Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 5, 1978, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press tuesday december 5, 1978 no transmission repair probe planned for Here continued automatic transmission repair Busi Ness goes far beyond Ontario s Bor Ders. That s what or. Drea Frank Drea Ontario s consumer affairs minister said on National television. He suspects this is not just a Ca Nadian problem but a North Ameri can a spokesman said. Two of the companies implicated have been drummed out of Southern California the spokesman added. Information released by Drea Indi Cates that some franchised transmission repair shops in Ontario May have charged customers millions of dollars for unnecessary or non exis tent repairs. Drea said the study says that some Ontario repair dealers have among other things charged customers As much As for repairs when none were necessary. Lured customers to their shops with such things As Low Cost special deals then manipulated them into paying for major but non existent re pairs. Misled customers into believing they were receiving new or re manufactured transmissions when the dealers Only replaced some Inex pensive pans and repainted the old transmissions. 9 received three week courses in psychological sales manipulation but Learned nothing about transmission repairs. Told customers that residue in the transmission Oil pan meant Seri Ous problems when residue often indicates Normal Wear. Memorized special Selling techniques then were tested by instructors using whips and air horns to frighten students who had forgotten the techniques. A Manitoba consumer affairs marketing practices spokesman said Al though his office has received no complaints related to the Ontario government s accusations it has seen some complaints relating to other things. We have received some com plaints directed at automatic trans Mission outlets. All have been completely resolved with no real the better business Bureau has received no complaints about the transmission repair outlets. An automotive trades association spokesman said the association is planning its own study into the Auto Matic transmission repair business. Mark Boisselle manager of the association said members will be notified that the study is taking place. Survey indicates a e continued a Rescue worker cuts through the wreckage of a private Jet which crashed monday Ai Anchorage killing five. . Senators wife Dies in Jet crash j most of the councillors expressed considerable Surprise at Stewart s recommendation Given the much publicized Litany of Public complaints against Mcarthur s handling of this year s contract. The free press reported monday that at least -13 lawsuits claiming damages illegal towing or non pay ment of Bills to suppliers had been filed against Mcarthur s holding company or one of its six towing subsidiaries in the last three years most of them successful. This is about three times As Many As the other four contract bidders combined. Finance chairman Yanofsky said growing Public furore Over the con tract prompted his suggestion of a delay to other councillors. Head fitted that a number of questions have been raised by the police recommendation and press "1 know some of the councillors Are very concerned about this and want to make their feelings he said. It s a very sensitive Issue be cause our citizens Are the ones who Are directly affected by who gets the Yanofsky also said he would like to hear comments from civic works and operations committee and the Winnipeg police commission the two bodies who thrashed out tighter con tract restrictions on towing in octo Ber. He suggested a joint meeting could be held. Councillor Harold Piercy who spearheaded the City s towing re forms As a member of works com Mittee said he is flabbergasted by Stewart s recommendation and sup ports the idea of a special delayed meeting on the Issue. With All the evidence that s been unearthed about How Mcarthur s has handled that contract there s no Way we should give it to them again unless Stewart has conclusive evidence that the other firms can t do the said Piercy if anyone else is Able to do it then my position is that they be Given a Chance at it i be never seen an Issue that has brought so Many com finance committee member Don Smith said he was not too Happy with Mcarthur s Atti tude toward the Genera Public in the past year calling it too much of a Jack Boot this is not stalag 17, you know. I think a lot of them Tow truck opera tors Are a Little too officious. They could use a softer approach and not run around with a baseball Bat when a Shorter swagger stick is Suffi Smith added however that chief Stewart May have Little Choice but to recommend Mcarthur s because it had quoted the lowest Basic towing fee instead of the City maximum. Aircraft when Strong crosswinds Are blowing. Out the Pilot s group and the Federal aviation administration would not speculate whether the winds from the Southeast contributed to the crash. Stevens rep. Alaska suffered head neck and Arm injuries said Yvonne Cairn Providence Hospital nursing supervisor. Motley chief lobbyist for citizens continued for management of Alaska lands and former commissioner of the Alaska Commerce department was reported in satisfactory condition with a fractured Collar Bone and multiple bruises. Killed in the crash were mrs. Ste Vens Pilot Richard Sykes of an chorale owner of Inlet Marine and president of Tyonek Timber co Pilot Richard Church of Anchorage lawyer Joe Rudd of Anchorage and Timber merchant Clarence Kramer of Sitka president of the pro development group that Motley represented. The group was returning from Juneau the state capital where they met with gov. Jay Hammond to discuss president Carter s decision to set aside 56 million acres of alaskan lands As National Monu ments under the antiquities act. Stevens a second world War fighter Pilot with the famous flying tigers has opposed Carter s Deci Sion As a freeze on land develop ment. He said during debate Over alaskan lands legislation that he had dreamed of dying in a plane crash. Walden Colo. A initial reports said All 22 persons aboard survived when a commuter air liner went Down in the Colorado Rockies in blizzard like conditions. Searchers located the Craft be fore Dawn today after six of those on Board walked into a Ranger Sta Tion said a radio report received at a search command Post. Stephen Blucher commander of the Colorado civil air patrol also reported that the plane had been found about 27 Kilometres South West of Walden. No details were immediately available on the condition of the other passengers. Sub Zero temperatures and Snow whipped by Gale Force winds hampered searchers As they set out with snowmobiles and four wheel drive vehicles to Hunt for the plane. The weather office issued a heavy Snow warning for the search area and said temperatures were expected to plummet. The Rocky Mountain airways plane took off at . Local time monday for what should have been a 55-minute flight across the Continental Divide to Denver. Aboard the plane a de Havilland Dhc-6 twin Otter were the Pilot and co Pilot 19 adult passengers and an infant. The plane s Pilot radioed 15 min utes out of Steamboat Springs that he was having trouble with ice and was turning Back an airlines spokesman said. When the Pilot failed to report further a military plane was sent to Fly Over the route. A signal from an emergency locator transmitter was picked up a Short time later by High flying aircraft but it was not positively linked to the missing plane. The search was concentrated in an area West of Walden 176 pm Northwest of Denver. Unemployment reaches Al. Dollar plunges after Ottawa discloses million prop Montreal up the Canadian Dollar plunged More than a Quarter of a cent against its United states counterpart on key Toronto Money markets monday following news the fed eral government spent nearly million . Propping up the currency last month. The . Dollar in terms of Canad an funds opened today up 1-25 at in new York the Canadian Dollar was Down 3-100 at 50.8528. At he end of an Active trading monday on the Interbank wholesale Market where Banks Trade Large amounts of currencies with each other the Dollar was changing hands at 85.31 . Cents Down 28-100 of a cent from Friday s close of 85.59 . Cents. But in Early trading the currency had dropped As Low As 85.15 . Cents after the finance department reported government intervention in inter National Money markets reduced re serves of foreign currencies by More than million during november. Has been below six per cent for most of the year. Finance minister Jean Chretien told the commons finance committee monday that the major reason the government deficit per person is Al most four times that of the United states is because there is More Slack in the Canadian Economy than in the . Economy. Chretien said the government deficit is High but such spending is needed to help get people working. Today s statistics show that 62.8 per cent of the population is either at work or looking for employment. This is an increase of 0.1 per cent from october. This percentage known As the participation rate has increased from 61.4 per cent one year ago primarily because More women have joined the labor Force. Chretien has repeatedly said one of the government s main problems in fighting unemployment is that the participation rate is increasing rapidly. Last month 80.8 per cent of men Over 25 were in the labor Force and 44.2 per cent of women in the same age bracket were either working or seeking work. There was a wide spread in unemployment Levels among the 22 major cities surveyed by the Federal Agen continued by. The unemployment rate for Chicoutimi Jonqui�re stood highest at 16.7 per cent followed by St. John s with 13.9 per cent. Edmonton and Calgary had the lowest rates reporting 4.3 per cent and 4.7 per cent unemployment respectively. Sinclair Stevens progressive conservative finance critic said he is surprised the buoyant pre Christmas period has not brought better news for the unemployed. The unemployment level was Al most certain to reach nine per cent in the usually slow months of March and april. Stevens said the government is virtually powerless to do anything to reduce unemployment with a Defi Cit already in the Range. Further increases in that deficit would put pressure on the Dollar re Duce Confidence in the Economy and could bring a new round of inflation he warned. The number of jobless without statistics Canada s seasonal adjustment stood at during november. The october unadjusted jobless total was the Federal Agency adjusts the unemployment figures each month to reflect regular seasonal patterns such As the beginning and ending of the school year the Christmas Rush and other predictable influences on employment. Provincial unemployment rates for the month were Newfoundland Down 0.3 per cent to 16.5 per cent. Nova Scotia 0.3 per cent to 10.5 per cent. New Brunswick Down 0.5 per cent to 11.9 per cent. Prince Edward Island up 1.2 per cent to 11.1 per cent. Quebec change at 10.4 per cent. Ontario up by 0.3 per cent to 7.3 per cent. Manitoba Down 0.1 per cent to 6.4 per cent. Saskatchewan no change at 4.6 per cent. Alberta Down by 0.2 per cent to 4.5 per cent. British Columbia up by 0.3 per cent to 8.5 per cent. These Are the actual Job figures for november compared with the Previ Ous month and a year earlier Esti mates in nov. Oct. Nov. 1978 1978 1977 Newfoundland labor Force 198 204 195 employed 167 175 163 unemployed 31 30 33 Prince Edward Island labor Force 51 54 49 employed 45 49 44 unemployed 645 Nova Scotia labor Force 351 354 334 employed 316 321 301 unemployed 35 33 33 new Brunswick labor Force 283 288 270 employed 252 258 233 unemployed 31 31 36 Quebec labor Force employed unemployed 276 268 295 Ontario labor Force employed unemployed 278 259 253 Manitoba labor Force 481 483 462 employed 452 457 434 unemployed 29 26 28 Saskatchewan labor Force 430 442 425 employed 413 427 408 unemployed 17 15 17 Alberta labor Force 946 959 901 employed 905 920 860 unemployed 41 39 41 British Columbia labor Force employed unemployed 105 93 99 ramp Veteran testifies at Archer trial firearms expert tells of gun procedure by Brian Cole Brandon Man. An ramp firearms expert testified monday he would hold a service revolver pointed upwards before bringing it Down to Bear on the target he intended to shoot. Staff sgt. Ken Warrendorf demonstrated to a Brandon murder trial How he might cock a gun while in the upward position before bring ing it Down and cupping the butt of the gun with two hands and lining up the target. He explained he would t put his Finger on the trigger unless he intended to shoot. The evidence was heard during the 16th Day of testimony at the trial of Herbert and Dorothy Archer on a charge of first degree murder. Her Bert Archer 42, and Dorothy Archer 28. Have pleaded not guilty to the charge in connection with the shoot ing death of const. Dennis Onofrey at the Countryside inn in Virden Man., last Jan. 23. Warrendorf a 16-year Veteran of the ramp emphasized that his use of the gun was his own prefer ence. Under Cross examination by Hersh Wolch who is defending her Bert Archer Warrendorf said he was t familiar with ramp regu lations concerning the use of guns. He told the court he did t carry a revolver and worked mainly in the ramp crime detection Labora tories. Later const. William Hiney of Coquitlam ., ramp told the court a warrant for the arrest of Dorothy Archer was ordered by a Provincial judge after mrs. A Cher failed to appear in court last december. But he could t say whether the judge s order was car ried out or whether mrs. Archer subsequently appeared on her own. Earlier defence counsel Jay Prober representing Dorothy a Cher asked the court to order Crown counsel to produce As evidence a Bullet removed from mrs. Archer following the Virden shootout. He also asked that the doctor who performed the surgery be called to testify As to what condition mrs. Archer would be in after being shot. Crown counsel Lawrence Macon Ness argued that the Bullet and the doctor s evidence were irrelevant to the Case. However or. Justice John Hunt of Manitoba court of Queen s Bench ruled that the Bullet should be produced and that the doctor could testify As to whether he had removed the Bullet from mrs. Archer. But the doctor would not be Able to testify As to mrs. Archer s condition immediately before surgery the judge ruled. The judge said that if Prober wanted the doctor s evidence As to the condition of mrs. Archer he should Call the doctor As a defence Wilness. Prober then decided to accept the Crown s statement that the Bullet produced in court Mon removed from mrs. A Cher. The trial continues. Peking posters urge links with Taiwan peking Reuter a poster on peking s democracy Wall called today for arrangements to be worked out for the Exchange of mail and visits Between Mainland China and Taiwan. Poster writer i tse min noted nationalist held Taiwan has been separated from communist ruled China for 30 years and Many families have been separated As a result. He called for consultations to arrange for an Exchange of mail to be followed by tourist traffic Between Taiwan and the Mainland. The Taiwan Issue remains the main problem preventing the normalization of diplomatic relations Between China and the United states. Chinese leaders have said there can be no normalization until Washington Breaks All ties with Taipei ;