VANCOUVER - Pressure from Ottawa nixes peace vote It was called a move to extend the disar- mament process begun by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. But in a 7-4 vote, Vancouver city council turned down a recommendation by coun- cil’s Special Committee on Peace that coun- cil urge the federal government to close the Port of Vancouver to visiting warships which could be carrying nuclear weapons or be driven by nuclear power. 3 The motion, which had passed a vote in the standing committee on neighbourhood, cultural and community services, urged Ottawa “to ensure that the policy of no nuclear weapons in Canada is made con- sistent by declaring the Port of Vancouver to be a nuclear-weapons free zone.” Supporting it were Mayor Gordon Campbell, and aldermen Carole Taylor, Bruce Eriksen and Libby Davies. Opposed were aldermen Helen Boyce, Jonathan Baker, Don Bellamy, Gordon Price, Ralph Caravetta, George Puil and Philip Owen. Of the 33 delegations who showed up to address the 5¥2-hour session on the evening of Feb. 2, only five spoke against the ban- ning of such warships, with most of those speakers taking extreme anti-Soviet, cold war positions. The vehemence expressed by those speakers — including representatives of naval officers’ associations — prompted Frank Kennedy of End the Arms Race to point out that the motion did not target Canada’s membership in NATO, or deal with any obligations it might have as a member of the alliance. Most right-wing council members, with the possible exception of senior Ald. George Puil of the NPA, are not particularly anti- Soviet.-But the presénce of several Armed - Forces *fepresentatives and indications of extreme interest in the case by the head of the Pacific Command shows that the Con- servative government did not consider this simply another municipal-level peace vote. New Titles AMBIENT CONFLICTS: Chapters from the history of rela- tions between countries with different social systems. By Y. Chernyak $6.50 (paperback) CANADA-U.S.A.: Problems and contradictions in North American economic integration. By A. Borodayevsky. $5.95 (paperback) Mail orders please include 50¢ per book. 1391 COMMERCIAL DRIVE VANCOUVER, B.C. VSL 3X5 TELEPHONE 253-6442 Given equal billing with the peace com- mittee spokesmen — chairman Dr. Cha- rles Paris, and Dr. Tom Perry — was Capt. Brian Beckett of the Canadian Forces base in Esquimalt, who called the warship visits “an important element in alliance (North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO) co-operation.” “I was disappointed, but not really sur- prised, at the vote,” Perry, a University of B.C. pharmacologist whose name has long been linked with. the province’s peace movement, said later. “The people testifying (for the motion) did a very good job, but I have an idea the seven NPA aldermen had their minds made up before the vote,” he said. Perry said he was disturbed by the “dis- torted and antiquated” thinking expressed in statements by the opposing aldermen, — and also by the amount of pressure Ottawa appears to have levied on city council. He noted the mayor’s remarks during debate that both External Affairs Minister Joe Clark and Defence Minister Perrin Beatty had written him about declaring the harbour off-limits to visiting nuclear- capable warships. Roger Sweeny, former Esquimalt base commander now in retirement, said it was apparent that the mayor had been visited by the commander of the Maritime Forces, Pacific, Admiral Robert George: He said that when he went to city hall the day before the debate to turn in copies of his address to council, “I couldn’t help noticing the shiny black limousine outside, with the two golden maple leafs on the door.” That could only be the supreme commander of the Pacific fleet, Sweeny said. Sweeny,.a member of the Veterans Against Nuclear’ Arms, said North Van- couver aldermen have also complained to him they were “under pressure” over the nuclear-free port issue. “It would be highly embarrassing to them if they couldn’t bring their nuclear submarines into their own ports,” he com- mented. The former naval commander was com- menting on Beatty’s plans to purchase 10 to 12 nuclear-driven and nuclear-weapons capable submarines, intended primarily for use in the Arctic. In its report to council the peace commit- tee noted that visits from naval ships to Canadian ports, mainly from the United States, has increased dramatically in recent years, with some 300 “ship day” visits in 1986, and that this trend has been mirrored in Vancouver's port. It is the policy of several navies, including those of the U.S., Britain and France, to not declare whether or not their vessels are in fact carrying nuclear weapons. In their arguments before council peace activists pointed out that nuclear-armed vessels visiting Vancouver — and experts have pointed out that many of the ships are armed — constitute a danger both from on-board accidents and by making the Lower Mainland a target in the event of a nuclear war. They said a fire or some other form of damage to a nuclear armed missile could result in radiation leakage severe enough to contaminate large areas of the Lower Main- land and eventually cost untold hundreds of lives. Citing a recent report by Dr. W. Jackson Davis analyzing the likelihood of a nuclear accident in Canadian ports, Perry said leak- age of plutonium 239 from a warhead could contaminate 80 square kilometres and lead to as many as 3,400 cancer deaths in the future. Capt. Beckett claimed the area’s emer- gency response teams or Navy crews could - handle most accidents as they arise. And he said the U.S. Navy has operated some 300 nuclear-capable ships for “two million ship days” with no nuclear-weapons accidents. Buta 1980 U.S. Navy report, cited during questioning by Ald. Libby Davies of the Committee of Progressive Electors, reported some 620 accidents involving nuclear wea- pons between 1965 and the time of the report — including 60 accidents on surface vessels in harbours. The report also noted the loss of a nuclear warhead jettisoned accidentally from a U.S. vessel off B.C.’s coast in 1980. Beckett con- fessed ignorance of the incident, in which the warhead was never recovered. She also quoted from an affidavit by. former U.S. admiral Eugene Carroll, now of the Centre for Defence Information, on the Navy’s policy of not declaring whether its ships are nuclear armed. Carroll wrote that the policy had nothing to do with national security, but instead, “serves to keep this information from our own citizens and allies, such that the resi- dents of areas surrounding U.S. nuclear- capable weapons facilities will not become alarmed ... and demand that the weapons be moved to a:safer location.” Perry said later that the vote was “wholly inappropriate” considering the recent agree- ment on the intermediate missiles treaty between the U.S. and the USSR, and those countries’ talks on limiting intercontinental missiles. 2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 10, 1988 > No user fees 33 EAST BROADWAY VANCOUVER, B.C. V5T 1V4 CCEC CREDIT UNION 7 Have it all With CCEC RRSP's” > Excellent rates on fixed & variable terms > Instant tax receipts > RRSP Loans available Invest In YouR ComMUNITY CCEC CREDIT UNION 876-2123 MON. & WED. 11 am-5 pm FRIDAY 1 pm-7 pm “Keeping our money working in our community” But he said the real danger these days comes from the shift in U.S. Naval strategy from one of deterrence to one of aggression, through the acquisition of first-strike wea- pons such as the sea-launched variety of cruise missile and the Trident II missiles. He said the increase of ships and naval exercises in the North Pacific are part of a war strategy in which the U.S. hopes to “bottle up” Soviet ships in their ports in the event of an outbreak of hostilities — and Beatty’s plans for nuclear submarines in Canada’s Navy dovetails with that strategy. Sweeny agrees that the government wants to keep its ports open for Canadian submarines. Nine years ago as an officer at the NATO base in Denmark, his job was to detonate a nuclear explosion over the Baltic Sea to stop Soviet ships leaving, or re- entering, the area in the event of a world war, “which had a lot to do with my subse- quently joining VANA.” Sweeny told the council that he had little faith in the ability of existing response teams to contain a nuclear-related accident. Peace committee chairman Paris said the fairly “quiet” motion was designed to allow — the federal government to complete its already stated national policy of a no- nuclear weapons Canada. He said he had no doubts that opposing — aldermen — who advanced, along with some speakers, arguments about “them Soviet threat,” countering ‘“‘creeping com- — munism” and defending Canada’s “com-" mitment” to NATO — had been briefed prior to the debate by the Defence Depart- ment. iba Paris said military bases across Canada ~ “have been alerted to speak to this ques- — tion.” COPE on education Privatization and other government measures affecting public education will be examined at a special symposium sponsored by the Committee of Progressive Electors’ education committee Feb. 20. Point Grey NDP MLA Darlene Marzari will speak on the topic, “Does education fit in the new B.C.,” and education specialists Dr. Jean Barman, Dr. Charles Ungerleider and Dr. Norman Robinson will also speak. The symposium, which also features a play on the effects of divorce on children by the Green Thumb Players, is at King Edward Campus, 1155 E. Broadway St. in Vancouver, and runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Attendance is $3. For further information, phone Gary Onstad, 224-0582, or Pauline Weinstein, 321-7849. : OLD ORCHARD Flowers for all occassions. #15-4429 Kingsway Burnaby B.C. V5H 2A1 Telephone 434-3533 We specialize in weddings.