Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 3, 1982, Winnipeg, Manitoba In c lawyers Bills cited at trial by Kevin Prokosh former lawyer Jack Bass diverted clients Trust funds to pay off personal debts and keep himself afloat As Credi tors pressured him for their an Assize court jury was told during his final address to the Crown counsel Phil Schachter spot lighted Basss Cavalier use of Trust account funds to pay his whatever wheel was squeaky got the said he said the question was whether the Trust Money paid out was used for the purposes authorized by the evidence at the nine Day trial showed Trust Money was among other to stave off foreclosures and to pay the printing Bill on his How to make your Money work for he Bass and two of his companies Are charged with 32 counts of theft and criminal breach of he is accused of misappropriating from 14 clients Between 1977 and court of Queens Bench Justice Hamilton was to give his charge to the jury and then it was to begin its defence counsel Jay Prober said Bass simply steered his clients into poor business deals he thought were sound with faulty investment if the deals had not fallen through the accused probably be facing the lawyer Bass is no More guilty of losing his clients Money in apartment mortgage syndicates than the so called experts in the Federal government who could not predict the downturn in the Economy and the collapse of the real estate said he said it was a hell of defence to have to describe his client As incompetent and Hes being held up As a not Only As a businessman but As a Law said he was not a businessman even though he thought he his advice was court was told the defendant put All his Money into those same deals and is now his parents lost As Prober conceded Bass breached Law society of Manitoba regulations but received professional capital punishment by being disbarred in the Economy and his own disability worked against but Schachter said he could not accept that sloppiness is not a he bad Luck is not a Winnipeg free december 1982 3 High on music while record december temperatures held old Man Winter at University of Winnipeg students Cathy Parnetta top and Bev Botchar climbed a fire escape on Campus yesterday and got High on mortgage firm investors oppose Appeal by Paul Moloney a group of investors in Winnipeg mortgage Exchange who went to court three years ago Over allocation of the bankrupt company assets Are unanimously opposed to continuing the a spokesman said Elizabeth Alward said the group of about 67 investors has decided to accept a recent Manitoba court of Appeal ruling that All 965 investors should share the company she said the groups Harvey has been instructed not to Appeal the decision to the supreme court of the which had been allocated sound had originally sought to recover All the Money plus interest from the Date of the company collapse in the thing is were just tired of it Alward we just dont want to carry it on just not Worth the Case could still go to depending on the decision of Jim an launched a separate action to recover All of his investment with put up life savings were not prepared to make a state ment at this Gauthier Well make our decision sometime before the end of Jack company has recovered about million of the roughly million owed to investors As of the Date of the Many of them Are senior citizens who had put up their life Alward said investors Are eagerly awaiting receipt of their share of the recovered which have been fro zen since the court Battle Down said he could begin mailing cheques in Early january if there is no under the court each investor would get Back about 75 cents on every Dollar the court said it would be grossly unfair to allow a minority to recover in full while leaving others to shoulder the Alward said that after the 1 ruling she and a few others began contacting group members and almost everyone agreed without hesitation to sign letters opposing an nobody was pressured they signed she they were very Strong about i got Calls Day and night constantly from people who just wanted people just Felt they take any she added the few who didst sign immediately did so investors have suffered mental and financial and want to put the court Case behind she our group particularly had no idea that the court process would be so involved and so if i had known anything about the i have got involved in the first weve got one couple in our group who Are Over 70 where the wife has gone Back to there just absolutely Flat Dorothy an investor who has fought strenuously to keep the matter out of estimated about 80 per cent of investors Are pensioners who Are looking Forward to getting Back their All of the investors who Are still alive will be breathing a sigh of she there Are at least 17 people who will never know How it came out because Treyve United Way Appeal Falls Short of Mark per cent of goal now expected last weeks Las ditch Public Appeal by the United Way raised Between and far Short of the goal hoped for from the the Effort put the Campaign at 90 per cent of its fundraising goal for Campaign director Joan blight said the Campaign has All but but blight said she expects that by the end of the per cent of its original goal of million can still be the original goal was 12 per cent than the amount raised last Between 22 and the United Way hoped to close a Gap Between contributions and its Mil lion goal through newspaper and television advertisements and direct appeals to blight said about 30 volunteers Are still canvassing companies that have indicated to us that we could expect a but Haven come Forth with the at its final report to fundraisers on Campaign chairman Gordon Holland said the fund which contrib utes to 64 agencies in Winnipeg attained per cent of its he added that it was lowering its aim to per Nowerth unexpected contributions from some companies hit by the re cession and the bankruptcies of Many other contributors were blamed for the the United Way also announced yesterday that the Manitoba restaurant and food services association and the Winnipeg convention Centre Are Stag ing a 64cent Pancake breakfast to congratulate donors and volunteers in this years local cultural and political personalities will be serving pan cakes at the scheduled for Sun Day 12 Between 10 and 2 at the convention Fate of old school left up in the air Logan debate taking toll in ambivalence i dont care says resident faced with move by Doug Speirs the Fate of Robert Smith school in River Heights wont be decided until a structural study determines How far the building has the chairman of the Winnipeg school Board said last but Brian Dixon said in an interview he is not optimistic the school will be the Board closed the school yesterday after an engineers report indicated cracking of school Walls had Dixon estimated a minimum of 000 Worth of repair work would be necessary before it would be feasible to reopen the which was built in 1919 and expanded in about 280 area parents whose Chil Dren attend the school descended on a Public meeting last night to hear the divisions explanation for the abrupt closing and to learn which area schools their youngsters will be shunted the schools 229 to Grade 6 students were on Holiday yesterday and were to miss classes today As Robert Smith principal Dale Scott told the meeting the school building had deteriorated to the Point where it became a safety Hazard and had to be we realized we were facing a Situa Tion where we had to question the safety of children in the Scott drawing applause from the assembled Andy free press by Larry Hill Winnipeg mayor Bill Norries Deci Sion to include about 70 houses in the proposed Logan Avenue Industrial Park has revealed a Strain of ambivalence among some current and former area while a residents group fighting the House expropriations has voiced its sheer disgust at City councils Deci Sion not to vote on Norries proposal other people have grown weary of the 18monthold 1 dont care said mar Vin Gin of 399 Logan who lived in the House since said hell leave the neighbourhood As soon As the province pays him enough for the i dont care if they give me in said the 54yearold who lives in the House with his wife and a Daugh Ive been living Here so Long i dont want to say i dont like he but in every proposed Industrial Park my House has got to be torn that Why i dont As Long As i get the Money in Norries plan would make room for houses by changing the terms of a Industrial development agreement reached in by the provincial government and the the Industrial Park proposal was part of the Core area Logan area Resi dents have opposed the full Industrial Park from the and both senior partners in the program have already agreed to a housing the City which Council referred to executive policy committee for discussion next would reduce the size of the Park to hectares eight acres from hectares 23 Manuel who left the Logan area in May with his wife and four said he likes his new location on valour they pay me to i he air Canada cuts 24 in City air Canada has announced it will Lay off 170 including 24 in win on 3 As part of the Crown corporations plan to Cut 500 workers across the the layoffs affect workers in the customer cargo and commis sary the airline also announced it plans to Lay off 330 mechanics across Canada in two stages Early next the first stage Calls for 89 mechanics to be Laid off in Midian uary with the remainder to be Laid off in it is not known How if of those layoffs will affect Winnipeg pm air Canada spokesman Tony Schoen said i said he moved into the three bedroom Bungalow after the province paid him for the expo the bricklayer said he would have stayed in his Logan area where he had lived for 12 if he had been Given the i got this one it dont Helen Schultes of the Logan Community committee leads the fight against about 120 families in the area received expropriation notices after the 1981 agreement was said adding 53 families re main residents want about 83 houses left in the abominable i think its absolutely abominable that this could not have been settled Long said and while she said she wants to see some former residents allowed to move Back into the Logan Schultes said it was Ridic Ulous that people have had their whole lives in upheaval just to find out that they could have stayed Here All her Margaret used to live in the area but now lives on Mountain Avenue with her husband and 13monthold if we get the Chance to move Back Well do it for no questions said you get to know the people and i can walk around the streets in the but theres no Way i can do that in the North says she wants to move Back to Logan Dixon saying he visited the school after reviewing the engineers report and found it in an intolerable in not a structural but i could see that almost every Wall of the school had severe damage and i made up my mind that if my child was going to that school i would want to know about it and i would want some thing done about Dixon school division officials assured the parents that classes will be kept intact with the same teachers and that no staff reductions would result from the Well liked most parents who spoke last night praised the boards decision to shut the but Many expressed concerns the closing would become Parent Doug who has two children attending the would not want to see a Community school that is so Well liked and so Well supported finding that this is its final parents were told their children will be Able to begin classes in excess space at other area schools kindergarten children will shift to Rockwood grades 1 to 3 move to Queenston grades 4 to 6 Transfer to Grosvenor school and two special education classes will move to carpathia City Hall notebook City approves line of credit City Council quickly voted yesterday to pass a bylaw under the City of Winnipeg act allowing the City to Bor Row up to million from chartered Banks and other corporations or persons in a similar 1981 bylaw authorized the same credit lines in water rates going up an increase in water rates 1 will result in homeowners being billed per cubic metres 100 cubic feet of an increase from the current City Council decided wednes the six percent increase in water rates will also boost rates for larger users such As businesses and Indus top civic posts filled the City has wooed a senior civil servant from the provincial govern ment and named him to one of two top City posts that were filled by City Council Mai formerly Deputy min ister of Crown investments in the provincial was appointed City finance stepping into one of the top four jobs in the civic Council also promoted Rod director of works and to the Job of commissioner of works and ;