TRIBUNE PHOTOS — DAN KEETON Canada Pro-choice day Oct. 14 Faced with the stated intention of the federal 8overnment to bring in new legislation restricting abortion, pro-choice organizations across the country a Set Oct. 14 as a Pro-Choice Day of Demonstra- “It is time to stand up and Speak out. No new law on abortion Is necessary. We are © majority. We believe in a Woman’s right to control her ©wn body. We must make our Volces heard now,” said Linda Tvin, spokesperson for the C. Coalition for Abortion linics, the organization spon- ee - Oct. 14 march and § : in fony FE pieatte: together EevIN it great numbers and make ourselves visible will our Volces be heard,” she said, urging the broadest partici- Pation In the pro-choice event. Ervin stated that the provisions of the Canada €alth Act, if enforced by the federal government, Provide the legal framework for safe, fully accessible abortion Services in every area of the country. Demonstrations are slated to take place in every major city in Canada on Oct. 14 as well as many smaller communities. In this province, demonstra- tions are so far set for Vancouver, Victoria and Cran- brook. The Vancouver march and rally will begin at 11 a.m. at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The march will proceed down Georgia Street to Howe Street and along Beach Avenue to the 1 p.m. rally at Sunset Beach. The B.C. Coalition for Abortion Clinics as part of its campaign against any new restrictive legislation has launched a postcard campaign. The cards call for “no new law on abortion” and draw attention to the January 1988 ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada which removed abortion from the Criminal Code and stated that the Charter of Rights will not allow restric- tion on women’s access to abortion. The cards are directed at Perrin Beatty, Minister of National Health and Welfare, Doug Lewis, Minister of Justice and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. They’re available from the B.C. Coalition for Abor- tion Clinics, P.O. Box 66171, Station F., Vancouver, B.C. VSN 5L4, telephone 322-6470. Anti-nuke protest hits Halifax The recent visit to Halifax harbour by the MV reenpeace and the accompanying protest action, in . Heh two anti-nuclear activists were arrested, served cus public attention on the continuing dangerous Use of Halifax as a port-of-call for U.S. nuclear Weapons-carrying vessels. On the morning of Sept. 8, about 15 protesters approached the jetty at CFB Shearwater in five zodi- acs and proceeded to display “No Parking” banners on the jetty and in the surrounding waters. Two dem- Onstrators attempted to unfurl a banner on the jetty self, but were quickly arrested by military police and Charged with trespassing on Department of National fence property. At issue is the use of Canadian Forces Base, Shear- Water, Only two kilometres from downtown Halifax, aS a berth for Trident and other U.S. submarines Saag their regular tours of duty in the North Atlan- ass alifax is the only Canadian port which permits r8ular visits of nuclear submarines. The port also has i distinct honour of receiving more visits by nuclear 3 4pons-capable warships, including aircraft carriers and other surface ships, than any other single harbour Canada. ; David Kraft, the disarmament coordinator for and peace Canada, was in Halifax for the protest Noted that public opinion is now running strongly “8ainst such naval visits. Canada does not allow overflights of nuclear wea- oy by planes or bombers, it doesn’t allow surface s sport of warheads — why should we allow the ntry of nuclear weapons-carrying vessels into its har- Ours?” he asked. a €Tecent action was part of the Nuclear Free Seas Mpaign initiated by Greenpeace in 1987. That cam- H oy and similar actions by local peace organizations beginning to have an impact. Earlier this year, 4NCouver city council, under pressure from the End © Arms Race coalition, passed a resolution asking © federal government to disallow visits of nuclear Warships into that west coast port. con ting the visit of the USS Independence to Van- Uver this past summer, large protests were organ- 2ed by local peace groups, and it was reported at the Ime that Brian Mulroney cancelled an invitation to attend a reception on board the warship because of the Protests, According to Kraft, this was a sign that the © eral government “‘is having a hard time identifying Publicly with these visits”. ‘vironmental concerns are a major part of the Public Outcry against the use of Canadian ports for ©se purposes. Many of the vessels are powered by Uclear reactors which lack containment structures Nd emergency cooling systems used in most land- ased Teactors. Hyman Rickover, an official with the Nited States Navy, has admitted that “the whole reactor game hangs on a much more slender thread 4N most people are aware.” € larger question, however, is whether Canada Should act as a forward staging site “for ballistic n Miguel Figueroa FROM THE MARITIMES missile-carrying submarines and surface ships and hence contribute to the growing naval arms race. There are now over 16,000 warheads (or roughly 40 per cent of the “at-ready” world nuclear arsenal) on board the submarine fleets of the nuclear powers. These naval strategic forces now constitute the most . secretive — and most lethal — component of the nuclear arms race. While some progress is being made to limit and roll back other strategic and theatre-based weapons system, the arms race at sea, largely sheltered from public view, continues unabated. The Soviet Union has repeated indicated a willing- ness to negotiate sharp reductions in sea-based sys- tems, but these initiatives have largely been turned aside by American policy-makers on the grounds of verification difficulties. This summer, however, a group of American scientists from the Natural Resources Research Council (NRRC) tested out an early version of a verification system on board a Soviet naval vessel and the prospects of soon overcoming the verification dilemma are improving. While problems may remain in reigning in the naval arms race internationally, Canada can make a positive contribution now by closing its port to nuclear weapons-carrying fleets. But such a new policy direc- tion is bitterly opposed by the Mulroney government and the defence establishment who claim that Canada has a “NATO obligation to protect North Atlanticsea lanes.” “This is a meaningless and empty phrase,” Kraft told the Tribune, pointing out that these past practices and rationalizations are outmoded in today’s strategic situation. With the collapse of the program for a Canadian nuclear sub fleet and the resulting crisis in current defence policy, outlined in the White Paper on National Defence, “the peace movement should now go on the offensive and projecting a new defence policy for Canada,” he added. Locally, the newly-formed Coalition for a Nuclear- Free Harbour plans to continue to build public pres- sure on the municipal councils in Halifax and Dartmouth to adopt resolutions similar to the Van- couver city council stand. According to Peter David- son, spokesperson for the coalition, public awareness to the dangers posed by these visits is now well estab- lished,” and the coalition will be launching a public action campaign to intensify pressure on the federal government for an outright ban. Allow for peace tax, Appeal Court urged Former Supreme Court Justice Tom Berger Monday called on the Federal Court of Appeal in Vancouver to overturn a February, 1988 ruling and allow a B.C. Quaker the right under the Charter of Rights to conscientious objection in the payment of her income tax. Berger was representing medical researcher Dr. Jerilyn Prior who, since 1983, has re-directed a portion of her federal income tax to the Peace Tax Fund, set up by a Victoria-based group, Conscience Can- ada. The amount of tax re-directed is based on the percentage of federal revenues allocated to military spending. Dr. Prior is one of some 532 Canadians who have paid the military portion of their taxes into the peace fund since the Charter of Rights was passed in 1982. But in a ruling last year, Federal Court Judge George Addy disallowed Prior’s claim for the tax exemption. In his written statement to the court; Berger noted that the federal government already allows conscientious objection to military service and argued that the next step should be the right to conscientious objection to financial support of the military. “Can there be conscientious objection to conscription of a citizen’s resources as well as to conscription of the eitizen’s body? he asked. Berger also emphasized that freedom of religion under the charter entails the right to practice one’s religious beliefs. Opposition to war is a fundamental tenet of the Quaker faith, he said, and the effect of the Income Tax Act as it currently stands is “to coerce Jerilynn Prior to act against her beliefs.” Zeidler strikers’ rally — draws 5,000 in Alberta EDMONTON — The Zeidler plant gate was the scene of a Sept. 9 gathering which adopted the slogan “Taking a stand for workers’ rights.” Nancy Riche of the Canadian Labour Congress, Alberta Federation of Labour secretary-treasurer Audrey Bath, president Don Aitken and NDP leader Ray Martin joined unions from all across the province in the huge rally against the anti-union employer. Workers — bussed in by the AFL and about 5,000 in all — arrived from Medicine Hat, Calgary, Red Deer, Grande Cache, Fort McMur- ray and Grande Prairie, although the biggest contingent was from Edmonton. It all added up to an obvious commitment by organized labour in the province to win the 3 ¥-year-old strike. The AFL has launched an “‘adopt-a-striker” campaign with an eye to putting some money into the battle. Vair Clendenning, a spokesperson for the Alberta and Northwest Territories Building Trades Council, said the Boycott Zeidler cam- paign is gaining strength. There are no Zeidler products on any Building Trades site in Alberta, and unionists are hoping to make it the rule across the country, he said. The Alberta Labour Relations Board recently upheld the firing of 24 strikers for “picket line violence.” The ruling came despite a 1988 ruling that the firing was based on anti-union prejudice on the part of the employer, and constituted an unfair labour practice. It was the reversal by the LRB which prompted the AFL Alberta Workers Rights Action Committee to begin a series of meetings and call the rally in support of the Zeidler strikers. Given the ruling — according to which the company did not act unfairly toward the strikers because they offered them their jobs back, and two of them accepted the offer — the LRB has forced Zeidler workers into a hard choice: be a scab, or be fired. Hold off base closures says Ottawa Disarmament Coalition OTTAWA — The Ottawa Disarmament Coalition (ODC) last week called on the federal government to hold off on its planned closure of Canadian Forces bases until it has re-structured the Cana- dian military “to minimize the adverse effects on the individuals involved or the communities affected.” In a letter to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney Sept. 13, the coalition welcomed the cancellation of the nuclear submarine program but noted the failure of the government to respond to the demand for increased public services and criticized its plans to cut back or close 14 military stations and bases without providing for alternative employ- ment for the individuals and communities involved. “We believe that the Canadian military strategy should be strictly defensive, based on the concept of ‘common security,” the letter stated. “Such a new focus would emphasize measures such as enforcement of our jurisdiction over fisheries, international peacekeep- ing through the auspices of the UN and assistance in the event of national disasters.” The letter, signed by the five members of the coalition’s co- ordinating committee, emphasized that the government had a respon- sibility to provide investment into the communities affected to compensate for job losses resulting from the closures and to provide training programs. 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