a4 Castlegar News

June 13, 1990

June 13, 1990

NATIONAL NEWS

PROVINCIAL NEWS

Wells flooded with support, staff says

VICTORIA (CP) — Ontario and British Columbia lead the flood of support for Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells’ opposition to the Meech Lake accord, his staff said.

**We've had thousands of calls and faxes," Judy Foote, Wells’ public relations director, said in a telephone interview from St. John’s. ‘We've had some people say they tried to get through for two hours.

“The calls we're getting are in- dicating he’s a true statesman. Eighty, maybe even 90 per cent say he should run for prime minister."’

Wells opposes the Meech Lake deal reached Saturday by first ministers but agreed to put the constitutional accord to the Newfoundland legislature in a free vote before the June 23 deadline.

Manitoba and New Brunswick legislatures also have to ratify the ac- cord. If one of the three holdout provinces doesn’t approve it, the ac- cord will die.

Foote said that before Wells left for the week-long conference in Ottawa he had received 13,000 letters —-mest supporting fis position — from across the country.

About 2,100 came from British Columbia-while Ontario residents led in letter and phone support, she said. The calls have increased so

dramatically that nine people in Wells’ office are answering phones rather than the usual four.

Since Wells left for the Ottawa con- ference there have been about 3,700 telephone calls, including more than 1,000 on Monday, his first full day back, said Ed Hollett, another staff member.

While Wells was at the conference, his office received more than 1,200 letters, including 250 from British Columbia. Hollett said only four op- posed Wells’ stand.

This week there have been 1,650 let- ters and about 300 telexes.

“+1 gota call from a woman in Van- couver who was calling at what must have been 4:30 or 5 a.m. (PDT),”” Hollett said.

Despite the support, neither Wells nor his staff want the letters or phone calls to influence members of the Newfoundland House of Assembly, Foote said.

“This is totally, totally a free vote,”’ she said. ‘‘It (vote) is purely what Newfoundlanders think.”

The first ministers agreed to pass the accord as it was drafted three years ago with the assurance that others issues such as Senate reform will be addressed later.

The initial agreement recognizes Quebec as a distinct society and

broadens provincial powers in areas such as immigration.

Wells believes a statement is required in the accord dealing with the impact of Quebec's distinct society clause on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In British Columbia, Premier Bill

Vander’s office has also experienced an increase in Meech Lake calls but staff are not keeping track of num- bers.

One source said most are “‘negative’ toward the accord but when asked if he thinks British

Columbians now favor Meech, Van- der Zalm paused and sighed.

“Well, I’m getting many, many phone calls from people,’ said the premier who planned to talk to Wells about visiting Newfoundland © to discuss Meech. ‘*They don’t really say

+1 don’t like the Meech Lake accord .

“They say other things that are directed toward their dislike for something they think about Quebec or something they think they know about Quebec or some distaste they have for bilingualism or something they don’t like about French.”

Media coverage of Meech criticized

By The Canadian Press

National crisis. What crisis?

That's what reporters should have been asking long before the June 23 deadline for the Meech Lake accotd was near; some media watchers say.

Instead, Canadians have come to believe the country will disintegrate if the constitutional accord isn’t passed by all the provinces. And that’s largely due to the powerful influence of the national media, said Tom Kent; a former journalist and political ad- viser.

Many journalists are partly to blame for Cc he

with fears about Canada’s breakup, he said.

“The fact is that almost all jour- nalists have been uncritically swept along by the hysteria,” Kent told a recent conference. ‘‘Consequently, the prophecy of doom without Meech has become self-justified.’”

The hysteria put intense pressure on the holdout premiers, sparked renewed talk of Quebec separation and created a do-or-die mentality.

Ramsay Cook, an historian, author and professor at Toronto’s York University, agreed with Kent’s — at least about CBC-

stressed in an interview. But two big actors — CBC-TV and the Toronto Globe and Mail — played a Ke We in a government plot to replace debat: over the substance of Meech Lake

TV's The National and The Journal, the network’s nightly newscast and newsmagazine.

John Owen, the head of CBC-TV news, defended the network’s

coverage and said it’s easy for critics to speak generally about a bias but it’s not so easy to prove it with specific examples.

“When the CBC's involved — because we are the big guy on the block — we are the easiest potshot. That comes with the territory; I think we have to accept that.””

«Cook said he found the Globe more, balanced since it gave space on its opinion page to almost every position on Meech Lake. Not so with the CBC.

He said the network portrayed the three dissenting premiers as leaders who needed to be brought on side to save Meech. On the other hand, pro- Meech premiers were given an easier

time by CBC interviewers, he main- tained.

**It seems to me these people didn’t ever press hard,’’ said Cook. ‘*They have helped create a vision of Meech or nothing.””

Kent, who headed a royal com- mission into concentration of newspaper ownership in the early 1980s, said he thought the content of the Globe’s stories wasn’t biased.

“But as you well know, a point of view creeps into the news in terms of the headlines and the way in which stories are featured. There were a degree of analysis in the Globe Mail, but not until the last minute."”

B.C. may elect senator

VICTORIA (CP) — British Columbia hasn’t ruled out holding a Senate election despite objections from Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Premier Bill Vander Zalm said.

**We will be in the position after the 23rd (of June) to make recommen- dations to the prime minister as to who it is he should consider for an appointment,’’ Vander Zalm said.

**And how it is we achieve or arrive at the list, | think, is our business."*

June 23 is the deadline for the Meech Lake accord to pass. The Newfoundland, Manitoba and New Brunswick legislatures must ratify the deal before it passes.

In the constitutional deal reached late Saturday night, the first ministers agreed to convene a special meeting by year’s end to initiate the process of Senate reform.

Vander Zalm raised the issue of a Senate election in British Columbia on Monday after Mulroney appointed the country’s first elected Senator, Albertan Stan Waters, fo the upper chamber.

On Tuesday, Mulroney reiterated that the appointment of Waters was a one-shot deal.

“It would be most unhelpful to the process if the premiers failed to follow faithfully the undertakings in the Meech Lake accord in respect to these appointments,"’ he said in Ot- tawa.

Asked if he would go ahead with an election despite Mulroney's warning, Vander Zalm said: ‘*Yes, | think it’s a possibility.””

“Elected is essential for us, but whether the timing is best now or later,’’ he added.

BILL VANDER ZALM

One add-on to the Mééch Lake ac- cord, designed to bring Quebec into the Constitution, involves establish- ment of a commission after June 23 to study how to make the Senate elected, effective and more equitable.

If that is unsuccessful by 1995, On- tario, Nova Scotia and New Brun- swick will give up Senate seats to other provinces, including British Columbia,

But Vander Zalm said he hasn't received any word from Mulroney not to go ahead with a Senate election to fill a vacancy left by the death of Vancouver Island Senator Nancy Bell, who died last fall at age 65.

He said he can’t see how a Senate election would be destructive.

“I don’t know why it would be unhelpful, frankly, if they’re moving toward an elected Senate,’’ he said.

Truckers, doctors hold protest

RICHMOND (CP) — Kenworth and Mack tr@ks parked beside Volvos, BMWs, and Cadillacs at Frantasy Garden World on Tuesday as truckers and doctors took their labor disputes to Premier Bill Vander Zalm’s front yard.

Physicians and the striking in- dependent truckers had common

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From Wire Service

Canada lukewarm on Meech

TORONTO — The majority of Canadians are lukewarm about tlie Meech Lake constitutional accord but still hope it is ratified, suggests an Angus Reid-Southam News poll.

Only 11 per cent of those polled say the tentative deal struck by the first ministers Saturday to break the Meech impasse is a good one, says the poll.

Fifty-six per cent of Canadians don’t like the deal but admit it’s probably the best that could be done under the circumstances, suggests the survey.

Twenty-eight per cent of those surveyed say it’s a poor agreement.

But 55 per cent of those surveyed — including 61 per cent of Quebecers and 62 per cent of Atlantic Canadians — said the Newfoundland legislature should approve Lead accord when it holds a free vote next week. —

egests 36 f per. cent nt of Canadians would like to see Newfoundland block it.

The poll of 1,241 adults was conducted two days after Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the 10 premiers agreed on a deal to salvage: the Meech Lake accord, which is designed to bring Quebec into the Constitution. The poll, when taken to reflect public opinion across the country, is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.

The poll suggests 55 per cent of Canadians disapprove of the close- d-door process which led to the agreement while 41 per cent believe it was the only practical way to reach a deal.

Walkout possible, CUPW says

TORONTO — The postal workers’ union has threatened to halt mail delivery this fall if job security is not guaranteed in a contract being negotiated with Canada Post.

Everyone from letter carriers to inside workers could walk out in September, said Jean-Claude Parrot, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Canada Post shrugged off Parrot’s strike threat.’

“That’s about all we hear from him,’’ said spokesman Ida Irwin.

Ina speech to the union’s national convention, Parrot set Aug. 31 as a deadline for the Crown corporation to settle a contract dispute with the union that represents all 46,000 postal workers.

Irwin said it’s going to take some time for an agreement to be reached — the last contract with CUPW took two years to negotiate — because it’s the first time Canada Post has bargained with one union representing all postal workers.

The Canadian Labor Relations Board forced a merger of all postal unions last year. CUPW, without a contract since last July 31, narrowly won a vote to represent them.

U.S. post chief cautions Canada

TORONTO — Canada should think twice before selling some or all of its postal service, the U.S. postmaster general says.

Anthony Frank told a meeting of the Association of Area Business Publications the economics of postal delivery make privatization a difficult undertaking for any country.

“*T think mail is as close to anatural monopoly as we have in this world,”’ he said. ‘‘There isn’t a pri ate mail administration operating anywhere i in the world at this time.

‘Frank said governments should.guarantee the provision of “universal and uniform mail service’’ for their citizens instead of “‘creaming’’ or selling off the most profitable operations to the private sector.

“I think in order to have an industrialized country, you've got to have a uniform postal service,’ Frank said in an interview.

“Somebody has got to serve all fie-peaple of Canada."’

In April, Harvie Andre, the minister responsible for Canada Post Corp., said the Crown corporation could be sold within three years, after it has established a record of Profitability.

AC also Canada Post operations.

Selling alt or part-of

Senator wants Ul grace period

OTTAWA — Ina gesture aimed at reducing tensions with the Commons, a Liberal senator is asking for a six-month grace period to make it easier for the unemployed in some regions to get insurance benefits.

Senator Norbert Theriault of New Brunswick, a high unemployment area, introduced a bill in the upper chamber that would reinstate lower qualifying periods for benefits based on regional unemployment rates.

Instead of the 14 works currently required across the country to qualify for benefits, during the six months from July to a 1991 would have to work 10-14 weeks to qualify, depending on local unemployment rates.

“This would allow a little more flexibility,”’ Theriault said outside the Red Chamber. ‘‘It might also defuse tensions between both houses and help find a solution to (Bill) C-21.""

——

pi when they at the Vander Zalm family business, said John Anderson, president of the B.C. Medical Association.

“*I see what they’re having to do, cover the increased costs of doing business,’’ Anderson said in an inter- view. ‘‘It’s the same problem we're facing in the medical profession to some degree.

“Their requests from my perspec- tive have been pretty reasonable and | think ours have been too.”’

The premier and Health Minister John Jansen were invited but did not attend the /sixth four-hour study session héld by doctors to protest the government’s refusal to agree to bin- ding arbitration to settle their fee- schedule dispute.

About 200 physicians from subur- ban Richmond and Delta, some

dressed in white lab coats with stethoscopes in the breast pocket, at- tended the study session. They opened their rented meeting room at the theme park to bearded truckers wearing leather vests and grimy baseball hats.

The truckers, who represent one- quarter of the rig operators in British Columbia, want a minimum ‘hauling rate of $40 an hour. Pre-strike rates ranged between $25 and $35 an hour.

Although settlement talks failed last week, some independents are returning to work for companies who offer ‘‘decent’’ rates, said the Western Owner Operators Association.

The truckers offered their support to the doctors.

“*Your needs are the same as our needs,” said association spokesman Gord Dahl.

Randy Peluso said low hourly rates have put the trucking industry in shambles.

“We fully support what you fellas are doing,”’ he told the doctors. ““‘We hope you get to where you're going.””

Anderson and other speakers at the meeting said the government wants to

use the doctors as an election issuc.

“Our thinking is that’ they're looking for an election issue and you'll do something silly,” said doc- tors’ negotiator Ben Trevino. “‘Then they’ll come in on a white charger.””

Anderson said hints by Finance Minister Mel Couvelier of a legislated settlement would be ‘‘a gross abuse of government power.””

If the doctors became an election issue, the medical association's adver- tising campaign about long surgical waiting lists and a need for a fair fee settlement would come out of moth- balls, he said.

Doctors, who have been without a contract for 15 months, are seeking a

hree-year deal with of 5.8

said how that will affect fees.

Negotiations resumed Tuesday and were scheduled to continue today. More sessions are scheduled June 19, the date of the next four-hour study session in Kelowna.

Doctors’ study sessions began May 8 in North Vancouver with a field hospital resembling the set of the television series MASH erected in a city park. The sessions have not disrupted surgery or emergency ser- vices but some patient visits were rescheduled

Anderson said B.C. doctors are the fifth-highest paid in Canada, gross about $90,000 a year and work an average of 50 hours a week. More

per cent in the first year and 5.4 per cent in the second and third years. They also want compensation for computerization costs and an adjust- ment for the last nurses’ settlement because they’ve increased nurses” wages at their clinics.

The government has said it will in- crease its contribution to the provin- cial health plan by 5.5 per cent for each of the next three years but hasn't

NDP prosecutes Reid

VANCOUVER (CP) — Former tourism minister Bill Reid was reman- ded until July 17 when he appeared Tuesday in provincial court to face a charge of breach of trust in the distribution of government lottery money.

The New Democratic Party went to court to prosecute Reid after Attor- ney General Bud Smith announced Monday that Crown counsel would not handle the case.

Peter Firestone, who is prosecuting Reid on behalf of NDP justice critic Moe Sihota, told Judge Kerry Smith he needed more time because he was having trouble getting information from police.

Reid’s lawyer, Robert McDonnell, said he was only given details on the case Monday afternoon and needed time to explore the options.

Smith agreed to a long post- ponement but said he thought it was unnecessary. ‘I would have thought a couple of weeks would have been enough.”

After the attorney general again rejected demands that the Crown prosecute Reid, a visibly angry Sihota told reporters in Victoria that Firestone would act for him when Reid appeared in provincial court to answer a summons issued by a justice of the peace.

The summons was issued after Sihota swore an information alleging mishandling of lottery funds under the GO B.C. grants program.

Sihota demanded Monday that Smith hand over documents that would have been accessible to Crown counsel, but the attorney-g: I said

September after it was revealed a $277,065 lottery grant be ad- ministered was being funnelled to a company owned by his campaign manager, George Doonan, and longtime family friend Bill Sulllivan. A subsequent comptroller-general’s

Firestone will have to subpoena whatever evidence he needs because the government will surrender infor- mation only at the direction of the courts.

Reid resigned his cabinet post last

report Reid’s handling of the grant was both improper and irregular.

But the Attorney General’s Ministry decided not to prosecute Reid after referring police evidence to Bob Wright.

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