BRITISH COLUMBIA —— Uranium hazards cited as moratorium lifted Continued from page 1 tific evidence confirms that very low lev- els of radiation from uranium mines are resulting in an epidemic of lung cancer among miners,” she said. Walker said that epidemic is still going on among Saskatchewan and Ontario uranium miners. She denounced the concept of “accep- table risk . . . that starts with the assump- tion that the mines must be economic for the companies...and that death and sick- ness is an acceptable part of a miner’s job.” Walker said the Bates Inquiry exposed the “abysmal record” of the federal Atomic Energy Commission and the province’s mining regulations in protect- ing miners’ health and safety. Dave Garrick of the environmental group, Earth Embassy, said the former Bill Bennett government put a lid on the Bates hearings when it imposed the seven-year moratorium, thereby saving the uranium industry from “indictable” evidence. That charge was echoed by others, who noted witnesses from, Can- ada and the United States were prepared to testify on birth defects and other environmental .damage done by the industry. Rob Rainer, a researcher for the Society Promoting Environmental Con- servation (SPEC), said even uranium exploration causes environmental haz- ards, by releasing radon gas into the atmosphere and water. Waste from uranium mining also produces radium and thorium, decaying materials which contaminate the ground and the atmosphere for “hundreds of thousands of years” and which mining companies never attempt to store prop- erly, he said. “The cost of separating those products from the waste is prohibitive, and the industry does not want to have to go through that process,” he added. “*At the very least, there should be the reinstatement of some form of ‘public inquiry,” Rainer said. Lack of a public inquiry or royal commission following the lifting of the moratorium has made the provincial government the key target of the anti- uranium mining demonstrations. Rainer noted, however, that in 1980 some 30 companies were involved in uranium exploration, “and we can’t exempt these guys from our criticism.” Lois Boyce of the United Church of Canada’s Division of Mission noted her church sat through “five months of tech- nical hearings (on the Bates Commis- sion) in a sincere effort to understand the position of government and industry. “We think then that it’s totally unfair that the government and _ industry weren’t prepared to sit down and listen to the people’s concerns,” she said, emphasizing that the government can- celled the hearings before the commis- sion had completed its work. Boyce also noted that Energy Minister Jack Davis had recently admitted that “drastic” cutbacks have hit the mines inspection branch. “So regulations with- out enforcement are nothing less than deceptive,” she charged. “It does not give me pleasure to have to speak on this matter again,” said Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs president, Saul Terry. “No matter what guidelines are imposed on these companies, it is not going to make it any safer,” he asserted. Several corporations have what is known as “active claims” on uranium deposits in B.C. They include Norcen Energy Resources, New Tyee Resources, Denison Mines, Canadian Occidental Petroleum, Cominco and several others. | | i ROB RAINER ... uranium industry has no method of storing deadly waste products. a. a RNs a TT NN RE CS secret meetings ma By BRUCE YORKE Secret, anti-democratic Moves have been de by Vancouver city council’s right- 1g leaders in preparation for the 1987 city iget These moves are designed to keep the blic in the dark until the last minute, after ich it will be more difficult to mount an ective Opposition to the cutbacks planned the dominant Non-Partisan Association. The NPA agenda ¥ this: hand out blic funds to one’s veloper friends d other suppor- s and cut services ordinary people ile attempting to ject an image as litical moderates. won’t wash, how- BRUCE sr, and strains d cracks are al- YORKE dy appearing in the glossy surface of >A “unity.” In the past, the budget process was as follows: city staff prepared a preliminary report on operating estimates; department heads fine-tuned the estimates; an interim budget was presented to council in early April; the final budget and tax rate were set, by the finance committee and then the full city council, in late April. But this year, the traditional process is being circumvented through the establish- > ment of a “select committee” comprising Mayor Gordon Campbell, Ald. George Puil, finance director Peter Leckie and city manager Fritz Bowers. This group has the power to meet privately and then present their “recommendations” to council. The first crack in the NPA alliance appeared when some NPA aldermen joined Committee of Progressive Electors alder- men Libby Davies and Bruce Eriksen in voting against this non-public process. In a public meeting of the finance com- » mittee last month, aldermen Davies and Eriksen charged that the new group was a “political” committee. This touched a nerve What Parents Should Know About AIDS ... an information forum for parents and guardians of students attending Vancouver public schools. Location: aes Eric Hamber 5025 Willow Street Vancouver, B.C. Time: 7:30 p.m. Date: Wednesday, March 11, 1987 School Jean Green, chairperson of the Vancouver District Parent Representatives will chair the forum. Experts on hand will be: Dr. John Blatherwick Dr. Ted McLean from the Vancouver Health Department Sponsored by SCC District Parent Representatives and the Vancouver School Board. ~ » PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MARCH 4, 1987 in Ald. Puil, and his response revealed still more cracks in the right-wing majority. In the discussion that followed, Puil con- tradicted city manager Bowers, who had claimed that the special committee would be making only long-range recommenda- tions. Puil, council’s senior alderman and a strong advocate of cost-cutting, said that the committee would be recommending proposals for this year’s budget as well. What kind of recommendations are likely to come from the select committee? To find the answer, it is necessary to look at the operating budget estimates as tabled by finance director Leckie. These show that expected income will fall short of proposed departmental expendi- tures by more than $18 million. There is nothing particularly unusual in this. Last year, income shortfalls came to more than $24 million. Despite that shortfall, the tax increase implemented by the progressive majority of the day was a modest 4.8 per cent. That council, of which I was a member, was able to do that by transferring $7 mil- lion from the interest earned by fiscal reserves known as the property endowment fund. This year, Leckie has included in his budget estimates the option of a $9-million transfer from the fund. But this year, there’s a big difference in the political composition of council. It includes aldermen from the previous coun- cil who consistently opposed the property - endowment fund transfers and denounced council’s progressive majority for “raiding” the city’s reserves. However, using the $9 million proposed by Leckie would alleviate a lot of financial headaches for the aldermen. Will they therefore agree to the transfer, which is higher than that of the previous administration? After all, if they don’t, or if they tamper with the transfer in any way, it must translate into deep cuts in city services or a large tax increase. And the shaky, Liberal-Socred coalition has other budget difficulties. The prelimi- nary report on operating estimates includes sking cuts at city hall a definite $5-million increase in debt charges. Meanwhile, the city police depart- ment is persistent in calling for another 150 officers, at a cost of $7 million. Faced with this pressure, the “select committee” will no doubt try to cut expen- ditures in other areas. But this also causes problems for the NPA in maintaining inter- nal unity. NPA parks commissioners, who hold all seven seats on the parks board, were shocked when faced with expenditure cut- backs of five-and 10 per cent, as ordered in an internal memo from city manager Bow- ers to department heads. The commission- ers responded by leaking the memo to the press. I tried to address council on the budget at the last meeting Feb. 24. Through a slick parliamentary “amendment” engineered by Ald. Carole Taylor and Mayor Campbell, I was put off until the regular budget debate on April 13 — which happens after all budget decisions have been effectively made. : But there’s a lesson in all this manoeuver- ing. They show that the NPA is not united and is extremely sensitive about the budget. That is the reason their plans to reverse the record of the former alliance of Mayor Mike Harcourt, Ald. Bill Yee and the COPE aldermen — full services, no layoffs and only modest tax hikes — can be defeated by strong, united pressure from Vancouver citizens. T suggest that as soon as the select com- mittee reports to council, the organizations and citizens affected by the budget demand to address council immediately. In other words, do it before council decides to implement its major policy shifts. The upcoming battle around the budget can bring together in action the necessary unity to preserve full community and civic services, and at the same time provide the base for electoral successes in the 1988 elec- tions. Bruce Yorke is an economist, a former COPE alderman and a former member of Vancouver city council's finance committee.