north shore news MAIL Box [inset by tribunal comments @apear Editor: ’ The postal strike requires that I use an email to send you a rotest that deserves a more dignified delivery medium than an Blectronic bit-switcher. . Unfortunately, I will have to make do with this medium to try onvey my disgust at the stance taken by your paper on the deci- pon. by the Human Rights Tribunal regarding Doug Collins. In particular, I found Trevor Lautens’ Nov. 21 column evi- meence that Collins” lunatic view of reality must be contagious. I ake great offence at your suggestion that our justice system (cven : the form of'a minor tribunal such as this one) is run by puppets o the order of the government of the day. You should be ashamed. On the other hand, I suppose you have a high tolerance for Bxecrable behavior, having spent so much time and effort support- ng such an odious individual as a Holocaust denier. After watching the spectacle of you and your publisher trying to convince us that you are brave freedom fighters, defending an unpopular but legitimate point of view, you now ask me to believe that““final victory” has been hijacked because your campaign to save democracy might be doing too well. Naturally, according to this paranoid view of the world run by conspiracy, the only possible explanation for the tribunal's ruling would be that the government was trying to prevent an extended run of your circus. After all, Ms. (Nitya) Iyer is a lawyer, a UBC professor, an ex-clerk to one of the justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, and a feminist. How could she be expected to run a fair process? Of course, another interpretation might be thar Ms. Iyer did ari honest and’ professional job analyzing a morally complex issue, and your paper has consistently and cynically exploited this public process to enhance your commercial position. Wednesday, December 3, 1997 ~ North Shore ‘News - 9 Like Ms. Iver, 1 thought Collins was “nasty ... deliberately provocative and insulting” and, as anyone who spends 30 minutes in any public library could determine, willfully ignoring the facts. Still, I am pleased to see a reasonably tolerant application of this contro- versial law. In the words of the B.C. Press Council, “the best response to non-criminal hate speech is within the personal jurisdic- tion of each Canadian, most of whom are well-educated, tolcrant and polite and do not sympathize with rude or offensive T have been irritated by this whole affair and your ridiculous position in it, but I never thought that if you won you'd have the nerve to claim it was fixed. About the only gesture I can make to express my disgust is to insist that you no longer deliver this pub- lication to my home. Any copies delivered wilf be returned to you personally with a reminder that even pcople who aren’t Jewish, socialists, or immigrants might find your paper. hateful. After ‘all, your right to “free speech” doesn’t mean that I have to read this garbage. David Demers West Vancouver ddemers@westport.com |. Vancouver Salmon Derby Aes the an of another fundraising year and ne to convey our thanks for your valued sup- rt.On. behalf of the members: of North ‘ouver District Firefighters Society and our imon Derby Committee, I would like to Hank ‘you for your support towards our adraising salmon derby at Pender Harbour, cpt..4;°5 and 6. The goodwill evidenced 0 ugh your, generosity enabled firefighters to ‘a:total of $9,432.15,.These monies have distributed between salmon sport fishery ancement programs in the Georgia Strait, programs in our local school districts. ince our founding date in 1980, we have raised $97,648.32 for our charities at this one event. Over $80,000 have gone to salmon enhancement alone since 1988, and with your continuing support, we hope to do as weil in the future. Plans are already under way for 1998, as this will be our 16th anniversary. For your ii informa- tion the dates are Sept. 6, 7 and 8, 1998. Again, we thank you for your generosity on our behalf and look forward to your assistance and understanding in our future fund-raising salmon enhancement projects. Chairman, Salmon Derby Committee North Vancouver - \ CHRISTMAS LAST FOREVER Lith Anniversary 888 Collection Available in your choice of 14K white gold combinations. ‘Wedding band sold separately Importers of Gemstones. Manufacturers of Fine Jewellery Capilano Mall, North Vancouver 984-2040 Park Royal S., West Vancouver 925-2043 Eaton Centre, Metrotown Burnaby, 430-2040 Mayfair Shopping Centre, Victoria (250) 382-2040 ted white, m.p. advertorial, December 3/97 NATIVE AFFAIRS Early last week, Reform obtained a copy of a 1996 report, stamped “SECRET” , which was prepared by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in response to 1994 criticisms of the Department's programs by the Auditor General. The fact that it took DIAND two years to respond to the AG is typical, it would seem, of the lack of accountability and structure within the Department, while the content of the report certainly’ appears to confirm that spending within DIAND is completely out of control. in my North Shore News feport of November 19/97, | mentioned an epidemic of fraud in a ten year old First Nations prescription drug and dental care program, but DIANO's report on itself admits that there are numerous examples of First # Nations social assistance programs for which there is no fiscal accountability and no way of measuring the value to the intended recipients. Large numbers of complaints to Reform MP offices by rank and file band members over the past year or so confirm that program funding often fails to reach those who need it, and that DIAND routinely ignores criticism or input from band members. ~ ACCOUNTABILITY It is clear from the DIAND document 4 that under the previous Minister, Ron Irwin, the Department neglected to take any meaningful action to correct the problems of corruption, escalating costs, growing levels of dependency, and a lack of data on the effectiveness of First Nations programs. The new Minister however, 1 Jane Stewart, under heavy questioning in Parliament tast week, actually admitted the existence of the problems, something which Ron Irwin always refused to do. The first step to solving problems, of course, is acknowledging that the problems exist, so although there is some evidence that the Department failed to show the report to the new Minister until it was released by Reform, there is now a glimmer of hope that something will finally be done. Jane Stewart was National Revenue Minister in the last Parliament and, in my opinion, was one of the more competent and conscientious members of cabinet. In addition, personal attacks and sleaze are not her style, so attempts by the Liberal Question Period advisors to feed p her anti-Reform “one-liners” have fallen flat. Perhaps Jane, “assisted” by ongoing pressure from Reform during Question Period, will be the first Liberal Indian Affairs Minister to actually bring some order and accountability to that Department. You can count on me to keep you informed. KEY FINDINGS Key findings of the secret DIAND report were: * There has been no measurable effect on dependency § rates and expenditures from indian Social Assistance programs. : ¢The Department replied “cannot answer” to numerous straightforward questions regarding the growth of programs and their impacts. ¢ Money is being dispensed and received without the proper entitlement being established. «Neither DIAND or First Nations can explain elevated and ‘escalating [ dependency rates and costs. ; ¢The same “innovative solutions” are proposed by First Nations, and funded by DIAND over and over again with an absence of information reporting. ein 1995/6 the on-reserve social assistance costs were $705 million and are expected to be $1 billion by 2007. | «There are problems with First Nations non-compliance ‘with program parameters. There are no DIAND records of pilot projects that have been tried and failed, or which have merit, so the same programs keep getting repeated. «There appears to be significant non- compliance by First Nations in terms of record keeping and the following of provincial rules regarding benefits, hourly rates and eligibility. ; ¢ The Auditor General cites 74% of reviewed case files as having inadequate documentation. DIAND could not explain v;here the money went in these cases. , POLITICAL CORRECTNESS A recent Access to Information request revealed that one in five Native indian organizations in Canada has financial management problems, federal auditors have found that Canada's Indian Bands are more than $500 million in debt due to financial mismanagement by tribal leaders § and federal! officials, and the Assembly of First Nations has been told by the Government that their funding will be cut off if it does not start following appropriate auditing practices. Unfortunately, the aura of “political correctness” which surrounds any discussion of Native Indian affairs discourages public questioning as to where the money goes and who receives the benefits. As tong as this situation persists, the problems will not be solved, money will continue to be wasted, and dependency will continue to grow.