wtp

ERM PAGE 15 = OS — ee gaa me

a
_ from a parliamentary committee studying
the NORAD agreement, sparked a renewed
interest in CFMETR. The parallel was
lear: what weren’t Canadians being told a
about the weapons testing that goes on at
CFMETR?
“There was a tremendous amount of
interest shown by people after they learned
Out the secrecy over the NORAD com-
hittee,” says McBride.
Danenhower agrees, noting that it
“bothered a lot of people that there may be
eapons: coming in here that Canadians
and maybe even the Canadian govern-
tt — don’t know about.”
NDP MLA Barbara Wallace raised the
ue in the legislature last month with her
disclosure that Cercomm Electronics had
en a ten-year lease on a piece of land on
tspring Island on which a radio micro-
ave tower was being erected for the U.S.
. She suggested the tower was part of
¢ U.S. communications system directing
the movements of military vessels in the
Pacific, and expressed concern that the
length of the lease might indicate that the
‘CFMETR agreement had already secretly
renewed. Unanswered, the question
lingers.
On Dec. 10, Jim Manly, the NDP MP for
owichan-Malahat-The Islands, took the
anoose campaign to the floor of the

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House of Commons with a_ private
member’s motion calling for “a public
inquiry into the exact functions and man-
date” of the Nanoose agreement before it
expires in April. All of the allotted time was
taken up with debate without a vote being
taken on the motion but three MPs — New
Democrats Manly and Michael Cassidy
and Liberal Sheila Copps — voiced sup-
port for it. Three Tories, including
Nanaimo-Alberni MP Ted Schellenberg
and Esquimalt-Saanich representative. Pat
Crofton, opposed the motion.

In addition, various MPs have used their
time since Nov. 19 to read into the parlia-
mentary record two petitions initiated by
the NCC. One calls for a public inquiry into

the agreement under which CFMETR -

operates. The other calls for support of the
three goals of NCC — non-renewal or can-
cellation of the agreement; a ban on wea-
pons testing in Georgia Strait; and
conversion of CFMETR to peaceful pur-
poses.

“There are about 4,000 names on each of
those petitions gathered from every one of
the ten provinces,” says McBride, adding
that the petitions will be presented until
Parliament adjourns Dec. 20.

New attention will be focused on_the
campaign for non-renewal of the Canada-
U.S. agreement early in 1986 when the
People’s Inquiry into CFMETR holds two
days of public hearings in Nanimo Jan, 18
and 19.

Conceived by the Gabriola Island Peace
Association, the Inquiry will be conducted
by two prominent moderators, Victoria
Roman Catholic Bishop Remi De Roo and
publisher Mel Hurtig, as well as panelists
Dr. Rosalie Bertell, Maj.-Gen. Leonard
Johnson of Generals for Peace and Disar-
mament and geologist Terry Padgham.

More than a dozen organizations and
individuals are scheduled to appear, includ-
ing physicist Robert Aldridge, an inter-
national expert in anti-submarine warfare;
B.C. Federation of Labor president Art
Kube; representatives of the three major
political parties and the Chamber of Com-
merce; Dr. Robert Woolard of the B.C.
Medical Association; Dr. Luis Sobrino; as
well as representatives of Physicians for
Social Responsibility, End the Arms Race
and the NCC. The Department of National
Defence has also been invited to send a
representative although Lt.-Cmdr. Dunn
initially declined to appear.

,, Peace to Everyone

on Earth!

working to make this

a reality...

Fraser Valley Peace Council

c/o 1570 Cory Street,

Whiterock, B.C. V6B 3S2. 531-0106

Canadian Cuban_
Friendship Association

We extend season’s greetings and
heartfelt wishes to all our friends for

a

People’s Inquiry to probe

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: DES FORCES CANADIENNES

Baa ee er reon ai

CFMETR. . .involving Canada in escalation
of the arms race.

McBride says that the NCC will be focus-
of the

ing on the economics of conversion

CFMETR base to peaceful purposes

submission to the inquiry.

Although the NCC has no role in the
inquiry other than as one of those groups
making a submission, the January hearings
have clearly brought new momentum to the

campaign.

“T think they will really focus a lot of

CFMETR

public attention on CFMETR,” says
McBride. ‘And if we still don’t know by
that time whether the agreement has been
secretly renewed that’s when added pressure
can be put on the government.”

Defence Minister Erik Neilson stated ear-
lier this year that negotiations on the rene-
wal of an agreement would be initiated
“later in 1985.” Whether the negotiations
have begun — or whether the agreement
has already been signed behind closed
doors — is still uncertain. But what is cer-
tain is that the government is under growing
pressure — to make the status of the
agreement known and also to answer some
more fundamental questions. Is CFMETR
implicating Canada in a U.S. escalation of
the arms race? And, perhaps, more impor-
tant, how can the continued testing of
_ nuclear-capable weapons be reconeile¢ with
Canada’s non-nuclear role?

That those questions are * ~_ asked
across the’country is a m2, <* ge from
two or three years ago w.icii !-w people
knew of the existence of CFMETR and
fewer still knew 1: unction But as Peter
Danenhower noted back at the peace camp,
“persistence and sticking it out” — the hal-
Imarks of the entire peace movement, not
just the NCC — really do make a differ-
ence in changing public opinion and win-
ning support for new policies.

in its

TOOL
FOR PEACE

OUTS DE PAN

Coalition for Aid to Nicaragua
2524 Cypress Street
Vancouver, B.C. V6J 3N2

Phone: 733-1021 or 321-5633

We at Tools for Peace
wish to thank everyone
for their support this
year. Donations of goods

are piled high in the -
warehouse and we are
looking for additional
volunteers and financial
support so that all that
you have given can
reach the people who
need it.

Viva Nicaragua Libre

May the good will of this holiday season
extend throughout the world and make 1986,
the UN Year of Peace, a turning point in history.

STAR PEACE — NOT STAR WARS

<=

B.C. Peace Council
Room 712, 207 W. Hastings
Telephone: 685-9958

caliits

peace and friendship in 1986.

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A nuestros amigos en Cuba
iFeliz ano neuvo!
iPaz y amistad!

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, DECEMBER 18, 1985 e 21