Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 29, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Gerry a floss Winnipeg free frees. Wednesday april 3 inquest called into youth s death in blast by Brian Cole an inquest has been ordered into the death of a West Kildonan youth who died from injuries suffered in an explosion attorney general Gerry Mercier said yesterday. Timothy Sarna 16, died april 16 from cuts to the jugular vein and another major artery in his neck after a Home made rocket exploded. Mercier made the announcement in the legislature in response to questions by Wilson Parasiuk who wanted to know Why the youth had to be transferred to the health sciences Centre after being treated initially at seven Oaks Hospital. Parasiuk said monday inadequate staffing at seven Oaks May have played a Rote in the death and he called for an inquest to investigate emergency care at Winnipeg s suburban Hospi tals. Health minister l. R. Bud Sher Man yesterday denied the allegations made by the nip health critic. He said the seven Oaks emergency unit was fully operational and fully staffed and the youth had been transferred because Hsc was better equipped to handle major trauma cases. However he said later that the youth was so badly injured unfortunately that it was a hopeless an ambulance spokesman has said that Sarna was taken to seven Oaks where he was treated and stabilized before being taken to Hsc in accor dance with regulations set Down by the medical standards committee. Sherman said it was Standard proce Dure to take an Accident victim to the nearest Hospital where he can receive initial treatment and then if necessary Transfer the patient to Hsc or St. Boniface Hospital. He went on to denounce Parasiuk for his irresponsible and scandalous at tack on seven Oaks Hospital and Manitoba s emergency health system. He has gone outside the House and made wildly inaccurate wildly irresponsible and totally false statements about the system about the emergency unit at seven Sherman said during question period. Later rising on a grievance Sher Man accused Parasiuk of casting a Cloud Over the emergency services of All our suburban hospitals and laced it with a tissue of untruths about govern ment budgeting policy and alleged staff shortages. The member s comments May serve the purpose of getting himself a headline but i want to say they do not serve the health care system of Mani he said. Ignorance of system neither do they serve either his credibility or his reputation As a publicly elected representative who is sup posed to be honest and he said Parasiuk s statements be tray an ignorance of the health care system. Later Parasiuk said it was t the first time Sherman has personally attacked him for raising questions about Manitoba s health care system. It s a typical he said in an interview. Parasiuk emphasized he did not question the dedication of health care workers but merely wanted an inquest to answer the questions surrounding the delivery of emergency health care at seven Oaks and suburban Hospi tals generally. Optometrists seek to renegotiate pact by Maureen Brosnahan the Manitoba optometric society which represents the province s 69 optometrists has asked the Manitoba health services commission to renegotiate the second year present contract. Or. Keith Letts president of the society said the request to open the contract comes after the a similar one by the Manitoba medical association which is renegotiating physicians fees with the Misc for the second year of their contract. He said the optometrists will Likely seek Only a three to four per cent increase in fees but they will ask to have More of their services covered by Misc. Last year the optometrists received a 8.9 per cent increase for each year of the two year contract. Letts said optometrists in Manitoba now make about per year. Reg Edwards executive director of Misc said he has received the re being sent on to the executive committee for he said. Unlike the Mma s contract which stipulated that it could be renegotiated if the Cost of living Rose More than 10 per cent in Manitoba last year the cheques without signatures Okay Winnipeg Banks have been told they May Honor about Canada pension plan cheques which were sent Here without the Deputy receiver general s signature the result of a Loose printing machine plate. A spokesman for Supply and services Canada the Federal department which prints the 1.3 million cheques sent monthly to Canadian pensioners said Only recipients living in Northwest Winnipeg Are affected. The cheques Are sorted by postal code. Of the pension cheques sent to Manitoban fewer than did not have Deputy receiver general David Kirkwood s signature. The Supply and services spokesman attributed the error to a signature plate which slipped during the printing pro Cess. Only cheques with Odd serial num Bers appear to be affected said Walter Grabluk chief of production and administrative support services of the department s Winnipeg Branch. Most pensioners took it in Good said Grabluk. The Supply and services spokesman said the Canadian Bankers association will Honor the unsigned cheques. Optometrists have no such clause in their agreement Edwards said. The committee plans to discuss the matter at their meeting next week Edwards said. Letts Sai d the optometrists will be pushing to have More of the services they perform covered by Misc. He said Many Eye testing proce dures Are Only covered if they Are performed by opt apologists who Are physicians even though optometrists Are qualified to perform them. We feel it is very very unfair to pay one profession for services and not Letts said optometrists Are trained to do color vision tests muscle balance studies and to detect glaucoma but such services Are not covered by Misc. The optometrists Are doing it but the patient is paying for he said. Letts also said patients often have to wait months to see an opt apologist and those in the Rural areas must travel to larger centres for appointments. He said the opt apologists Are spending their time doing things that optometrists could do. There Are about 26 full time opt a Moog its in Manitoba almost All of them in Winnipeg. Goff Fly tree press picture this a Workman appears to be holding on for dear life As a speedy boat romps across the Waves. But the boat is not quite ready to go anywhere at least not before a few More panels Are added to the billboard at Portage Avenue and landside Street. Mail backlog blamed on easter deluge the Winnipeg Post office expects to have a backlog of mail cleared up by the end of the week spokesman per Holting said yesterday. He said the Post office was a couple of Days behind on certain classes of mail As of monday. The backlog includes fourth class and bulk mail. Certain foreign especially second class Post magazines and newspapers from the United states Are a couple of shifts behind As Well. He said regular first class mail handling is up to Date. Holting attributed the backlog to the deluge which occurred after the easter weekend. He said the situation was compounded by an increased volume of parcel Post caused by the week old greyhound bus strike. However Canadian Union of postal workers officials said the backlog was caused by a cutback1 in staffing of certain areas of the Post office and management s Over estimation of the amount of work which could be done by machine. Holting dismissed the allegation. Boy 6, Hurt in collision a boy 6, was in fair condition in St. Boniface general Hospital last night with head and neck injuries and a fractured right leg and hip following a car bicycle Accident. Police said the collision occurred at the Entrance to a Lane on Kenny Street Between Kitson Street and Enfield Crescent yesterday afternoon. Police said the boy was travelling West in the Lane and collided with a car travelling South on Kenny Street being driven by a male 27. Police refused to release names of either the Driver or the victim last night. Pilot survives crash a Winnipeg Pilot escaped injury yesterday afternoon when the helicopter he was operating crashed near the City. East West St. Paul police said the Pilot Edward Krowski 41, of Winnipeg walked away from the crash which destroyed the helicopter owned by Aero trades. Police said Krowski was conducting Mosquito Spray work for the City in an area West of Rebeck Road when the crash occurred at about . No one else was in the Craft at the time of the crash. Police and the department of transport will begin an investigation into the crash today. City briefs pensioners get break income eligibility Levels will be raised to keep Pace with the rising Cost of living for about Manitoban who receive the Manitoba supplement for pensioners Community services minister George Minaker announced yesterday. Effective july 1, Manitoban in the 55 to 64 age group will qualify for the supplement if their income is less than up from the current level of for a couple the income level will be raised to from under the program which went into effect sept. 1, Manitoban Are eligible for benefits of up to a year for a single person and up to a year for an eligible spouse if total income is less than the maximum eligibility Levels and 50 per cent or More of it comes from pensions. Minaker announcing the changes in a statement said they were aimed at keeping Pace with the rising Cost of living and with comparable increases allowed for pensioners Over 65 years. Minimum wages to Rise minimum wages for construction workers in Winnipeg or on major building projects outside the City will increase Between 7.7 and 12.5 per cent effective Friday. The new rates will Range from to an hour depending on the work performed labor minister Ken Mac master announced yesterday. In a statement he said approval of the new rates was based on recommendations from the greater Winnipeg building construction wages Board following Public hearings. Workers qualify for the new rate on such major projects As construction of a Power generating station Oil refinery pulp and paper Mill brewery smelter above ground mining installations or any commercial Industrial government or school building or Addi Tion with More than Square feet of aggregate floor space. Decision to move pupils Sparks confrontation by Shirley Muir seven Oaks school trustees were confronted last night by parents angry Over a Board decision to relocate Spe Cial language students within the Divi Sion. Parents of children attending Avery school voiced Strong opposition to a school Board decision to move a ukrainian English bilingual kindergarten class to Morrison school and four French immersion classes to Colli Cut school in september. It was our intention to House All programs at Avery but their popularity required that a decision about a move be made by the Board chairman Ben Zaidman told parents attending a Public meeting to explain the Board s april 20 decision. He said because of declining enrol ment two special language programs which attracted Many non resident children were implemented at the school several years ago. Zaidman said the popularity of the programs soon pushed enrolment beyond the capacity of the 17-room school. Parents of children in the English ukrainian program argued the move would separate kindergarten children from other students in the Avery pro Gram. The program cannot operate Jean Kusko Parent representative told trustees. Much of our funding comes through the school division and Parent donations which help to buy special equipment for the program. It s very difficult to share that equipment across two Kusko also said cultural experiences developed at the school such As special Christmas concerts May also be affected by the split. Kusko said she will present trustees with a petition on monday requesting portable classrooms be constructed at the school to accommodate the High enrolment. New school parents supporting the French immersion program objected to shuffling students from school to school. The move May not be the Only one for the students in the next few years. Construction of Maples no. 4, a new school in the division May trigger another move in the next year As the student population shifts to fill the new school. Division superintendent or. Glenn Nicholls said if the school is completed for the 1982 school year the ukrainian program at Avery will move to Morri son because some Morrison students will relocate at Maples no. 4. A third group of parents represented students enrolled in the school s regu Lar English language program. Al though their children were not being moved the parents argued the emphasis placed on the two special programs would eventually eliminate the regular student population. The English portion of the school is quite Small it will probably disappear in the said Parent Ron car Man. He said he who would like to see a stronger English program developed. I think we d All agree we d rather see an integrated school and an Inte grated playground which will make for a Good Community. An All French immersion school would t contribute As Well As the Inte grated school we have right Carman added. Nicholls admitted the popularity of the two special language programs was unexpected with enrolment at twice the level predicted for 1981. He said the French immersion pro Gram at Avery is projected to use nine classrooms next year and the English ukrainian program five. Total school enrolment would require 17 classes three classes More than the school can House he added. English language enrolment is Only 73 with some grades having Only three students. City accepts order to reinstate Retiree breakout penned up against their will these Springer Spaniel pups found out they were Skinny enough to get through the Fence. The five week old pups Are owned by Barry Macrae of Montague Avenue. Winnipeg s civic Board of commissioners has begun a review of a recent adjudicator s ruling which found the City had illegally discriminated against an employee when it forced him to retire at age 65. Board Secretary Roger Berard said yesterday the Board has decided not to Appeal the ruling and was to meet this morning to review the adjudicator s reasons and determine How it will apply to other at a hearing in april the adjudicator ordered the City to reinstate Walter Bedrich to his former Job As waste Sampler for Industrial waste control. Berard said the ruling released in written form last Friday Means that according to the human rights act you can t retire anybody at 65 that has quite an Impact on the staff of the however he cautioned the ruling Only deals with a complaint by one City employee and it will be a Long time before any decisions Are made. The adjudicator Marshall Rothstein found the City had discriminated against Bedrich when it forced him to retire in Early 1980 under a provision in a pension bylaw. He said the bylaw was inconsistent with Section 6 1 of the human rights act which prohibits discrimination on a variety of grounds and is therefore invalid to the extent of the Inconis Rothstein ordered Bedrich reinstated but made no award for lost wages saying he had not put enough Effort into finding other employment. Bedrich resumed his Job with the City on monday. He had previously been a civic employee for about four years. Personnel director Andrew Milroy could not estimate How Many of the City s permanent employees Are covered by a mandatory retirement provision but said in an interview it is certainly More than half. He added there Are a number of part time civic employees who Are also members of pension plans As Well As people who Are Over 65 who Are still working who Are not on since Rothstein s ruling there have been no similar challenges to a pension bylaw and no official decision to do away with forcible retirement which could Only be accomplished by Chang ing the bylaws Milroy said ;