Soviet broadcaster Andrey Knishev, in Seattle for the Goodwill Festival, has been likened in his brand ‘of humour to Monty Python.

— page 8

Steelworkers shut down the Cominco smelter at Trail Monday in what is expected to be a tough fight over wage

parity. —page 3

July 16, 1990 50 cents Volume 53, No. 26

Bill 51 no relief for

B.C. tenants, says TRAC

The Social Credit government has intro- duced legislation allegedly banning dis- crimination against tenant families by landlords, and that sounds good.

But in reality, Bill 51 is window-dress- ing: “a typical Socred election goody,” the B.C. Tenants Rights Coalition has charged.

The amendment to the Residential Ten- ancy Act will likely continue to allow land- lords to discriminate against children, con- tains numerous exemptions and would not withstand a legal challenge, TRAC’s Laura Stannard said.

Akey problem i is that the amendment, if passed, will require those seeking redress against a discriminating landlord to file a complaint not under the Residency Act, but under Section 5 of the Human Rights Act.

“Section 5 does not cover family status, so the landlord’s lawyer could successfully argue that there has beenno discrimination,” she noted.

Additionally, complaints before the Human Rights Council often take up to a year to resolve; arbitrations under the Res- idential Tenancy Act are not as lengthy, Stannard said.

The Socreds could have amended both the Residential Tenancy and Human Rights

i Visio’ lementary, Members of the B.C. Nurses Union picket their facility, the B.C. Centre for Disease [aoe meee Control, on the Vancouver General Hospital grounds July 12.

| tee ee dimes es ali

Striking members of the Union of Psychiatric Nurses are still waiting for government negotiators to put on the table a supposed wage offer anounced by Finance Minister Mel Couvelier in a meeting with nurses last weekend.

UPN labour relations director Dwight Wenham said July 11 that there could be “light at the end of the tunnel” based on Couvelier’s state- ments. The finance minister held out the possibility of wage increases total- ling 20.9 per cent over two years

see TENANT page 2

‘Moscow — epee ae eerie Soviet mccty Willen fewer

Bie et appr ES ~ has been measured by the increments be- As forthe p party itsel trem ey along the path of profound changes, a | wre unisn tas mecamed that the | | SwoemPamy conetesses: The leader Rave “Changs oro —_o ae 5 eee oe er ered offer is based on what rmment aes Saul 0 Oe B Ip coca ob i enuine knicmens a of Seo T am com that aw fe Ot Eom “cessive congress, that this one represents ture is in store for our great multinational | negotiators are now authorized to} | qsqualitative leap” ora “turning point” in — state,” Mikhail Gorbachev told the 4,683 make at the bargaining table. - the life of the country. This ime aes — accredited delegates ¢ on opening day. “Or “Of course, the only problem we they're right. : else, forces opposed to perestroika will - have is that government negotiators foo ilies se q

have not made the same offer at the

bargaining table that the minister has

made to the media,” Wenham said. see PUT page 8

= aye Sov Communi ay at — dismal times are in