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Canadian Disarmament Information Service

Anonymous — March 1983

This is the second issue of Peace Calendar. We would like to thank everyone who donated money to CANDIS since our office opened on January 3rd of this year. Without you The Peace Calendar would not be printed and we’re very appreciative! Copies are free unless you would like a mailed subscription at $8.00 per year. Groups with newsletters are welcome to exchange subscriptions with us and we are now soliciting advertisements for our April issue.

Everyone is welcome to drop into our office in the Peace Chapel at Holy Trinity Church (behind the Eaton Centre). We’re open 9-5 Monday to Friday and you can pick up copies of the Peace Calendar, brochures, articles, flyers, bibliographies and related material.

10 Trinity Square, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1B1 (416) xxx-xxxx

Our reference library is growing rapidly and we welcome book donations. So far, Book World and Penguin Publishers have donated several publications and we would like to hear from other bookstores. We can sell on consignment or keep books In our library for reference only. Our clippings file includes articles from local and International publications and In addition, we are establishing a film depot at CANDIS. There are many films available on the arms race and disarmament but they’re difficult to locate. There are as many distributors as there are films! If you have films, video or slides and would like to participate In setting up a central depot for lending purposes to groups and schools, please call us.

Peace Calendar will soon expand to include brief articles, more announcements, a regular up-date on current legislation and government activities, and a special monthly feature. This month and next we will feature articles on the cruise missile testing issue and starting in May we will profile various Canadians who have actively promoted nuclear disarmament in their professions, churches or communities. We would like to know who they are and what inspired them to remain undaunted throughout the years, often despite an apathetic or even hostile environment.

Cruise Missile Testing-Update

Phillip Abrahams — March 1983

Nearly one year ago it became widely known that the Canadian and U.S. governments were negotiating the testing of cruise missiles on Canadian soil. In the intervening months popular opposition to the project intensified, and the peace movement expanded rapidly. Gallup polls in both January and February indicate that the majority of Canadians are NOT in favour of cruise missile testing in Canada. Nevertheless on February 10th, a secret ceremony in Washington, D.C., witnessed the signing of the “Canada/U.S. (Canus) Test and Evaluation Program”. This document ratified in principle the testing of a wide range of U.S. military equipment.

Minister for External Affairs, Allan MacEachen, was quick to point out the agreement does not constitute approval for cruise missile testing. in fact, the pact requires the U.S. to lodge a specific application for each “Test and Evaluation Project”, and Section Three states that Canada may refuse any project the U.S. proposes.

While some interpret CANUS as a victory for the anti-nuclear lobby, others argue the accord has paved the way for future weapon testing in Canada. Generally however, optimism has been generated around the fact that all weapon testing projects require approval on an individual basis.

Such optimism is unfounded, unfortunately, as it ignores the implicit danger of the CANUS agreement; which, if not recognized and acted upon, could prove damaging to the anti-cruise movement. With the stroke of an ambassador’s pen, cruise testing was removed from the political agenda and redefined as an administrative issue. The implications of this are immense.

Consider the manner in which CANUS came into being and the provisions for its implementation. In the ten months following the announcement of the cruise testing negotiations various anti-cruise lobbies, public pressure groups and politicians from all parties demanded the cruise issue be brought up for debate in parliament. Public sentiment was strongly against U.S. military testing on Canadian soil, yet Allan MacEachen was unmoved. Without advance notice, on February 10th, 1983, he announced to MP’s that the CANUS agreement was more or less simultaneously being signed in Washington. Because of the manner in which the pact was presented, as “Noted No.84” from Canada to the U.S., it did not have to be approved by the Canadian parliament or the American Congress. Similarly, when the U.S. makes its request for permission to test cruise missiles on Canadian soil, neither parliament nor Congress will have the rights to vote. In fact, such projects need only be mutually agreed upon by the Minister of National Defense on behalf of Canada and the Secretary of Defense on behalf of the U.S., or by their designated representatives, in effect, a rubber seal is all that is needed.

Moreover, we may not be informed about government approval of a cruise testing project. Section 17 of the agreement notes that “the release of information to the public concerning any project under this Agreement shall require prior consultation and coordination between appropriate Canadian and U.S. authorities”.

One cannot help interpreting this as a sign that the Canadian government is committed to cruise missile testing, as well as to stifling debate over the issue. By relegating the decision to a backroom of the Ministry of National Defense, they are giving tacit approval and in effect trying to squelch the anti-cruise campaign.

Now, more than ever, the voice of the anti-cruise lobby and all other peace groups must rise up and keep the issue alive and hopeful.

Johan Galtung

Anonymous — March 1983

Holy Blossom Temple offered a week-long series of lectures and panel discussions during January on the theme of the nuclear arms race.

Professor Johan Galtung was the keynote speaker. He was evidently not optimistic over the prospects for avoiding a nuclear war, but he was not as pessimistic about the future of the post-war world as other writers, notably Jonathan Schell, in that Galtung thinks it unlikely that a nuclear war in Europe would destroy the entire human species. He considers a more probable outcome to be the loss of between 1 and 2 billion lives, or up to half of the human population.

Galtung holds that a few European countries might survive such a holocaust. The most likely one would be Switzerland, which has been careful to stay clear of both superpowers and to keep its military preparations limited to defensive systems, refusing to acquire the capability of fighting beyond its own borders.

Switzerland, moreover, has made a point of being useful to other countries, who would probably make an effort to keep it intact.

Galtung was explicit in his suggestion that a nation like Canada might be able to copy many of the policies of the Swiss, thereby making its own survival more probable in the case of a nuclear war.

CANDIS

Anonymous — March 1983

CANDIS is an acronym for “Canadian Disarmament Information Service” a new organization devoted to spreading the word about peacemaking efforts throughout Canada, but particularly the Toronto area.

We are located in the Peace Chapel upstairs at the church of the Holy Trinity, which is located between the Eaton Centre and the new city hall, It is our intention to maintain accurate files and to answer all queries concerning the activities of groups devoted to disarmament efforts,

In addition, we keep a clipping service, subscribe to several newsletters and journals on the anti-nuclear weapons issue, collect brochures and papers, and in various ways try to provide information services. We have a few films and video-tapes, will sell a few books, and will keep a browsing library.

All of these programs are just getting started, We have need of volunteers and our greatest need is for funds.

Up to now we have no regular budget or source of funds, In the near future we expect our calendar to be known well enough to make it reasonable to offer subscriptions, and the rate will be $8.00 for a year. We hope that you already find our calendar and newsletter valuable. With sufficient funds we expect to be able to expand the coverage and size.

We hope that your group will find the calendar and newsletter valuable and that you will want to continue receiving it regularly. Furthermore, we want news of your group’s activities.

Phone us by the 21st of each month to tell us about your plans for the next month. If the plans are directly related to the arms race and the peace movement, we will publicize it on our calendar of events.

The CANDIS office is normally open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. on weekdays and irregularly at other times.

CANDIS has a phone number that can be remembered easily — xxx-CALL, which is xxx-xxxx.

The work of CANDIS is carried out mainly by volunteers, who are coordinated by Beth Richards. Metta Spencer shares responsibility for the ongoing work, which enjoy the patronage of several eminent Canadians. Mayor Art Eggleton. Rev. Clarke MacDonald, Prof. Eric Fawcett, author Margaret Laurence, and Dan Row are among the patrons which are being added to at the present time.

CANDIS is compiling a computerized mailing list that will enable peace groups across Canada to contact one another and interested citizens. If you as an individual, or your group collectively, want to be included on this list, please send us your name, address and phone number, plus $2.00 to cover the cost of processing your name and making it available. This charge does not cover a subscription to The Peace Calendar.

Note From the Editors …

Articles reflect the opinions of individual authors and do not constitute editorial policy. Candis is an information clearing-house for the peace movement. We are in favour of international nuclear disarmament and within that broad context, do not take any official position.

Announcements:

Anonymous — March 1983

LITTON TRIALS UP-DATE…The trials of demonstrators arrested at Litton industries on Nov. 11, 1982, are continuing throughout March In Room 208, The East Mall, Etobicoke. Court sessions begin at 10 a.m. and end each day at approximately 4 p.m. You are welcome to attend. Call Paul Murphy xxx-xxxx for further information.

To protest the Cruise Missile testing agreement, you can call the following phone numbers for 65 cents per minute:
Prime Minister Trudeau: 613-xxx-xxxx
Alan MacEachen, Minister of external affairs 613-xxx-xxxx. Or write a letter (it is cheaper) and send copies to CANDIS and to your M.P.

Demonstration: ACT (Against Cruise Testing Coalition) is holding a demonstration on the first Saturday following the announcement of the signing of the umbrella agreement.
Time: 1:00 pm. Place: Liberal Party Headquarters, 34 King Street East, Toronto, Call xxx-xxxx or xxx-xxxx for information –

VIGIL FOR PEACE: Following the announcement there will be a nightly vigil at the headquarters of the Liberal Party until the Saturday demonstration. Vigils will last all night and your participation will be valued.

New organization! Parents for Peace requires educational material on disarmament suitable for parents, teachers, or students so send your assistance to: Parents for Peace, School and Community Relations Department, Toronto Board of Education, 155 College St. — Toronto.
Or call Katie Kaufman at xxx-xxxx.

ITALIAN-CANADIAN PEACE COMMITTEE. A general meeting with speakers will be held in February at Dufferin and St. Clair Library, 1625 Dufferin Street. For details phone Giovanni Polidori at xxx-xxxx or Constanza Allevato,xxx-xxxx

Network, a peace newsletter published in Ottawa. is available by subscription — $6.00 for 12 issues. Make cheques to Gary Moffatt 105 Rideau St., Ottawa KIN 5X1.

A conference on development and disarmament is planned for March 8-10 in Ottawa, auspices of Canadian Council for International Cooperation, 321 Chapel St., Ottawa KIN 7Z2.
Phone 613-xxx-xxxx.