3 - Sunday, “QUESTION OF HUMAN SURVIVAL” Squamish INDIANS have never consented to whites living on the North Shore or anywhere else in British Columbia, says Squamish Band Chief Joe Mathias. At a recent public meeting on land claims, ihe local aboriginal leader said Indians have been pro- testing since B.C.'s Confederation in 1871. ““My ancestors were denied the right to claim Jand under the Ca- Hy KIM PEMBERTON News Reporter nadian legal system. it's a conspir- acy of legislation,’* Mathias said. “You can see a great design in NORTEEVAN SEYMOUR | AUMwpsa, | NEWS phate Mike ‘Wokotieia SQUAMISH Indian Band Chief Joe Mathias, speaking at a public meeting on land claims last week in North Vancouver, said B.C.‘s aboriginal people have never signed treaties, relinquishing their title to the land. levislation to place Indian people outside of the growth of this coun- try. “How do you destroy a people? You tuke away their political rights and you take away their land." - PROTECT LAND The Squamish band claims ter- ritorial title to all of the North Shore up to Pemberton Valley, all of Squamish Valley, Howe Sound and Vancouver. Some of its land claim overlap with claims by the Burrard and Musqueam Indian bands. “While the harbor of Vancouver blossomed, we were trying to pro- tect our land rights within the Ca- nadian Jegal system,"’ Mathias said, ‘‘but we were prevented all along the line.’* “We're not here to kick everyone out of the country.” “First of all it's not practical, we don't have the numbers, and secondly we want to partake in the mainstream of this country. We're not anti-developers, we want to grow with Vancouver,”” he said. RESEARCHED CLAIM Mathias said the band has com- pleted six years of — historical research to document its claim, a federal government requirement before it is accepted for nezotia- tions. The provincial government ref- uses to recognize aboriginal title and consequently refuses to settle land claims. Mathias said settlement is a fundamental question of human survival for aboriginal people, which he suid explains why the Haida people are actively pro- testing logging on the Queen Charlotte Islands. NV District Council wants ost ship industry feds to b NORTH Vancouver District Council passed a motion Monday night calling for the federal government to address North Vancouver’s troubled shipbuilding industry. The motion, drafted by Ald. Ernie Crist, but presented by Ald. Stephen McMinn, pointed to the recent Bel-Aire Shipyard closure, and the impending ‘‘extinction” of the North Vancouver shipbuilding industry as prime examples of the need for immediate action to revitalize the local waterfront. Crist's motion stated that con- struction of icebreakers to help en- sure Canada's Arctic sovereignty was a market from which com- petitive West Coast shipyards could benefit. The motion called for North Vancouver District to lobby the federal government to take im- mediate steps in commissioning ships for West Coast shipyards. SUPPORT REQUESTED It further asked for support from all Lower Mainland municipalities in writing letters to the federal government and local MPs, demanding action be taken to save the local shipbuilding in- dustry. In an interview after the meeting, Crist said the conse- quences of a moribund North Vancouver shipbuilding industry “would have an enormous impact on the North Shore.”’ Crist, who works as a shipper- receiver at North Vancouver's Versatile Pacific Shipyard, said Ry TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter cyclical lows in the shipbuilding industry attacked the highly-train- ed technical engineering core of shipyards first. ERNIE CRIST The dissolution of that core, he said, resulted in long-term damage to any shipbuilding operation. NEED HELP Versagile, the largest North Vancouver shipyard with approx- imately 500 employees, only has one shipbuilding order for a type 1200 icebreaker hull, following the fate February completion of the Martha L. Black. Commenting on the district's motion, Versatile senior vice- president Dave Alsop said Tues- day, ‘We can use all the help we can get.”" Versatile, he said, was currently running at 50 per cent capacity, “and the situation has reached a critical stage for employees in the technical engineering trades. By the middle of this year, 90 per cent of available engineering work will be complete.”’ Alsop declined to estimate how many téchnical staff might be laid off in the coming year, but said the shipyard currently employed ap- proximately 55 technical trades people. STAYING AFLOAT “i'm reasonably optimistic that we have enough work to. stay afloat, but at this point I don’t know where it will be coming from.” Marine Workers and Boiler- makers Industrial Union president (MWBIU) John Fitzpatrick said Monday’s motion was a positive step for an industry on the verge of collapse: ‘‘We are desperate." Fitzpatrick said any pressure that could be put on the federal See Shipbuilcer Page 8 He said the Squamish people are also taking a public stand, visible most recently by the band's op- position to Vancouver City's at- tempt to gain title to Stanley Park. Currently only six claims can be negotiated at one time in Canada, which includes only one in B.C. NEGOTIATING The Nishga of the Nass Valley is the only Indian group involved in negotiations with the federal gov- ernment, SVEND ROBINSON, KP Mathias said a government change in its land claim policy must occur to satisfy all 27 tribal Murch 2, 1986 ~ North Shore News and demands land groups in the province. Mathias said another problem with the federal government's negotiation framework is its in- sistence of extinguishment of aboriginal title before settlement occurs. “Extinguishment says we are no ionger Squamish people — that our tie to the land is gone forever. We take the position that extin- guishment is not a valid or accept- able goal,"" he said. “Like the Haidas, we are re- asonable people,’’ Mathias said. ‘We have room to sit down and discuss, but | can’t say that for the provincial or federal gov- ernmients."' BLOCKING CHARGE MP Svend Robinson, NDP justice critic, also spoke at the mecting, sponsored by the North Vancouver Seymour New Demo- crats, Robinson took part in the Haida's civil disobedience cam- paign last November and December, and was one of 71 peo- ple charged for blocking logging on Lyell Island. “J stood on a line with Haidas and was told by a burly sub-con- tractor, ‘You're blocking the road, you're breaking the law.* “It's not an easy thing to be told,"’ Robinson said. “TE think a young Haida from Masset said it best, (at a subse- quent court appearance at which Robinson was fined $750), ‘I’m not pleased to be caught between your sense of law and my sense of justive,” and | think that’s what many of us felt," he said. About 80 people attended the meeting. Neighbors oppose proposed building “TLL HAVE to-stand:on a chair to see the view,’’ said an irate Doreen Blackburn about. a proposed develop-. ment permit: for a ‘house on neighboring West Vancouver property. Blackburn as one. ‘of half a dozen concerned residents who. raised their oppasition: ‘ata public meeting at.West “Vancouver Council Mounday. about a‘house tobe built at 2302. Bellevue Avenue. . The’ property is’ owned by Irene Knezevic who Fesides, in a sin family dwelling: already ¢ on the property. “ The proposal is for a second. house on, now stands. © property where a cottag | DUPLEX Zoning The sulrounding properties were zone ‘for ‘duplex dwellings. after: the existing buildings were built: on” the’ Knezevic property; ‘and: therefore Knezevic is entitled to. build. a second house-where the cot. tage now exists.” Neighbor Maria Simpson of 2310 Bellevue Avent: Said she did’ not object to the house per se, but to. the mass of-the building. : .The proposed house is 10 inches higher than the original building permit allows. Residents were | primarily concerned, about the structure blocking out views. Architect Robert: Burgers explained to. council that ‘the proposed house’is actually-smialler than the existing cottage. Width’ of the building has been whittled down to improve neighbors’ sightlines. AFFECT VIEWS - However, the height of the bifilding would affect views of residents living above the house. Blackburn said that there was-an illegal suite in Knezevics’ home, and by allowing the second house to be built, three families would be living on: the property which is only zoned for ‘two. Ald. Mark Sager said that he could not vote in favor of. the development permit if the client was breaking the law by having an il- legal suite. Ald. David Finlay said that there ‘seemed to be too much building for the site. Council delayed making a decision on the permit until staff could prepare a new report. The decision on the permit will likely be made next week,