Editorial

_ Cadieux should listen

Nowhere does the racist nature of this system and the callous indifference of
governments show more clearly and consistently than in Canada’s treatment of

Aboriginal peoples.

Again and again, with seemingly no understanding whatever of the enormity
of the historical crime committed against Native peoples, federal and provincial
governments continue to add insult to injury, refusing to recognize not only the
just demands of Native peoples, but the urgency of these demands.

The latest obscenity in this dismal list of obscenities came April 1, when a
particularly vicious new Tory federal government, with only 11 days notice to
students, unilaterally imposed new post-secondary education assistance (E-12)
guidelines — amounting to financial cuts and a refusal to fulfill aboriginal and
treaty rights obligations to First Nations.

The response by Native peoples has been sharp and dramatic.

At this writing, four students are maintaining a hunger strike in Ottawa to
bring focus on the injustice and betrayal being perpetrated by Mulroney’s

Tories. From across the country, Native students have gathered on Parliament |

Hill for two demonstrations against the E-12 guidelines.

This week, native students and supporters occupied government premises in
several cities, including Vancouver and Toronto. ““We’ve come here to ask
questions about policies that affect our lives and our future,” Councillor Steve
Williams of Six Nations told reporters in Toronto. In Winnipeg, over 100
people have been arrested for sit-ins at the Indian Affairs department office.

And still, encased in a cocoon of arrogance and ignorance, Mulroney’s
Indian Affairs minister Pierre Cadieux refuses to talk with the Native people
about their concerns. Full-page ads, countless letters and growing media cover-
age seem unable to penetrate the Tory caucus or affect Tory MPs.

But they should pay attention.

Solutions are needed today. Institutional and governmental racism must

stop.
A new generation of Native people is setting another agenda, one of struggle
and determination. (Currently 75 per cent of Native people are under the age of

25 as compared to 30 per cent for the whole Canadian population).
“This could be the last generation of leaders to sit down at the table and
negotiate a peaceful settlement to long-standing issues,”’ Chief George Erasmus

told Canadians last June.
It’s time to listen.

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FIRIBUNE |

EDITOR
Sean Griffin

ASSISTANT EDITOR
Dan Keeton

BUSINESS & CIRCULATION MANAGER
Mike Proniuk

GRAPHICS
Angela Kenyon

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prc relations consultants were trip-
ping all over themselves to point out
that it was just an unfortunate choice of
words when William Stevens, president of
Exxon’s U.S. operations, told reporters
during a visit to Valdez, Alaska that the oil
multinational would “profit” from its
experience in the Valdezoil spill. But if the
use of words was a slip, it was a Freudian
one — because that is just what is happen-
ing.

According to most business analysts —
and the April 9 issue of the Washington
Post quotes several — Exxon’s cost for
the spill clean-up (which it began tenta-
tively and late, at that) will amount to
some $100 million. That, coupled with
compensation for those affected by the
spill and subsequent legal costs for dam-
age suits is expected to push the total cost
to around $500 million.

Considering that Exxon made $5.3 bil-
lion in profits last year, that’s not likely to
have much effect on the oil giant’s bottom
line. In fact, we calculate that it’s just a bit
more than the amount the company saved
when the oil industry successfully lobbied
in 1980 for the repeal of the legislation
which required double bottoms for oil
tankers. With that law off the books,
Exxon was able to save $11 million on
each tanker — and it has some 40 in all.

But the company won’t have to dip into
the profits much, anyway. The cost of the
spill clean-up is tax-deductible, putting the
cost on to U.S. taxpayers. And a contin-
gency fund, which was set up at the
instructions of the U.S. Congress when the
pipeline was completed and is now worth

People and Issues

an estimated $300 million, will also be
available to cover legal and other costs. As

. Alvin Silber, an analyst for the New York
- brokerage firm of Brean Murray Foster

Securities Inc,, put it: “It doesn’t appear to
be something that would have a very sig-
nificant financial impact on Exxon.”

That’s an understatement — especially
when you consider what has happened to
oil prices over the last few weeks. Imme-
diately after the Valdez spill, according to
the Financial Post, oil prices “rose to a
19-month high.” On the New York Mer-
cantile Exchange, that high amounted to
$20.74 U.S. a barrel, the highest price since
August, 1987.

The price dipped slightly once the flow
through the Alyeska pipeline resumed, but
since that time, the price has moved up
again. It was listed on the NYME April 18
at $21.48 U.S. a barrel, well above even the
previous high. And already service sta-

tions in the U.S. have hiked their prices by .

eights cents a U.S. gallon — pumping
more money out of consumers’ pockets
and into Exxon’s coffers.

What it demonstrates in graphic terms
is the enormously high price that is paid, in
environmental terms and in taxpayers’
dollars when the market is the only law
and corporations are allowed to set their
own rules, unimpeded by environmental
and other regulations. And it demon-

strates that the Canadian government can
no longer delay in calling a full inquiry

‘into the transportation of oil down this

coast.
* * *

nce again, for those who are up to

boogying the night away, there’s a
worthwhile outlet for your talent and
energy in the third annual Give Peace a
Dance marathon, set for May 13 in the
Plaza of Nations on the old Expo site in
Vancouver. It’s sponsored by the Pacific
Peace Umbrella Society.

This year, participants will be dancing
in support of International Defence and Aid
in South Africa, the international organiza-
tion which raises funds for legal and finan-
cial assistance for the victims of apartheid.
A number of African bands will be on the
evening’s program, including Jambo’s
Express from Nigeria and Svinurai from
Zimbabwe, along with local artists Holly
Arntzen, Bim, the Powder Blues Band and
Skaboom.

Dancing is from 4 p.m. till midnight
and tickets are available at Ticketmaster
outlets as well as Black Swan Records,
Octopus Books East and Zulu Records
($12.50 till May 11; $15 after May 12).
Registration details are available from
732-GPAD.

Iso on the list of upcoming events, we

have a note that the South Africa-
Namibia Democratic Action Committee is
meeting to discuss the latest developments
in Namibia, the former illegally held col-
ony from which South Africa is supposed
to withdraw under a recent accord. That
accord has been placed in danger with
South African troops attacking civilians
and members of the popular liberation
group, the South West African People’s
Organization (SWAPO).

The meeting, open to the public, will
also focus on raising funds for SWAPO’s
campaign in the Namibian elections,
scheduled for Nov. 1. It’s at the B.C.
Teachers Federation building, 2235 Bur-
rard St., Vancouver, in the basement, and
begins at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 26.

* * *

Ithough she had once been a frequent

visitor to the Tribune’s offices in past
years, we had not seen long-time suppor-
ter Jenny Shouldice for some time. So it
with some sadness that we learned only
this week that she had passed away at her
home Feb. 15. :

An immigrant from her native Finland,
she was a familiar figure among the Fin-
nish miners on Vancouver Island in the
early years when she came here with her
husband. She was also active in the Com-
munist Party organization in both
Nanaimo and Ladysmith.

A supporter of the Tribune of long
standing, she continued that support after
moving to Vancouver, often stopping by
the office on a monthly basis to make a
donation to the paper.

4 + Pacific Tribune, April 24, 1989