_It —— —— i oon || MULL UMA EEE ILL Vancouver city council added its voice Jan. 25 to the growing demand of canadian and world public opinion for balanced world disarmament. But it took a struggle, almost two hours of debate and even then the vote was not unanimous. We still have aldermen on council who support Reagan’s dangerous policy of confrontation and escalation of the arms race. The first part of our resolution on peace called on city council of- ficially to notify prime minister Trudeau, U.S. President Reagan, and the head of the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov, of the results of the peace referendum in Van- couver last November when 80 percent of the voters opted for balanced world disarmament. It would be difficult for any alder- man to oppose that, and so the vote was unanimous. But on the next two parts of Our peace resolution there were fierce differences of opinion. The resolution first urged that Canada ‘not become involved in any new arms race supporting programs, and second, requested a meeting in Vancouver with the four local B.C. representatives in the federal Perrault, Lawson and Van Rog- gen) to express the desires and on the growing danger of nuclear annihilation. Even these mild resolutions were bitterly attacked. The NPA aldermen on council tried to make out that these resolutions called for unilateral disarmament by Canada and the west which of course they did not. The two TEAM aldermen, Ford side like drunks trying to walk a straight line. Their natural in- clinations propelled them towards Reagan’s policies but they fear public opinion too. In the end they were compelled to vote for the resolutions. But the NPA diehards—aldermen Puil, Kennedy and Bellamy voted government (senators Austin, , concerns of Vancouver citizens — and Brown, waffled from side to ' against. The final result on the two resolutions was eight to three. It is becoming increasingly ob- vious to everyone that 1983 will be the decisive year. Either we move towards world disarmament or we'll end up with nuclear an- nihilation. We’re heading for a showdown. At the United Nations last Oc- tober, Soviet president Brezhnev in a message declared that the Soviet Union would never be the first to use nuclear weapons and called on president Reagan and NATO to follow suit. The U.S. Harry Rankin remained quiet, knowing that such a statement by it would in fact have meant that there would be no war. Only those who plan a strike-first policy could oppose such a declaration. Then early in January the War- saw Pact countries headed by the Soviet Union offered a new peace plan that was virtually ignored by the media in the west, and whereit wasn’t ignored it was distorted. The 6,000-word statement laid out a detailed blueprint for peace negotiations. It called for: e A mutual quantitative freeze on the strategic arms of the USSR and the US; e Agreements to end the development and production of new systems of nuclear weapons; e The complete and universal prohibition of nuclear weapons tests; e Prohibition and elimination of chemical weapons; ¢ Aban on all neutron weapons; © Substantially lower levels of conventional arms; ¢ Limiting and reducing naval armaments; ¢ Non-escalation of military spending and subsequent reduc- Motions reflected public's fear of nuclear arms race tion both in percent and absolute values; © Proper verification of the im- plementation of all such peace measures. To my knowledge the only newspaper in Canada that has printed the full declaration of the Warsaw Pact countries is the Pacific Tribune in its issue of Jan. 28. In the opposite vein, the press in the U.S. recently exposed a secret U.S. administration plan, called ‘‘Fiscal 1984-88 Defence rg | Guidance’’, for an extended’ nuclear war against the Soviet Union, the extension of any con- ventional conflict with the Soviet Union to a global scale, ‘“‘as an essential element of U.S. strategy” and the spending of $1,556 trillion by the U.S. on the arms race in the five year period. This official document, which was signed by U.S. defence secretary Weinberger, also detail- ed U.S. plans to build a huge U.S. arsenal in outer space to add, “a new dimension to our military . capabilities”, and enable the U.S. to ‘‘wage war effectively in outer space’. One can only conclude that the White House and the Pentagon are run by mad men intent to destroy the world. Our only hope is world public opinion for peace which is growing and which is potentially mightier than those who profit from war. We in Canada must de our part and this includes pressure on Ottawa to cancel U.S. Cruise missile tests on Canadian soil, to make Canada a nuclear weapons free zone, and to withdraw Canada from NATO and Norad. __ LOWER MAINLAND Delta rallies press gov't on funding Continued from pagé 1 by Caroline Porter, has accepted the notion of restraint and in January 1982, initiated its own budget reduction of $700,000 on a total budget of $58.1 million. But i an action that has emphasized the folly of going along with Socred restraint, the provincial govern- ment proceeded to cut from there, reducing Delta’s budget by a fur- ther $2 million over the course of 1982 to $55.5 million. And in a letter to the board, Nov. 30, 1982, Vander Zalm told’ the board its 1983 budget would have to be cut still further to $53 million — an effective cut of $3 million when inflation is taken into account. The bitterness is as understan- dable given that Delta has returned a Socred MLA, legislative speaker Walter Davidson. But Delta trustees are also angry because Delta per pupil costs are already well below average, largely as a result of the large student population in Delta relative to the overall population and the middle- to-low average cost of teachers’ salaries. In short, the budget is already pared to the bone. Among the demands being pressed to the government is that it live up to an earlier pledge by Vander Zalm to make special funds available to boards who, like Delta, “have kept costs down.’’ But if no further money is available, the grim alternatives fac- ing the district include: © The closure of two elementary schools; © The closure of one of three secondary schools and relocation, without provision for transporta- tion, of its students to other schools; A the end of last year, as readers may recall, we reported the campaign by the Canadian. Union of Postal Workers to get Canada Post to hire more staff at postal stations to relieve the massive lineups that customers had to endure to get their Christmas mail pro- cessed. Now, even though the Christmas rush has abated, there are still many post offices experiencing long lineups, according to CUPW. And the reason is the same: Canada Post refuses to bring its staff levels up to meet the increased need — and it is that same problem that is also creating delays for many Tribune readers in receiving their paper. CUPW Vancouver local secretary Caroline Lee tells us that in the main Vancouver plant, the problems are fewer because sorting is done through the weekend, although backlogs still occur, defying even the best efforts of the short staff to deal with them. But in the outlying postal stations, there is a backlog virtually every Monday morning since sorting at these stations is not done through the weekend. At one time, supervisors ordered overtime on Monday mornings to enable staff to do all the sorting before the post office opened for business. ““But to cut costs, they’ve cut down or eliminated overtime so our members aren’t able to get the sorting done,”’ says Lee. She adds that union members are happy not to have to work over- time but if service is to be kept up, more staff is urgently needed. “In some cases, the staff complements are less than what they were ten years ago,”’ she says. Yet both population and the demand for postal service have grown. The solution? CUPW has made it clear to Canada Post: hire more staff. And that’s the point we intend to make when we take the results of our readers’ delivery survey to post office management. So please fill out the coupon on page 11. * * * Tt past month brought a great sense of loss for many in the progressive movement as they marked the passing of two veterans both of whom had been long time supporters of the Tribune. Elaine Podovinnikoff had been in ill health since the death of her husband, Nick, less than a year ago, but her death was still untimely when it cam Jan. 26. She was only 58. PEOPLE AND ISSUES Born in England in 1924, the daughter of a butler whose life was shattered by the depression, she later emigrated to the U.S. It was in New York that she met Nick who, like her, had joined the growing radical movement of the ’30s. They later moved to California and then, faced with mounting Smith Act persecution, they came to Canada. A long time active member of the B.C. Peace Council, Elaine was also a familiar sight to many in later years as a volunteer worker in the provincial office of the Communist Party. She was a member of the North Vancouver club of the CP at the time of her death. ___ A memorial service has been set for Thursday, Feb. 10 at 2 p.m. in the Memorial Society’s Boal Chapel, 1505 Lillooet Drive in North Vancouver. It was her wish that donations in lieu of flowers be made to the Tribune to which she herself had contributed generously for many years. * eet ete _ Priends at a memorial service last Wednesday marked the passing IF of Frank Smith who died in Lions Gate Hospital Jan. 23 after suf- fering a second heart attack. He was 76. : A native of Keewatin, Ontario, he came to this province during the 1930s and later became a member of the Vancouver Civic Outside Workers Union which merged with the Canadian Union of Public Employees in 1966. He was a long time supporter of both the Tribune and the B.C. Peace Council. * * * n a happier note, we had received a call this week from Dusty Greenwell expressing his thanks to all of those — including the Tribune — who offered him their best wishes for quick recovery from the heart surgery he had to undergo Jan. 13. He was released from hospital last week with a new lease on life, a profound respect for the cardiac team at Vancouver General Hospital — and, he says, a renew- ed zeal to defend the health care system from Socred cutbacks. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FEBRUARY 4, 1983—Page 2 ee ee A Ce RE en < ne i RPE ee OO oN [ARTS e The cancellation of 16 Fr immersion classes; e The layoff of 100 to teachers effective September, 1983 and of 50 support staff effectiv’ June, 1983. Ata meeting in Sands Seconaal School Monday night, Advisony Committee chairman Jo! Charlesworth told the 400 present that the district was alr working with 43 less teachers thal last year — at a time when enrok ment in the district was up sharply: The effective campa . mounted by the parents’ group well as the efforts of the Teachers’ Association and thé Canadian Union of Publi¢ Employees have stiffened up thé position of the board which has stated it will submit a budge which exceeds Socred guidelines: Budgets must be submitted to Vit toria for approval by Feb. 15. Although the details have nd been announced publicly, Portel told the meeting Monday that the projected budget would exceed thé government’s maximum by some $3.5 million over the $53 limit sé by Victoria. Porter suggested that such av tion was “‘illegal’”’, although legal opinions obtained by both the B.C: Teachers’ Federation and the B.C: _ School Trustees’ Association havé indicated that submitting a budget in excess of provincial guidelines i§ not in contravention of legislation Whatever the legalities: however, the board’s action in- dicates the extent of opposition t0 the arbitrary way in which the Socreds have slashed education budgets. And when Vander Zalm confronts parents in Robsot square next week, he will be facing opposition to his policies from many who voted for his govern- ment. VSB urged to protest Progressive trustees on the Vall couver School Board have urged the board reject education ministry demands for a restraint budget that will axe library services, drastically reduce school supplies and lay off between 259 and 457 teaching and non-teaching employees in 1983. _ Trustees from the Committee of Progressive Electors will move at the regular VSB meeting Monday that the board submit a budget bas- ed on need — estimated 4 minimum $172 million — rather than one based on the ministry’s restraint funding of $159.4 million. COPE’s Phil Rankin submitted the notice of motion at a special meeting last Monday at Van Horne | Elementary during which about 2A0 parents and employees urged the action to protest the “devastating’’ cuts facing Van- couver’s schools this year. Even trustees from the Non- Partisan Association, the right- wing civic party which dominates the board, were indicating ap- proval of the action. Briefs were presented by parents and represen- tatives of the Vancouver Secondary and Elementary Teachers’ Associations and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 407. ;