Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 3, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Cd officers demoted for Royal wedding by Paul Moloney some officers of the Royal Winni Peg rifles militia unit Are voluntarily taking temporary reductions in rank to qualify for a 10-Day, expenses paid trip to London to attend the wedding of Prince Charles and lady Diana Spencer. The action which among other things includes a major dropping in rank to Captain and a lieutenant dropping to master Corporal is designed to meet the requirements of a Royal invitation calling for a contingent composed of one commissioned officer and 20 non commissioned officers to perform guard duty a source said. The source a Junior militia member who declined to be identified for fear of reprisal said a lot of us Are think ing of quitting or transferring to an other unit because they believe the move was unfair and improper. . Ron Werry commanding officer confirmed last night that four commissioned officers selected by him for the trip were reduced in rank. In an interview Werry said it s not uncommon for officers in certain circumstances to be assigned duties nor Mally carried out by juniors. In War for example you select a grouping for a specific task regardless of rank. It s a practical Means to an the 21-Man contingent will perform the task of guarding the wedding pro cession route Werry said. A major will act As Captain of the contingent two captains will drop to warrant officer and a lieutenant will serve As a master Corporal he said. Transportation costs Are being co Vered by the Canadian forces and lodgings will be provided by the British military. The men will leave july 22 and return aug. 2, Werry said. He said his unit along with the lord Strathcona horse of Calgary and the Royal regiment of Canada based in Toronto were each invited to Send a contingent because Prince Charles is colonel in chief of each of the units. Werry said he made the selections out of 59 men who applied for the assignment to Reward exemplary and trustworthy he said the reason he selected Only a few men from the ranks of Corporal and private was that Many of the men have done Only Short term service with the militia. The source charged that the temporary reductions in rank of the offi cers violates military Law but Werry denied that. It s my prerogative to do this. They re not impersonating or resigning commissions. They re just doing their a town finds time to sunny today 27 Clear tonight 8 Winnipeg free press wednesday june 3, 1981 vol 109 no Sun rises . Sets Moon rises sets final for Home delivery 957-0550 classified 956-2330 Alberta gets blame for gasoline Levy from the news services prices for gasoline and other Petroleum products Rose across the country today after Federal Energy minister Marc Lalonde announced higher taxes to help pay for costly Oil imports. Blame for the increase about two cents a litre or nine cents a gallon was Laid on the Canadian Dollar s Low value and Alberta s second big Cut monday of crude Oil production. But opposition and provincial spokes men promptly condemned the measure As an attempt to put the heat on the Rich Western province in a confrontation Over Domestic Energy prices and Revenue sharing. Production reduced Canada had been a net importer of about barrels a Day and Alberta to protest Price and taxation measures announced in the National Energy pro Gram last fall reduced production by barrels a Day in two stages. The Canadian Dollar is hovering be tween 82 and 83 cents compared with he . Dollar and Ottawa had figured on increased import costs of Mil lion this year on a Canadian Dollar valued at about 88 cents ., Lalonde said yesterday. Service station operators in Winnipeg said last night they expected pump prices to go up today. The actual tax increases effective Midnight last night total 1.6 cents a litre or about 7.2 cents a gallon at the wholesale level. But Federal officials said this will result in retail Price increases of about two cents a litre on items such As gasoline and diesel fuel because of Federal and provincial sales taxes. If a full two cents per litre is added regular Gas in Winnipeg will retail for 36.4 cents per litre about per gallon Premium unleaded will move to about 39 cents per litre per gallon. Sheldon Bowles president of Domo. Gas corp. Ltd., said prices would Likely go up Early today but generally inde Pendents wait for the majors to come up before setting Stanley Donily area manager of Texaco Canada inc., said he expected to hear today of any Price increases his company planned and when. Announcement of the two cent Feder Al Levy came a Day after a half cent a litre increase went into effect As a result of higher provincial gasoline taxes. Provincial finance minister Brian Ransom blamed added Federal gasoline taxes for the monday provincial tax increase. Provincial taxes Are calculated at 20 per cent of the pump Price. In the commons yesterday progressive conservative Energy critic Michael Wilson called the Federal Levy a classical Ripoff. Wilson my for the Toronto Riding of Etobicoke Centre said it would add up to billion a year to Federal government Revenue. See Alberta Page 4 City s anti sniff bylaw exceeded thrown out by court by Pamela Fayerman the City s anti sniff bylaw was thrown out yesterday by a provincial court judge who ruled the City exceeded its jurisdiction in passing the bylaw. The decision rendering the bylaw invalid took six months of consideration by judge Winston Norton. Last septem Ber Zeller s store on Pembina High Way was charged with Selling con tact Cement from self service displays. The bylaw specifies that any intoxicating substance in containers smaller than one litre must be placed behind store counters. The charge against Zeller s will now Likely be stayed or dismissed. Judge Norton accepted the arguments of Zelier s lawyer Mark Monnin who challenged the bylaw on the grounds that it deals with criminal Law which is outside the Powers of the City and that the legislation invades the Field of Law covered by the Federal hazardous products act. See sniff Page 4 Stock probed Munro denies profiting from inside data on Petrosina who is that masked Man this unfortunate member of the ramp musical ride was Able to continue Lance Drill despite the untimely slip of his hat during a recent performance in Nanaimo . The temporarily blindfolded Redcoat managed to replace the errant headgear with a deft flick of the hand. By Michael Doyle Winnipeg free press Ottawa Indian affairs minister John Munro yesterday denied that he profited from inside knowledge of the Jan. 30 takeover of Petrosina by the Crown owned Oil company Petro Canada. Munro was defended in the commons yesterday by prime minister Trudeau who said he had received assurances that Munro was not involved. Munro was named in a Toronto Sun report yesterday which said various liberals profited from inside knowledge of the takeover. Consumer affairs minister Andre Ouellet said yesterday a joint investigation into the allegations is being undertaken by his department the on Tario securities commission and the commission Des valuers mob Liers do Quebec. He said the results would be made Public. The progressive conservatives demanded a full scale parliamentary in Quiry. Opposition Leader Joe Clark said it is Trudeau s duty to ensure that no other Cabinet ministers or officials profited from inside knowledge. The newspaper said two unnamed Federal Cabinet ministers bought shares and shares of Petrosina respectively before the takeover. It also says a company connected with Maurice Strong the Federal government s chief negotiator in the take Over made at least million when the see liberals Page 4 City auditor finds million unauthorized spending by Joe Rubin Winnipeg s civic departments and utilities spent More than million last year without approval from the finance committee a contravention of the City s governing act. City auditor de Marks said yesterday that unauthorized spending by Munici pal departments appears to be on the increase. In 1979, million was spent without legislative approval. Accountability is certainly lacking when you have these types of Overca he said. The City s unauthorized Overe Pendi Tures were balanced by under expend Tures in various departments As Well As million More than was forecast in Revenue in 1980. Last year City reve Nues exceeded expenditures by about million. But unauthorized Over expenditures Are a source of some consternation to Marks whose recently released Audi Tor s report recommended that stricter controls be imposed on them. Accord ing to the City of Winnipeg act no Money beyond the amount budgeted May be spent until further funds Are voted to meet the expenditure. On april 14, the civic finance com Mittee gave the Board of commission ers 30 Days to provide it with a detailed explanation of 1980 departmental Over expenditures in excess of finance committee chairman Abe Yanofsky said yesterday he expects the Board report in the near future. We May recommend stricter guide lines once we get he said. The dramatic increase in unauthorized Over expenditures also prompted the finance committee to ask the Board of commissioners to report any Over spending to the committee within 90 Days of dec. 31, in the year of the proposed Over expenditure. While approving of the finance com Mittee s Steps Marks report recommended further action be taken to control the City s purse strings. The auditor called for reports of additional appropriations and unauthorized Over expenditures to be sent annually from the finance committee to City Council for its approval. Although the expenditures Are a fait a comply in my opinion this procedure would provide the approval which seems to be required by the City of Winnipeg act and conforms to the principle of legislative authority for All he said. In theory a department head who finds he is close to overspending a particular account must ask his com missioner for an appropriation of funds. Over expenditures in excess of must be approved by the finance committee. Marks said the million spent by municipal department Heads was not first approved by a commissioner or the finance committee. In most in stances the Money had already been spent before the question of appropriation reaches the committee level he said. The main reason for unauthorized overspending said Marks has to do with the City s accounting system. See City s Page 4 just in Case no invitation has been received yet but Ottawa is considering whether to participate in a multinational peacekeeping Force in the first Choice net minder Mike list of the St. Louis blues was the top vote getter in selections for the first team of the nil s 1980-81 All stars no help senator Hazen argue minister responsible for the wheat Board says the Prairie provinces must Stop looking to Ottawa to save the Manitoba port of Promise Gap French president Francois Mitterrand s program of social Reform ran into difficulties today As the socialists struggled with election Index Ann Landers. 29 answers. 17 Bridge. 35 business.57 classified.46 comics. 71 crossword. 27 deaths.2, 46 editorials letters.6 entertainment.36 food guide.41 horoscope.28 Jumble puzzle.50 Klady .40 Millroy on to. 37 movies.39 Russell. 7 sports. 65 sports record.70 stocks.58 sullivan.17 Tempo. 17 to listings.17 Werier. 6 i ;