Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 7, 1976, Winnipeg, Manitoba Give mayor More control of administrators c of c Brief by Wally Dennison free press staff writer Winnipeg s mayor should be Given More responsibility including More control Over the City s administrators and veto Power Over City Council decisions says a Brier Dratt de by the Urban affairs com m it tee of the Winnipeg chamber of Commerce. The Brief still to be finalized was presented tuesday to a meeting of the chamber s governing Council. The chamber will consider the final version Jan. 20, two Days before the deadline for submission of proposals to the three member provincial committee reviewing the City of Winnipeg act. The chamber s Urban affairs committee headed by or. Graham Pincock recommends that the mayor continue to be elected at Large and that the mayor have veto v Power that could be overruled by two thirds of City Council. The says some chamber members still be Lieve the provision for elec Tion of the mayor by voters was a mistake but there appears Little likelihood that the citizens As a whole will accept the change to the election of the mayor on any tiling but a Universal basis and accordingly the chamber accepts this Posi Tion As a reasonable one at the present the Brief recommends strengthening the mayor s of fice by increasing its authority and having the commissioners report directly through it the. Mayor s of fice should be responsible for initiating policy and introducing it to Council for consideration and approval the Brief recommends. The Brief says aspects of both the parliamentary and representative systems of government were incorporated into the City of Winnipeg act. But Many chamber members believe that party politics Are better left out of municipal government and believe that the representative system has More to offer the City of Winnipeg than does the parliamentary the Brief argues that be cause the mayor was elected by Universal election he has not enjoyed the support of the majority of councillors nor has he responsibility to the councillors in any Way. V under these Circum stances it has become difficult for the mayor to As sume leadership acceptable to the elected representatives. The Lack of a Strong executive has also limited the mayor s Opportunity to provide direct leadership to Council and to initiate poli the committee also recon that consideration be Given to reducing the size of coun cil to the 45 councillors re commended in the 1974 re port of he provincial bound Aries commission. Council s procedural bylaws be changed to ensure that its time is spent on policy matters. Community committees and resident advisory groups be maintained. Community committee membership include at least two councillors from outside the area to give More objective review. The Powers of the Manitoba municipal Board Over the City of Winnipeg be reduced significantly and that supervision be transferred to the Manitoba government s Urban affairs department. In turn the City should have the right to Appeal the rulings of the Urban affairs department to Cabinet and to seek interpretation of the legislation in the courts. Winnipeg free press wednesday january 7, 1976 2nd clas5 mall registration number 0286 finance committee rejects Developer s bid for More time by Alan Christie free press Urban reporter Winnipeg civic finance committee is getting tired of do nothing developers and decided tuesday to Start doing something about them. The committee was pleased about developers who buy a piece of land from the City agree to build on it within a specified time then come Back to the City requesting extensions. Com Mitt e put its foot Down tuesday and denied an Extension Appeal by h. V. Martens real estate manager of Winfield developments Ltd. The land involved now reverts to the City for resale. Winced was to have constructed a building on the West Side of Plymouth Street Between Muir. Road and Church Avenue by sept. 5, 1375, but or. Martens said the company needed More time. The site was originally purchased from the City by Globe general agencies in september 1973, with the stipulation that the building be constructed within the next two years. Winfield Pur chased the property from Globe with All stipulations attached. Or. Martens stressed that his company wanted to build on the site and was t speculating even though the value of the acres of land in creased in the two years. The councillors weren t so sure. Councillor c. John gee in dependent citizens election St. Chairman of the committee said after or. Martens left we the City accept plans in Good Faith. We Don t sell land for people to speculate. He or. Martens says he s not a Speculator but he in deed is coun Don g e r r i e in dependent fort Rouge said Winfield totally disregarded the terms of the Deal. Had the property not in creased they Winfield would have dropped it but they know they can always come Back and Appeal be cause they know they can win. It s about time we served notice that when developers make contracts they have to live by them and abide by or. Martens informed his Extension had been denied said he was Dis appointed because the com Mittee should be working in a positive vein with developers. Transmission troubles free diagnostic Check and boat test the. Automatic answer 957 Portage 786-2437 930 Nairn 667-1595 1311 my Phillps 586-8049 460 Pembina 453-4124 weather report for the Prairie provinces except for the Foothills of winds Are expected Alberta the sky was Clear Over the Prairies during the night allowing temperatures to dip into the -30s. The sunny cold weather is expected to continue Over the Prairies today and thursday. Afternoon readings Likely will hover Between -27 c and -30 c in most regions both today and thursday. In addition to in crease Over Eastern Saskatchewan and most of Southern Manitoba today causing blowing Snow conditions in Many of the regions. Strong winds coupled with sub Zero temperatures will result in High wind chill values today. Figures on the map indicate expected High temperatures today eci Pillion h High Premmie l Low tit cold front i front temperatures forecast following Are High natures recorded be Low temperatures Foi hour period which in . Today and prec for the 24-hour peril ended at 6 . Toda citation of snowfall i time tres and the a rainfall in millimetre Max. Vancouver 7 Calgary -26 Edmonton the 12-Idcd at 6 Lipi Talion id which y. Precis in Cen count of a. Min. Pre. 3 5.8 or. A to. -35 .3 -33 to. -32 to. -32 -33 to. -30 2.0 -36 to. -1 i Mipe Ter Lake and 1 g i o n s mos very cold Tod Day West will Low tonight n thursday near Winnipeg t Bissell red River j try sunny a a and thit id at 15 ear -33 Chi r -27 c. Temperature prisons -27.0 -35.8 -6.8 -8.5 -13.3 -23.3 a record 1 1949 in record in 1968 station to Jan. 7 40.2 15.4 Millimetres. Max. Min. 10 6 7 go 31.4 -7.7 18.3 Mil pre. Year Normal i lowest c -40.6 precis Tola Lor nov. 1 Lime tres Normal 5 Frankfurt -30 Thunder Bay Ottawa -6 Halifax -6 17 8 Kong Johannesburg 17 13 Miami los Angeles Minneapolis new. York Boston 25 is -1 -1 -1 London Madrid Moscow 18 9 12 8 16 -2 -16 -23 10 Honolulu Amsterdam Athens 29 7 3 8 31 1 -5 4 13 Rome Sao Paulo Seoul 37 21 13 6 20 7 Beirut Taipei 30 22 -3 -12 15 8 4 Brussels Buenos Aires Copenhagen 12 25 Aviv 18 i d Challenge them to find one Case where we be speculated in we just Don t do that. There Are people in the City who buy. Land and sell it for 40 per cent profit but we just Don t do Globe general agencies paid the City in 1973 for the property. Or. Mar tens said his company paid considerably More than that to Globe for the site but he could t say what win Field s loss would be. Ramp sets appointment chief supt. D. J. Wardrop of the hemp has been appointed to command d Divi s i o a which encompasses Manitoba and Northern on Tario. He succeeds assistant commissioner George a queue who retired dec. 31. Chief supt. Wardrop a Nova Scotia native is a graduate of the Canadian police College and is currently officer in charge of the ramp criminal investigation Branch in Toronto. He has an Exten Sive background in police work across Canada Aud served in Manitoba in and 1947. The appointment was announced tuesday by ramp commissioner Maurice j. A Don of Ottawa. Tax Relief move ousted civic finance committee rejected a proposal tuesday to seek Power for the City to exempt non profit or private recreational facilities from the City s assessment Roll. The proposal came from a subcommittee formed to examine the feasibility of tax Relief for Golf and Curling clubs and other non profit privately owned recreational facilities. It recommended that the City ask the province to Amend the City of Winnipeg act to allow the City to enter agreements with such organi z a t i o n s to exempt either their lands or buildings or both in whole or in part from the assessment Roll. Finance committee member councillor Alan c. Wade nip Centennial said tuesday that Relief for such clubs should be done by Way of Grants and not through the proposed Legisla Tion. Such legislation would encompass some very exclusive he said and urged the proposal be rejected. Probe into buckwheat moved to Justice dept. The Canadian Grain com Mission has referred the question of . Buckwheat stored in licensed elevators in St. Boniface to the Federal Justice department. H. D. Pound chief commissioner said in an interview the move followed an investigation by an undetermined portion of million pounds of . Buckwheat brought into Manitoba in october was detained by the commission in december and ordered idiot to be moved without the com Mission s approval. The matter arose in the House of commons in de Cember when agriculture minister Eugene Whelan said Cargill was illegally holding . Buckwheat in elevators in St. Boniface. The com Pany had failed to apply for. The Correct permit. The company s flax crushing Plant uses flax from Manitoba North Dakota South Dakota and Minnesota. The strength of the Market for Manitoba buckwheat is found in the subsidy on p j n g domestically grown buckwheat under the Crow s nest freight rates. . Buckwheat must be moved at regular freight rates. Language plan gets cultural affairs minister Rene Toupin of Manitoba announced tuesday a Grant of from lottery Rev Enue to extend the ancestral languages program initial year by his department. The program provides funds for teaching ancestral languages other than English in areas without enough students to wan ant Public school classes. Legislation requires a minimum of 28 students before a class can be set up in the school system. Last year under the linguistic program Stu dents attended 181 classes for instruction in 11 languages French ukrainian polish German italian yiddish mennonite German icelandic korean Hun Garian and greek. This year the number of students is expected to Rise to and classes in chinese Cree and portuguese will be added to those supported said Cecil Semchyshyn director of the Manitoba secretariat on Federal provincial cultural relations. The classes arc conducted mainly by cultural organizations and churches. To be eligible for the Grant they must be non profit cultural organizations which have been teaching languages and cultural programs for at least one year. Qualifying organizations May receive Grants of per student up to per classroom or one third of the classroom program costs whichever is the lesser. It is a very valuable Job that these people Are doing outside the school or. Semchyshyn said in an interview. The Cost of teaching languages in the school system is 3200 per child per year according to department of education figures. Or. Semchyshyn said this would mean the Cost of a similar program within the school system last year would have been or. Toupin said the Pilot program last year received a Grant of a final evaluation of the program will be made by the modern languages association of Manitoba the curriculum Branch of the department of education and the planning and research Branch of the cultural affairs department he said. Christinas arrived tuesday night for hundreds of ukrainians and others still adhering to the Julian Calendar. Here or. And mrs. Myroslaw Tracz and son Boyan 2, of 253 Machray Avenue prepare to eat a dinner of 12 meatless dishes traditional fare on ukrainian Christmas eve As symbolic of the 12 disciples of Christ. 5th proposal for 1.54 acres traffic., school objections delay St. A a Homes plan by Glen Mackenzie free press staff writer a 1.54-ac re site which has waited More than 10 years for development will have to wait a Little longer after objections tuesday from about 10 nearby residents along with possible Legal problems. The site on country club Road near St. Charles country club was debated at a meeting of St. James Assiniboia Community com Mittee. A decision on an application by Manitoba housing and renewal corporation to build a 13-Storey High Rise for elderly people and 23 Thrno bedroom townhouse units was deferred for two weeks. Residents said they objected to Low income families moving into the townhouses and resulting traffic and school problems rather than the development itself. One woman said an apart ment Complex on the site was fought successfully two years ago and this looks like the same thing in a Dif Ferent another resident Eleanor Johnson 526 Woodlands cres cent St. James Assiniboia read a Brief quoting a Jan uary 1975 report by a District planner warning of the possibility of too much traffic near Portage Avenue and of overcrowding in the local school. Are children to be transferred to accommodate the needs of she asked. R. D. Keenberg Environ mental designer for the project s architects Ikon partnerships said Large apart ment blocks could be built on the site but Marc wanted the density minimized within economic considerations. He said the number of new children for the school would not exceed 75 and understood after talks with school officials they could be accommodated. One of or. Keenberg s associates said an increase in cars should t be a problem because few elderly people drive and residents of the townhouses would Likely have one car per family. Otherwise he said they would t be living in build Ings where they qualify for Public assistance. One of the residents said streets would be crowded be cause be doubted that there would be enough parking spaces. Councillor William Hallon quist Independent citizens election who moved deferral said in an interview the Public housing project is the fifth develop ment proposed for the site since 1965. Coun. Hallonquist said the area was zoned commercial and residential in 1965 to accommodate a nursing Home and changed in 1968 for a development. But he said the zoning classifications granted b y the former Rural municipal Ity of Assiniboia no longer exist. He said he would meet with the City solicitor s department to determine the legality of them. Fires hit four buildings fires hit four dwelling places in Winnipeg tuesday including a Blaze which destroyed a House at lot 9, bal Gona Road causing about damage. Cause of the fire has not yet been determined a Winnipeg fire department spokesman said. An e a r 1 i c r fire caused to the second Storey of a House at 182 Edgemont drive. The Blaze was caused by faulty electrical wiring a fire department spokesman said. Another fire at . Caused damage to Michols coiffure 323 Garry Street and suite 1 of 325 Garry Street. Cause of the fire believed to have started in the suite was not known. Careless smoking May have been the cause of a Blaze which resulted in damage to a bedroom and contents of a House at 409 Agnes Street. Council supports conference a conference to be held Jan. 28 by the Manitoba federation of labor to debate the Federal government s anti inflation measures received support tuesday from the Winnipeg and District labor Council. The Council voted unanimously at its meeting in the Union Centre to Send four de Legates As requested by the federation and urged that other Union members attend. The meeting will be held in the Winnipeg convention Centre. Terror Effort fails a Winnipeg Man was sentenced to a total of years in prison on charges of Rob and Possession of stolen goods after court was told he terrorized an Ellice Avenue apartment tenant be fore robbing him. The Man David. Michael Zerman 29, of 652 Magnus Avenue suite 2, was sentenced by judge r. L. Kop Stein of provincial judges court in the Public safety building to 30 months in Pris on for the nov. 2 robbery of Otto Roztocil 31, of 570 Ellice suite 3a. Judge Kopstein also sen ten c e d Zerman to eight months for an earlier theft of in goods from or. Roztocil s suite to six months for theft of in goods from suite 4a in. The same building and to. 10 months on a charge of Possession of goods stolen from a Burrows Avenue residence. The sentences Are to be served consecutively. A co accused in the nov. 2 robbery Patrick Gerald Burns 49, a parole violator from Ontario had been sentenced nov. 10 to five years in prison for the robbery. About 1 . Nov. 2, Czer Man and Burns appeared at or. Roztocil s apartment and Zerman struck the tenant s face court was told. Or. Roztocil was bound and gagged. Police arrived an hour later after the bound Man managed to get help from neighbors. T Burns and Zerman were arrested at 652 Magnus where stolen goods were found court was told. Richardson lauds arms boost defence minister James Richardson said tuesday the Federal government s Deci Sion to spend More than billion improving equipment for Canada s armed forces in Europe will help maintain the worldwide balance of Power. M r. Richardson told a press conference in Winnipeg that Canada plays an important role in conventional warfare which is fast be coming the most important aspect of the International balance of Power. He said the possibility of a nuclear War has diminished because the super Powers Are reluctant to use their weapons for fear of reprisals and wide spread devastation. Or. Richardson said War saw pact countries have in creased their military capabilities beyond their defensive needs. For this reason nato must build a Matching Force to discourage potential aggression in Europe he said. The main weapon of a land army is the tank or. Richardson said defending the government s decision to buy new tanks for Canadian forces. He predicted the tanks would Cost about million. Canada is considering buy ing German Leopard tanks which Are becoming recognized As Standard nato equipment the minister said. A second Federal expenditure estimated at Mil lion for 18 Lockheed Long Range patrol aircraft is also justified in View of Canada s defence needs he said. Or. Richardson said the new aircraft would bring b c n e f i t s to the Canadian Economy because replace ment parts would be made in Winnipeg and other centres. He suggested the Purchase might revitalize part of can Ada s aerospace Industry. In making National defence a priority the government has decided to increase the armed forces budget by 12 per cent above the level of inflation every year or. Richardson said. Much of the increased funding will go to Ward the forces non military functions including its Exten Sive education program he said. With More funds the forces will play a greater role in maintaining Domestic stability the minister said. But he stressed that its most important role is its fighting capability. James Richardson defends Purchase ;