In his report, outgoing President Peter Nicholls remarked on the many activities undertaken during his term. For example, a dialogue was initiated with Minister Axworthy and the Dept. of Foreign Affairs and International Trade about the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on the question of the legality of nuclear weapons, about NATO expansion and nuclear war-fighting doctrines. His report touched on research activity of Walter Dorn, Senior Research Officer, the Science for Peace section in Peace Magazine, the Coalition Opposing the Arms Trade conference on defence conversion, and the Physicians for Global Survival conference on the ICJ judgement. He also mentioned the unfinished debates within Science for Peace about AECL’s proposal to burn weapons-grade plutonium in Canadian reactors and about the Canadian sale of CANDUs to China. A copy of the complete report is available in the office.
One of Peter Nicholls’last tasks as President was to confirm the appointment of Anatol Rapoport as Honorary President of Science for Peace. He read the following statement:
The 1997 Annual General Meeting of Science for Peace herewith confirms the decision of the Board to elect you Honorary President of Science for Peace. This is in recognition of your many contributions not only to Science for Peace itself, but to the development of general ideas concerning the possibility of securing peace in the world.
Accepting the honour, Anatol Rapoport spoke at length about the motto “Science for Peace.” His remarks will be mailed to all members of Science for Peace.
The Science for Peace Executive Committee members for 1997/98 are:
L. Terrell Gardner: President
Eric Fawcett: Vice-President
Phyllis Creighton: Secretary
Maureen Kapral: Treasurer
Patience Abah: Member at large
Brydon Gombay: Member at large
Highlights from the AGM: The Financial State of Affairs
by Ian Russell and Maureen Kapral
The financial statement for the year ending March 31st, 1996, was recieved by the AGM.
SfP’s operating expenses for the year were $52,098, slightly exceeding operating revenues of $51,190. While this left a deficit of $908 for the year, it is small considering the total volume of transactions. The total of SIP bank accounts, excluding the Blumenfeld Fund account, was a fairly healthy $19,342. The Blumenfeld Fund account had a surplus of $2,225 which increased its balance to $57,367.
A draft financial statement for the year ended March 31st, 1997, was circulated at the AGM. (A financial statement will be prepared once all figures are in.) The level of activity was higher than the previous year with revenues and expenses each in the range of $130,000. An operating deficit of several thousand dollars is projected. This can be accounted for by the substantial expenditure on the publication of Good Taxes, late in the fiscal year. This expense should be offset by revenue from sales and will appear in the 97/98 year end statement. Bank account balances at the end of the year, taking into account projected expenses, will be slightly less than the healthy balances of a year ago.