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i

PAGE 4, THE HERALD, Monday, November 21, 197?

TERRACE

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EDITOR... JULIETTE PROOM

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we

. the best-known version of

forced to shoot an apple

* to the

Law and order
seperate

Ottawa Le Droit: There is law and there is order.
Usually the two are indivisible, but revelations in the
last few days show otherwise. To maintain order, or at
least to see that it is not threatened, the police force
(RCMP) has broken the law. And seriously.

(The threats posed by) certain activities seem to
have convinced the federal government that basic
civil liberties no longer hold. The law is being broken
by the very people responsible for its enforcement.

What prevails, then, law or order? Some will say, as
stated by the prime minister, that if the law isn’t
flexible enough to encompass what the present
government terms illegal, the framework governing
police action should be adjusted. ... Herein are con-
tained the makings of the type of police state which
openly recognizes itself as such. The principles of de-
mocracy are being shifted about under the pretext
that this must be done for their very preservation.
There are contradictions.

But we should harbor no illusions. The opposition
parties in the Commons, especially the Conservatives,
are doing everything in their power to put the
government up against the wall. Everything boils

own to the theme of ministerial responsibility, the
only way to discredit one man they want to replace.
How many of them are really preoccupied with what
the Anglo-Saxon tradition cherishes as “civil liber-
es?’

If they refer too much to this notion of civil liberties,
the current government will gain the advantage by

inting out that the same things went on when the

nservatives were in power.

Only the NDP maintains a slightly more refined
attack, never having committed the offences being
attributed to the government because they were never
in power. But they too are giving in to the temptation
of criticizing the government when their attention
should instead be on the ways of reconciling the
conflict between law and order.

The prevailing situation, the possible extension of

wers ... brings to minc the application of the
easures Act in 1976, ...
The context is similar: unrest, dissatisfaction,

-suspicion. The economy was sliding much as it is

today. Briefly, the social, political and economic cli-
mate avgured violence. The government made the
excuse (in 1970) that it wasn't ready to face the music
and that it had to play tough.

Can it be believed that the government is preparing
to extend police powers and will one day allow the
forces to commit acts which now are illegal?— Pierre
Tremblay(Nov. 14)

Today
unt History

Swiss freedom was
founded. But the 19th-
century discovery of a
written alliance of the
cantons dated Aug. 1,
1291, reduced the historic
importance of the ruetli
meeting. Tell probably
never existed, and his
legend is a distortion of
the historic events of

According to legend,
William Tell, the Swiss
hera, shot the apple off
his son’s head 670 years
ago teday — in 1307. In

his story, Tell, a native of
Burglen in Uri, refused
obeisance to Gessler, the
Austrian bailiff, ans was

- off his son's head in 1291. ;
punishment. Tell later 1210-Otta IV, Haly

» Shot Gessler from am- Roman Emperor, was
bush in revenge, thus excommunicated for

setting off the revolt
which ousted the bailiffs
on Jan. 1, 1308. Accordin

legend,
representatives of Uri,
Schwyz and Unterwalden
met in 1807 to swear the
Ruetli Oath, on which

HERMAN

trying to claim land
disputed between the
empire and the papacy.

1836-Sir W. S, Gilbert,
English poet and
Playwright of Gilbert and
sullivan operetta fame,
was born.

D197? Lateral Press Spndicna

“Don't move while I’m gone. You'll spill
my drink.”

7 4

Levesque ii:uxut change format

By ALAN FREEMAN

QUEBEC (CP)
Premier Rene Levesque
said Thursday — his
government might
consider changes to its
proposals to force all
participants in a
referendum campaign to
be grouped in special
“umbrella committees,’’

Levesque said at his
weekly news conference
it is essential that ex-
penses during the refer-
endum campaign
controlled, but changes to
the proposed structures
are possible.

The proposal to permit
only special “yes” or
‘no’! committees to
spend money during such
campaigns, including the
one on Quebec _in-
dependence, has caused
criticism from inter-
veners at a legislative
committee.

The committee,
studying the government

for

By PABLO FENJVES

MONTREAL (CP) —
Collection agencies have
bad reputations because
the general _ public
misunderstands _ their
role in society, says the
executive vicepresident
of the largest such or-
ganization in the world,

Harassment and scare
tactics are largely a thing
of the past, says Gerald
Stevens of the Montreal-
based Financial
Collection Agencies
(FCA) Ltd. Gone are the
days when a= shady
collector threatened to
break a person’s
knuckles if the person
didn’t pay his client.

“Of course, the odd
individual runs into the
very odd collection
agency employee ... and
the incident gets blown
all out of proportion,”
Stevens said in a recent
interview.

“And then there are the
flyby-night operations
that are in it to see how

. be.

while paper on ref-
erendums, owas. told
Wednesday . by the

province's human rights
commission’ that the
roposal may threaten
undamental civil -

liberties. ; ,
During hearings
Thursday, 8 major

business ferlerniion  criti-
cized the ‘urabreiia cam-
mittee’ proposals atid
limits on campaign ex-
penses as ‘coercive’ aad

excessively rigicd. te

SCRAP LEMITS

The Conseil du
Patronat said in its brief
that the progesed limits
on expenses should be
scrapped because they
are too resivictive and
impossible to apply.

The white paper would
limit each side in a
referendum campaign to
spending #9 cente an
elector or a total of $2
million on a previnee-
wide basis.

On the question of
umbrella. committees,
the conseil saw no reason
why citizens or groups
should be restricted from
spending money for
public meetings,
newspaper ads or TV
announcements. :

“Why should the rules
of the game be changed
because ‘we are in a
referendum period?

“The government
should explain what is
_exceptional in this
situation that leads it to
foresee restrictions
which it would not dream
of normally,”

CHARGE MISTRUST

In its brief to the
committee, the provin-
clal. chamber of com-
merce also criticized the
proposed restrictions in a
referendum campaign.

“The proposed process
seems to be tainted with
mistrust toward the ...

group defending the

thesis which opposes that
of the present govern-
ment and seems to
presume considerable
naivete on the part of
those who are to vote.”

The chamber said the
PQ had won office in an
election ‘without all
these limits to freedom.”

In another __ brief
Thursday, the Office for
the Rights of Prisoners
praised the white paper's
proposals to permit pris-
oners to vote during the
referendum,

The group suggested
that the general election
law be changed to apply
to all provincial elections.
It also proposed a change
in the Jaw which prohibits
persons with criminal
records from holding
office.

Burns replied that he
personally favors lifting
voting restrictions for
prisoners during pro-
vincial elections as well,

name not deserved
collection agencies

much they can get for
themselves."

Jean-Maurice
Laflamme of the Letter
Business Buretsi -Mon-
treal Inc. said the office
receives “one or lwo
complaints @ year, sot
more.

“Collection agencies
get in touch with peaple

Who owe rmnoney--and
thal in itselP is - an
pleasant,’ ha - sais.

“What matters is how
they remind these penpie
of their debts.”

NO COMPLALN ES
Maria Rochette of the

Canadian - Consumers’
Association (Quebec)
says no- complaints
against cotlection

agencies have been filed
this year, and last year
there was only one.

A spokgsman for the
provincia CONSUMLT
affairs departinent said
“very fe people com-
plain” bul noted that the
stigma attached to being

ia

in debt may dissuade
many from doing so.

Stevens maintains that
collection agencies are
indispensable in con-
sumer societies.

FCA, a publicly-owned
eompany with — 1,000
employees world-wide,

has branch offices in
every major city in North
America—as well as
Amsterdam, London and
Puerto Rico.

For the fiseal year
ending June 30, 1977, it
collected $60 million for
its North American
clients alone, Between
seven and 50 per cent on
each account stays with
the collection agency, but
there is no charge on
uncollected bills.

Gerard Hickey of
Collection Control
(Quebec) Ltd., a national
agency with nine branch
offices . across the
country, says collection
agencies “play a very

Breakfast of Ciampions?

SAN FRANCISCO
(AP) —- The maker of
Wheaties, toutede as ‘‘the
breakfast of champions,”
is being sued for false
advertising by a city
agency questioning
whetehr the cereal really
helped U.S, athlete Bruce
Jenner win the 1976
Olympics decathlon in
Montreal.

The lelevision com-
mercials featuring
Jenner promoting the
breakfast cereal were
challenged in a suit filed
Thursday by the San
Francisco district at-
torney's consumer-fraud
crime unit.

The Califronia Superior
Court siuil BOIS OS
General Mills Tne. aid its
advertising agency al
making false clairis: ta
the commercials, in
which Jenner says he
“downed a fol. of
Wheaties” in preparation
for the Olympics.

"TItis difficuit lo believe.
ktht an Olympic calibre
athlete such us Bruce
Jenner actually used
Wheaties as an important
nutritional source in
training fer the © 1976
Olympics,” suid David
Moon, consumer-fraud
attorney.

The suit also challenmpes
Wheaties’ long-time

advertising claim that it
is the ‘‘breakfast of chk-
mpions.’' Moon said
General Mills has not
offered proof that
champions train on
Wheaties.

General Mills,
‘headquartered in Min-
neapolis, issued a
stalement denying any
“false claims regarding
Bruce Jenner in any
Wheaties com-
mercials...We have
supplied the district
attorney’s office in San
Francisco with affidavits
attesting to the truth-
fulness of the statements
made by Mr, Jenner in
the commercials.”’

important role in the
economy.

“If creditors couldn’t
depend on us to collect on
some of their bad ac-
counts, they would have
to increase the cost of
their products to offset
their losses,” he said.

GROSSED $1.5 MILLION

Collection Control
grossed more than $1%
million on its accounts in
1976, but Hickey was
unwilling to disclose the
total ammount collected
for the company’s clients
because “‘they would just
be ball-park figures.”’

“IT don’t think there’s
one of us who hasn’t had
complaints but it’s our
response to these com-

‘plaints that matters,”

said Stevens.

“There are certainly
people calling themselves
collectors who use
unethical methods to get
money,”’ he added. “But
they usually aren’t
associated with a
legitimate agency.”

Coliection Control pays
its collectors com-
missions but three
collection managers are
on hand at all times to
monitor the phone calls,
said Hickey.

Stevens said FAC
stopped paying com-
missicns in 1965 because
they “have the potential
of creating dangerous
situations.

“The collector is no
longer working for the
client, he is working for
himself.”

The initial step in
collecting a client’s ac-
count is a form letter to
the debtor, If the debtor
fails to respond within
seven to 10 days, a second
letter is mailed and is
followed shortly after by
a phone call.

‘Native

Firing women
doesn't count
within Code

VANCOUVER (CP) — Kathleen Ruff, human rights
branch director, has ruled that the Human Rights
Code does not cover the firing of two women who had
an apparent political conflict with their employer, the _
Prince George Women’s Collective.

Aprince Goerge feminist group known as Daughters
of Lilith, of which the two women are members,
Tursday unnounced plans to appeal Ruff’s decision to

Labor

The case stems from th
Bakr and Terry Chaney from
The two were fired after the Dau

i Williams.
siolliner e firing Oct. 21 of Ursula

the collective.
ters of Lilith sent

letter to all Prince George law offices objecting to a
defence lawyer's treatment of the victim in a rape

trial.
Barbara Campbell, s

okesman for the collective

said Chaney was fired “because she had poor work
habits and was not fullfilling the terms of her contract-
to work 35 hours a week on research.

Campbell said a second reason was that the letter
written by Chaney to the doctors wrongly indicated

that it was endorsed by the collective.

true, she said.

3 was not

mpbell said Baker was employed for three weeks
under H federal goivernment Canada Works grant but
had to be let go after it was realized that she had
signed an application form for the grant while already
a member.of the collective.
Bakr and Chaney took thelr case to hunian rights
officer Alan Andison, who referred ti to Ruff for a

ruling.

Ruff, in an interview from Victoria, said she made
her decision because the firings were for ocnflict of
interest in “a job-related matter.”

She said an employer has thje right to dismiss an
employee if that amployee speaks out or takes action

in conflict of interest in

“g job-related matter.”

She said an employer has the right to dismiss an

if that employee 8 5
employee tt an oyer’s stated aims.

in contradiction to t

ks out or takes action

For example, she sald: “If you are an employee of a
trade union’ you ken’t on the job or off the job, take
action that is in conflict with the union.

“You can't have it both ways. There's a conflict of

interest.”

Land claim
review needed

The subject of this
letter is one of those
‘sacred cows’ with which
we have lived for many
years; Indian land
claims.

Like most other white
Canadians, I have ac-
cepted a certain amount
of Indian pushiness,
attributing it to their
feeling of inadequacy or
something of that sort. It
has always been my
belief that they are
human beings and
Canadians, no more, no
less than anyone else.
Because of this, I have
been very skeptical of our
government's _pater-
nalism and condescention
towards them. Iam sure
that we would all benefit
if we abolised the idea of
Indian-Canadians, just as
we ought to urge the
French-Canadians to

become simply
Canadians,
Yesterday Imet a

young Indain on the
street, He was wearing a
sweater on which was
printed a map of this
province and the words,
‘B.C. Belangs to
thelndians.” A bumper
sticker proclaims the

same message. Land
claims are ‘in’ these
days.

A news item in the
Vancouver Province tells
about a federal grant of
half a million dollars for
Metis land _ studies
relating to Indian and
Metis Jand claims. “...the
Council will
receive $200,000 and the
Manitoba Metis
Federation will get
$300,000 in the current
fiscal year...’’ Indian.
Metis and pseudo-Indian
groups are being given
countless millions of our
tax dollars, either to be
frittered away in
mismanaged projects or,
worse, to be used in
promoting unreasonable
Indian demands.

The point of this letter
is this: the farce has gone
on long enough. On the
one hand the Indians
have extensive land
claims and other claims
against the whites of this
country, and on the other
we whites have a long
history of gifts of public
money, goods, services,
cancessions, special
status and: untiring ef-
forts to encourage In-
dians to become an in-
tegral part of Canadian
life,

It should now be clear
to Indian and white alike,
that a drastic change is

needed to settle present
inequities. In order to
accomplish this, we will
have to set up a Canada-
wide court with the. scope
and power to consider
submissions from any
valid source; investigate
claims,’ review the

history of Indian-white

relationships, evaluate
land and property which
is in dispute, review all
treaties and tacit
agreements and take into
consideration all that has
been done for the Indians
by the whites, and then,
in the light of all of the
evidence, decide upon a
solution which will retire
all claims against the
white population and
settle the debt that is
presently owed to us by
the Indians. Such a court
would have to be made up
of _ fair-minded
Canadians, objective and
as free of party bias as
possible. Such men as
Berger or Watkins would
defeat the purpose of
such a court. .

Admittedly, the cost of
such a court would be
enormous, in the hun-
dredsof millions of
dollars, but it would be a
sound andd worthwhile
investment, probably
much less than the cost of
patchwork grants and

andouts that only seem
to aggravate the
problem.

Of course, there are a
great many people who
are strongly opposed to
solutions of any kind. For
Various reasons, they

romote dissention

erween groups, in-
cluding Indians and
whites. They know that
the old rule of ‘divide and
conquer’ is as valid today
as it was centuries ago.
That is why we see them
in the forefront of the
‘power' movements,
agitating and
propagandising in the
ope that no solution can
be found, that tempers
will flare and violence
will result. It is their
intention that, as has
happened in other
countries, a ‘people’s
government’ will be
imposed upon the
wreckage of our country.
Our best defence against
these people is a fair, just
and final settlement,
binding on Indian. and
white alike.

Do yousuppose that our
present government has
the will or the courage to
set up such a court?

Yours truly,
Thomas Atrill