cutbacks

Education minister Bill
Vander Zalm (inset) strikes
& typically belligerent pose
as he lectures and
harangues a crowd of more
than 4,000 people, including
many teachers, at the PNE
Agrodome Oct. 20.
Organizers of the rally, the
-C. Teachers Federation,
Pointed out that Bill 89 — .
the School Services (In-
terim) Act — which chops
~Y million from the educa-
tion budget for the school
year will anly legislate out
of existence many school
Services, but will also result

in teacher layoffs next spr-
ing.

ee

Scaggs

BRITISH C

sa

OLUMBIA

TRIBUNE PHOTOS — JOSHUA BERSON

CFU seeking curbs on pesticide misuse

A’ just-released survey has
Pointed to the “‘shocking”’ misuse
ss Pesticides on B.C.’s large-scale
arms — and immediate govern-
Ment action is needed to stop the
©Ontinued poisoning of farm-
Workers, the president of the Cana-
di Farmworkers Union said

esday.

The survey, carried out during

"© past summer through inter-.

views of farmworkers and growers
M the Fraser Valley and the In-
terior, shows a ‘‘strong
Correlation” between exposure to
Pesticides and symptoms of
Poisoning experienced by farm-

Workers, said researcher David

€, who headed the federally-
funded Project for the Matsqui and

re

Abbotsford Community Services
organization.

“To anyone but farmworkers,
the results of this survey are shock-
ing,’’ CFU president Raj Chouhan
told reporters at a joint press con-
ference called by the community
services organization and the
union.

“The complete disregard of
safety procedures, the relationship
between sickness and the amount
of exposure, and the total lack of
protection for farmworkers are all
an illustration of the dismal condi-
tions of pesticide use in British Col-
umbia,’”’ said Chouhan, adding
that the union had been trying ‘‘for
over two years to get recognition”’
of the situation.

From the survey of 272 farm-
workers a picture emerges of vir-
tually uncontrolled use of
pesticides, with workers and in
many cases, growers, almost total-
ly ignorant of the nature of the tox-
ins or their proper application. The
survey shows an overwhelming
disregard for the safety of the
mainly Punjabi and French-
speaking workforce, and a lack of
proper safety and sanitary facilities
on the worksite.

Statistics presented in the report
tell the story: about one-fifth of the
farmworkers breathe pesticide
fumes while working; eight out of
10 regularly suffer direct eye con-
tact, and 55 percent have been
directly sprayed; more than 79 per-

cent have had to enter fields still wet
from spraying, and more than 25
percent have seen their living
quarters directly sprayed.
- Seven out of 10 ‘‘became
physically ill after a direct
spraying”’ but only slightly more
than three percent of the growers
sought medical help for their
workers, the report stated.

Regarding the symptoms, more
than 44 percent have suffered skin
rashes, 47 percent experienced it-
ching, while 50 percent reported
headaches and 35 percent ex-
perienced dizziness — and much of
this was experienced by children
working in the fields, according to
the report.

Other finding showed that

The Vancouver and District
Labor Council may not have been
Precise in reading the provisions
Of the Columbia River treaty, but
It was nevertheless “quite right”
in demanding that the provincial
80vernment give notice im-
Mediately of its intention to re-
Yovtiate the sale of power to the
ce under the terms of that trea-

: That was the response Tuesday
ean University of B.C. pro-
er Ralph Loffmark to a letter
= the VDLC from provincial
wie Minister Brian Smith in
oa ch the minister. gave only a
: Sue reply on the issue of
“negotiation while correcting the
ay cil on its reading of the trea-

: Loffmark’s articles and

Peeches last year on the

pnomics of the Columbia treaty

faved a large part in prompting

2¢ demand from the labor coun-
and other organizations.

cl In his letter to the labor coun-

Cghomith pointed out that the

lumbia treaty which runs for

clan tS: does indeed have a

Boh Stipulating that 10 years

Ape be given by either country

"eal tention to terminate. But the

fod ‘downstream benefits” —

~“lfa Capacity that U.S. power

mets gain from Canadian

T Stored behind the three

dian treaty dams — was

Labor ‘right’ to urge

covered in a separate sales agree-
ment which runs for 30 years and
has no 10-year notice clause.

‘There are no provisions in the
sales agreement requiring either
nation to give notice of termina-
tion or intention to renegotiate,”
Smith said, adding ‘‘However, I
can assure you that this will not be
overlooked by the government of
British Columbia.”’

The labor council had written
premier Bennett demanding that
the Socred government move 1m-
mediately to serve notice on the
U.S. that British Columbia wants
to get back the share of power to
which it is entitled after the agree-
ment expires. That power — the
downstream benefits — was sold
to the U.S. for 30 years for alump
sum of $425 million.

The labor council assumed that
the 30-year period began with the
treaty date — 1963 — and, basing
its demand on the ten-year notice
provision, urged the government
to give notice next year in order to
be on time for the assumed 1993

iry date.

onthe same demand was also
voiced by other organizations in-
cluding Communist Party and,
more recently, the regional con-
vention of the International

Woodworkers last week. :
In fact, the sales agreement Is
‘related directly to three specific
dams built under the terms of the
Columbia Treaty — the Duncan,

new Columbia deal

Arrow and Mica — and expires
30 years from the time the dams
became operational. According
to the provincial government, the
expiry dates are 1997, 1998, and
2003 for the three dams respec-
tively. ;
But irrespective of the dates,
the agreement entitles Canada,
and specifically British Colum-
bia, to half of the total
downstream benefits. Analysis
done last year by Loffmark pegg-
ed that total at 9.7 million
kilowatts — to which Canada is
entitled to half, or 4.8 million
kilowatts.

If, instead of being sold, that
power were returned to Canada
as electricity, fed into the B.C.
grid, it could serve the province’s
needs well into the next century,
obviating the need for several
B.C. Hydro projects for which
costs have become staggering.

That is the main point. And
because of it, the VDLC and
others were right in pressing their
demand, according to Loffmark.

“‘Why shouldn’t we give notice
now of our intention to
renegotiate?” he asked. ““There’s
nothing wrong with giving notice
early but we would bein trouble if
we left it too late.”’

Loffmark, now a professor of
business law and economics at
UBC, was-a cabinet minister in
the Social Credit government of
W.A.C. Bennett at the time of the

negotiation of the Columbia
River treaty.

Since that time he has criticized
the treaty and, in a series of
speeches and lectures last year, he
urged re-negotiation of the sales
agreement.

If we give notice now, he em-

phasized, it will give the U.S. suf- _

ficient time to build the projects
necessary to replace the power
that will be returned to Canada.
And since the U.S. desperately
needs the power — he emphasiz-
ed that the Americans have ‘‘no
excess capacity’? — the en-
nouncement by British Columbia
and Canada of intention to get
back its share of downstream
benefits would give us effective
bargaining clout.

“You bet that would be a
powerful bargaining lever,’’ he
said. ‘‘I say we should give them
(the U.S.) notice early.’

Loffmark estimated that it
would cost the U.S. some $10 to
$20 billion to replace the capacity
now obtained from Canadian
downstream benefits. By the
same token, the return of the
power would enable B.C. Hydro
to put off several costly power
projects.

But the government has to act
quickly to serve notice on the
U.S., he emphasized. ‘‘If they
just sit and wait on it, they’ll be
playing right into the hands of the
Americans.”’

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCTOBER 29, 1982—Page 3

almost 70 percent lacked proper
washup facilities, and ‘‘the vast
majority”’ are not always provided
with clean drinking water.

Few farmworkers know, or have
a legal right to know, what
pesticides are being used, anda full
88 percent had been given no in-
struction in pesticide handling, the
report asserted.

Lane said the report leaves out
such “‘horror stories’’ as incidents
where spraying took place right
beside workers cabins, or tent sites,
with the pesticide ‘drifting into
open windows.”’

Since many of the symptoms of
pesticide poisoning are similar to
those experienced by influenza suf-
ferers, said Lane, a ‘key finding”’
in the computer-analyzed survey
was the discovery of ‘‘an extremely
high correlation between the level
of exposure and the number of
symptoms experienced.’’

Farmworkers will finally be in-
cluded under Workers’ Compen-
sation Board regulations beginning
next April, and the report recom-
mended several new regulations on
pesticide exposure, including man-
datory instruction in pesticide use,
“‘strict”’ re-entry times after fields
have been sprayed, and ‘“‘regular
and systematic” inspection of
farms.

The report also urged a “‘fur-
ther, occupational health study
with emphasis on chronic, long-
term effects of pesticide exposure,
particularly on children.’ Such a
study should be carried out jointly
by the federal and provincial health
ministeries and the B.C. Medical
Association, all of which will
receive copies of the report, said
Lane.

Chouhan, who said he met with
WCB chairman A. R. Gibbons the
previous day but received no com-
mitment on pesticide rules, said the
board should immediately begin to
institute safety procedures.

“‘Without specific well-designed
regulations, protection will be a
meaningless phrase,’’ said
Chouhan, adding that union
would ‘‘not sit quietly” on the
issue.

“‘We will be asking thé whole
public to generate this kind of
pressure on the authorities to get
them to institute new pesticide
regulations,”’ he said.

yA Ne
.