Page 4, The Herald, Thursday, August 9, 1979

TERRACE/KITIMAT

daily herald

General Offlee - 635-6357
Cirevulation - 635-6357

GEN. MANAGER - Knox Coupland

EDITOR - Greg Middleto

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626.6957

COMMENT
BY GRAHAM LEA
PRINCE RUPERT MLA

Indian affairs, or more accurately the government’s
lack cf concern for native problems, sparked heated
debate in the Legislature during the estimates of the
Ministry of Labour. When all the dust and settled the

government confirmed it considers B.C. Indians F

second-rate citizens and Labour Minister Allan

Williams maintained his reputation for spurious

debate.

One of the key issues involved a promise made by
Williams in 1976 to assist the Nishga band through the
bureaucratic maze posed by their land claim disputes.
The minister, clearly hiding behind the cloak of the
federal government, has failed to fulfil his com-
mitment to initiate the trilateral negotiations upon
which the Nishgas had relied. Pressed to explain his
inaction Williams denied his agreement in the first
place and then in no uncertain terms summed up his
government's position: “..Jf aboriginal rights every
existed, and there is serious question about that, then

-they were eliminated during the time the B.C. was a
colony and if not then, when B.C, became a province.”

Having arbitrarily disposed of the issue of land
rights the minister swung inte an attack of Indian
leaders in the province. In Williams’ opinion the
leaders themselves are the root of the Indian problem
as they compete for government funding to the glory
of their organizations and to the detriment of the In-
dian pecple. If anything the Minister of Labour cer-
tainly did not compete for funds for the Indians. The
government allocated $61,800 for the present fiscal

" year for Indian programs.

‘That $61,800 translates into '77 cents per native.
Unemployment rates of 70 per cent to 90 per cent are
common on Indian reserves in this province. Indians
both male and female are incarcerated in correctional
institutions at a rate 10 times that for non-Indians. The
mortality rate for newborn natives is almost 5 per cent
compared to 1.t per cent for the white community.
These are classic symtoms of a group alienated
' socially and economically from mainstream society.
The government contribution of 77 cents per person
demonstrates just how serious it considers the plight

of B.C.'s native people.

For historical reasons Indian affalrs has tallen
within the jurisdiction of the federal government. The
B.C. government has used this to dodge its. respon-
sibilities to help bring about a solution. The provincial
government states Indians have the same op-
portunities as all British Columbians but this assertion
ignores the fact Indians start from a disadvantaged
position. And that is the hallmark of this Socred ad-

ministration. :

By ©’, Roger Worth

Canada’s farmers and fisher-
mien have been taking a bum
rap from consumers who con-
tInually lay the blame for ris-
fing food prices al the dock-
side, or at the farm gate,

Blunitly stated, a lot of the
complainers don't know what
they are talking about, In fact,
Canadians are among the best
fet people in the world, and at
prices that are among the tow-
esi in the world,

It’s true, food prices have
been rising at an inordinate

| Mainstream Canada
Producers Taking a Bum Rap

Roger Worth is Director,
Pablic Affairs,
Canadian Federation of
Independent Business.

rate during the past couple of
years, but so have the pro-
ducers’ costs,

Certainly, farmers and
fishermen having been faring
well of late, but that’s the na-
ture of the business. Producers
earn a greai deal of money in
the good years, hopefulty off-
setting losses In the lean
periods.

Some misinformed clty-
slicker complainers are bright
enough to remain silent when
food prices are dropping, and
producers are in trouble,

While there may be room
for cawplr'nis about the in-

adequacies and pricing poll-
cles of the nathon’s processing
and distrlbulion system, over-
all, consumers are gelting food
at reasonable cost.

Much has been made of the
fact that it now costs $61 per
week to feed a family of four
people in Canada, Atrocious,
some consumers would say,

Yet Canadians only spend
about 22% of take-home pay
on food. The complainers
should Jook at Japan, where
farnilles spend as much as 40%
of income onfocd. Or Europe,
where it's not considered un-
teasorfable if food cosis sur-
pass 30% - 35% of family in-
come,

Canadian consumers com-
plain about hamburg at $2.50
- $3 per pound, Yet the same
product in Tokyo appears on
retail store shelves priced at
$10 - SES per pound. And the
Japanese don’t complain.

What's imporiant to note,
particularly considering the
energy crunch, is that North
Americans have not been faced
with outright shortages of
food. The producers are doing
their job.

Rather than complaints,
Canadian consumers should
be patting farmers and fisher-
nen on the back, They deserve
a break,

eS

Is time soon running out?

- WASHINGTON (CP) —
The public view that time is
Tunning out on Jimmy
Carter's presidency appears
to be spreading, placing him
under intense pressure to
show leadership in the fight
agalnst inflation, recession
and energy problems,

In less than six months
Carter faces the first of a
series of cross-country
primary elections that
decide the Democratic
party's nominee for
president In the 1980 elec-
tions, and about a year until
nomination day itself, :

So the clock {s running on
the president, and he is

Editorial oplnion in
- Canadian newspapers was
divided Wednesday over the
equity of the sentence of two
years leas a day meted out to
Jacques and Louise
Coasette-Trudel for their role
in the FLQ kidnapping of
James Cross in 1970.

The Toronto Globe and
Mail called the sentence “an
unacceptably small price for
a heinous crime,” while the
Montreal Gazette sald "‘it:
was probably the wisest
decision Chief Sessions

Judge Yves Mayrand could.

have made.”

Chief editorialist Marcel
Adam of Montreal's La
Presse wrote that he un-
derstood why Judge
Mayrand had not wanted to
Impose a sentence smacking
of revenge, but “I admit I
- find it difficult to understand
why a sign of vengeance
would havebeen seen in a bit
longer lerm, let's say four or
six years, ...”

+,
tate en etn’

. iscalling in execu

ACROSS CANADA
Opinions divided

rx
OAS SMSC

SESS Sea in SRR

I ;

Eemtourery GRAAL

“Do you realize our two-week holiday cost.us six weeks salary?”

neeDeeleaetedededarenetebetesees:

FOR CARTER

declared candidacy for re- °

lection in a aeriea of trips
im him back to the
sthaller centres where he ig-
niféd‘the 1976 fervor that

broG¥iit him to power.

Last week it was Ken-
tucky, back to Bible country
where he called for a new
display of patriotism and

urged Americans to pull.

together to solve energy
shortages, This week he rode
to Baltimore by railroad,
stumping for his energy
programs,

White House aides let it be
known this-week that Carter
tives of the:

The Ottawa Journal com-
mented that “the assessed
sentence is long enough to
make clear that there is no
substitute for jail for serious
offences simply because
they are political in
motivation. A longer sen-
tence wouldn't have made
that point any better. ...”

The Edmonton Journal ob-
served; “Canadian justice
has treated the Cossette-
Trudels fairly and com-
passionately, They did not do
the same for James Cross,"

The Globe and Mall said in
part: “Jacques and Lonise
Cossette-Trudel have been
asked to pay an unace

tably small price for a
heinous crime, ... It was a
cruel crime, a crime that let
loose in Canada the kind of
terrorism that has afflicted
so many other countries to
the point where justice has
been virtually suspended, ...

“Nobody cries for

re

MONTREAL (CP). —
Recent changes allowing
more commercial we of
English— particularly in the

romotion of English-
wage publications and
records — have not

weakened Quebec's Charler
of the French language, says
the president of the Office de
la Langue Francise,

“We haven't diluted the
law, but we have made it
more precise and removed

some of the difficulties of .

application,” Raymond
Gosselin told a news con-
ference Wednesday,

The changes, published
without fanfare in the
Quebec Official Gazette July
25, allow for publicity flyers

for educational and cultural :

products to be in
language of the produc.
Gosselin said the new
ruling will eliminate con-
fusion sometimes felt by
persons who recelye ad-
veriising in French for
cultural products, only to

the

SRS TR ERA OTR NO

meat-packing and food in-
dustries to "jawbone" them
into cutting prices, There
have wre hints it a
propo personal income
tax cut up to $25 billion from -
next Jan. 1 to stall off the
worst effects of a business
recession the country is ex-
periencing,

But this revival effort may
be too late, Even his ally,
Thomas (Tip) O'Neill,
Speaker of the House of
Representatives, com-
mented last week that Carter
has until the end of this year
to show he can achieve a
renaissance, If he doesn't, a
Carter aide concedes, {t's

all aver.” :

vengeance, but what kind of
deterrent is this?

“The trivial sentences im-
posed upon them are the
most eloquent statement
that could be made in the
matter, ... Most Canadians

. will hay+ eoncern that

ted,
be some day rehabilitated,
but not before they have
endured a penalty that fits
the very ugly — and con-

tagious — crimes which they .

committed.”

The Gazette commented:
“For at least some of those

who remember the October:

crisis in 1970, the sentence ,..
may seem, if anything, light.
But it was probably the
wisest decision Chief
Sessions Judge
Mayrand could have made.

‘ay may not be greatly
relevant that the crimes
were committed nearly nine

ON QUEBE

English has little affect

find the producos were in
another language.

Another change permits
English and other languages
to be used, along with
French, in polnt-of-sale
advertising of articles such
as bocks, records and films.

But even in its modified .

stale, the law could cause
problems for the operators of
Montreal's English-
language movie houses,

Gosselin admitted that
few, if any, display
Hollywood movie posters
that contain any French and
noted reluctantly that “ev-
ery good citizen of Quebec
must respect the law.

“Hf we receive any written
complaints from the public,
we will have no choice but to
act on them.” . .

He suggested cinema
owners might get around the
problem by placing a French
[poster next to the English
one. -

Gosselin detailed other
changes, such as rewording
regulations to make it clear
that conventions can be held

_in any language in Quebec.

“Tn our view and in that of --

the legislator, a convention
that brings together
specialists and ia closed to
the public cannol be con-
sidered a public place and
therefore does not come
under the language char-
ter, ,

Tires sold in Quebec will
not have to bear any Frencli
markings. Gosselin sald the
exemplion was = given.
because at the expense of.
tire molds, which are passed
from one factory to another.

“There are two tire
manufacturers in Quebec
and we didn’t want to put
them at a disadvantage: by
making them have special
molds.” ;

Gosselin said that, in his

¥ves°

weretslatetatetetecietezecerereiese eet t
SESE BEB Bionic

neenelentasceneatare, "

Other interests won't
Ukely give him that much
time. California's
Democratic Governor-Jerry
Brown last week fielded'an
“exploratory committee" ti

x

teat his chances. for the .
presidentialt! ntminatibn. ©
And rumors: statted ‘afresh -

about Senator Ted “Ken-
Hedy’s possible candidacy —
despite his official denials of

intereat — after a gossip- ©

column item claimed’ the
Kennedy family has given its
approval for a bid for the
presidency by Kennedy, |

Kennedy offered only the
tongue-in-cheek remark that

-"T think tty mother!Ayoult

tmei Wold fst

support :

on trial

irrelevant that the Cosgette-
Trudels lived mgst,of that
.Ume in Paris, in what their
supporters called ‘exile’ ,,,
What does matter is that
when they chose to come
home again they did so
openiy, giving themselves up
to justice. ...

“All things considered, a
sentence of two years is
about right. And now, at last,
we may be able to begin
-putting the terrible events of
1970 behind us.”

La Presse sald: “‘It is
necessary to take into ac-

af

i

count, before judging, what -

the judge said: The major
criterion, the. _— basic
philosophy which must In-
spire a judge in the deter-
mination of a sentence, is
public interest. =
“The judge took inte ac-
count, doubtless with reason,
the defence argument that
the eight years abroad could
be the equivalent of four

view, the provisions of the —

charter concerning fran-

cization of business need not _

‘undergo any other major

changes.

“Our attitude Is that the.
objectives of the charter are
nol negotiable, whereas the
time frame and the means
used are,” he said.

The office’s statistics show
thal, of 234 businesses em-
ploying more than 4500
workers that #re subject to
the languay . charter, 265
have received a lemporary
certificate of francization, |
while 29 have already been
granted a permanent cer-
tificate. .

Gosselin said there has
L.on no settlement of the
pre“lem_ posed by
Monreal newspaper La
Presse, whose publisher,
noted federalist Roger

the |

Lenwlin, flatly refused to -
apply for a francization
certificate,

But he noled that Le Soleil,
of Quebec City, got lta cer-
Uficate months ago, ;

VANCOUVER (CP) --
In ali other provinces but
one, Robert Bonner,

would be in a clear con-
flict of interest. .

. Bonner, who earns
. 449,000 a year as head of
the Crownowned. utility,
also sits on the boards of
directors of four private
: companies, at least one of
-Which ‘has indirect
dealings with Hydro,

A survey of public
utilities across Canada
indicated that only B.C,
Hydro and Hydro Quebec
permit their top execu-

- tives to hold directorships
in private companiés,

The usual reasoning is
that such outside ac-
tivities or interests might

’ constitute — a conflict of
interest, especially if the,
company in question does
business with the utility.

Insome provinces, such
as -New Brunswick,

‘ outaide directorships are
prohibited by law, while
in others they are forbid-

.,den by custom or long-
standing pollcy.

’ Bonner denies that his
outside pursuits place
him in a sticky position
while running British
Columbia's largest Crown
corporation, The subject,
he says, never comes up,
_ “I've had no problems
whatsoever," he said in a
recent interview,

“The government was
aware of my in-
volvements when I ac-
cepted the joh four years
ago. I advised them at the
time.”'

Bonner said the only
Move he made to avoid
pogsible conflict of in-

terest was to resign as a

_ director. of IBM Canada
Ltd, because Hydro is one
of the company’s biggest
customers. ,

He now holds direc-
torships with, In-
‘ternational Nickel Co.,
RCOR Reinsurance, the
J. Henry Schroeder
Banking Corp. of New -
York, and Montreal
Trust.

t.
in Vancouver, columnist
en ‘orale, ~ that

EAL TeUst’s portfolio
includes a wide range of
Hydro customers — such
as Kaiser Resources, B.C.

chairman of B.C. Hydro,

_dta  cllents.
* “He said
no further public com: -

constitute —.or.appear to |

BONNER FINDS
NO CONFLICT

and MacMillan
Hloedel Ltd, wt
Bonner sald Montreal
Trust does not have any
direct interest in’ these

companies, but holda |°

stock in them on behalf of
he would have.

ment on the matter, —

“Tf they (the govern-
ment) want to discuss it
with me, they can.”

In other parts of the .
country, all senior
executives of public
agencies are barred from
holding directorships in
private companies. .

At Manitoba Hydro, for

“instance, thera hasn't

been a chairman in the
laat 42 years to held
outalde directorships.
“It's a Jong-stan
praciice,"’ sald Ear
Mills, the utllity’s publle
relations director, who
remembers back to 1997.
“There's no_ official
policy, but [know the last.
four chairmen, and this
goes back 42 years, had
no outside directorshipa,’”

top
be at thelr jobs full-time.
of snag Bald Aen.
spokesman’ fa long-
slanding Polley forbids
chaifmen and  vice-
charmer pf. crown
corporationa;jrom Bu
outside involvements,

And at Newfoundland-
Labrador Hydro, a
conflict of interest bylaw
bans any outside ‘ di-
tectorship by the
chairman or chief
executive officer, with no
exceptions,

Nor can Saskatchewan
Power Corp. senior
executives hold outalde
directorshipa,

“There's no set rule,
but it's just ‘not done,”
said corporation counsel:
Kay Wellman. “It’s not

It's never even
discussed," .
A Hydra Quebec

Cera, ARE.

Bord tata nee
as long as they dis
their interests in writing
to the government. .

OTTAWA (CP) — A
coalition of women’s
groups urged the

- government Wednesday
to help African women
stamp out the centuries-

mutilation of young girls,
The Coalition Against
Female Genital
Mutilation sent telegrams
to Prime Minister. Clark
and External Affairs
Minister Flora Mac-
ld them to
take an officlal stand
against the practices
during their visits to
African countries,
* At least 14 per cent of
federal development
funds to the Third World
go to African countries
tolerating what amounts
to castration of women,
Lisa Volkov, a coalition

‘countries, routilation Is
performed in modern
Western-style hospitals
funded by the Canadian
government, she said,

The coalition of
women’s groups from
across the country said
Canada should publicly
endorse the -recom-
mendations of a World
Health Organization con-
ference calling for.
educational and health
programs to end genital
mutilatlon.

Canada should alao
channel its international
development funds into
such programs in the
more than 3 African
countrles’ where an
estimated 30 million
women and children have
had parts of their genitals
removed, the coalitlon

A dozen coalition
demonstrators on
Parllament Hill pre-
sented a brief to an aide of
David MacDonald,
minister responsible for
the status of women. The
side said it is up to Miss
MacDonald, still in Africa
with Clark after the Com-
monwealth conference in

old ritual of genital.

spokesman sald at a news
conference.
In some African .

WOMEN OPPOSE
HORROR RITUAL

Lusaka, 0 express
government policy on the

ue.

Ms. Volkov said ritual
mutilation is intended to-
protect a women's
virginity and prevent
promiscuity, but because
mh egatrled Orhan

genic surroun '
often results in sterility,
severe Infection or death.

Because it is designed

to prevent women from
enjoying sexual in
tercourse, the ritual
amounts to female
castration, Ms. Volkov
said.
Drawing from the work
of an American resear-
cher, she said removal of
the clitoris and outer
Benitalia is performed on
young girls, often infants;
by -a-midwife or relative
using knives, glass
splinters,” hot coals or
fingernails, .

Tn some cases, the outer
genitalia are sewed
together with a thorn and
covered with black earth
and the gir!'s legs are tied
together, ;

*She lies immobilized
for. weeks in. her own
excrement, wrapped in a:
goatekin bandage, until
she heals or dies,'" Ms.
Volkov said,

When @& woman
marries, she is cut open,
but is sewn up after each
childbirth.

Nearly every woman in
northern and weatern
African countries has
been mutilated in this
way, and some are
beginning to rebel against
the practice, Ms. Volkov

Churches and other
volunteer groups continue
to give ald ‘artis,
countries, w ulng a
blind eye to these prac:'
tices, Ma. Volkov said,

She rejected criticism
that the coalition ia tn-
terfering in the cultural
traditions of another
country, “If 30 million
men were having their

teaticles sliced up, that
accusation wi 't be

made,” she said,

a