— ‘Don't promote |

a i

DISARMAMENT

immoral

military production,

~ govt told

As several hundred protesters demon- strated outside U.S. Defence Department “procurement seminar” in Vancouver Monday, a group of educators, trade union, church and peace leaders told seminar organizers that military production is “wasteful, economically unsound and immoral.”

A letter issued simultaneously to Exter-

_nal Affairs Minister Joe Clark, Regional

Economic Expansion Minister Sinclair Stevens, Premier Bill Bennett and Small Business Development Minister Don Phil- lips protested the series of defence seminars being held across the country which, it said “is assisting and encouraging military pro- duction.”

The letter was signed by eight community leaders: Rev. Barbara Blakely, Anglican Justice and Peace unit; Kim Zander, co- ordinator, Unemployed Action Centre; Carmela Allevato, vice-president, End the Arms Race; J. McCutcheon, Project Ploughshares; Brian Shott, vice-president Engineers for Nuclear Disarmament; Frank Kennedy, president, Vancouver and Dis- trict Labor Council; Tom Guntan, profés- sor public policy, SFU: Rev. Ian Cumming, executive secretary, B.C. conference United Church; and Dr. Joy Harris, Catholic

Organization for Development and Peace. .

The federal department of regional industrial expansion and Phillips’ provincial

Wishing you a happy holiday season and a peaceful New Year from

2 : Ray and Donalda Viaud

and : extending an invitation to our annual

New Year’s Day

Open House 9434 124A Street Surrey starting at 2 p.m.

All welcome. ‘BYOB

Season’s ‘

ministry were co-hosts along with the U.S. Defence Department of the day-long seminar which was intended to brief B.C. businessmen on how to secure contracts to supply the U.S. military in everything from everyday needs to weapons components and military high technology.

The seminar was one of several held in .

various cities across Canada. It follows a similar briefing, held by the provincial Min- istry of Industry and Small Business Develop- ment two years ago, and indicates the

Socreds’ and Tories’ attraction to the U.S. .

arms build-up as a potential source of con-

_ tracts for Canadian business.

Right. wing Fraser Valley Tory MP Robert Wenman, parliamentary secretary to Defence Minister Robert Coates, opened the seminar, promising that closer relations between Reagan and Mulroney would open the door to more military contracts for Canadians. ;

But that would be of no benefit to Cana- dians, the letter from the eight community representatives emphasized. :

“Under the Defence Industry Productiv- ity Program, the Canadian government provides grants and other incentives to businesses wishing to convert to arms pro- duction,” it stated. “The Defence Produc- tion Sharing Agreement enables those pro- ducts to be exported to the U.S. but requires that Canada buy back, in equal value, wea- pons from that country.

“If the funds being used to support these current exports were used in other sectors, such as education, we would have approxi- mately 165,000 more jobs in Canada today,” the letter stated. :

It also called military production “immoral,” emphasizing that the arms race “brings us closer to worldwide catastrophe” and has taken funds “away from permanent

job creation, housing, food, medical and *

education... ; “We believe it is immoral to offer British Columbians the choice between unem-

Greetings

For a nuclear weapons free Canada

For jobs not bombs

Vancouver Peace Assembly

685-9958, 254-8692

TRIBUNE PHOTOS — SEAN GRIFFIN

Project Ploughshares supporters maintain candlelight vigil (top) outside Pentagon contractors’ seminar at Holiday Inn. Above, a businessman picks his way through crowd of demonstrators sitting down in front-of hotel lobby door.

ployment or jobs in military production,” it

stated. :

A number of demonstrators appeared outside the Holiday Inn, site of the seminar, early in the morning and later sat down at the hotel entrance, forcing participants in the seminar to pick their way through the crowd. ie

Many supporters of End the Arms Race also demonstrated outside the hotel includ- ing several signatories to the letter.

Later, more than 100 supporters of the church-based Project Ploughshares, who ‘held, an early-morning prayer meeting at Christ Church Cathedral, marched down to the hotel from the church and stood a vigil outside, holding candles and singing songs.

Project Ploughshares representative Jean McCutcheon, one of the eight to sign the letter, told reporters that the group did not

intend “‘to confront the businessmen.

““We want to get the message to the poli- ticians that this seminar today is not the will of the people,” she said. ‘

She said the politicians “should get the message that we want the money put into useful goods and service. The use of our dollars in defence agreements only escalates » the arms race,” she emphasized.

Project Ploughshares and End the Arms ~ Race have called on Canadians to send let- ters to their MPS and to Prime Minister Briar Mulroney demanding that the federal government shun military production and invest “in useful goods and service.”

Earlier, at a meeting Dec. 4, delegates to © the Vancouver and District Labor Council voted to protest “any encouragement of military production such as that proposed

_ by the defence seminar.”

Warm greetings to all our friends May 1985 be the year of:

e the nuclear freeze

e a comprehensive test ban treaty .

e cancellation of cruise testing

B.C. Peace Council Room 712, 207 W. Hastings Telephone: 685-9958