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Our contebutars and: 1 |
7 correspondents f for:

So, what now?

The Romans said it ‘best in a phrase.

that translates as: ‘‘To the victor go the
spoils.’’ But with the spoils comes
responsibility and this about sums up the

current mess we're in over-native land |

claims.

To accept this, g0 back over the last
couple of centuries. European settlers,
when they arrived; became the dominant
force through numbers, technology and

_ a feeling of God-given, divine right. War

was either made against natives or
treaties were signed. It was similar, for

instance, to the English taking over the.

Celtic peoples of Scotland and Ireland.

With domination came a certain sense

of proper but woefully misguided
responsibility, Natives became the first
clients of the welfare state. A small
bureaucracy was formed that grew into a
hideous example of how not to do
business. Today that bureaucracy is a
combination of a 19th century attitude
of might makes right with the 20th cen-
tury habit of throwing money at
something in hopes it alone will provide
a solution, -
Nobody’s happy with what happened
— certainly not the natives who regard

their treatment by us as an abuse of their _

responsibility toward themselves. And

certainly not the rest of us who, after .

dutifully paying taxes to governments,

wonder where the money went and what

it accomplished. °

There are enough federal civil servants
flying each day, says Skeena MP Jim

Fulton, to fill 15 Boeing 737 passenger ,

jet aircraft. The annual: cost, at- last
count, is $238 million.

Mr. Fulton. says this means there are
too many federal: civil servants flying
around. The MP also suspects there are
cases of abuse, given that some civil ser-
vants have told him they fly only to col-

‘Yet it is only one part of the problem

we’re now in, What we've forgotten is |
the overriding question of land owner-

ship: Our governments can. sign
economic and social development

_ agreements and negotiate and establish’
native “government

structures to.
eliminate the welfare state that. was

created. Despite this, the essential native

position is that they have title to the
land.

It’s not a difficult concept to grasp. In
B.C. treaties were signed for some lands,
but not for the vast majority of the ter-
ritory that now makes up the province.

This quite rightly leaves open the ques- —

tion of ownership for what was done for
some should apply to others.

All this brings us to 1990. What took -
place, rightly or wrongly, in the past is
being judged by 20th century law-and at-

titudes. It’s not a very comfortable cir-

cumstance. For if we want to be the kind
of civilization made up of the democratic
and individual rights and responsibilities
we claim as our foundations, we have to
accept the basics of the native land title.
argument,

The problem for us is to figure out
what to do now. It means defining what |
degree of responsibility we should take
for what -happened in the past. And it
means having confidence that what
might take place will ultimately be for
the betterment of everybody.

high flyers

lect bonus points ‘for personal use later
on.

Mr. Fulton wauts ‘several things, in-
cluding an investigation into the allega-'

tions of bonus point abuse. He also

wants civil servants moved out of Ot-

..tawa to where the work is so they won’t

have'to spend their time in the air. These
suggestions have merit.’ ;

Fine kind of fish tale

Who says out-of-province
anglers should be given a.warn-

ing, not an immediate $100 fine,
if they forget to buy the extra
daily license now needed to fish

Through |

4

aClasslor Iriver inB.c.7Not © Bifocals we
me by Claudette Sandeckl

I say that from expensive ex- .
perience:

‘ment Employees Union. |

The first time I ever dangled a
baited hook, 1 was hauled into
court.

It was June, 1965 and we had
' just moved to Montana. My
husband coaxed me into fishing
with him one afternoon. He
whittled off an alder branch,
tied on 15 feet of 10-pound line,
and skewered an earthworm on

a small hook. [ was set to catch

trout.

Having been raised in Saskat-
chewan where even streams no
bigger than a four-year-old’s
drainage trickle from a mud-
puddle are designated “rivers”,
I had never fished.

‘The Montana’ creek resembl-
ed Little Oliver ‘when the water
is:‘low after spring runoff. So
there [ stood, poised .on’ a
coffin-sized boulder, the branch
held high in my. left, fist, con-
nected by a drape of line to the
hook suspended from.my right

hand. [ was considéring whether. .

to lose my writhing .worm in
froth or Plunk him into a dark

pool,

‘Then down the steep . bank

behind us tinkled a thin stream
of.; gravel, looseried iby. the

polished boots’ of a uniformed.

game warden."
He was too close. ‘for any

evasive tactic I could think, of, od
‘gee

The warden didn’t swallow
my story, even with the proof of
the dry worm. Nor did he
hesitate to gather data when |
informed him my driver’s
license was in our car, parked a
quarter mile away over moun-
tain goat terrain.

Weeks later, in exchange for
a fine, I was given back my

hook, and dessicated worm. | ~ ;

Back then, the regulation fine -
for fishing without a license was -:
$29.50. Luckily for :me, the

judge fell for my alibi, and:a -
tow ‘ ‘ ~-residents who ‘will end the day

few tears. No doubt, though, he
also’ knew Montana would -

ultimately make more profit ;
from me if I were encouraged to ©
fish, but with sophisticated *'

tackle.
He reduced my fine to $17,
True to the judge’s expecta-

tions, for as long: as we lived in

Montana I spent every free m

ment snagging tutes in willows;:<:

ripping * line. ‘wedged
tocks, and force: ‘feeding fingé
ings with live bait. oe

If [ had. shopped the ‘fe
fish’ counter: ‘at’ a supermar

of a. ‘porting . goods ‘stone

would have gotten’ more ae .

food; I fished for the thrill of

. matching wits with the out-

doors. When nothing nibbled, I‘
packed up and went home to

read Patrick F. McManus.

And that’s ‘what tourist
fishermen will do if we don’t

- limit catches. So long as they -

can land their limit each day or
most days out-of-province .

- branch complete with line, . tourists-will return to the Nor-

. thwest each summer to fish.

“On the other hand, if we
allow our Fivers to be fished out
(as:some of them already seem
to be): it’ won't be only local

emptyhanded®: and disgusted.
For all their expensive rods and

‘Canadian Tire Store array of:

lures,. tourists, too, will go

home’ from their four-month

holidays.with only insect bites,
sunburn, and empty Gem jars.

or nt un Tey lS mn § ‘ talents.” . - - .

“| OUR NDI HE cee Tye SN,
| - | SIFER “4 i
ie a yan

“TANK i = | 1, ‘ =
|. BASE THE att

FENCE. om EI

[8 2

!

Negotiations need

bitofsunshine

VICTORIA — It: is s the fate of
any labour legislation in B.C, to
be repudiated by trade unions
the moment it’s introduced. The
legislation outlawing strikes or
lockouts until public sector
unions and employers have
publicly disclosed the issues is

“no exception.

**7’m afraid the premier is liv.

.ing.on-the moon. don’t know-:;. “
;, Whether to laugh or ‘ery when Ts
‘ realize how absurd'this is,’? was

the response from John Shields,
president of the B.C. Govern-

A wacko bill from a wacko
premier,’’ said NDP finance
critic Glen Clark, setting a new
low in political courtesy ‘and
inter-party relations. '

Aside from lamenting the .

lack of manners the two
aforementioned gentlemen
display, I disagree with the

substance of what: they are try- ©
ing to say in their own rode ‘

way,

The legislation doesn't con-
stitute major surgery on labour-
management relations in this
province, but it could prove a.
useful tool in bringing about
contract . settlements ‘between

_public ‘sector, unions and

employers.

In introducing the bill,
finance minister Mel Couvelier
called it ‘‘sunshine legislation,”’

. that would further the public’ $
‘tight to know.

The bill creates a registrar of
public séctor bargaining whose
job it will be to set a public
meeting before any strike or
lockout begins. Notice of sucha .
meeting must be published in a
newspaper.

The: legislation specifically
provides for admittance-of the
news media to these meetings, a
cute twist, considering the low
opinion politicians tend to have
of the media.

At the meeting, .. ‘both the
union’ and the employer mist
give a “summary of all matters
on which ‘they have reached
agreement. They must also sub-
mit a summary: of. issues that
have not yet been resolved and

7 From the

Capital
by Hubert Beyer

The, “egiatian’ sfuvtey fe

“quires. public sector unions, ‘and.
to file public

employers.
statements within two days of

.. the start of contract negotia-

‘tions, outlining what each side

“believes will be issues in dispute

and their respective positions on
those issues. Similar summaries
are required from. both sides if
strike or lockout notice is given.

‘consist . ‘of, trading. ‘insults.
Statements regarding the i issues.
that brought about the strike or.
lockout are suspect.

At about the same time, both

‘sides will try to win public sup-

port, an endeavour that usually

has very little to do with the

truth. Previously, of course;
neither side was very coms
municative.

~ New legislation introduced doesn’t constitute ma- . -
jor surgery on labour-management relations, but it

could prove a useful toal in bringing about-contract .
settlements between public sector unions and S

employers.

A. union isn’t allowed to .

strike, unless it has filed its sum-
maries -and the employer. has
responded to them. Similarly,

. the employer cannot order a
lockout until it has filed its sum- -

maries and the-unions given its
response. .

- “This act “will: introduce a
new. -concept ‘of openness” in

public sector negotiations, It,

embodies the: democratic con-
cept that the public has a right
to know about public sector col-
ective: bargaining,’”? Couvelier
said.s

“The public has a right to
know: what both sides of the

bargaining table are proposing. .

In the end, it is the public which -

"pays and, suffers; the” effects of -

job action’, ‘in: “our public
service," he added.
I like it,” As a journalist I have

Now,. if private firms ‘and the

‘unions representing their

employees want to engage’ in

this sort of game, that’s upto

them. Public sector employers
and public sector unions, on the.
other, hand, have an obligation
to the public they serve,

This Iegislation, 1° believe,
would give both sides an oppor-.
tunity to serve the public a little
better, Since the public elects.

* the employers and underwrites

the -paycheques : of the
employees, it should have a.
chance to exercise some in-
fluence on the collective
bargaining process.

The legislation. would do just

- that, but more . ‘important, it.

might even prevent the twosides -
from. becoming victims of their:

, own thetoric,

often, been frustrated, trying to -.
sort “out: details.of a lobour- -
_ publicly and without thetorical.,

‘management. dispute after. it got

out of hand, Believe me, It's not

" easy.

By the time strike or lockout

their respective positions regar- notice is given, relations bet-

ding these outstanding i issues,

Ke
EYER ‘@uLp
‘¢ See ae

on BIRCH ROAD?’

> ween the two parties usually

UCK-To BUCK FISHER

bombs,

The fact that both sides must:

embellishments’ ‘state their posi-”
tions several’ times during. con-.
tract negotiations, cannot: nelp
but diffuse potential ‘time.

- their time and cd oe