Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 9, 1976, Winnipeg, Manitoba Ouellet court hearing adjourned a week Winnipeg free press Friday january 9, 1976 Montreal up after court citation against the a series Flegal challenges by minister was adjourned to counsel for consumer affairs Jan. 16 thursday. Minister Andre Ouellet a or. Ouellet sat quietly and hearing into a contempt of made no statements during ., will pay off insurance deficit Victoria up the provincial government will Clear the books of the insurance corp. Of British Colum Bia paying off a deficit on March 1, Premier Bill Bennett announced thursday. The Premier refused to answer reporters questions on the source of the funds or what effect the payment will have on Auto insurance Rales. Or. Pat Mcger minister a charge of said a new rate Structure will be presented to Cabinet monday. The government announced earlier that the debt would be paid through increased insurance premiums at 10 per cent a year Over 10 years. The increases were Between 100 and Iso per cent for this year. Or Bennett or. Mcger and finance minister Evan Wolfe made a joint statement about the debt payment decided at a Cabinet meeting thursday then quickly left the press conference. Finance minister Wolfe said it s very Clear at this stage that the government does not have the funds in the Treasury to pay for this kind of debt from past mistakes and therefore i think it s very obvious that in order to provide for this we re going to have to go into the finance minister said the borrowing will probably be backed by a Bill to be introduced at the next sitting of the legislature. The minister added that an accounting firm is looking into the finances of And that report won t be available for three or four weeks. Quebec olympic surtax rumoured Quebec up two provincial ministers thursday refused to comment on re ports that Quebec is thinking of imposing a special lax to finance the Montreal olym pics if the Federal govern ment withholds financial sup port. Finance minister Raymond Garneau failed to return Calls to his office and a spokesman for Revenue minister Robert Quenneville said this is not our concern for the or. Garneau s office How Ever issued a statement which said according to the Century old tradition the finance minister reserves any statement on budget Mea sures for the National Assem Bly. Drafting of the annual budget entails much exploratory work but All possibilities examined in the course of that work Are confidential and it would he a violation of1 my oath of office and of parliamentary tradition for me to comment on on thursday the news paper be Soleil reported that officials of the finance depart ment have been ordered to prepare a plan for a special income surtax to assure i n a n c i n g for the summer games in Montreal in july. The tax would apparently be deducted from pay Che ques in the same Way As health insurance or Quebec pension plan payments. The tax could be. As High As 0.5 per cent of an employee s weekly salary while employ ers could be required to con tribute 1.2 per cent of employee salaries the paper said. The tax could be reduced or eliminated if Ottawa consented to increase its financial contribution for the games the report said. The Federal government has so far refused to Budge from its original stand that it would contribute indirectly to the games by minting commemorative coins and Stamps and furnishing the services of ramp armed forces and customs officers for Security purposes. The newspaper said the surtax would provide nearly million in Revenue for the government about the same amount As had been estimated would be required to cover the games deficit. Reports from Montreal thursday however suggested that the games Bill will in crease to billion and the deficit to million from 6 0 9 the main building site is completed according to the 1972 plans. Games must meet schedule official continued of the Montreal games after or. Goldbloom accompanied 75 reporters monday on the first major Media tour of the olympic facilities designed by French architect Roger Tail Libert. The reaction was varied when the minister and officials of the government s newly created olympics installations Board shied Well away from Flat predictions of Success though claiming considerable Progress in seven weeks. Neither i nor anyone else can make that or. Goldbloom said. If a Miracle is needed a Miracle must be was the editorial response of la p r e s s e Canada s biggest French language daily. The Montreal Star followed up in similar vein when olympics columnist Richard Low wrote let s make one tiling perfectly Clear the games of the 21st olympiad will begin at 3 o clock on the afternoon of saturday july 17, 1976, in Montreal Quebec Canada. And no amount of misinterpretation misinformation or outright misrepresentation by the local and foreign news Media can push these games on to another City or Back to another the journalistic Calls to arms sound Sweet to air. Goldbloom and Roger Rous seau president of the organizing committee for the Montreal games for whom life is just one onrushing deadline after another. They Welcome moral sup port As they Are to present an annual report on the Mon t r e a 1 preparations to the Ioc meeting in Innsbruck Austria Jan. 31, before the Winter olympics next month. Observers say skyrocketing costs and the time Factor have forced a return to some of the simplicity promised by mayor Jean Drapeau after he persuaded the Ioc nearly five years ago to award the 1976 summer games to Mon Treal. The olympics deficit has been estimated by the gov e r n m e n t at million nearly twice the size of the original total Drapeau Bud get. The government estimated the games will Cost billion All although reports in Montreal thursday indicated the total Cost May reach billion. For Many the heart breaker is that uncertainty surrounds Only the Core of the olympics the seat main stadium one of the most striking architectural concepts in the world with its projected 550-foot leaning Tower and retractable roof. All other games venues Are finished or on schedule As Well As the olympic Village that will House at dates and officials. Engineers say the Tower will probably go no higher than its present height of 138 feet before the games though or. Goldbloom has pledged the Tail Libert concept will be respected and completed after the olym pics. The main press Centre has already been shifted from the stadium in East end Montreal to a mid town location in line with the install Alini Board s policy of chopping construction Fea Tures non essential to the games. Our principal concern is that athletes be properly housed and properly received in the various facilities that must be made available to them for dressing training and medical or. A Goldbloom said. The proceedings before or. Justice James k. Hug Essen. The minister had been or dered to appear before the Quebec Superior court hear ing to answer for remarks allegedly made by him about a dec. 19 verdict by or. Justice Kenneth Mackay which acquitted three sugar refiners on charges of Price fixing. Or. Ouellet s remarks were described As false abusive intemperate and reprehensible in or. Justice Mac Kay s citation ordering the hearing. A reporter and an editor from the Canadian press the National news gathering co operative As Well As a representative of the Csc testified thursday. They explained the proce Dure by which coverage of the dec. 19 verdict and or. Ouellet s subsequent reaction was disseminated. Or. Justice Mackay announced at the opening of the hearing he was deferring his jurisdiction in the Case to or. Justice hug Essen associate chief Justice of the court. With the agreement of the lawyers present or. Ouellet was allowed to sit next to la s lawyer rather than in the prisoner s Dock in deference to what or. Justice hug Essen described a the minister s special role in the Public Eye. Or. Ouellet s lawyer Gabriel Lapointe presented a series of motions challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the Case. He said the Case should be heard in Ontario since the re Marks were said to have been made by the minister in that province and failing that the Case properly fell under the jurisdiction of the Quebec court of Appeal. Or. Justice hug Essen rejected these motions and an other that said he should Dis qualify himself for having re presented one of the three acquitted companies in a 19g9 appearance before the Feder Al government s restrictive Trade practices commission. The judge also ruled that presentation of the Case by summary Spe Cial hearing which bypasses the need for a preliminary not exceed the limits of the procedure nor Mally used Only in exceptional cases. He said that if the state ments credited to or. Ouellet had been made and if they had been made in the terms alleged they were susceptible of creating a serious impediment to the administration of Justice by one of the judges of this Paul Gessell Montreal business editor for the Cana Dian press who covered the nine month trial and Lloyd m c d o 1 a a up general night editor told the court How the news Agency handled news of the verdict and or. Ouellet s reaction to the ver dict. Or. Mcdonald testified he had ordered a paragraph quoting or. Ouellet deleted from one of the first stories about the decision shortly after it had been transmitted on up s main circuit. In my judgment As an Edi Tor i Felt it was dangerous for the Canadian press to carry the quote As it or. Mcdonald said. He read the paragraph which quoted or. Ouellet say ing i just can t understand How a judge who is sane can give such a or. Mcdonald said that while he had ordered the paragraph deleted by All sub scribers to the wire service he did not doubt the accuracy of the report. He said he made the decision after he had tried without Success to Contact the company s coun Sel. The court also heard tapes of French language news easts in which statements attributed to or. Ouellet concerning the Mackay verdict were repeated. Or. Justice Mackay had acquitted Redpath industries Ltd., Atlantic sugar refine co. Ltd. And St. Lawrence sugar Ltd., on charges of conspiring to fix prices and Lessen Competition in six Eastern Canadian prov inces from 1960 to 1973. Justice minister Roll Bas Ford announced monday an Appeal has been launched against the acquittal. Win a Scagos Skyanne As a Back Tures to create ice sculptures along the deep freeze has kept overnight lows in drop Waves and Spray from Lake i Shore. An Arctic cold air mass the Chicago at about minus 23 a with Chian Combine with sub Zero tempera same one that s keeping Winnipeg in a midday highs peaking at about minus 6. 5% economic growth in forecast for 76 Calgary up the rate of real economic growth in Canada is expected to be about five per cent this year compared to a no growth performance last year r. E. Harrison president of the Ca n a d i a n Imperial Bank of Commerce said thursday. He told the Bank s annual economic Outlook conference for business executives that the Federal government faces a1 major task in convincing canadians to support its anti inflation program and i suspect they will have to do better Job than they have so or. Harrison said although fhe government insists it is practising Belt tightening in february it will bring Down preliminary estimates for Fis Cal 1976 which will Likely show Federal expenditures up per cent Given rising costs and the likelihood of supplementary spending the actual increase will probably be closer to 20 per cent and that is not my idea of the severe on the other hand he said the anti inflation guidelines should have a moderating effect on prices this year provided business and labor operate. Unfortunately neither the anti inflation Board nor the Federal government has done much to faster such co oper Jubal threat startles councillors but they Don t really believe it like All councillors con t a c t c d after the announcement coun. Wolfe praised the mayor for his hard work sincerity dedication and leadership. Like them too coun. Wolfe s a w the resignation announcement As an indicator of the mayor s frustration at inaction on a number of civic issues. Issues councillors named included City involved private development proposals such a s Winnipeg Square in East Yards Centennial Gar Dens 101 and the smaller recently approved p a u 1 i u Chambers Ltd. Expansion. Other issues cited were establishing More provincial continued Revenue sharing with the City the often faltering City provincial land banking pro Gram the demands of the suburbs pitted against the in creased costs of municipal services displeasure with the Complex City of Winnipeg act and Over the composition of the three Man committee appointed this fall to review it. Coun. Gee speculated that the mayor might resign about three Days prior to civic election nomination Day next year then announce hell run for office again. A sampling of councillors reactions coun. Don Gerrie in. Dependent fort chairman of finance commit tee s real estate subcommittee and currently Council s leading practitioner of consensus politics said there s an awful lot of aspiring mayors. I imagine the blood will flow quite freely. The tra rebellion in Ireland is going to look like a Bill Norrie ice fort chairman of Council after the mayor and Deputy mayor said he s interested in the mayor s Job. China mourns death quietly japanese correspondents in peking reported that communist party leaders Jnet thurs Day night at the great Hall of the people. There was speculation that the Central com Mittee of the party was deciding on Chou s successor. Observers believed the Choice was sure to be Teng a protege of Chou who was purged in 1967 during the Cul Tural revolution returned to Power in 1973 and has been running the government since the Premier became ill. However the funeral com Mittee list which presumably listed the members in the order of their party standing placed Wang second after Mao and Teng fourth follow continued ing defence minister Yeh Cluen Ying 79. This might mean that Wang will inherit Chou s party Mantle putting him in line to succeed Mao As party chairman. Wang was chosen for High office As a Concession to youth but his Star seemed to waver in recent months. Fol lowing Chou s illness he ceased to accompany foreign visitors to audiences with Mao and in recent months he has made his Headquarters in Shanghai. He reappeared in peking dec. 17 to preside at the funeral of another party vice chairman Kang Sheng. Chou s death left a huge Gap in the aged chinese leadership. Three of the nine places in the All powerful politburo standing committee have now fallen vacant in the last nine months through deaths. Of the remaining six Only three members Are consid ered fully premiers Teng and Chang Chun Chiao and Wang. Despite this observers Gen f. R a 11 y doubt that Chou s death will Lead to significant policy changes. It is generally assumed Chou himself picked Teng to help China through a difficult transition period. Depending on what Hap pens to me personally i might consider it. This opens quite a bit of speculation. There la he a lot of jockeying at City Council meetings should be a lot More interest ing this year with All the coun. Ken. Talanchuk ice lord environment committee chair Man a i think politicians being what they Are they would love to see the number one son of Winnipeg give his mayor Juba later said he could t say so far in and Vance whether he would Lay hands on any particular mayoralty candidate coun. Talanchuk was undecided whether he would want the Post. I be had a lot of people approach me. It s something i would have to give serious consideration coun. Gerry Mercier ice fort works and operations committee chairman did t comment on whether he d be a mayoralty candidate. He said mayor Juba is a Basic Genius in government and added frustration with the size of Council could account for the resignation announcement. Coun. Morris Kaufman ind. Fort coun cil s most effective and articulate voice of dissent said it s a since the mayor is one of the few populists on Council. Action. Free Enterprise and Large Trade unions Are now. Being blamed for the inflation problem when in fact much of the blame might be traced to the government s own he said excessively High wage settlements in the civil service have prompted unions in the private sector to make irresponsible wage demands in order to restore traditional wage relationships. I submit that if any sector in this country needs to show restraint it is government it Sumer spending is expected to Rise by three or four per cent in real terms Automo bile sales to be fairly Well maintained in 1976 and hous ing activity to continue to in crease. But business investment growth appears Uncertain in 1976. While Federal surveys indicate that capital expenditures will grow by 28 per cent this year a big allowance should be made for the fact that the Survey was carried out before the Impact of the guidelines could be As As we see it business fixed investment in Plant and equipment is Likely to show a continued slowing in its con Stant Dollar rate of increase this while wage and Price Gui d e 1 i n e s Are necessary at present or. Harrison cautioned that we May already be enmeshed in a web of per manent and growing govern ment to h i s could eventually strangle efficient business practice restrict individual Freedom and initiative and re place the free Market system As t h c Price determining mechanism with a bureaucrat Selkirk milk Plant facing withdrawal scrap the project. Under a proposed agree ment in september the government was to invest million in common and preferred shares to hold 45 per cent of the voting shares. The Board was to put up for 55 per cent of the voting shares and the depart ment of agriculture was to give an initial loan of million. The rest of the Money was to come from a million Federal department of regional economic expansion Grant. If the Manitoba govern continued mint decided not to invest the marketing Board would have to decide if it wanted to proceed with the venture. Or. Yuskiw has indicated there is a possibility of the Plant being sponsored by the Board and other producers. Some sources have suggested the producer owned Manitoba Dairy and poultry co operative limited representing about 25 per cent of the producers might become a partner. Another possibility should the government decide against buying shares in the Plant would be for the government to make the same amount of Money available through a loan to the marketing Board sources said. Or. Yuskiw declined to comment on these possibilities. A decision about the future of the Plant should be made in four to six weeks or Yuskiw said. The Federal Grant which has Chen indefinite for the past few years and on which construction o f the Plant hinged now has been offered to the marketing Board which has 90 Days to decide whether to accept the offer. Tightening of the Federal milk subsidy would Dampen plans to increase milk production to Supply the Plant. Or. Yuskiw said the Federal government is expected to withdraw about million in subsidies reducing returns to producers. Illespie to meet tycoons Toronto up the Globe and mail says Energy minister Alastair Gillespie will Confer privately monday with a group of Toronto businessmen who Are concerned about prime minister tru Deau s recent comments on the free Enterprise system. In an Ottawa Story the newspaper quotes an aide As saying the meeting apparently has been arranged by or. Gillespie personally and not at the request of or. Tru Deau. It quotes the aide As saying or. Gillespie arranged the meeting with a dozen or so senior executives because of the Gap Between the prime minister s statement and the reaction to Indian government suspends seven Basic freedoms and the four agencies have been depicting India As a backward country of food shortages economic crises strikes disease and religious bigotry the ministry said. The rights suspended thursday included Freedom of Assembly Freedom to form associations and unions to move freely throughout India to live in any part of India to own property and to follow any profession Trade or Busi Ness. The seven rights Are covered by article 19 of the Constitution and Are known As the seven freedoms. The order signed by pres ident Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed also suspends the right of citizens to ask the courts to enforce. Article 19. No explanation was Given for the order the fourth sus pension of specific articles of the Constitution since the state of internal emergency was declared. The first three suspensions were of the right to Equality before the Law the right to continued life and personal Liberty and the right of people arrested to know the charges against them and to be produced be fore a court within 24 hours. Subsequent amendments have made it possible for the government to detain people without trial or stated reason for up to two years and to deny them the right to move Hareas Corpus petitions be fore the courts. The supreme court now is hearing a petition from the Indian government and several stale governments ruled by the Congress party to prevent slate High courts from hearing Hareas Corpus Pel Lions from political detainees and those held for alleged economic offences. Thursday s order is believed prompted by a bom Bay High court decision last month striking Down a government ban on Assembly of More than five persons. The two Bombay judges held that the ban imposed by the City s police commissioner was draconian and absurd. The supreme court granted a stay order against the judgment. In her speech mrs. Gandhi strongly defended her Deci Sion to prolong the country s internal emergency saying there was no guarantee forces of disruption would nol come into full play again if it were lifted. How Are we to believe thai there has been a change of heart among the reposition groups she asked an hour Long speech. I fully agree that the sort of tolerance i showed was a crime against the the prime minister said. I have to make up for the time lost. I have to make India Strong and democracy ;