Network News

Anonymous — June 1983

Although City Council declared Toronto to be a nuclear weapon-free zone, the move to have signs erected to that effect was rejected. The Toronto Disarmament Network has decided not to give up easily, however, and urges all concerned citizens to contact their aldermen and/or Mayor Art Eggleton and request that the issue be re-opened for debate.
Message from Parliament Hill Peace Camp. We are afraid that, come tourist time, there will not be enough people power here to stop them from removing us. We are having workshops, teach-ins, speakers, etc. It is imperative that we get bodies before the changing of the guards in the middle of June. We have also been told that we have set a precedent, so if this right is taken away, legislation will be passed to prevent such peace camps from taking place. This is our one and only chance! Moral and financial support is needed. Even if you can’t join the camp, send a letter or telegram to your local MP expressing your support. Your support is important; join us and others across the country in lighting a candle for peace at midnight May 21st. The peace camp can be reached through the Ottawa office of Doug Anguish, (613)xxx-xxxx.
Meet our counterparts in Japan. A group of Americans are going to the Japanese peace movement’s World Conference Against A & H Bombs in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, seminars and field trips with a focus on peace concerns, and talks with peace activists from around the world. July 11-August 13. $1,750 from the West Coast, $300 more from the East Coast. Contact Grassroots Tours, 1346 Connecticut Ave NW No.533, Washington, DC 20036; (202) xxx-xxxx. Please mention which organisation you are with.
The Cruise Missile Conversion Project is taking two buses to Washington August 27 to the 20th Anniversary Martin Luther King March. One 3 day and one 2 day trip; $65 each. Accommodation free or nominal. Contact Andrew xxx-xxxx or CMCP, xxx-xxxx.
Peace Caravan. The Salt Spring Peace Group is organising a nation-wide caravan this summer to collect petitions from each riding and carry their, to Ottawa, where they will be delivered in a suitable ceremony. Every peace group is invited to send a delegate to arrive at about the same date in Ottawa. Groups will be leaving from Vancouver as early as July 10 by bicycle, but most will leave Vancouver August 7. Plan to arrive in Toronto August 20 for a big rally. Arrival in Ottawa: August 27. The mayor of Ottawa has offered 8000 billets if they are needed.
Contact: Don Erickson 604 xxx-xxxx.
Many groups within the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament are interested in twinning with the world peace movement, particularly in North America. Intersted Canadian peace groups contact: Scottish CND, 420 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow G2.
Speaker available: Ms. Kinuko Laskey, President of the Canadian Society for Atomic Bomb Survivors, is available to speak to church and community groups and to show two films: Prophecy (41 mins) and _The Lost Generation (21 mins). Phone xxx-xxxx.
July 4th to Labour Day — “Women’s Peace Encampment for a future of Peace and Justice.” At Seneca Army Depot near Ithaca, NY. Women have purchased a 55 acre wooded lot next to the Depot, which stores nuclear weapons, for a summer of workshops, celebrations, and non-violent resistance. For more information, write Women’s Encampment, 150 Castle St, Geneva NY 14450 or Women’s Encampment, c/o Women’s Action for Peace, 730 Bathurst St, Toronto M5S 9Z9 (416) xxx-xxxx.
The working committee of the Canadian Disarmament Campaign has proposed a national conference to organise nationwide action.(The CDC has been is existence since January 1982.)
The proposed conference has been scheduled for July. For further information contact CIDC, P.O. Box 588, Station K, Toronto, On. M4P 2H1; or phone Mrs. E. Court (416), or Dieter Heinrich. (416)xxx-xxxx.
North York Action for Disarmament, a new group, is holding a Cereal Meeting June 6th at 7;30 pm, 40 Anndale Dr., xxx-xxxx.
Voice of Women, General Meeting, June 7, 7.30 Inns, 175 Carlton St. Contact: xxx-xxxx.
Prince George (B.C.) Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament has committees working on the following projects:
1. A referendum à la Operation Dismantle for September;
2. A petition campaign, whereby petitions against the cruise will be collected and delivered to Ottawa at the end of June;
3. An Elks Parade, where a 21 foot model of the cruise will be carried, as it was in a successful parade on May 14;
4. A delegation to the Cold Lake Festival on June 25;
5. Twinning with a sister city in the Soviet Union.
Comox Valley, (B.C.) Nuclear Responsibility Society is planning a repeat of their successful phone blitz on June 20, the International Day for Disarmament. Anyone else can participate too. The plan is to phone the Prime Minister’s office (613-xxx-xxxx) and insist to speak to someone in authority, Stay on the line and help keep the phones there busy all day with messages for disarmament. You will probably prefer to pay for your call, but some people call collect and tell the operator that Mary No Cruise Smith is calling. The charges will be refused, of course, but the message gets across anyway.
During the last New Brunswick municipal elections, ten communities held a referendum on nuclear disarmament, as proposed by Operation Dismantle. The measure was passed in all ten.
Individual resistance to nuclear weapons is expensive, especially when legal aid in denied. People or groups wishing to help with the defense costs of Brian Burch, for the March 30th pouring of blood on the door of Toronto’s three nuclear consulates, can send cheques to Andy King (in trust), Campbell, Ilev and Associates, 136 Simcoe St., Toronto M5H 3G4. Costs arising for the charge of “Unlawful Handbill Distribution” need financial assistance as well. Please make cheques payable to The Against Cruise Testing Coalition and sent to 13 Kerr Rd., Unit 3C. Toronto, M4L 1K2.
The Experiment in International Living, a 51 year old non-profit educational exchange organisation, offers the opportunity to host international visitors for 1-3 weeks, particularly during the summer months. Since 1932, families and individuals have opened their homes to visitors from around the world through The Experiment. The purpose is to create international understanding. Contact The Experiment in International Living at xxx-xxxx.
In the University of Toronto student election, 17% of the student population voted; 60% of those voted Yes to refuse cruise missile testing in Canada.

The Peace Calendar

Canadian Disarmament Information Service, 1983-1984

Network News