ee

40°

Vol. 51, No. 7

Business
dominates
in Aquino’s
economic
populism

— page 8 —

Forests scandal cited

By MAURICE RUSH

Foresters charged this week that Forest

Minister Frank Parker’s appointment of

T.M. Thomson and Associates to conduct
an audit of MacMillan Bloedel — a com-
pany. to which it is already under
contract — is a conflict of interest.

It certainly is that and more. It is the tip
of the iceberg which reveals the deep going
crisis in B.C.’s forest industry.

This appointment also reveals the close
collaboration of the Socred government,

its forest ministry and the giant forest
monopolies in policies which are devastat-
ing B.C.’s forests. The headlines over the
past few weeks have shown some of the
results of those policies: massive amounts
of wood have been wasted, left on the
ground to rot; prime forests have been
overcut; and top grade logs have been
exported, all in the name of providing
huge profits for the major forest monopo-
lies.

The domination of B.C.’s forest policies
by the big companies is so great that the

government sees no conflict of interest in
having a company investigate another
company for whom it does extensive
work.

What is going on in the woods today is a
major scandal which the forest companies,
the government and the mass media have
kept from the public. Trying to cover up
that scandal, the forest companies have
launched a $2 % million publicity cam-
paign to raise their image with the promise
of “Forests Forever”.

see INQUIRY page 3

The spirit of Socred insidiousness — a mock Ed Peck, chairman of the Industrial Relations Commission — hangs over B.C.
Federation of Labour president Ken Georgetti, speaking to crowd at demonstration outside new offices of the Industrial
Relations Council on Monday. Trade unionists protested Peck’s decision to appeal a Supreme Court ruling that could force
the government to pay thousands of dollars in severance pay arising from its privatization program. Labour notes, page 12.

DAN KEETON

TRIBUNE PHOTO

Three Palestinians pose at the site
where they were buried alive Feb. 5
by Israeli troops using a bulldozer
at the village of Kfar Salem on the
occupied West Bank. Soldiers
forced four Palestinians to lie on
the ground and bulldozed sand
over them. They were later rescued
by relatives and friends. A spokes-
man for the New Jewish Agenda
decried the action as well as the car
bomb deaths of three Palestinian
Liberation Organization officials
and the bombing of a ferry char-
tered by the PLO to bring refugees
to Israel. Dr. Riad Mansour of the
PLO’s United Nations mission
compared the burying incident to
the My Lai massacre committed by
U.S. troops during the Vietnam
War.

UPI

You HAVE——
_A DUTY