Continued from page 1 earlier in the evening with the 10:30 announcement that NPA mayoral candidate Johnathan Baker had conceded defeat to the labor- backed incumbent, Michael Har- court. When the final results were in Sunday, Harcourt had gleaned 69,060 votes, beating his right-wing opponent by a more than two-to- one margin. COPE people also noted with satisfaction the surprise election of first-time candidate Bill Yee, one of Harcourt’s three running mates. Together with COPE’s 23 can-' didates for council, school and parks boards they received the en- dorsation and financial backing of the Vancouver and District Labor Council. The two groups, now with a ma- jority on council, have the potential to change the face of Vancouver politics for the better, said VDLC president Frank Kennedy, as he sat with friends at one of the packed tables awaiting the returns. In between exchanging greetings with campaign workers, some just reporting in after scrutineering at the polls, Kennedy told the Tribune that the labor council had a ‘‘long- time tradition’’ of involvement in municipal politics. “The council was the driving force that established COPE in 1967,”’ said Kennedy. ‘‘Now that organization involves all the major community organizations in the ci- ty. “*The important thing is that the - labor movement works with COPE. It’s a broadly based organization, and when you bring all those elements together, you’re bound to win,”’ he asserted. (The labor council and affiliated unions together raised $15,000 for the unity slate. Some of that amount went into the production ofaslatecard, 160,000 of which the council mailed to union members. Another 60,000 were distributed at all candidates meetings or door-to- door by campaign workers on elec- tion day.) Kennedy also noted the direct contribution of some unions — the Vancouver Municipal -and Regional Employees Union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1004, and his own International Longshore- men’s and Warehousemen’s Inter- national Union — which had given editorial endorsations to the unity slate in their union newspapers. As Kennedy talked, scrutineer Roy Samuelson edged his way through the crowd, having just returned from a west end poll ‘‘in which a number of our candidates did quite well. “Rankin topped the poll,’’ he reported, ‘‘and Yorke did well,and ~ Carmela (allevato) and. Libby too.”’ According to Samuelson, about 650 voters turned out at his poll. Although the district had increased bya few blocks, that figure was still impressive, representing twice as many voters as turned out in 1980, he said. Other returning scrutineers told similar stories. Voter turnout throughout the city was brisk (a final count stood at 41 percent, compared to 37 percent in the last election), ending a 10-year tradi- tion of low turnouts in the east end. Cheers swept through the rally site when the results of 93 polls were chalked up on the blackboard by COPE president Jim Quail, showing a clear victory for the uni- ty slate. It was a victory due in large part to the record turnout of supporters for the campaign, according to COPE organizers. Long-time COPE worker Col- umba Smith, in charge of | YANCOUYVER COPE, labor unity opens council doo scrutineering, said more than 200 people — many of whom were not members of the civic party — volunteered their services, in con- trast with 95 persons who turned out in the 1980 election. . Campaign organizer David Lane reported a turnout of about 250 at the Rio Hall, where federal NDP MP Ian Waddell donated the electoral apparatus in his Kingsway riding to the COPE effort. The volunteers took part in an extensive door knocking campaign on elec- tion day that resulted in the highest votes for the unity slate in that area of the city. COPE’s movers and shakers also cited the numerous initiatives taken by supporting groups over the three-month long campaign, including a fund-raising dance hosted by the B.C. Teachers Federation and a folk song benefit that drew large numbers of new people two weeks prior to the elec- tion. Several performers from that af- fair formed an impromptu string band which strove to make itself heard above the din of activities at the election night rally. On stage, office manager Atiba Gordon read from a lengthy list, thanking hun- dreds of volunteers for their effort. According to re-elected alder- man Bruce Yarke, who realized the largest increase in votes of any COPE candidate, the unity of labor, COPE and the involvement of the New Democratic Party machine reaped the best gains in the areas in which it was strictly ap- plied. e Unity slate candidates received the strongest support, said Yorke, in Waddell’s Kingsway riding (the MP also spoke at the Saturday night rally). ‘“‘That’s a principal lesson to be learned from this elec- tion,”’ Yorke asserted. With the right-wing opposition reduced to three NPA aldermen — George Puil, Warnett Kennedy | ikeieactsevarisiear aceite Casale ates a aI trata tk a i, PEOPLE AND ISSUES _ af ectainea inlasc basia ia Sa ao a A RRR SR RIE aa ERR SS W hen we were preparing the story for the Nov. 12 edition on the defence industry opportunities seminar, we asked seminar coor- dinator Michael Clark if the provincial government, for which he works, saw any future role for B.C. Research in doing contract research for the U.S. department of defence. He replied in the affir- mative, adding that if there were to be Pentagon contracts, B.C. Research ‘‘could well be a candidate for them.” What we didn’t know at the time was that Clark had issued invita- tions to many in the academic community and that, in turn, some of those professors welcomed the opportunity to take part in the seminar. - In fact, in an interview with the Ubyssey, the student newspaper at the University of B.C., two professors, Larry Weiler from the depart- ment of chemistry and Ronald Burling, department of oceanography, noted that their departments “‘have been involved in department of defence research for many, many years.”’ According to the Ubyssey story, chemistry professor Elmer Ogryzlo is currently involved in U.S. air force research. Burling told the paper his research work for the U.S. military went back as far as 1965 and continued until last year when it was phased out. But although he said, ‘‘we stay away from anything secret,”’ he - acknowledged that the department was ‘‘prepared to get support from that (the Pentagon’s) direction.”’ Inevitably, many of those academics justify the defence department research either on the basis that it is not directly applicable to warfare or, alternatively, that ‘“‘anything in science could be used for warfare,”’ thus rendering any refusal to do military research pointless. Moreover, some argue, there are spinoff benefits for the non-military sector. But the fact still remains: Pentagon-sponsored research is intended expressly for the purpose of developing new weapons — or developing new methods of conducting warfare. And whatever spinoff benefits may result, the research money would be far better — and more pro- ductively — spent if it were applied directly to the civilian sector. What is of great concern is the apparent willingness of the govern- ment and some in the academic community to accept the use of research facilities in this province for the Pentagon. Worse, at a time when public funds for legitimate research are restricted by government restraint, and business is spending little on research and development, the Socreds are taking advantage of the situation to open the province to Pentagon money. As Michael Clark put it in his interview with the Tribune: ‘‘The U.S. military is one sector of the economy that is not go- ing through a recession.”” Make no mistake: opening the door wider to the Pentagon is like borrowing money from a loan shark — the amount paid out will far outstrip any benefits received. And the hook is B.C. universities or research facilities increasingly tied to the U.S. war machine. * * * or the many people in this province who knew him, the death Oct. F 15 of provincial Communist leader Bill Tuomi left a deep sense of loss. And what made it more difficult was that we were unable, until . now, to pay tribute to him because of the slowness of the mails in bring- ing the information. But, however belated the tribute, it cannot diminish the stature of the man who led the Communist party in Alberta for 26 years before he died at the age of 69 after a battle with lung cancer. In fact, he was a Communist Party member for virtually all of his adult life, having joined at the age of 19. It was at that same age that he became an organizer for the Farmers’ Unity League in Saskatoon and from that position he went on to become business manager for the Prairie edition of the Communist newspaper, the Clarion, published from Winnipeg. Interned by the King government in 1942, he was held for two years. On his release, he enlisted in the Canadian army and was sent overseas during the Italian campaign. Later, he was in the unit of the Canadian forces that liberated Rotterdam from Nazi occupation. In 1956, on the 20th anniversary of the end of WW II, he was honored by the presidium of the USSR for his part in the victory over fascism. : The provincial leader of the CP since 1956 he led the party through some of the most difficult cold war years and saw it grow slowly but steadily over the last decade. He was a candidate for the party in several federal and provincial election campaigns and won wide respect throughout much of the province. The Edmonton Journal ran a lengthy obituary the day following his death. A memorial service was held in Edmonton Oct. 17. Kate Bader, herself a former secretary of the Alberta CP, tells us ‘“‘The day of the memorial service we had one of those typical fall blizzards and yet peo- ple poured in from Calgary, Lethbridge, Regina and from every coun- try point around Edmonton.’’ Some 500 people packed the hall where Dave Werlin and CP general secretary Bill Kashtan paid tribute. A scholarship fund has been set up in Tuomi’s memory to which some $3,000 has been subscribed so far. Inquiries about the fund or donations should go to his widow, Laura Tuomi, 11303-80th St., Ed- monton, T5B 2M8. ; _ characterize civic elections, ¥% PACIFIC-TRIBUNE~ NOVEMBER) 26 1982,--Page 2 i] J Supporters pack COPE headquarters at the Vancouver Indian Centre Saturday. and Don Bellamy — and with } on-again, off-again politics ! - TEAM’s May Brown. afl Marguerite Ford, the new @ council is in a strong position! push for three major prioriti? wards, rapid transit and housil said Yorke. ‘ And chief among COPE’s tivities will be a fight to prevent layoff of city staff, which can? done if council agrees to ofl# financial shortages by takil revenue from the city’s propel . endowment fund, he said. | Yorke said that council’s rene! ed petition to the -proviney government for a ward system W focus on the ‘‘question ° autonomy” for the city. The d@ sion about the number of wal@ ward boundaries and related qué tions can only be decided by the® in consultation with its citizens,” said. 4 “T know that the labor cowl” will see that the alliance it SY ported is pushing for the progra!’ that were the basis of the coun@) support. There is a far grea presence of the labor movement”). Vancouver politics than & before,’’ said Yorke. ; In one of the ironies if support did not materialize © strongly for the progressive 4 didates at the school and p# board levels. COPE lost its maj? ty on the nine-member sch?” board when incumbents 0%) Onstad and Mike O’Neill defeated while the three new NP candidates were elected. fh But the three re-elected cor trustees — Pauline Weinst® Phillip Rankin and Wes Knaph will attempt to prevent the lay school employees caused by } toria’s education cutbacks, ™, Weinstein, the former board cha man. : }) “‘We’re concerned that the NP may want to cut back on the P grams and services that the people initiated. We intend t@ " that they don’t, and we pledge! g as accessible to the commun, we were before,” said Weinste% COPE has retained one sd the NPA dominated parks 09"; with the re-election of com” 4 sioner Pat Wilson. She fa board that before the elections "if considering layoffs and close, some community services for * af But COPE’s members backers agree that with a neWs tig gressive city council, many io Socred-style answers to rece to — layoffs, cutbacks and mega-projects — will be hold.