Canada Chileans p ress for change ee Dozens of Vancouver Chileans, jubilant at the Oct. 5 victory of the No vote in Chile, demonstrated outside the offices of the Chilean consulate in Vancouver Oct. 7. They backed a call by Chilean Community Association representative Jaime Labbe for the resignation of the consulate and his replacement by someone who is representative of democratic opinion in Chile. Vancouver city councillor Libby Davies, End Legislated Poverty co-ordinator Jean Swanson and Anglican minister Rev. Tom Anthony also addressed the noon-hour rally. Letters Jack Phillips, Vancouver, writes: The Seoul Olympic Games testify to the sup- Under socialism. For example, the Soviet Union picked up 132 medals and the US. 94, In 1986 (the last year for which I have What is labour movement doing? Jim Biro, Kamloops, writes: The unwil- lingness of the leadership of the labour Movement to organize and lead the fight against privatization and for jobs and Testored services will result in more job losses, lower wages and concessions for the B.C. Government Employees Union in the end. It undermines the credibility of organized labour. ‘ Unfortunately, it will also spell disas- ter for working class British Columbians, but the hardest hit will be people on fixed incomes and low-wage earners. The Socred camp is watching and ana- lyzing the labour movement. They have experts to do it. Short of a few mistakes, they have read labour’s leader- Ship correctly — that the puffed-up Toaring lion is nothing more than a cow- ering pussycat willing to lie down and purr. _ The willingness to back down and knuckle under has given rise toa form of Collaboration where the corporations write the song sheet, the Socreds play the tune and labour sings along willingly. Port given to physical training and sport | Canada needs sports statistics), there were 7,000 special sport- ing schools in the Soviet Union for the more physically gifted children and teen- agers. The pupils are trained under expe- rienced coaches and supervised by doctors. Many graduates are of Olympic” class and many others find employment as coaches and trainers. This is in addition to a widespread network of sports activities in schools, work places and communities, almost entirely funded by the state and the trade unions. There are 27,000 societies for physical culture and sport. The member- ship fee is only 30 kopecks a year (about 50 cents). Consider another statistic. The Ger- man Democratic Republic picked up 102 medals for a second place finish. The Federal Republic of Germany won 40 medals and finished in fourth place. The GDR is a socialist country, with 17 mil- lion people, as compared to 61 million in the capitalist FRG. In the GDR, the state and popular organizations have deve- loped a physical training and sports pro- gram similar to that in the Soviet Union. Some experts say it is better in many respects. Socialist Bulgaria, with only 10 mil- lion people, picked up 35 medals, com- pared with 10 for Canada, which has 26 million people. pe The finals standings list six socialist countries in the top 10; USSR, GDR, Bulgaria, China, Romania and Hun- gary. They won 62 per cent of the medals awarded to the top 10 (and China is still relatively new to big time competition). Innu continuing protests at Goose Bay's NATO site GOOSE BAY, Labrador — Despite repeated police action to terminate their protest, the Innu campaign against low- level flight tests and a proposed NATO base continues here. The peaceful protest began several weeks ago when 200 Innu native people, including children and elders from the nearby village of Sheshatshit, set up a large camp on Department of National Defence land near one of the main landing strips at the Goose Bay Canadian Forces Base. Operating from their base settlement, the Innu have on several occasions moved onto the runways, successfully interrupting the takeoffs and landings of fighter jets. Eighty protesters had been charged with trespass- ing and as the Tribune went to press, RCMP detachments again moved in to break up yet another Innu sit-in on the airstrip, arresting over 100 people. Another Innu camp has been established in the centre of one of the bombing ranges in the region, effectively suspending practice bombing runs from the base. sf Innu chief Daniel Ashini said that low- level military flights over vast areas of Ntes- inan (the Innu aboriginal lands covering much, of Labrador and_ northeastern Quebec) pose a threat to the very survival of his people. Their actions to halt the military exercises are fully justified, he argued. , not subs In the wake of Canada’s poor show and the shock of the Ben Johnson affair, we should have another look at how we prepare for Olympic Games. For example, the Conservative gov- ernment announced not so long ago that it was considering the purchase of 10 or 12 nuclear-powered submarines to guard our shores against a mythical Soviet threat. The cost of one submarine would be many times more than we spent in preparation for the Seoul Olympics. I would say that the time has come to get our priorities in proper order, to put our money into sports and physical train- ing and other socially useful programs to benefit the people. Assembly cut to 7% hours John Manly, NDP MP Cowichan- Malahat, writes: Thank you for the arti- cle reporting on my talk to the Vancouver and District Labour Council on the maquiladora factories in Mexico (“Mexico’s free trade zones a warning to Canada,” Tribune Sept. 21, 1988). One factual error needs to be cor- rected. The time required to assemble switching boxes has been cut from 92 hours in Minneapolis to 7% hours in Mexico — not to two hours as the arti- cle states. The facts of the speed-up are bad: enough in themselves. Thank you for _ correcting this. ee Miguel Figueroa FROM THE MARTIMES Co-sponsoring the protests are the Nas- kapi Montagnais Indian Association, the local band council and the Sheshatshit Women’s Group. Several environmental ‘studies have upheld Innu concerns that constant low- level flights are responsible for disrupting caribou migration routes, polluting the area’s rivers and lakes and undermining the traditional Native livelihood. CFB Goose Bay is in use as a training base for British, West German, Dutch and Canadian fighter pilots who practice low- level (sometimes as little as 15-20 metres above ground) flying and bombing tech- niques. Such tactical manoeuvres are seen as part of preparations for NATO’s “Follow on Forces” or “Deep Strike” aggressive mil- itary strategy. The Mulroney government is campaigning to win a bidding war with Turkey for the location of a full-fledged NATO base at Goose Bay. Innu National Council leader Ben Michel and other Innu leaders. have travelled to Europe and other international forums to denounce Canada’s application for the NATO base, warning that construction of a NATO base at Goose Bay would do irrep- arable damage to Innu culture and the local environment, and completely transform this northern region into a military zone. When military inspectors from NATO High Command visited the basé earlier this fall, the Innu organized a massive, vocal demonstration to air their disapproval of the NATO bid. But even if the NATO base. is not - awarded, the Defence Department plans to expand and further internationalize the base. It is rumoured, for instance, that Can- ada is preparing to sign yet another bilateral agreement — this time with Italy — to train foreign pilots at Goose Bay. The issue of low-level flying is closely tied to the efforts of the Innu people to achieve full recognition from the Newfoundland and federal governments and for a just set- tlement of outstanding land claims and fish- ing and hunting rights throughout Ntesinan. Newfoundland Premier Brian Peckford indicated earlier this summer that the pro- vincial government is finally prepared to negotiate with the Innu, but to date no talks have been scheduled. For the 10,000 Innu who live on either side of the Labrador- Quebec border, this remains the underlying issue to the future of their people. Countless national and local organiza- tions across Canada have already come forward to voice their opposition to low- level flights over Labrador. The Canadian Peace Alliance is facilitating a national campaign of support. Demonstrators march- ed in front of Conservative Party headquar- ters in Toronto demanding a end to the flights and the release of the arrested Innu. Letters of support can be sent to the Naskapi-Montagnais Indian Association, Northwest River, Labrador. AOP 1MO. (With files from David Playfair in New- foundland.) Pacific Tribune, October 17, 1988 e 3