Ottawa-B.C. treaty talks June3

SAVE COLUMBIA
DRIVE LAUNCHED

The announcement by the Columbia River ‘or Canada Committee in Vancou-
ver that it has launched a new campaign to save the Columbia coincided Tuesday with
a 30-member trade union delegation in Ottawa to present 10,000 signed postcards
to the government. The delegation, sponso.ed by the United Electrical Worker’s Union
(UE), urges that the present draft treaty be cancelled and replaced by the McNaughton
Plan for development of the Columbia.

FRIDAY, MAY 31, 1963
VOL. 24, NO. 22

VANCOUVER, B.C.

A-bomb protests
sweeping nation

Following: the vote in Parlia-
ment on nuclear arms last Tues-
day, which came within six votes
of defeating the minority Liberal
government opposition to nuclear
arms continued to grow across
the nation.

In Toronto last Sunday Mr.
Justice J. T. Thorson, president
of the Exchequer Court of Can-
ada and head of the Canadian
Campaign for Nuclear Disarma-
ment, told a meeting that the
April 8 election did not give the
Liberals a clear mandate to
acquire nuclear warheads.

He said that although he held
a high judicial office he felt ‘‘im-
pelled to speak out in public”
against Canada acquiring nuclear
weapons.

Mr. Justice Thorson said, ‘‘the
issue of whether Canada should
accept nuclear weapons as an
instrument of her national policy
was not settled by the recent
election.”

Last week the national execu-
tive of the Communist Party
issued a statement declaring that
the vote in Parliament was a
moral and political defeat for
the Liberal government. (Full
text of the statement is on page
3).

Meeting Monday of this week
the B.C. Conference of the United
Church of Canada, after lengthy
debate, declared itself against
Canada joining the nuclear club.
The meeting urged the govern-

“ment to renegotiate its nuclear

commitment and to refuse in-
stallation and storage of nuclear
weapons on Canadian soil.

The meeting also protested test-
ing of nuclear weapons anywhere
in the world.

Also last week, the Congress of
Canadian Women sent a letter to
all members of Parliament stat-
ing, ‘‘to accept nuclear weapons
now would set in motion a disas-
trous chain reaction throughout
the world . . . the costly arms
race would accelerate, disarma-
ment talks would be retarded and
more similar nations would be
encouraged to acquire nuclear
status—thus intensifying the dan-
ger of thermo-nuclear war.”

The CCW reminded the MP’s
that a majority of Canadians
voted against nuclear arms in
the April § election and urged
that a decision on this issue ‘“‘must

rest with Parliament, (and) must
correspond to the majority will
of the Canadian people.”

Also last week the 104th synod
of the Anglican diocese of Huron,
Ontario, adopted a resolution de-
ploring ‘‘all wars and all weap-
ons of war, particularly nuclear
weapons because of their inter-
national scope of destruction.”

Meanwhile, in Winnipeg the pri-
mate of the Anglican Church in
Canada, Most Rev. H. H. Clark,
urged Prime Minister Pearson to
reconsider ‘“‘certain moral fac-
tors” with regard to nuclear
arms. ‘“‘I am convinced,” he said,
“that there is no moral justifica-
tion for any plan to use atomic
weapons . - .”

Meeting in Vancouver last
weekend the B.C. provincial com-
mittee of the Communist Party
decided to intensify its efforts
against acquisition of nuclear
arms.

" 10¢

The campaign comes at a
crucial time, following soon after
the Pearson - Kennedy talks at
Hyannis Port where the Liberal
leader undertook to press through
early agreement on the Columbia
Treaty, and on the eve of talks
in Ottawa between Premier W.
A. C. Bennett and Prime Minister
Pearson, opening June 3.

Highlighting the campaign will
be the circulation of thousands of
copies of postcards addressed to
the Prime Minister calling for full
public parliamentary hearings
before renegotiation of the draft
Columbia Treaty with the U.S.

In a letter to the Vancouver
Labor Council on May 21 the
Prime Minister, ‘‘agrees that (the
draft Columbia Treaty must be
re-negotiated’’ and states that
“the new Treaty will be brought
before the External Affairs Com-

mittee of the House of Commons,”’
and that ‘there it will be open
to scutiny of all concerned.”

In a joint announcement B.C.
Federation of Labor secretary Pat
Q’Neal and Vancouver Labor
Council secretary Paddy Neale
said Wednesday that their organ-
izations will make joint presenta-
tions to the hearing, and have
requested the Canadian Congress
of Labor to do likewise.

HEARING NOW URGED
A press release issued by the

‘SAVE COLUMBIA’
POSTCARDS
Available from Mrs. Elizabeth
Wood, sec., Columbia River
Committee, 3506 E. 25th Ave.

HE 3-2049.

Columbia River Committee Tues-
day, declared that ‘‘it is the re-
sponsibility of the government to
provide for the fullest public
parliamentary opportunity (to
consider the Treaty) before re-
negotiations commence, not after-
wards.”’

The danger of a Liberal betray-
al was pointed up last Friday in
a speech by Federal Forestry
Minister J. R. Nicholson, (Van-
couver Centre), that there is no
justification for believing that
Canada is going to ask the U.S.
to wash out the present Columbia
River development treaty. All thc
present treaty needs, he said, is
“correction and particularly clari-
fication,’ especially the price of
downstream power Canada might
sell in the US.

Opposition to the present draft

See COLUMBIA, pg. 3

Liberals commit Canada to Nato
A-force without Parliament's OK

Overriding all popular op-
position in and out of Parlia-

ent against a nuclear role
for Canada, the minority Lib-
eral government has again ig-
nored Parliament and com-
mitted Canada to arming of
its 150-bomber air division in

Europe with nuclear war-
heads.

It became clear in Parlia-
ment Monday, when External
Affairs Minister Paul Martin
made a statement on the re-
cent NATO meeting in Ot-
sawa which agreed to set up

POMP AND ANTI-BOMB IN OTTAWA. Some-
thing new was added to the colorful formal op-
of Canada's Parliament recently — the
voice and conscience of the people. It was rep-
resented by the Ottawa citizens waving their

ening

em
i

My SS
FIRST .

ipEgOMeuTeNT
- 45 2

peace signs above the heads of the soldiers
standing in the guard of honor. A few days af-
ter this picture was taken 250 persons from On-
tario and Quebec demonstrated in front of the
Parliament buildings to express their opposition,

an Inter-Allied Nuclear Force,
that the Liberals have com-
mitted Canada to participa-
tion in this force.

Lashing out at Martin, for-
mer Conservative Defence
Minister Churchill charged
that the present government
has committed Canadian
forces to be a part of a new
NATO deterrent force and
that the government took this
action without reference to
Parliament.

NOT DEFENSIVE

Churchill said the new role
for Canadian forces in Europe
would not just be “defensive.”
He said, “‘The size of the bomb
carried by the CF104’s is
such that it is not just a de-
fensive bomb to be used in
support of an army on the bat-
tlefield. It is a megaton bomb

. and Canada itself will
have enough explosive power
virtually to destroy civiliza-
tion.”

The megaton bomb is equal
to one million tons of TNT
and is capable of completely
destroying a large city. It is
estimated as being fifty times
more powerful than the bomb
which destroyed Hiroshima.

Indicative of the arrogant
attitude of the Liberals was
the reply of External Affairs
Minister Martin to a question
by opposition leader John
Diefenbaker whether the Can-
adian bombers would carry
the one megaton bomb. Mar-
tin said “draw your own con-
clusion.”

It is expected that the com-

See NATO, pg. 3