EDITORIAL

It's still not too late

As the minute hand swept past midnight, ushering in 1987 with all the hopes
and promises traditionally expressed by humanity at this time, perhaps some
paused to consider something else as well: the world had just become potentially |
a more dangerous place. . XA IN ‘

Having unilaterally ended nuclear weapons testing some 16 months earlier, in E BUEN G THE
August, 1985, the USSR had finally been forced to rescind its ban. Despite Su x GO

}MPERIALIS™

appeals from Moscow which were echoed by many nations, the Reagan
administration refused to end its test program — worse, it even speeded up
nuclear weapons tests, carrying out nearly 20 of them during the Soviet lull.

Another window of opportunity was slammed shut by an administration
obsessed with military power and anti-Soviet hatred.

But a sliver of light remains. In announcing that it could no longer stand by
watching the U.S. race headlong towards military superiority, the Soviet Union
added this important rider: it would not resume its nuclear weapons testing

_ program unless and until the U.S. conducted another test explosion.

Once again, as it has been for the last 18 months, the ball is in the U.S. court.

Canada has a stake in all of this. And it is nothing short of shameful that the
government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney couldn’t find a moment since
August, 1985, to respond to the Soviet ban. :

ie All through 1986, which was designated by the UN as International Year of
Peace, Ottawa’s contribution boiled down to several speeches by disarmament
= ambassador Doug Roche and a slick little booklet distributed by the Depart-
ment of External Affairs in which a couple of dozen prominent people wrote on
the theme, “What peace means to me.”

What peace means to External Affairs Minister Joe Clark and Canada is
clearly evidenced in the Tory govéernment’s silence as Washington repeatedly
thumbed its nose at every opportunity to end weapons testing, a key component
in the arms race. It was also seen in Ottawa’s complicity in cruise missile testing
as Reagan violated the SALT II agreement — by arming the 131st B-52
bomber with the very weapon which Canada has allowed the U.S. to test in
Canadian territory.

Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN
Assistant Editor — DAN KEETON
Business & Circulation Manager — MIKE PRONIUK
Graphics — ANGELA KENYON ;

~~‘Canada’s Voice wasn’t heard’on the side of world peace — not Mulroney’s,

~ not Clark’s or Roche’s.

But there’s still a chance. Soviet testing hasn’t started and won’t until the next

American device goes off. Although it may be an eleventh-hour appeal, a strong

voice from Ottawa urging Reagan to call off his tests, a step back from the

insane arms race, would still be an important contribution to peace in 1987.
Canadians, indeed the world, deserve no less.

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e latest campaign by End Legislated

Poverty (ELP) against the Tory
government’s changes to the Drug Patent
Act was launched last year just as we were
going to press. But ELP co-ordinator Sue
Harris tell us that, if-anything, action is
now more important than ever to compel
the government to withdraw the bill that
would see generic drug prices pushed up
substantially.

ELP wants you to put your message of
Opposition to higher drug prices in a pres-
cription bottle and send it off to Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney.

__ The anti-poverty coalition points out
that the parliamentary committee has
begun discussions on the bill and needs to
get a clear message from Canadians that
they don’t want the profits of the big
pharmaceutical manufacturers protected
at the expense of higher prices for consu-
mers.

At issue are proposed amendments to

the Patent Act, introduced last year by

Consumer and Corporate Affairs Minister

Harvie Andre at the urging of the drug

multinationals, that would give companies

such as Ayerst and Roche 10 years of
patent protection on newly-developed
drug products before generic manufactur-
ers could produce the same drug under
licence. Under the current legislation, in
place since 1969, generic manufacturers
can pay a royalty fee and produce a newly-
patented drug usually after only a year.

The result has been substantially lower

drug prices for Canadians and the creation

of a significant number of jobs by the
generic manufacturers, most of which are

Canadian-based.  —

People and Issues

Current estimates put the cost to Cana-
dians of the proposed changes at roughly
$200 million over a four-year period. The
government itself has acknowledged the
cost and has agreed to make funds availa-
ble to the provinces to make up for
increased expenditures — which will be
going directly to the drug multinationals.

ELP wants people to write a message
protesting the proposed changes on a half
sheet of paper and put it into a plastic (not
glass) prescription bottle. It should then be
wrapped, and addressed, with proper pos-
tage, to: The Right Honorable Brian Mul-
roney, Prime Minister, Room 309S Centre
Block, House of Commons, Ottawa,
Ontario, K1A 0A2.

ee ee

ccording to all the ingratiating

reports in the business media, Jim
Pattison, late of Expo 86 fame, is happy to
be away from his unsalaried, 16-hour days
at the world’s fair job and back at the hub
of his sprawling business empire doing
what does best — being acquisitive. Tele-
vision reports over the holidays had him
holding down the office even on Boxing
Day, making deals to add to his already
vast holdings.

Of course, Pattison’s business deals
don’t increase employment or add any-
thing to the economy of benefit to working
people — they just add to his bottom line
and increase his domination over various
sectors of the economy.

That will certianly be the case with two
of his latest proposed takeovers, currently
before the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission for ap-
proval. Pattison already dominates the
food industry in this province (through his
ownership of Berryland Foods and the
retail chain, Overwaitea), the outdoor
advertising industry (through Neonex and
Trans-Ad) and automotive retailing
(through his various dealerships). With

these latest acquisitions, he will increase —

his grip on the broadcast media, adding to
his present ownership of Vancouver radio
station CJOR and his control of several
radio and television stations in Saskat-
chewan.

Currently before the CRTC are two
applications by Jim Pattison Industries
Ltd. The first would “transfer the effective
control” of Twin Cities Radio Ltd., which
has stations in Kamloops, Merritt, Clear-
water and elsewhere in the area, to Patti-
son’s company. The other would enable

Pattison to take over Inland Broadcasters
Itd. which operates television stations
throughout the same.area.

Ae aime

Fo members of the Marine Workers
and Boilermakers Union who sent
delegations to his office several times last
year seeking action to avert the closure of
the Bel-Aire shipyards in North Van-
couver, Tory MP Chuck Cook established
a solid reputation for vacancy. Despite
repeated attempts by union members
faced with the loss of their jobs as a result
of the yard shutdown, they were never able
to find him in his constituency office.
Apparently, Cook didn’t want to have to

speak to 100 shipyard workers and explain’

to them why the Mulroney government
was not living up to its election promises to
make shipbuilding a top priority.

Given that record, it was with some
amusement that we looked over a copy of
Chuck Cook’s year-end calendar which
was sent out to residents in his riding of
North Vancouver-Burnaby last year. The
calendar is filled with photos of Cook with
various Tory cabinet-ministers and other
dignitaries at official functions. But the
last page contains a photo of Cook himself
sitting at his desk in his constituency office.
Underneath is the caption: “A clean desk
is the sign of an organized but vacant
mind.”

In fact, the desk was quite clean. So we
can only assume that his was a moment of
unusual Tory candor — confirming that
Cook is vacant even when he is in his
Office.

4e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JANUARY 14, 1987