EDITORIAL

Canadian Peace alliance

One of the most significant events of 1985, for
Canadians, took place at the Nov. 8-11 conven-
tion in Toronto which founded the Canadian
Peace Alliance. More than 300 delegates from all
parts of Canada, representing 30 major peace
organizations and hundreds of gorups speaking
for labor, women, churches, and people from the
spectrum of Canadian life reached the historic
decision.

A high degree of unity and a strong desire
expressed for action prevailed throughout the
four-day gathering. Thus was the groundwork
laid for facilitating such campaigns by CPA’s
members and groups as the widely-supported

campaign to keep Canada out of Reagan’s Star
Wars.

The formation of the Canadian Peace Alliance
marks a further development in the peace move-
ment, and in the long-term struggle for an inde-
pendent Canadian foreign policy. It is a step
which enhances the roles of existing organiza-
tions and brings them together in their efforts.

The Canadian Peace alliance promises to be a
strong influence for nuclear disarmament, for
making Canada a nuclear weapons-free zone,
and for urging policies that lead to world peace.
The Tribune wishes the CPA well in its important
work,

Culture stabbed in back

The stab in the back to Canadian publishing
attempted by Canada’s ambassador to the U.S.,
Allan Gotlieb, was only one vulgar expression of
the collusion between neo-conservatives in the
Mulroney government, big business in Canada,
and ruling political and financial circles in the
US.

A mere tip of the iceberg is the current furore
over whether the vast U.S. conglomerate, Gulf
and Western Industries Inc. of New York (owner
of the U.S. parent of Prentice-Hall of Canada
Ltd., Canada’s second largest book publisher)
must abide by the Canadian law requiring 50 per
cent Canadian ownership of such firms within a
given time.

Gulf lobbyist Robert Strauss threatens a
“scorched earth policy” should Canada persist,
that is, destrution of everything Gulf can’t hold
onto that might be of use to the “enemy” — us.
Should one expect the business community to
defend Canadian culture? Roger Hamel, presi-
dent of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce led
the forces backing Gulf, the Business Council on
National Issues and the Conference Board of
Canada.

But the Mulroney government, and Joe Clark
have assured us that Canadian culture will not be
on the free trade bargaining table — because
Canadians don’t want it there.

That creates a credibility gap when Clark’s
own External Affairs Department document,
exposed by Maclean’s magazine, declares that

“insistence on exemptions for cultural institu-
tions could prejudice the successful conclusion of
the Canada/U.S. trade negotiations.” This and
other documents speak of “trade-offs”. The U.S.
monopolies are eyeing “copyright law, pharma-
ceutical patents, book publishing and films. . .”

What is the Mulroney government’s answer?
Smoke and mirrors, bread and circuses, phoney
propaganda. The secret document suggests the
government promote national symbols and
national holidays, put on a display of sovereignty:
“This will call for sovereignty messages. . .rou-
tinely in speeches by the prime minister and min-
isters...” And, “...the public stature of the
Governor General...could be raised still fur-
ther...A good deal could be accomplished
through packaging existing policies to emphasize
their sovereignty dimensions. . .”

The Tories will also pump up “‘sovereignty” by
repeating the myth of a “Soviet threat”. Commit-
ted to squandering some $8 billion on U.S. planes
whose wings fall off, it will put $2 to $4 billion
into four nuclear power attack submarines to do
U.S. bidding in the Arctic.

Free trade, which Catholic Bishop Remi De
Roo calls a descent to “surviva! of the fittest,” is a
centrepiece of the Mulroney Tory program. It isa
program that has to be stopped, and that task
calls for more than separate protests, it calls fora
united challenge to the government on this stra-
tegy of deception and the selling out of Canada.

SAUVE- PACKAGING POLICIES
TO EMPHAS |ZE. SOVEREIGNTY
DIMENSIONS “- CABINET RepRT

Profiteer of the week

Imasco Ltd., Montreal, owner of Shoppers Drug Mart, Imasco
Foods, Imperial Tobacco, Embassy Cleaners and much more, had
an after-tax profit for the six months ended Sept. 30 of $134.5-mil-
lion, up from $113.9-million in the same period a year before. If you
eat, smoke, medicate, you also get taken to the cleaners.

_ IRIBUNE

Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN
Assistant Editor — DAN KEETON
Business & Circulation Manager — MIKE PRONIUK
Graphics — ANGELA KENYON

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t’s been said that the Socreds epitomized
the conservative private enterprise men-
tality with the recent proposal by a hospi-
tal in Port Moody to make a hospital wing

People and Issues

by a discussion with Physicians for Social
Responsiblity.

* * *

that had been closed because of Socred
cutbacks available to Expo fairgoers as a
bed-and-breakfast outlet — a proposal
that was soon buried by the flood of
adverse publicity it received.

But the British Tories have probably
topped that with their proposal, outlined
in the Queen’s speech to Parliament last
week, to finance a series of income tax

expected to bring in some $20 billion
which will then go to provide the tax cuts
that the Tories hope will buy their way
back into power in the next election.
But, of course the companies can only
be sold once and when the proceeds of the
sale are used up, somebody will have to
foot the bill for the tax cuts — a fact of life
which prompted one banker to comment

to the Financial Post, “flogging the furni-
ture to pay the bills is not considered
sound finance.”

However, that isn’t the end of the story
of conservative economic lunacy. As we
note from the October issue of the Van-
couver Postal Workers, the flip side of the
British Tories’ policy is a proposed
amendment introduced by the Thatcher
government earlier this year, that would
have forced letter carriers to declare
income of 150 pounds ($240 Cdn.) on their
annual tax return for tips received at
Christmas time.

The proposal was understandably
greeted with outrage from postal workers,
many of whom noted that their tips —
which often consist of mince pies, fruit,
Christmas cakes and the like — probably
didn’t total 150 pounds throughout their
working lives, let alone in one year.

But the Tories were finally pilloried by
one Celia Mills, the women who delivers
the mail to the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, Nigel Lawson. In a letter to Parlia-
ment read by the deputy secretary of the
postal workers union, Tony Clarke, Mills

stated that she ‘never had a penny from
Nigel Lawson in the 10 years I have been
delivering letters.” Said Clarke: “Why
does a Chancellor of the Exchequer, who
doesn’t tip his postwoman at Christmas,
assume that the rest of the nation does?”

At least that measure was finally
defeated.

ha
H® tech communications can help

bring the world closer together when.

it is put to the right use, and in the case of
the event organized for this Friday, Nov.
22 by Physicians for Social Responsibility,
that certainly is the case.

Dr. Bernard Lown and Dr. Evgeni

Chazov, joint chairman of International
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear
War and this year’s co-winners of the
Nobel Peace Prize, will be linked ina satel-
lite teleconference between the Soviet
Union and the United States as they
receive the international Beyond War
award.

It begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Robson
Square media centre and will be followed

uite possibly, community work is
amily tradition. At any rate, the
decades of volunteer servce to her com-
munity paid well-deserved dividends Nov.
7 when Vancouver East resident and Trib-
une reader Betty Greenwell received the
city parks board’s Volunteer Award.

Betty, wife of the late civic activist Don
“Dusty” Greenwell, was honored at a spe-
cial parks board banquet for her activities
in the Hastings-Sunrise area. With Dusty,
who received the award shortly before his
death last year, her principle area of activ-
ity was the Hastings Community Centre.

Listed among her involvements are the
centre’s ladies auxiliary, the Hastings-
Sunrise Action Council, Hastings-Sunrise
Citizens Planning Committee, the Van-
couver Waterfront Coalition and the Citi-
zens Transit Advisory Committee. She is
also a director of the People’s Co-op
Bookstore.

As with other award recipients, Betty
was nominated by her community associ-
ation, and received a certificate and com-
mendation for outstanding community
volunteerism.

4 PACIFIC TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 20, 1985