oat Pip Ae by A e issul nd ant llectivi 1awakl suppol sendint Quebet that tht respon becom y at th North America’s first socialist country continues to be a model for Latin America — but it needs support. — page 6 Continued pressure by Western powers to use the homeland of Labrador’s Innu has sparked a protest walk from the east coast to Ottawa. — page 3 Stein Valley festival a success, organizers say Hoop dancer performs at Stein Valley Festival, a : moved at the last minute to Tsawwassen on the holiday weekend. Despite problems caused by change from the traditional Mt. Currie site— necessitated due to a threatened blockade by local loggers — the annual festival of environmental protection and Native rights was well-attended, organizers said. POTO — KAREN DEAN Pickets up in Rupert Picket lines are up at a Prince Rupert school building project plagued by con- troversy, with the Carpenters and Lab- ourers’ unions charging that the Alberta- based construction firm has locked its members out. Paul Johnston of the Carpenters Union charged that Social Credit govern- ment policies are to blame for the mess that has surrounded the construction at Charles M. Hayes school in the northern coastal city. The unions, which won automatic certification at the job site Aug. 2 after 12 days of hearings last month before the Industrial Relations Council, want Klein Construction of Edmonton to negotiate a first contract and “get the job up and running,” Johnston said last week. Lines went up last Tuesday after com- pany officials sent workers home for the third straight day, claiming there were not enough workers to do the job. Several workers recruited from Alberta and On- tario had left town because of intimida- tion, the company claimed. The unions charge that Klein Con- struction deliberately hired outside workers sympathetic to the company after the two unions filed a polyparty application for certification with the IRC after signing up a majority of the original workforce — many of which were also from outside the province, Johnston reported. In their joint application the Carpen- ters and Labourers also sought to have declared as a prohibited organization the Canadian Iron and Steelworkers Union, run by renegade organizer Frank Nolan. Company officials attempted to coerce workers into signing with the organiza- tion, condemned throughout the labour see UNIONS page 8 Skepticism on the part of labour and Na- tive leaders has greeted the Social Credit government’s announcement that, reversing long-standing practice, it is prepared to enter into land claims negotiations. President Ken Georgetti of the B.C. Fed- eration of Labour said he remained to be convinced of Premier Bill Vander Zalm’s sincerity following a meeting of resource industry and union representatives with the premier Aug. 10. And Saul Terry, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said Vander Zalm’s con- tinued rejection of the concept of Indian title means, “there is nothing really new here in terms-of substantive policy changes on the part of the provincial government.” The B.C. branch of the Communist Party sent a letter to the premier pressing him to make a commitment to recognizing abori- ginal title and rights. “Anything less than a clear indication of such a commitment will result in heightened tension and confronta- tion,” wrote provincial committee spokes- person Frank Cox. Other groups say the issue of title is sec- ondary to beginning land claims discussions as soon as possible. But they agree that, August 20, 1990 50 cents Volume 53, No. 28 whether it is political posturing or not, the provincial government’s hand has been forced by events involving Native bands in B.C. and across the country. Ken Malloway of the B.C. Aboriginal People’s Fisheries Commission —repre- senting more than 90 bands involved in In- terior and coastal fishing — cited incidents such as the Sparrow fishing case, the Git- ksan Wet’suwet’en land claims case, and an anticipated fall provincial election. The Tin Wis Accord among Native, lab- our and environmental groups signalled a new unity among significant sectors of the public. And First Nations have recently completed a draft treaty recognizing aboriginal title and rights. The Comprehensive Framework Treaty is the product of four years of research and development by the UBCIC. To be pre- sented to the union’s annual convention in October, it calls for “inter-tribal protocol for political action” and review by all B.C. First Nations, and Nation to Nation treaty negotiations by each First Nation and the Canadian government. see SOCREDS page 2 Barricades held as army moves in on Mohawks The situation was tense in the Quebec community of Oka at press time as some 2,600 Canadian Armed Forces soldiers moved into positions around the Native bar- ricades there and at nearby Chateauguay. Increasingly violent confrontations were taking place nightly at the police barricade near the sympathy blockade on the Mercier bridge to Montreal as police were pelted with rocks, Molotov cocktails and other debris from residents. Meanwhile, talks were set to begin at Oka with the participation of observers from the International Human Rights Federation. A spokesperson from the Mohawk negotiating team expressed concern over the riots taking place in Chateauguay and said that while the vast majority of Chateauguay residents were opposed to the racist demonstrations, there are “a small core of people planning, fuelling and directing the violence.” The Mohawk nation said these included members of the Ku Klux Klan. Leaflets printed by the Klan have been passed out in the town, some by former members of the police force. In a statement the Mohawk nation said the resumption of negotiations was only the first step in what “promises to be a long and arduous process” in working towards the removal of barricades and a final settlement of outstanding issues. They said such a process was being endangered by a “small core of racists” who were out to provoke the army and police “into a violent confronta- tion with Native people, by whatever means possible.” Earlier this month the Mohawk nation vowed it would not bow to Premier Robert Bourassa’s Aug. 5 ultimatum that the Mohawks at Kanesatake retum to the bar- gaining table or expect “appropriate measures” from the Quebec government. Church and human rights organizations ap- pealed to the Quebec government not to take drastic action as the likelihood of an armed assault had never seemed greater. “The Quebec government, in an apparent attempt to discredit the Mohawks, has lied, see HUMAN page 2