Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 21, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A7 up town Autos YOU WILL FIND IT HERE. winnipegfreepress. com 84% of Winnipeg adults read the Winnipeg Free Press in print or online each week - that's the highest reach of any major Canadian market. 75% of Winnipeg adults who purchased appliances in the past 3 years read the Winnipeg Free Press in print or online every week. 74% of Winnipeg adults who sought financial planning advice last year read the Winnipeg Free Press in print or online every week. 72% of Winnipeg adults who have taken an overnight vacation in the past year read the Winnipeg Free Press in print or online every week. 72% of Winnipeg adults who own their home read the Winnipeg Free Press in print or online every week. 71% of Winnipeg adults responsible for grocery shopping read the Winnipeg Free Press in print or online every week. 69% of Winnipeg adults who purchased clothing in the past year read the Winnipeg Free Press in print or online every week. Source: 2011 NADbank Study The Winnipeg Free Press is your source for... well, everything. AUTOMOBILE SHOPPERS REACH WE MORE 70% THE FREE PRESS IN PRINT OR ONLINE EACH WEEK READ NEWS CANADA A7 SUNDAY, JULY 21, 2013 B ATOCHE, Sask. - The longstanding mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the Bell of Batoche was unravelled Saturday, as the man who stole it from an Ontario Legion hall in 1991 came forward. Billyjo Delaronde, a M�tis man from Manitoba, shared his story with thousands as he gave the bell back to the Catholic Diocese of Prince Albert. Cast in solid silver and standing about 30 centimetres high, the bell is an important cultural relic of Canada's M�tis. It was seized from Batoche's church as a trophy of war by federal troops who put down the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, crushing the dream of M�tis leader Louis Riel to build an independent M�tis state. It was brought east and eventually ended up in a Royal Canadian Legion hall in Millbrook, Ont. In 1991, it was stolen from the Legion by unknown conspirators and wasn't seen publicly until this weekend. Delaronde said he and four M�tis accomplices travelled to Millbrook on a " gentleman's dare," determined to get the relic back. " It was M�tis Mission Impossible," Delaronde said. Some of the men created a distraction by spilling a pouch of tobacco, he said, while others made off with the bell. Delaronde said that in 1967, the federal government asked the Millbrook Legion to turn over the bell and return it to Batoche, but the request was refused " I believe I repatriated the bell," he said. " There was no intention of ever stealing the bell from them, because it was ours." Delaronde said he never feared prosecution for stealing the bell, but still feels a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders. During a mass at Batoche, Delaronde told his story before handing the bell, wrapped in buffalo skins and a M�tis flag, to the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Prince Albert. Monsignor Albert Thevenot, also M�tis, negotiated the return of the bell. " One idea he had was to throw it in a lake, because it could cause a lot of commotion," Thevenot said. " But friends convinced him he had to bring it back to Batoche." Since the bell was the property of the church, it is not considered stolen property, Thevenot said. " We checked out to see that no legal problems would come," he said. " I'm the owner of the bell." Robert Doucette, president of the M�tis Nation of Sakatchewan, said hearing the bell, known among M�tis as Marie Antoinette, brought tears to his eyes. " For the first time, I really felt a lot of the unity that has been missing was there today," he said. " The nation has turned a corner. The bell belongs to all of us." Guy Savoie, an elder with the Union Nationale Metisse St- Joseph du Manitoba, said the bell will initially be displayed at the St. Boniface Museum in Winnipeg, which has a large collection of M�tis artifacts. The bell will not be remounted in the church steeple from which it was stolen 128 years ago, Savoie said, no matter how bad Parks Canada may want it. " I don't care what the feds feel about it," he said. " It's not their bell." - The Canadian Press Batoche bell saga hidden no more Manitoban stole it from Ont. Legion OTTAWA - The refusal of Conservative riding associations to explain how they spend millions in taxpayer- subsidized cash raises suspicions they're putting the money to questionable uses, Liberal deputy leader Ralph Goodale says. Goodale said he can't fathom how Tory riding associations have racked up eyepopping expenses, such as the nearly $ 70,000 in " travel and hospitality" reported by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's Whitby- Oshawa riding association last year. " That's astounding, that's breathtaking," the veteran Liberal MP said in an interview. " It just doesn't smell right." Ditto with respect to newly minted Labour Minister Kellie Leitch's Simcoe Grey riding association, which reported just over $ 65,000 in " other" expenses without providing any details. " Any riding with a miscellaneous number that's that large, that's more than the total bank accounts of a great many ridings," Goodale noted. He was responding to an analysis by The Canadian Press of 2012 financial reports filed recently by federal parties' riding associations with Elections Canada. With some late reports still straggling in, the analysis found Conservative associations are by far the wealthiest, sitting on combined surpluses of just over $ 18 million. Liberal associations reported combined assets of $ 6.3 million and the NDP's assets totalled $ 2.3 million. In all, riding associations for all federal parties ended the year with combined war chests worth nearly $ 30 million, with little obligation to account publicly for how the money is spent. Since 2004, associations that wish to issue tax receipts for donations must register with Elections Canada and file annual financial reports, which include the names of donors and the amounts they contribute, as well as summaries of how much money was spent. They report tens of thousands of dollars spent on things such as " professional services," " office expenses," " fundraising activities," " polling and research" or just " other" - with no detailed explanations. They do not supply receipts to Elections Canada, which thus has no way to verify whether the money was spent to stage a communityoutreach event or pay for the local MP's wardrobe, new car or family vacations. The Liberal party supplied contact information for some of its bigger- spending riding associations, which offered relatively detailed explanations of how they spent the money. But The Canadian Press did not receive any response to repeated requests for explanations from some of the biggest- spending Conservative associations, including Flaherty's and Leitch's. " This cloak of secrecy just stokes suspicion," said Goodale, adding that it " smells of a coverup." " Riding associations should be prepared to answer legitimate questions from the public about what that ( spending) was for." NDP national director Nathan Rotman couldn't imagine how a riding association could rack up a $ 70,000 travel and hospitality tab or $ 65,000 in other expenses. " In my time working in riding associations and being field director here, I would have a hard time figuring out how to spend that much money ... It certainly makes you wonder what they're doing with that amount of money," he said. Pierre Poilievre, the newly appointed minister of state for democratic reform, said he's open to proposals for increasing transparency. " We're prepared to look at all ideas on how to improve the system," he said Friday after a ceremony to honour a Korean War veteran in his Ottawa riding. " I'll be meeting with members of all parties and others who have ideas on improving transparency and democracy and hopefully come up with some good proposals." Poilievre, whose Nepean- Carleton Conservative association is the eleventh wealthiest in the country, with net assets of $ 202,181, could not say what accounted for the $ 10,000 it reported in " other" expenses last year. " I'll have to go and check. I don't have that filing in front of me right now." Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has made transparency a hallmark of his leadership. During last spring's Liberal leadership contest, he voluntarily disclosed all his sources of income, including his inheritance from his late father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, and more than $ 1 million in public- speaking fees, some of it earned after being elected as an MP in 2008. He's promised that all Liberal MPs will begin voluntarily posting their expenses online this fall. Goodale said the Liberals also " want to play a strong role in leading the way" on transparency when it comes to riding associations and political parties, which similarly aren't required to provide receipts to Elections Canada to account for the money they spend. He suggested the law could be amended to require a greater level of detail in annual financial reports and the provision of receipts. - The Canadian Press Tory riding outlays raising suspicions Large sums spent on ' travel, hospitality' By Joan Bryden and Steve Rennie ' Any riding with a miscellaneous number that's that large, that's more than the total bank accounts of a great many ridings' - Liberal deputy leader Ralph Goodale, on undocumented Conservative riding association expenditures LIAM RICHARDS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Billyjo Delaronde tells the audience at the Back to Batoche Days in Batoche, Sask., he and cohorts stole the bell ( right) from an Ontario Legion hall. A_ 07_ Jul- 21 - 13_ FP_ 01. indd A7 7/ 20/ 13 10: 46: 58 PM ;