Hold off on cheap shots and listen!
DEAR Mr. Minister: You must be pretty self-confident after 10 weeks on the job, to tell B.C. fishermen that they are "ignorant" and "irresponsible" to demand tougher action from you in defending our salmon against the United States. You resent union fishermen saying that your department is selling them out, but they're not making that charge after 10 minutes, 10 hours or even 10 weeks consideration. They have spent their lifetimes in this industry and they want some fish for their children to harvest and to eat as well. They speak and act from experience and conviction.
You seem pretty impressed with how tough your bureaucrats talked when they told American negotiators to pack their bags and head home after the chum salmon dust-up last month. We don't impress so easily. We've seen it all before.
We knew that the agreement now being negotiated in Seattle will guarantee the U.S. an entitlement to all Fraser-bound salmon, wherever caught. We knew that regional director Wayne Shinners was promising to settle that agreement on deadline even as he was "breaking off talks" over the chum salmon violation. And we knew from long experience that nothing moves your department but loud and long protest. You have not proved us wrong. We have yet to make a set on the fish the Americans harvested for nine days at the mouth of the Fraser.
Frankly, your government has not built up an impressive record of fisheries management. The Pearse report bears witness to the current crisis.
And all of the achievements of the last 10 years — the 200-mile limit, enhancement, tougher environmental laws — were answers to demands raised for years in union conventions and steadfastly ignored. It is only logical that we, who rely on the resource for our livelihood, should be its most passionate and consistent defenders and only right that we should be the most scathing critics of those who threaten to allow its destruction.
When you conclude that "certain groups" have "not done their homework," you should ask how their policies are established. The
UFAWU, which seems to have angered you by pushing for more fishing time, sets policy in a directly-elected annual convention. It is the largest industry organization by far, is run democratically and deserves respect.
You say you are "an impatient man." We're impatient, too, tired of the long wait for a minister willing to implement fisheries policy that protect the resource, our jobs and our future. Forget your insults. Sit down and listen to what we have to say. Long after you're gone, we'll still be here.
B.C. fishing industry workers
Provincial government slashes health services
THE provincial minister of health, James Nielsen, is still at his favourite past-time, cutting back health services. His latest victim is the Great Northern Way Detoxification Centre at 377 East 2nd Ave. in Vancouver.
This is the centre where they treat drunks. And if anyone thinks it doesn't fill an urgent need, just bear in mind that between the time it opened on Feb. 25 of this year and the end of September — a matter of six months — it handled 6,000 cases.
The minister of health is cutting the number of beds to 10 from 42! The staff also has been cut drastically and a hiring freeze imposed.
The purpose of the cuts as far as the provincial government is concerned is to save money. For the minister of health, it is just another way of transferring the costs from the province to the city. It's an attempt to force the city to handle drunks through the city jail, where Vancovuer taxpayers foot the bill rather than a detox centre financed by the provincial government. And since the city has no other major source of funds than property taxes, it means more taxes for both business and homeowners.
Right from the time that the government opened the detox centre it has been reneging on its responsibilities. As Bob Stewart, the chief constable of the city's
HARRY RANKIN
police force, pointed out to city council, the government refused to implement the "compulsory" aspect of the program to handle drunks, it established admission criteria which kept out certain types of drunks, and its admission procedures were designed to keep out other people who needed treatment.
What makes the whole situation worse is that the city jail is now being reno-
Letters
vated. The drunk tank is being eliminated. The jail staff is being reduced to provide more police for street patrol. It would be hard pressed to handle even four drunks a day.
For some officials of the alcohol and drug program, appointed by the ministry of health under Nielsen, now to say that ''we are on top of the situation" or "it's a temporary problem" is so much horse manure. How "temporary" can it be when on Oct. 18, the police were informed that because of staff.shortages and a full hiring freeze, admissions would be reduced by 50 percent.
These cut-backs in the detox program are cruel, callous and heartless, not to say
hypocritical. The government itself is helping to create the problem with its liquor policies and it profits from those policies, too — today one of its major sources of revenue is the tax on liquor. On the one hand it encourages drinking and makes money on it, on the other it wants to force Vancouver taxpayers to pay the medical bills for the victims.
This action by the provincial government is absolutely impermissible. The compulsory aspect of the program should be instituted — chronic drunks who need medical treatment should be given that treatment; the restrictions on admissions to the detox centre should be dropped, the cut-backs restored and the staff increased at least to its previous level.
MP seeks help for pipeline court case
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Editor GEOFF MEGGS Assistant Editor JIM SINCLAIR
Second Class Mail registration number 1576
ISSN 0015-2986 Published by the Fisherman Publishing Society every other Friday
Deadline: Monday prior to publication.
Editor, The Fisherman:
I am writing to keep you informed on the progress of my lawsuite against Tru-deau and his Cabinet over the so-called "pre-build" of the Alaska Highway natural gas pipeline.
You will recall that the Liberal government by-passed Parliament and passed behind closed doors an order-in-council approving a short "pre-build" from Alberta to the United States of the much larger Alaska line. On behalf of the New Democratic Party, I said at the time, that if Canada did this the Americans would never finance and build the whole line. Canada would get less jobs and only a large diameter export pipeline sucking out huge volumes of relatively cheap Canadian gas. As you know, this has happened with the recent announcement of an indefinite postponement of the construction of the whole pipeline.
The Honourable Stanley Knowles, (Winnipeg North Centre) and I went further in the House of Commons. We said that Trudeau's action was illegal. He changed an Act of Parliament without Parliamentary debate. I then sued Tru-
deau and Company in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Many of you contributed and helped out with this lawsuit. Here's our progress to date:
1. I got the aid and advice of excellent lawyers like John Laxton, Jack Woodward, David and Paul Rosenberg and some law professors in Victoria and Toronto.
2. The big oil companies immediately moved into the lawsuit as partners so that I went up against not only Trudeau, but also big oil.
3. They moved to throw me out of Court on technical grounds. After two days of intense legal argument we won in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. I WON THE FIRST ROUND!!!
4. The Government of Canada and the oil companies have appealed this decision to the appeal court. The hearing was set for September 20th, 1982, where the judgment was reserved but we are hoping for a prompt decision.
5. The trial of the main action is set for November 29, 1982.
4/THE FISHERMAN — NOVEMBER 26, 1982
This is an important case, the CCF/NDP has always had the tradition of defending the rights of Parliament. Not only must we stop this authoritarian Govenrment action, but we must also show the Canadian people the danger of exporting all our natural gas in the same way we did with our "surplus" oil a decade ago. A victory in this case would mean a new bill in Parliament and a debate on our gas reserves and our energy future for all to see.
I still need your help. My opponents have all the financial resources in the world. I have few. If you can, please send a donation made payable to the New Democratic Party in care of my office. The envelope should be addressed to: Mr. Ian Waddell, M.P. (Vancouver-Kings-way), House of Commons, OTTAWA, Canada K1A0A6. Further, the envelope — not the cheque — should be marked "PIPELINE LAWSUIT". For income tax purposes, a receipt will then be issued to you.
IAN WADDELL, MP, Vancouver-Kingsway