City Hall

Centennial Square

Fictoria, Vancouver Island
British Columbia WSIV TPG
Telephone (604) 385-3711
PAN (60-4) 385-3592

City ¢ VICTORIA British Columbia July 25, 1988

To: Mayors and Councillors of |
Nuclear Weapons Free Zone municipalities

Your Worship:

As you may know, the City of Victoria, like your own municipality and
dozens of others in Canada, has declared itself a Nuclear Weapons
Free Zone. Local gavernments have taken this action for reasons that
are moral, ecological and medical.

There is a growing body of opinion, however, that Canada's present
involvement with nuclear arms is also illegal with respect to
Canada's obligations under international law.

The Nuclear Weapons Legal Action (NWLA) is an initiative whose goal
is to test the legality of Canada's nuclear weapons role. ‘This
action will not be partisan or confrontational in nature. In fact,
the seven organizations now acting as co-plaintiffs plan to formally
ask the Canadian government to cooperate in seeking a ruling from the
courts. The proposed Legal Action has been endorsed by 160
organizations representing a broad spectrum of Canadian opinion.

I believe that support from the Mayors and Councils of Canada's
municipalities could greatly increase the likelihood of the federal
government saying "yes" to this reasonable approach, I believe that
the Nuclear Weapons Legal Action could be an important building block
towards an international legal regime with the power to restrict the
nuclear arms race.

I urge you and your Council to endorse both (1) the research effort
to establish a legal case against nuclear weapons; and (2) soliciting
the federal government's cooperation in having the issue referred to
the courts to be adjudicated. Such an endorsement entails no legal
liability, but provides political and moral support to those
organizations conducting the NWLA. As well, a contribution of $25
from you or your Council to the NWLA will enable the organizers to
keep you informed of their progress.

Yours sincerel
a VY,

Gretchen Brewin
MAYOR

P.S. Please address replies to: Nuclear Weapons Legal Action,
46 Elgin Street, Suite 32, Ottawa, Ontario KIP 5K6
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