KUDLALAK, HUNTER AND CARVER,
CAPE DORSET, BAFFIN ISLAND.

By BERT WHYTE
Special to the Tribune

No one today doubts that the deve-
lopment of the north is a question of
prime importance for Canada. The
neglect of past yovernments and the
lack of a northern policy was striking-
ly revealed in 1953 when Prime Min-
ister Louis St. Laurent noted with
astonishment that the Northwest and
* Yukon Territories comprised 39.3% of
our country. “Apparently,” he said,
“‘we have administered these vast ter-
ritories of the north in an almost con-
tinuous state of absence of mind.”

Harsher terms could be used. ~

Some small but.welcome progress
_ has been registered since then: suc-
cessive governments have paid at least
a little attention to the north and its
native inhabitants, the Eskimos (Inuit).
Schools have been built, new homes
provided to cope with a rising birth
rate, various political bodies set yp for
administrative, research and’ develop-
ment purposes.

All this is part of the changing Can-
adian north. But the changes are tak-
ing place far too slowly. Political pro-
mises to “open up” the north have
often floundered in a sea of red tape.

Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau
is the latest exponent of northern de-
velopment and the first to advocate an
exchange of experience in this field
with the Soviet Union, which pio-
neered in tapping the vast resources
of its Far North.

While travelling with the Trudeau
party in the USSR last year, I asked

Doctor Valentina Zavodchikova, head of the air ambulance service of the Chukotka N
area (Magadan Region) conducting a medical check-up.

BBOAI—SVRE RT LUE VACHS eran ae ew
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JULY 14, 1975 PAGE 4

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the P.M. if his government had formu-
lated a serious plan for accelerating
the pace of development in our north-
land.

Mr. Trudeau chose to be facetious.
“Oh, sure,” he quipped, “we'll just ship
10,000 young people to open it up.”

A moment later he appeared to re-
gret his “putdown” answer and an
equally off-the-cuff remark made in
answer to another reporter’s question
on Hellyer’s resignation. ‘‘Let’s . begin
this press conference all over again,”
said P.E.T.

No matter how facetious Trudeau
was, the fact remains that if Ottawa
could promise jobs at decent wages
and working conditions, there are plen-
ty of young Canadians—far more than
10,000—who would willingly go north,
for the north promises adventure and
challenge, something youth always re-
sponds to.

Trudeau himself is conscious of this.
In his widely-quoted speech made at
Norilsk on May 25, 1971, he said: “We
who live in far-northern climes have
something in common—the experience
of facing the challenge of a bitter
climate over long periods ... Your
experience and success in these areas,
and Canada’s experience and success
in other aspects of northern life such
as communication and transportation,
are vivid evidence of the advantages
which are to be gained by closer rela-
tionships between our countries. This
hard-won experience can be shared and
exchanged to the benefits of both the
Soviet and the Canadian people. I have

S209 ,..

er?

no doubt that one of the consequences
of my visit to the Soviet Union will be
a distinct increase in that type of co-
operation.”

* * *

Hardly a day passes without the
Soviet press reporting some new deve-
lopment in opening up its -northland.
Some instances:

KAMCHATSKY — The Aleutians,
the indigenous residents of the Koman-
dorskye Islands, began resettling in a
new town with all. conveniences. It is
going up on Bering Island. By 1975
they will all have settled into new
flats. Buildings for a hospital, a music
school and a boarding school have
been erected. The Aleutians are a
small people which were on the brink
of extinction early this century. The
October 1917 revolution marked the
beginning of a new life for them...

MAGADAN — Cameramen have
started shooting the film “The Most
Beautiful Ships,” devoted to Chukotka
(extreme northeast of the USSR). The
scriptwriter is an indigenous resident
of that area, famous author Yuri
Rytheu. The stars of the film will be
representatives of small nationalities
of the north: the Chukchis, Eskimos
and Yukagirs ...

MEDVEZHYE — A powerful gas
trunkline is being built from the rich-
est gas deposit of Medvezhye in the
north of western Siberia to the Urals.
Work is impeded by temperatures as
low as 50 degrees Centigrade below
zero. The deposit contains 1.3 trillion
cubic metres of gas .

ANADYR — The Chukotk@:
ensemble “Dawn” left here bY f
day on a long tour. The name
ensemble symbolizes the lov 1
of the culture of the small yuo et
nationalities. Through the rae .
dance the members depict *
past and the bright new life
northern peoples .. . ds?

MURMANSK — Curative MU"
been found in the bottom of ‘i
Sea. This made it possible a
mud-cure centre in the tow? fot

dalaksha. The muds are US vos LW

treatment of rheumatism, n®
gastric diseases...
* * * é

Contrast the above with ae
development of our Cana
land. Even so friendly 2 critic*
government as Irene Baifdy 7,
for the official publication a
One Hundred: 1867-1967," Wi!

“The Inuit have a name
land. Some call it ‘the beaull
Yet it is a hard land, too, whe tl
lihood has always been a ha de
inal ‘existence, where 4ise4
starvation have more often p
been the lot of the people: w hy
where life can fiicker and blo
a winter storm. uit

“Storms are things the If of
the meaning of, but the way ia
white man—these can still
understand. An elderly E
has been observing the "oye
many years remarked to oné hal
well: ‘Some kabloona behave ef
time like masters and the ©

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