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Commentary/Letters

‘Keep up pressure to end the arms race’

By JIM FOULKS

The need to maintain public pressure
on governments to bring the arms race to
an end to reduce the world’s massive
stockpiles of nuclear weapons is as great as
ever.

In spite of the promise of progress
toward disarmament as the result of the
treaty to dismantle intermediate range
nuclear missiles in Europe and the relaxa-
tion of international tensions, the number
of nuclear weapons produced and deployed
throughout the world is still increasing.
The various military-industrial complexes
continue to urge the necessity for weapons
modernization and the intensification of
the technological arms race. The propo-
nents of reliance upon military superiority
in the name of national security are resist-
ing efforts to curtail budgetary expendi-
tures for armaments or to accept any
diminution in weapons systems such as
air- and sea-launched cruise missiles which
they perceive as conveying some potential
military advantage over presumed adver-
saries. They are reluctant to see the cold
war draw to a close or to give up their
stereotypical images of implacable ene-
mies.

Yet recent polls indicate that anxiety
over our deteriorating environment is
replacing fear of nuclear war as the politi-
cal issue of greatest present importance to
Canadians. To some extent this reflects the
sense of optimism about the prospects for
disarmament which has been aroused by

WALK FOR PEACE...

the sweeping reforms and political restruc-
turing which have been taking place in
Eastern Europe, by the dwindling threat
of East-West military conflict and the
emerging possibilities for the resolution of
local and regional conflicts by political
rather than military means.

Nevertheless, the shifting emphasis of
public concerns also reflect increasing
awareness that human survival is jeopard-
ized not only by the possibility of a nuclear
holocaust but also by the impact on our
natural surroundings of acid rain, ozone
depletion, and the potential increase in
global temperature and ocean levels
caused by the “greenhouse” effect —
which results from the atmospheric

public pressure vital in maintaining momentu

accumulation of carbon dioxide — and
by the numerous toxic chemicals which
enter our environment in the form of
industrial waste and threaten to destabilize
the fragile ecological balance of nature.
Vancouver’s annual walk and rally for
peace on April 21 coincides with Earth
Day, an occasion for the expression of
international concern for protection and
restoration of the environment. In recog-
nition of the linkages between these issues,
this year participants are being invited to
“Walk for Peace and Planetary Survival,”
as well as to “End the Arms Race — Fund
Human Needs.” Protection of the envir-
onment will require international co-
operation and collaboration on a global

m for disarmament.

scale which can only be achieved in an
atmosphere of peace and friendship, of
trust and confidence between nations. We
will only be able to mobilize the financial,
human, scientific and material resources
necessary to stop environmental pollution
and to solve the many other pressing eco-
nomic and social problems now facing the
world community when we stop spending
a trillion dollars annually to devise ever
more numerous and destructive weapons
of war.

Jim Foulks is president of the B.C. Peace
Council and a vice-president of End the
Arms Race.

~(-| Letters

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Victoria’s largest peace walk ever is
quickly approaching (April 21) and it
seems there has been a degree of confusion
among some Victoria seniors on the mat-
ter of peace and the aims of the peace
movement.

Peace is “against war.” This does not
mean however that the peace movement is
against those who, out of necessity,
defended this country in wartime. In fact,
the opposite is true. Let us not be deceived.
These defenders fought so that we would

not have to. Their aim and the aims of the
peace movement are actually the same;
not against, but “for” their loved ones,
those left behind by horrible tragedy,
those left broken and battered, the direct
victims of war.

Our desire is for this to never happen
again!

World tensions have eased but wars
rage on. The nuclear bombs must still be
dismantled and made safe. The continued
call for peaceful behaviour must come

| Peace action affirms veterans’ stand

from the many — for those who defended
our freedom, for ourselves and for our
planet. Who is more qualified to voice this
call than those who have lived through
and know well the horror of war?

Please come out and have your “vote
for peace” counted. Both the walk and
rally are wheelchair friendly.

Peace is “against war.” Peace is “for
people.”

K.C. Cudmore,
Deep Cove

LCUC grievances overlooked, reader claims

John MacLennan, in his March- 19

column (‘““CUPW needs labour’s full back-
ing,” Tribune, March 19, 1990), demon-
strates a clear bias, coupled with an
alarming lack of investigation. In urging
labour support for the Canadian Union of
Postal Workers with their fight with dissi-
dent letter carriers, he completely ignores
the very legitimate grievances held by this
group of workers.

1. The Letter Carriers Union of Canada,
until it was decertified in early 1989, was a
respected member of the trade union
movement in Canada. The LCUC, with the
full support of its membership, opposed the
Canada Labour Relations Board review of
the bargaining units within Canada Post. In
fact, in the CLRB decision ordering the
merger, this governmental agency stated

that the primary consideration for taking
the action was in order to accommodate the
employer. The board felt that the ability for
the employee groups to “‘whipsaw” collec-
tive agreement gains was unfair to Canada
Post.

2. Inasmuch as the letter carriers have
continually expressed their desire, both
before the merger and after, to retain their
autonomy, and have demonstrated this fact
most recently when almost 83 per cent of all
these workers across Canada signed new
union cards and paid an initiation fee, one
would expect that worker decision to be
respected by other workers’ groups and
progressive political organizations. The fed-
eral government dissolved a union against
the wishes of those workers represented.
What about the right to collective self-

determination?

3. MacLennan contends that, “good
trade union activists from the LCUC ...
(are) being used by ex-LCUC leaders for the
latter’s own ends.” Maybe John should
have gone into a letter carrier installation
peddling that drivel.

So, here’s the challenge. Why doesn’t
John MacLennan put his often espoused
principles into practice and go into the letter
carrier section of any post office in B.C.,
perhaps one of those where all of the letter
carrier shop stewards have been expelled
and never replaced with any other represen-
tatives, and start preaching about the deceit-
ful, vindictive LCUC leadership. Tell him to
wear a hard hat.

Mark Conlin,
Kelowna

GST only good
for toilet paper

The following is my opinion on
what the politicians should do to
reduce Canada’s national debt or
deficit.

First, instead of giving themselves a
raise of approximately $11,000 a year
as some of them have done, they
should cut their wages back to a
decent salary.

The next thing that the politicians
could start doing is stop spending the
taxpayers money for their own luxury
or for their own benefit.

In my opinion the GST should be
used for toilet paper because that’s all
its good for. It will end up causing lots
of small businesses to close down and
hardship to many others. This will
only increase the numbers on the wel-
fare roles and encourage more and
more crime.

If Brian Mulroney has to have a
salary of $180,000 a year plus
expenses in order to live comfortably
then we’re in for real trouble. At the
same time Finance Minister Michael
Wilson is trying to blame the huge
deficit on the past Liberal government
but this doesn’t explain why the debt
has continued to grow bigger and
bigger over the last six years. Maybe it
has something to do with the $17 mil-
lion that the Conservatives have ~
invested in some 38 strip joints across
the country. This is only one example
of where the taxpayer’s money is
being squandered. is

Jean-Guy Petit,’

oneaii'h |

Pacific Tribune, April 23, 1990 « 5

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