6 ~ Wednesday, November 27, 1985 - North Shore News Editorial Page Pretoria, B.C. S the battle of Lyell Island begins to at- tract international media attention, . Canadian ‘‘apartheid”’ is being expos- ed to a world whose sympathies seem likely to lie firmly on the side of the Indians. Like the situation in South Africa, our own native land claims question is a great deal more complex than most outside observers understand. But this doesn’t excuse the blank refusal of the Socred government to even ad- dress the aboriginal rights issue — any more than Pretoria can be excused its similar obstinacy towards black South Africa. The nub of the problem in Canada is the division of responsibilities between Ottawa ‘and the provinces. Aboriginal rights were enshrined in our new Constitution in 1982 and are endorsed by all three national parties. The foreseen settlement of native claims involves turning over land to Indians, guaranteed access to fish and game, and economic development funds. In the N.W.T. and Yukon — areas directly under Ottawa — this is already happening. But elsewhere all public Jand is held by the provinces. So settlements in B.C. mean giving away provincial land to wards of the federal government at the expense of all other B.C. citizens. A new approack has just been proposed by ‘former B.C. NDP leader Tom Berger, now a UBC law professor: if B.C. surrenders public land, the feds should compensate the pro- vince, he says. His proposal doesn’t alter the potential cost of such land transfers, but at any rate the ‘burden wouldn’t be borne by B.C. alone. Premier Bennett should at very least take a serious look at it. Canadian ‘‘apartheid” cannot, any more than its harsh counterpart in South Africa, continue indefinitely. Like Pretoria, Vic- toria’s refusal to become part of the eventual Solution inevitably makes it a major part of the problem. Role model? ure, SkyTrain is a nice name for Van- couver’s new rapid transit system. And transit boss Grace McCarthy went to some pains not to infringe the copyright of Freddie Laker’s former cut-price airline of the same name — by spelling her own pride and joy with a capital ‘‘T’’ in the middie. But Grace seems to have overlooked just one faintly embarrassing little point. Freddie’s Skytrain went bankrupt. ‘THE VOUCT OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER Display Advertising 980-0511 nica ; “north shore’ «;.. a — i Classified Advertising 986-6222 news. Newsrvom 985.2131 9 Toate, athe dade Cifculation 986-1337 SUNDAY + WeoNEsDAY + FRIDAY Subscriptions 986-1337 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 publisher: Peter Speck operations mgr. advertising director Berni Hiltiard Linga Stewart editor-in-chief managing editor Noe! Wright Nancy Weatherley North Shose News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and quulilied under Schedule Ill, Part Ili, Paragraph IH of tho Excise Tax Act, 1s published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore Second Class Mai! Registration Number 3885, Entire contents > 1985 North Shore Free Press Utd. All rights reserved. Member of the B.C. Press Council ot 56,245 {average, Wednesday SDA DIVISION Friday & Sunday) WE HAVE NEVER WAIPRED.. _-NEVER CHANGED COURSE... Peace? Send for Canada! THE UNITED NATIONS STORY told in this column during recent weeks would be incomplete without a short epilogue on Canada’s special role. In 1945, as one of the world Body’s 51 founding members (there are now 159), Canada took a leading part in shaping key compo- nents of the UN machinery — especially its increasingly important Social Council. It was also due largely to Canadian insistence that the Secretariat was set up as an international civil service, independent of any member nation and with its own diplomatic privileges. Most significant of all has been our peacekeeping con- tribution — a sphere in which we are now recognized as the global experts. We are the only country in the world whose troops have worn the pale blue beret of the United Nations in every one of the UN’s 13 peacekeeping operations from Korea to Lebanon — including the 1956 Suez crisis which brought Lester Pear- son the Nobel Peace Prize. Canada has already served four two-year terms on the Security Council and will be elected again for a fifth be- fore the decade ends, We are active members of every specialized UN agency, with permanent missions at the Economic and smalier UN offices in Paris, Rome, Vienna and Nairobi, in addition to New York and Geneva. And our commit- ment to helping developing countries has earned us high esteem in the Third World. The doleful ‘search for a Canadian identity’? by some of our housebound eggheads quickly ends in the corridors and meeting rooms of the UN. Contact during our media tour with many officials of other nations left no doubt about Canada's interna- tional ‘identity’. It com- mands unfailing respect — plus, most often, admiration and genuine warmth. For this, Canada’s career diplomats must also take a bow. From ambassadors LETTER OF THE DAY Noel Wright down to junior mission members they come across as dedicated professionals doing a first class job for their country’s worldwide image. That goes, too, for the controversial political appointee who heads the ° focus ® New York mission. Stephen Lewis may occasionally ir- ritate his U.S. conterparts but there seems little doubt about his personal . popu- larity among UN colleagues. Make no mistake. In the multinational peace industry Canada is a big-league oper- ator — with a productivity record second to none. Ld FAR FROM THE UN, peace and goodwill also per- vaded the traditional get- together of West Van’s civic establishment last Saturday at the annual municipal din- ner. Where, incidentally, a big question intriguing Tid-_ dlycove was posed. Honored were the scores of West Van volunteers manning the vital commis-— sions and committees which guide council decisions on design, planning, parks and recreation, community ser- vices, library, police, the board of variance, the fami- ly court, senior activities, Expo 86 involvement, Community Day and foreshore matters. Toasted by Ald. Diana Hutchinson, they were all given a big hand — as were “The Partners’, which Ald. Dave Finlay hilariously. translated as ‘‘spouses, companions and lovers’’. Ald. Don Griffiths handed out architectural awards and the guest of honor, former Lt.-Gov Henry Bell-Irving, wound up the speeches in humorous vein, bestowing accolades on other worthy Tiddlycovians. The big question from numerous guests: ‘*Will Derrick Humphreys be runn- ing again for mayor in 19862"? .. The answer (on which you can safely bet your retire- ment pension) is: ‘God will- ing, YES!” Lost freedom affects all Dear Editor: It seems that all of us, to some extent, fear change. It is probably this fear of change that manifests itself in the xenophobia that is oc- casionaly expressed in the columns of your newspaper. Critics of a policy of open immigration may have sound reasons for their views, although most of the criti- cism we hear seems to be not because we have open im- migration, but because we have restricted immigration, with the restrictions applied in an imperfect manner. It must tell us something about the comparative worth of the two systems, that totalitarian countries restrict emigration, while the Western democratic coun- tries attempt to restrict im- migration. In reality, the immigration issue is a red herring. If it is a good thing to restrict immigration into Canada, would it not then be better to restrict immigra- tion into British Columbia, and even better, to bar entry onto the North Shore. The real issue is freedom of movement, and we must ask ourselves whether we really wish to live in a society in which the right of any indi- vidual to travel, live, or work, should be curtailed by some faceless bureaucrat. We should remember that whenever any of us is suc- cessful in restricting the liberty of others the conse- quence of our action will most certainly be a foss of our own freedom. Bill Tomlinson North Vancouver