i Hi i i t | Notive Indians’ plea landed on empty desk _ In his capacity as superintendent of Indian affairs, Citizen- Ship Minister Jack Pickersgill is in hot water again. This week, 118 Cree Indians on the Hobbema reserve in _ A number of groups, includ- Ing the Alberta Bar Associa- tion, have called for repeal of Section 12, but their appeals, along with a petition, remain locked in Pickersgill’s desk While he was in Newfound- land. Twenty-seven Indians from the reserve, members of the ‘Samson band, started the pro- ceedings by formally com- Plaining that the 118 had no tight to enjoy treaty rights. They based their claim on Sec- tion 12, which describes those Not eligible for treaty rights 88 including Indians or half- breeds who were allotted land or script after the Riel rebel- lion or their descendants. - It 1s alleged in this case that the ancestors of the 118 took script. The appeal will be heard by the district judge, who, under Section 9 of the Indian Act, will have all the powers of a Royal Commission. Any 10 Indians in a band can challenge, by. petition, the eligibility of Treaty Indians. Commission from the depart- ment must then conduct an Unsold cars 514,869 DETROIT Stocks of unsold 1957 cars held by dealers in the United States on January 1 were 514,869, according to the Au- tomotive News. .Used_ car Stocks, said that trade jour- nal, hit a 10-month high. ee FREE CONTINUING CREDIT No Interest or Carrying Charges MEN! Buy your WORK OR DRESS CLOTHES this fasy, easy way. Absolutely nO money charged for in- terest or carrying charges. Just pay the, purchase price and NO MORE . .. Choose from a large selection of UNION MADE) MEN’S WEAR, Drop in now! —— ; Bs oe “LTD a SWSeagareyn75 Captus, = eon bh ee ‘Alberta appealed against their expulsion from the reserve Under Section 12 of the Indian Act. investigation and, on the basis of this investigation, the reg- istrar must rule on the status of those named in the petition, subject to an appeal to the courts. Any references to the case in the House of Commons will be ruled out of order on the ground that it is before the courts, but this will not rule out consideration of the In- dian Act itself. In the Hobbema case, the 118 Cree Indians will, if their expulsion is upheld, lose a considerable income from royalties on oil. Assessments in North Van hit hy homeowners NORTH VANCOUVER North Vancouver: home- owners living in the vicinity of 15th Avenue and Beswick Street are fighting increased assessments before the North Vancouver Assessment Board which commenced its sittings this week. Charles Caron, LPP city organizer and resident in the area, appeared before the board Monday afternoon to oppose the increase on his own and other homes in the area. Charging that the board was taking advantage of the Provincial Assessment Act and ignoring — local factors which have a direct bearing on property values, Caron said too big a load was being placed on the small home- owner. He charged that value- of home properties were adverse- ly- affected by rezoning of the adjoining area into an industrial zone. Caron pointed out that a delegation of residents had appeared before council six months ago requesting a park or playing field to separate the new industrial from the residential area. Had this been done, _ residential property values could have been main- tained. But although . the council had promised consid- eration of the proposal, noth- ing was done. Instead assessments, based on inflated values, have been increased and homeowners 1n the area can expect to pay higher taxes. Caron’s arguments were supported by other long time residents in the district. Jack Loutet, board chair- man, said the board would reserve judgment on the ap- peals and announce its de- cision later. PROBE CONTINUES Growers demanding end to U.S. dumping Lengthy fact-filled briefs and other documentary exhibits underlining the shaky economy of the province’s fruit growing industry are piling up before the MacPhee royal commission, now studying the plight of the growers. Briefs which have been presented by president Arthur Garrish of the British Columbia Fruit Growers Association (BCFGA), provincial horticulturist Robert P. Murray, B.C. Tree Fruits gen- eral manager R. P, Walrod and others, give added weight to the contention that fruit growers are “going broke in the midst of a boom.” So far very few of the briefs present- ed offer any solution but merely give a detailed history of the growers’ organizations. One partial solution, now being presented to federal Agriculture Minister James Gardiner by the Canadian Horticultural Council, and long advocated by numerous B.C. growers and truck farm- ers alike, is the urgent need to call a halt to U.S. fruit and vegetable dumping on the Canadian market at “distress prices.” This U.S. dumping generally takes place at the time similar crops grown in B.C. are ready for marketing, thus ‘preventing Canadian growers from selling any por- tion of their crops at. premi- um prices. Moreover, some fifty per- LABOR AROUND THE PROVINCE cent or more of all U.S, fruit and vegetables dumped in Canada are duty free, which adds to the profits of U.S. growers and Canadian jobbers, with no benefits whatsoever to Canadian growers or con- sumers. It is expected that a strong demand along similar lines will be advanced by the B.C. growers in their representa- tions before the MacPhee in- quiry. Fishermen win long campaign for unemployment insurance coverage Organized labor chalked up another important victory this week when federal Labor Minister Milton Gregg an- nounced that an unemploy- ment insurance plan for com- mercial fishermen would be- come effective on April 1 of this year. Some 50,000 fishermen, of whom 8,000 are wage earners, will gain from this new cov- erage. The United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union in Brit- ish Columbia, largest trade union of fishermen in the country, paign to win unemployment insurance for commercial fish- ermen. Benefits will be restricted to the period between January 1 and mid-April, starting next January. at ges x Six hundred members of the B.C. Woodworkers Union, formerly a CCL federal un- ion, voted this week to join the International Woodwork- ers of America. The vote in favor of affili- ation was 339 to 146. The union will become Local 1-252 IWA, with Vic Forster re- maining as business agent. % be x In Vancouver, city council has turned down a proposal by Ald. Halford Wilson that a Jabor representative be in-eral election pioneered the cam-— vited to the board of admin- istration when purchasing tenders are being discussed, Ald. Wilson expressed the opinion that this would help the city to further its policy of giving preference to union made goods. it sod a Vancouver City Council will ask the provincial gov- ernment for a charter amend- ment giving it authority to regulate store closing hours. Organized labor has announc- ed it will oppose this request, because they fear it will lead to stores being open six days and six nights a week, to the detriment of established working conditions for ‘store clerks. CLC to step up campaign for national health plan ; OTTAWA Two political action decis- ions highlighted the recent meeting here of the Cana- dian Labor Congress execu- tive and 30-member Political Educafion Committee. They were: @® Immediate. issuance of the CLC legislative program to all political parties for their comment. @ Stepped-up pressure to keep the initiative on a de- mand for a comprehensive plan of national health insur- ance, beyond the limited hos- pitalization scheme now un- der debate. These decisions follow the recent publication of a lively handbook on the CLC’s politi- cal education program( PEP). Congress. will “seek sup- port in the forthcoming) gen- for this and other aspects of labor’s legis- lative program,” a press re- lease announced following the top-level meetings. “The complete CLC pro- gram, as adopted at the found- ing convention in Toronto, will be placed before all po- litical parties well before the election in order to ascertain their position,” it adds. In advancing its campaign for a “comprehensive system” of health insurance by taking the issue to the people of Canada, the CLC will seek cooperation of the public through provincial federa- tions and local labor coun- cils, An attractive 4-page bro- chure Health Insurance for Canadians issued. in thou-— sands by the CLC for distri- bution, is now available as part of this campaign. FEBRUARY 8, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 9