cause immediate chaos in
B.C. property holdings, that Native
peoples would hold rights to property
superior to those of non-Natives and that
the B.C. government would lose its right
to govern the province.

These claims are bad not only because
they are untrue. Even worse is the fact that
regardless of their intent, they will have the
effect of fostering racist attitudes against
the Native peoples. People who come out
with such false charges are playing a dan-
gerous game.

What makes it even worse is that Social
Credit has apparently decided to make
this an election issue, seeing a divided
population as a means of securing more
votes for itself, based on racial hostility.

As I said before, all the Native Indian
peoples are asking is to have a viable eco-
nomic base, to become self-sufficient, to
break out of the poverty and welfare syn-
drome, to run their own affairs. To main-
tain their culture, to live their own way of
life, and to be equal citizens. None of these
aims conflict with those of Canadian
society. They only conflict with the greed
of the corporate sector.

In their demands for negotiated settle-
ments, rather than settlements imposed by
legislation or by the courts, the Native
peoples deserve the full support of the
trade union movement and all fair minded
people. Correction of the historic injustice
against the Natives of Canada committed
by the European colonizers in early Cana-
dian history, and continued by greedy bus-
iness interests since, must be made without
any further delay.

The federal Tory government and the
B.C. Social Credit government must not
be allowed any longer to discredit the
good name of Canada either at home or
abroad. Canadians are a fair-minded
people and we want our government to
reflect our sense of fair play in its dealing
with Native land claims.

Housing and community activists have
warned that a further 500 evictions will

likely occur before the end of Expo 86 this

October, creating a housing crisis dwarfing
even that of the critical shortage in 1980.

The continuing spiral of Expo-related
evictions — which in Vancouver’s Down-
town Eastside alone has seen more than 500
hotel and rooming house residents thrown
out of their room for the tourist
trade — underscores the critical lack of
social housing and
other available accom-
modation in British
Columbia.

That situation is
expected to worsen
following the recent
agreement transfer-
ring social housing
from the federal to
B.C.’s Social Credit
government. That
agreement has been
condemned by housing and community
groups as leading the way to full scale pri-
vatization of public housing.

The two issues are related because Socred
housing minister Jack Kempf’s controver-
sial inquiry into the province’s co-op hous-
ing projects came on the heels of demands
by the Downtown Eastside Residents Asso-
ciation and Vancouver city council for legis-
lation to stem Expo hotel evictions. That
inquiry bolstered the Socreds’ privatization
aims by tabling an interim report two weeks
ago calling for an end to co-op and social
housing subsidies for all income earners but
the most needy.

Housing and tenants groups, organized
into the B.C. Housing Coalition, have
warned that such a regulation would mean
the re-creation of social failures such as the
low-income housing ghettos of the 60s and
early 70s. And, they say, the move will mean
private landlords will jack up their rents to
cash in on the increased rent subsidies.

Meanwhile, community and tenant
organizations have been swamped with
eviction cases relating directly to the world

DAVID LANE

: exposition which opens its doors May 2.

At a press conference April 28, Linda
Mead of the Red Door rental agency, Jim
Green of DERA and David Lane of the
Tenants Rights Action Centre told repor-
ters that vacancies in Vancouver and the
surrounding municipalities have dropped to
near zero.

Aside from the evictions in the Down-
town Eastside — whose mainly hotel-
dwelling residents are not covered by the
Residential Tenancy Act — Vancouver res-
idents are being evicted by landlords hoping
to rent everything from basement suites to
apartment buildings for the Expo trade,
they said.

Mead, who reported Red Door had that

_ day 643 applications for apartments and

only 62 vacancies, said that at least 100 of
those cases were related to Expo.

Lane said the action centre has found a
more than 70 per cent drop in available
accommodations during the past year, and

Rent housing crisis)
is worst since 1980

reported that landlords of more thal }
apartment buildings have confirm
evictions are because of Expo.

He said the organizations were gollé
ask the city to “immediately” take step
crack down on landlords evicting for?)
by enforcing zoning bylaws prohibit
hotels in residential areas.

Lane said the city can also revoke q
business licences of Expo rental ag .
who were “knocking on every door *
ing tourist accommodation.

4

~ “We're demanding immediate 4M
from the provincial government, becal 4
was their inaction that caused the probs f,

We're demanding again immediate I
tion to stop the evictions,” he said.

“Jack Kempf said last week that thee
enough housing to cover the crisis. #79)
what we’ve identified today, there’s 255 iM
700 units needed immediately to preve®
crisis, and we’re asking the minister (F,
vide a list of the vacancies that he sayS® é |
If he can’t provide that list, we cal q
assume that he’s lying.”

Dic
Tat
Green said the city would also be 4 id ee
to support a DERA-sponsored boy Mi
hotels evicting tenants for Expo. AM™® ja
predicted many Expo tourists and a
agencies would shun the hotels one Ur
learned of the evictions. | ba
“We think that by the time Expo is? Im
there will be at least 500 evictions,” 9" 4
said. | ay
Green also played down hopes thi 7
Residential Tenancy Branch arbiti?’, ay
decision last week that a Victoria r00” jy
house tenant had tenancy status Wy
apply across the board to Downtow8 ™
side Residents. i

“We've approached about 50 people?
ing them to take this course and have" th
selves declared tenants. We've not !° A oe
one person willing to do that, becaus i) ©
they’re immediately identified by the!”
lord as someone who’s fighting the §
tions, and no one’s willing to go throug!
harrassment.

PO

“That’s why the answer is not the afte
dential Tenancy Branch, but legislat!? Uo
stop the evictions,” he said. |

C.R.A.B.

Create a Real Available Beal)
@ No 1,070 car Exp? |
parking lot I,

@ No dangerous carg?
to Campbell Avenue
Expo
Phone: 321-9365 (8 to 11 a.tt

2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, APRIL 30, 1986

(Commissioner, Vancouver Parks Board)

Dear brothers and sisters,
Have a very enjoyable May Day!

— a memorable and historic event in
working people's lives.

Sue Harris

MAY DAY GREETINGS

— in solidarity with Vancouver’s working people
for peace, jobs and a better city for everyone.

2066 Parker Street, Vancouver, B.C. VSL 2L5

254-418) |

___ COPE