“EDITORIAL ~

Reagan teaches Mulroney
a lesson on free trade

Rarely has a Canadian prime minister and his
government appeared so nakedly ridiculous as Mul-
roney and his Tories did last week when President
Reagan hung them out to dry. .

Two Shamrock Summits and choruses of ‘When '
Irish Eyes Are Smiling;” unabashed acquiescence on -
Arctic sovereignty; cruise missile testing and NORAD; .
the dismantling of the Foreign Investment Review Act .
and National Energy Policy to suit U.S. transnation-
als; support for the Libya bombing; last week’s sup-
port for U.S. production of chemical weapons; silence
about nuclear testing and aggression in Central Amer-
ica; boasts about that “special relationship” which
was to pay big dividends — all failed to prevent the
Reagan administration from sacrificing Mulroney and
Canada to the needs of U.S. industry.

Embarrassing? Perhaps for the Conservatives and
others who place their faith in the goodwill of U.S.
business. Surprising? Not really.

Ottawa certainly had ample warning of what free
trade will mean — and has now received a lesson on
how the U.S. views its interests when stacked against
Canada’s.

U.S. trade negotiator Peter Murphy, despite Tory
denials, told Canada that everything, including our
social programs, is to be on the table in free trade talks.
That’s pretty easy to understand. Unlike Mulroney,

Murphy at least talks straight.

Describing binary chemical weapons and how the
gas will “spray into the air through little portholes,” a
Reuters story out of Washington almost makes the
deadly toxic weapon sound like a giant step for
humankind. :

_ “Unlike the mustard gases which blistered and

burned victims often to an agonizing slow death in
World War One — creating a worldwide revulsion
for chemical warfare — experts say the new weapon
will deal a quick death,” reads the report.

The U.S. Congress has approved spending $165
million to build this new family of binary chemical
weapons, contingent on the NATO states agreeing to
the plan and placing them on their territories. To date,
the NATO defence ministers have agreed, with con-
flicting reports about the opposition of states such as
Greece, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway.
Canada, to its shame, quickly gave its go ahead via
External Affairs Minister Joe Clark and Defence Min-
ister Erik Neilson.

_ There are excellent reasons why this country should
oppose the plan to build the new weapon and instead

work in the international arena for a ban on all such

horrible weapons. But, without somuch as an exami-

The imposition of a 35 per cent tariff on B.C. red
cedar shakes and shingles and its threat to impose
countervailing duties of 27 per cent against Canadian
softwood, with its immediate and projected loss of
thousands of jobs here, shows how the Americans
play hardball with their “best neighbor” to the north.

The New York Times see free trade as “...an
opportunity to open markets for American corpora-
tions and guarantee American access to Canada’s
bountiful raw materials.”

The U.S. National Association of Manufacturers
backs free trade if there are“*tariff cuts and meaningful
reductions in Canadian federal and provincial subsi-
dies to Canadian industry and “agreed limits to Cana-

da’s ability to restrict or control U.S. investments in -

Canada.” It also supports “an agreed procedure for
consultations” on the exchange rate of the Canadian
dollar, giving the U.S. a direct say over the value of
Canada’s currency and trade potential.

The United States, its corporations and government
have made it crystal clear what they want out of free
trade talks. So confident and arrogant has Washing-
ton become, it now publicly undresses Canada’s prime
minister to serve Reagan’s domestic concerns, and
proclaims open season on Canadian jobs.

The free trade talks should be cancelled. They are
the road to disaster for Canada — to undermining
manufacturing and industry, to loss of Canadian sov-
ereignty and independence.

‘Ottawa and chemical war

nation of the issues and implications of the new wea-
pons’ program, and without debate in Parliament
where these issues could be aired and discussed, Can-
ada has lent its name to this latest dangerous escala-
tion of war preparations. Again, on a vital matter
affecting our security, thei\Canadian people were not
consulted by this pro-American government.
Instead of clarity, an effort to mislead public opin-

. jon on the issue of chemical warfare has taken place.

In a clever manoeuvre, the U.S. tabled a draft chemi-
cal weapons treaty at the Geneva disarmament con-
ference last month which included a demand for
“inspection by challenge of suspected chemical wea-
pons facilities owned and controlled by government.”
This wording opens Soviet facilities to inspection
while exempting private firms in the West, which are
the main producers of chemical weapons.

And now, faced with the rejection of such a formu-
lation as they expected, the U.S. and NATO plan to
escalate the chemical warfare stakes and, with it, the
threat to humankind. -

At-the very least, this issue should come before
Parliament and not be decided in the back rooms in
Ottawa or Halifax.

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| “TRIBUNE

——————

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Foreign — $25 one year;

Second class mail registration number 1560

or many, the reality of a nuclear

war — its devastating potential — is
still unknown. Despite the high degree of
awareness concerning the effects of a
nuclear strike on the part of many peace
activists — and, thanks to some recent
cinematic offerings such as The Day After,
increasingly so for others — the fact

We’re referring to the display of arti-

Peopl e and issues civically-owned services in a panel entity

friend or acquaintance who may need a

Pal

threat to the prosperity and jobs of a
zens. : By
The key subject will be privatizatio®™

“A citizens’ forum on local gov: #
spending programs and property oa
tion.” It’s set for June 10, 7:30 p.m. at 50
Gilmore Avenue Community School,

remains that many in the Lower Main-
land, and elsewhere in Canada, have only
a dim perception of what an atomic con-
flagration entails.

Helping to shed some light on that
issue, and hence aid in increasing the
movement for disarmament, are peace
groups such as End the Arms Race. Addi-
tionally, due to some good electorial work,

_ in Vancouver we have a city council dedi-
cated to the cause of world peace.

That’s why thousands in the Lower
Mainland and from other parts of British
Columbia were able to participate in the
largest peace celebration in the country
with the nine-day peace festival, held
under the auspices of the city’s Centennial
Commission Peace Committee. And
although the festival is over, thanks to-the
commission one key feature of it is still
available to the public. :

facts from Hiroshima, which made its first
appearance in Vancouver in display cases

at the special three-day symposium. Those |

artifacts — chillingly unlike any other

‘kind — are now on display at the Robson

Square Media Centre downtown. ©

As noted in the press release, the display

makes for grim viewing. Included are
exhibits of students’ clothing, household
objects, roof tiles, an image of Buddha
and, grotesquely, a “monstrous” human
finger nail. All offer a stark reminder of
the unthinkable. The roof tiles and the
Buddha, for example, are partially melted.

Also featured are some 50 paintings of
the devastation, done by Hiroshima citi-
zens, and 20 photographs, including one
of the “epicentre” of the explosion which
levelled the Japanese city in 1945.

As such, it’s the perfect place to take a

little education on what the world faces
because of the spiralling arms race. The
admission is free, and it’s on display daily,
from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., to June 14.
et ae
hen he appeared before Burnaby
municipal council a few months
back, economist Dave Fairey urged
amendments of the annual budget bylaw
to remove some of the burden on
increased taxation on residential property
owners. In doing so, the civic activist
found the support of some of the area’s
trade unions and ratepayer organizations.
In keeping up the job of pushing pro-
gressive policies in a community domi-
nated by right-wing business interests, the
civic group to which Fairey belongs — the
Committee to Elect Independent Candidates
— is hosting a seminar on another major

" Kathleen Gough Aberle on “prostituti?

Centre for Socialist Education).

South Gilmore Ave., Burnaby.

* * *

Prove who support the socialit
Republic of Vietnam, and its efforts if
reverse the effects of several decades t
colonial rule, had their chance to hea!”
first-hand account of the Southeast A :
nation’s successes towards that end
week. Unfortunately, not everyone inte

ested could attend the talk by auth0!

and its abolition in Vietnam.” o |
Fortunately, Cable 10 television vee
hand to record the event (sponsored by ‘on

that effort, the talk is available for viewer
in Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond sf
the following dates: June 11 at 10 prs
June 13 at 3 p.m.; June 14 at 5 p.m.; We

15 at 6 p.m.

fe PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JUNE 4, 1986