ca__ Castlagar News —Febrvory 2. 1906

POPULIST GROUP
JUST PLAIN

FOLKS

By DAVE BLAIKIE

OTTAWA (CP) — The National Citizens’ Coalition,
which portrays itself as a populist group of the right, has
used sy te enrol ploy as
members. The group, which keeps its membership
lists secret, has also used the Ontario Medical
Assocation's 17,000-member mailing list — with the
OMA's blessing — to acquire members in return for
opposing federal legislation, passed two years ago, that
tried to curtail extra-billing.

And it has canvassed companies in the 4,500-member
Canadian Oil Register for support and donations in
exchange for a pledge to fight the national energy
program of the former Liberal government.

Currently, the group is involved in its largest
direct-mail membership drive ever, trying to raise
$500,000 for a landmark court case aimed at curtailing
political and lobbying activities by labor unions.

The coalition is supporting Mervyn Lavigne, a
Northern Ontario community college teacher who claims
a constitutional right to withhold union dues used ‘for
causes he opposes, including his union's longstanding
support of the New Democratic Party.

‘The form letter soliciting donations for the Lavigne
case urges potential contributors to “hit at the heart
of the left wing, not only in Ontario but across Canada.”

A donation, “payable to the National Citizens’
Coalition, would help give Merv Lavigne the resources he
needs to win this battle,” writes coalition founder Colin
Brown, a now-retired London, Ont., insurance million
aire.

conservative views.
“For God's sake don’t try to write it up as something
abnormal,” he says of the group's recruiting techniques.
“We started out by getting most of our members in
response to advertisements. Now we also write letters,
send them to likely areas, give people what we stand for,
and ask them to join.”

Brown founded the coalition in 1967, with a
newspaper ad: d ing univ 1 medi
care and asking whether anyone “out there” agreed with
him.

jponse, Brown says, launched “a hobby that
went berserk.” The coalition, incorporated as a non-profit
organization in 1975, now has a budget of more than $1
million and offices in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver

Newspaper ads have been the mainstay of the
coalition over the years in promoting its list of
conservative causes.

Aside from medicare and the Liberal energy policies,
the group has attacked peace groups, bilingualism,
indexed pensions, public servants, government deficits,

i welfare programs, immigra
tion policies and “left-wing media.”

Its most celebrated battle came in 1984 when it won
a court case that struck down restrictions on third-party
advertising in federal election campaigns. The group
called the case a major victory for freedom of speech and
freedom of the press.

The coalition claims a national membership of about
30,000 people — a figure that has remained constant over
the years despite expanded staff, new nehes,
growing budgets and major membership drives.

The figure has been generally accepted, but there is
no way to check it because the group keeps membership
confidential,

Brown says skeptics can visit coalition offices and see
its membership books — but they cannot get close
enough to read names.

“We would put the thing past them fast enough that
they couldn't write anything down,” he says.

Brown, once an ardent Progressive Conservative,
says he has been politically independent for more than a
decade and emphasizes the coalition has criticized all
political parties.

But he has fostered links with politicians sharing his
free enterprise views.

Several have joined the coalition, some so
enthusiastically they agreed to sit on its 14-member
advisory board and have their names published in its
newsletters.

Former Ontario premier John Robarts was a
member of the first board in 1975. Ernest Manning, a
retired senator and longtime Social Credit premier of
Alberta, was a founding member and is still on the board.

Robert Thompson, who once led the national Social
Credit party and sat later as a Tory MP, served on the
board and acted as the coalition’s “western representa
tive.”

Sarah Band, who organized Toronto ridings for the
Tories in two federal elections and ran for the national
party presidency, was a staff member and coalition
vice-president.

Erie Kipping, the MLA who led the revolt against
Premier Richard Hatfield in New Brunswick, spent
several years as a board member.

In the business world, Brown does not deny that
many corporate executives have been associated with the
coalition and many have been board members over the
years.

The list includes J. V. Clyne of Vancouver, former
chairman of MacMillan Bloedel Ltd.; Pierre Cote of
Montreal, president of the Conseil du patronat, Quebec's

Growth Ltd.; advertising executive Peter Hunter of
Toronto and Keith Rapsey of Cambridge, Ont., former
president of the Canadian Manufacturing Association.

BOARD MEMBERS

David Somerville, coalition vice-president and
Brown's key staff member, points out the current board
includes a university teacher and a farmer.

The references are to Donald Thain, professor of
business inistration at the l of Western
Ontario, and Erie Harvie, an Alberta rancher who
inherited one of the country’s biggest oil fortunes.

Brown says the practice of using companies to
recruit employees as members, outlined in 1978, has been

i d. The and the number of
members they recruited were never tabulated, he says.

A publication called Overview is mailed every other
month to members contributing $100 or more a year.

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Another Cr goes in months
te those who give smaller amounts.

Brown is perplexed at attempts by the media and
critics to identify coalition members.

The fact most don't want their names known should
not surprise anyone, because many organizations operate
the same way, he argues.

“Do the labor people expose all their names? Do
magazines? Does Maclean's expose the names of all the
people that take Maclean's? Why should (this kind of
criticism) be centred on us?

“The business about not exposing all our names is
almost humorous.”

Electronic snooping on rise

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Key
wreckage
located

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. (AP) —
NASA ‘believed it has located a key
piece of wreckage in the search for the
cause of the explosion that destroyed
space shuttle Challenger and killed its
seven crew members.

The agency planned to send robot
submarines today to an undisclosed
area where radar indicated one of the
shuttle’s two rocket boosters dropped
into the Atlantic after last week's
explosion.

“I would say that this is one of the
most vital pieces of evidence that we've
found as far as debris is concerned,”
said Jim Mizell, a National Aeronautics
and Space Administration spokesman
and engineer.

Searchers hoped the booster, if
that’s what it is, came from the right
side of the shuttle. A spurt of flame,
directed from that rocket toward the
shuttle fuel tank, is the chief suspect in
the blast.

Mizell said if it turns out to be the
starboard booster, salvage ships will be
summoned to raise the wreckage,
which might take two weeks.

“It would be a tremendous find
because we would have some actual
physical data that we could retrieve,”
he said.

lleville 3%

Fed. 28

4
tHE

F
|

SNOW FESTIVAL . . . Snow sculpturing was one of the

Nevokshonoff and Darin Green with snow bunny
which won first prize. Other events of the day in-

f
it

events of a mini-snow festival held Friday by
Woodland Park ki ten classes here

cluded a cross-country ski race, a doggie team race
(from left) are Nicole Watson, Drew Ross, Marnie

ality, p . a
OTTAWA (CP) — The in- liament. ada” concerns the ‘commis- suspected of a crime to plant The working paper said intended and with far fewer q y and enjoying homemade ice-cream frozen with snow.

creasing use of electronic
surveillance by police in Can-
ada has led to the uncom-
fortable prospect that it is
not unreasonable for people
to suspect their phones are
being tapped, says the Law
Reform Commission of Can-
ada in a working paper on
electronic surveillance.

And, it says, federal pri-
vacy law. should apply to
police use of cameras in in
vestigations.

Noting that police in Vic-
toria used a television cam-
era installed in a bedroom to
film sex between prostitutes
and customers last year, the
commission said in its paper
released this week, that po-
lice should have to get a
judge's approval before they
can use such tactics.

The Privacy Act, passed in
1974, doesn't cover use of op-
tical devices, such as film
cameras, in ii igations.

Overall, the commission
has 76 recommendations for
changes in the law, with the
emphasis on making the sys
tem more accountable.

It says Canada, on a per
capita basis, records more
than 20 times the number of
authorized wiretaps and bug:
gings as the United States
does.

In fact, it says, “The in
creasing use (real or per-
ceived) of electronic surveil-
lance by state agencies has
led to the uncomfortable
prospect that it is not un
reasonable for persons to
suspect that their telephone
lines are tapped.”

Furthermore, “
clauses” in authorizations
granted in secret by judges
put few restraints on in-
vestigators.

Joseph Maingot, law re

The commission said this is
an “enormous gap” in the law
and needs to be filled by Par.

form respon
sible for criminal law, said
“the proliferation of court
ordered interceptions in Can

Hatfield's
future uncertain

FREDERICTON (CP) —
The not-guilty verdict in the
drug trial of Premier Richard
Hatfield was handed down
one year ago, but the jury is
still out on his political fu
ture.

On Jan. 29, 1985, New
Brunswick's flamboyant pre
mier left the York County
courthouse cleared of
charge of possession of mar
jjuana but very much en
tangled in questions about
his ability to win another
election.

The 12 months since then
have probably been the long
est year in Hatfield's life. He
has stumbled from one public
relations disaster to the next
— from drug controversies,
to a tuna scandal, to a dam-
aging rebellion within his
own Conservative caucus and
party.

But despite incredible
pressure to resign, Hatfield

is still at the helm and pre
paring to fight his fourth
election campaign since com
ing to power in 1970.

One provincial newspaper
calls him the Rocky Balboa of
New Brunswick politics, and
Mr. Invincible. But many
political observers feel the
events of the past 1'/: years
have left deep sears and cost
his party the confidence of
the people.

“I think things changed
dramatically for him the day
the RCMP knocked on his
door and told him they had
found marijuana in his lug
gage.” says political com
mentator, writer and long
time Liberal Art Doyle

sion.

Added to this are the se-
crecy provisions, which pre-
vent anyone from monitoring
how judges and police use the
system.

“The secrecy also works to
shield the authorities from
being held accountable for
their investigative acts and
has prevented even this
commission from answering
certain basic questions,” he
said.

The: questions include:

how often are police en-
tering homes of people not

listening devices?

Do police protect the pri-
vacy of people who are not
suspects when doing wire
taps?

e@ To what extent are ap.
plications for wiretaps being
made to investigate activity

the secrecy provisions aren't
in the law to protect the
public. Instead, they protect
police informants and in
dividuals “such as apartment

restrictions than were en.
visaged.”

The secrecy provisions in
the law “prevent us from dir
ectly applying our own judg

superintendents” who give
police access to people's
homes or help them install

other than in circumstances bugs.

the Criminal

“The personal privacy of
Canadians is far too precious
a commodity for questions
such as these to remain un-
answerable,” Maingot said.

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CORATING

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Upsteirs in trait’
's “on” Mail

against “unreasonable search
and seizure” may bring down
some of the privacy law's
provisions.

The paper also said eiec.
tronic eavesdropping is being
used “with far greater fre-
quency than was originally

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Atlantis. All future flights were sus-
pended after the Challenger accident.
“There is no evidence the orbiter
was at fault in this accident,” said
Mizell, pointing out that 21 days of
work in the shuttle processing facility
can be accomplished while a presi
dential ion is i

LEARNING ASSISTANCE

Full-time worker top priority

By CasNows Staff
A committee reviewing learning as-
sistance di im the

When the shuttle blew up, the two
boosters separated and began flying
out of control — one appearing to be
headed toward the Florida coast. A
range safety officer sent a radio signal
to blow the top off both boosters.

That had the effect of shooting flame
out both ends, stopping the forward
motion and tumbling the rocket into
the sea. Under such circumstances, the
casing could have survived almost
intact.

Funding for
job programs

By CasNews Staff

Kootenay West MP Bob Brisco an-
nounced today the approval of $145,000
in federal government funding for two
Job Entry programs that will provide
employment preparation for 30 people
in the Nelson area.

A news release from Brisco's office
says $79,500 has been allocated for the
training of 15 people at Selkirk Col
lege’s Rosemont Campus.

“They will spend 12 weeks in the
classroom with qualified trainers in the
areas of life skills, job search skills and
specialized training relating to their
job placements,” the release says.

“In addition, they will spend 14
weeks receiving on-the-job training
with a variety of employers in the
Nelson area.”

Also, $65,500 has been allocated for
the training of 15 people at the Nelson
Business School. These people will
receive eight weeks of classroom train
ing and an additional 18 weeks working
in Nelson businesses, mainly in the
service industry, the release says.

“I am very pleased to see our com
munities taking advantage of the op-
portunities open to them through the
Canadian Jobs Strategy,” Brisco says
in the release. “It demonstrates the
continued contribution and dedication
of our schools and business com
munities.

Job Entry is a federal initiative
under the Canadian Jobs Strategy to
assist people experiencing the diffi
culty in making the transition from
school or home to the work environ-
ment.

Under the program, arrangements
are made between the project coordin-
ators and various businesses to ensure
that appropriate workplace training is
secured for each of the participants.

Income assistance is provided to the
trainees in the form of unemployment
ir or training

Castlegar
school district has listed the hiring of a
second full-time child care worker

© The hiring of a full-time elementary
counsellor;

@ The hiring of an additional learning
assistance teacher at Stanley Hum-

are something we've tatked” about.”
However, Pongracz added, “Until we
see the budget . . . we can't say ‘yea or
nay’ ” to the suggestions.
The board is expecting budget

experienced with behavior probh as
its top priority for the district.

The Learning Assistance Review
Committee — which has been review

phries secondary school;

© the repl of iti learn
ing assistance teachers by permanent
learning assistance teachers in each
school;

ing learning in
the district since fall 1964 — pr d

oa ient budget for half-day per

its report and recommendations to the
Castlegar school board’s education
committee Monday.

Inga Lamont, a learning assistance
teacher at Twin Rivers elementary
school and a member of the review
committee, told the trustees that a
child care worker with expertise in
behavior problems would give the dis-
trict extra help in coping with students
having difficulty learning.

“Many problems are not learning
problems but behavior problems,”
Lamont said.

In its report to the trustees, the
review committee lists 10 other finan
cial/personnel r i it

month prof and
in-service training for learning assis
tance and special education teachers;
The provision of rooms for learning
assistance teachers if there is an influx
of students into the district in the next
few years;
e One permanently placed computer
for each learning assistance teacher;
e The director of instruction coordin.
ater community agency involvement;
e Future hiring of learning assis
tance teachers be made as close as
possible to Ministry of Education

from the Ministry of Educa-
tion sometime within the next few
weeks.

But director of instruction Lach Far
rell, who sat on the review committee,
said the committee didn't expect the
trustees to commit funding at this
time.

“Primarily what we wanted to do
was clarify any questions the board
may have about the report,” Farrell
said

He added that the anticipated costs
of the recommendations will be pre
sented to the board later

“The figures will be brought to the
(board’s) budget committee,” Farrell
said.

Besides Farrell and Lamont, other
review committee members are Rob-
son -y principal Russil Rileof,

‘The report and the
got a sympathetic hearing from the

would like to see implemented in the
district. They are, in order of priority:

A reinstatement of learning assis
tance time back to the 1983 level prior
to cuts due to restraint;

e@ The opportunity for teachers of
special programs to take different as-
signments upon request;

gh the
trustees expressed concern that the
1986-87 budget won't contain enough
funds to implement the recommenda
tions.

“We've had a number of experiences
this past year that point to some of
these recommendations,” Rick Pon
gracz said. “The priorities laid out here

learning assistance teachers — Michael
Davey of Kinnaird junior secondary,
Michael Balahura of SHSS and SHSS
teacher Joe Beales.

During the course of the review, the
committee met with the director of
special services for the Ministry of
Edueation and learning assistance tea
chers in the district.

continued on A2

Devices altered?

OTTAWA (CP) — A House of Com-
mons technician from the 1960s, says
that communications devices in the
Liberal caucus room were “deliberately
tampered with” near the time Erik
Nielsen has admitted he eavesdropped
on the Liberals, the Ottawa Citizen
says.

Edward Ayoub of Ottawa told The
Citizen on Tuesday that during a
routine check of a Liberal caucus
electronic junction box “in the late
spring or early summer of 1966” he
found a “mike wire that wasn't our
work and wasn't our wire.”

Ayoub was then working for EMI
Connors Electronics Lid. of Dartmount
N.S., the firm the Public Works
Department had contracted to install
and maintain the system.

Nielsen apologized Monday in the
Commons for eavesdropping on the
Liberal caucus. The controversy arose
last week after the Toronto Star
published transcripts of a taped 1973
interview in which Nielsen told a
writer that the Tories heard word-for-
word what the Liberals were saying in
their regular weekly caucus meeting

During the 1973 interview, Nielsen
referred to political events that took
place in March, 1966, and said he
listened to the Liberals at that time.

FILED

Ayoub told The Citizen that he and
his superior, Ernie Vosburgh, now
chief of the Commons electronic ser
viees branch, filed a written report on
the finding to Col. D.V. Currie, then
sergeant-at-arms for the Commons.

However Sherman Hickey, who
worked with Ayoub, told The Citizen
he had no recollection of any tampering
with the sound system in the Liberal
caucus room. However, Hickey con
firmed that the junction boxes were
sealed with special locks during the
time Ayoub referred to.

Ayoub said the junction boxes were
sealed because of the discovery of the
alien wire.

Vosburgh said earlier this week in an
interview with The Canadian Press
that he could not remember any re
pairs or major faults to the electronic
systems of the Liberal and Tory caucus
reoms in the 1960s.

Both rooms, adjacent to each other in
Parliament Hill's West Block, were
first wired for recording and inter
pretation sound systems in 1964.

Ayoub, who lives in Ottawa but
works at times in North Bay, Ont.,
could not be reached today in a North
Bay motel.

The motel manager said Ayoub, who
spoke to The Citizen from North Bay,
had left a note on his motel cottage
door this morning asking the motel
owners to hold his mail. The motel
manager said Ayoub had said he de
cided to take a vacation.

Vosburgh was not answering his
telephone today, and he refused to
speak toa Citizen reporter who went to
his home on Tuesday.

Currie, now retired, told The Citizen
he could not recall the report. His
telephone was not being answered
today

Ayoub told The Citizen that in 1966
he found a strange two-strand wire
leading from a broadcast channel to a
point where it had been cut about eight
centimetres from a transmission junc
tion box in the Liberal room

“All we're being asked is to approve
it im principle,” he said. “If there is
adéquate funding, then all points will
be dealt with. We're not making
promises to anyone.”

School superintendent Terry Way.

from 20 per cent a year ago.

Two skiers killed
in avalanche

NAKUSP (CP) — Two skiers were
killed and a third was injured Tuesday
when they were hit by an avalanche
while heli-skiing in the Selkirk moun-
tain range.

The three men were dug out of the
snow by the crew of a helicopter and
flown to hospital here.

The victims were identified as James
Spuntz, 47, of Mercer Island, Wash.,
and Kim Momb, 29, of Spokane, Wash.,
an employee of Kootenay Helicopter
Skiing Ltd. who was leading a group of
skiers down a mountain 19 kilometres
east of here when the avalanche oc
curred.

A third man caught in the avalanche

eastern route in 1983. It was the first
time Americans had reached the
summit by that route.

The successful ascent of Everest in
1963 was Momb’s third try on that
peak. On one of the two failed climbs,
he turned back to save the life of
another Spokane climber, John
Roskelley, who had to be taken to
safety after being stricken with pul
monary edema.

—-INSIDE

SERVICE AWARDS: Three
outgoing directors of the
Castlegar District United
Woy received — service
awards at the organizo-
tions annual meeting
Monday night... Aé

FOX MEDAL: Wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen was awarded the
Terry Fox medal Tuesday at Simon Fraser University . . .

BAND REUNITES: A 1960s folk group, whose originals included a
former Trail man, has reunited for the first time since 1965... AS

Hi ARROW CLASSIC: Stanley Humphries Jr. Rockettes basketball
team are hosting their annual tournament this weekend . . . 82

DEAD HORSE: The protesters came to fight public nudity but ended

up flogging a dead horse

Hundreds of raucous, red-jacketed University of British
Columbia engineering students paraded in the rain Tuesday with o
block coffin with four hooves sticking out of it

The casket contained “the remains of the horse we used for

the Lady Godiva ride
dergraduate Society president.

seid Nelson Borch, Engineering un-

In previous years, the parade featured o nude woman — a
stripper hired by the engineers — riding a horse across the univer-

sity campus