Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 24, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba 6 Winnipeg free press Friday april 24, 1981 Winnipeg free press Freedom o Trade Equality of civil rights Liberty of religion published and printed Elx Days a week at 300 Carlton Street. Winnipeg r3c 3c1 by Canadian newspapers company limited Telephone 943-9331 second class mail registration number 0286 Donald Nicol publisher John Dafoe editorial Page editor Murray Burt managing editor editorials Hydro inquiry is needed the lesson to be Learned from the prolonged debate on Manitoba Hydro is that when governments give out information it should be full Frank and Complete. The Lyon government is in trouble today because whatever the reason it chose to provide information about the Hydro Board s relations. With the Tritschler commission in a narrow grudging and incomplete manner. The consequence has been to turn what should have been a routine review of the annual report of Manitoba Hydro into a circus of charges that will now in the Public interest simply have to be investigated. On the basis of official and unofficial information which has surfaced during the Days of debate on the Hydro Issue it is possible for reasonable people to conclude what really went on during those weeks of 1979. Steward Martin Hydro s chief counsel at the Totne became highly disturbed about the course the Tritschler inquiry had taken. He drafted a submission to the inquiry which accused it of exceeding its terms of reference and suggested to Hydro s vice chairman . Wedepohl that the commis Sion s conduct be challenged in court. The chairman disa greed reported his disagreement to the minister responsible Don Craik and later had his disagreement upheld by the Hydro Board. The actions of the vice chairman the minister and the Board Are open to debate but they were perfectly proper and responsible. What is not proper and responsible is the failure of the government and the present Hydro manage ment to put those facts clearly and unambiguously before a legislature committee when they were asked. The result of that failure is that Public debate has shifted from actions that Are defensible to statements that Are not either because they do not give Complete information or because they Are worded in a manner to convey an Irh press Ion that the words themselves do not substantiate. There is no doubt that the information Given the legislature committee by two senior Hydro officials chairman Kris Kristjanson and chief executive officer . Blatchford is at variance with the Public record. It is no doubt possible to split hairs about whether the letter expressing or. Martin s objections to the proceedings of the Tritschler commission did not constitute a Legal opinion. But the role of government should not be to split hairs it should be to provide the legislature and the Public with full and Complete information. And hair splitting aside it is now Clear that there is on the record a document that the Hydro officers said several times did not exist. That document a minute of a Hydro Board meeting links the original suggestion that Hydro had received Legal advice to Challenge the commission in court with the unsigned document read in the legislature which evidently a proposed text of or. Martin s suggested Challenge to the commission. Or. Craik can reasonably claim that he simply passing on to the committee the original statement of or. Blatchford that no such document existed. However or. Craik omitted to say things initially that he did say later. At Best that indicates a reluctance the full information that the Public deserves. How senior Hydro officials could have overlooked the clearly identified minute in the official records cannot be explained. Those of a charitable turn of mind May put it Down to incredibly Sloppy research. They May accuse or. Craik of no worse sin than believing the word of his officials. More suspicious minds within the opposition Are quite naturally going to suspect a coverup. If it indeed a coverup it a remarkably pointless one because the government much better placed to defend the Tritschler commission than it is to explain the suppression of facts which were available to anyone who cares to look. The Only Way to end the confusion now is through a full investigation by a committee of the legislature. Continued government resistance to an investigation will Only increase Public suspicion. Along with the essential issues of ministerial and executive credibility the committee has some other interesting questions to sort out. One former Board member who never discussed the situation with or. Craik claims the minister threatened to fire the whole Board. The vice chairman of the Board who spoke with the minister says he did not. The conservative caucus member who sits on the Board Arnold Brown says Hydro s Legal counsel presented his Case to the Board while the minute tabled in the legislature states that the counsel s advice relayed to the Board by the then vice chairman. Clearing up these Points will do nothing to change past events. But an open discussion with the individuals involved can put to rest the suspicion that other More important issues have been kept under wraps. Death in Northern Ireland the decision of the provisional Wing of the Irish Republican army to order convicted criminal Bobby Sands to fast unto death yet another move in a Long Effort to Force the British government to Grant political status to Ira men convicted of criminal offences. The tactic failed recently when prime minister Margaret Thatcher refused to give in to similar pressure the Ira had ordered a group of prisoners to starve themselves. When it became Clear that deaths were imminent with no sign of any political result the Ira ordered an end to the fast. The difference this time is that Street violence is being orchestrated by the Ira so As to provide material for the nightly television news to keep or. Sands fast in the spotlight. The same motive behind the Ira s instruction to or. Sands to stand for the British parliament a seat he won handily in a predominantly Catholic constituency after the Ira had persuaded All other Catholic candidates to keep out of the race. Or. Sands cannot take his Seaf because he has ten years to serve of a 14-year sentence for illegal Possession of weapons near the scene of a gun Battle. Six months before he arrested on that charge he had been released from prison after serving five years on a similar charge. On the face of it the demands of the Ira convicts seem utile enough they want to be Able to Wear their own clothes to be under no compulsion to do prison work to get More visits and to be Able to mix together while in prison. The catch is that this would require the British government to concede that the Ira convicts Are political prisoners which they Are not. They have All been convicted in courts of Law of criminal acts. There is no Legal basis on which the govern ment could Grant them special status. The Ira wants political status for its members in prison As part of a wider strategy of presenting its endless Campaign of terror As a legitimate movement by Freedom fighters against political oppression. The Ira has been using explosion arson torture and murder in an attempt to reverse the effects of a 1921 treaty under which Southern Ireland gained Dominion status while Northern Ireland s six counties elected to remain part of the United kingdom. A major obstacle to this Ira goal is the fact that Northern Ireland is two thirds protestant and one third roman Catholic while Southern Ireland is 97-per-cent Catholic. The inability of these two religious groups to live together to a manifestly unfair sharing of Community resources with the protestants dominating regional govern ment and to Strong Catholic Community support for Ira terrorism. Northern Ireland is now locked into a Cycle of terror from which neither its politicians nor its people seem Able to extricate it. The Day before or. Sands elected to parliament an Ira terrorist shot a Young Mother dead As she earning pocket Money by collecting completed census forms in Londonderry. Her crime helping Imperial Britain to administer Northern Ireland. Britain could Stop the fasts by conceding political status to the Ira terrorists or it could remove the symbolic reason for the fasts by allowing All convicts to Wear their own clothes and to abstain from prison work. Neither however would Stop the Ira from bombing and killing because the political status Issue is essentially tactical. Once that is gained the Ira will move to the next demand and the next. There is in fact nothing to be gained by direct or indirect negotiations with the Ira at this stage. Fasts bombings political status and army operations Are very real components of Northern Irish life but they Are irrelevant to the Central Issue which is the need for a political solution that can gain wide acceptance in the Community. That political solution will remain elusive until Northern Ireland politicians can be persuaded to make the kind of concessions that Are easily made in More Normal communities. Letters the Winnipeg free press welcomes letters from readers. Writers must give their name and address. The author s name will be used and letters Are subject to editing. No spraying my husband and i oppose the use of chemicals to combat mosquitoes. We identify with the growing number of concerned scientists and Lay people who View with alarm the mounting evidence of both Short Range and Long Range damage to Man and his Environ ment from such a practice. May we suggest that a More sensible approach might be to utilize natural predators like minnows and purple Martins while monitoring for the culex tarsal is. Then if a critical situation occurs appropriate emergency Mea sures could be employed temporarily while the search goes on for a better Way to interact with our fellow beings. Please do not Spray our property with any chemicals. Mrs. L. Etkin Winnipeg designers goal it is unfortunate that c. Fosh let ters april 15, 1981 appears to be unfamiliar with the Interior designers Institute of Manitoba and its proposed legislative act. The dim is not a University trained group but is in fact a professional organization of Inte rior designers who have qualified for registration through various combinations of formal education and experience or through extensive practice in the profession without formal design education. The proposed act has been carefully worded so As to include every one who has attained a qualifying level of expertise whether through formal education years of experience locally or otherwise. Or. Fosh stated people choose their design person according to their taste and Art is an expression of the artist and is judged entirely in the Eye of the while Interior designers do not Call themselves a Art and aesthetics Are part of design and do Call for subjective Deci Sions. The judgment of qualifications for registration As an Interior designer is based primarily on aspects open to objective decision such As areas of technical knowledge building and fire codes business practices and ethics those things which allow the person to perform the work competently and to the satisfaction of the client. It is the desire of the dim to include in the registry of Interior designers All those who demonstrate their ability through these areas of knowledge. This would allow the consumer to choose an Interior designer according to their taste with the Assur Ance that the person is qualified to perform the task. This is the goal of the Interior designers Institute of Manitoba. Ronald m. Veitch Winnipeg russians suffered or. Clark s Well researched article soviets shrug off does not Deal with what the embargo does accomplish. Grain like water seeks its own level and flows from full to empty granaries. Surely it anticipated that other exporters would Rush in to fill the soviet demand. These Sellers exacted a stiff Price from the soviets. Argentina e.e.c., Australia and even Canada benefited substantially. If the aim of the embargo to make Russia realize there a Price to pay for Afghanistan then it a Success. I have heard calculations of the extra Cost to the soviets Range upwards of one half billion dollars. Argentina s Barley prices shot up sharply. Russia paid Canadian producers per ton More for Canadian Rye than Norway paid for . Rye. . Shipments during 1980, despite the embargo leaped from 4.5 billion to 4.95. Billion bushels. Though the increase in shipments 10 per cent the Dollar value of these shipments increased by 23 per cent. Both All time records. Evidently neither the . Or Canada suffered. The russians did. . Swartz Winnipeg Western Welcome i am sure that most Manitoban read with dismay of the plight of the racially harassed Sansar Singh family. I once had the Good Fortune of being the recipient of sikh hospitality in Amritsar and the Punjab in India and i am ashamed of the disgusting behaviour of a few neanderthals in our midst. The vast majority of immigrants in Canada Are highly motivated industrious and productive people who contrib Ute much to our society s Well being. They Are Welcome Here and we must impress upon them that the despicable racism of a Small deranged fringe is not representative of our traditional Western Canadian hospitality. Louis Prefontaine St. Malo Man. Hydro what they really said 4 by Fred Cleverley the question asked in the Legisla Ture s committee on Public utilities and natural resources. Friday april James Walding nip Hydro critic i want to know if Hydro received a Legal opinion from its Legal counsel to the effect that the Tritschler commission exceeding its terms of refer ence if there indeed such a Legal opinion Given it also in that Legal opinion that Hydro proceed to court to prevent the Tritschler com Mission from going beyond its terms of reference tuesday april Blachford chief executive offi cer Manitoba concerning or. Walding s question did Manitoba Hydro lawyers give an opinion that judge Tritschler exceeding his terms of reference we looked into this and no request for an opinion asked of Manitoba Hydro lawyers nor did they give an opinion in this respect. Howard Pawley nip Leader or. What is the source of the information or. Blachford it s from the general counsel of Hydro in consultation with the lawyers at the time and also corroborated by a member of the Board at that time. Or. Pawley can you advise me whether or not any consultation made with or. Steward Martin who i understand the chief Legal coun Sel for Manitoba Hydro at the time or. Blachford i believe it not. I believe it or. Smellie we consulted. Donald Craik minister of Energy i think this thing has gone to the Point where the Basic question has been answered. There is no requirement for Manitoba Hydro to go further. Arnold Brown pc Rhineland Mem ber of the Board of Manitoba or. Chairman i on the Board at that particular time when the Tritschler commission having their enquiry into the activities of Hydro. I remember that there some concern expressed by or. Martin that the Tritschler commission Possi Bly going beyond their terms of reference never to my knowl Edge recommended that Hydro take the Tritschler commission to court be cause they were going beyond their terms of reference. It always the Board s intention and Hydro s in Tention at that particular time to Coop Erate As fully As we could with the Tritschler commission. Or. Craik i can Tell the Leader of the opposition directly that the former Legal counsel certainly did not in any direct Way advise me of his feelings in this regard. I m quite aware of the fact from the former chairman of Manitoba Hydro that or. Martin left under a High degree of disturbance Over the affairs with regard to representing Hydro on the work of the commission and so but there no formal As you can see just so the record is Complete there1 is no evidence in Hydro of at least a formal concern being expressed about the terms of reference of the commission. Kris Kristjanson chairman Mani Toba i have listened to this discussion with some interest. This matter in my opinion reviewed in great detail and while i not associated with the Utility at that time it is my distinct impression that the people of Manitoba Hydro provided All of the information freely and honestly As honestly As they could for the purpose of appearances before the commission. Now you have asked for some View that has been held by a counsel that engaged by Manitoba Hydro As indicated earlier. Or. Blachford and his colleagues have1 reviewed the rec ords reviewed the minutes and found that there is no such formal opinion on record. Or. Walding the answer that we received this morning that there no formal opinion so the question before us seems to hinge on what is formal and what is informal and who said what to whom. Sid Green la for Inkster the Point of clarification is that the recommendation that t made made during the time that or. Bateman no longer the chairman. Or. Walding i wonder if or. Brown can Tell us whether these concerns were brought to the Board directly by or. Martin or via the chairman or someone else. Or. Brown it s a Little difficult to the Secretary of Hydro at that time does not recall that any specific recommendation came Forward from or. Martin or. Mar tin appeared before the Board and expressed his concern. Don Craik no formal concern or. Walding my ques Tion whether Hydro received a Legal opinion from or. Martin about the Tritschler commission seems to have been answered in the affirmative. Now the answer i got from or. Blach Ford that there no formal written opinion As such. Might Well be True but the answer seems definitely that there an opinion Given by or. Martin directly to the Board at the time. Or. Kristjanson i be said that if there any formal opinion Given by Legal counsel at that time that the answer to that has been Given on the basis of what management has found from the records. Or. Craik or. Blachford has Given All the information a person is humanly capable of. There is Little Point in trying to ask a person to provide More information on a subject with which he and other members of the Hydro staff have already indicated that they have no awareness of. The Only person who is available or. Brown and he happened to be on the Board at the time said that there some verbal Exchange that s about All the evidence so it is pointless to ask the current chairman or the present general Man Ager for further information. Their in _ formation has been Given. Or. Pawley now or. Chairman wittingly or unwittingly this committee has been misled. Thursday april 9 Dennis Scott former member of the Board of Manitoba Hydro is quoted in the free press As saying that or. Craik threatened to fire the Board members if they challenged the Tritschler com Mission in court. . Wedepohl for Mer chairman of the Board is quoted in the same Story As saying he discussed the recommendation with or. Craik and that the minister unenthusiastic he would not say if or. Craik threatened to fire the Board. Or. Craik at the committee hear i want to Point out that never at any time did i Ever meet with or. Scott to discuss this matter nor at any time there Ever any suggestion through any other party that somehow the Board would be replaced if they did t take a certain course of action. That is absolute nonsense there a suggestion last Day that Legal counsel at that time concerned about a number of things and that information i aware of but to go beyond and suggest. There a recommendation or a Legal opinion that a certain course of action should be taken dealt with last Day. I think dealt with adequately by Hydro who did say that a Legal opinion not sought not documented. Or. Kristjanson we did at the re quest of the members of the committee search the record and found that there no formal opinion requested or indeed received and we so reported Back to this committee. Or. Craik this committee has prob ably Given More information and tried to be More helpful both from the Hydro Point of View and by people who were not in any Way involved at the time of the matter being discussed they Bent Over backwards to try and be helpful even to at one Point to undertake a. Responsibility that went far beyond their real responsibility so. Or. Brown As a Board member volunteered As much information As he could at the committee last Day in a very unusual Way. The answers that i have Given. Have been corroborated and if they Haven t been i have no doubts about the fact that they will be or can be. There have been no denials that have turned out to be otherwise. The committee has not in any Way been misled. Or. Craik in the for him Pawley to try and portray a Case where some Legal opinion overridden in this matter and that somehow that i intervened in this matter is just so much nonsense. Afterwards the committee hearings ended after the nip walked out. Or. Walding subsequently read in the legislature a seven Page document outlining a pro posed Legal Challenge by Hydro against the Tritschler commission. The Docu ment not accepted because it unsigned and or. Walding said he could not take responsibility for it. Subsequently on six occasions the opposition attempted to have the mat Ter referred to the committee on Privi Leges and elections but the attempts were denied by speaker s rulings and by the government majority. Monday april 20 the free press published a letter from or. Wedepohl saying the idea of Hydro challenging the commission in court shocking to him and that he recommended it not be adopted. He said his recommendation sup ported by the minister and the Board and said he surprised at reports that or. Craik had threatened to fire the Board. Wednesday april 22 or. Pawley again asked for an investigation. The motion is Defeated. The request based on a minute of a meeting of the Board of directors of Manitoba Hydro held january 11, 1979. The minute numbered and carrying the marginal note com ments by the vice chairman Tritschler commission . Reads the vice chairman stated that he had had a meeting with the corporation s special counsel or. . Martin . Or. Martin had indicated that there were a number of aspects of the commission s work which caused him concern in this connection he had drafted a letter which if the Board concurred he would Forward to the commissioner. The vice chairman stated that he had discussed the letter Avith the honourable Donald w. Craik minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro and they had agreed that it would be inappropriate for such a letter to be sent particularly since it could result in a delay in the proceedings. After discussion the Board con ;