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_EDITORIA

:

There might be a way to get a handle
on native land claims. Consider the issue
as one of a mortgage.

If we follow the native argument of
claim, Canada is occupying lands upon
which there are no treaties covering
payments for the territories. There are
also no provisions recognizing native self
government or control over development
and social services, Instead there is a
mish-mash of other agreements which
have turned natives into dependent
clients of a welfare state. —

in essence, governments in the last
century failed to make.a deal with the

natives. We now. have. to make that deal:

and it’ll cost big money. That question
of how much is now being tossed back

and forth between the federal and pro-.

vincial governments. Pick.a figure star-
ting at $6 billion and you probably know
as much as anybody about what the bill
might be.

The implication in all of this is that
while native land claims might be settled,
continued payment will represent a
never-ending tax bill. It is, of course, a
negotiating tactic on the part of govern-
ments. It is also a nasty gambit to put a
scare into people which governments can
then use to drive down the eventual price
of any settlements. ~

But this needn't be the case. it land
claims are regarded as a mortgage. What
we would do is pay natives for the land.
The money required wouldn't be
““new’?. It’s already therein the form of
programs for native matters, Expen-
ditures within the federal Indian and
Northern Affairs department for natives
now nudge $2 billion year, There are also
monies from Health and Welfare
Canada for native social services and
monies for economic development.

What would occur is-an agreement
that all those monies are pooled as a
yearly mortgage payment. It would go

ur mortgage

directly to native organizations, They » '
would decide how it would be spent in.

what areas and for what purpose. »

As with all mortgage payments, there :
would have to be an agreement on how.” | :
many years payments would continue. In =|.
one sense, that really doesn’t matter. -.
' Those payments are already comimitted:
as part of regular government expen-
ditures, In any other kind of settlement - -

agreement, payments would have to be
made, |

_- The idea, however, is that there would |
be a fixed number of years for the mor-
tgage. After that, we’re finished. Our.
obligation, one that ‘we've. chosen ‘for’

ourselves, as the paternal big daddy to
natives would be ended. -

_ One advantage is‘ that we would
eliminate an expensive bureaucracy. The

‘knock against any bureaucracy is that

the money is spent running the paper-_
work machine and little goes to the peo-
ple who need it..Any move to end

airplanes full of lawyers, consultants and

lobbyists jetting back and forth across
the country would be welcomed.

The other advantage’ is we would ac-
complish what natives say they can and

are ready to do — take control over their

own affairs. Direct payments would:
result in pools of capital: amounting: ‘to.
‘collateral

for economic: atid®’ _ Social

development.

The end result — and o one that v we say
we want and one that natives say they are

- ready to undertake — is the elimination
_ of second class citizens. Instead, there

would be companies paying taxes and
creating wealth. There would be people
working,

Such an’ arrangement would be a
challenge to negotiate. It would be a

challenge to undertake. Yet it would lead |

to the biggest mortgage-burning party in
history.

Suburban living —

“With the doggedness of a

penniless Poppa trying to marry
off his ugly daughter, once
again the Regional District of
Kitimat-Stikine is deliberating
Thornhill’s fate.

This time directors have in-

Through

Bifocals
by Claudette Sandeckl

centive. The Ministry of
Municipal Affairs has offered

to pay part of the cost of a
restructure study,

- Nothing focuses politicians’
doodling fike the prospect of
creating. man-years of work,
This study could supply. one
junior. executive year: ata salary
of $40,000.

‘Imagine. My mere presence
east of the, Skeena bridge
stimulates Terrace's economy
the way a raccoon in the attic
employs an exterminator, .
Except as customers, we're

ignored by Terrace — until can-_ .

vassers collect our charitable
donations, or the city needs our
Participaction to fetch home the
trophy from Kitimat in the an-
nual fitness fight.. isan

“On Terrace maps, we' re the

of Commerce’s new promotion,

brochure, A Whole Lot in Store: ”

for ‘You,.of some 30 Thornhill
based Chamber members, only
five appear as advertiserst:..:

«. We've been second in line in :

our neighbours? - minds for.
years. Shames’ latest debt
“reschedule only made our stat
official:

than: golf;
unlettered space beyond che Our

four-way stop. In the Chamber

“hemlocks, On Sundays we wake.

"rdge!s aircraft carrier, We slows
‘ traffic 80 visitors can spot:'*Va-,
cant’’ motel signs, Our. ditch -

The proposed regional
district study may look at the

-benefits -and drawbacks to
Thornhill of tying in‘ with Ter- ~

race. More likely, it-will dissect.
Thornhill to learn how Terrace

can benefit from acknowledging ,

our proximity.

ist but only a yokel would, d point
out,

Let me list a few.

To boost Terraces’ civic.
pride, it is Thornhill’s duty to.
let Terrace look superior to us.
To this end, we pen horses and! j
geese at the back of the lot,

the: windows, and Fish Father

shade” | comes. from:

‘each ‘ther with’ snarling chain.

near .our schools are permitted .
sidewalks,
We’ re the catch wire on’ Ter-

sprouts Rotary’s ‘Welcome to

pace? “Calm: ‘Moloriatg; iii

have the length of our industrial
corridor ta reduce speed and

prepare for the city’s delights.
. To assure Terrace inhabitants .

agood night's rest, we are home
to ‘two pubs, and many more

trucking fleets. Soon we may be.

galled upon to harbour con:
Any study must ‘weigh :those :: :

intangibles everyone knows ex-' |

victed lawbreakers, -
‘Terrace’ covets. our water;

‘elbow room, highway frontage;
: and unlicensed businesses, we

; suspect. Oh; they try to throw
: a: off by always having @
Hazelton director move the
amalgamation motion.

¢ But. we know. what ‘the.

““Tegional district’s up to,
drive cars with For-Sale signs in ~"

WNIHESTER fd MEcH
ASLITY Toe Much

UES

: Fase! i

Please don’ t use |
the nasty ‘r’ word

VICTORIA — It’s time the
media stopped treating the cur-

. Tent economic slump as if it

were the equivalent of Ar-
mageddon. All this talk about
a recession creates a bunker
mentality. ;
Bombarded with doomsday
news about the recession day
after day, consumers pet
spooked; they put off planted"

- purchases; rethice speniditig,"
- keep their money in the bank,

thus making the recession a
self-fulfilling prophesy.

There isa way-to preventa> -

recession from cutting too
deeply, but it requires con-
fidence. While we may have
had zero. economic growth for
two consecutive quarters,
‘which is the-definition of a
recession, it's really up to all

of us how quickly we gét out

of the slump.

We can all batten: down the
hatches- and wait out the reces-
sion, which will make things:
‘worse, or We can continue
spending and investing, which
will get us out of the slump ”
moye quickly,

I’m not advocating irrespon-
sible spending. Going too
deeply into debt is foolish at
the best of economic times,
but it’s downright suicidal dur-
ing rough times. What I’m
saying though is that those
who have savings should not
suddenly refuse to spend any
of it. .
If 50,000 Canadians who

had plans to buy a new car
suddenly decide to wait, the
car.industry will go into a tail
spin, people will get laid off
which, in turn, causes further
‘economic, woes because the
newly-unemployed ; aren’t.
about to go ‘on a spending
spree, os.
‘A recession feeds largely on.

fear and uncertainty, and it’s; °.

thiose two. ingredients. the
media are ‘dishing ‘up’ in ‘spades
these days. You can’t open a
newspaper without coming’ —
across some story. about the
recession; radio and TV are °
gleefully: reporting on the.
ravages’ of the recession.

From the

Capital
by Hubert Beyer

devoted its,entire, 40 thingies” io!
a recession special. One of the
guests, an economist, did say
that continued spending by

‘those who can afford it would

shorten the recession, but this .
positive note was drowned out
by a chorus of negative talk.

Not that the negative impact
of the current slump should go
unmentioned; what I’m saying
is the media should provide
balanced coverage, The news
isn’t all bad. Fortunes aren’t
only lost in a recession, for-
tunes are also made.

Real estate prices, for in-
stance; have come down, and
that’s welcome news to home
buyers. If you're in the market
for a house or a condo, don’t
let the recession keep you from
going ‘through with the pur-
‘hase. There is no better time
than right now to buy real
estate.

Putting. off the purchase
would not only be your own

little contribution to the reces- *

sion, it wold also be a fiscal
mistake, because once we start
climbing out of the recession,
real estate prices will tise
again.”

The slf-fulfiling- prophesy.
aspect of the recession is, of».
course, the reason politicians,

_ particularly finance ministers,
‘don't want to use the R word,

» Last time around, it wasn't
until: -we'were right in the mid-

‘dle of it that then finance
‘Minister Hugh Curtis first ad-

mitted - ‘that: ‘there; indeed, a
recession. ©!

This time, Mel Couvelier
and his federal counterpart,

~” Michaet Wilson; behave

similarly. Neither one was too
eager to admit that we are in a

.. -Te¢ession, They knew doing so
~The’ CBC's Journal resently

would only make It worse.

‘is our own timidity. .« -

Wilgon finally admitted that’
Caiidda Was in a recéssion, ‘but’
Couvelier is still reluctant to
do so. He recently told a
meeting of sales and marketing
executives in Victoria that. the
recession should be the last
thing on their minds.

Another expert who warns
of dangers of making the
recession a self-fulfilling pro- -
phesy is Richard Allen, chief
economist of the B.C. Central.
Credit Union, ..

“If you tell people long
efough that they are in a
recession, they start believing‘:
it,”’ Allen says. ‘'This certainly.
ins’t a sick economy," he + =
adds. _

The premier’s recent an-
nouncement of the possible ~~:
fast-tracking of $20 billion ~.
worth of Crown corporation ~
projects would havé been = |
welcome anti-recession news,
hadn't he spread fear in the =. -
same breath, warning of : an ‘
restraint and cutbacks and i in:
the public sector, :

Using public sector projects.
to bridge tough economic ©
times is one of the corner.
stones of Keynesian economic. .

‘theory, although the second

part of the equation — pay ¢*-
back the debt during good =.
times — is often ignored by
governments. ,
Using the premier's plan of!

fast-tracking a number of: -.! <
public works projects,could - +

help British Columbia become; a
nearly recession-proof; The on- ;
ly thing we might have to. fear:

Ina nutshell: Canada is’ in. a
recession, but B.C. can pro- os
bably: avoid the worst, provide.
ed-the government takes the
necessary steps and all of us
don’t give in to the fear-
mongers.

WROTE A LIFE uistoay.
206 YouR TRUCKJ