Communists gain major advance

LEFT WINS VICTORY

{ me <1 u - —
FRIDAY, MAY 3, 1963
VOL. 23, NO. 18

ITALI

MAYOR CHARLOTTE WHITTON of Ottawa is shown being

welcomed by the chairman of the Moscow civic government.

Debate A-arms issue in
Parliament urges labor

KAMLOOPS, B.C.—By a unani-
mous vote last Thursday, the
Labor Council here demanded the
Federal government debate the
issue of nuclear warheads before
they are actually acquired.

The Council adopted a motion
that. a letter be sent to Prime
Minister Pearson stating in their
Opinion it is ‘‘absolutely neces-
sary” the issue go through the
“democratic process of parlia-
mentary debate.”’

The motion was introduced by
William Ferguson, delegate from
Local 310 of the National Union
of Public Employees.

Ferguson pointed out the labor
Council was on record as being
Opposed to nuclear weapons for
Canada and said the newly elect-
ed Liberal government did not get
a mandate from the people in
the last election to acquire them.

The action arose out of a re-

More germ,
gas weapons
for the U.S.

It was announced from
Washington this week that
there will be a “substantial
expansion” of chemical and
biological weapons in the U.S.
arsenal. Special concentration
will be on nerve gasses and
Serms causing harmful muta-
tions,

cent statement by Defence Min-
ister Paul Hellyer that an agree-
ment Would soon be signed with
the U.S. to acquire nuclear wea-
pons,. and that parliament would

be bypassed.

AN VOTE

A major setback for the pro- U.S. Christian Democrats headed

by Amitore Fanfani, and a major gain for the Communist Party
which urged withdrawal from NATO and opposed nuclear missile
bases, highlighted the voting in Italy last weekend.

The Christian Democrats.
who have held office for the
past 15 years, suffered heavy
losses in both the Chamber
of Deputies and the Senate.
Their popular vote dropped
from 42.4 percent in 1958 to
38.3 The Communists gained
many seats in both Houses,
and their popular vote rose
from 22.7 percent to 25.3

In the 1958 election the
Communists polled 6,700,000
votes. Last weekend more
than 7,750,000 Italians voted
for the party’s candidates.

Although there was an in- —

crease in the number of vot-
ers the Christian Democrats,
who still remain the largest
party, dropped from 12,500,-
000 in 1958 to less than 11,-
800,000.

The Nenni Socialists, who
previously supported the
Christian Democrats in the

PALMIRO TOGLIATTI

House, and who were severe-
ly split over the fight for
working class unity, saw a
slight drop in its percentage
vote from 14.2 in 1958 to 13.8.

~ Standing in the new Cham-
ber of Deputies will give the.
Christian Democrats 260 seats
(drop of 13), the. Communists
166 (rise of 26), and the Nenni
Socialists 87 (drop of three).

In the new Senate the
Christian Democrats hold 133
seats (rise of 10), the Com-
munists 85 seats (rise of 25),
and the Nenni Socialists 44
(rise of seven). The number of
seats in the Senate was in-
creased from 246 to 315 this
year.
PEACE ISSUE

All other parties, except the
Communists, sought to avoid
the issues of foreign policy,
but the Communists made

peace a central issue. The

Christian Democrats and the

right wing parties sought to
avoid the peace issue because

of their difficulty in defend-
See ITALY, pg. 3

Liberals try political b
to force nuclear arms

Smarting under widespread
criticism of his earlier state-
ment that a nuclear arms pact
would soon be concluded with
the U.S., and that it would not
be presented to Parliament,
Liberal Defence Minister Paul
Hellyer last Friday revealed
what the Liberal govern-
ment’s tactics would be to
force nuclear arms on Can-
ada.

Shortly after leaving a

meeting of the Defence Com-
mittee in Ottawa, which was
attended by Prime Minister
‘Pearson, Hellyer said that if

the opponents of nuclear arms

want to block the A-arms pact
with the U.S. they could move
a motion of no confidence dur-

ing the debate on defence esti-

mates.
Hellyer said this could in-

-volve a confidence vote on

which the government would

ackmail

on Canada

stand or fall. Thus it became
clear, that the Liberals are
counting on pressuring the
other parties to refrain from
challenging the government
on this issue for fear of being
blamed for forcing another
‘election on the country.

This form of parliamentary
blackmail, it is hoped by the
Liberals, will silence the op-

‘See LIBERAL, pg. 8

A MESSAGE FOR PARLIAMENT WHEN ITiMEETS MAY 16