carry eRe er mr Rae / i t Wednesday, November 21, 1984 Vol. 47, No. 45 Newsstand Price 40° Qantas acta Cancel Tory mini-budget, More than 200 people demon- strated outside the office building housing the U.S. consulate in downtown Vancouver during even- ing rush hour Nov. 15, demanding that the U.S. stay out of Nicaragua. The two-hour picket line, organized by the Young New Democrats, also called on the federal govern- ment to play a peacekeeping rolein Central America and drew public attention to the recent announce- ment by External Affairs Minister Joe Clark that arrangements were being made for the possible eva- cuation of Canadians from Nica- rauga. (See editorial page 4, Reagan responsible, page 9.) pes agenda — /— page 12— ee - _ BARRIE ZWICKER ‘Cold War | coverage | helps fuel | arms race’ = page 10 — EOE SET ERLE coaietieeaaan CP brief. demands — page 5 — It’s smiles as Ald. Bruce Yorke sees victory at hand on compu- ter screens in Vancouver city : hall, during the early hours Sun- day. With him, organizers and supporters of the Committee of Progressive Electors election campaign watch results show- ing the return of the progressive majority to council. Elected with Yorke were COPE aldermen Harry Rankin, topping the polls as usual, Bruce Eriksen and Libby Davies, and Civic Inde- pendent Bill Yee. COPE also took the majority of school board seats, and captured three on the NPA—dominated parks board. By DAN KEETON It was a victory, an unquestioned victory, but the results weren’t known until far into the early morning hours. For the Committee of Progressive Electors the long months of tireless campaigning with unparalleled backing from labor, community groups and New Democrats paid off with the return of the progressive majority to Vancouver city council, a new COPE majority on school board, and an increased presence on parks board. The key ingredient, and the one at which the labor-backed unity slate had been aiming, was the voter turnout, which at 49 per cent was the largest in Vancouver in the post-war years. : It was an unusual election in the extreme, as COPE’s senior alderman, Harry Rankin, noted as he declared the victory from the small stage set up at COPE’s election rally in the Plaza 500 Hotel at 2 a.m. In previous elections, low voter turnout in the east end polls meant that returns from COPE’s traditional stronghold always came in first, presenting a picture of a COPE sweep — an impression that was later dashed when the results of the see DIVIDED page 2