+

I therhood To Seek
nidian Dep't Probe

fany Indians in this province are receiving
and the Native Brotherhood of BC fee cads toe ask a parliamen-
jmavestigation of the Indian Affairs Branch of the Department of
s and Resources, according to Andy Paull, business agent of the
§ization. The matter will be discussed at the next Brocheriood
ek eption at Cape Mudge this December 1.

“outrageous treat-

taba lbings have been increasingly bad in the Indian Department

bre Siuee Dr. Harold McGill
yeypeaed  Bunecan Campbell
| as deputy superintendent

al of Indian Affairs,” stated
“There is something rotten
§ that demands an immediate
igatien.”
4 evidence, Paull pointed to
qases of two Indian families
ht to his attention this weel.
¥| first case concerns irs.
| Green, who in 1915 entered
ePmiahmoo Reserve with her
sr-breed husband, with the
‘onsent of the Indians and
idian agent. as called for in
jidian Act. The agent at that
twas Peter Byrne, who told
) “go ahead, move in, build
house. and’ plant your trees.”
te August 17 of this year, Mrs.
i received a summons to
rin court, on the charge of
}Jng to obey an officer of the
}? who ordered her to yacate
ieind, on which she and her
r have built a house, plant-
fruit orchard of fourteen
cultivated a large garden;
-s3uult houses for her fifty
4 ns.
. Green received no court
to vacate, and no reason
liven. No aliernate sugges-
S to where she can live has
dmade. All she knows is. that
nti be fined if she is not
4 fand by October 1.
mijar case has been report-
' the Brotherhood concern-
ad left to Mrs. Laura James
7° grandiather. The will giv-
irs. James the land was
approved by the Depart-
4 of Indian Affairs in Octo-
88, although a clause in the
ed Indian Act provides that
Mm reserve land is left to a
sr of a different Indian
t@ the land must be turned
@ ash, which will be turned
to the legatee. Of course,
the Indian Agent is con-
ad capable of deciding who
zs to a certain band and in
ise of Mrs. James the very

#i—Our Ally,”

t “Soviet Foreign Policy,

Wanter. and will deal with
ent phases of Soviet life
eres will be illustrated with
#2 pictures. and will be fol-
™ by question and discussion
2B is,
er lectures in the series are:
ober 17, “Stages in Soviet
} perktcy “Policy,”

4 , National Minori-
mn the USSR” by Harrison
#1, writer and lecturer.
ember 14. “The Red Army,’
om Barnard, provincial pres-
= of the Canadian Legion.
@ember 28 “Soviet Medi-
by Dr. D. M. Baillie of Vic-

Zember 12, “The Soviet Con-

will shouid haye been evidence
enough that she was acceptable
te the pand, Native Brotherhood
officials point out.

However, this year the Indian
Department had a sudden change
of heart and took the following
steps in quick succession.

First, the department an-
nounced that the land of an fn-
dian named Fred Wealeck had
been taken over by the Depart-
ment of National Defense, which
department was to pay him rent
for his land for the duration of
the war.

This left Wealeck without a
place to live or house his cattle.
So the Indian Agent told Wealeck
he was to take over Mrs. James’
land for his own use. The depart
ment informed Mrs. James that
her land had been appropriated
and that she would be paid $40
an acre, a price set by the de-
Rartment.

Mrs. James refused to leave
her land, heir house, her fifty full-
srown fruit trees, her acre of
cultivated land. The department
would take no refusal, ordered
her off the land, threatened to
fine her for trespassing.

Wo home is ayailable for the
Indian woman, who must get out
of her house immediately. In ex-
planation of the action, the de-
partment blandly stated that
“there Was no way of purchasing
Mrs. James* land until now:’

As an afterthought the depart-
ment figured that Fred Wealeck
was getting too much of a good
thing. He had been given Mrs.
James’ land and was also getting
rent for his own preperty. So
Wealeck was informed that he
would receive no further rent
for his property and that the goy-
ernment was taling it over com-
pletely. After the war, the Indian
Agent suggests, Wealick’s prop-
erty will be turned back to the
band. If any of Mrs. James’ chil-
dren and grandchildren are still
looking for a place to live, he
added, they can use it.

jity LPP Branches
bonsor Open Forum

i more Philpott, wellknown radio commentator and columnist,
fipen a Sunday series of open forum discussions on “The Soviet
| under the sponsorship of Kitsilano and Mount
fl mt branches of the Labor- -Progressive Party. First lecture of the
” will be held October 3 at 8 p.m., in
Biers Hall, 315 East Broadway (at Kingsway)-

Be Series will continue on alternate Sunday evenings throughout

stiftition,” by John Stanton, Van-
couver labor attorney.

January 9, “Soviet Music and
Drama,” by John Goss, noted
Vancouver singer.

January 23, “The Soviet Mone-
tary System,” by Professor G F.
Drummond of UBC.

February 6, “Women and Chil-
dren in the USSR,” .by Hilary
Brown, author of Women Must
Choose.

February 20, “Soviet Trade
Unions,” by Nigel Morgan, Interna-
tional board member of the IWA.

March 5, “Soviet Literature,”
by Professor Hunter C. Lewis of
UBC.

March 19, “Incentives to Worl:
in the USSR.” by Tom McEwen,
provincial organizer for the La-
bor Progressive Party.

An Editorial

front where the

They are falling all along the Eastern

Nazi armies have been
hurled back across the Dnieper River —
and where tens of thousands of Soviet sol-
diers have died to achieve victory because
there still is no second front.

They are fallins in the Balkans, in France
and the Low Countries where millions face
another bitter winter of terror and priva-
tion—how many will see another spring?—
because there still is ne second front.

And because there is no second front,
because some eyen are coming to look upon
Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s
that a second front will be opened as some-
thing as withered as his autumn leaves,
doubt and skepticism are spreading.

It is precisely this condition upon which
the insidious engineers of disunity, the ad-
voeates of delay, seize to obstruct the main
and immediate need of the day—the full AS united efforts of Canadian labor can
military collaboration of the United Nations
coalition to transform fhe crisis of Hitler-
ismi into complete victory.
be accomplished only by the opening of
the second front. The utter destruction of
Hitlerism is the military purpose ot the

_ United Nations coalition and the second
front is the military and political means to
its achievement — military because it will

Compel King To Speak Out

qe autumn leaves are falling.

planks for

pledge

And this can

force Hitler to divide his reeling but not yet
routed armies;
bring speedy victory, and defeat the aims of
those who counsel delay for their own ends.

INGo es on this paramount issue abroad
nor on the grave issues confronting
the Canadian people at home do the King
governments policies represent the needs
of the people. Prime Minister King speaks
darkly of the opposition parties playing poli-
ties and impairing Canada’s very creditable
war effort. The Liberal Party confers upon
a new Iiberal platform. But
none of this can obscure the fact that the
failure of the King government to take
a firm stand for the opening of the second
front and its playing into the hands of
reactionaries through stubborn refusal to
abandon its vicious anti-labor policies are
themselves impairing the war effort.

change these conditions and effect a
healthier situation that will strengthen Can-
ada’s war effort and the United Nations’
coalition. The King government can be com-
pelled to adopt a new policy toward labor.
This is not the time to weaken the demand
for the second front, but to raise it with
redoubled force. This is not the time to
lessen the pressure, but to increase it.

political Because it will

Polities Seen

Saamieh School

By PEOPLE STAFF WRITER

SAANICH, B.C—Citizens here
and teachers throughout the pro-
vince are disturbed over the in-
quiry recently conducted by
Judge Wilson into the administra-
tion and discipline of Mount
View High School, Saanich, by
its principal, Dr. Thomas, and
ihe judge’s ruling which recom-
mended removal of Dr. Thomas
from his position.

That a public inquiry which
required 13 days of court sittings
and about 1400 pages of tran-
Seript evidence, at a conserva-
tively estimated cost of $5,000,
Should be held for the trivial
reason that Thomas had admin-
istered punishment to four of his
students must have raised a ques-
tion in the minds of those read-
ing the reports of the hearings.
Still more doubt must haye been
raised by the fact that in his
summary of the case Judge Wil-
son praised Dr. Thomas for his
administration, went to consid-
erable length to describe the sey-
ere proyocation suffered by the
principal, but concluded by “re-
gretfully” recommending that
Dr. Thomas be relieved of his
position.

This reporter found the
answers to these questions
through talking with people in
Saanich—parents as well as tea-
chers. And with complete unan-
imity the ‘answer was—‘Politics.”

I met only one Saanich citizen
who did not think that behind

‘the inquiry was the hand of Ed-

ucation Minister George Perry.

The evidence to support such
a claim can be summarized as
follows:

The discipline incident upon
which the case was based took
place last January 5. The Saanich
school board closed the incident
by a resolution on its books be-
fore Easter week.

At the annual convention of the
B.C. Teachers Federation, Dr.
Thomas, president of the Rural
Teachers Association, sponsored

a resolution asking that a refer-
endum be taken among teachers
for a strike vote against rural
education conditions and teach-
ers wages, for which Perry, as
minister of education, must take
responsibility.

Several days later, Dr. Thomas
eppeared before the annual con-
vention of the Parent-Teacher
Association at which he was quot-
ed by the press as advocating
a wider form of democracy in the
post-war period. This statement
was used by counsel for the plain-
tiffs at the inquiry as “evidence”
against Dr. Thomas and he was
grilied for an entire afternoon as
to his definition of democracy.

And all counsel succeeded in
proving was that Dr. Thomas’
teachings conformed to the defin-
ifions made by the department
of education. é

Immediately following the
BCTE convention, Saanich u-
nicipal Council asked Perry’s
permission to launch an inquiry
into the high school’s adminisira-
tion. It is significant that Saanich
Sehool Board was not consulted
by the council on the matter,
although Perry now places the
full responsibility for carrying
out Judge Wilson’s ruling on the
school beard.

Final incident in the whole far-
ciecal case came when one of the
trustees, in testifying against Dr.
Thomas, waved her Liberal party
membership card before Judge
Wilson, also reputed to be a
member in good standing, and
was reprimanded by the judge
for her poor judgment.

Saanich ratepayers have since
met to demand that the recom-
mendation not be carried out. The

$2.15 Gall
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So
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Pace ipe=

BCTE, following the lead of tea-
echers here, has agreed to in-
struct its membership that “it
would be considered unethical”
for any teacher to accept the yva-
cant position.

Teachers interviewed were not
backward in expressing their
Opinion.

“It is the most recent of a
Series of attempts to remove
fighters for better conditions
among the teachers from the pro-
fession,’ said one.

Removal last year, on an ex-
cuse of decreased enrollment, of
Les Buckley, then secretary of
the Rural Teachers Association,
from his position at Richmond,
Was cited as an outstanding ex-
ample. .

“It IS my opinion,” declared
another teacher, that instead of
spending $5,000 investigating a
man like Dr. Thomas, the money
should be spent investigating the
conduct of educational affairs in
this province.”
+

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