ey

CACHE CREEK BLOCKADE SUPPRESSED

_ But the inequity remains

By ALD. HARRY RANKIN

More than 75 riot-equipped
R.C.M.P. were sent to Cache Creek
last week to suppress an Indian
protest — by force if necessary.
Even hospitals were alerted to
expect casualties.

What did the Indian people want
so desperately that they felt it
necessary to resort to an armed
blockade of a public road to draw
attention to their grievance?

Nothing revolutionary. Nothing
that other Canadians haven’t been

_ demanding. They are asking for
more and. decent housing. Most
non-Indians don’t know how bad
housing on reserves really is. I do;
I've been on a few reserves and I

_- know their demands are fully

Justified. If you think housing in

our slums is bad, you should see
the housing that some of the Indian
people have to. live in. On the

_ Bonaparte Reserve at Cache:
Creek, for example, only one
quarter of the houses have running
water or indoor plumbing.

Why did the Indian people resort
to an armed blockade? Because .
this to them was the only means of
getting any action. They have been
pleading, arguing and demanding,
but the Indian department gives
them nothing but promises.

It’s an indictment of government
policies that it moves quickly and
at great expense to send nearly a

hundred policemen up there to
Suppress the protest but will do_

UP

nothing about the cause. .

I think that here is a splendid
opportunity for the provincial
government to move into the
picture and provide the Indian
people of this band with the
housing they need and want. It
would set an example that Ottawa
could hardly afford to ignore. What

_Is needed here is some action — not

buck passing by one level of
government to another.

If the needs of the Indian people
on the Bonaparte Reserve are not
attended to, there will be more
trouble, and it may culminate in
tragic events. The Indian people
are no longer prepared to put up
with treatment that puts them in

the category of second rate
citizens.

people, especially young Indians,

. are leaving the reserves because
' there is nothing there for them.

They come into Vancouver and are
up against a hostile environment
with no place to turn.

What we need here is a large
Indian Centre, run by the Indian
people themselves. It could
provide accommodation, advice
and help for Indian people seeking
jobs, education, housing and
medical aid. It could provide
dormitories for Indian students. It
could provide recreational, sport

and educational facilities of
various kinds.

The cost of such a centre would
be small compared to the costs

‘incurred from our failure to

provide such facilities — in terms
of health, welfare, courts etc., not
to mention the human misery
involved for the Indian people. It
would cost the city less to provide
such a centre than it would to buy

the Orpheum Theatre or to sub- '

sidize the merchants and property
owners along Granville Street, by
paying the costs of the new mall.

NFU urges

price probe

In Vancouver too, some action |
must be taken. Many Indian’

National Farmers Union
president Roy Atkinson has wired
federal agriculture minister,
Eugene Whelan, urging him to
undertake an immediate inquiry
into the price spread between top
grade steers and heifers paid to
farmers by packing companies.

Atkinson pointed out that the’

spread amounted to 12 cents a
pound on some markets, whereas
the long-term normal Spread
between top grade slaughter steers
and heifers has been from one to
two cents a pound. He termed it “a
blatant form of legalized robbery.”

By H. K. WARREN

The great egg war is not over
yet. And it is not likely to be until
the public takes up the issues and
starts asking Mr. Whelan and the
Canadian Egg Marketing

Association some very pertinent:

questions. :
The Province of September 9
quotes Whelan as saying that there
is no government money in the
CEMA program, but it was only a
week previous that he stated that
he was applying to the government
for $10 million to pay off the

deficits of the CEMA.

In the same press release, he
stated that if “‘anybody thinks he
can lower the price of eggs any
lower than it is at the present timé
— we just won’t have any eggs.”’

When Mr. Whelan does not
contradict himself, the facts do.

To the week ending August 31,
1974 Canada had produced in one
year, a total of 6.3 billion eggs,
according to the poultry review of
the department of agriculture. The
same source advises us that up to
1971, our annual average con-
sumption of eggs was 23 dozen per
capita. This dropped to 19.4 dozen
per capita in 1973. If, as recently
reported, our population is taken to
be 22 million people then our an-
nual consumption of eggs should be
440 million eggs per year. :

That leaves 5.8 billion eggs to be
accounted for. We know now that
15 million have gone. rotten and
have been dumped. The press
release quoted above states that
the CEMA are inspecting their
complete stocks to determine the
condition of the rest of their stored
eggs — so we may easily expect a
further dumping of rotten eggs.

So much for eggs.

Beryl Plumptre announced
recently that there were 36 million
pounds of poultry in cold storage as
well. While her press release in-
dicated that she was a bit scan-
dalized by this bit of knowledge,
one horrors to think of-the shock on
the poor lady if she had read the
poultry market review published
by the department of agriculture.
Its review of July 1, 1974 shows that
there are 81.1 million pounds of
poultry in cold storage.

Who is getting all of our surplus
eggs and poultry? Certainly not the

= t Whelan chicke

consumer, for as some wag
radio mentioned, the
“‘decrease’’ has been dele
the English language and #
“increase” is the only wa
know.

A very large portion goe
U.S. where it is convert
powder and food by-produ
then sold back to this count
form of ‘‘convenience f

Mr. Whelan advocates SU
all down the line; sub:
farmers for wheat, for f
poultry production, eg F.
tion, subsidies to railway
sidies for food process
everything but. subsidies
consumer in the form of
prices. f

This philosophy of er,
was devised by Frank
Roosevelt during his Y
president of the U.S. He”
famous paying working '
to work and farmers not
crops. He died a hero bet?
war bailed him out of 0
situation and did for the °°
what his economic policl® —
not.

Incredible surpluses eC, i
symptom of an imPy
depression. Will we need i
war to dispose of the surp! ;

- are piling up all over.™
tinent? Or will any of on
have enough concern
Canadian people to i
sumer prices down, ™
purchasing power, and '@™
steps to rationalize 4
productive system. —

CORRECTION,
The figure for feder@ ©
ment expenditure on i
Indian people quoted in 14°
article on the Bonaparte ©
stration should havé —.
million rather than Boi,
decimal: point was in@! "i
placed in the original copy
the Tribune received..

Corrected, the comp
in the article last week W of
“while the department ®
affairs spends $58 millio”
» in maintaining its two
$24 million is alloca
housing.”’

Quite a number of the political Houdinis of our time

have attempted the trick of transforming a ‘“‘sow’s ear
into a silk purse’ with little or no success. That is not to be
wondered at. Be it changing political parties spurred on
by rank opportunism, or changing social systems, the
transformation is not to be made by any application of
magic trickery or naive illusions. 3

Shortly after the stench of corruptio of the Roblin
government of Manitoba (1915) had blown over, another

premier of that banner province (John Bracken) was
_ offered the national leadership of the tory Falange.

“Honest John” accepted of course, with one proviso: that —

the word ‘‘progressive”’ be latched onto ‘‘conservative’’,
thus we got “Progressive Conservatives” with all their
swinish attributes intact. Many simple souls, however,
believed that something had changed: that we now hada
‘silk purse in place of a sow’s ear, just as they believe
today that capitalism can be transformed into socialism

by the application of a few (mostly harmless) legislative.

gimmicks. : Sas
It just can’t be done. Even when Social Credit Bible
thumping Bill Aberhart of Alberta attempted to substitute
his ‘‘script’”’ dollars for an alleged coin-of-the-realm, the
_ Canadian Bankers Association (which also serves as an
“invisible government in times of stress and strain) soon
put the kibosh on Abie’s “funny money’. Even unem-

ployed workers wouldn’t accept these Socred ‘‘dollars”’ in

lieu of a meagre welfare — but hardly for the same

_ PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1974-PAGE 2

_ §overnment may have had was not sufficie

reasons as the Bankers Association. To the one it was

entirely worthless, to the other a potential menace to their
class interests. But Abie did well in the souvenir market.

With : these historical incidents in mind, there js
something of a salutory lesson emerging from the recent
Kamloops convention of the NDP. There the provincial
delegate body of the NDP took a close-up view of what it
Saw since the NDP came to power in August of 1972, and
apparently much that it saw it didn’t expecially like.

During those 24-months much that the NDP government

has done in the way of social le islation is high] -
mendable. In the : sionals

realm of labor-management affairs
however, as in similar matters, for an avowed socialist
movement, the picture is much less appealing.

What seemed particularly to disturb the delegates at the
convention was the howls of sundry landlords, mine
operators and real estate sharks against good NDP
measures, plus pretentious approval of the bad; both from
the same source — and largely the only source of in-
formation (or rather misinformation) NDP members and
Supporters — and the province as a whole — had on NDP
stewardship. Obviously what public relations policy the

nt
Socred corporate barra Cera

criticism.

That comes of “playing”
tempting the Houdini trick
ear’ of capitalism into the
without disturbing anything
Ca pteas into socialism on th
its Own members and Supporters how such policies -h
been, or are to be, carried through: Reuse Paul
Bunyan and his Blue Ox Constructing the Portland Canal
— the magic of make-believe,

No matter the old-line partisan’s glee the Bennetts,

at being “Socialists”; of at-
of transforming the “sow’s
“silk purse” of socialism,
or anyone; of legislating
e quiet, without even telling

‘subtle attempts to ‘“‘two-time” labor.

ge of empty but noisy anti-NDP .

™ coumesmnsen ee
Tories or Liberals may yodel at the turn of ore re
the NDP Kamloops convention, the historic ie ‘an
that the electorate of British Columbia £4¥ fe
whelming mandate to an avowed socialist Trott
specifically for socialism, but because they ha t
enough of more than two decades of Social Cr :
of their lands, resources and liberties. A young’ ‘
notwithstanding, but of the same old ‘“‘vintage ae
want no more of it, come the next election °
that. :
Yet Premier Dave Barrett and his g0V
better take heed to the lessons of history 2” 0
following of his own party delegates at a
cannot win a mandate on “tightening purse >”
Nor © me
socialism or anything like it by trying. a
capitalism into anything other than what it D ye
pigsty of the most gluttonous breed. Nor can of "
attain socialism by the gradual processes ' ove
Donald “‘socialist’’ government of Britain a oved
century ago. that was so gradual, it never
cept to go backwards if that was possible.
Despite the noisy “unity” of the
conglomeration of opportunist and discredi sesh
Liberals, Tories and monopoly exploiters t fed
set-back suffered by the NDP in the rece? ent 2
tion, which gave the Trudeau governm® |
majority and NDP national leader Lewis tie cal
final swan song, the NDP in British Colum
elected come the next provincial election,
pursues bold and courageous policies whic?
with the needs, hopes and aspirations of tha
terminates its desire to play “footsie” with’
Or, in other words, stop trying to make 4
of a sow’s ear’’. That can best be left to
company — the class master craftsmen of ‘