Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 04/98) - The federal government announced Aug. 26 it would appeal a recent Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling on pay equity.

The tribunal ruled the government owes present and past administrative and secretarial workers about $4 billion, saying the government paid the workers less than their work was worth.

Immediately after the ruling came down, Western Arctic M.P. Ethel Blondin-Andrew told CBC radio that, though she supports her party's decision, her views did not prevail at a caucus meeting.

Blondin-Andrew said she has strong views on pay equity and that when days are bad in politics, they are really bad.

The next day Blondin-Andrew was quiet.

All she would tell the Drum was: "You didn't want to interview me in Inuvik on the Creola kids (three Inuvialuit youth who sailed to Portugal and returned yesterday), you didn't want to interview me on anything else. I'm sorry but I have no comment for you on this because it is a national issue."

The same day, Richard Wackid, executive assistant to Liberal Whip Bob Kilger told the Drum, "The caucus is 100 per cent united."