Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 1, 1978, Winnipeg, Manitoba 12 Winnipeg free press wednesday March 1, 1978 a news analysis atom Industry ills Point accusing Finger at Ottawa by w. A. Wilson free press correspondent sensation Al aspects of the Public accounts committee s investigation of nuclear sales abroad the suspicion that payments were made for corrupt and illegal purposes inevitably will secure the most Public and political at Tention. They Are not however the most fundamental and important aspects of the com Mittee s findings. These Are the things that went wrong and the Basic question to which the committee addresses itself clearly is How it could have happened. The answer was that the government was incredibly careless in discharging its own responsibilities. When atomic Energy of Canada limited was expanding from a research organization of moderate size into a major Industrial Enterprise the government neglected its most obvious duties. It did not provide the company with the management Struc Ture and the controls that even a Quick look at the Industrial world would have told Cabinet ministers were essential. As the owner of Industrial enterprises the government has demonstrated two differ ent faults it has often failed to recognize the importance of appointing competent boards of directors to the Point that pleas from the executives of Crown corporations for Strong directors have usually gone unheeded. It has believed that men with no management experience can run Crown corporations successfully when All business experience shows that special skills arc Neces sary. Other owners who treated their businesses As the government far too often has treated Crown corporations could expect failure and it is Only the Public purse that has averted this at times in the Public sector. It was Only after things had gone badly at decl that the govern ment woke up to the reality that boards of directors play an important role in corporate management and took Steps to strengthen this particular one. But when it was obvious that stronger management was necessary the Cabinet reached out to the world of diplomacy and plucked Ross Campbell from his ambassadorial role to him chairman. Not surprisingly he incurred the committee s criticism. It seems not to have occurred to the Cabinet even after the troubles began that decl required a competent manager not a Diplomat As its chairman. Leaving aside the commit tee s suspicion that the Pur pose of the famous payments to agents was for corrupt purposes and its criticism of uncooperative witnesses consider the things it has to say that essentially reflect the government s role the decision making pro Cess vested too much Power in the former president j. Lome Gray and did not pro vide adequate safeguards to protect the Public interest and its investment in the Board and manage ment of decl did not take the necessary action to pre pare he Crown corporation for its enormous commercial undertakings both at Home and abroad by developing a required expertise in marketing project control and despite the complexity of the transformed Organiza Tion and the dramatic in crease in the financial risks management systems were not modified to keep Pace with the new demands placed on lacking adequate staff and expertise the company seriously misjudged the risks it was Call Joan Ren Wick or Jim m. Or Anne e. Check the White pages and Call the Scotia plan loan officer at our Scotia Bank Branch near you. Our loan officers realize that you May be in a hurry and Haven t time for an immediate personal visit. So they Are glad to talk about your Scotia plan loan request Over the phone. If you be borrowed from us before you May get an approval on the spot. If you Haven t borrowed from us before die phone Call can arrange an appointment so that a lot of the paper work can be done by die time you drop in. A Scotia plan loan officer s Job is to approve your loan application As quickly and easily As possible. And to fit you with a repayment plan that will be manageable. That s How we be v of become a Leader in the Field of consumer Bank Loans with Over million Loans approved and that number is growing daily. We wan you to grow with us. Scotia Bank wants your loan business. And we think we should have it because we believe that a Scotia plan loan really is better. One reason is our Scotia plan loan officers. When you speak Widi one of them you re speaking with someone who has the authority to approve most Loans immediately someone who wants to do so and someone who is wait ing for your Call. Call the Scotia plan loan officer at our Scotia Bank Branch near you. Joan Renwick s a Scotia ran loan officer Al our 17th Avenue . And Radisson or Branch in Call Joan. Scotia Bank the Bank of Nova Scotia the government and its Central agencies should have More closely monitored the expansion of decl into com plex commercial Active the decl senior executive officers before entering into substantial commercial transactions should have developed the required expertise in marketing project control and your committee ques ions tie process by which decl was allowed to expand ils objectives to include those of a commercial enter prise without reference to or change in statutory or regulatory your committee concludes that the evolution of decl from a research organization to a substantial commercial Enterprise has not Bun subjected to appropriate scrutiny by govern ment and until now by Par your Cui Ninitta a believes tie government should specify what it expects from directors of Crown Corpora your committee also expresses concern Al the Inadequacy of lie Akcel Board of directors. Ii is evident that the composition of the decl Board did not adequately reflect ils needs during the period when the matters under review occurred. The object lives and needs of a Crown corporation should be care fully considered Wilen Mak ing appointments to its Board of All of Siose comments from the committee place lie blame squarely where it belongs on the shoulders of the Trudeau Cabinet. It was responsible for the inadequate Quality of the Board. It had a duty to supervise the growth and changed nature of the corporation ensuring that its management person Nel and structures kept Pace with its new role. In fact the i a incl Bolh failed to look to the management Quality and structures As the Corpora Tion s role expanded and then failed to maintain even elementary supervision of what was happening. Or. Gray who was sharply criticized by the committee had been appointed presi Dent of decl in 1958, when it was still a moderate sized research Enterprise. The company begin its efforts to sell tie Candy reactor abroad in 1908, accepting a bigger role and bigger risks but no Effort was made to review ils corporate adequacy for the task by the Only people who could have done so or. Trudeau and the members of his government. That is where tie real fault lies. The result is that now the committee finds it must make a recommendation As elementary As this one the government should ensure that senior management be qualified for the tasks in this Case the committee finds that the senior management of decl including the Secretary the treasurer and the internal auditor did not properly discharge their responsibilities As thus the Board and the entire lop management arc the objects of the committee s criticisms because the govern ment failed to ensure that senior management be qualified for the tasks As Iceland papers Settle strike Reykjavik a eight icelandic newspapers were Back on Newsstands saturday after a week Long strike by 140 journalists was settled with pay increases ranging up to 38 per cent. The agreement gives journalists who had earned to a month in eight pay categories to nine grades ;