ee slat LLL UIE UML aL latmen oe eo EDITORIAL 4 Nuclear disarmament hope Canada should be first off the mark in greeting the renewed Soviet moratorium on nuclear tests announced by Mikhail Gorbachev on May 14. This - country has everything to gain and nothing to lose in urging the U.S. to match the Soviet ban, which runs till Aug. 6. (Aug. 6 is the anniversary of the deliberate, experimental atom-bombing of the densely populated Japanese city of Hiroshima by the United States, followed by a similar attack on Nagasaki. The Soviet Union’s unilateral ban on nuclear weapons tests began last Aug. 6.) In his TV special, Gorbachev offered to meet Presi- dent Reagan in any European capital — or in Hiro- shima. This is a time for Canadians to flood Prime Minister Mulroney’s office’ with demands that the Canadian government prevail upon Washington to match the - Soviet test ban. This is no longer a matter for the * individual actions of Reagan or his advisers; it is no longer a decision to be left to the United States government. This essential step to ending the escalation of nuclear arms is the concern of all the world’s govern- ments and peoples. The Canadian government should seize this opportunity to express the genuine concern of the people of Canada, and to press the U.S. to live up to the foremost demand of humankind. ‘Human rights right here Back in March, External Affairs Minister Joe Clark addressed a Canadian Human Rights Foundation conference in Ottawa and levelled his guns at the Soviet “bloc,” Vietnam and Afghanistan, mentioning Canada only in terms of how the Tory government had brought its weight to bear on the side of human rights abroad. Clark said that his outline of the situation “argues for a universal policy of support for human rights, with special attention focused on those human rights situations where our standing is the strongest and the impact of our involvement likely to be the greatest.” Where would one expect the federal govenment’s influence to be greater than right here in Canada? One might even hope it could have some influence on its neighbor to the south, whose president it is said has a special relationship with the Canadian prime minister. Consider, for example, the human rights of those people (and their survivors) who were victims of Nazi crimes against humanity. Quebec Superior Court- Judge Jules Deschenes, who heads a one-man comis- sion set up by the government to investigate alleged war criminals here, has asked for further extension (beyond June 30) for his investigation into Nazi war criminals still hiding in Canada. But Justice Minister John Crosbie has intimated that this will not be done. What kind of approach to human nights is this? Does a refusal by the Tories to allow the commission sit a few months longer add up to human rights? Crosbie’s name comes up in another questionable _ ~ course of action, this time relating to the increasing list of Canadians protesting against CIA and government- backed brainwashing in the ’50s and ’60s at Mont- real’s Allan Memorial Institute. Nine Canadians are suing the CIA, which funded the inhuman experiments of the late Dr. Ewen Cameron. Those methods designed for brainwashing — massive electro-shock, LSD injections without the patients’ knowledge, and exposure to lengthy, repeti- tious recorded messages — “‘were not used anywhere else in North Ameria,” according to Dr. William Lambert, a Winnipeg psychiatrist. It is shocking enough that such grotesque “‘experi- ments” went on. It is sinister that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency should dole out dollars to get the results. And it is more sinister still that the federal government itself contributed funds for this outrage. Here is where the federal government could cham- pion their cause. But instead, Crosbie commissioned a lawyer to decide whether the government is liable. The answer: No. Where is the Tory fight for human rights? One could go on, but suffice it to say that the Mulroney Toreis have plenty to answer for in the field of human rights. It’s time to demand those answers — along with the righting of the wrongs. FOR ME WHAT DID FOR FERDING TRIBU | TRIBUNE Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN Assistant Editor — DAN KEETON a Business & Circulation Manager — MIKE PRONIUK Graphics — ANGELA KENYON Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Subscription Rate: Canada — $16 one year; $10 six months” Second class mail registration number 1560 ——————— Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5 Phone (604) 251-1186 ; Foreign — $25 one year; : ew readers can be unaware of the devastating cost in human terms of Socred policy, or lack thereof, particularly as it affects residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The provincial People and Issues government’s refusal to respond to the entreaties of Vancouver city council and the Downtown Eastside Residents Asso- ciation to pass anti-eviction and rent- ceiling legislation to protect residents of the area’s hotels has cast-a pall for many over the celebrations of Expo 86. So it’s perhaps a small consolation — but a significant gesture — that several performers appearing at Expo will be on hand for a special free concert on May 25. The event, called “A free concert for the couver parks board and the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. Topping the list will be Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie, about whom little needs to be said. Pete, who performed in March for the Haida Nations’ Lyell Island benefit, was apprised of the situation by DERA organizer Jim Green and offered to help. Pete and Arlo are scheduled to play at Expo May 26. Also on the list are B.C. entertainers and Expo performers Bim, Bob Bossin, D.O.A., Katari Taiko, Connie Kaldor and the Stu Leal Band. Construction worker Leal has written a song, “The Old Mangled Man,” about the Expo evictions which is featured on an extended play record along with D.O.A. According to a press release, Expo chairman Jim Pattison has waived the exclusivity clause that normally binds Expo entertainers to limit their city per- formances to the world exposition during its run. . On hand to talk about the evictions situation and what people can do about it will be Green and Vancouver Committee evicted,” is sponsored by the city, the Van- - of Progressive Electors aldermen Libby Davies and Harry Rankin. The concert takes place at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park May 25, beginning at 2 p.m. * *« * he belief that “it can’t exist here” has been put to rest in recent weeks with the appearance of an ultra-right, neo-Nazi grouping in Nanaimo. Readers will recall that the Communist Party provincial can- didate for the riding, Deborah MacDonald, was the unwilling recipient of some swas- tika stickers pasted on her car and the windows of her election office. At the same time a leaflet began appearing around the city soliciting, under the name of the “El Salvador/Nicaragua Defence Fund,” military paraphenalia to “fight Communism” in Central America. Addi- tionally, a fishing vessel bearing a swastika flag has appeared in Nanaimo harbor. B.C. Communist Party leader Maurice Rush responded by requesting that Attorney- General Brian Smith investigate the inci- dents. He wrote to Smith on April 22, “The Communist Party considers the activities of this group and those responsi- ble for these activities as a threat to every democratic-minded British Columbian.” He also sent a copy of the letter, along with a direct appeal to take action, to Opposi- tion leader Bob Skelly. We can report no reply as yet from Smith, but Skelly has taken the matter . seriously. In a letter to Smith, with copies to Rush and NDP MP Pauline Jewett, the provincial NDP leader has asked “whether the laws of Canada or British Columbia aliow the private export of military equipment for use in other countries.” * * * t appears as if it was only a footnote to history. But the brief, one-inch story in the April 8 edition of the Province is not only outstanding in the information it con- tains, but in what it has to say about the media in this couintry. Appearing in a left-side column on a left-side page — considered to be the least-looked at section of a newspaper — was an item. quoting a “former U.S. diplomat” by the name of John Keppel on the September, 1983, downing of the Korean Air Lines 007 flight over the Soviet Union’s Kamchatcka Peninsula. The ex-diplomat apparently told repor- ters, at a time and place unmentioned in The Province’s brief item, that the air liner was definitely on.a spying mission for the United States when intercepted and shot down:by Soviet jet fighters. One can with no effort recall the hyste- ria that followed the incident — which happened only after the KAL pilots failed to respond to commands to land — con- sisting of a weeks-long barrage of anti- Soviet articles and news reports in the western media. And of course, there were the anticipated statements of denunciation by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and key figures in his administration. But there wre also voices raised — including a few in the daily media — that questioned the incidents surrounding the flight and its clear violation of militarily sensitive air space. Several well- documented articles, and a few books, Printish-Canadians not only cof! 212, 12906 - 222 St., Maple Ridge: ' SWI. Phone 463-6785. have since appeared charging that ¢ age — and deliberate provocation, ” the aim of creating an internal? incident — was intended. In keeping with the general tone of: Sovietism that pervades most of thé ern media, little has been said about voices of reason. So it’s hardly surp™ that in The Province, a paper not k? for liberal views, that the potentially 5 icant revelations of a former — official — in whatever country he and with whatever proof he has 107” stantiate his claim — are given such sh shrift. We can say that, as with so many incidents, the truth will eventually face. of * * * uted significantly to the labor andP gressive movements in Canada. They | also a people “obsessed with physical’ ness, athletic achievement and cult activities.” So reads the promotional brochu!® a new publication that tells the ignored story of Finland’s transp”” labor sports movement, Sports Pion History of the Finnish-Canadian Al® Sports Federation, 1906-1986, rele April by The Alerts A.C, Hist” Committee. With 300 pages and 7 than 400 historical photographs, 5? Pioneers promises historical reve™ and an insight into the link betwee? F, cal fitness and the socialist politics of © ada’s progressive Finns. It was pu}: Z with the help of federal and Ontafl? In B.C., the book, printed in ©? can be ordered through Uno Sode?” ae = 4 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MAY 21, 1986