Editorial Canada and Afghanistan The departure of the last contingents of Soviet troops from Afghanis- tan last week, while drawing some comparisons in the western media response, is a far cry from the debacle suffered by U.S. troops in Vietnam, the Communist Party of Canada pointed out in a press release last week. It went on to make the following points: First, the withdrawal is based on the April 1988 accord signed in Geneva under United Nations auspices. Second, while its troops are gone, the USSR is maintaining economic aid and, if necessary, will renew arms deliveries to the Afghan government and people. The question is today: will Afghanistan be plunged into ever- escalating, bloody civil war, or can a Foreign intervention is settlement be reached through the for- = = The mation of a broad coalition government : with the participation of all warring Gestion now is: are the mujahadin and those who groups — national reconciliation, a policy actively being sought by the Naji- arm them ready-to sit at bullah government in Kabul and sup- the conference table? ported by Moscow? Penney ee see re ner mreniere setenv e) If these efforts have be unsuccessful to date, it isn’t the fault of the USSR. Responsibility now rests directly on the U.S., Pakistan, Iran and other states who have spent more than $2 billion backing the mujahedin, now plagued by rivalries and divisions. It is a policy in line with U.S. imperialism’s pursuit of cold war, confrontation and denial of a people’s right to chose their own government. The Soviet withdrawal has created a new situation. No longer can the issue of foreign intervention be used to avoid a negotiated settlement. The question is whether the rebels and those who arm them are ready to sit at the conference table. What is shaping up now is the struggle for an independent, sovereign and non-aligned government, as against the U.S.-inspired and financed rebel groups, tied to feudal backwardness and obscurantism —a peaceful solution versus a bloodbath. Canada should urge Washington to honour the Geneva accords, to stop arming the rebels, and to work to achieve a peaceful solution. Only - the termination of all arms deliveries and a cease-fire can be the prologue to a future demilitarized and revived Afghanistan. | ACA DE MIC\S |} €xXCellence = = AC FIRIBUOUNE EDITOR Sean Griffin ASSISTANT EDITOR Dan Keeton BUSINESS & CIRCULATION MANAGER Mike Proniuk GRAPHICS Angela Kenyon Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C., V5K 1Z5 Phone: (604) 251-1186 Fax: (604) 251-4232 Subscription rate: Canada: @ $20 one year @ $35 two years @ Foreign $32 one year Second class mail registration number 1560 Whatever the final outcome of the March 15 byelections in this province, there was a definite message for the New Democrats in the nominating meeting in Vancouver-Point Grey last Sunday. That Dr. Tom Perry upset federal party president Johanna den Hertog by a 203- 148 vote to win the NDP nomination is now familiar news across the country. But it is also clear that he did it by talking about issues, and more than that, by talk- ing about policies, which haven’t been given a lot of attention in public state- ments by the provincial New Democrats of late. He didn’t just talk about the record of the present government but dwelt on some of the key questions that are going to dom- inate debate in the byelection in the riding, including increased funding for post- secondary education, the University Endow- ment Lands, the growing poverty in the province and the potential of nuclear- weapons free status for B.C. Most important, he put forward prop- osals for change based on New Democrat policies. And the audience responded with more than just their votes. -At the Vancouver and District Labour Council Tuesday, Perry had a similar mes- sage. “You don’t need to be told about the record of this government,” he said. “You know what it is.” He emphasized that New Democrats in the riding would be putting forward a “positive campaign” based on NDP alter- native policies. Winning the riding is more than taking the nomination, of course, but he and his campaign workers have apparently decided to make policy proposals a theme — and that’s setting a new example for the party. For two general elections, the NDP has tried.to make the record of the Socred government the main issue on the table for debate and has paid scant attention to policy initiatives. There have been a few grumblings about the lack of policy from the NDP leadership over the past several months, as well. They would likely have grown louder as the Vander Zalm government’s term runs out and the prospect looms of another NDP campaign strategy being devised solely on the basis of exposing the record — scandalous thought it is — of Social Credit. But there was a welcome change in emphasis last week with the release of the New Democrats’ “sustainable develop- ment program,” announced following a Sean Griffin NEWS ANALYSIS two-day caucus meeting Feb. 16 and 17. The program focuses on the forest industry and proposals for new environ- mental safeguards which are to be out- lined in 20 private members’ bills slated for submission in the upcoming session. New Democrat leader Mike Harcourt called it “a starting point for a program that we will be taking to the people of British Columbia. ““We’re offering our alternative to Brit- ish Columbians and we’ll be seeking their input and response to their program,” he said. The program calls for: @ An immediate moratorium on any new Tree Farm Licenses, pending a forest inventory and a royal commission inquiry. @ A ban on log exports coupled with changes in scaling to ensure more com- plete utilization of timber cut. ® Community-based reforestation pro- grams. ® Legislation to ensure that access to forest resources is tied to new value-added employment. ® Legislative changes to ensure pro- - Policy initiatives set example for NDP gressive reduction in dioxin emissions from pulp mills as well as increases in maximum penalties for polluters to $1 mil- lion. ® The re-institution of the Environ- ment and Land Use Secretariat to resolve land conflicts and ensure better land utili- zation. ® Elimination of cabinet’s power to override the Agricultural Land Commis- sion and remove land from the Agricultu- ral Land Reserve. ® Legislation to establish a new agency to introduce province-wide consumer rec- ycling. ® Protection of boundaries for existing provincial parks and wilderness areas. ® An indefinite extension to the morat- orium on offshore oil drilling. Harcourt said that the program was the first in a series of sustainable development initiatives in various sectors of the econ- omy. There are still key areas to be addressed, including labour policy, education fund- ing and energy policy but there’s little doubt that some solid policy initiatives will help shift the political agenda in this pro- vince, which has largely been set by the Socreds and their privatization program. And as Perry’s nomination demonstrated, they can be pretty effective in shifting the polls as well. 4 « Pacific Tribune, February 27, 1989