Pope tour marred - Committee snubs Native press

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The planned papal tour scheduled for Fort Simpsons Sept 20 is being marred by the "racist" attitude of papal officials, says the editor of a Northwest Territories Native newspaper.

Joe Mecredi, editor of the McKenzie Times, says the papal committee "removed" him from a meeting scheduled to inform local media of the upcoming visit.

"There is no information coming out to the public. They (papal officials) are catering to the southern press. We are the only Native-owned newspaper in the NWT and they treat us in a secondary manner," complains Mecredi.

However, papal committee official Bernard Daily says Mecredi's allegations are "not true."

"It's really funny," he said. "We have no record of any telephone calls. We did send an information package, in fact we blanketed the whole area with information."

Mecredi wrote an editorial on the situation in a recent edition of the McKenzie Times saying the papal visit had been kept "top secret" by "Mecca" (Ottawa).

In the editorial Mecredi said he was "told to leave and CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) were allowed to stay."

Therefore the newspaper was unable to "provide news of the visit" to its readers. The details "remain only know to the papal committee," adds Mecredi.

Daily says he has read the editorial, but refused to comment other than to say Mecredi's allegations were not true.

Mecredi, however, says he is not at all surprised by Daily's denial, because he and his newspaper have been outspoken and critical of government policy.

"We don't receive government funding . . . we can't get a government grant because we are so controversial and we've always been that way," he added.

Mecredi's criticism doesn't end with the alleged papal non-cooperation; he is also angry over a tipi village which has been erected for the Pope's tour.

"Those tipis are Cree and even Blackfoot, they are not part of the Metis and Inuit traditions," he said.

Pope John Paul II will visit the community of Fort Simpson Sept. 20 to fulfill a promise to return when his scheduled visit was cancelled in 1984 due to poor weather conditions.

The Pope begins his tour of North America on Sept. 10 when he meets with President Reagan and Jewish leaders in Miami. He will also meet with American Indians on Sept. 14 in Pheonix before finishing his tour in Fort Simpson.