PUG ee BRITISH COLUMBIA ‘Campbell is lying, running one-person show’ — aldermen Continued from page 1 programs of action'for council’s considera- tion. But no sister city committees have yet been struck. Instead, the mayor is backing a report that ignores those recommendations and effectively bars participation in sister city visits from the general public and even city council members, Yorke charged. The report priorizes visits — called “trade missions” — to the sister cities of Los Angeles, Yokohama (Japan) and Guangzhou (China), as well as the non- sister cities of Hong Kong and Singapore, in 1988 and 1989. It also proposes that “‘pre- paratory work” regarding Odessa and the remaining sister city, Edinburgh, be under- taken in 1988. Not only was council’s initial plan of direction being ignored, but the mayor was also guilty of lying, Eriksen charged. Eriksen read into the record a letter from Simonenko received April 22 which stated: “Please accept our best wishes in connec- tion with your election as the mayor of Vancouver. We sincerely hope that the friendly relations between our cities will continue to develop in accordance with the . protocol that was signed last summer in Vancouver. Allow me to extend to you an invitation to visit Odessa this autumn with yourself heading a delegation of the Van- couver city council. We believe that this visit and our acquaintance will serve to streng- then our ties and become a concrete step on the way to strengthening our co-operation. We would be grateful if you would let us know your decision.” But in his June 16 reply, also read by Eriksen, Campbell stated: “Thank you for your letter . .. and please be assured I share your desire to maintain and foster friendly relations between our cities. I too recognize the important role of exchange visits and Strengthening our friendship and co- operation as set out in our mutual protocol, and I sincerely thank you for your invitation ... Early this year Vancouver city council recognized the need to act decisively to reduce the increasing tax burden on its citi- zens. As a result; council has taken firm action to curtail civic spending, and one of - the areas affected is our sister city program. Consequently Vancouver will not be visit- ing, or hosting, any of our sister cities this year. Therefore I must decline your kind invitation to visit Odessa this fall.” Accusing Campbell several times of lying, Eriksen told the mayor: “You responded and you lied to them... Council did not at any time consider the letters or rescind the motion of council which would have had us visit this fall. - “T think, Mayor Campbell, that some- times you feel there was only one person elected to this city council, and that’s you, and that the rest of us don’t count,” Eriksen charged. Campbell replied, “I guess I got the letter and I wrote the letter back ... I don’t recall the exchange of letters.” But at a press conference at Eriksen’s and Davies’ home Wednesday the aldermen and Yorke showed copies of a formerly confidential memo from Joyce Thomas of the city clerk’s office reminding Campbell and other officials of the commitment to visit Odessa reaffirmed at the March 31 in camera meeting. Appearing at the bottom of the first page of the memorandum — dated April 2, 20 days before Campbell received the Odessa invitation — isa P.S. stating: “With respect to recommendation (2), you may wish to include in this comments on the city’s commitment to visit Odessa in 1987.” Also presented were copies of the min- utes of the Aug. 26, 1986 council meeting in which council — including then-alderman Gordon Campbell — voted to visit Odessa in 1987. Eriksen said the memorandum made ref- erence to a decision to visit Guangzhou this year — meaning, he said, that the mayor was lying when he told the Odessa council that Vancouver would not be making any sister city visits in 1987. “Tt’s a slap in the face to Odessa and to Yokohama (not slated for a visit until 1989) ... it’s a slap in the face to the people of Vancouver, it’s a slap in the face to the other members of council on his own caucus that he would lie to them, that he would act without consulting them,” Eriksen said. Said Davies: “I think (Campbell) lies because basically, he’s a one-man show.” Some members of the ruling Non- Partisan Association appeared to agree with Two districts withdraw — teacher reprimand letters Two school districts have withdrawn letters of reprimand placed on their teachers’ work files, paving the way for an end to the work-to-rule campaign the B.C. Teachers Federation has maintained since the introduction of Bill 20. All that is needed is for the remaining three districts to do likewise, a BCTF spokesman says. Arnie Myers noted that trustees in Nanaimo and Lillooet withdrew the let- ters or notices placed on teachers’ files following a day-long withdrawal of services last April to protest the intro- duction of the now proclaimed Teach- ing Profession Act. The Act seeks to replace the federa- tion’s role in professional development, 2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 9, 1987 removes principals and vice-principals from the federation and seeks to divide teachers by forcing a district-by-district vote on union certification. “We're delighted that the two boards have seen fit to withdraw the letters, which were a needless irritant, and we’re hoping the other boards will fol- low their example — hopefully by the end of this week,” Myers said. The three boards are Fort Nelson, Golden and Peace River North (Fort St. John). The federation says most teachers are still observing the boycott on extra- curricular activities. BCTF organizers are concentrating on the fall campaign to certify as local unions the federa- tion’s member associations. the substance of Yorke’s and Eriksen’s criti- cisms, at the Sept. 1 council meeting. Said NPA alderman Don Bellamy: “I find it regrettable and I’m disappointed that we are taking this particular tactic...that no visit will take place (this year) ... I think it’s imperative that we keep that sister city rela- tionship alive.” “T think that to exclude Odessa from our sister city relationship that we’ve had such a long time is the wrong thing te do. To bring it down to an economic consideration is not going to work,” added NPA colleague, Ald. Helen Boyce. Boyce’s motion that the city’s economic manager place special emphasis ERIKSEN, DAVIES, YORKE ... cancellation of Odessa visit ‘’a slap in the face. on the Odessa relationship to facilitate 4 visit “as soon as possible” was adopted. A motion from Eriksen that the five sistet city committees be struck and that the report be tabled until the committees hada chance to prepare recommendations was” defeated. cia Three aldermen — Eriksen, and the NPA’s Gordon Price and Jonathan Baker — voted against a motion from Ald.’ George Puil legitimizing after the fact Campbell’s rejection of the 1987 Odessa visit. Eriksen alone opposed the recom- mendations contained in the city manager's report. Low priority given to spirit of Protocol | ciation majority, however, the ties that bind The spirit of peaceful co-existence can be said to manifested in a special protocol signed by former Vancouver mayor Mike Harcourt and Odessa’s top official, Valen- tin Simonenko, in Vancouver on Aug. 12 last year. It represents the model of what sister-city relationships ‘are all about in the vision of the previous labour-backed civic adminis- tration of the Committee of Progressive Electors and Harcourt’s Civic Independ- ents. COPE alderman Bruce Eriksen, and former COPE alderman Bruce Yorke, warn that the new “strategic city program” adopted by council Sept. 1 represents a replacement of that policy with one solely concerned with business contacts, and which will render sister-city visits and func- tions inaccessible to the average Vancouver citizen. js The protocol, subsequently backed by council resolution Aug. 26 last year, acknowledged that, “‘At present, the rate of stockpiling of weapons is critically high ... Only through the common efforts of the people of all countries and continents, regardless of colour, religion or politics, can the threat of war be stopped and peace achieved.” The document stated that, “the Odessa delegation and Vancouver city council have approved the development of friendly bonds between the sister cities and regard as a principal target the further extension of forms of co-operation, that enhance better mutual understanding and friendship be- tween the Soviet and Canadian peoples.” The document stipulates exchange visits every two years by technicians, artists and other specialists, co-operation between uni- versities in the two cities, medical exchanges and co-operation between trade unions, friendship societies and other organizations of the two cities. In the eyes of Mayor Gordon Campbell and at least some of his Non-Partisan Asso- . are primarily financial. The strategic city program places key emphasis on Pacific Rim cities and how Vancouver’s business community can skim off some of the trade. : It scraps plans set earlier this year to establish five sister city committees, rec- ommending instead that committees for Guangzhou (China), Yokohama (Japan) and Los Angeles — Vancouver’s most recent sister city — receive attention this’ year. : The plan stipulates that the committees be financially self-sufficient, meaning that in” the absence of city funding brought about by the NPA’s version of restraint, private sector and other possible funding sources” will be needed. That ensures, COPE charges, that visits will be barred to working people. Further, the recommended composition of future delegations makes it difficult for council members to be part of the delega- tion. The document states that “‘in develop- ing the above estimates it was assumed that council will no longer host, nor send over-. seas, 12-member civic delegations as in the past, but will sponsor mayor-led missions that are comprised primarily of private sec- tor individuals who pay their own expenses.” Odessa and Edinburgh are downgraded, and of Odessa the report recommends “that no visit .. . take place until appropriate eco- nomic and trade opportunities have been identified.” But Yorke told council at the Sept. 1 meeting that the USSR is a major Pacific Rim country with major resources and noted it is going through the industrial renewal process known as perestroika. And he reminded council members of a Soviet pledge to maintain and repair Soviet fishing fleets in the Vancouver area in return for the privilege of landing Aeroflot flights at Van- couver international airport to pick up and ship fishing crews. TRIBUNE PHOTO — DAN KEETON : i : : : | | ;