FROM PAGE 25 MAY DAY GREETINGS from the Congress of Canadian Women for EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT and PEACE, join the CCW $5 per year Box 65703, Stn. F Vancouver, B.C. VSN 1K7 Keep June 15 open for fundraising banquet to send Ald. Libby Davies to Forum ’85 conference in Nairobi. “Tt’s not just an ‘Eastern Block’ affair,” noted Colin Snell, another B.C. delegate to the Havana festival and the secretary of the Provincial Council of Carpenters. “T think you come away from a festival like that with a distinct feeling that people all over the world aren’t hostile to each other — that everyone wants peace.” The Beaver Brigade of 1947 represented a broad diversity of Canadian youth, said Stevens. “We had in our delegation people quite opposed to socialism for various polit- ical and religious reasons. “But they all agreed that the young people of Europe had the right to build the kind of societies they wanted. When we returned, it was with the aim of countering Churchill and (former U.S. president Harry) Truman. We came back promoting the idea of peaceful coexistence.” Some of Steven’s delegation put their er ba NCUOECNEVAEAUAGUEUOECUAUESUEEOAGUOEAE OE UAEOUEDAEEAOEOOEE EOE MAY DAY GREETINGS from the CANADA-USSR ASSOCIATION Enquiries welcome regarding films, tours to the USSR, membership and general information P.O. Box 4488, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 3Z8 ccc Our aim in the last 25 years has been and is promoting friendship and co-operation between Canadian and Cuban peoples. Warm greetings to all working people on May Day from the executive and members of Canada-Cuba Friendship Association | P.O. Box 69482, Stn. K, Van., B.C. VSK 4W6 ESC CULL LLL LLL LULEUUAUEVEOAUAUAGUAEAEOEOUEOUOOOEEAOOUEA COU EAA EOLETERL EU TEEAEAEAHE 5 in The Federation of Russian Canadians and the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians invite the working people of the Lower Mainland to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Defeat of Fascism in Europe Sunday, May 26, 2 p.m. Russian People’s Home, 600 Campbell Avenue Following the program a full course slavic dinner. Do not miss this opportunity to mark this historical occasion. Admission: $7. Seating will be limited. Tickets available at Global Imports and FRC & AUUC members All proceeds to Canadian Peace Congress 26 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MAY 1, 1985 internationalism into practice following the festival, spending several weeks aiding in the construction of a railway line in Yugoslavia. ““We’d get up every day at 4:30 a.m. and work to about 11 o’clock. After that it was so bloody hot, you couldn’t. We met youth ° brigades all along that railway line. We’d meet and talk, going through four or five translations.” The theme of peace is still the prevalent one in the youth festivals, now organized by the International Preparatory Committee HOMER SYLVIA STEVENS SURETTE and the national preparatory committees of the participating countries. “The young generation is determined to stop the absurdity of wasting material and intellectual resources for the arms race, resources that are so needed to solve the - global problems of mankind, such as hunger, poverty and illiteracy,” reads the committee’s appeal for the 12th festival. Under the theme, Anti-ImperialistSolid- arity, Peace and Friendship, 20,000 dele- gates from more than 140 countries will assemble for the eight-day event beginning July 27. In British Columbia, the job of selecting the province’s delegates belongs to the B.C. steering committee, which must choose from some 40 applicants. “The preparations for this festival put the Olympics to shame,” says steering commit- tee member Reg Walters, a building tra- desman who went to the Havana festival. The B.C. applicants represent eight unions and dozens of peace, student, reli- gious and community organizations. The festival has been endorsed by the Kam- loops, Prince George and Vancouver labor councils, and — a first for any Canadian delegation — Vancouver city council. The committee also has the task of rais- ing funds from supporting organizations to help offset the costs for the delegation, the =: members of which also have to bear some of the price of travel. But the pay-off for dele- gates is big, says the committee. “This festival allows young people from - socialist and capitalist countries an exchange they wouldn’t normally be allowed — and to learn who the real culprits are in the development of the arms race, And that’s blatantly obvious now with the recent Soviet initiatives for peace, while the U.S. develops Star Wars,” said steering commit- tee member and unemployment activist Kim Zander. The Moscow festival falls on no less than seven anniversaries and occasions, includ- ing the 40th anniversary of the end of World War Two — the victory over fascism — and the beginning of the 40-year old United Nations’ decade of youth, while 1985 is the International Year of the Youth. Even the Reagan adniinistration hopped on the bandwagon, financing and promot- ing “Jamfest”, a music festival in Jamaica — that drew only a few thousand foreigners — and which the world youth festival organiz- ers say was a deliberate attempt to under- — mine the international event. But they say, the attempt failed. “In contrast to the Moscow festival, Jamfest had no discussion sessions. It was ~ attended mainly by youth who could afford to go from the more advanced capitalist ~ countries. In terms of education, its value was zero,” said Zander. Rather than undermining the world festi- ~ val, “if anything, it’s helped our work,” said fellow committee member Larry Legebo- Festival ‘affects you for rest of your life’ koff. “People have now heard about Inter- national Year of the Youth, and some kind ~ of festival. This gets our foot in the door.” Legebokoff said the value of the world youth festival can’t be understated: “A lot — of delegates will come out with a personal / commitment affecting their work for the rest of their lives.” : PA The festival’s past delegates say much the 7 same thing. 4 “It’s overawing. Something like that def initely affects you for the rest of your life — it tints your future,” Surette says. Homer Stevens puts it this way: é “It was the most impressive thing that — has ever happened to me. It outweighs any- z| thing that I’ve done in the trade union | movement, or wherever. “T think it would be fair to say that that” ‘as the impact on all of us.” oy = N Canadians for Democracy in Chile salute May Day, ‘85 eR) iVENCEREMOS! Please attend our solidarity conference on Sept. 7, 1985, and send your urgently needed financial donations to C.D.C., P.O. Box 65664, Stn. F, Vancouver, B.C. VSN 1K7 or phone Sue at 254-9797, or Patsy at 875-0004. —_— — MAY DAY GREETINGS in the year of the youth. INVEST IN THE FUTURE Support the needs of the youth PEACE AND JOBS NOW Provincial Council Young Communist League 4 ¥ avenin pOO® vy % | |