Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 7, 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba 4 Winnipeg free january passenger humiliated after plane forced to land by Donald Campbell ramp attested an unruly airline Passen Ger in front of his two children on an air Canada Boeing 767 after it was forced to make an unscheduled Stop at Winnipeg inter National Airport yesterday the Man created a potentially violent situation aboard the Vancouver Toronto so the Crew asked to land in Winnipeg at about an ramp spokesman the Man was under the influence of blocked Chimney blamed fatal Gas buildup cause confirmed by Donald Campbell a provincial labor department report con firms that a buildup of Carbon monoxide in a Winnipeg apartment building that killed one Man on Christmas eve and has left another in a coma was caused by a Chimney Block the which monitors boiler furnaces under the provincial building compiled the report after inspecting the buildings the report has been sent to labor minister Gerrie Hammond who was away from her office last week and returns the report says the blocked Chimney pre vented the proper ventilation of the said Wayne director of mechanical and engineering services for the depart the Furnace was inspected in a department official but the Chimney want the official said it want policy for inspectors to do chimneys Are checked Only when they Are easily Sid Dixon says its been difficult waiting for news about the cause of the leak has left his brother in a coma at health sciences at i was said whose was a tenant in the Block at 285 College but now that Ive had time to think about i realize that it does take a while for investigators to collect All the Ronald died when the poisonous fumes from the buildings Furnace escaped into the air of the aging apartment was still in serious Condi Tion yesterday at several other tenants were treated at Hospital and then released after the unanswered questions Sid Dixon removed his Brothers belong Ings from the apartment this not knowing whether James will live or main concern is Jim at this he it Doest look but were hoping for the Dixon and other tenants and family Mem Bers Are waiting to Leam who bears responsibility for the the building has been closed and residents moved their belongings from the Block Dur ing the most said they would never move 4a lot of people Are trying to find out what happened including the people Dixon there Are a lot of unanswered questions at this the buildings George who was not returning Calls late last said immediately after the leak that ice utilities greater Winnipeg Gas sent inspectors to Check the Furnace twice within 12 hours of people falling the first occasion was to fix an extinguished Pilot Light in the water Aad again on 24 in response to com plaints of tenants smelling Gas Clark ice spokesman Brian Farley said the com pants servicemen Are equipped to test for Carbon monoxide but do so Only if it is suspected by the customer or the when asked for details about what the worker did on the morning of Farley said he was not Able to provide further details until the labor department finished its the provinces chief medical Peter said yesterday hed like to see a copy of the departments report to determine if his office should launch an several people contacted in the heating Industry yesterday said they Are mystified by the but said there could be numer Ous a deaths classified death of husband of Doris husband of Anna Giuseppina of wife of Antonino Vera of widow of Simon Marjorie of formerly of Donna wife of Patrick Jacob widow of Robert regu la Irene of widow of Russell Earle of of wife of nor Man Gladys of widow of William Sadie 100 Muriel of widow of Michael alcohol or a the ramp spokesman he had apparently made some threats to the William Stephen of has been charged with mischief in connection with the he was turned Over to Winnipeg police by the ramp shortly after his arrest and was held for most of the Day at the Winnipeg remand Centre before being released on bail about 5 this is a Nightmare i just feel in very sorry for my said who was reached at a downtown hotel last he is to appear in provincial judges court in Winnipeg tomorrow in not blaming anyone for what Hap Chornobay i guess my behaviour want that nothing like this has Ever happened to me before in my Chornobay was in route to the Carrilean for a Holiday with his whom he picked up in Vancouver from his a wife a few hours before the they had planned to spend two weeks in St his said in an interview from this whole thing is a total Shock to after his the children a 10 and a were turned Over to officials from child and family said Ted a spokesman for air Cana they returned to Vancouver yesterday on an afternoon the mans estranged wife met the children at the Vancouver International a spokesman for child and family services the who has custody of the Chil Kem Fig Happy 101st birthday Carl Piper celebrates his 101st birthday with Francois Xavier born in marked friends at the great West the former the occasion with a Gigantic iced could not be reached for an ramp spokesman said a Man was arrested and handcuffed on the air plane without he said the detachment received a Call at notifying them of the problem and the need for the the with 170 resumed its flight at and landed safely i Morris it Cost air Canada to make the unscheduled the aircraft also needed an extra litres of fuel As a Morris closed doors fail to deter labor protest More than Manitoban Are going to be Hurt by changes to unemployment insure now before the labor Leader Susan har Kulbaba said about 30 members of the Winnipeg labor Council picketed outside my Dorothy Dob Bies constituency office to protest the the office was closed and Dobbie pc Winni Peg South was not there and could not be reached for labor Council president Heather Grant told reporters the protest was staged for the Media As part of a National demonstration picketers knew Debbie office was but would not invade the maps privacy by protesting at her if there not going to listen to maybe they be in Hart president of the Manitoba federa Tion of said in an stalled in Senate yesterday had been the scheduled implementation Date for changes that would re Duce i benefits and increase the required eligibility period from 10 weeks to 14 the tory Bill is stalled in the were very concerned about this Bill for our har Kulbaba some Manitoban who will no longer be eligible for i will have to go on social she the conservatives held Public hearings on the but didst she if there not going to listen to Why bother holding Public hearings this piece of legislation its going to be Grant the labor Council wants the Senate to hold nationwide hearings before voting on the she unemployed people from Winnipeg cant travel to stall this Bill As Long As tax Reform Nightmare feared critics lash saying it does nothing for typical taxpayers by Patrick Mckinley Manitoba first major property tax re form in 30 years will do nothing to solve some of the problems that cause taxpayers night observers of the assessment process Winnipeg taxpayer Les Balnaves recently told a legislative committee that further reforms Are needed to remove inequities that Riddle the tax he said the deck can be stacked against taxpayers who try to get fair Balnaves int just carping from the Side he became involved in the prope Tyas ses sment Field 26 years ago and worked As an assessor for the City of since he has seen life from the other Side of the Street As a property owner appealing his own Balnaves said in an interview that he retired because he became disgusted with the assessment system and the inequities it inflicts on it was a Case of get out of there or kill myself doing he some of the same procedures he complained about Are unaffected by the which Las Are to resume fighting Over the proposed legislation does make Exten Sive changes in who qualifies for property tax it adds daycare deletes juggles the education tax on farm properties and makes farm outbuildings subject to municipal taxes for the first bigger share of taxes it would ensure that people with More elaborate structures pay a bigger share of property but the provinces municipal Bob Brown Man responsible for implementing the legislation is Frank about its effects on actual assessment for the provincial who do All the assessments outside of there is virtually no change created by the new act in How they assess he he said the big difference in his staffs operations will come about not because of the legislation but because computerization will help them keep More up to tied in with the Bill requires both the City and province to update tax assessments every three starting in that Means property tax Bills will be fairer because they will be calculated using much More recent estimates of what their property is in Rural taxes Are now calculated using assessments five to 17 years and in the last in used property values dating from but Winnipeg lawyer Michael Mercury an admitted cynic about the assessment process says he wants to know if the assessors will actually meet the new dead the existing Law already requires the City to reassess properties every three Mercury right questions while Golden criticizes Board of while the province must do so every five the in blithely ignored the Law for a its 1987 reassessment was the first in 27 it Only came about because representing intercity property owners who complained they were obtained a court ruling that forced the City into an immediate assuming the assessors obey the Law this assessments by 1993 will be based on property values that Are Only two years but that is the Best it will by the time that 1993 assessment is the property values used in the former assessment will be eight years out of flaws cited in draft tax Law taxpayers who have the nerve to Appeal their assessments will be subject to harrass ment under Manitoba proposed property tax a Winnipeg lawyer Tony representing the Manitoba Home builders said the Bill will broaden the kinds of information assessors can demand from the current Law Only requires taxpayers to turn Over documents the assessor requires for his but the new Bill would also require them to turn Over documents he might Palmyn said the legislation will also re verse the Burden of proof for those taxpayers who fail to turn Over such instead of requiring the tax assessor to prove that his valuation of the property is the new Law would require the taxpayer to prove that the assessor is Palmyn said he fears the added Power will allow assessors to go on fishing expeditions fur information to support their it would make it harder for taxpayers to handle appeals without hiring a he and he said it could be used to delay the settlement of appeals a process that can already takes nearly three Palmyn said at the the provisions should be amended so assessors could not demand new documents once an assessment has been that Way the Law could not be used to single out those who he the proposed assessment legislation the first major Reform of Manitoba property tax Law in 30 years is to go to a legislature committee for clause clause study Tomor All three parties have said they will pro pose a series of and the Liber als say they May go so far As to try to defeat the Bill to Force the government Back to the drawing the changes cited by Palmyn Are not the Only changes affecting taxpayers appeals to be raised by lawyers commenting on the pro posed Palmyn said he also agrees with concerns voiced by lawyer Michael Mercury last Mercury argued the Bill will ban taxpayers from having their assessments reduced on the basis of factors external to the property itself the construction of a suburban shopping mall that hurts retail properties values the Bill will thus Force taxpayers to pay property taxes based on assessments that will be two to eight years out of he provincial municipal assessor Bob Brown denied the Bill will remove Appeal grounds that now and even after the property values used i assessments will at times be As much As five years critics of the proposed legislation Point to British where the values Are never More than two years out of Date and at some Are As Little As three months Mercury said in some the new legislation is worse for taxpayers be cause it would restrict the grounds for a and he warned that without other Amend the new Law will not Stop assessors from following some arbitrary some of those raise the hackles of former assessor he said drywall costs the no matter what kind of building its but in Winnipeg 1987 the calculation methods resulted in the City assessing drywall in houses 35 per cent higher than drywall in those same calculation methods can make a difference of hundreds of dollars in individual tax he the legislation is for the most part silent on How assessors should carry out their another practice Balnaves objects to is the method used to calculate Wear and tear on current assessment practices result in 15yearold Winnipeg structures and Rural buildings up to 17 years old being allowed exactly the same depreciation As a Brand new building political patronage because the new Bill does not change the method of calculating proper towners will still have to wait As Long As five to eight years before being allowed any tax reduction for Wear and and the legislation makes no change in the method of appointing boards of the initial bodies to hear taxpayers City Al Golden Gle Lawn has said Board of revision seats Are political Patron age appointments that often go to people who Lack the necessary Balnaves said some of the Board Mem Bers who Are familiar with the assessment process have conflicts of because they Are former senior assessment staff whose own policies May be at Issue in although the Appeal boards Are supposed to put the Burden of proof on taxpayers can go armed with ample Evi Dence and still fail to Sway the boards from relying on scanty information from assess ment he once appeals go beyond the Sion stage to the Manitoba municipal there Are still problems of he the new like the old allows the chief provincial and City assessors to make representations to the municipal Board once a Public hearing has concluded and after the Board has made a tentative decision to Rule in favor of the but the Bill gives the taxpayer no such ;