Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 21, 1996, Winnipeg, Manitoba A4 Section editor Mai Irnen 69 77292 email my Ca local cigarette fight up in smoke by David Kuxhaus is courts reporter a constitutional Chal Lenge to Manitoba restriction on out province cigarette purchases went up in smoke provincial court judge Robert Kopstein ruled the province has the right to Levy taxes on cigarettes purchased out of about 50 people charged under the tobacco tax act were involved in the lawyer Ron Schmalzel represented 10 of they were caught last summer with 10 to 250 police sketch of muggers face draws response by Doug Nairne police reporter there were More sightings of the so called Cor Earea mugger yesterday than there Are of Elvis during a full but at the end of the Day the suspect was still nowhere to be people saw men fitting the Mug Gers description walking on the drinking in bars and eat ing in soup but the hundreds of Calls that flooded into police turned up Little More than false Carl Shier said the compos Ite sketch of a Man released tues Day Drew an instant As soon As the papers were out in the morning the phones started ringing and they Haven Shier said the Case has caught Peoples and created a tremendous amount of Calls have come in from across the ranging from sightings to detailed descriptions including names and information came from As far As Brandon and one woman who thought she knew who had carried out the attacks even ran from a downtown soup Kitchen to the Law courts building in search of a police offi she said the Man had been in her soup Kitchen the Man has been linked to 16 attacks mainly against elderly men in the downtown since Jan he last struck on but police believe he is still in the looking for More one possible Lead came from a caller who identified the attacker As a Man from Norway who is a convicted sex offender recently released from the mans pattern of attack is somewhat similar to the Cor Earea mugger in that both men attack their victims from rules in favor of Law restricting out province purchases Cartons of cigarettes from we Are of said Schmalzel after Kopstein you cant prohibit peo ple from bringing in goods from one province to when the accused were the tobacco tax act permitted Only one tax free Carton per per son to be brought into an amendment last september allows for an additional four car tons As Long As Manitoba taxes Are people began flooding across the provincial Border to buy cheap cigarettes in Early 1994 after Quebec and Ontario rolled Back taxes to Stem the flow of smuggled smokes from the United the four Western provinces where cigarette smuggling is min Imal kept taxes As a a Carton of cigarettes in Winnipeg Sells for almost twice As much As a Carton just across the Ontario Bor Der in the Manitoba prohibition amounted to an inter provincial Trade which under the Constitution Falls under the Juris diction of the Federal Schmalzel but Kopstein agreed with the crowns position that the intrusion is a minor one and extends Only As far As is necessary to protect the revenues on tobacco products consumed in the judge also ruled that the province has authority to discourage tobacco consumption because it is a health High taxes imposed under the act help accomplish that he but Jim Weis had a hard time believing politicians Are worried about the effect of cigarettes on his i think that the biggest amount of telling me there concerned about my he if that the they be Selling what about Bacon the 53yearold said the Law is nothing but a Revenue grab by the and he questioned whether a provincially appointed judge could Rule impartially on the Weis was nabbed with 30 Cartons on his Way Home from his cottage at Clearwater just inside the Ontario he will be along with the others who appeared in court on june they will be required to pay three times the Manitoba or a on each Carton firs time offenders face a mini mum Fine of and a maximum of Schmalzel said he has yet to decide whether he will Appeal Kop steins Marc free press trackers soldiers from Princess Patricia Canadian Light infantry Monitor the in rail Yards along Wilkes Avenue yesterday As part of a joint exercise with the Winnipeg police ser vice in learning How to track and capture escaped privatization a Council says disabled want slice of hand transit by Treena Khan City Hall reporter Council gives enterprises a reprieve Winnipeg enterprises got a stay of execution yesterday when City Council approved a series of reforms to increase Public accountability and held off dealing with a motion to dissolve the which runs Winnipeg Arena and Winnipeg stadium for the has already endorsed the formal reporting process to City developed by John Angus an enterprises Board we have to develop a bonding process with the arms length corporation and City Angus its a darn sight better than what we began Angus Reform includes establishing an audit keep ing a record of complaints to be reviewed by the and Annu Al reports to executive policy it would also reduce the number of City councillors on the Board to one to from with two of the citizen members appointed by City several councillors said yester Day the Reform Only begins to address accountability but added it was a Good Glen Murray fort Rouge said its time for the City to review All its arms length users of the hand transit bus service say they want to run it themselves if the City a tie vote on the floor of City Council yesterday killed a motion to prevent the contracting out of pickup service for people in wheel the move will privatize the last 30 per cent of service still provided by City workers and the Union expects 45 Drivers to lose their already the requests for propos als went out last week for private contracts to begin in but the Manitoba league of per sons with disabilities now says it is interested in establishing a non profit corporation to run Handi transit this Well know that peo ple will have a system that is sensitive to their said Evan the leagues first Vic chair we have asked for a feasibility study to look at running our own but How it would work and in what relation to Winnipeg transit int known he safety concerns the users say private companies cant and wont provide the same level of service and safety that City Drivers do Burns complaints about Dri vers from private companies who cover 70 per cent of hand transit business take months to be addressed by Winnipeg which still handles the administration of the said Harold Hawkins said he feels he will effectively be denied service if the City contracts he said he Doest want to use a service where Drivers dont have the training to handle people in wheelchairs training the City has already Given its he said he will look at pursuing the matter in in very i am entitled to transit service and now that being denied said but councillors who voted to go ahead with privatization argued that the councillors split on contracting out How councillors voted on a motion to rescind a decision to contract out hand transit As set out in the 1996 budget in favor of rescinding Golden Harry Lazarenko Mark Lubosch North Kildo Glen Murray fort Mike Oshaughnessy old Lillian Thomas Dan Vandal John Prystanski Point against rescinding Bill Clement Charle Woodfort Pat Phillips Amaro Silva Daniel Garth Steek River Shirley Tim Rudolph Jae Eadie mayor Susan John Angus Quality of service safety con Cerns will be addressed in the Pri vate including training for All Drivers before Bill Clement Charle Woodfort chair Man of the cites works and operations said he was frustrated by the attempts to derail the contracting out dont Tell me i Haven listened or that my committee Hast Lis he told citing conversations he has had with those opposed to councillors who supported the attempt to halt which was put Forward by Dan Vandal cautioned the City to slow Down and review a detailed business plan for administration before deciding on the amalgamated transit Union president Bob Hykawy said the decision Means layoffs of 45 bus each of whom have the training and experience to provide the service the users the City is More worried about not he dial b for Blooper its foul up gives mom sinking feeling term i ouch int that what most of us say each time a Bill arrives i know i so its not too difficult to imag Ine How a single Mother on Wel fare Felt when she saw the Lon distance charges on her lat est Telephone typically about a Sophie Hills March Bill came to a staggering youll is some ouch but it seems she int the Only Manitoba Telephone system Cus Tomer using its three Way calling feature who received the same kind of Jolt this there Are hundreds More who have received similar its All the result of one Gigan tic accounting Blooper involving three Way Lon distance which its Only fessed up to this week after i called to ask Why Hill haunt been billed monthly As is the in an Effort to soften the its representatives called Hill and other subscribers to say that some Lon distance charges were going to be added to their Bills this but gave no indication of exactly How Many and How when Hills Bill arrived she found the Lon distance three Way Calls totalled plus get and the Calls dated Back to october when she was persuaded by her teenage daughter to obtain the three Way calling confronted by the 17 year old High student con fessed to racking up the the highest being for a three Way Chat in its spokeswoman Sherilyn Robertson explained later that the delayed Billing was the result of a computer programming glitch that had resulted in Lon distance Calls remaining undetected for at least a Robertson said its was unable to say exactly How Long customers had escaped paying the Long Dis Tance but the Billing file for the past six months totalled that figure certainly gives some dimension As to How much the Blunder has Cost the Crown Robertson said because it was an its Billings wont go beyond six and the com Pany will allow Hill and other customers to pay off the amount owing in we would certainly allow them to make the payments Over the next few instead of one Lump and no interest will be i suppose that More than Rea Given the fact that the majority of those using the three Way calling feature must have realized their Bills we rent show ing the Lon distance Calls they made for at least a if not i think the Crown corporation should be More lenient towards Hill and other parents of children who made these three Way Lon distance Calls without their it was her John who wrote me about her we consider this to be by its failing to provide the Mother with timely an accurate monthly they have deprived her of the Chance to limit her potential quite if she had seen those charges on her november 1995 Bill she would have disconnected the three Way calling Conse its should share a por Tion of the financial i totally Hill should Only be billed for the Calls made Between 29 and the cutoff Date for her next victim of an injustice that bureaucracy wont remedy fax or email Mike Ward on Tow internet it ;