Canadians form antiwar coalition in Toronto

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April 20 antiwar actions 6 SOCIALIST ACTION JANUARY 1985 Name Address City Telephone ioclallsi Aclion, ings. Likewise, Richard Groulx was warmly received as he promised the support of the Alameda County Central Labor Council, which he represents. Walter Johnson, president of the Retail Clerks and Department Store Employees Union, also spoke in support of the coalition that was forming.

This support was backed by financial contributions, including two pledges of $500 by unions, to help build the April action. In addition, Vivian Hallinan pledged $500 on behalf of Project National Interest.

The meeting also heard greetings from Harry Britt, member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors and a prominent gay rights activist; Charlene We're on the spot and in the thick of the struggles. Socialist Action is a monthly newspaper featuring extensive coverage and incisive analysis of today's political scene.

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Enclosed is S1 for 3 months Enclosed is S6 for 12 months Enclosed is S _contrib tion State zip Rm. 308, San TORONTO-Over 130 activists met here on Dec. 8 to found the Toronto Anti-Intervention Coalition (TAIC). The turnout exceeded all expectations and laid the basis for an extensive, multifaceted campaign against U.S. military and economic intervention-and Canadian complicity-in Central America and the Caribbean.

The over 40 solidarity, antiwar, and church organizations represented at the conference, along with the numerous unaffiliated activists present, including feminists and labor militants, voted enthusiastically to build a broad, democratic, mass-action-oriented coalition.

Despite the fact that it was a Toronto-based conference, participants came from Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Guelph, and other centers across southern Ontario. A representative of the U.S. anti-intervention movement (Emergency National Conference) brought greetings to the gathering.

By the end of the full day of keynote speakers, workshops, and plenary-session debate, a clear, principled, political basis of unity and a three-pronged plan of action had been adopted.

In addition to demanding that the United States get out of Central America and the Caribbean, the coalition called for an end to Canadian weapons testing and production for the U.S. military and the diversion of military spending to the creation of jobs and social services to meet human needs.

The major action projected by the TAIC is a "Week Against Intervention," culminating in a mass demonstration to be held in Toronto on April 20, 1985. The date was chosen to coincide with plans for mass protests across the United States.

Different social constituencies (e.g. churches, unions, students, and women's organizations) will be invited to initiate educational and protest events on particular days in the "Week Against Intervention"-and to come together on the Saturday for a huge united march that will pass by symbols of the Canadian government, Canadian, corporations that profit from militarism, and the U.S. government.

The conference also made plans for an emergency mass-action response to any major escalation of U.S. military intervention in the region such as an invasion of Nicaragua. Ongoing educational initiatives, including a possible teach-in for March 1985, a speakers' bureau, and the publication of anti-intervention literature, round out the ambitious program of the new coalition.

A non-exclusive, but representative, 30-member continuations committee was ratified by the conference and mandated to issue a call to action for April 20 to all anti-intervention groups across English Canada and Quebec.

LOS ANGELES-On Dec. 8, approximately 600 demonstrators from the Los Angeles Coalition for Peace and Justice in Central America and the Caribbean marched in the Fairfax district, an area of the city previously ignored by the Coalition.

Don White, one of the organizers of the march and a member of the Echo Park chapter of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), told Socialist Action, "l believe there is a groundswell of opposition to the administration's policy on Central America. In order to mobilize support for grass-roots efforts reverse this policy, we are planning to broaden our operation to encompass all sections of the greater Los Angeles area."

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Helping to build the OS OUT NOW SOCIALIST ACTION ACTION

L.A. march against war