4- Sunday, June 21,

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1987 - North Shore News

Bob Hunter

@ strictly personal ®

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AT THE very time that the British were being offered

the political option of de-nuclearizing themselves, along

comes cherubic Warren B
multi-million-dollar nuclear
the Arctic.

It is as though we have been
flipped back in time to the end of

i the Second World War, when
Canada could have gone nuclear
militarily, but didn’t.

As the suppliers of the urani-
um from which The Bomb was
built, we were privy to enough
American secrets so that we
could have launched our own

| nuclear weapons program back at
the same time the British and
French got started.

} We were beautifully positioned
well ahead of the half-

| demolished Russians, for in-
stance. We could have been a

! nuclear middle power from vir-

} tually Day One of the Atomic

7 Age.

But we never did. We passed
on the Faustian challenge.

In fact, there was something
supremely Canadian in that deci-
sion to forego nuclear weapons
back then. We went ahead like
good sorcerer’s apprentices and
built our own nuclear power in-
dustry, but could say to the
world: Look, we didn’t arm
ourselves. Isn’t that a good ex-
ample?

I find it thoroughly disgusting
that a generation later we are, in
fact, discussing the build-up of a
nuclear submarine fleet.

A very Canuck fleet, too, I see.

| Nuclear powered, but armed with
ordinary pea-shooters. So we can

| still try to claim we aren’t nuclear
warr'ors — we're just regular old
cunveniional sailors who happen
to be cruising around in a pack
of nuclear subs.

I contend that the Falklands
War was a’ “i ‘ruclear battle in
the sense th... ihe British used a
nuclear-powered submarine to

E sink the General Balgrano. The
next time around, Argentina
might well have fashioned its
own nuclear weapons — thanks
to Canadian nuclear technology.

And would the Argentines be
willing to face another defeat
when they had the option to lash
back maybe just once? A nuclear
submarine is certainly a fair nu-
clear weapons target. How long
before the equivalent of Exocets
can be fitted with small nukes?

} The Americans and Russians
deploy their subs with enough
nuclear missiles aboard to level
hundreds of cities. They are the
ultimate offensive weapon this
side of Star Wars.

The idea of using such an
awesome array of machinery
simply to show the flag is

THE «STUFF”|

eatty with a great vision of
battering rams for defending

madness. And just why the
Tories think that it is worth
blowing $400 million each for a
dozen titanic underwater war-
ships whose job will be to deliver
diplomatic notes is beyond
madness into operatic hallucina-
tion.

As for the military dream of
“bottling up’’ the Soviet sub-
marine fleet so that they can’t
break out into the Atlantic to at-
tack convoys bringing troops and
supplies to a beleaguered Europe,
good grief, this is called planning
for the 21st Century?

It will be mostly missiles zapp-
ing so far overhead they couldn't
be detected from the ground, let
alone under the water — and if

they were, so what? A nuclear §
fleet without nuclear weapons f

merely invites a nuclear attack in
the crunch, the same effect as a
non-nuclear fleet.

There are plenty of sea-lawex-
perts who doubt that Canada has
an enforceable claim to the
deep-sea passage in the Arctic
anyway. As the second-largest
country in the world, with more
barren northern expanse than we
can properly cope with, Canada’s
pitious cries about Arctic

sovereignty, as though a few j

more acres of ice mattered to us,

must fall on largely deaf ears out |

there in a starving, overcrowded
world. :

I know I have trouble myself,
Canuck to the bicultural roots as
I may be, seeing why we should
spend more money on submarine

defence of the Arctic than any |

other project in Canadian histo-
ry. Do we need ice cubes that
badly?

Surely, on the priority list,
there are other items than come
before 12 shiny nuclear subs.

Perhaps worst of all, the
supersubs will be bought from
France or Britain, which would
seem to suggest that the bulk of
the taxpayers’ defence money
would be funnelled out of the
country, leaving us poorer, rather
than richer, for our colossal ef-
fort.

Here is peace-loving Canada
picking — of all possible theatres
of action the gloom
underneath the Arctic ice as a
place to butt up against none
other than two — count ’em —

superpowers, It’s so macho I feel |

positively pendulous, just think-
ing about it.

But also a bit dazed by the
stupidity of it.

“Hi Mr. Tiley, Operation Raleigh has once again

found one of the most unforgiving regions of the
B world, the mountains of Fiordland National Park
4 in New Zealand.

“All | can say is Gortex rips, my boots have
come apart and my body will never be the
same, but your label says “Give ‘em Hell", and
your clothes have never let me down.

“The stuff is working out great.”

Ned Jackson

Tilley Endurables is proud to outlit the Venturers ot

Operation

Dear Reader, |hope Sue doesn’t distract
you from admiring (and perhaps ordering)
our 7-pocketed elastic waist Bush Jacket.
$125; XXL & XXXL: $135; fight beige or
moss green.

Barbara Tilley
1559 Pemberton Ave.,
North Vancouver

980-2631 Thurs, Fri.

Raleigh, with stuff made in Canada.
Alex Tilley

Drop in, Phone or Write.
Mon-Sat. 10-5;

til 7

ELECTIONS for the four vacant
Lions Gate Hospital board seats
will be heid June 24.

Eligible voters must be North
and West Vancouver Hospital!
Society members.

Board members on the 17-
member hospital governing body
serve a three-year term for a max-
imum of three consecutive terms.

A number of issues will face the
board over the next year, with

‘ abortions at the community hospi-
: tal likely continuing to be a con-

troversial subject.

Of the eight candidates
nominated, four are pro-choice
and four are pro-life.

The break-down is as follows:

Pro-choice: Rod Clark, Vicki
O’Brien, Patricia Pigott and Pat
Williams.

Pro-life: John McLaughlin, Rick
Murrell, John O’Connor and
Geoffrey Still.

Personal Injury

Ardagh Hunter Turner

Barristers & Solicitors
#300-1401 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver

986-4366 Free Initial Consultation

QUEEN ELIZABETH THEATRE

Opens
June 30

Previews
June 29

Closes
Sept. 12

MONDAY to SATUROAY EVENINGS 8 pm & SATURDAY MATINEES 2 pm © Orchestra,
Mezzanine, Dress Circle $45 © Balcony $37.50 © Rear Salcony $32.50
WEDNESDAY MATINEE 2 pm * Orchestra, Mezzanine, Dress Circle $37.50

© Baleony $32.50 * Rear Balcony $27.50 « Note: $5 Student/Senior discount
Wednesday Matinee only PREVIEW JUNE 29 * Orchestra, Mezzanine, Dress
Circle $43.00 * Balcony $35.50 * Rear Balcony $30.50
Monday through Saturday 8 p.m.
Matinees: Wednesday & Saturday 2 p.m.

Tickets: VIC/CBO outlets
Phone Orders: 280-CATS (280-2287) .

Good Seats available to all performances.
Best seats available weeknights and Saturday Matinees.
Student and senior discounts on all Wednesdays Matinees.

Gary 93 Canadian rhe official airline of Cats

PRESENTIN

NORTH SHORE CREDIT UNION’S

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