Tt | iM | q = BRITISH COLUMBIA Labour, community back abortion clinic If abortion is going to be available to all women, regardless of economic means and social class, there must be clinics funded through provincial medical services plans, the backers of a free standing clinic for Vancouver declared last weekend. Representatives of several area women’s groups held a press conference Oct. 16 and some 200 women and men staged a march and rally Sunday to join others in cities across Canada demonstrating for the right to choice on abortion. B.C. Coalition for Abortion Clinics representative Maggie Thompson said the backers of a Vancouver clinic are aware that arrest and prosecution threaten clinic staff and volunteers in a province governed by a strong anti-abortionist — Social, Credit Premier Bill Vander Zalm. And at a rally following the march Sun- day, Dr. Ingrid Pacey of the B.C. Physicians for Choice said doctors who will staff the clinic are putting their lives and careers on the line and will require strong support for the cause. Vancouver, following Montreal and Toronto, has become the third rallying point in Canada in the fight for free stand- ing abortion clinics, its backers point out. Given that the Vander Zalm government has already threatened to take action against any abortion clinic located in British Columbia, coalition spokesmen would not say when the Vancouver clinic will open its doors. But Thompson said that some advance notice will be given prior to the clinic’s open- ing. The coalition has been backed not only by several women’s groups around B.C., but by organized labour — such as the B.C. Federation of Labour and Local 452 of the United Carpenters and Joiners — and the United and Unitarian churches. And a survey commissioned by BCTV last May found a significant 87 per cent of some 900 Greater Vancouver residents support women’s right to choice on abor- tion, while 51 per cent support free standing abortion clinics. “For 51 per cent of British Columbians to support something they’ve been told is illegal is staggering. I think that’s a very strong base to work from,” Thompson said. Vancouver alderman Libby -Davies accused federal and provincial politicians of kowtowing to a minority: “They are beholden to a very narrow partisan anti- abortion group and the politicians are afraid to act.” ““The message we must give to the federal government is that the majority of Canadi- ans believe it is the right of every woman to have safe, accessible abortion clinics,” she told the press conference. Pro-choice advocates tender other statis- tics, showing that of 115 hospitals in B.C. only 51 have therapeutic abortion com- mittees — required under Section 251 of the national Criminal Code — while only 10 hospitals, located mainly in the Lower Mainland, perform some 80 per cent of B.C.’s abortions. Women and men march in support of Vancouver clinic on Sunday. Pacey, addressing the packed rally Sun- day, outlined the three key aims of the phy- sicians group, which mirror those of most pro-choice organizations: that abortion be ACE demands housing, tax change The threatened conversion of the for- merly publicly owned Colony Farm land to a race track has given new impetus to the campaign of the Association of Coquitlam Electors (ACE). Eunice Parker, the two-term alderman seeking re-election as a member of a slate of ACE candidates said the labour backed civic alliance will oppose the conversion of the former public resource on the grounds that the district can use the land, rated A-1, for agricultural purposes. And, said Parker, opposes the district system of the Social Credit government which threatens mas- sive privatization of public resources if it PF) is implemented. “(Premier Bill) Vander Zalm_ has rolled in health, edu- cation services, pol- ice services and any- thing else into one big privatization package,” she warns. “Democracy has something to fear from that.” Running under the ACE banner for Parker, Hospital Employees Union member Phil Mac- Leod and Lorna Morford, a six-year KACHMAR veteran of the Coquitlam school board. School board candidates are incumbent Anne Kachmar and retired college teacher ACE is targeting corporate taxation, social housing and the election of working people to council as key issues in the Nov. 21 election. In Coquitlam, Parker says, $1.9 million has been lost this year to a variety of provin- cial government corporate tax cuts. Parker welcomes the new tax brackets introduced by Finance Minister Mel Couve- the association PARKER 2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 21, 1987 lier which allows municipal councils to set a higher rate for very large businesses. But, she says, such councils must have a majority of labour and reform-minded aldermen to enact the necessary tax bylaws. The ACE alderman says the association opposes plans to turn Colony Farm over to private concerns such as the Cattle Land and Resources Corporation, which report- edly has a $5.5-million bid for the Crown land, held by the B.C. Building Corpora- tion. Despite its agricultural name, the cor- poration has recently announced plans to establish a large horse-racing track on the Site. Aldermanic candidate Morford points out that Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody are distinguished by contain- ing no subsidized housing other than a few co-ops. She says a progressive council can designate land for social housing such as the Crown lands on Westwood Plateau. MacLeod notes that amendments to the Municipal Act mean that this year, voters elect candidates to three-year, rather than the previous two-year, terms. He says that makes it all the more important that work- ing people are elected to council and school boards. Trustee Kachmar says she is “still fight- ing for local autonomy” on the Coquitlam school board. Kachmar says a key issue is the return by the provincial government of the industrial and commercial tax it seized from school districts in 1982. That move would allow cash-strapped districts like Coquitlam to make big business pay its share while giving relief to residential taxpayers, who under recent Socred legislation can be taxed by school districts to make up shortfalls in provincial funding. ACE has a campaign office at 1115-C Austin Ave., Coquitlam, phone 931-4420. removed from the Criminal Code; that the decision to terminate a pregnancy be that of the woman; and that abortions be removed from hospitals and performed in publicly funded, easily accessible clinics. She said some 40 B.C. doctors had joined the organization in support of those princi- ples, while another 40 supported the first two principles. “If your physician is against you having an abortion, it will make getting one diffi- cult. With the current anti-woman govern- ment (in Victoria), it’s going to get a lot worse,” she said. Pacey noted that more than $800,000 has" been spent defending Dr. Henry Morgen- taler and associates in legal costs defending the Quebec and Ontario clinics, ‘and that basically comes from our pockets. “Meanwhile the government can go on using our tax dollars to prosecute endlessly, overruling acquittals of the juries of our legal system,” she said. Coalition representative Jackie Ains-— worth said the goal of pro-choice activists was to make the Criminal Code sections regarding abortion “unenforceable.” “We're going to challenge one of the most anti-women governments we’ve seen in many years,” she declared to applause. Oct. 24 set for Mac-Paps Fifty years ago, some 1,200 Canadians sneaked out of the country and went to Spain to assist the Republican Forces and try to prevent the conflagration known as World War II. While they were not successful, the role of the International Brigades from around the world in attempting to pre- serve Spanish democracy in the face of a fascist takeover has been celebrated ever since. In Canada, there is an ongoing fight to have the government officially recognize the members of the Mac- Kenzie-Papineau Battalion. The “Mac-Paps” in British Columbia will receive their recognition at a special 50th anniversary banquet hosted by the Pacific Tribune on Sunday, Oct. 24. The banquet, which begins at 6:30 p.m., is at the Ukrainian Hall, 805 E. Pender St. Tickets, costing $10 or $8 for unem- ployed and old-age pensioners, can be purchased or reserved by phoning the Tribune, 251-1186. Bagramov, artists mark USSR 70th Vancouver will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Russian Revolution in a spectacular way with a concert and special speaking engagement Sunday, ‘Nov. 8. Dr. Leon Bagramov, who heads the Canadian department of the Soviet Union’s Institute of the USA and Can- ada, will arrive in Canada Nov. 5 along with two famous Soviet performers. The sponsoring organizations are the Canada-USSR Friendship Society, the Association of United Ukrainian Cana- dians, and the Federation of Russian Canadians. Included in the week-long itinerary will be addresses by Bagramov at Simon Fraser University, the University of B.C. and the Langara Campus of the Van- couver Community College. Bagramov and the artists will be in Victoria on the weekend beginning Nov. 6. The artists include Alexander Katenin, © who plays a type of harp called the bayan, and vocal soloist with the Mos- cow Opera, Vladimir Matorin. The event takes place at Vancouver’s Queen Eliza- beth Playhouse, beginning at 7:30 p.m. It will be followed by a reception in the theatre’s foyer. Advance tickets, which cost $8 if pur- chased prior to Oct. 31, ($10 after) are available at the Lacquer Box (phone 872-1524), the People’s Co-op Bookstore (253-6442) or the Pacific Tribune (251-1186).