aia Wh Wil A EDITORIAL It’s not ‘free trade,’ but national betrayal When Canadian Auto Workers’ president Bob White told CBC’s The Journal Sept. 23 that negotiator Simon Reisman’s spectacular walkout from the Canada- U.S. trade talks was a stage-managed ploy to give the Tories an aura of toughness, some may have thought him ungracious. “ve seen that tactic used many times in labour negotiations,” White explained. Events proved him nght. The speed with which the Mulroney gang “overcame” what was only hours before an impenetrable wall of “unfair” U.S. demands, shows the fix was in. The trick was to get Mulroney off the hook with Canadians who regard him asa sellout artist, give him a stage to posture on, wrap him in the maple leaf — and then np off Canada. U.S. officials could barely conceal sneers of contempt as International Trade Minister Carney, Finance Minister Wilson, Reisman-The-Terrible and the whole Canadian team flew back and forth between Ottawa and Washington in a danse macabre in which the outcome was pre-scripted. 2 Thus the 11th-hour entrance of U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker, trade negotiatior Clayton Yuetter and other officials to give a sense of momentum to a process in which the aim was to consummate the deal and save Mulroney’s political skin. The dramatic midnight meetings and pompous tough talk all ceased on Oct. 4. Mulroney became the good pussycat rolling over with a whimper to get his belly stroked by Reagan his owner. The Conservative Party, the Canadian corporate elite and the Reagan administration have fashioned an umbrella deal which, if signed, will render Canada, as we know it, unrecognizable within two or three decades. Without any mandate from the people, Brian Mulroney’s government has engineered the most spectacular, disgraceful and far-reaching sell-out of Canadian sovereignty and independence in living memory. The scathing adage, ““The dollar knows no patriotism” has never been as true. ___ The deal opens up Canada to the fullest, unfettered economic penetration by | U‘S. capital. The U.S. will have unlimited, uncontrolled access to Canadian energy resources; it will have almost unlimited access to corporate takeovers. Key sectors of our economy such as auto, agriculture, transport, banking are opened up. Canada’s cultural life and social programs are targetted. Following on the heels of economic integration, of course, is political and cultural subservience. No state has ever survived as an independent, sovereign unit without control of its economic destiny. Our independent foreign policy will also eventually be swept awway as economic and political control evaporate. The process of complete integration, so long dreamt of by continentalists here and in the U.S., will become irreversible. This is the stark reality of the Tory/corporate agenda for Canada. This is the future they plan for our country — sacrificing our very nationhood and independ- ence for a few crumbs that may fall to them from the table of U.S. imperialism. IRIBUNE BUSINESS & CIRCULATION MANAGER Mike Proniuk GRAPHICS Angela Kenyon Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5 ; Phone (604) 251-1186 Subscription Rate: Canada @ $16 one year @ $10 six ~months @ Foreign @ $25 one year Second class mail registration number 1560 RS a round the Tribune we’ve gotten used to the sound of falling bodies these days. Since some tenancy changes in our building, one of our more recent neigh- bours is a Kung Fu parlour downstairs, run by a master of that martial art, Ste- phen Chang. In the evenings, the building . According to Chang, Vietnam’s media tends to vibrate somewhat as Stephen’s students go through their paces. But come late fall, the reverberations we hear won’t be caused by Chang himself. That’s because the Kung Fu artist, who doubles as an actor, will be in Vietnam to take part in some videotaping and to final- ize arrangements for a motion picture to be partially filmed in that country. The film, to be called Vietnam, Viet- nam, is a dramatization of several histori- cal events that have occurred in the 10 years since the United States withdrew its troops and ended years of bloody war against the southeast Asian nation. The script is written by Tom Tong, who arrived in Canada after leaving his homeland two years ago. Seen from the perspective of an immigrant who has undergone some harsh experiences in the United States — scenes for which will be shot in Van- couver, at Chang’s — insistence — the screenplay is subject to final approval by the Vietnamese government film corpora- tion involved inthe project. have already done several features on the project and on the Chinese-Canadian actor, who has appeared in several U.S. films and commercials. The road to a successful production has its rocky sections, however, and the big- gest problem Chang and the Vancouver Productions Company — created by Chinese-Canadian and Vietnamese Can- adian ethnic groups — is procuring funds for five to eight people to travel to Viet- nam this fall. Chang has written the three levels of government for assistance. Chang, who said it is “unprecedented” for a Canadian actor to visit Vietnam on the invitation of its government, says he would like to be a “goodwill ambassador” on behalf of Canada when he visits the country. Given the hopeful nature of the times — including. the recent disarma- ment agreements and the apparent bud- ding co-operation between Vietnam and some of its ex-citizens — we think there is a good chance Chang will realize his ambi- tion. People and Issues ieee, Sean y now many will have heard about the firing of Vancouver . Ald. Bruce Eriksen from the board of directors of the Pacific National Exhibition. In his place, Mayor Gordon Campbell appointed Ald. Jonathan Baker, a colleague of Campbell in the civic Non-Partisan Association and a resident of the city’s wealthier west side. The move effectively leaves Vancouv- -er’s working-class east side without a representative on the PNE board, just as it further reduces the representation of aldermen from the labour-backed Com- mittee of Progressive Electors on commit- tees of city council or city-related services. One would expect east enders, particu- larly those of the left-wing persuasion, to protest. But surprisingly, one of the loud- est voices condemning the move came from NPA supporter and east end resi- dent, Paul E. Nielsen. Writing in a column in the community based Vancouver High- land Echo newspaper, the president of the Vancouver East Progressive Conservative constituency association stated, ““Remov- ing Ald. Bruce Eriksen from the PNE board is inexcusable. Although we differ politically, he was democratically elected and does represent East Vancouver.” Nielsen’s column leaves no doubt as to why he’s upset with the move. He admon- ishes his NPA colleagues to “remember where you finished (electorally) the last time you ignored East Vancouver.” Niel- son also notes he worked for Gim Huey, the NPA aldermanic hopeful whose can- didacy inadvertently removed Campbell | protege Carole Taylor from the NPA ros- ter, forcing the former broadcaster to run as an independent and ultimately defeat Huey at the ballot box. The PC local president notes that another disgruntled NPA member Ald. Ralph Caravetta — albeit one who is con- sidered a bit of a loose cannon by his associates — has showed a split in the» NPA ranks by publicly protesting the secrecy maintained by the mayor’s office. _ While the right-wing civic association has shown a reasonably seaniless front on key. - issues during the past year, the snubbing of east siders — NPA Ald. Don Bellamy was — also dropped from three committees — — may spell electoral problems for the business-backed civic alliance in the future. 4 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 14, 1987 ee See Se eR ee es et Ree ee ee EN