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GLOBE
AND MAIL WED JULY 19,1999
PR war breaks out over B.C. naval site
Times
Colonist (Victoria) Thu 15 Jul 1999
The menace at Nanoose is very real
Vancouver Federal expropriation of the Nanoose torpedo-testing
range off Vancouver Island has awakened the dormant but potent
B.C. peace movement, stirring veterans of Cold War protests to
mount an aggressive challenge to Ottawa's plans. More than 40
formal objections were filed yesterday with the federal government
in the first wave of opposition that organizers say will continue to
batter Ottawa throughout the next few weeks. The objections were
filed even before the provincial government launched a $60,000
campaign to encourage British Columbians to intervene in
expropriation hearings that are to be held this summer.
The opposition came from peace activists and community groups,
church-affiliated organizations, native bands, labour unions and
environmental groups. They urged Ottawa to hold a public inquiry
into its unprecedented expropriation of provincial lands.
"This is a tide that is going to grow," said David Cadman,
president of the 30-year-old Society Promoting Environmental
Conservation and a former president of the United Nations
Association of Canada.
"In British Columbia, when you have a public inquiry, my
goodness, the people turn out and speak their minds. And on this
issue, they are of one mind. They do not want nuclear weapons in
our area," he told reporters outside a federal government office.
Ottawa started expropriation proceedings after failing to renegotiate
an extension of a lease for the seabed with the B.C. government.
The seabed has been used by the U.S. Navy and the Canadian
Forces since 1965. The province owns the seabed, and the federal
lease on the site expires Sept. 4.
Although B.C. Premier Glen Clark initially tied the renewal of the
Nanoose lease to renegotiation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty and
federal support for dying fishing communities, he maintained after
talks broke down that Ottawa was reneging on a commitment to
ban nuclear weapons.
Political scientist Norman Ruff of the University of Victoria said
yesterday the Nanoose expropriation will haunt the federal Liberals
in British Columbia for a long time. Coming on the heels of the
salmon treaty, which has been widely condemned in the province,
the expropriation will likely cost the Liberals significant support
in
the next federal election, he said.
Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard would hold a referendum
tomorrow if Ottawa tried something like the Nanoose expropriation
in Quebec, he said.
Mr. Bouchard talks about winning conditions that would enable
him to mobilize public opinion against the federal government,
Prof. Ruff said. With the expropriation, Ottawa has created those
conditions in B.C., he said.
In 1992, the B.C. Legislature approved a resolution to have the
province become a nuclear-free zone. In the mid-eighties, the
Vancouver peace march was considered to be the largest annual
peace event in North America, peaking in 1984 when 115,000
surged through the streets.
Norman Abbey, a leading organizer of the current protest and a
director of the 15-year-old Nanoose Conversion Campaign, said
yesterday the expropriation issue has resonated with many who
were involved in the peace marches.