Operation Dismantle (Kingston Branch)

Organisation

Operation Dismantle (Kingston Branch)

1977-1989

Operation Dismantle, founded in 1977 by T. James Stark and Peter Brown, was a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose goal was to bring the pressure of international public opinion to bear on national governments to negotiate an end to the nuclear arms race. Subsequent to its founding, branches were set up all over Canada, including Kingston, Ontario, in 1983. It Canadian headquarters was located in Ottawa. A principal project has been a UN-sponsored world referendum on disarmament, which the organization believed would be the best way to provide governments with a sufficiently powerful mandate. Dismantle had some 10,000 members and supporters; funding was provided by donations and membership fees. Operation Dismantle in Canada pioneered the idea of municipal referenda on disarmament; the campaign led to 195 votes in municipal campaigns, with the results 76.2% in favour. In 1983, it led a coalition to stop the testing of the Cruise missile over Canadian territory. In 1985 the case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled that Operation Dismantle had insufficient grounds, under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to argue in court the merits of an injunction on Cruise missile testing. The organization led a campaign during the 1984 federal election to make a nuclear freeze an election issue. The organization was disbanded in 1989.

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