oy Guest Editorial STAR W N° ISSUE in the current federal election campaign has aroused so much feeling as the question of whether Canada should accept nuclear arms, ~ It is a real issue in this campaign, though by no means the most important issue facing a nation burdened with persistent unemploy- ment and a lagging economy. Yet so much emotion surrounds the nuclear arms debate that it has tended to obscure the basic question: whether Canada’s accept- ance of nuclear arms would enhance the prospect for peace and security in the world. In our view, the answer is no. This does not imply that Canada should turn toward nevutralism. So long as the free nations are faced with the remorseless threat of Communist aggression, this country must accept its full share of the defence burden borne by the Western alliance. But we believe there is a more useful role for Canada than merely to become a minor addition to the ranks of the nuclear powers. Our acceptance of nuclear arms would provide an insignificant . contribution to the vast nuclear deterrent power of the West. It would add virtually nothing to the security of our country. It would, in fact, contribute to the spread of nuclear weapons and thereby increase the risk of war through miscalculation or design. WE BELIEVE Canada can play a more useful role in the Western alliance by helping to overcome NATO’s greatest deficiency — a shortage of conventional military forces. And: we can play a more constructive role by striving to limit the spread of nuclear weapons and by working for a disarmament treaty. It would be foolish to pretend that a middle power such as Canada can exercise any decisive influence:'in global diplomacy. Obviously, no nuclear test. ban or disarmament treaty is possible until the two nuclear giants — the United States and the Soviet Union — are prepared to accept them. BLAST OFF EEKLY SAYS ‘Canada was the first nation which had the capacity to develop its oh 1 But Canada in the past has demonstrated some ¥ tion and compromise in international disputes, most impressively the Suez crisis of 1956. We have played an honorable role police actions in Sinai, Kashmir, Indo-China and the Congo. And we may modestly claim some influence among the emerging nations of Asia and Africa because we are untainted by any colonialist tradition and because we have tried hard to build friendly relations with them. We must not, of course, overestimate our influence. But it is reasonable to believe that our credit at the United Nations and among the new nations would be reduced if we accepted nuclear warheads. We could, for example, be excluded from any future U.N. police actions, for no nuclear power has ever been invited to take part in them. At the Geneva disarmament talks, we could scarcely retain our reputation among the neutrals as the most objective of the Western delegations, and the one striving most zealously for disarmament. WE WOULD, in short, be charged with inconsistency and hypocrisy if we worked for nuclear disarmament and a limitation of the nuclear club, while, at the same time, accepting nuclear arms for ourselves. We are, perhaps, entitled to take a little pride in the fact that own nuclear bombs, in 1945, but chose not to do so. We are, in a sense, the founding member of the non-nuclear club. The effect of our example, regrettably, has been small thus far. But we must, surely, preserve the hope that other nations will also resist the temptation to acquire nuclear weapons. A decision by Canada to accept nuclear weapons now might well encourage other nations, now hesitating, to seek nuclear arms for themselves. Every addition to the ranks of nuclear powers inevitably reduces the prospect of lasting peace, and increases the possibility of nuclear war. That is why we believe Canada should not accept nuclear arms. We hope they will be firmly rejected by whatever political party wins office on April 8. - — Reprinted from Star Weekly. by reason of absence from his work during such consecutive hours; the additional time for voting above referred to shall be granted at the convenience of the employer. (2) Any employer who, di- INUTUCAUTTt WWU0HUtTU0U0CCEZL I TATATACATNUNNMMNON ES LAL NDP Members Win Praise “One observer was en- couraged to describe the New Democratic ‘team as one of the greatest assem- blages. of brains ever achieved by a small party 21, and for news copy March 22. in Canadian political his- tory.” “Striking evidence in sup- port of this contention be- ‘came available at an early stage in this session.” —Montreal Gazette. Publication date of the next issue of the WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER is April 4. Deadline for ad copy is March Published Twice Monthly on the First and Third Thursdays by INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA (AFL-GIO-CLC) Regional Council No. 1 Editor . President ............--- 1st Vice-President 2nd Vice-President -. 3rd Vice-President .... Seo ett ed add SERS See Internat . . Grant MacNeil REGIONAL OFFICERS: eee URC Mackenzie onal Board Members ...-— ea E>? PSOE EA CEST ate Jack Moore Jack Holst i ee BOD ROSs RES is rs ae . Fred Fieber Joe Madden, Walter F. Allen Address all communications to: FRED FIEBER, Secretary-Treasurer 2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B,C. TR. 4-5261 -2 Subscription Rates -....... Advertising Representative neneneeeee $2.00 per annum G. A. 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