Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 30, 1983, Winnipeg, Manitoba August workers unaware of fatal inquest told by Paula Martin some downtown Holiday ton employees were unaware of a ninth floor Blaie when firefighters arrived at the an inquest into the fatal 1980 Fife was told nobody seemed to pay any Tion when his firefighting few walked into the hotel District chief Michael Primak told the inquest into the death of Joseph of Portage la was a hotel guest and Delegate to a National Liberal party convention when he died from smoke inhalation in the july 6 Crown counsel Richard Saul said the inquest was being held to find out if building alarm exit procedures and fire safety measures Are adequate Jii tall Primak testified that no alarm Bells were ringing when his Crew arrived at the hotel shortly after they had been notified of a possible he said he approached the front desk and asked what was no one seemed aware of a fire until an unidentified woman approached him and indicated there was trouble on the ninth he Primak asked the woman to show and they took the elevator up As its doors opened on the ninth they were hit by intense heat and he Primak told provincial court judge Winston Norton he guessed the fire started a while before the department came on the fire Captain Walter Peters echoed Primak in describing the scene in the Peters said he asked a hotel employee about the fire and was told they we rent aware of an elevator descended to the lobby As they spoke and when its doors opened the top half was filled with Peters he added he heard no Bells ringing until he was up on the eighth floor preparing to go to the Many of yesterdays witnesses gave conflicting testimony about whether an alarm had been sounded and whether people in the lobby were in a state of one firefighter said people were excited while another said he recall anything out of the apparently they didst knew Why we were testified firefighter Ralph who said people if the lobby appeared to be electrician George Gamble said two heat Detector son the ninth floor were not working during the Blaze and added there were no smoke detectors on the he said heat detectors should be placed in every guest smoke detectors would be useful but Are sometimes set off by heavy Gamble hate general manager Ernest Heiland testified the Holiday inn was equipped with a Ideal alarm sys tem and with seme sprinklers in the commercial areas up to the third each Eoff ids from the fifth to 18th floors contained heat detectors and firefighting he Heiland said changes were made to the alarm system in and last year when the alarm system was connected to a private monitoring each room is equipped with a heat Detector and three smoke detectors have been installed in each he the improvements conform to 19i fire code regulations and exceed the 1977 Heiland asked if the improvements should be Cowan refuses to Force City to allow Shoal Road the minimum required in any Multi Storey Heiland said i would definitely say Rudolf Rolf Hagenlocher was sen towed to id years for manslaughter and five years consecutive for setting fire to a substance in relation to Spon a skis his five year sentence was Latef quashed by Manitoba court of which ruled he could not be convicted for two offences stemming from a single criminal last the supreme court of Canada upheld that paving the Way for the inquest after a Provin Cial court judge ruled it could not be held until All appeals were Wayne free press by Patrick Mckinley the province has refused to Force the City to allow construction of an Access Road into Shoal Lake Indian minister Jay Cowan said yesterday the province will not go along with a Federal officials re quest to have the province expropriate land for the the Road is intended to truck sewage off the re but the City fears construction would Aid the Indian bands bid to develop 350 cottages Cowan said the Federal government has Power to expropriate land directly from the and should do so itself if it feels such a step is mayor Bill Norrie de scribed the Federal request As an out charging that Ottawa is trying to get the province to do its dirty Norrie charged the Federal government is prepared to endanger water Quality for Winnipeg residents to satisfy 150 members of the Indian i 3 officials appointed to senior jobs at jail the province appointed three corrections department officials yesterday to jobs at heading Ley jail after a riot earlier this month and by guards that manage Ament was losing control at the r the Union representing wants the province to appoint interim manager for the Gary president of the Manito government employees Assoc a said yesterday the Union has to corrections minister Len Evans urging him to name former rhe Dingley superintendent Reg for Rester As an interim onsite manager to take charge of what we consider to a real mess out a staff relations officer for civil service and Evans were unavailable for comment proven style doer said forester has the credibility and the proven management style to do the Job at shortly Rafter the three guards were us when they refused to work in area they maintained was the Union also suggested Forest who was described by doer As London resin As Law Dean Jack Dean of the University Manitoba Law plans to step Down at the end of his term next june 30 to pursue other who has been Dean since said in an interview he probably will take a years leave from the after which he May return to teach in the Law next year theres a possibility that 1 will be either in new or he said he could not be More about his plans because 1 just know what ill be involved in at this Terrence associate vice president of academic affairs for the University and chairman of a commit tee searching for a new said he position has recently been advertised in Canadian Law journals and University whose specialities As a Law yer Are Federal income estate planning and clinical is a Winni Peg native who studied Law at u of he began private practice in Winnipeg More than 14 years ago and joined the University in in As a on member human rights commission Board of a Judica he made a landmark ruling that mandatory retirement based on age is illegal under the provincial human rights firm and hold a series of face to face meetings with guards to learn their doer said it was coincidental the Mega letter was sent the same Day the corrections department announced new emphasis on Community programming at heading Ley and the appointment of three men to senior management posts former assistant director of Proba Tion services Paul Leveille has been named acting Deputy superintendent Denis a former senior Proba Tion officer for Central will become acting assistant superintendent of and Robert former assistant superintendent of programs at the becomes acting coordinator of policy strengthen team commissioner of corrections Hans Schneider said the appointments were a Way of strengthening the manage ment team so that some of the difficulties can be dealt with More Schneider pointed out that Al Bert Stuart has been holding the fort practically All by himself and the appointments will free him to Deal with the major staff but doer was saying the management changes Are not going to Deal with the fundamental the onsite manager is where we have to address appointing forester would allow him to Deal with problems at the jail direct the Union head he was particularly critical of corrections officials handling of a riot at heading Ley earlier this saying the decision not to punish any of the prisoners indicated Sanction for their behaviour has gone right up through the paramilitary sys tems of the department to the ministerial Schneider said the changes will add More emphasis to Community related programs for the jails we feel that heading Ley is because it is located Well outside the City and there is very Little connection with the the push for Community oriented programs will include Day release for inmates holding and Volunteer programs with Community things will work out we have a great Deal of Confidence that things will work he Evans said in a statement yesterday the appointments of the three officials will provide the basis for introducing a Pilot Community corrections pro doer said the Meas main concern for its members at the prison is the wish Washy Lack of consequences for inmates involved in the Evans has ruled out punishing the inmates because it is impossible to determine who instigated the who running the jail the in mates or the staff doer asked yes adding the situation is degenerating at heading Ley and we dont have a lot of in our Opin band who want the cottages As a source of the Only Way for the Access Road to reach the Reserve the nearby site of the proposed cottage develop ment would be to Cross Cit owned land at the spot where Winnipeg gets its drinking there is no year round Access Road to either the Reserve or the proposed cottage the City fears the cottage develop ment would increase pollution of Shoal Lake by producing More sewage and City officials have also raised fears that even without the cottage develop the trucking of sewage from the Reserve alone could endanger water because a truck might overturn and spill its contents beside the the City has proposed the band build a sewage treatment Plant on the the treated sewage would be pumped into the Lake at a Point re moved from the water Cowan said the province refused to expropriate City property because it still wants to see the dispute settled to the satisfaction of All taking the cites land against its will would not accomplish that Cowan charged that talk about the Indian bands alleged sew age problems has been nothing More than a Sham designed to acquire an Access Road before Public hearings Are held on the cottage nor Rie has warned that if a Road were built the band could argue the Road could handle not Only the reserves but sewage from the proposed cot a Federal environment official said in a report this Spring that a septic Field system used to dispose of the reserves sewage cannot stand up to continued use much and must be replaced with a More permanent system of waste the official recommended the Access Road and trucking out the sewage As the Best Norrie said the Road is a very Dicey political Issue because it sets the bands economic welfare off against the purity of Winnipeg water sup Ottawa hoped to avoid the political flak by getting the province to expropriate the City he violin Solo while the band May sixteen Earold Lucy Novinger of Halifax takes advantage of a secluded stairwell to need a source of it should not practise her violin yesterday at the Canadian mennonite Bible a Solo be at the expense of Winnipeg water is taking part in the National festival of which runs until thursday judges death leaves cases unsettled by Pamela Fayerman an obscure Rule May mean cases involving a rendered decisions of or Justice Louis who died last will have to be reheard before the Manitoba court of a costly and lengthy feel sorry Tor the imams Gnu spent time in court and now face having their cases being reheard said Justice James Wilson of court of Queens Ive invited their lawyers to make an appointment with me so that we can discuss easier ways of settling the perhaps through negotiated he judge Den sets colleagues and other court officials admitted yesterday they were in a quandary Over the Fate of the civil cases on which he had reserved they consulted court rules which state that on the death of a the cases he has heard but on which he has not yet delivered judgment Are and then proceed to the court of Appeal in the same manner As if judgment had been delivered by the judge against the but the Rule is considered impractical and too onerous on the litigants in so judge Den sets colleagues Are considering other ways of dealing with the judge Denise left Only three cases on judge Wilson Louis was always he took Pride in giving Quick in fact it May be that the judgments Are there in his office waiting to be typed but Ive been shy about looking Over his judge Denise had written letters to lawyers involved in the cases he had requesting their written arguments by a certain dead line so he could deliver his judg Doug one of the lawyers who had received such a said he was in the midst of preparing the submission when he heard about judge Deni sets he said he is hoping a new trial will be ordered for his Case be cause the Appeal court does not have the Benefit of observing witnesses first hand to make findings of credibility since they Are presented with Tran scripts judge Wilson said while it is feasible for trials to be such a move May be costly for the but he said it May be possible to apply to the attorney general to absorb the costs of a new in addition to the matter of the reserved the court must also await word from the Federal govern ment on a new appointment to the judge Wilson said he does not expect the position to be filled imme its not like a King has died and an heir apparent is waiting to take province misses out on court costs nobody thought to Tell judges or lawyers about change in procedure by Kevin Prokosh the province has missed out collecting increased court costs for the last three months because no one told lawyers and court officials about the i dont think any of us know about provincial court judge Sam Minuk said this catches me by judge Minuk called the clerk of the courts office in where he also and was told were unaware of any change concerning court costs and were following the old we should know about said judge theres no doubt about somebody in the administrative offices buggered it up and failed to notify us about the senior provincial judge Harold col Lerman was likewise in the i want aware of this but in sure going to look into the he said when shown a copy of the amendment on which can be tacked on to a Fine levied on an accused convicted of a provincial statute none of the Crown actor defence lawyers or court administrators interviewed yesterday knew of the amendment to the sum Mary convictions act june that probably said chief judge Harold Gyles of the provincial its very difficult to keep on top of every proclamation of every amendment to every in the past judges and magistrates fixed court costs of about or against people convicted of breaches of the summary convictions which includes tie Highway traffic liquor control act and City As of june unless the judge orders the costs equal to 20 per cent of the Fine imposed shall be conclusively deemed to have been assessed against the person and shall be collected with the according to the costs of up to 25 per cent of the Fine can be fixed by a judge and he has the discretion to assess a lower Cost or no chief clerk of provincial judges Arnold who Learned of the oversight said a meeting was held yesterday to Dis cuss the problem and As a result a notice will be sent directing court staff to enforce the amendment in said he had no comment about Why the new Law has not been Fol Lowed since june 1 and added he say whether the government has lost any Money by not utilizing the Ziemianski said the amendment was one of Many put into effect and it takes time before the courts Are ready to enforce the All the judges agreed they should have been informed of the Amend ment and that information regarding costs would have an effect on the amount of a Fine they might part of the said was that few people have received copies of the amendment from the Queens ;