Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 10, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 Section Brian Cole 6977292 email Winnipeg free press local v healthy White me not wanted so what did Jason Verbics do to deserve this to put it he was born at the wrong and because of it the local 25yearold budding filmmaker is taking the National film Board to the reason Verbics says the because of its employment equity refused to take him into its fast Forward documentary internship it didst help i was a Anglo Saxon Verbics in a big believer in he but because of this employment equity program i have been told that Lam not worthy to i have been forbidden to become a part of so now by he does not have a suing the Nib in an attempt to have its employment equity program declared invalid under Canadas charter of rights and he also wants in for the the Nib has filed a statement of defence saying it complied with the it hired three women and one male for the internship the nabs program is based on the employment equity it says that federally regulated corporations must Chart their employment within four groups the visible minorities and aboriginal people armed with this and statistics Canada Ottawa looks at the number of people in each group in society and compares that to the number in the if there Are so Many disabled people in that number should be reflected in the country Job the theory behind the act is that after so Many years of the visible minorities and aboriginal people should get first crack at any new Job openings if there Ottawa is currently in the process of beefing up the employment equity a new Bill will give the Canadian human rights commission the authority to audit All private and Public employers covered by the act and Issue compliance orders if they Are not pursuing employment Verbics says that All Fine and the problem he has is that numbers and percentages have conspired to keep him and people like him from getting jobs and starting How can you prove someone is disadvantaged by simple under representation he everyone applies for a Job out of Good but it int treated that How can a simple ratio of difference be the sole criteria by using its not so much but social it Doest allow for society to develop and by placing one group above the it has no real positive effect in the Long maybe University of Manitoba assistant Law professor Karen Busby says the Law is meant to overcome historical inequalities in the Job Market by giving these four groups an advantage Over it Means that not everyone is treated equally right but it Means Canada will eventually be a better place to live because regardless of color and Creed will be represented fairly in the the trouble How Long will it take How Many times will people like Jason Verbics be turned Down for a not because his qualifications Arent up to but because Hes on the wrong Side of a percentage Equality is one fairness is taxpayers out by Alice Krueger legislature reporter the province expects to write off about this year in unpaid taxes owed by Manitoba corporations and Small More than half of that is from unpaid payroll tax and provincial sales tax that was collected from custom ers but never turned in by Clancy ventures the which had five restaurants in declared bankruptcy last while finance department officials refused to confirm the figures for documents obtained by the free press show the company had sales tax arrears plus accumulated interest totalling province to write off unpaid payroll taxes when it went under after three years of it owed a further in payroll Clancy partnership Derek said in an earlier interview that bad decisions and a sagging restaurant Industry led to the finance minister Eric Stefanson said that until the audit of Clancy was done last there was no Way to Tell they owed Money because the business had been making monthly sales tax its not As though they ran up an account with us that we were not making efforts to he two months after an audit deter mined the business owed it went into receivership and the prov Ince want a secured he asked if that suggested the com Pany was filing false Post the minister replied that a pos Sibili but would not say whether pursue Legal Stefanson said even though the government is not a secured Credi it has not yet written off the Clancy he also rejected suggestions the government was go ing easy on its corporate new democratic party Deputy finance critic Jim Maloway said the government should have been More if they gotten on top of this right away they be out any he adding clan cys int the Only example of Lenien there should be quicker a closer Eye on delinquents and Deci Sive action with those in the finance department has also closed out 62 other corporate accounts totalling about in unpaid taxes after a private collection Agency was unable to Stefanson said he is satisfied there Are sufficient checks and balances on delinquent he defended his departments record on saying annual write offs of less than one per cent on about million in sales tax is an excellent track total arrears in provincial sales tax Are Marc free press Jean Chabot hoses Down the skating path on the there Are plans to use a Zamboni to make it really smooth this the ice mans making it easy to cruise Down the River Trail by Kim Guttormson free press correspondent the ice Man cometh Down the River in a pickup truck with a Snow plow heading towards the men who Are flooding the Frozen by this weekend youll be Able to Trace a skate Able path from the Osborne Bridge to the tache Kilometres of ice upon but there is still work to be done to make sure the River Trail surface is More skating rink than obstacle Paul Graveline is in charge of he gets out of the to inspect the the trick is not to put too much water and not to form air he this is Gray Elines sixth year getting the River Trail ready for six weeks of activities staged by the festival do he said the process is basically the same every on top of Frozen this for the first they plan to use a Zamboni to get that professional this might be the Best Trail said who worked with the festival do Voyageur for 22 working with the River is More challenging than the ice rinks he used to make at school in Otterburne because there Are always variables to work for this year a Strong current meant the River didst freeze All at leaving open patches of water and areas of As it kept the ice moved and piled leaving an uneven surface that had to be scraped Down before the flooding could Graveline said it was so bad North of the Provencher Bridge that plans to extend the Trail to Voyageur Park had to be the mild temperatures also had him worried that the Rivers freeze it was Only eight centimetres thick for a Short but this is eventually you get Graveline adding 15 to 20 is the Ideal ice making once the ice was thick enough to hold the 30 walked out the course hed designed in his then roughed it put with the when the Snow is the exposed ice thickens to Between and once the path is the bumps Are scraped off to make it As smooth As the first application of which is pumped from below the just enough to cover the bumps and fill the about Graveline then following a lighter coat that builds the ice gradually so it Levels itself said who works in construction during the then theres the at this not much can happen to the path grave lines Crew has carved out of the even mild temperatures cant Hurt the ice already although they have to watch for cracking where water might seep through and form once the last coat of water is Graveline will get out his skates and make a test run Down the i like to try it if there Are any bad skating it will Tell you How bad it he bearing up under pressure students from two Garden City schools offer Hope to boy with cancer by Alexandra Paul medical reporter Teddy bears Are like hugs and kisses to some kids but to 11yearold Logan they represent the boys Battle against leukaemia made headlines when his parents sought controversial alternative medical treatment for him in Mexico last now due to combined efforts by students at Jefferson Junior High and Garden City the boy has a roomful of the stuffed bears named for former president Teddy Jefferson collected a Bunch of Teddy bears and we held a pizza Day and Jefferson held a sock hop and All the to collegiate student Becky said As individual win Peg residents have donated to the a sum that paid most of the costs for the latest two week stay in Mexico last logans Penny wiped away tears yesterday As she accepted the students presentation at the Becky is a Good family she got everything rolling for Kowitch Teddy bears have always represented Comfort to Kowitch whenever he was sick in the Hospital we would get him a Teddy the students yesterday presented her with 58 of the stuffed All donated by retailers who were called by students for help in the students at both schools say they plan to keep up fundraising efforts to defray the estimated Cost of accommodations and treatment for logans next trip in july to the american Bio Logies Hospital in the Koj bitches said the generosity has touched currently at about million to a spokesman for the Canadian federation of Independent business said the level of tax arrears now showing up is an indication of the difficult times companies have had in the last two or three it represents the hangover from the Tough time weve just emerged but were still Dale the organizations executive the province hired financial col Lection agencies in August to try to collect on 476 delinquent corporate accounts totalling Mil so the collection Agency which gets a 14 per cent Cut has been Able to collect in full on 52 accounts totalling the others remain in cup City talks going Well councillor by Nick Martin City Hall reporter the cites major Union will ask for a two year contract with a wage freeze in 1995 and a three percent raise in says a City Council the councillor has also Learned that local 500 of Canadian Union of Public employees is seeking an Early retirement package to avoid future the City wants at least a three year said the another councillor said talks Are proceeding extremely but it will be the end of the week before the two sides Exchange both cupe and City Council have agreed to a news cupe 500 president Paul moist refused to discuss ongoing Neotia the previous agreement expired Terry Duguid North Kil Donan similarly refused to divulge Duguid said he and John Angus Norbert must re port Back to City Council 25 on the Progress of negotiations be tween the Union and City that when Council decides whether to allow responsibility for negotiations to revert to executive policy late last Council overruled pcs plans to hire outside labor lawyer Grant Mitchell at a Cost of cupe local 500 represents about of the cites members effectively had no wage increase in two in Early they negotiated a per cent wage Rollback and agreed not to take a previously negotiated per cent wage in return for no Lay offs and contracting out before the end of those rollbacks have now been other such As police and fire department extended their contracts Over a longer period and agreed to phase in giving the City the same proportional savings As the cupe the 1995 budget Council passed 12 made no provision for a wage increase this Council also rejected layoffs and contracting out pro posed in the october draft them particularly because Penny is also fighting a personal Battle with a rare form of ovarian were really appreciative because were sucked so dry financially and logans Dan Penny faces the Prospect of probable surgery this Winter in she said she has Faith in the mexican Medicine for her she said she believes the treatment combined with chemotherapy has put her sons terminal form of acutely Mph Blastic leukaemia into the boys doctor Rochelle credits Only Low dose chemotherapy administered in Winnipeg for logans Logan had a near critical relapse a year ago which prompted the family first trip to medical tests verified hed undergone a sudden recovery the family j beaten woman May regain sight a 57yearold woman is expected to make a full recovery after it was initially feared she might have been permanently blinded in a weekend attack by two boys aged 12 to police said Shes regained the vision in her right Eye and her left Eye is somewhat said police spokesman Eric the medical authorities Are much More Turner said the visiting from Vancou jul require surgery to completely restore her and a damaged left eyelid will require plastic he said she is listed in stable condition at Misericordia general police have few leads in the assault on Friday ;