‘aa F Editorial The abortion crisis The political whirlwind that has been swirling around Premier Bill Vander Zalm ever since he announced that his government would not fund abortions under medicare has grown in intensity with every new provocative pronouncement from Victoria. In a province as overwhelmingly pro-choice as British Columbia, it might be logical to assume that, eventually, Vander Zalm and his Social Credit government would reap that whirlwind in a electoral defeat. But there is no haven in that assumption — indeed, there are new, ominous clouds gathering on the horizon. Virtually from the moment the Supreme Court ruling came down Jan. 28, the anti-choice forces have been organizing feverishly to convince the federal government to introduce legislation that would give precedence to the rights of the fetus. And now they have been joined by such prominent figures in the Catholie Church hierarchy as Emmett Cardinal Carter who told the federal government in a letter this week that the church “‘will not be satisfied with anything less than legislation which respects human life at all stages.” Vander Zalm has been leading the charge on the legislative front, moving quickly to the extreme limits of his government’s jurisdiction — and probably beyond — to impose an effective ban on medicare-funded abortions in this province and to block the establishment of an abortion clinic. He has made it clear that he does not intend to govern by consensus — he will govern as he sees fit, according to his own minority opinions, all the while insisting that his views are not religiously based. Like Cardinal Carter’s letter, his speeches are filled with demagoguery about the “sanctity of life.” But there has rarely been a government which has been less concerned about the sanctity of life than this one. If it held life in such esteem, there would not be 5,000 children in Vancouver going hungry; there would not be one in five British Columbians living on welfare or UI; and there would not be people dying on hospital waiting lists, unable to get into underfunded hospitals. The warning signs are there: led by religious fundamentalists such as Vander Zalm and Cardinal Carter, right wing forces in Canada are striving to force women’s rights back half a century. They are pushing women back to the days when the only choice was reproductive servitude or a back-alley abortionist. And they are clamouring more loudly than ever to have the federal government enshrine their reactionary policies in legislation. That should make it clear that the campaign for the guaranteed right to abortion will require the support of more than just those seeking to establish an abortion clinic in B.C. It requires that all democratic-minded British Columbians become involved, particularly the influential labour movement — bearing in mind that it is more thana fight to fend off a renewed anti-choice offensive. It is also a campaign to achieve the part missing from the Supreme Court ruling — the fundamental right of women to control over their own bodies and their right to safe, fully-funded medical procedures to achieve that control. Voices for sanity In a letter to Prime Minister Mulroney, an important and influential section of the community has roundly condemned the Tory white paper on defence as “‘jingoistic” and “alarmist” and a document which runs contrary to today’s world trend toward arms control and disarmament. Sent by the Canadian Council of Churches and signed by 12 major religious leaders, the letter attacks both the white paper’s cold war and anti-Soviet premise as well as its proposal to purchase 10 to 12 nuclear-powered submarines. Arming Canada’s armed forces with nuclear submarines, it says, would make this country part of “‘a dangerous and provocative maritime strategy that would increase the likelihood of nuclear war.” The church leaders have asked for a meeting with Mulroney to express their concerns. The church leaders’ letter outlines another path for Canada’s foreign policy in the world of today and tomorrow. It argues that Canada’s security must be based, not on military force, but on an international order which respects Canadian sovereignty and territorial integrity.-It opts for an active Canadian search for universal disarmament as ~ the basis for world security. In place of what it calls the “cold war rhetoric” of the white paper, Canada needs a realistic estimation of its military position in the world, the letters says. And, finally, in opposition to the Tory policy-makers who envisage a Soviet attack over the North Pole, the letter calls for the demilitarization of the Arctic. This is an important voice for sanity and survival. It recognizes the basic fact of the 1980s — that nuclear war is unwinnable, unsurviv- able and unthinkable. It recognizes that an active quest for peace is needed; that people in their millions must step into the picture to defend peace. By so doing, the letter helps identify the war planners, their politicians and those who profit from the arms race.” More and more Canadians are getting involved and objecting to the dangerous course set by the Tories and their U.S. military advisers. More voices are being added to the other option — a sane foreign policy based on co-operation, mutual security and friendship. As the federal elections draw closer, the issue of Canada’s sovereignty, security and survival should descend on Tory heads from every corner of this country. The white paper, along with its Tory authors, should be relegated to the trash bin. 4 Pacific Tribune, March 2, 1988 sisi eeviene MODE UPATION coro FIRIBUNE 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 Subscription Rate: Canada @ $16 one year @ $10 six months @ Foreign @ $25 one year Second class mail registration number 1560 People and Issues Mi any of our readers, like ourselves, never cease to be amazed at the double-standards of our federal gov- ernment. Here’s a recent example. Ottawa is outraged to discover that a convicted Palestinian “terrorist” has lied about his past to gain landed immigrant status in Canada. Although the Brant- ford, Ont. resident, Mahmoud Moham- mad Issa Mohammad, has a family and has lived quietly in the country for sev- eral years, his involvement in a 1968 air- craft hijacking incident in Greece, in the name of a homeland for Palestinians, is enough to have him summarily deported (although that attempted action has become an embarrassment to the government, as recent newspaper accounts show). The Conservative government, how- ever, found its indignation remarkably cooled in the case of Abraham Finkel, an Israeli capitalist. Finkel, who was con- victed of robbery with violence in Bel- gium in 1952, also lied about his past to gain entry to Canada. In his case, how- ever, the Department of Immigration granted Finkel, an eight-year resident of Canada, landed immigrant status. This was after the cabinet accepted a report claiming that the wealthy businessman had been “rehabilitated.” Sources reported told The Globe and Mail that Immigration Minister Benoit Bouchard is concerned about possible comparisons to Issa Mohammed’s case, Small wonder. We can only say that a government which excused the brutality of Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank and Gaza until world outrage made such a position publicly untenable is one which has no problem operating with such hypocrisy. tle SEER his year marks the 50th anniversary of the occupation of the Vancouver post office, the Georgia Hotel and the Art Gallery by the single unemploy- ed — an event that ended with Bloody Sunday, when RCMP and city police tear-gassed those inside the post office and clubbed them as they fled the build- ing. Various activities are being planned to mark that anniversary and the Tribune intends to highlight the historic action at the victory banquet June 25. What we need, however, are the names of those who took part in that 1938 occupation. We have some but we’re sure there are others we’re not aware of. If any readers themselves took part of know of others who did, please drop usa line or give us a call at 251-1186.