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Page 2 August 1988 Cassiar Courier

PREMIER S=Arin

VICTORIA - Most British Columbians take
the concept of self-government for granted.

For the members of the Sechelt Indian Band,
the completion of|their self-government arrangements,
last Friday, was a very special milestone.

The new system, under which the Band is a
legal entity, is the first legislated form of self-govern-
ment for Indian people in Canada.

It means the members of the Band are no longer
subject to the constraints and restrictions of the INDIAN
ACT, legislation which native people have long claimed
_was outdated and paternalistic.

Under the ACT, native Indian groups require
permission from the federal bureaucracy that administers
‘the legislation to undertake virtually any intiative, no
matter how insignificant.

As a legal entity, the Sechelt Band can now

Opposition
Leader

MIKE
HARCOURT

For months New Democrats have been saying

the Vander Zalm Socreds have moved away from the
ordinary men and women of this province and are more
and more tying themselves to big business and a privileged
few. The Premier is bent on pushing through his personal
agenda at the Casi of concerns important to you
and me.

At the end of June a Socred cabinet minister
said the same thing. The Attorney-General resigned
while criticizing the Premier for repeatedly interfering
in the province’s legal business, a claim denied by the
Premier. The resignation started an extraordinary public
dispute between the two men as to which was telling
the truth. iN

While the former Attorney-General’s actions
came just days before he was to be demoted in a cabinet
shuffle, I frankly believe he had no other alternative
than to do his duty and resign. What was astounding
to me and what should cause all British Columbians
concern was the silence which greeted the announcement
from the remainder of the Socred caucus.

Some political observers have had a tendancy
to blame the Premier for the continued upheaval we’ve

independently enter into contracts, invest money and
make laws covering’ zoning, taxation, education, social
services, health and safety.

The Sechelt Band’s move'to run their own affairs
means they’re eligible to participate in the Municpal
Affairs Ministry’s revenue-sharing grant program and
their first cheque -- for $42,000 -- has now been turned
over to the Band. =

But most of all, the Band and its leaders will
now be able to forge ahead in the area of economic
development and to move towards self-sufficiency and
social independence.

What’s particularly encouraging is that other
Indian bands across the province have expressed. interest
in self-government discussions and our Native Affiars
Secretariat has already held preliminary discussions
with those bands.

Much of the credit for the Sechelt Band’s success
must go to the band’s leaders, who displayed both fore-
sight and vision throughout the lengthy negotiations
that led to municipal status.

As government, we were happy to co-operate
and to enact the provincial legislation that was needed
to help things along because we believe that self-govern-
ment is as much a right for native Indians as it is for
any other Canadians.

had in B.C. in the 20 months since the election of this
Socred government. Yet the Socred caucus has followed
the Premier hand-in-glove and presented policies which
have hurt British Columbians. The blame should not
be laid solely on the back of Bill Vander Zalm -- his
Social Credit party fully shares responsibllity.

The examples are many. Who was it who un-
fairly forced many Seniors living in extended care homes
to pay up to 85 per cent of their income, effectively
reducing their independence? It was the Minister of
Health -- Peter Dueck.

Who was it who continues to cut funding for
community colleges, denying young people whe chance
to reach out for a better future? It was the Minister of
Advanced Education -- Stan Hagen. Who wanted to shut
down the $750 million commercial fishing industry,
employing 40,000 British Columbians? It was the Mini-
ster of the Environment -- Bruce Strachan.

Who was it who took away $50 a month from
single mothers on welfare with a new baby over the
age of 15 weeks? It was the Minister of Social Services
and Housing - Claude Richmond. And who was it who
decreased the income tax rate for big businesses while
raising taxes for families right across the province? It
was the Minister of Finance -- Mel Couvelier.

The problems we face in British Columbia aren’t
just because of Bill Vander Zalm, they’re because of
what this Social Credit government has come to repre-
sent -- putting the interests of a few friends of the govern-
ment ahead of the crotdinary men and women of this
province.

The Sacred? promised a “fresh start”, but the
only fresh start we’ve had in B.C. is a new wave of con-
frontation. The “fresh start” has become a stale finish.

GOV’T MUST ABANDON
PERILOUS PRIVATIZATION SCHEME

The message from British Columbians is loud
enough for even the most deaf government in this pro-
vince’s history to hear: stop the sell off of public assess.

The Social Credit government has sent back
an equally clear message. It will blindly forge ahead
with privatization, regardless of massive and wide-spread
opposition across the province.

It has, simply and arrogantly, brushed aside
health and safety fears over the sell off of highways
maintenance operations. This fear alone has prompted
more than 70 municipal councils and their mayors to
write to the premier asking that the scheme be suspended.

It has failed to allay concerns over the sale of
our environment testing lab operations. And it has shown
a complete disregard for the thousands of British Colum-
bians whose livelihoods will be sacrificed on a whim
of the most whimsical of premiers. :

To say it is a whim is not an overstatement:
Premier Vander Zalm and his government ‘has failed
to produce a single shred of evidence that British Colum-
bians will be better served, our health and safety standards
will be upheld, or that privatization will improve effi-
ciency and save us money.

We do have studies, however, that point out
the opposite. In 1986, for example, a report by the

auditor general challenged the notion that selling off
B.C.’s campgrounds would produce cost savings. A year
later, the auditor general’s investigations into privatizing
the province’s corrections branch concluded that “. . .
contracting has no obvious cost advantages over deliver-
ing the services through public servants unless a lower
quality of service is accepted.”

Highways officials with extensive experience
have attested over and over again that communities’
fears over the safety of our roads and bridges are valid
ones, especially in areas with rugged terrain and heavy
snowfall.

And according to a leaked government memo,

‘selling off the province’s environmental lab will reduce

testing by 50 to 70 per cent. Given the government’s
habit of turning a blind eye to environmental concerns,
the testing cuts are hardly the stuff to inspire public
confidence.

The premier’s wild and grandiose statements
that the province will save bundles by privatizing jobs
has also been severely trounced. It has recently been
revealed that contracting-out government office work
to private firms is actually move costly than paying
wages to unionized employees for the same services.
The kicker is that the workers themselves - mostly women
- earn far less while the firms’ owners skim as much as
40 per cent of taxpayers’ money off the top.

Jeopardizing the health and safety of British
Columbians, lowering the quality and quantity of ser-
vices and reducing workers’ wages and benefits is too
high a price for this government’s experiments. The
Socreds were elected to serve all British Columbians,
and to listen to what the electorate is saying. It’s time

‘the government’ dbes just, that, and back off its plan

to sell-out B.C.

Ottawa
Viewpoint

Jim Fulton MP

WHERE ARE FOREIGN AID DOLLARS GOING?

We have a right to expect that Canadian foreigh
aid is genuinely targetted to-the less fortunate and where
the need is greatest.

Sadly, Canada continues to fall short of the aid
assistance levels set by the. United Nations. What the
government does spend rarely receives the type of scru-
tiny given to other areas of government funding.

When the Liberals ran the country, they spent
more: internationally on forestey projects than they did
at home. While our own forests in British Columbia
were being cut and not replanted, Ottawa was funding
research into growing trees faster and more economically
in the tropics.

The Mulroney Conservatives are also funnelling
hundreds of millions of dollars to international forestry
and mining projects.

One of the largest recipients of the foreign aid
pie is Chile -- a country where a dictator rules, and demo-
cracy is only a dream.

But instead of acting as a voice for change, the
Mulroney government has been busily pouring in Cana-
dian “aid” to shore up Augusto Pinochet’s regime, with
its long history of human rights abuses and murder.

If their first three years in office, the Mulroney
government financed $41 million in forestry ventures
in Chile.

While our own northeast coal industry has been
hard hit by an oversupply of cheap coal on the world
market, Ottawa spent $19 million to construct an open-
pit mine and bulk loading coal terminal in this South
American country.

And what is Chile doing in return for Canada?

Last winter, GATT, the international trading
body, ruled that Canada was wrong to require Canadian
processing of Canadian fish. The decision still threatens
the livelihood of thousands of our shoreworking families.

When our country went looking for backers to
appeal the decision, we asked, you guessed it - General
Pinochet’s Chile.

The general’s answer was a flat no.

Yet the Mulroney government is content to
use foreign “aid” to prop up people like Chile’s Augusto
Pinochet.

Isn’t it time for Canada to again make a serious
contribution in the global fight against hunger, illiteracy,
and oppression?

Isn’t it time we had a government that believes.’
in sustainable development, a clean and safe environment,
and provides foreign aid to help people -- not just cor-
porate profits or illegitimate governments?

Editorial

by Lorraine Lanteigne

As I sit and watch the rain fall in buckets
I wonder will the sun ever come out? Of course
it will, tomorrow. But it seems that tomorrow
never comes!

It is mid July, the rain, wind and cool
temperatures that have so far been our summer
continue. I am now to the point that when
there is a break in the clouds I stretch my neck
and turn my face to the sun, drinking in its
rays like a thirsty victim of dehydration. One
forgets the marvellous body rush received from
the warmth of the sun as it soaks into the core
of a body’s cells. Oh, I am well aware of the
warnings of skin cancer related with sun tanning,
but it sure feels good!

When one hears of the calamities of our
fellow Canadians in the east, who are yearning
for a cooler summer as they are being burnt
to a crisp and their water supplies are wasting
away. I suppose we should count our blessings!

However, we need some summer. Our
winters are so long and cold. We’re entitled
(under the Fairness to Human Beings Act, I’ve
just thought of) to more than what the weather
man has offered us so far. Okay now. that this
has been written maybe by the time it goes
to. press summer -will ,have arrived. If. not ll
meet you undermy., black umbrella!, 44.) <1.

Erickson Creek

(—*

Lorraine Lanteigne.

Mid-summer, and the mining continues. There
is a rhythm of life played out in this mining camp. One
that if you listen beats out a tune that runs through
the life of all who live and work at Erickson.

Days pass by in a procession of human experience
which revolves around the mining. The quest for gold
involves a wide range of personnel. Prospectors search
for gold, geologists follow and map the lay of the rock,
managers and supervisors organize the project, but it
is the miners who drill and blast for it.

Over the years of association with the industry
one acquires a vocabulary of understanding which in-
cludes words such as jackleg, jumbo, bootleg, bench,
long hole, short hole, amex, prime, development drift,
stope, raise, adit, incline, decline, ten foot round, twelve
foot round, hanging wall, face, back, quartz vein, gold

*-bearing vein, bonus (usually not enough), raise chain,

bit, ramp, rounds, stope rat, boom, charge, blast, portal,
-steel, loose, the list goes on.

To prospect a mountain, then to develop a mine
such as Ericksons is a success story. One filled with
dramatics and a cast of characters enough to fill the
pages of a book. This part of the column is dedicated
to the miners of Erickson. They are single-minded men.
They are here to work, some of them seven days per
week. Leisure hours are not plentiful, but the pursuit
for the gold pushes them on. It is in this development
and in the footage they achieve, that their personal goals
are met.

Their working conditions are unique to many
occupations. Unless they are involved in an open pit
operation they are underground. Its dark, its wet and
the air they breath is brought through the main addit by
vent tubing. The day shift begins at 6:00 a.m. Through-
out the bunkhouses alarms go off and the bunkhouse
fills with the shuffling sounds of men waking to another
day in the mine.

Gord Parton serving breakfast with a smile!

The camp kitchen is prepared to feed the shift
and the breakfast cook has a steam table filled with
porridge, beans, bacon, sausage and fried potatoes. The
grill is hot and a man can order eggs (any which way),
french toast, and pancakes. The coffee urns are full,
the juice is out and the lunch meat is cut and waiting
for a host of various luncheon concoctions to be eaten
-underground. The toaster (when it Ed) pushes out
over a hundred pieces'of toast aimomingl °° 5) 34

SPECIAL

EDITION

Dan Tal, Chuck Nazar-
chuaz, Joe Watson, :
Don McGreggar out-
side the mine dry.

As the minutes tick by, the miners drink their
coffee, eat their breakfast, and psych themselves up
for another day. Some sit alone, solitary figures wishing
no early morning conversation. Others sit with their part-
ners or in a group at a table where goodnatured laughs
ring out (usually at someone’s expense); or where the talk
turns to the cross-shift and the previous day’s work.

Erickson camp comes alive. The shifters are in
the shifter shack, looking over reports from the night
shift, checking to see if the rounds were taken, the blast
OK, and all the machinery working.

Bob Bjarnason carrying the drill rods for 57.

It’s time to gear up. Miners head from the kitch-
en into the dry, where day clothes are changed for oil-
soaked shirts and pants, slickers, coveralls, boots, belts,
lights and hardhats. The miners are ready. One more
smoke on the porch outside the kitchen, a trek inside
for a styrofoam cup of coffee or to fill a thermos, then
a word or two from the shifter, and the crummies are

loaded. The miners have left, gone up the hill for another
day of mining!

Welcome back to Richard Mercier, who just
returned from Samoa. “Nothing much has changed,” says

‘ “The sliarks comet atdithe. sharks go out!”

SPyce 2.03

Richard.

in n the truck? aot

Cassiar Courier August 1988 Page 3

There are guests in camp. : Hello to Tracy Brown
and Johanne Brown, sister and nephew to Terry Brown.
I met Tracy, who says she finds it a lot warmer here
than she thought it would be!

Al Boon, Erickson’s new Chief Engineer, has
arrived. A big welcome is extended to Al and Joyce
and their children, Tanya, age six, and Christopher, age

eight. Al was Mine Superintendant at Flin Flon, Man-
itoba, before coming here.
in Yellowknife working at Giant Yellowknife Mines

A note of interest: Al was

as a geologist when I first met him eighteen years ago.
It’s a small world!

Goodbye to Nadine and Ron Rogalski, who leave
Erickson this month for Cranbrook, B.C. Ron will be
working at the Sullivan Mine as a heavy duty mechanic.

Tales from the tailings pond at Erickson grow
bigger every day. It would seem that Graham Ennis is
climbing the social ladder at Erickson. He is now the
official A & D counsellor at Erickson, and was also one
of the originators of the Church of the Reformed B.
Drinkers. As well as these volunteer activities, he is on
the Board of Directors of the Hi Ho Happy Trails and
Wrangler Friends of the Sheep Society. Sure, Graham!

Matt and Dianne Ball are having a busy summer.
Dianne is working at Erickson as an assistant geologist,
while Matt continues work on his Ph.D. He is compiling
a thesis on the Erickson property. He will be return-
ing to Queen’s in the fall, and will complete his Ph.D.
during the 1988-89 school year. Dianne is expecting
their third child and says she’s been pregnant her whole
life in Erickson! (It must be in the water.)

John Sethen is a summer student working as a
surveyor’s assistant. He’s heading back to the University
of Victoria in the fall. John says , “City life was a big
change, but the weather is better!”

I thought I saw a new face in the kitchen, but it
was only our Derek without his moustache.

Then there is the story about the squirrel tails.
Seems somebody stole them from Marty. I understand a
“tail switch” has been constructed. Just what one does
with such an item is anybody’s guess. Now, who would
you ask?...

I conducted a survey during my visit at Erickson.
For years I have heard miners complain that they could
or should be rich. “‘ Does this have anything to do with
women?” JI asked. Most said “yes” without explana-
tion, but one man put it bluntly: “Well, to be sure.
Drinking is nothing compared to the costs of a woman!”

The “Dark” and the
“Wet” is how one
would describe the un-
derground workplace.
Miners Chris Tonner
and Bob Bjarnason are
at home in this en-
vironment. The search
for gold continues as
jumbo man Bob drives
the jumbo closer to
the face as partner
Chris moves the bull-
hose.

The last words Pll leave to Tia the dog, who was
Mike Homer’s friend for quite awhile. She is now living
with Mine Manager Tom McGrail. According to Tia, life
with Tom is not exactly exciting a spend a lot of time

FU UNSE eS VOB IOP Ge k 3B