Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 14, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba 4 Winnipeg free press tuesday april 14, 1981 d Fiji to blame for Ryan s loss astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen float in weightlessness while Young talks to . Vice president George Bush. Shuttle flight stirs Confidence concern Over lost tiles diminishes As astronauts head for Earth continued from Page 1 the Young radioed flight controllers at Johnson spacecraft Cen tre outside of Houston is performing just beautifully much better than any one Ever expected of the first Eugene Kranz the Deputy director of flight operations told reporters in Houston that based on Columbia s Early performance we Are capable of moving into a very aggressive flight program moving out very rapid but while business sailed on smoothly in orbit engineers in Houston continued an exhaustive analysis to make sure that the tiles damaged during yester Day s launch did not pose a problem for getting safely Back to Earth. The damaged tiles around the Back of Columbia s cargo doors Are among the thinnest among the thousands that protect the spacecraft s Metal skin be cause they Are not in an area that experiences the More excessive temperatures As the spacecraft collides with the upper atmosphere at but the damage to those tiles did raise the question of whether thick Black tiles on the belly of the vehicle might have been damaged or lost As Well. A camera aboard the Columbia made it possible for engineers to care fully study the damaged area but they could not see the underside. Twice yesterday efforts were made to photograph the Bottom of the space ship using High powered . Air Force cameras in Hawaii and Florida. Kranz told reporters late yesterday that there had been no pictures taken of the underside that were in any Way but he stressed there was no reason to believe that tiles on the Bottom of the spaceship had been damaged. Young and Crippen were awakened at . Cost yesterday. The flight control Centre Shook them out of their slumber with a country and West Ern tune Columbia the main machine written in their Honor by a technician at Cape canaveral. They spent much of the Day doing attitude control exercises with their Manfor debt seen As obstacle to Sale of Complex at the Pas continued from Page 1 or new owner and which Craik has estimated would Cost million would allow the Complex to produced bleached pulp and paper used for a variety of White papers and which has a broader Market. Asked about possible court action by Kasser Craik said we Haven t had any cause at this Point in time to suggest they wanted in any Way to protest the government May have to absorb much of Manfor s debt close to million in capital debt and an Over All operating debt of million it can negotiate a Deal. Any proposal we would contemplate would involve some treatment of said Adam a Zimmerman executive vice president of Noranda. K. Linn Macdonald group vice presi Dent of Abi Tibi Price inc. Of Toronto who said his firm rejected an approach to buy Manfor said anyone wishing to buy the Mill would want it free and debt considered Craik agreed any Deal would have to take the debt into account there s no doubt about but he declined to say what the government would be prepared to do about the debt. Noranda has not made a firm pro said Zimmerman adding that the firm in t discussing outright Pur in our View the greatest service that could be done is a managerial role that could Lead to an investor s role but not necessarily to an investor s Macmillan Bloedel which has recently recommended that its share holders accept an offer by Noranda for effective control of the company submitted the outline of a proposal to the government some Little while its president Raymond Smith said. He declined to give any details of the proposal. Macdonald who noted Abi Tibi was approached More than a year ago said my memory is that the consultant was looking for a the Consul Tant was not asking a specific Price but wanted to sell it to a purchaser who would do something with it and that is Manfor s assets have been valued at million. Craik declined to say if the government has put a Botton line Price on the forestry Complex. The approach to Abi Tibi had been made by Woods Gordon and co., the Toronto consultants hired by the government to evaluate the controversial pulp and paper Complex recommend ways to improve it and to find a purchaser or partner for it. Won t release report Woods Gordon is the author of a report on the Complex which Craik has refused to release. Last january Craik was quoted As saying that Ottawa had agreed to com Mit up to million under its Mill upgrading program toward changes in Manfor. But he said this week the figure was highly a spokesman for the office of Pierre de Bane minister of regional economic expansion said he was really sur prised a figure had been put on the Federal contribution. Terry o Reilly Debane s executive assistant said discussions have Only been held and they Are confidential at the request of the Manitoba govern no formal application has been made for Dree funding he said. To the Best of my knowledge we be been Given a package of information for us to look he said. Meanwhile Craik said a standing offer by techno pulp inc. A Kasser company for the Plant in t under any Active Slous said in july 1977, that techno pulp had offered an option to Purchase of million less the losses sustained by the project from its takeover in 1971 to the Date on which the option was accepted or the net Book value of Manfor on the Date the option was exercised plus the Par value of Deben Tures held by the province amounting to about million in 1977. Churchill Forest industries was created by Kasser in the 1960s with million in Loans from the province s former conservative government. The nip administration which came to Power in 1969 launched a commission of inquiry and in 1971 the Plant was put in receivership emerging two years later As the Crown owned Manitoba forestry resources. Charges of fraud against Kasser and three other principles of Chi now residing in Switzerland re main outstanding in Canada. Space plane opening and closing their cargo doors trying on their pressurized suits and testing operational systems from Stem to Stern. Television pictures showed Young with eyeglasses perched on his nose casually Reading his flight plan As Columbia crossed the northeastern United states. Throughout most of the Day the pilots stayed ahead of their work sched ule. This delighted officials in hous ton because astronauts on Many Previ Ous first flights of new space vehicles often had extreme difficulty completing everything that was planned. The astronauts were floating about in Columbia s spacious Middle flight deck when Bush called them from the White House yesterday afternoon. During the Brief conversation the vice president told them that their flight is going to just ignite the excitement and Forward thinking in the he told them that he and the rest of the nation would be watch ing the Landing with great Bush made a Small joke about Crip pen s heartbeat which had gone up to 130 during the launch sunday while Young s had been recorded at 85 to 90. How is Crippen s heart beat doing Bush asked. It s going Down to about nothing i Young answered. Complained of cold during their first night in space Young and Crippen complained of get Ting cold As they slept in their seats on the flight deck. We got about ready to break out the Long Crippen said. The Cabin warmed up during the Day after a control device was found to have slipped into the cold position sunday night. Flight controllers said they could produce More heat from the orbiter s heat exchanger if the problem recurred. Weather forecasters predicted excellent conditions for the Landing today at Edwards. There May be a thin layer of Cirrus Clouds at an Altitude of metres. Nasa officials said that posed no problem. I think that is ready made to Allen radioed to. The Crew aboard Columbia. By Michael Doyle Premier Rene Levesque last night galloped to Victory on the heels of a Slick skilful Campaign built on strategy which would have made the Federal liberals proud. But the two thirds majority captured by the Premier they Defeated in the May 20 referendum May come Back to haunt them. Tough questions Are going to be asked about whether prime minister Trudeau s unilateral plan to Patriate the Constitution helped Knock Quebec Liberal Leader Claude Ryan out of the boxing ring. Trudeau and his popular Justice min ister Jean Chretien always maintained they were changing the Constitution in part because Quebec was owed renewed federalism for its act of Faith last May. But Quebe cers from every segment of society including Many leading lib eral thinkers made it Clear from the Start that just because they chose can Ada it did not mean they also wanted to give Trudeau a free hand. In Ottawa that part of the Quebec message was largely ignored in the rhetoric used by Trudeau and Chretien. But now the question takes on new significance. Not Only did the parti quebecois grab a big Victory but it also managed to wipe out the Union National. It Means that Many whose loyalty at one time or another has been preferred to this right Wing nationalistic party switched to the new Democrat leaning economics of the Pequi stes instead of the liberals. And they did that despite dramatic efforts by Liberal Leader Claude Ryan to reach from the traditional Liberal stomping ground into an area of philosophical and economic thought much closer to Many Provin Cial conservative parties than to that of his Federal cousins. Forced to make a Choice Between right Wing thought and nationalism Quebe cers picked nationalism. Many analysts had expected it to go the other Way and they had facts to Back up their Contention. In Many of the 11 by elections won earlier by the liberals it was the poll by poll Union National vote that made the differ ence. The results however fit Well into a traditional Quebec voting patterns. Al most As if by design Quebec votes opponent governments to the Federal and provincial Levels. It Means Quebec holds Strong sometimes controlling Power in Ottawa and at the same time retains hefty bargaining Power by electing a provincial party which won t be kicked around. It s loss of bargaining Power after the referendum that bothered Many que Beers and was dealt with extensively by francophone thinkers. Quebe cers argued not Only that their act of Faith was being misused by a wilful prime minister Trudeau but that the referendum vote caused English Canada to forget Quebec As if they had come to the final chapter in the novel. Quebec was being paid so Little Atten Tion after it made its Choice on May 20 analysis that several English Canada premiers reneged on statements and promises of intent they made during the heat of the referendum Campaign. With Levesque Back and carrying a powerful mandate in his hip pocket the rest of Canada can be expected to sit up and pay attention again. Even Many English voters were pre pared to admit that despite some of their objections to some of his Laws the one thing Levesque had delivered was Good government. In capital letters. If that were not enough the Provin Cial liberals mishandled their own Campaign so badly that the Don of Federal political activity in Quebec consumer affairs minister Andre Ouel let went to Trudeau late in the Campaign to beg permission to put the full Force of the big red Federal machine into action. Ouellet s mass of contacts throughout the Liberal establishment in the prov Ince gave him the right message but Trudeau is reported to have told Duel let to forget his idea. After All Ryan had specifically asked that no help be Given and Levesque was already claiming the provincial Liber als were in the pockets of their Ottawa cousins. In any Case Trudeau does t like Ryan much and makes no secret of it. Leadership cited in election continued from Page 1 Ridings have Given us their support and joined in the mainstream of he said the pm will continue to provide Good government while defend ing and promoting Quebec s Funda mental interests. The theme of his new government would be development by Quebe cers for Levesque did not say Why he thought the party won although he said on the weekend it was because it had kept its promises from the 1976 Campaign. He also cited opposition to Ottawa s uni lateral action on the Constitution. However pollster Maurice Pinard who accurately predicted the election result saturday said the Constitution was Only a minor Factor. Pinard said the personalities of Levesque and Ryan were much More important. Polls showed voter satisfaction with the government Well Over 60 per cent and gave Levesque a crushing two to one Edge in personal popularity Over the More austere and conservative Ryan. Ryan offered no opinions on Why he lost but said one reason the liberals got so few seats despite increasing their share of the popular vote to 46 per cent from 34 per cent in 1976, is the elec toral system. British labor party paper details Compromise formula London up a confidential re search paper has revealed details of the so called Compromise formula de Vised by eight Canadian provinces opposed to Ottawa s constitutional pack age. Kershaw report the Compromise still secret in Canada and scheduled to be discussed at a meeting of premiers on thursday in Ottawa has been known to Britain s opposition labor party for a week. Their formula for Patria Tion is says the paper pre pared by the party s International affairs committee. It says the formula for future Amend ments requires the following la consent of the two houses of parliament in Ottawa the Senate has Only a suspensive i consent of two thirds of the prov inces and More than 50 per cent of the total population. D the possibility of up to three prov inces opting out of constitutional amendments if they infringe on Provin Cial rights. This option must be approved by a two thirds majority in the provincial Energy talks have still a Way to go continued from Page 1 is just around the although Alberta was in a receptive mood discussions were constructive and officials have been designated to work out the details Lalonde said. The discussions Are Complex and involve Large sums of Money the Energy minister added. Leitch was in a particularly upbeat mood coming out of the talks. I feel that we made some he said. Alberta proposed some now asked if Ottawa s shifts in attitude could be termed significant he re plied i would describe them As however Leitch added a caution to his comments on the Success of the talks. I be said i Felt we made some he said. It would be wrong to infer we be reached consensus. There s still a Way to the two governments have been unable to agree for More than a year on Oil and natural Gas pricing and How revenues resulting from increased prices should he shared among Ottawa the producing provinces and Industry. The oct. Budget and National Energy program imposed new Oil and Gas prices and taxation measures As Well As a significantly restructured Revenue sharing formula to More than double Ottawa s take. Production Cut Alberta retaliated by cutting Oil production by an average of barrels a Day or five per cent of its productive capacity starting March 1. It also successfully challenged in the Alberta court of Appeal a new excise tax on natural Gas exports from provincially owned Wells and refused to give the final go ahead to two Alberta Oil Sands projects. The province has said the cuts will be increased by about barrels a Day on june 1 and a final barrels a Day on sept. 1 if there still is no agreement. Federal sources said there is a possibility of More than one meeting be tween Lalonde and Leitch toward the end of May but an agreement before june is unlikely. As the talks were in Progress Justice minister Jean Chretian announced in Ottawa the Federal government is seek ing permission from the supreme court of Canada to Appeal the natural Gas decision handed Down by the Alberta court of Appeal. Leitch said he does not anticipate the Appeal will interfere with the negotiations although some of the principles involved in the Case have a bearing on elements of the Energy package. The Alberta court ruled last month that the Federal government does not have the right to impose an excise tax on Gas exported to the United states from Wells owned by the province. Alberta challenged the tax on ground it is an invasion of provincial jurisdiction. The two ministers said separately that they did not discuss Alberta s Oil cutbacks a particularly irksome prob Lem for the Federal government be cause it Means subsidizing replace ment of cheap Alberta crude with High Cost foreign Oil. The Battle Over Energy has at its heart two conflicting streams of thought. Provincial resource Alberta owns the resource under court interpretations of the 1867 British North America act and claims Selling the Oil at a Price pegged by the National government at far below world Levels Means it has been subsidizing the National Good at great expense to its citizens. The Federal government argues that although Alberta should get More Money for its Oil the nation will Benefit from generally lower Domestic Oil prices because Industry in the country will enjoy a competitive Edge in lower production costs. Besides that the liberals got into office last february after an election Campaign that said much about not sticking Consumers of gasoline and Home heating Oil with higher prices. Lalonde some Progress ;