;

 

 

Hello from London, Englana.

Yes, its your intrepid explorer in the
wilds of Europe, seeking strange new
worlds, boldly.. .

 

By DOUG PARSONS
LONDON CORRESPONDENT

 

Sorry, wrong story! 3
Here | am it the raging metropolis of
London, sitting at my _ typewriter,
trying to think of something inter-
esting to conjugate to my readers back
home in Canada.

First off, let me congratulate your
Olympic team for such an outstanding
job in Los*“Angeles. Personally | was
rooting for Great Britain, but that
kinda comes from being here so long.

For all you new students coming to
Douglas College for the first time,
congratulations for:

a) picking such a grand school.
b) being one of the lucky few for being
enrolled in the first place, (though you
probably didn’t get every course you
wanted....welcome to the club).

For all those returning, praise for you
perseverance.

Now | guess you are all wondering
why | am writing chis column from
6000 miles away Well it’s because |
went to a SWAP meeting. What's
SWAP? It’s an acronym for STUDENT
WORK ABROAD PROGRAM. SWAP
is an organization put together by the
Canadian Federation of Students to
allow the students to see the world and
work while away. They have several
packages available, sod check in the
Student Society office for details.

| chose (obviously), the England deal,
it cost $125.00. That’s their fee for
processing, plus you receive . two
nights accommodation at a_ local
hostel, when you arrive there.

Since | have gone this route, |
thought you would be interested on an
inside opinion of SWAP, and some
stuff about London.

When | arrived at Heathrow airport |
followed my instructions to the hostel
and was met by Dave Smith, SWAP
director; a bizarre chap but actually a
very friendly guy, extremely helpful
with a warped sense of humor.

We have the option of finding our
own work, or letting them set us up
with work. | chose the former because
| wanted to get the tee! ot tne city betore
settling down to:some serious labour. |
was put in a room with two other guys,
one from North Carolina and the other
from Kentucky. They were very dif-
ferent from what 1 was used to -
Pro-Reagan, kill the Commies, red,
white and blue, but we got along.

| set off the next day with a friend and
started looking for a flat, pad, apart-
ment, crash spot, to live in. We went
to a couple of agencies that David
Smith recommended and they put us
in touch with some other SWAPers
that were also looking. Between the six
of us we found a really nice place in
Chelsea, a suburb of London. It didn’t
take to long to settle in and get to know
our new flat mates. They were from all
‘across Canada and one was from
Florida; plus they were all girls. Really
having a terrible trip, eh?

After a couple of days, lounging
around, seeing the sights and going
pub crawling, (there are over 6000
pubs in London alone), we all started
looking for jobs. One of us decided to
let SWAP find her a job and hence

is is London calling

   

started working in McDonald’s. That
is not as bad as it sounds because they
allow you to pick the hours you want to
work, thus giving you the chance to
see alot of London. Not alot of money,
but about average, 70 pounds a week.

The rest of us trekked off with our
CV’s or resumes and within a week all
the girls had found work, some in
restaurants, some in shops, others in
hotels and pubs. Salaries ranged from

50-70 pounds a week, but they all seem.

happy.

The idea behind SWAP is to let you
work (they help you get a work visa,
good for up to two years) and make
enough money so you don’t phone
home and ask Mom and Dad _ for
mega-bucks, ‘cause you over did it in
the first week.

| spent my time looking at the
newspapers for jobs of a more per-
manent nature. | eventually went to
one of the numerous job centres where

It is a shame that George Orwell is
not around to tell us, ‘I told you so’,
but he did tell us. The rise in power of
Big Brother and the slow and ever so

by LITTLE SISTER

 

careful diminishing of individual rights
was his message, but did we listen?
Quite simply - NO. And what pray tell
am | talking about, the formation of
The Canadian Special Investigative
Service or The CSIS. Since Canada’s
finest decided that they needed help
ridding this country of its seditious
element, the government came to the
rescue with Bill C-157.

The formation of. this not-so-top-
secret spy ring reminds one of the
formation of The CIA from its brother
branch, The FBI. A similar need, a
similar set of circumstances. similar
objectives, and similar tactics; The
CSIS is Canada‘s solution to subver-
sion, treason, terrorism and any act
considered disobedient to the laws
protecting the security of this Great
White North. The life-long dream of
the Fathers of Confederation, ‘‘Law,
po and Good Government’, has
now been actualized. John A. McDon-
ald stand up and take a bow. And
while we are handing out applause,
let’s give a hand to old Pierre Trudeau
for his part as Dudley Doright in the
wild western frontier known as
Canada.
In the short term this Bill will
probably not affect most Canadians,
it the precedent it sets for more
government control in the private lives

the citizens of Canada is a very
langerous one. If for no other reason
than the underhanded way the Bill was
quietly slid through the House of
Commons. Did you hear anyone,
except Svend Robinson, speak out
against the Bill when it was passed
after the second reading before the
House? By all appearances the House
was asleep and our politicians, (you
know the ones out there that are
supposed to be fighting for our rights),
must have been on Valium or had their
eyes turned to the upcoming election.
The semantical changes that occurred

 

     
      

they look for you. It’s free and worth it
if you have good qualifications in the
business field.

Well, as luck would have it, | landed a
job with a Danish shipping and tour
line company, DFDS. They are sort of
the equivalent to the Love Boat. |
won’t go into a job description, but
suffice it to say that it was exactly what
| was looking for.

The question most asked by my
friends at home is Isn’t there horren-
dous unemployment in England? Well
the answer is both YES and NO
because of the class structure in this
country.

The people here are very aware of
their place on the social Wadder and
jobs such as working in pubs, rest-

aurants, hotels, shops, etc. are far too’

beneath them to ever be considered as
viable employment. Hence, there are
literally hundreds of openings in these
areas and when | first walked down the

Hail comrades! It’s

between the first and second reading
were just that; semantical, if not moot.

Svend Robinson, NDP Spokesperson
on Justice, is to be commended for his
attempt to introduce a dose of reality
to the House of Commons and to the
citizens of Canada, whose rights he
was trying to protect. Unfortunately,
he was a lone voice in a sea of fools,
who’s efforts were in vain. We now
have The CSIS.

Where are those subversive ele-
ments that the government so nobly
feels the need to protect us from?
Since when is international espionage

the pastime of most Canadians? Is the »

security of this country really in
jeopardy everyday as we have been
lead to believe? And when does the

Monday, August 27, 1984

streets of London, | was shocked at
how many places had ’‘Help Wanted’’
signs in their windows. There is

definitely no shortage of work in ©

London, if you are willing to sell Big
Macs or Levis jeans.

Another reason there are so many

7

jobs deals with the ‘‘school-leavers
as they are called. All these kids, our
ages, live outside the city where rent is
cheaper and they can’t afford to come
into town to work for 70 pounds a
week, when they can make almost as
much on NHSS, the equivalent of our
Welfare. So there is a plethora of jobs
for us Canadian students. No question
there. |

The opportunity for students like
yourselves to visit another country is
one that shouldn’t be turned down. It’s
one of the last chances you'll get
before you settle down and is the
experience of a lifetime. | heartily
recommend it.

SI

this country, then who is going to
protect us from The CS!S?

It is time, if it is not already too late,
to question the method of madness
demonstrated by our illustrious politi-
cians in Ottawa. Are they protecting
our best interests or are they protec-
ting their own. | ask you to question
the effect of The CIA on world affairs,
the ‘dirty works’ policies demonst-
rated by The FBI, the track record of
the politicians in the US, especially in
respect to Watergate, and then ques-
tion whether or not it can happen in
Canada. Are we as Canadians that
different from our southern neighbors,
or is the analogy of our wonderful new

spy service not rooted in the same ~

reality as The CIA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GUILTY OW VIOLATIONS OF:

CONGRATULATIONS }

   

 

 

 

 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF
ASSEMBLY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AD
PRIVACY ,

security of this country take precedent
over the individual rights and free-
doms of the citizens living within this
country? If we take the politicians of
this land seriously, then we are
allowing Canada to stoop to the level of
a bad mystery novel.

The plot, one reminiscent of a
Robert Ludlum spoof on SCTV, is
thick, if not very foggy. And speaking
of foggy, the rights of The -CSIS are
just that: foggy. If these men and
women are allowed to open mail, tap
phones and use whatever tactics they

feel necessary to protect the security of

 

 

The CSIS have connections all over
the world and the power to meddle,
harrass and intervene where National
Security is considered in jeopardy.
Where The RCMP was given an inch,
The CSIS have now taken 10 miles.

In the government’s attempts to
protect us from such threats as
Communist infiltration, they have
managed to create an organization that
Stalin himself would be proud.

Hail commrades, sleep well for Big
Bnether and The CSIS are watching
you!