Olympics need permanent site — page 5 Wednesday, August 15, 1984 Newsstand Price 40° Vol. 47, No. 32 T F : T t i a C ri i : By, MAURICE RUSH . With only three weeks to go until the Kat federal election Sept. 4, the latest develop- ments have brought change to the balance of forces that should be assessed by progres- _ Canadian MPs in the main vote in 'gnorance on issues concerning nuclear atms — and that’s a danger that must be Tectified beginning with the federal elec- ton, leading B.C. scientists stated Aug. 9. _ Three faculty members of the Univer- Sity of B.C. made their warning during a Press conference called to unveil the latest Publication of the peace group, Science for face. Nuclear Arms: A Canadian Perspective. Was not initially designed for the edifica- tion of incumbents and hopefuls contest- ng B.C. ridings for the Sept. 4 vote. But the election to office of individuals who May be making decisions such as whether '0 follow public opinion and cancel cruise Missile testing made the occasion propi- Hous, physicist Louis Sobrino, ocean- °grapher Paul LeBlond and physician Om Perry Jr. said. “Canadian MPs are badly informed on Nuclear matters,” said Sobrino. “As far as I know, NATO’s two-track Policy has never been discussed in Parlia- Ment. Why we bother to have a Canadian Tepresentative on NATO, I don’t know.” Significantly lacking from the crowded, ‘Ot room at the Plaza 500 hotel were can- didates from the two capitalist parties. Vhile Communist candidates Miguel \gueroa (Vancouver East), Bert Ogden (Kingsway) and Maurice Rush (Van- ouver Centre), several NDP candidates nd hopefuls for the environmentally Oriented Green Party were present, and Supportive of the scientists’ aims, only one- Liberal bothered to show. There were no Ogressive Conservatives. Nuclear disarmament has been one - issue conspicuously lacking from the fed- eral campaign, at least until recently. Even the NDP, normally quite vocal on the arms race with positions calling for the withdrawal of Canada from NATO and Norad, and for the cancellation of cruise missile testing, have been low key on the issue. Nuclear Arms, a compact publication that offers figures and solid argumenta- tion in six concise sections (in both French and English) is the latest effort to break the silence over the disarmament issue. Two weeks ago, the umbrella peace group End the Arms Race launched a leaflet urging citizens to “Ask Them,” — federal can- didates — three key questions on disarmament. A letter to MPs from EAR, asking the Same three questions, and a much larger questionnaire circulated across Canada by the Canadian Council for International Co-operation are additional efforts on the part of peace seekers to see the arms race gets top billing among the election issues, The scientist group’s publication pro- vides the factual underpinning — and the challenge — for the federal hopefuls. It deals with the issues of deterrence and nuclear strategies, the balance of arma- ments, the cruise missile question, the effects of nuclear bomb explosions, the question of verification of treaties, and chemical and biological warfare. “We would not be doing our duty as citizens were we not to propose some steps that we believe our government can take to help decrease the threat of annihila- tion,” Science for Peace adds in statement. 3 Physicist Dr. Louis Sobrino (I) and Dr. Tom Perry Jr. Say peace and the facts behind the arms race shouid top eiection debate. “We propose, therefore, that Canada take the 1945 decision not to build nuclear weapons, to its logical conclusion: not to participate in the development of nuclear weapons for any other country, and not to accept nuclear weapons on its territory,” Sobrino told the press conference. Much of the information presented in Nuclear Arms repeats the arguments that disarmament activists have tried to get across an often reluctant mass media. The chapter on the cruise missile, for instance, notes the new weapon’s first-strike capa- bility and the heightened danger it pres- ents, through technological features that enable it to avoid radar detection, of start- ing a third world war. The booklet notes the “rough parity” that exists between the nuclear arsenals of the Soviet Union and the U.S. and its NATO allies; reviews NATO’s “two- track” policy, whereby destabilizing cruise and Pershing II missiles are stationed in Europe while the alliance is supposedly seeking arms reduction agreement; reiter- ates the message given by members of the Physicians for Social Responsibility, (the medical peace group that often works in close concert with Science for Peace) con- cerning the effects of a nuclear blast; and discusses some successes and further prob- lems in the ongoing process of striking agreements on verification of nuclear weapons stockpiles and testing. Well-known as these facts may be among the peace set, however, they are often unknown — or deliberately ignored — by candidates who express their desire for peace, but whose actions fail to match _ their words. see SCIENTISTS page 7 sive voters. The new situation brings with it the danger of a right-wing victory in British Columbia. When the Liberals elected John Turner, the Communist Party warned that the choice offered Canadians by the two major capitalist parties was either a government headed by a reactionary Tory or a right wing Liberal. Whichever way it came out, the election of either a Tory or Liberal government would push Canada to the right. It was a no-lose situation for big busi- ness and its U.S. backers, and a no-win situation for the people of Canada. Faced with this danger the Communist Party called on Canadian voters to reject both right-wing choices by denying either the Tories or Liberals a majority govern- ment, and electing a large progressive group of MPs, including Communists, to hold the balance of power. This is the best possible outcome on Sept. 4. Shortly after the Liberal convention, polls showed a 10 per cent lead in support for the Liberals over the Tories, Prime Min- ister Turner and his top advisers decided to take advantage of the upsurge in Liberal Popularity and called an immediate election. Part of the stra- tegy involved Turner and party president Iona Campagnolo running in B.C., to spearhead a drive for a resurgence of the Liberal party in B.C. that could be decisive in the event of a close federal race. The Liberals took a big gamble. It now appears that their election strategy is in deep trouble across Canada and especially. in B.C, The latest national polls show a sharp change in pyblic opinion with a rise in the Tory support and an exceptionally large uncommitted vote. According to one poll, one out of every three voters is undecided, reflecting the feeling among large numbers Kashtan picnic in city Aug. 25 A session on “real issues and answers” from Communist Party national leader Bill Kashtan will mark the home stretch of the federal race in Vancouver on Saturday, Aug. 25 — and the setting will be a festive one. The CP general-secretary is the featured speaker at a family picnic at Trout Lake (Jolin Hendry) Park, East 18th Avenue and Victoria Street. A salmon barbecue, along with balloons, Taces, a “tug for peace”, a volleyball match and a musical program are featured. : The affair, running from | p.m. to 6 p.m., will be held at the Russian People’s Home, 600 Campbell Ave., in the event of rain. a esas MAURICE RUSH