ersion Campaign

The Other Press -

speak with them or took the sub-
marine away from Nanoose Bay.

At 11 p.m., the RCMP issued the
protestors a warning, and_ shortly
after midnight the six were arrested

_and charged with intimidation, a

criminal offense punishable by a fine
of up to $500 or a prison sentence of
up to six months or both.

Those arrested included Thomas of

Winnipeg, Sunshine Goldstream of -

Hilliers, Brian Mills of Nanoose,
Miriam Leigh of Denman Island, John
Campbell of Lasqueti Island and Ted
Phillips of Quadra Island.. They were
scheduled to appear in provincial
court in Parksville on Nov. 14, but
charges were later dropped.

Activist Brian Mills said, ‘‘we are
happy with the charges being drop-
ped,’’ and added the charges were
dropped unconditionally.

Mills said the NCC was unsure of
whether to insist the trial be held.
“The trial would have had some

advantages for us in terms of addit-.

ional exposure,. focusing on the issue
in court and for the media.’’

Mills said there will be further
actions of civil disobedience « at
Nanoose this winter.

“‘The earlier actions seems to have
stimulated interest in civil disobedi-

-ence,’’ he said. ‘‘We hope to have

another civil disobedience action be-
fore New Year.’’ Mills said the next
action will probably involve more than
the 40° people who protested’: the
presence of the U.S.S. Salt Lake City.

If civil disobedience is the most
dramatic occurence at Nanoose, then
the peace camp is the NCC’s symbol
of ongoing presence and determinat-
ion. Currently Canada’s only existing
peace camp, it is located beside the
Island Highway across from the
Nanoose rest stop.

Three tents, five-metre-high tee-
pees, are visible from the road,

making them obvious for people who .

already know about the camp and
attracting people who are simply
curious.

Established April 1, the camp has
already been forced. to move twice.
The first site was in an undeveloped
community park but residents of a
nearby subdivision complained and
the Nanaimo Regional District ruled
the camp had to move.

“We didn’t want to obscure the
camp into a property rights issue and
this is what some of the people in the
community saw it as,’ said NCC
member Brian Mills.

The second camp was established:

in May and again faced opposition
from neighbours and received a direct
order from Social Credit Highways
Minister Alex Fraser to move.

The current camp started in early
June is directly opposite the base
range. It is an ideal location to watch
submarines and ships dock.

The camp has hosted hundreds of
people since opening and even now,
as winter approaches, people stop
every day to offer encouragement,
bring food or write comments in the
log book. Many visitors are from the
island itself but there is also a
sizeable proportion from the U.S.,

 

  

 

Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Mills sees the international visits as
one of the most positive aspects of the
campaign.

“This is one of the beauties of the
nuclear issue, if the nuclear issue can
be said to have beauties,’’ he said.

“It is a concern whether you live in
Australia or New Guinea, Tanzania or
Yellowknife.’’

With the camp now in existence for
seven months, the biggest challenge
is to keep it open during the long
rainy winter and members are cur-
rently winterizing the teepees and
sleeping areas.

The campaign’s effect on politicians
is difficult to judge. Perhaps the most
significant response to the campaign
occurred in July when the federal
convention of the NDP passed an
emergency resolution which  con-
demns the presence of any nuclear-
capable weapons at Nanoose, de-
mands that the U.S. Navy not bring
nuclear weapons into Canadian waters
and opposes the renewal, in April, of
the agreement which allows the U.S.
to use the range.

NDP MP Jim Manly (Cowichan-
Malahat-The Islands) will present two
petitions supporting NCC’s goals to
parliament beginning November 19,
as well as sponsoring a_ private
member’s bill in support of a public
inquiry.

Regardless of whether the govern-:
ment heeds NCC’s call for an official
government inquiry into the range,
the Gabriola Island Peace Association
is organizing a ‘‘People’s Inquiry Into
CFMETR’’, to be held in Nanaimo on
January 18 and 19.

Participants will include Dr. Rosalie
Bertell, an expert on the low-level
radiation who recently appeared in
the film ‘Speaking Our Peace,’’
Major-General Leonard Johnson

_(Ret.) of Generals for Peace and

Disarmament and Robert Aldridge, a
designer of the Trident missile system
who is now a peace activist.

One of the areas examined by the
inquiry will be how CFMETR can be
“better used for peaceful productive
purposes.’’ Suggestions such as conv
erting the facility to a marine research
station or a search and rescue facility
will be examined and a concrete
alternative presented to the federal
government.

Facing the NCC are the general
problems facing most peace activists:
working on a low budget, shuffling
time between work, family and peace
‘committments and the possibility of
burn-out for individuals shouldering
broad responsibilities. However, the
NCC is also faced with the specific
task of making the test range a
national issue before the agreement is

_ due to be renewed in April.

Asked how he feels working on
something often perceived as a local
issue, Thomas said: ‘‘The Salt Lake

_City had something like the equiva-

lent of 120 Hiroshima on it. That’$ not
local. It concerns me and evérvone
else on thi eS

  

   
 

 

Jan 20, 1986 page 9