| Canadians march

) seRONTO — In Toronto’s
ae _€ver peace demonstra-
ae 23, more than 20,000
; Tho Seegthae their refusal to
e US. Cruise missile to

tested in Canada.
€ its count rts else-
Fe erparts else
ate March and rally sent a
Per fr I message to Prime Minis-
‘'& 5 oe and his government
MPs tg the majority of Tory
tthe te © voice no objection to
| Sts — that Canadians refuse

Tulse!

Sis ages, all origins and with
ig widely differing creeds,
| Cannes: together in a colorful,
I do 1 banner rippling, placard
Procession, led by Los
| .-Mpaneros musicians and sing-
ti ng presentatives of organiza-
in ACT (Against Cruise

esti S,
Sting coalition), and aldermen

Show eromised ‘‘giant’’ puppet
tere «2S giant — 20 foot charac-

IN the armaments and dis-
ae drama. The dramatic
Bittcsin. on of a Cruise into -a
“Made ar, performed by Partisan,
‘humorously point. ——
fade unions, peace groups
Saba parties took part, the
| ind; Unist Party marching be-
‘the its Refuse the Cruise banner,
: ad Democratic Party, the
ay ee Peace Congress.as well
'P ox Toronto Association for
lee €, Brampton Peace Commit-
| 7 2nd East End Peace Action.
A Tr. included the United
hg Workers from Brampton

t. Catharines; Canadian
f Public Employees,
79 (Toronto inside. work-
and public service workers
Tumbe SEU and PSAC, a
Buitg; T of workers from the
“aon Ng Trades, Steelworkers,
Bg, o with the Canadian Union of

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ftom

ata Falls.
demo. Was added to by fraternal
R ae atic organizations of
South’ Greeks, Portuguese,
Siang Africans, Chileans, Rus-
ee Ukrainians; as well as
© tess “9 groups like the Con-
Boy Of Canadian Women; youth
PS including the Young
Pe Munist League, Youth for

a :
chiro, and more; various
‘the; °S Were present to add

T support.

A ay the city hall square destina-
Htion of akers declared the inten-
UD th their organizations to keep
“teste battle to stop the Cruise

World etd, and to work for a
Wa of the threat of nuclear
ig Obert White, Canadian Un-
{ ar Workers president,
of the effective cross section
ae Present who were

Ve; eons their ‘‘concern

the », © Continuing escalation of
«Uclear arms race.

Jayi, De around the world are
‘fore er let’s stop this madness be-
Lap S too late,’’ he pointed out.
ie = tell Trudeau,”’ he added,

fuse po out a decision to re-

Coun he Cruise ... in our own

Mente: He can’t make state-

at the U.N. about smother-

Sewell and Jack Layton. -

against the Cruise

ing nuclear weapons, and then
agree to test the Cruise!”

Reflecting the view of the vast
gathering, he said: ‘‘We have no
intention of remaining silent while
the world moves to the brink of
nuclear destruction.”

C.G. Gifford, a World War II
airforce veteran and organizer of
Veterans for Multi-lateral Nuc-
lear Disarmament, told the par-
ticipants: ‘‘Four years ago repre-
sentatives of 150 veterans’ or-
ganizations from around the
world met in Prague ...”” It be-
came clear, he said, that “‘what
we fought to defend, what we and
our comrades fought and died for,
is being threatened.”

He blamed people on both
sides, but went on to say: ““We
already have power to destroy
Russia 40 times over — the deter-
ence is already complete. Adding
more weapons only adds to the
danger, not to our security.”

Speaking on behalf of the Con-
gress of Canadian Women, Nan
McDonald condemned Canada’s
secret signing of the agreement
with the USA to test weapons
systems, including the Cruise nu-
clear missile. The government
‘thas deliberately tied Canada to
Reagan’s nuclear war strategy
with all its catastrophic danger.”

Stating that a growing number
of women are demanding that this ,
agreement be annulled, $
McDonald urged that ‘‘every 2

member of parliament’’ be given (|

“the clear message’’ of Canadian $
demands for refusing the Cruise,
annulling the agreement, and de-
claring this country a nuclear
weapons-free zone.

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country call upon the federal F
government to urge NATO to re-
spond favorably to the recent
initiatives of the Warsaw Treaty
countries that both sign a non-ag-
gression pact ...’’ Citing the
Soviet pledge never to be first to
use nuclear weapons, McDonald
said: ‘‘If nuclear weapons states
such as the United States, France
and Britain make this pledge, a
nuclear holocaust will be
prevented.”

Dan Heap, New Democratic
MP for Spadina, told the crowd
that the federal government
members are ‘‘not responsible to
the people who elected them.”
He referred to the overwhelming
vote for disarmament in those
centres which held referendums
last fall.

He said we have to ‘‘tell the
government to get out of the arms
race.”’ Ourposition, he said, is ‘‘no
Cruise testing in Canada, no nuc-
lear arms in Canada, and Canada
out of NATO and NORAD.”

Opened by Angela Browning,
secretary of ACT, who expressed
the conviction that “‘the people of
Canada, the USA and the Soviet
Union want peace,”’ the rally
heard greetings from numerous
organizations. Among them were
the Canadian Peace Congress,
Youth Coalition for Peace, the
African National Congress
(South Africa), and the Canadian
Federations of Students-Ontario.

IBUNE PHOTO —

REGINA — Saskatoon had the
biggest turnout of the April 23
weekend in people’s actions to
denounce Cruise missile testing in
Canada. Other Saskatchewan
marches and rallies were held in
Regina and Prince Albert.

Saskatoon Against the Cruise,
sponsors of the march from Uni-
versity Bowl to the downtown,
which drew 3,000 participants, is
made up of peace and church
groups, environmental organiza-
tions, student associations, pro-
fessional and health groups,
community committees, the arts,
unions and private businesses.

They point out that ‘“Canada’s
involvement in the Cruise missile
violates both our proclaimed
non-nuclear policy within NATO,
and acurrent lawsuit claims it vio-
lates Article 7 of the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms, which
gives Canadians the right to life,
liberty and security of the per-
son, because of the Cruise’s con-
tribution to the nuclear arms
race.”

It is pointed out that Canada’s
agreement to test the Cruise is
with the USA and is not a com-
mitment to NATO. Examples of

3

ef

NATO countnes who have re-
fused the Cruise, are Norway,
Belgium and Holland, for
example.

The Regina rally drew people
from a number of rural areas as
well as city citizens, to come to-
gether 800 strong, to hear speak-
ers including Mayor Mark Han-
ley, New Democrat MP for Re-
gina East, Simon De Jong, Arch-
bishops Halpin of the Catholic
Church and Peers from the Angli-

can, as well as representatives of
labor, and the National Farmers
Union.

The protesters marched to the
legislature to ask the province to
také a stand against the Cruise,
but Tory Premier Grant Devine,
who has refused to answer letters
on the matter, also refused to ad-
dress the rally.

A demonstration of 400 persons
took place in Prince Albert.

MONTREAL — Midnight,
April 22 marked the beginning ofa
candlelight march in which 2,000
people, about 85% young people
— students, unemployed, etc. —
moved from the Universite de
Quebec a Montreal (UQAM) to
the vast Complex Dejardins on
Ste. Catherine St., which houses
the U.S. Consulate.

The march came during the
same weekend as several other
protests across Canada. It fol-
lowed by several hours vigils at
the UQAM and at Complex Des-
jardins.

The main speaker at the Con-
sulate rally was Yvon Charbon-
neal, president of the Quebec

Teachers’ Federation (CEQ),
whose organization was one of
those participating in a large
anti-Cruise ad in Le Devoir, April
16. Others supporting the ad's
campaign against Cruise missile
testing in Canada included the
Conseil Quebecois de la Paix, the
United Electrical Workers Un-
ion, Quebec students, numerous
members of the National Assem-
bly of Quebec, Quebec's widely-
known poet and 'troubador, Gille
Vigneault and his troupe. the
Union of Concert Artists.
Montreal protestant School
Teachers, and the 4,000-member
bicyclists’ organization of
Quebec.

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