Since 1945 the US spent US$6 trillion on its nuclear weapons

Canada NewsWire Group: " TORONTO, July 8 /CNW Telbec/ - The city of Toronto will proclaim
July 10, 2005 to be "Rainbow Warrior Day" in memory of the bombing 20 years
ago by French secret service agents of the Greenpeace flagship the Rainbow
Warrior and in memory of Fernando Pereira who died in the attack.
Twenty years ago on Sunday the Rainbow Warrior was lying in dock in
Auckland, New Zealand, awaiting its trip to Moruroa Atoll to bear witness and
peacefully protest French nuclear testing in the South Pacific. As crew
members lay sleeping in their berths, two bombs tore through the hull of the
ship sinking the Rainbow Warrior and killing Fernando Pereira a Dutch
photographer who was on board to bring photographs of French nuclear testing
to the world.
"The city of Toronto has a proud history of promoting world peace and
rejecting nuclear arms," said Bruce Cox, Executive Director of Greenpeace
Canada. "In proclaiming July 10, 2005 "Rainbow Warrior Day" mayor David Miller
and the people of Toronto honor the work that Greenpeace continues to do
around the globe and honor the life of Fernando Pereira who died so tragically
during the bombing."
In the last 20 years, the cold war has ended; oil wars have begun and the
spectre of a nuclear winter is being replaced by the threat of global warming.
While the G8 write off $25 billion in 'third world' debt, the global nuclear
bill is still rising. Since 1945 the US has spent nearly US$6 trillion on its
nuclear weapons programme. This year alone France will spend
3.8 billion euros; another 12 billion will be spent building a new nuclear
fusion reactor; Ontario stands poised to spend over $6 billion for the
refurbishment of old Ontario nuclear reactors.
"The flirtation with nuclear technology has come with a heavy price and
brought to us to the brink of a new nuclear arms race," added Bruce Cox.
"Twenty years on, the Rainbow Warrior remains for millions, a symbol of hope,
peace and action, a combination that we need more than ever."



For further information: Bruce Cox, Greenpeace Canada Executive
Director, cell: (416) 419-7341; Andrew Male, Greenpeace Canada Communications,
cell: (416) 880-2757

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