On January 14, r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of about 28 member-groups of t h e End Leg- i s l a t e d Poverty c o a l i t i o n met with Joy MacPhail, t h e Min i s t e r of Soc ia l Serv ices . ELP had arranged f o r a two- day ga the r ing , with MacPhail coming on t h e f i rs t day ' s a f te rnoon and Joan Smallwood, Min i s t e r of Housing, com- ing i n t h e a f te rnoon of t h e 2nd day.

ELP members asked MacPhail t o c r e a t e jobs, r a i s e wages and wel fare r a t e s , and confront t h e p re jud ice and d i s c r i - mination a g a i n s t people on welfare . She was a s k e d . t o d e a l wi th t h e s t r u c t - u r e s t h a t cause poverty, and not t o u se t h e language o r c r e a t e programs t h a t blame v i c t ims f a r t h e i r poverty.

Ins tead MacPhail and Premier Mike

Ilarcourt announced changes t h a t seem t o be based on t h e f a l s e theory t h a t people on wel fare r e a l l y a r e "chea ts E deadbeats" t h a t Harcourt c a l l e d them l a s t September.

* Mandatory job search r e p o r t ca rds f o r s i n g l e employables G c h i l d l e s s -

couples.. a f f e c t i n g about 82000 people. Comment: The g o v l t should c r e a t e jobs,

no t f o r c e people t o look f o r jobs t h a t don ' t e x i s t .

* New procedures t o recover s e c u r i t y depos i t s . Govlt w i l l now g e t depos-

i t s back d i r e c t l y from landlords . Comment: I f t h i s w i l l r e q u i r e t e n a n t s

t o r evea l t h a t t hey a r e on welfare, many l and lo rds w i l l r e f u s e t o r e n t t o them. Homelessness w i l l i n c r - ease. The Minis t ry has a l r eady been warned of t h i s by an t i -pove r ty groups.

* Picking up cheques i n person. A l l employable s i n g l e s and c h i l d l e s s

couples w i l l have t o do t h i s on Feb.23. Comment: Food money, i f people have

any l e f t , w i l l have tlo bb used f o r t r anspor t a t ion ; l i ne -ups a t o f f i c e w i l l swel l , meaning wai t ing t imes w i l l increase and t h e s t r e s s f o r m i n i s t r y s t a f f w i l l e s c a l a t e .

* Single pa ren t s a r e now "employable" when t h e i r vouneest c h i l d i s 12.

ELP fought f o r ' s yea r s t o change t h e socred law t h a t "employabili ty" was reached when t h e youngest c h i l d was 6 months o ld . That was p l a i n s t u p i d i n t h e absence of even ch i ldca re . This i s s t i l l no t dea l ing with t h e 2 b a s i c i s s u e s - 1) a woman's r i g h t t o choose t o work r a i s i n g h e r ch i ld ren ; and 2) t h e r e a r e a l r eady thousands of s i n g l e pa ren t s seeking work who c a n ' t f i n d it o r c a n l t provide f o r t h e i r f a m i l i e s a t t h e minimum wages a v a i l a b l e .

These changes a c t on t h e media c i r c - u s a l l e g i n g massive wel fare f r aud . The myth i s t h a t a l l people on wel fare a r e

L i e l o m e dont 4.50 4.40 -.I0 Lkte Is roll L11 12.75 12.70 -.05 Llght c o m e to 9.25 9.45 +.20 LIkm I Itkm Llk 11.00 11.33 +.33 Llmm limo llmm 7.75 7.21 -.04 Limn no ow 13.80 13.90 +.I0 LimnllkmU LI 11.90 12.05 +.I5 Ling coat I1 LI 11 .OO 10.98 -.01

. . . . A - - . . - - . - -

Nuzxlm r a t r Nvcmudor Ab Oasllva J o h n Oath O f Oath 0 b . v ok O b q Oc8n Bonle 0 occun h~ oc Occur rhorm - .-..-.a ..a-

l a z y and have t o be forced t o look f o r work..and t h a t t h e r e a r e thousands of jobs j u s t wai t ing f o r people t o t ake them. B.C. has an o f f i c i a l unemploy- 1 - ~

ment r a t e of n e a r l y 10%. That means 1 t e n s of thousands of people a r e look- ' ing f o r jobs and c a n ' t f i n d them. L

What w i l l happen with t h i s mandatory job search r e p o r t card i s t h a t over 80,000 people w i l l be con tac t ing thou- sands of employers. I f an employer de- c i d e s t o , he o r she can now r e f u s e t o i nc rease wages of b e n e f i t s t o h i s emp- loyees, seeing he now has a "mustwork" labour pool who w i l l have t o t a k e jobs a t minimum wage (or l e s s ) i n any cond- i t i o n s . This i s r e a l i t y . Tra in ing pro- grams a r e f i n e , but t h e r e must be jobs f o r t h e people who complete t h e t r a i n i n g /

I f government r e a l l y wanted t o h e l p t h e poor, it should have announced it i s c r e a t i n g more jobs E r a i s i n g t h e minimum wage. Those a r e two measures t h a t ' d reduce poverty. Forcing people t o look f o r work o r t r a i n i n g when t h e r e a r e n ' t enough jobs t o go around g ives employers t hc powcr t o rcdr~cc wages and make tlic working poor cvcn poorer .

End Leg i s l a t ed P o v e r t y f s JUSTICE PROGRAM TO R E D U C E POVERTY I N B . C .

1. Income: i nc rease welfare r a t e s t o t h e pover ty l i n e ; i nc rease earn ings exempt ions.

2. ~ o b s : Job c r e a t i o n programs l i k e low cos t housing, r e f o r e s t a t i o n , s a l - mon enhancement, merchant marine, municipal c a p i t a l works pro-

grams, ch i ldca re , e l d e r c a r e , educat ion. Minimum wage: r a i s e it t o $9.05 an hour (June 1992 d o l l a r s ) . Child r e a r i n g : recognize t h i s a s l e g i t i m a t e work deserving of adequate

income above t h e poverty l i n e .

3. Serv ices : Free medical, d e n t a l , phone, bus pas s f o r a l l GAIN r e c i p i e n t s p u b l i c c h i l d c a r e a c c e s s i b l e f o r a l l low income people.

4. S h e l t e r : Return r e n t c o n t r o l , inc luding r e s i d e n t s of h o t e l s and rooming houses; a b o l i s h d i s t i n c t i o n between s h e l t e r and support ;

b u i l d p u b l i c and s o c i a l housing.

5. Source of funds: Canada Ass is tance Plan; r e i n s t i t u t e t a x e s on wealthy people and co rpora t ions who can affordl them.

ELP suppor ts a Time t o Stand Together, A Time f o r S o c i a l S o l i d a r i t y , a dec- l a r a t i o n on Soc ia l and Economic Po l i cy Di rec t ions f o r Canada by members of Popular Sec to r Groups.

-----. "..

Table 2: Growth of Profitable Corporations that Pay No Tax: 1980 to 1987

Year Corporations Untaxed Profits

Total

K ~ r k Falconer (1990'83)

DearMs. Beaudin, (Jan.20, 1994)

Thank you f o r your r ecen t l e t t e r r e - garding funding f o r t h e Vancouver Nee- d l e Exchange Program managed by t h e Downtown Eas ts ide Youth A c t i v i t i e s Socie ty (DEYAS) .

I , too, am concerned about t h e h e a l t h r i s k posed by used needles . A s wel l , I acknowledge t h e va lue of need- l e exchange programs i n orevent ing t h e t ransmission of blood-borne d i s e a s e s such a s H e p a t i t i s B and H I V . With t h i s i n mind I can advise t h a t t h e a l l o c a - t i o n of funding t o t h e AIDS community groups i s l a r g e l y determined by t h e community i t s e l f , through t h e i r rep- r e s e n t a t i o n on t h e newly formed B r i t - i s h Columbia AIDS S e c r e t a r i a t .

I am pleased t o adv i se t h a t t h e Sec- r e t a r i a t has r e - a l loca t ed $50,000 t o t h e Vancouver Needle Exchange t o enab- l e it t o maintain se rv i ces . This r a i s - e s t h e Vancouver Needle Exchange's 1993/94 funding t o t a l t o $590,100, which i s 24 percent of t h e t o t a l prov- i n c i a l budget f o r AIDS community groups. I am s u r e you w i l l agree t h a t t h i s l e v e l of funding i l l u s t r a t e s t h e commitment of t h e Minis t ry of Heal th t o t h e Vancouver Needle Exchange..

I app rec i a t e t h e oppor tuni ty t o r e s - pond t o your concerns and t h e t ime you have taken t o b r ing t h i s ma t t e r t o my a t t e n t ion.

S ince re ly yours, Paul Ramsey, Minis te r .

HELP WANTED - by a mother

A woman c a l l e d t h e Newslet ter asking f o r he lp . She has a 3 year-old daught- e r i n f o s t e r ca re . She was t o l d Friday (yesterday) t h a t h e r daughter had been molested by a 15 year-old youth a l s o l i v i n g in t h e f o s t e r home.

The young man had hccn t ah rn out of t h e home but t h e mother learned tha t he had not been charged o r a r r e s t e d . She has no idea where he is o r under what c ircumstances h e r daughter i s be- ing kept . The mother c a l l e d t h e Mats- qu i Po l i ce and was t o l d t h a t t h e youth would be quest ioned E charges may be l a i d next week.

The f o s t e r mother has re fused t o a l - low t h e daughter t o r e t u r n t o h e r own mother, a s wel l a s r e fus ing t h e b i r t h mother access t o h e r daughter by phone

The n a t u r a l mother spoke t o t h e Dep- u t y Superintendent of Child Welfare, who agreed t h a t t h e daughter should not even be i n f o s t e r c a r e and espec i - , a l l y should no t be i n t h i s f o s t e r home.

The n a t u r a l mother t hen r an i n t o t h e b u r e a u c r a t i c mess - i t ' s t h e weekend, r e l e v a n t s o c i a l workers e i t h e r c a n ' t be reached o r , when reached, s e e no reason f o r a l l t h e r e g u l a r s t e p s t o be taken. The mother could no t impress any of h e r urgent f e e l i n g s t o guarant- e e he r daugh te r ' s s a f e t y on e i t h e r t h e Matsqui Po l i ce o r on t h e a r e a supervis- o r she reached.

What can be done i s t o w r i t e t o Joy Regaux, Superintendent of Child Welf- a r e , R i t a Maybin, t h e Deputy, and Joy MacPhail, Min i s t e r of Soc ia l Serv ices , and urge them t o make an immediate r e - view of t h e i r emergency procedures . .as wel l a s f o s t e r home c r i t e r i a .

The mother w i l l cont inue t o " s t ep on a s many t o e s a s p o s s i b l e E necessaryr1 . t o g e t h e r daughter s a f e and, u l t ima t - e ly , home.

By PAULR TAYLOR

I would like t o b r i e f l y comment on t h e a r t i c l e "Vote Jobs" t h a t appeared i n your December 15 i s s u e . I t was in- t e r e s t i n g , amusing and thought provo- king. If t h e au tho r runs f o r e l e c t i o n I w i l l c e r t a i n l y cons ider g iv ing my vote t o t h e U-Need a Job pa r ty .

Beside t h e amusing p a r t t h e r e i s a sad r e a l i t y : i n our r o t t e n democracy the job s i t u a t i o n i s a modern slavery.

, The money earned by t h e s l a v e s i s r e - I turned t o t h e leading es tab l i shment

p a r t l y by t axes and p a r t l y by a wel l o rches t r a t ed consumerism. This "vic-

, ious c i r c l e " type system i s s i m i l a r a l l around t h e world. In t h e so -ca l l - ed "bolchevist" o r o t h e r t y r a n n i c a l systems only t h e method i s d i f f e r e n t and t h e r e is another kind of p r o f i t - ing I'gang" .

In t h i s d i a b o l i c a l game t h e major pa r t of t h e populat ion r e p r e s e n t s t h e naive o r s tup id element. We a r e quas i oh1 igcd t o look f o r jobs and t o acc- t . p t ;i v o l ~ m t n r y s lnvcry .

I l o k ~ . ~ <'I., ;I nrorr. c l c v c r populat ion O I I I r l \ t 1 1 1 ) t J1(* i8r(c-ibss i v c consumerism

1 1 ) i l ~ r . t l I r ~ i : :i 1 I Ilrlriccclssnry cxpcnscs l l h c 1irlrlt.c'cssary shoppings o r t r a v e l . 1 ings.

Such a c t i o n would probably change our p re sen t r o t t e n system.

Medicine Pole

In t h e Anishinabe t r a d i t i o n t h e people knew t h a t a l l songs were not sung, and they had a hea l ing r i t u a l f o r t h e s i l e n t s inge r .

If a person dreamed a dream, and t h e s t r e n g t h of t h i s dream was never c a l l - ed f o r , and t h e r e f o r e never given out- ward expression, t h a t person c a r r i e d an unsung song, an u n f u l f i l l e d dream.

The t r a d i t i o n of t h e people enabled t h e person t o bestow a g i f t on t h e community. She/he was considered t o have s p e c i a l power t o cure t h e s i c k , and was allowed t o r a i s e a pole i n f r o n t of h e r / h i s home. This po le was c a l l e d a medicine pole , and it s i g n i - f i e d t h e hea l ing power of t h e dreamer whose dream was not expressed. Such was t h e power of a song t h a t was not sung. Sandy Cameron

Etienne Szekely, Rossland, B . C .

JUSTICE : Qual i ty of being j u s t ; meri ted reward o r punishment.

JUSTIFICATION : Act of j u s t i f y i n g ; remission of s i n .

This i s w r i t t e n i n Webster's Diction- ary. I thought I should t ake t ime t o w r i t e down t h e meaning of t h e s e words. My reasons a r e very simple. I 've been fol lowing t h e Marshall i n v e s t i g a t i o n because a good f r i e n d of mine was beat- en i n a p l ace where o f f i c e r s a r e supp- osed t o d e t a i n p r i s o n e r s when they have committed a crime.

When Alfred Mountain was picked up by t h e po l i ce , f o r s l a s h i n g t i r e s , o r s o it was repor ted , he was brought t o 310 Main. Alfred was s t r u c k by a pol - i c e o f f i c e r s e v e r a l t imes i n t h e ches t with a baton. The o f f i c e r a l l e g e d t h a t t h e p r i s o n e r was v i o l e n t l y k ick ing and t r y i n g t o b i t e him while i n an e l e v a t - o r going t o bookings. According t o r e - p o r t s A l f r ed ' s hands were handcuffed. Conf l i c t i ng r e p o r t s s a y t h e c u f f s were e i t h e r i n t h e back o r t h e f r o n t . E i th - e r way, he was de fense l e s s .

According t o p o l i c e procedures t h e r e a r e supposed t o be two o f f i c e r s pres - en t when booking a p r i sone r . Where was t h i s o t h e r o f f i c e r who could c l a r i f y t h i s whole i n c i d e n t t h a t occurred i n t h e e l eva to r? Why i s it t h a t t h i s case has so many g l i t c h e s ? Everyone i s claiming t o be absentminded. Nobody r e c o l l e c t s why white-out was reques ted by t h e o f f i c e r making t h e r e p o r t . A l l of a sudden r e p o r t s have gone missing. A video of t h e o f f i c e r s and p r i s o n e r has not been mentioned. Did t h i s i t em a l s o d isappear?

This s t o r y has picked up a s cen t - t h a t o f a dead r a t covering up an o f f - i c e r . When t h e s t o r y of Al f red Mount- a i n came about , many persons were at f a u l t . Ten yea r s of s i l e n c e k i l l e d Alf red Richard Mountain.

He d i d n ' t d i e i n 1992. He d i ed when he came he re t o Vancouver - t h e c i t y

with b r i g h t l i g h t s , many b a r s and a l o t o f l i q u o r s t o r e s . Many angry peop- l e who walk t h e s t r e e t s come from a land where t h e a i r i s c l ean and t h e people c a r e f o r one another . A l f r ed ' s world was t a rn i shed by a lcohol which took him t o t h e wrong s i d e of t h e s t r e e t . . .crime.

H i s S p i r i t was nowhere t o be found, and h i s p r i d e l e f t him when he was m i s - t r e a t e d by t h e law. Alfred and h i s b r o t h e r Richard were screwed by t h e en fo rce r s of t h e law. They became pun- ching bags t o many an o f f i c e r E guard i n t h e p r i sons , as we l l as t o some in - mates. The only good t h i n g about t h i s ca se is t h a t t h i s t ime t h e p o l i c e have been caught.

The ques t ion i s w i l l t h e o f f ende r s be punished by t h e i r own law? Only t ime w i l l t e l l !

By MARGARET PREVOST

R e Mental Crock: Part Two The l e g a l l y p re sc r ived "medicat ionw

(drug) which menta l ly d i s t u r b e d ind iv - i dua l s a r e expected t o t a k e f o r t h e r e s t of t h e i r l i v e s is no t c l a s s i f i e d a s an addic t ion . A person i s o n l y c a l l - ed a "drug addic t" i f he o r she has chosen t h e drug themselves. A l l drugs of personal choice have been made ill- egal. What has r e a l l y been made i l l e g - a l by r i c h l e g i s l a t o r s , many of whom have investments i n p r e s c r i p t i o n drug companies, i s t h e freedom t o decide. Usually t h e drug of choice i s organic , t h a t i s t o s a y it grows out of t h e ground ( p a r t of Godvs p l an? ) such a s marijuana, opium poppies, mushrooms, khat , e t c .

Doctors i n Canada today can p re sc - r i b e but i n d i v i d u a l s cannot choose what subs tances t hey w i l l p u t i n t o t h e i r bodys. This is, of course, comp- l e t e l y oppos i t e of what it should be: i e . s t r i c t c o n t r o l s of medical presc- r i p t ions, r e sea rch G commercial drug ope ra t ions , combined wi th a c o n s t i t u - t i o n a l guarantee of t h e r i g h t of ind- i v i d u a l c i t i z e n s t o choose what drugs w i l l o r w i l l no t e n t e r t h e i r system. This , along with f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e s c i e n t i f i c E h i s t o r i c a l l y accu ra t e drug information would so lve most o t t h e "problems" confront ing us . Natur- a l l y l e g i s l a t i o n cannot he lp those who

vorac ious ly s t u f f themselves wi th chemicals. Nei ther can laws be made t o f o r c e f a t people t o e a t l e s s .

North Americans seem t o b e extrem- ists ... most of them tend t o overdo ev- e ry th ing ( ea t t oo much, work too much, worry t o o much, smoke too much, d r i v e c a r s t o o much, t a l k too much, 6 so on) I t ' s no t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t when they d i s cover a drug t h a t makes them happy i n an unhappy world, t hey do t o o much.

Perhaps "successtt l e ads t o "excess". Maybe our s o c i a l problems i n North America a r e j u s t a n a t u r a l E l o g i c a l r e s u l t o f a f f luence . ... If t h e a f f l u e n t s o c i e t y t r u n s out t o be a drug-of- choice sbc i e ty , t hen t h e cha l lenge i s not a r a c e t o punish i n d i v i d u a l s f o r t h e i r choices - t h e cha l lenge i s t o f i n d a way t o accept drug-use E minim- i z e , through educat ion, no t enforce- ment, t h e abusive f a c t o r s involved.

Consider t h e fol lowing s t o r y (no names): a f r i e n d of mine who o f t e n shoots up the "poor Ihan's heroin" - a combination of R i t a l i n E %+I+& - t e l l s me t h a t when she c a n ' t a f f o r d t o buy she j u s t s t i k k s t h e needle i n he r arm anyway, because she g e t s a ru sh o f f it. The reason f o r t h i s , she says, i s because when she was a l i t t l e g i r l she was plagued by a l l e r g i e s E t h e doc to r s i s o l a t e d he r i n a h o s p i t a l 6

! experimented with i n j e c t i o n s of v a r i - ous chemicals t o t r y t o f i n d out what would work on he r .

1 We don ' t u s u a l l y t h i n k doc to r s c r e - a t e a d d i c t s , bu t i n he r ca se i t ' s

I c l e a r t h a t t h i s is what happened. I t wouldn't s u r p r i s e me t o l e a r n t h a t o t h e r s have s i m i l a r s t o r j s . .

E now something from t h e American Journal of Psychiatry: a l e t t e r t o t h e e d i t o r concerning t h e r i g h t s of "para- noid" p a t i e n t s t o defend themselves i n cour t : "..I would l i k e t o c a l l a t t e n t i o n t o

another index of incompetence i n t h e paranoid p a t i e n t t h a t c l i n i c i a n s should cons ider : t h e d i agnos t i c c l u e of whypercompetencylf (which was o r i g - i n a l l y descr ibed i n t h e context of competency t o s tand t r i a l ) i s concept-

ua l i zed a s a defens ive ego func t ion whereby t h e paranoid p a t i e n t a t tempts t o cope wi th a suspected h o s t i l e env- ironment, such a p a t i e n t e x h i b i t s an ex tens ive knowledge of t h e l e g a l pro- ce s s G t h r i v e s on a d v e r s a r i a l c o n f l i c t (e.g. over t h e i s s u e of r e f u s i n g medi- c a t i o n ) zea lous ly a t tempt ing t o pre- v a i l over t hose perceived t o be "ag- a i n s t " him o r her . ... it should be i m - p ressed on t h e cou r t t h a t such p a t - ' -. l e n t s a r e only s u p e r f i c i a l l y cokpetent l

1 This i s i u s t one e x a m ~ l e of how DSY- w -

c h i a t r i s t s cont inue t o t w i s t l e g a l de- f i n i t i o n s around t o support t h e i r s i d e of t h e i s s u e . . .a d i s p l a y of competence i s t o he j l~dged a s incompetence, i f t h e ind iv idua l has been p rev ious ly diagnosed as 'paranoid". Have a good day.

TORA

"STOP THE

(media)

landlord f r aud t h a t goes on every day, t h e high-tech scam of p r i n t i n g govern ment cheques; t h e f a c t t h a t much of t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n s c a r r i e d ou t by t h e Minis t ry of J u s t i c e focus on people working "within t h e indus t ry . l1 A t t h e end of t h e Province ' s s t o r y on llHarcourt cance l s easy welfare r i d e " t h e p a r t y t h a t ' s going t o g e t t h e b i g media push i n t h e next p r o v i n c i a l e l e c t i o n - t h e L ibe ra l s - has t h e supposed ' l a s t wordt say ing t h a t people "within t h e system1' know f raud i s 20%. These same unimpeachable sources were saying over 40% a few months ago.. .or was t h a t some cop i n t h e suburbs who was w i l l i n g t o specu- l a t e because he cou ldn ' t be sued and

ing f o r a job and he r c a r g e t s towed away. Welfare pays t h e towing charge. SCAM!!! L i t t l e o r nothing about t h e r e a l i t y of t h e s i t u a t i o n - t h a t a s i n g l e mother wi th two c h i l d r e n r e - ce ives $1017 a month i n GAIN assist- ance, t h a t h e r r e n t is s u r e t o t a k e a t l e a s t SO%, leaving h e r wi th about $ 5 0 0 s u p p o r t h e r s e l f and two k i d s each month, t h a t she s u r e l y had t h e c a r be fo re she went t o t h e Minis t ry o f Soc ia l Se rv i ces f o r f i n a n c i a l a id , and t h a t she is spending food money on gas t o g e t around t o f i n d work almost anywhere. There i s no mention t h a t she has no money f o r c l o t h e s , well-done resumes, o r even c h i l d c a r e

I ?I

while looking f o r a job t h a t w i l l pay !

enough t h a t she can a f f o r d t o t ake it ( fu l l - t ime a t minimum wage doesn ' t q u i t e c u t it f o r a s i n g l e person, l e t a lone t h e head of a s i n g l e pa ren t fami ly) .

Unemployment is about 20%. A l l t h i s has been s i d e l i n e d i n t h e

f a c e of us ing wel fare r e c i p i e n t s , a l l 334,000 i n BC, a s t h e scapegoats f o r t h e economic p l i g h t of every non-r ich c i t i z e n . This i s p a r t of t h e n a t i o n a l build-up f o r c r i p p l i n g s o c i a l prog- rams, f o r making a two- t ie red h e a l t h care system, f o r even tua l ly cance l l - ing government pensions ("welfare f o r seniors") and te rmina t ing a l l pos t - '

secondary educat ion f o r anyone unable t o pay up f r o n t .

The s t o r i e s being run i n t h e Pro- vince and t h e Vancouver Sun and on UTV and on t h e CBC a r e narrow and biased, Give equal coverage t o t h e t ax f r aud going on i n s t e a d of burying inch-high r e p o r t s i n t h e c l a s s i f i e d s .

I hope you a l l f e e l proud---pride is an enemy of t h e mind..comes before a f a l l . . w i l l l eave many people now crowing along wi th ;:the spur ious auth- o r s and i n s t i g a t o r s of t h i s wel fare fraud smoke and mi r ro r s i n an ugly s t a t e when they a l s o have t o t u r n t o welfare . How many people reading t h i s a r e one paycheque away from poverty? How many p r a c t i c e being s t u p i d and make no connection between t h e lack of revenue t o pay f o r b e t t e r s o c i a l programs and t h e t a x breaks and give- aways f o r t h e r i c h ?

COME ON. By PAULR TAYLOR

The Old Woman 11.

She i s no t a c l o s e f r i e n d o f mine, but I l i k e h e r manners. She i s very kind. But i n h e r neighbourhood t h e o ld s idewalks a r e covered with moss and grey clouds cover over us . In h e r neighbourhood ... ... t h e r a i l r o a d a r r i v e d a hundred years ago. The d i s t r i c t has seen f i s h canner ies , dozens of them, unionized a t t h e t u r n of t h e century. Roosevelt took t h e panhandle then and, nack i n London, t h e Queen d i d n ' t know what t o do. The new s tock marketing was a l l t h e r age and some of t h e b igge r men i n t h e a r e a were t a l k i n g of t h e ABC Fish Co., and XYZ Consolidated. Names

The r i v e r flowed then a s now bu t t h e fishermen weren ' t so lucky. They rode t h e waves i n t h e S t r a i g h t i n boa t s t h a t were b a t t e r e d E b i l g e - s t a ined , bu t t hey caught f i s h . ABC 6 XYZ n e t t e d hundreds of employees.

Townsfolk were happy, steaming ou t every day, and t h e Royal Hudson E h e r s i s t e r locomotives bowed t h e r a i l s with g r a i n E p o r k b e l l i e s coming west. Sternwheelers c a r r i e d s e t t l e r s . ..

Everything was growing..the grand o l d Dominion bu i ld ing was e rec t ed t h e misty-eyed white people remarked t h a t t h e spray i n t h e a i r was Poseid- on s p i t t i n g ... no record was made of what t h e Native people s a i d . ... maybe it d i d n ' t make any sense t o t h e white people w r i t i n g it a l l down ... dreaming l i k e t h a t

There was an Orange Lodge b u i l t bu t t h e only oranges today a r e i n t h e map k e t , , t h e Knights of Labor d id wel l . . .

L E A R N I N G CENTRE NEWS

On Monday, Feb. 14th a t 7:30 pm t h e Por t megaproject f o r bes ide Crab Park goes t o Vancouver C i t y Council.

Speakers w i l l have 5 minutes each t o g ive t h e i r views; f o r i n f o on t h i s you can c a l l t h e C i t y Clerk a t 873-7269.

I t i s a wrong kind of development ... t h e double-berthed c r u i s e s h i p (warship) p i e r should go t o t h e f o o t of Lonsdale i n North Van, as well a s t h e 10,000- person Trade and Convention Centre .

The Por t /Ci ty p l anne r s a l s o propose a 33-foot 'wide p u b l i c walkway - going i n t o t h e birdmarsh G I c h i l d r e n ' s p l a y a rea . These a r e a s would no longer be use fu l .

Crab Park i s now t h e only s a f e park f o r f a m i l i e s and i s a important "safe- t y va lvef f f o r t h e Downtown Eas t s ide .

Mixed-income housing on - s i t e , more parkspace added on t o Crab Park, day- care , a Cu l tu ra l Centre bu i ld ing would b e a b e t t e r idea. The Por t however is th ink ing only of t o u r i s t s , a n d n o t of l o c a l ch i ldren ,and f ami l i e s .

Don Larson

The winter s e s s ion i s well underway i n t h e Learning Centre . There is s t i l l t ime t o r e g i s t e r f o r Socia l S tud ie s 11 and English 11 ( these c l a s s e s count f o r c r e d i t towards your Grade 12 graduat ion) .

The drop-in i s booming with l o t s of d i f f e r e n t and i n t e r e s t i n g a c t i v i t i e s going on. People use t h e drop-in t o work a t t h e i r own pace and l e v e l , and they choose t h e sub jec t and ma te r i a l I

t hey want t o l e a r n from. There a r e a l s o seve ra l se l f -paced academic c r e - d i t courses t o choose from. You can r e g i s t e r f o r se l f -paced cour ses a t any time.

Are you i n t e r e s t e d i n t u t o r i n g i n t h e Learning Centre? Drop by and t a l k t o Ernie Ducharme ... h e ' l l show you around and ge t you s e t up i n a f r e e t r a i n i n g program.

Upcoming Events - FEBRUARY 4 - t h e --------------- Learning Centre

w i l l b e c losed f o r an a l l - d a y p ro f - e s s iona l development program.

Tutor Workshops - Check t h e t u t o r --------------- b u l l e t i n board on t h e

t h i r d f l o o r f o r t u t o r workshops and events coming up i n February.

, my land , ' along . , withi - a,

- . or what reason? I . . , - . I %,.

'Health and Welfare

Canada is launching a

preliminary study

of possible mercury

poisoning in people

w h o consume large

am.ounts of fish caught

in Ootsa Lake, B.C.

and Cheslatta Lake,

B.C. Many of the trees

surrounding Ootsa

Lake ... were flooded i n

the 1950s when the

level of the lake was I

raised significantly

after Alcan completed

construction of the

Kenney Dam to create

the huge Nechako

reservoir i n what had

been five lakes."

- Canadian Water

Watch. Jan/Feb 1993.

"It i s estimated that

only six permanent

smelter jobs w i l l

be created by this

project."

- United Fishermen &

Allied Workers Union.

The P r i ce of Power

In a remote northwestern co rne r of BC, a massive s e l l - o u t of t h e environ- ment i s underway. The d e s t r u c t i o n of an ecosystem, t h e p o t e n t i a l devas ta - t i o n of salmon s tocks , t h e p r i v a t i z a - t i o n of a r i v e r and t h e enormous corp- o r a t e p r o f i t s t o be reaped from e l e c t - r i c i t y s a l e s des t ined f o r t h e U.S. can only occur with t h e co-operat ion of both t h e f e d e r a l and BC p r o v i n c i a l governments. So f a r , n e i t h e r gov ' t has l i f t e d a f i n g e r t o s t o p it.

Alcan Aluminum's Kemano Completion P ro jec t (KCP) - t h e f i n a l s t a g e i n t h e d ive r s ion of t h e Nechako River - w i l l b ea r s tagger ing environmental E s o c i a l c o s t s i f allowed t o proceed.

The once wild Nechako, a major t r i b - u t a r y t o t h e F ra se r River, w i l l be r e - duced t o a t r i c k l e - 12 percent of t h e o r i g i n a l flow.

Twenty percent of t h e F ra se r R ive r ' s p r i zed sockeye salmon w i l l be under severe t h r e a t from lowered water l ev - e l s and temperature v a r i a t i o n s t h a t can a f f e c t spawning. The Nechako ch in- ook and s turgeon a r e threa tened and f reshwater f i s h l o s s e s could reach 50%.

The Ches l a t t a t l e n n a t i v e na t ion , whose homes were burned and a n c e s t r a l graveyards flooded i n t h e f i r s t s t a g e of t h e Alcan p r o j e c t , w i l l s u f f e r f u r t h e r . Thei r e f f o r t s t o r e b u i l d l i v e s , rec la im t r a d i t i o n a l lands and r e h a b i l i t a t e h a b i t a t would be rendered v i r t u a l l y impossible by KCP.

Ranchers and farmers downstream w i l l f a c e reduced water t a b l e s i n t h e Nech- ako Valley and a l i k e l y ban on f u t u r e i r r i g a t i o n l i c e n s e s . The concent ra t ion of t o x i n s i n t h e F ra se r w i l l r i s e with lowered water l e v e l s and flow r a t e s .

How can t h i s be allowed t o happen?

I l l e g a l Acts

In 1990, t h e f e d e r a l Conservative cab ine t chose t o exempt Alcan 's Kemano

Completion P r o j e c t from an Environmen- t a l Assessment and Review Process. An a l l - p a r t y Commons-Senate Sc ru t iny Com- m i t t e e l a b e l l e d t h i s exemption both i l l e g a l and u n c o n s t i t u t i o n a l and t h e House of Commons concurred with t h a t dec is ion . Parliament has agreed t h a t t h e government ac ted i l l e g a l l y - h u t Kemano cons t ruc t ion may s t i l l p r o c c 4 . The Libera l gov ' t has , t o d a t e , r c fus - ed t o i n t e rvene i n t h i s debac le .

1950s

Alcan builds Kemano 1.

The Nechako River is '

dammed, the ~heslatta

people flooded out df

their homes, 800

square kilometres of

lakes,streams and

forests above the

Kenney Dam are flood- 'I i

ed. Chinook salmon ! between the dam and

,

Cheslatta Falls are

wiped out. Otter,

beaver, Canada Qeese,

muskrat, ducks,

Rainbow trout and

numerous other species

nearly vanish from the

upper Nechako Valley.

The Province of B.C.

signs an agreement

giving Alcan legal rights

to additional water in

the fu'ture.

The Rivers Defence Coa l i t i on , t h e Carr ier-Sekani T r iba l Council and t h e United Fishermen and A l l i e d Worker's Union, among o t h e r s , have been f i g h t - ing t h e KCP through t the c o u r t s , t h e parliament and t h e p re s s f o r years . 'lhc Suprcmc Court o f Canada re fused t o hc..lr an .1~)pc.,11 f o r an impact a s s - r- . - .mc.r~t , k l t - . p ~ t t s t h r f a c t th;lt t h e ~ u v ' t t 1 . 1 ~ 1 ~ t , n ~ r n l t t c .J p11t11 i c l y t o hold- i n g f u l l crlt~rurtrnc~r~t,l l assessment r e - v i e ~ s of ally pro jcc t i n which it i s a major p a r t i c i p a n t . The gov ' t of Cana- da i s one o f t h e s i g n a t o r i e s of t h e 1987 Kemano dea l . The o t h e r s a r e Alc- an and t h e p r o v i n c i a l gov ' t of B.C. The previous admin i s t r a t i on b l a t a n t l y v i o l a t e d i t s own r u l e s of procedure. W i l l t h e L ibe ra l s a l low t h i s t o stand?

1970s

Drastically low water

levels in the Nechako

I result when Alcan

I increases power gener-

,I ation to sell "surplus"

electricity to B.C. Hydro,

which in turn, sells

the power to the United

States.

l9gOs

The Federal Conserva-

tive Government passes

a cabinet order exempt-

ing the Kemano Com-

pletion Project from the

Environmental Assess-

ment Review Process. , .

1980s

Department of Fisheries

and Oceans officers

must ~ e t a court injunc-

tion in order to force

Alcan to release enough

water just to ensure

the survival of salmon

in the rivkr. ~ l c a n chal-

lenges the injunction.

The Rivers Defence

Coalition and the Carrier

Sekani ~ r i b a l Council

win a court v i c t o j and

an environmental

review is ordered. Alcan

appeals, and the Federal

Court of Appeal over-

turn3 the first verdict

'The B.C.U.C. Kemano hearing, under the pres- ent terms of reference, is not a credible forum. In truth, it is a SHAM.'

The P rov inc i a l NDP agreed t o hold l i m i t e d impact assessment hear ings i n no r the rn BC, but t h e hear ings a r e so r e s t r i c t e d by t h e i r narrow terms of r e f e rence t h a t t h e y have become litt- l e more than a p u b l i c r e l a t i o n s sham.

This review w i l l no t cons ider dam- age done t o t h e r i v e r p r i o r t o t h e 1987 agreement. The review w i l l n o t cons ider downstream impacts of t h e massive d ive r s ion , nor impacts on c o a s t a l f i s h i n g communities.

The c r i t i c a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n of t h e f e d e r a l government i n t h e review has no t ma te r i a l i zed . Nor have thousands of pages of Department of F i s h e r i e s E Oceans (DFO) documents reviewing wat - e r f lows and f i s h e r i e s impacts of t h e KCP. Despi te assurances dur ing t h e Federal e l e c t i o n campaign t h a t t h e L ibe ra l s would r e l e a s e information E l i f t t h e "gag" o r d e r on DFO s c i e n t - ists opposed t o t h e p r o j e c t , t h e gag o rde r s t i l l s t a n d s and on ly a few do- cuments have been r e l eased .

and awards costs to

Alcan, saddling a grass-

roots coalition with

massive court costs.

~nvironmentalists

and native'people

appeal to be heard by

the Supreme Court

of Canada: The appeal

is denied.

The Province agrees

to hold limited hearings

but accepts the 1987

agreement as binding.

A leaked justice depart-

ment memo says

federal employees (ie:

DFO.scientists) won't

be allowed to testify

even if subpoenaed.

What Can You Do?

Write, fax or phone Prime Minister /

Jean Chretien and Federal Environment

Minister Shiela Copps. As soon as , . I

possible.

Contact your own MP and ask what

shehe is doing to stop Kemano.

Write letters to the newspapers in

your area.

Write to Premier Mike Harcourt of B.C

- the Provincial government is one of . . three signatories to the 1987 deal

giving Alcan the ,rights to the Nechako

River and CAN reverse the previous

Social-Credit government's position of

support.

(An e d i t o r i a l comment: What's he re i s t h e e s s e n t i a l f a c t , t h e provable i tem and re ference t o evidence t h a t could be given i n a cou r t of law. Not he re i s t h e web of p o l i t i c a l manipulation, wi th greed, b r ibes , infiluenae peddl ing and d i sda in f o r democratic aceountab- i l i t y t h a t l i e s j u s t under t h e s u r f - ace. Not here a r e r e a l f i g u r e s i n t h e money made f o r Alcan over t h e yea r s by j u s t such one-sided agreements a s Kemano r e p r e s e n t s ... and t h e connected interweavings among Alcan execut ives , owners, s e n i o r f e d e r a l E p r o v i n c i a l p o l i t i c i a n s and t h e co rpn ra t ions inv- olved. Liken it t o Pandora's Box o r

The Kemano ~ o m ~ ~ e t i b n

Project must be stopped.

"The whole character

of the river i s going

change. The productivi-

ty of the river w i l l

change. The predator-

prey relationships

w i l l change. The

impact of reducing the

:flow i n the Nechako

by 88 percent is so

enormous that Alcan

simply cannot make

up for it, and it 's a

fantasy to suggest that

they can!'

- Retired D.F.O.

biologist and salmon - expert Dr. Gordon

Hartman.

Rt. Hon. Jean Chretien

Centre Block . Parliament Buildings

Ottawa, Ontario

KIA 0A6

0 (613) 996-6740 ' Fax: (61 3) 941 -6900

Hon. ~ h i e ' l a Copps

Environment Minister

509-S Centre Block

parliament Buildings

Ottawa, Ontario

K1 A OA6

S (613) 995-2772

Fax: (61 3) 992-2727

Premier Mike Harcourt

West Annex

Parliament Buildings

Victoria, B.C.

V8V 1x4 .

S (604) 387- 1715

Fax (604) 387-0087

even t o a monkey's f i s t . . .when greed makes t h e monkey reach through t h e narrow opening of a j a r , g r a sp t h e p r i z e i n s i d e , t hen f i n d s i t s e l f unab- l e t o withdraw i t s f i s t without drop- ping t h e p r i z e . A l l common sense , a l l appea ls t o s o c i a l consciousness o r even an .h . tz rna t%ve t o what 's planned f a l l on deaf e a r s - we a r e ignored.

We a l s o pay t h e p r i c e . The Kemano Completion P r o j e c t i s a

f lash- in- the-pan f o r work; i t ' l l g ive a few hundred l a r g e l y s p e c i a l i s e d men work f o r a year ... nega t ive e f f e c t s w i l l b e f e l t f o r genera t ions .

YOUR INCOME TAX RETURN

Revenue Canada Taxation requires that the Province of British Columbia provide a T5007 tax slip to all persons who received $500 or more in Income Assistance benefits or Seniors Supplement during 1993. Day care providers wi l l not receive a

b6filed with your income tax return. If you have not received a tax slip by February 28, 1994, or i f you believe the amount reported on the T5007 tax slip is incorrect, please call:

P r r n w r e of British Columbia Vancouver, Lower Mainland Area;

Mlnlstry of or, toll-free

Social Services 1=800=665=2928 for other areas in British Columbia. This telephone line w i l l operate 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday from February 1, 1994 t i l l

8 IVRINIE[I C ~ N to( L E O P41'ER May 13, 1994.

NOW WE KNOW

(I1 S tud ie s have shown t h a t unemployed people d o n ' t have enough money t o use p u b l i c t r a n s p o r t , have d i f f i c u l t i e s buying shoes and c lo th ing and cu t down on food." - Guardian r e p o r t . )

S c i e n t i s t s p r a i s e Gal i leo , Who observed our e a r t h l y pa th , O r g ive thanks t h a t Archimedes Cried i n h i s bath; But t h e r e ' s none so r a t e s our homage, No one we should honour more Than t h e team who've j u s t discovered That t h e unemployed a r e poor.

What a s t a r t l i n g r e v e l a t i o n ! God, t hey must have s tud ied hard, Working madly wi th computers, Scanning p r i n t o u t s by t h e year , T i l l a t l a s t t h e f i n a l breakthrough Caused t h e i r bloodshot eyes t o g l i n t , A s r e s e a r c h e r s c r i e d i n triumph, " I t ' s t h e j o b l e s s who a r e s k i n t ! I 1

Thus have b r i l l i a n t b r a i n s deciphered What was b a r e l y understood, Shedding l i g h t on what was hidden, And advancing human good. Glory t o ou r team of dickheads! No one could have sussed before Unemployment i s t h e reason Mi l l ions i n ou r midst a r e poor.

Roger Waddis

nfound, confound - I ' 11 run you out of town. Good counse l lo r - You've your d o l l a r ! A d u l l day b r i n g you down The b e s t made schemes

have sundry themes

A . A . GROUPE FRANCAIS "TEL QUE TU ES"

236 Pr incess Ave. Vancouver, BC.

REUNION AA CHAQUE Lundi Mercredi Samedi 1 Tel: a m . 253-4680 /

QUALITY R E C O V E R Y HOUSE

Located i n Surrey, t h i s i s a 10-bed support ive recovery home f o r a d u l t males recover ing from an a lcohol o r drug problem.

"Under group and ind iv idua l counsel1 - ing, we w i l l p rovide you wi th informa- t i on about add ic t ion and h e l p you make choices around your active::recov- ery. Through t h e use of l e c t u r e s , v id- eos, d i scuss ions and workshops your focus w i l l b e cen t r ed around add ic t ion r e l a t ed i s s u e s . e.g.

- maintaining abs t inence - l i f e s k i l l s development - s o c i a l i z a t i o n - communication s k i l l s - se l f -es teem - a s s e r t i v e n e s s - va lue 6 goal c l a r i f i c a t i o n - anger management Q u a l i t y Recovery House i s no t a

t rea tment c e n t r e and t h e r e f o r e does not engage i n t rea tment bu t r a t h e r i n suppor t and p repa ra t ion f o r it.

We b e l i e v e t h a t you w i l l b e n e f i t most from our program if you use it a s a p repa ra t ion f o r e n t r y i n t o a r e s i d e n t i a l t rea tment c e n t r e .

For more information - 572-9494.

THE HARBOUR LIGHT (Salva t ion Army)

SOUP LINE

I have been an un fo r tuna te sou l , having t o e a t i n t h e S a l l y Ann soup l i n e . My beef i s no t so much t h a t I had t o do it but t h e f a c t t h a t t h e food t h e y serve i s u s u a l l y no t even f i t f o r animal consumption ( i . e . your p e t c a t o r dog).

Many y e a r s ago, t h e S a l l y Ann Soup Line was loca t ed d i r e c t l y ac ros s t h e s t r e e t i n a run down bu i ld ing and you had t o s tand a t t h e t a b l e s . The "f&odtt t hey served then is i d e n t i c a l t o t h e food served now.

A l l of t h e i r food i s donated. Even now. Yet t hey have a b e a u t i f u l chapel, a l ove ly d in ing h a l l and a gorgedus k i tchen . They s t i l l se rve f i s h s l o p donated by t h e f i s h e r i e s . Th i s t t f i s h ' t i s swept up o f f t h e f l o o r i n t h e can- n e r i e s .

Why don ' t t hey use some of t h e $$ spent on t h e b e a u t i f u l bu i ld ing f o r food? They a r e more concerned about saving s o u l s than feeding them.

Mind you, t h e y do se rve one (1) l ove ly meal a yea r a t X-mas time. Big fuckin deal.Sincerely,

Larry Mousscau

For t h e l i f e of bo th 'Free ' Trade aware d e a l s , both t h e US-Canada one (FTA) and t h e new one t o gobble Mexico up (NAFTA), t h e Carnegie Newslet ter has had c r i t i c a l t h i n g s t o say.

The power t o have an e f f e c t i v e r o l e i n our c o l l e c t i v e f u t u r e is not gone; it has been t r a n s f e r r e d t o t h e p r i v a t e , co rpo ra t e s e c t o r f o r now.

For awhile t h e Maas t r ich t Trea ty w a s r epo r t ed ly what NAFTA "should" be i n terms of what it would do. The Maastr icht T rea ty i s what c o u n t r i e s i n Europe have t o bind them i n t o one super economic bloc. I t has been r e - por ted he re t h a t it con ta ins a "Soci- a l Charter" t h a t guarantees r t ights , p rovides ways f o r poorer c o u n t r i e s t o b e t t e r t h e i r wages and working conditZons toward t h e same a s t hose i n t h e wea l th i e r c o u n t r i e s of Europe.

This has always been s t a t e d i n con- t r a s t t o t h e FTA and NAFTA, which guarantee t h e a b i l i t y of c a p i t a l (money, investments , p l a n t s , business) t o go wherever it wanted whenever it wanted..to g e t t h e cheapest wages i n t h e l e a s t expensive labour cond i t i ons with t h e fewest p o l l u t i o n r e g u l a t i o n s and t h e lowest taxes. .and t o leave t h i s a f te rnoon i f p o s s i b l e .

Maastr icht was t a l k e d about by a few people who a r e u s u a l l y p r e t t y good with t h e i r a n a l y s i s , and on t h e su r f ace they d i d g e t some of t h e good poin ts . They seem t o have missed a po in t o r two.

I t s u r e sounded s t r a n g e t o hear t h a t e l i t e c a p i t a l i s m i n Europe w a s en l igh tened whi le e l i t e c a p i t a l i s m he re i n North America i s s t i l l a t t h e s t a g e of s tone c lubs and bone axes ; i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e non-e l i t e .

Some kind soul dropped off s eve ra l copies o f a B r i t i s h magazine c a l l e d "NewStatesmenW and an a r t i c l e g ives t h e 'why' behind d i s s e n t t h e r e . Seems Germany p l ays much t h e same r o l e a s Japan i n t h e Far East and t h e US he re when it comes t o economic manipula- t i o n , bu t t h a t ' s t h e fundamental na t - u r e of t r i l a t e r a l i s m . . . a s i n t h e T r i l a t e r a l Commission. (This is t h e o ld man t o t h e pul ing i n f a n t of t h e Business Council on National I ssues , Canada's most powerful lobby f o r t h e 150 r i c h e s t co rpo ra t ions i n t h e coun- try.) The a r t i c l e could be read a s a b luep r in t o r even a photocopy of t h e motivat ions behind ou r dea l s .

The bankers argue that these matters are too important to be left to politicians, who will always give in to democratic pressures and will accordingly "debauch the cur- rency". The politicians say that money must be a servant and not a master and that the bankers will always put the interests of the financial establishment first, consequently ignoring the interests of ordinary people in jobs and living standards.

The Maastricht treaty is a totally overt, not to say shameless, statement of the bankers' view. Not only is economic policy to be handed over to an unelected central bank. That bank is expressly instructed by the treaty to take no notice of anyone else-and that must be taken to include democratically elected politicians and, through them, those who elect them.

But that is not all. The treaty goes on to instruct the bankers-if they needed such instruction-that overriding priority must be given to price stability. No matter that in the depths of recession there may be some need for reflation, some concern for jobs, living standards, public services, people's homes. Only price stability, as a matter of immutable treaty law, is to count

It did, of course, occur to the framers of the treaty that this arrangement would be sub- ject to intolerable strain if there were not some degree of economic convergence among the constituent parts of the European economy. But the criteria for convergence that they specified were defined in exclu- sively monetary terms, rather than the real economy terms that really matter and that are unattainable in the short term.

Everyone has the righl to freedom of opinion and expression; this dgM Includes freedom to

hold opinions without interference end to seek, receive and impart inlormation and ideas

through any medla and regardless of frontiers. Unmrsal Dsdaramn of Human Riphts. An, 19

Vyocheslnv Sysoyev I Rurria 1 0 1993 Cnnooniru & Writers Syndicate.

So, the treaty requires a convergence of inflation rates and interest rates, and a limit to the proportion that public sector borrow- ing can bear in relation to national output. If that condition were to be met in Britain today, perhaps •’15 billion would have to be lopped off public spending, even in the depth of the recession.

Any fool could, of course, meet these con- vergence criteria-at least in the short term-provided that no account was taken of the damage done to the real economy. In the long run, the damage done would en- sure that the convergence could not be maintained. In other words, the treaty is, as a blueprint for economic policy, flawed in exactly the same way as the ERM was flawed. It guarantees the failure to se- cure the very objectives it sets out to achieve.

These problems are now understood-at least in ou t l ineby a growing number of people in Europe. It is this that explains the rising tide of unease as to what it is that our political leaders have mapped out for us. That is why the Danes and the French, the Germans and the British are so reluctant to endorse the Maastricht treaty.

Those who have committed themselves to the establishment of a unitary European super-state (talk of federalism is quite inade. quate to describe what is aimed at) did fore. see that any overt attempt to take power away from national parliaments and hand it over to a European government would meet strong resistance. Democracy is, after all

about more than elections. It is about being governed by those whom one chooses to be governed by, in a political framework to which one owes some allegiance.

The great attraction of the Maastricht treaty to the prevailing elite in European politics, however, is not only that it vested economic policy in the hands of a European central bank. It also has, as an important subtext, the obvious truth that such an ar- rangement would work only in the context of a full political union. Anything else would produce intolerable strains between the dic- tates of the central bankers at the European level and the democratic pressures on gov- ernments at the national level.

It is this vision of Europe's future-cen- tralised, unitary, exclusive, committed to ftn- ancial orthodoxy-that is another of the great casualties of recent events. The irre- versible nature of what was proposed in Maastricht should in any case dictate that no such step should be taken without consulting the people first, but it now seems unlikely that the attempt to foist all this on Europe will be seriously made. If we are wise, we can now see the way clear to a much more construc- tive and democratic course for Europe.

Di rec t comparison he re s t a r t s t o

i'y . k; \ A\ .::k T;!;, , i SAMBA ONE NOTE

one l i n e

one t ime samba t ime

c r e a t i v e genius s ta tement simple but s t a t i n g much one-legged song s tepped r i g h t up t o show t h a t music on such a bas i c mode

t o a s t a t e of of swing t h e sou l moved t o s i n g s i m p l i c i t y and beauty go hand i n hand odes r e w r i t t e n t o do

l o s e i t s e l f i n t h e d i f f e r e n c e between a dozen coun t r i e s wi th a t l e a s t two near t h e t o p and a handful n e a r t h e bottom of an economic l adde r , and t h e co lon ia l r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e S t a t e s and Cangda, Mexico, Cent ra l E South America. The goal of Maas t r ich t and NAFTA sound ominously similar - g e t democracy and " the peoplet t ou t 1 of t h e way; l e t money d i c t a t e and t h e market r u l e .

There i s a s e c r e t - t h e r i s e i n '

s o c i a l e v i l s i s d i r e c t l y p ropor t iona l t o t h e d i s p a r i t y i n wealth d i s t r i b u - t i on . Blame t h e v i c t i m indeed!

By PAULR TAYLOR Art by Steven Guar

DOUBLE STANDARD a t t h e Sun (The fol lowing l e t t e r was s e n t t o t h e Vancouver Sun on Jan.7. Most of it was p r i n t e d on Jan. 13. The p a r t t h a t was l e f t ou t i n t h e Sun's vers ion: ' ' 1

I ' m wr i t i ng t o p r o t e s t about a doub- l e s tandard i n your coverage of f r aud .

On Dec.29 you had a page 3 s t o r y headl ined, "MLA expec ts f i g u r e s to. show wel fare f r aud -as high a s 20 pe r - cent ." No proof was provided. ~ a r i i e r i n 1993 you had a f r o n t page with huge headl ines a l l e g i n g t h a t "Mil l ions of d o l l a r s i n wel fare money c o l l e c t e d f r a u d u l e n t l y by Somali re fugees ac ros s Canada a r e being used t o buy arms f o r Somali warlords.f1 'Even though ndt a shred o f proof f o r t h i s a l l e g a t i o n has been provided, t h e Sun has not apologized. '

On Jan .6 th we read i n a small a r t i c - l e on page 6 t h a t two men have been I

a c t u a l l y convic ted of Ifone of t h e l a r - gest t a x f r a u d s i n Canada!', involving more than $15 mi l l i on . This i tem is no t

specu la t ion o r a l l e g a t i o n . In f a c t , t h e i r t r i a l has been going on f o r 3 months. Why a r e we subjec ted t o huge head l ines about specu la t ion 6 a l l e g a - t i o n s o f wel fare f r aud by poor people, and blink-and-you-miss-it coverage of proven t a x f r aud involv ing middle - c l a s s ' o r r i c h people?'

This t y p e o f coverage i s c r e a t i n g a dangerous s i t u a t i o n where working peo- p l e whose t a x e s a r e high, blame 'and - even h a t e 1 t h e poores t o f t h e poor who haven ' t even been found g u i l t y o f f r a u d

An example of t h i s i s your Jan.7th l e t t e r from Gary Tupper. Tupper t r a s h - e s government f o r doing noth ing about a l l eged wel fare f r aud and goes on t o say about wel fare , "...we f r i t t e r away b i l l i o n s nationwide on layabouts and th ieves ." Yet when t a x f r aud is comm- i t t e d by ano the r c l a s s of people, and a c t u a l l y does rob government of money it needs, few w i l l even become aware of it because of t h e double s tandard i n your coverage.

What i s the - greatest? . . . . . Greatest Handicap Fear

. . . . . . . . Greatest Day %day Greatest Mistake . . Giving Up Greatest Sturnbhg Block . . . . . . . Ego Easiest

. . . . . . . . . . Tb Do Fhd Fk~2:t Greatest Comfort . . . . Work Well Done Greatest Need . . . . . . Common Sense

. . Greatest Gift. .Forgiveness -=-4 -P-L

7 @ ' : i-i T % - 1

Community Healt

rl .

On January 19 I a t t ended , a t Car g i e , what was adve r t i s ed a s a meet " to begin t h e process of forming

'community h e a l t h counci l t o r e p r e our neighbourhood".%- A *fl of dup l i ca t ion .

There were about 20 people, inc lud- 2 . To make the hea ,mg Carnegie s t a f f Fr vo lun tee r s , f , s t a f f a t Cordova House, t h e Lookout, a DERA board member, and r e p s from k ] i t i e s have d i f f e r e n t i s s u

+ t h e Downtown Eas ts ideJSt ra thcona Coa- than major urban centres, ' l i t i o n , Vancouver Native Heal th and The s t r u c t u r e of t h e l o c a l

he Downtown Eas t s ide Women's Centre. \councils and r eg iona l h e a l t h Faye White community coord ina t

from t h e p r o v i n c i a l Minis t ry of H t h , Health Regions Branch, began

"heal th r eg iona l i za t ion" .a In 1989 t h e o ld sacred governm

B i l l Vanderzalm announced t h a Royal Commission on Heal th Care an ep resen ta t ion f r Costs would look a t t h e extreme an c a l communities. eve ry inc reas ing c o s t l i n e s s of B C ' s Eventual ly t h e p Health Care system. For manyryears t h e Federal Govlt had guaranteed t payment of 1 / 2 of h e a l t h c o s t s i n provinces. In BC t h i s is approxi l y $5 b i l l i o n a year and now t h e f have t o l d t h e provinces t h a t t hey w i l l reduce t h e s e payments t o $0 2004. Of course t h e provinces a r f reaking because, i n BC a t l e a s t socred hayseeds managed t o u se t money t o g ive f r i e n d s c o n t r a c t s ding h o s p i t a l ex tens ions t h a t we not need and do not c o n t r i b u t e t hea l th of t h e populace..except by

e a t i n g employment f o r people b g and, sometimes, s t a f f i n g them. Faye White explained t h a t t h e

t h a t h e a l t h i s going t o r e g i o a r d s t o c o n t r o l t h e spending o

i n t h e province ( admin i s t r a t i ve bur-

, , . - I , . . r . .. .. . -. --- -

next few meetings w i l l be: 1) how do , *';' of o r s i t on t h e s e community h e a 7 ' Q t h counci l s? (So f a r NO.. bu t exp- we g e t c i t i z e n s t o p a r t i c i p a t e and * *

choose a community h e a l t h counci l in%'?+- enses can be covered.) the Downtown Eas t s ide ; and 2 ) decid- *4) I t was suggested t h a t a number of , ing on a workable s t r u c t u r e t o perf-*C3s4 workshops be Put on a t va r ious 10- orm t h i s counc i l s bas i c t a s k s - 3 c a t i o n s i n t h e Downtown Eas t s ide 4 - ;an accljratc. , f a i r hea l th needs a s - I.+ t o l e t people know what t h e contra-

\rr\rnvrlt t h r lbrntuwn Eas ts ide ; :.?;!versial i s s u e s a r e , t o focus ~ n d / . ;-.. ., what makes people hea l thy , o r s i c k - i r c a t ~ a health c a r e p l a n . , ,.-'- .. .A o r I I C T Import , t , ~ t c p c . \t ions and sugg= . ;+-' and how h e a l t h i s measured- Under .

c s t ~ o n s put f orbard a t t he meeting: '. t h i s p o i n t comes t h e c u r r e n t way ' 1) Lbcs t hc Downtown Eas ts ide want t o where people g e t s i c k because of

I j o in t h e S t ra thcona h e a l t h counci l : l ack of enough money t o buy good 2 o r have bur own? * ~;iE!?jC.c':,..

t ' food o r decent housing, o r g e t t i n g

2 ) Can " se rv i ce providers", e spec i a l - , taken t o a h o s p i t a l , t h r u s t from

those serving mental h e a l t h con S t a r t t o f i n i s h i n an i n c r e d i b l y

sumers, drug & a lcohol a d d i c t s , e l of "health" i s reached, t hen high-tech environment u n t i l a lev-,

shu t - in s and people with d i s a b i l i - t i e s , a c c u r a t e l y a n d f a i r l y i n d i c - d r ~ ~ ~ e d r i g h t b a c k i n t o t h e s a m e a t e t h e needs and i s s u e s of t h e i r c i rcumstances and environment t h a t c l i e n t s it t h e s e consumers do not come forward t o r ep re sen t themsel- ves on community h e a l t h co

can we g e t h e a l t h c a r e r s t o become involved? fl

e r e an honorarium p r e who work on t h e

- - - - - - - - -_____ he neighbourhood is a t r a p . ~t

s t l i k e a mousetra t he o f f e r of r e n t a l barga ins . Rents t h i s neighbourhood. The d i s l o c a t i o n of average about two hundred 6 f i f t y .

A working man might expe q u i t e a h igh p r o f i t by l i v i n g wi th ca ree r . The sudden l o s s of uninsured r e n t s such a s these . B U ~ , once res id- t o o l s can land a man on unemployment ent i n t h e n e i g h b o ~ r h o ~ d , one discov- insurance o r wel fare . Such se tbacks e r s t h e apartments a r e f i l t h y wi th can be discouraging. cockroaches and mice. Once r e s i d e n t , There may even be some men i n t h i s such a working man discovers alcohoi; neighbourhood so discouraged t o t h i s

i c s and o t l l e r uiszoui-aged, unenlployea, day By RON CARTEN

( E d i t o r ' s no te : Following i s a l e t t e r t h a t could be s e n t a s i s o r used a s t h e b a s i s f o r your own l e t t e r . I t has t o reach Harcourt G min i s t e r s

a t t h e bottom before 26 February. The "welfare fraud" hype on t h e news E p r e s s happens because t h e r e i s no law p r o t e c t i n g low-income people from l i b e l , f e a r - mongering o r h a t e l i t e r a t u r e . Racism i s i l l e g a l ; c l a s s i smE economic t e r r o r i s m a r e not . )

Dear Premier Harcourt: RE: HUMAN RIGHTS ACT REVIEW ( fax : 387-0087)

We understand t h a t t h e ques t ion of whether o r no t t o proceed with a f u l l r e - view of t h e Human Rights Act of B r i t i s h Columbia and i t s enforcement w i l l be on t h e Agenda of your next Cabinet meeting.

We a r e w r i t i n g t o urge you t o honour your government's commitment t o t h e people of B r i t i s h Columbia. Before and a f t e r t h e e l e c t i o n we were promised a f u l l and subs t an t ive Human Rights Act and a Commission.

Although t h e Act has been amended twice, it s t i l l con ta ins s e v e r a l major flaws. There i s no p r o t e c t i o n f o r d i sc r imina t ion on t h e b a s i s of source of i n - come. The cu r ren t Act does n o t cover t h e forced s a l e of some condominiums and townhouses where t h e r e s i d e n t owners choose t o have ch i ld ren . There is no pro- t e c t i o n from age d i sc r imina t ion f o r t e n a n t s under t h e age of 19 o r over t h e age of 65. C i t i z e n s a r e no t p ro t ec t ed from systemic d i sc r imina t ion .

In October, 1992 t h e then Min i s t e r r e spons ib l e f o r human r i g h t s , Anita Hagan, met with many community r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s over a p e r i o d , o f t h r e e days t o d i scuss a process f o r review of t h e Act. By June, 1993 Professor B i l l Black had been con t r ac t ed t o perform a review and t h e mandate included pub l i c consu l t a t i on .

The community h a s waited p a t i e n t l y s i n c e t h a t t ime f o r t h i s review t o t ake p lace . Now we d i scove r t h a t it is back be fo re Cabinet f o r d i scuss ion .

We know t h i s government is committed t o s t rong human r i g h t s p r o t e c t i o n i n B.C. , a s wel l a s pub l i c i npu t i n t o dec i s ions t h a t a f f e c t u s a l l . We u rge you t o proceed with t h e review a s soon a s p o s s i b l e with f u l l confidence t h a t t h e ma jo r i t y of people w5l l iendorse much ndeded law reform i n human r i g h t s .

S incere ly ,

cc : John Cashore, Colin Gablemann, Moe S iho ta , Joan Smallwood, Joy MacPhail. fax: 356-1124 387-6411 387-1356 356-5588 387-5720

Mailing address f o r a l l : c /o Parliament Buildings, V ic to r i a , B.C. V8V 1x4

ME, V I R G I L , AND THE I N D l A N S

Virgil Lane was about 20 years my senior, and in 1960's terminology a Negro. I quit school for the first of many times to play rhythm guitar in his band at the Smilin' Buddha for $40 a week.

Virgil had 5 kids and a wife to support, so when our gig at the Buddha ended we headed up the coast to a place called Woodfibre where Virgil had arranged tem- porary employment in a manufacturing plant. I was given the job of scraping the inside walls of giant oval tanks that had a two foot hole at each end to crawl in and out of. After the third day's work was over, Virgil said, "Let's go for a beer." I

We walked through the eternal acid rain drizzle that fell on Woodfibre to the only drinking establishment which happened to be a Royal Canadian Legion.

Being in my mid teens I had snuck success- fully into taverns before, but this was my first time in a Legion.

After signing the guest book, a buzzer sounded and we' entered. The place was half full of men quietly sitting at their tables minding their own business, until , one at a time they looked up and started pointing at their respective heads. I Virgil nudged me in the ribs and said, "Better take off your hard hat .I' 1 The waiter came over, and eyeing my youth- 1 ful fzice with forgiving suspicion, he ex- plained that hats weren't allowed in the 1 Legion. Virgil just sat there with his famous 'so ya think you know it all' snile, and ordered four draft. - ...................... Flash-forward to Oct. 1980.

It's Halloween night and I'm meeting some friends at the Port Moody Legion.

For a lark I decide to take out my old taxi drivers uniform that I was forced to buy when I drove cab in Edmonton during the '78 Commonwealth games.

It wasn't much of a Halloween costume, but with its Yellow Cab emblems on the hat and jacket shoulders; I was quite convincing to the bartender, who, after buzzing me through the door, said, "Yeah, who called you?" After I explained I was merely in costume he replied, ''Yeah, well take off your h a t ! "

A 20 year old nostalgic remembrance of Woodfibre caused me to smile as I edged my way through the crowd looking for my friends' table... What ever happened to Virgil Lane, anyway ... ?

Remembrance Day 1993

Just when you think that you've lived long enough to overcome those petty things that troubled your. younger years, some mysterious force winds up and smacks you in the face, sending your mind spin- ning and wondering 'What the Godfrey Danial is gcing on here!'

... 7or weeks the nightly newscasters on TV lave taken up the cause of an East Indian- :anadian war veteran who was denied mtrance to a Royal Canadian Legion because le wouldn't remove his head gear. He was ltterly convinced that he was the victim of racism, or worse.

I, on the other hand, was convinced that I was the victim of a deeper suffering of losing a well entrenched tradition that I had freely accepted all those years ago so f could sit down and have a beer in the confines of a hallowed place. My white-hot mental voice shouted back at the newscasters: WHAT ABOUT WOODFlBRE... WHAT ABOUT PORT MOODY? Fearing for my sanity, I stopped watching the nightly news for a time.

I smoldered into a sad pile of ashes and tried to put my shattered status quo puzzle back together again.

It was during those news hour hiatuses that my pain was rationally appreciated and then overcome by the mentalized chanting of the words Potlatch and Sun Dance.

Garry Gust

DOWNTOWN STD C l i n i c - Monday through Fr iday, 9am - 5pm. EASTSIDE FREE MEDICAL CLINIC - Mon, Wed, Fr iday, 5:30-7 :30 pm. YOUTH NEEDLE EXCHANGE - 221 Main; every day. 9am - 5pm.

ACTIVITIES Needle Exchange Van - on t h e s t r e e t evenings, Mon-Sat. SOCIETY N.A. meets every Monday n i g h t a t 223 Main S t r e e t .

Out-To-Lunch Bunch meets d a i l y a t 59 Powell, loam - 2:30pin.

~ e l p hi -the buntom Eastride ( f u n d i o ~ ) Soc ia l Services -$lo00 Vancouver Health Dept. -$I1 Employment 6 Immigration -$8 OO P .L.U.R.A. -$I000

NEED HELP

Articles contrlb

represent the views of indiv utors and not of the Associat

Submission Deadline

NEXT ISSUE 10 February . Thursday 0

The Downtown Eastside Residents' Association

can help you with:

+ any welfare problem * information on legal rights

disputes with landlords + unsafe living conditions + income tax

UIC problem + finding housing + opening a bank account

Come into the DERA office at 9 East Hastings St. or phone us at 682-0931.

DERA HAS BEEN SERVING THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE FOR 20 YEARS.