CANADA

~ SACTU rep: full, mandatory sanctions

By MERLE TERLESKY

EDMONTON — ‘‘We must ask ourselves why the issue of apartheid topped the list at the re- ‘cent Vancouver Commonwealth conference,”” said Peter Mahlan- gu, Canadian representative of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) at a meeting here Oct. 20.

“It isn’t because of Thatcher or Reagan, but because we, the peo- ple of South Africa, have forced it onto the world agenda through our struggle,’ he con- tinued. ‘‘Our people are feed of

being oppressed. It’s ‘no longer a question of whether apartheid is good or bad, but how to get rid of It.

“*Since the National Union of Mineworkers’ strike last summer, the trade unions have shown we can shut down South Africa,” he said, warning that it was ‘‘only a dress rehearsal for inevitable victory.”

Mahlangu explained that for workers, going on strike — or even signing a union card — could spell death. “‘But it’s a choice we have made to survive. To do

Mahlangu: “Since the National Union of Mineworkers’ strike last sum-

mer, the trade unions have shown we can shut down South Africa.”

otherwise is to cease to be a people, to remain slaves.”’

He went on to urge complete and mandatory sanctions against Pretoria saying that they may hurt in the short term, but in the long run will help bring down apart- heid. The SACTU representative

‘then challenged Thatcher and

‘Reagan for arguing that sanctions

will hurt Blacks: ‘‘Since when do they care about Black people? Since when do they care about workers? Reagan doesn’t seem to

care about the thousands of

people he has killed in Nicaragua and El Salvador or the Persian Gulf. Thatcher treatment of British miners is sound proof of how she treats workers.

Getty jumps on bandwagon

By D. WALLIS

Alberta’s premier Getty recent- ly said that he would take retalia- tory action if the Free Trade deal is defeated. He said that *“‘I am warn- ing those who would damage Al- berta’s future by taking positions -against free trade, that we will never forget it’’. He also said ‘“‘we cannot have those who want to dominate Alberta and the West continue to fight this free trade agreement in order that they can pursue that domination.”

Mr. Getty under the guise of fighting for the ‘‘future of our pro- vince”’ is prepared to go blindly into a trade deal with the U.S.,

even before the details are known

so that the U.S. and their major. .

multinationals can dominate AI- berta even more rigidly.

In reality what Getty means is that he wants the right for the monopoly-dominated oil industry to export oil and-gas to be U.S. with no limits and absolutely no consideration for the short or long-term needs of Canada. While under the Mulroney administra- tion they can now do that, Mr. Getty is pushing free trade so that this cannot be reversed by a future government that will stand up for Canada.

Agent infiltrated Quebec party

CSIS threat to democracy

Special to the Tribune ; The Parti Communiste du Que-

_ bec, (PCQ) has reacted strongly to the infiltration of its ranks by the Canadian Security and Intel- ligence Services (CSIS).

“‘Our party is a democratic and legal political party which should have the right to carry out its ac- tivities without infiltration, with- out being bugged and without having its mail opened,”’ declared Marianne Roy, a member of the PCQ leadership.

Roy was speaking at a press conference held in response to the exposure in the House of Com- mons of confidential CSIS docu- ments describing posts to be filled in the Anti-Subversion Branch to deal with the Communist Party of - Canada, Parti Communiste du Quebec, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and “‘its front groups.”

Special Branch for CP

According to the documents, made public by MP Svend Robin- son, the post was filled in Sept. 1985. The description of the assignment, said the person cho- sen was to administer programs aimed at ‘“‘detecting and counter- acting the threats to the security of Canada in the Communist Par- ties in Canada.”

The revelations follow the ar- rest last June of CSIS agent Marc Boivin on conspiracy and terror- ism charges. Boivin had worked for the secret police inside the Confederation of National Trade Unions since 1977. He infiltrated the PCQ in late 1986.

According to the French-lan- guage CBC, Radio Canada, ‘‘re- sponsible sources in the CSIS” justify the presence of their in- formers in trade unions because of ‘‘little communist groups who carry on their clandestine activi- ties there.”

Roy ridiculed the explanation. “The CSIS would have us believe

that infiltration of trade unions by

the secret police is not for surveil- lance, destabilization and pro- vocation within the trade unions but rather for protecting them from infiltration by ‘nasty com- munists’.”’

Boivin was arrested, following an investigation by the Quebec Provincial Police, for the bombing of hotels sold to Malenfant. The union has been in a three-year battle with the buyer of the pro-

‘vincially-owned inns, who fired

union workers and hired scabs at one-third the wages.

The CNTU’s struggle took on national proportions when the husband of one of the fired work- ers, Gaston Harvey, was killed by police during a demonstration.

Reporter Fingered Bovin

Boivin, who was arrested along. with three other CNTU officers, was fingered as a CSIS agent by a Radio Canada journalist. It was later revealed the secret police had attempted to convince the QPP to cover up for their man.

The QPP refused and Boivin was convicted and sentenced to 15 months. The Quebec trial judge justified the light sentence by citing Bovin’s obvious commit- ment to the trade union movement. He made no mention of his CSIS connection.

Boivin will now act as a prose- cution witness in the trial of the other three who entered a not guilty plea.

According to Roy, Boivin had not been active in the party. ‘From Sept. 1986 to May 1987, he was present at three meetings of his club‘and at two meetings of the trade union and agricultural committee of the party. These were large meetings including non-members. He was expelled

6 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 4, 1987

ec ee eee

Marianne Roy (centre), flanked by PCa leader Sam Walsh and executive member Claude Demers, outlines activities of CsIS agent Marc Bovin.

following the revelation in June.

‘*His joining the party and his presence at some meetings can not serve as an excuse for him or the CSIS for the illegal acts of provocation perpetrated by them. within the CNTU. Actions, it should be repeated, that had no relationship with our party,”’ de- clared Roy.

“The PCQ condemns terror- ism. This principle is clearly en- nunciated in our program for it only serves to create conditions for repression of the working class,’ the party functionary stressed.

**The government tries to make people believe that they are defending the interests of our country and its people. The reality is quite different. We have no in- terests aside from those of the working class of the country, from which the party is derived,’ Roy said.

Opposition vs Subversion

Also at the press conference was André Paradis, spokesperson for the League of Rights and Freedoms.

Reatiie from a Geciaration: of

his organization Paradis accused the CSIS of damaging the civil liberties of all Canadians through its activities.

‘The CSIS mixes up legitimate opposition and subversion. In its spying and surveillance of large categories of persons and a multi- tude of organizations it does not take into account the eventual harm that can be done to precious social institutions.”

Paradis called for the setting up of a permanent parliamentary commission to exercise political control over the CSIS. ‘‘We de- mand considerable tightening up on the definition of a ‘threat to national security,’ which now in- cludes every form of quite legiti- mate political dissent. We de- mand that the powers of inves- tigation of the intelligence service be subject to common law. We demand limitation and severe control, if not complete elimina- tion of informers.”

The PCQ rep concurred with the League’s position. In addition Roy called for the resignation of Solicitor-General James Kelle- her, ‘“‘who to this date appears to sanction CSIS action.”’

Harassment officer at U of T

TORONTO — The University of Toronto plans to hire a full- time sexual. harassment officer by the end of the year. The new officer will mediate complaints _ of sexual harassment from stu- dents, faculty and staff, and co- ordinate work to educate the university community about the problem.

This comes after nearly four years of attempts involving the university's governing body, faculty and student groups to work out a sexual harassment policy. A set of guidelines was passed last-spring.

‘U of T spokesperson Lois Reimer, status of women officer

_at the university, said the job will

likely be filled by a woman.

Farm cash receipts down

OTTAWA — Farm cash re- ceipts for the first six months of 1987 were down from the same period in 1986, says Statistics Canada. j

Crop receipts were $3.9- —

billion, down 19 per cent. Cereal — and oilseed receipts fell to — $2.3-billion from the 1986 level —

of $3.1-billion. The main reason — “for the drop’was ‘price declines: ~

averaging 22 per cent, even though marketing during the ~ period was 17 per cent higher — than in 1986. :

Public schools - advertise

MONTREAL — Because of the ~ 10 per cent increase in private school enrolment here in the past six years, more and more public school boards are resort- ing to marketing to sell people on the advantages of the public school system.

According to Combat, the Baldwin-Cartier school board in the west of Montreal Island has spent $35,000 on publicity, and envisages a $100,000 budget for publicity campaigns next year. _

Higher subsidies to_ private schools, plus higher costs, the ad campaigns and the loss of funding to the public education system because of declining enrolment have undermined education standards in the pub- lic school system.

Peace activists arrested

NANAIMO — Eighteen mem- bers of the Nanoose Conversion Campaign, a local peace group, were arrested last week and charged with mischief. They were protesting outside the Nanoose Bay weapons test range on Vancouver Island.

The peace activists were pro- — testing the possible develop- ment and deployment of nuclear weapons on the range.