a mber 25, 1983-<-North Shore News IT MAY SOUND CONTRADICTORY for an “aes * avowed peacenik like myself, whose fear and loathing of things nuclear runs deep, to support a buildup of the Canadian armed forces. The new defence minister, Jean-Jacques Blais, has recommended the construc- tion of six more patrol frigates on top of the six which have already been . ordered. 8 These are supposed to be ‘*world class’? warships, equipped. with sophisticated ship-to-ship missiles that will make the Exocet .“‘look like a toy.” ine The Jaging = Tribal class destroyers, which are our on- ly ships worth mentioning, are being modernized — that is, equipped with weapons that will give them a chance of surviving for more than a few nanoseconds in an actual naval engagement. Our -decrepit flock of ‘Solidarity’ cont. Another proposal in the Medical Services Act to which Schreck took excep- tion concerns the restriction of billing numbers for doctors. “‘The new legislation could give the government the right to decide who will practice in B.C. and where they will practice,’’ said Schreck. He added, ‘‘It's that type of ac- tion which will make three-tiered medicare a reality.’’ a ee In her speech on Bill 27, the Human Rights Act, Hanne Jensen outlined her own personal = frustrations during the past nine yers, stating her officers were too often overloaded with cases. “*l recognize the right of government to govern pro- vided they have a majority,”’ said Jensen. **Bur { wouldn't be here tonight if the govern- ment hadn’t acted within 24 hours of Bill 27 being in- troduced and tabiecd.”’ Jensen said she has been impressed by the ‘‘un- precedented’’ actions of four federal ministers in taking a vocal stand against the B.C. government's decision § to eliminate the Human Rights Branch, as well as by the sup- port of several other human rights organizations. But, ‘the former director added, she is equally alarmed at the structure of the pro- posed Human Rights Council. **20,000 inquiries came in- to, the Human Rights Branch -in a year, with 600 taken to legal standing,’’ said Jensen. HEALTH HIT CF-104 Starfighters, 110 of | which have gone down in the last 20 years without ever having been involved in a battle, are already being replaced by the F-18A Hornet attack planes. We have also purchased some new front-line -equip- ment in the form of 128 Leopard tanks and 18 Aurora long-range surveillance aircraft.. -" Last year, a Senate sub- committee on national defence stated that the federal government has been delinquent in dealing with defence matters and has allowed Canada’s forces to drop to dangerously low manpower levels. A nervous Ottawa, looking “How five people can handle | that is beyond me.”’ Patsy George made an im- passioned plea for the plight of the province’s troubled | children, quoting the high costs of foster homes and detention centres compared to the relatively low costs ex- pended on children treated by family support workers. **What will happen to abused children? Will they be forced to remain in their homes and suffer more abuse, or will they escape to the streets where they will] meet with more abuse?’’ George asked. In the question and answer period that followed the panel discussion, several members of the audience lashed out” at the various political parties, with numerous people engaging in shouting matches. One man offered a novel solution to the province’s ills: “If we're unhappy with the government, why not withhold our taxes? Then they'll all go home.”’ Thursday’s information meeting was to be followed yesterday with an Operation Solidarity petition drive throughout the North Shore. A second meeting on the budget has been scheduled for October 7 at which Van- couver Mayor Mike Harcourt will be the featured speaker. around at the grim geopoliti- cal realities of life on Planet Earth in the 1980s, has pro- mised to increase defence spending by three per cent each year until the end of the decade. It remains, on a per capita basis, that Canadians spend more money on beer and wine than we do on defence. In military terms, we are still basically the ‘‘savage rabbit’’ an infuriated Canadian general called us back in 1975. A chain is-only as strong as its weakest link. It is quite clear now that Canada’s negligent attitude toward our alliance obligations has generally contributed to a weakening of NATO and toa degree, NORAD itself. Surely no. one can have failed to notice the‘growth of the Soviet empire since the Second World War. It now The Tree Man aes appearance, enhance your life: style, and increase the value of your entire property. In 25 years in the tree business on the North Shore I have built oa reputation for ty tree work among sands of clients. For tree removal, topping, omamental pruning, seasonal main tenance, or other specialized tree work, call me for con- sultation. My prices | competitive, | am fully insured, and free estimates are gladly given, DoveChina TREE EXPERTS 922-2200 _ ttm not tn when you call, leave in measge and | will call you back as s00n as possible When Daating. follow (he cules and lean ADO bocalnazards suc as Oe and CUnTenigs fiw C wreherWivilans Daed, ESTATE ADMINISTRATION WILL PLANNING Royal Trust since 1899 has the world’s’ most for- 555 Burrard Street phone 668-5000 midable navy and its 42,500 - battle tanks vastly out- number NATO forces in Europe. oe, ; It has been in, response to this rapidly-expanding war machine (in the past, all such machines have sooner or later been used) that nuclear weapons have become such a dangerous factor. yt: In the face of over- whelming: Soviet con- ventional ‘strength, the West has seized in desperation on . the nuclear ‘deterrent — the . ultimate.* better-dead-than- Red strategy. -. |. -. Clearly, if the West’s con- ventional military muscle was equal to. the. Warsaw Pact, the nuclear -sword would never be brandished. It would never need to be. If war broke out — and how many 747s being blown out of the air would it take before push came to shove? — it could be slugged out for ~ a long time with conventional weapons. ..Relative -to . a:i. nuclear exchange, this would be a fist-fight instead of High Noon. ee The hard reality is that if - Canada‘ wanted to make a serious contribution toward lowering the threshold of nuclear war, we wouldn’t test the Cruise missile — we'd. double, maybe triple, maybe even quadruple’our conven tional forces and ‘start taking up the slack that has been | allowed to develop. = Big boys don’t hide behind: nuclear weapons, or, worse, behind other boys’ ‘nuclear weapons. 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