VANCOUVER
(CP)
-
Provincial
government
plans
to
approve
a
$100
million
Grizzly
Valley
pipeline
development
were
"common
knowledge"
in
Dawson
Creek,
B.C.,
seven
days'
before
the
official
announcement,
Arthur
Cameron,
former
constituency
secretary
to
Economic
Development
Minister
Don
Phillips,
said
today.
.
Cameron
told
the
Grizzly
Valley
pipeline
inquiry
under
Mr.
Justice
Walter
Kirke
that
Live
wire
B.C.
Hydro
employees
Lloyd
Hill,
left,
and
Don
Green
work
to
repair
a
broken
power
line
that
knocked
out
lights
in
some
areas
of
the
city
for
five
hours
Sunday,
A
faulty
conductor
in
the
parkade
on
Second
Ave,
caused
two
lines
to
explode
near
Fifth
Ave.
and
Vancouver
St.
Clliwn
photo
by
l-n
TnlMi
CRANBROOK
HILL
PROPERTY
PRICES
DOUBLED
City
rejected
land;
speculators
made
$176,000
by
ELI
SOPOW
and
TOM
NIXON
Citizen
Staff
Reporters
The
Citizen
has
learned
that
a
city
decision
not
to
buy
160
acres
of
prime
Cranbrook
Hill
land
In
1973
resulted
in
a
$176,000
Instant
profit
for
a
group
of
Prince
George
speculators.
Ed
Olichny
and
Larry
Smith
bought
the
acreage
from
Joe
Russman
and
George
Kring
in
August
of
1973
for
$192,000
and
at
the
same
time
made
a
deal
to
sell
the
property
to
Sur-Del
Builders
Development
Ltd.
a
subsidiary
of
Carma
Developers
Ltd.
The
speculation
was
a
practice
that
real
estate
agents
say
was
repeated
by
land
dealers
in
the
selling
of
Blackburn
prop
erty
to
various
interests
after
it
became
known
the
area
would
be
served
by
the
city
sewer.
Such
speculation
Is
also
blamed
for
rapidly
rising
land
costs
in
the
city
and
is
seen
as
a
major
threat
to
the
city's
policy
of
curbing
high
lot
prices
with
availability
of
city-auctioned
lots.
Records
show
Carma
now
owns
the
former
Russman
property
and
almost
600
acres
in
Blackburn.
Records
also
show
the
city
decided
to
spend
$200,000
in
June
of
1974
to
buy
half
as
much
land
80
acres
adjoining
the
farm
after
deciding
against
buying
the
Russman
property.
The
Russman
sale
to
Olichny
and
Smith,
for
$192,000
was
negotiated
Aug.
27
but
Russman
charges
a
deal
with
Sur-Del
The
15
Copy
Vol.
21
i
No.
56
Citizen
he
bought
shares
in
one
of
the
companies
affected
by
the
development
three
days
before
Premier
Bill
Bennett's
announcement
of
the
project
in
Dawson
Creek
Dec.
10,
1976.
The
inquiry
was
called
to
investigate
possible
stock
and
land
speculation
based
on
confidential
knowledge
of
the
pipeline
development
which
would
tap
two
natural
gas
fields
in
northeastern
British
Columbia.
Cameron,
a
24-
Monday,
March
21,
1977
Builders
Development
Ltd.,
a
Carma
company,
was
made
three
days
prior.
Realtor
Herb
Kappell
says
he
saw
documents
which
showed
the
deal
with
Sur-Del
was
dated
Aug.
24
and
the
price
was
$368,000.
At
the
same
time,
Russman
was
negotiating
with
the
city
to
sell
it
the
land
for
the
future
Cranbrook
Hill
development
land
bank,
A
chronology
of
events
around
the
deal
is
revealed
in
sales
agreements
and
minutes
of
closed
council
meetings.
Aug.
20,
Aid.
Bob
Martin
made
a
bid
to
have
the
city
pick
up
a
$500
one-month
option
on
the
land
but
was
voted
down
by
Mayor
Harold
Moffat,
Aid.
Lome
McCuish
and
Aid.
Vic
Litnosky,
Spring's
here
ClUwn
photo
by
Days
Mlliw
Spring
is
blooming
in
the
city
greenhouse
in
Fort
George
Park
even
if
it
hasn't
touched
the
outdoors
yet.
City
gardener
Henriette
Poulin
readies
begonias
for
summer
in
the
park
gardens.
Spring
came
in
like
a
lion
Sunday
morning
with
snow
replacing
recent
weeks
of
mild
weather.
Vancouver
'fs
common
knowledge'
III
w
I
IWI
V
J
18
hostages
TORONTO
(CP)
-
A
man
who
identified
himself
as
Bob
McClarkin
of
Vancouver
and
said
he
was
holding
18
persons
hostage
in
a
downtown
bank
today
said
he
wanted
an
airplane
to
take
him
to
Uganda.
The
man
said
in
an
interview
with
radio
station
CFTR
he
was
armed
with
a
12-gauge
shotgun
loaded
with
five
shots.
Asked
if
he
was
prepared
to
use
the
gun,
the
man
said:
"Yes,
I
am,
That's
why
I
brought
it
along."
Police
said
the
man
demanded
a
car
to
take
him,
four
hostages
and
a
senior
police
officer
to
Toronto
International
Airport.
The
man
said
he
wanted
a
C130
Hercules
airplane.
He
said
the
motive
of
the
hostage-taking
was
to
get
to
Uganda
and
not
robbery.
"It
only
takes
an
hour
to
fly
a
C-130
down
from
Trenton
(CFB
Trenton)."
A
spokesman
at
the
airport
said
emergency
personnel
was
standing
by
to
assist
police.
The
spokesman
said
he
did
not
know
if
a
plane
was
being
readied.
In
an
interview
with
As
It
Happens,
a
CBC
radio
program,
the
man
was
asked
why
he
wanted
to
go
to
Uganda.
He
replied!
"Why
Uganda?
I
want
to
see
my
pal
Idi
Amin,
I'm
a
fan
of
his.
"I've
never
met
the
man,
but
I'm
a
fan
of
his."
year-old
travel
agent
and
a
director
of
the
B.C.
Social
Credit
Party,
said
there
was
rumor
of
a
major
announcement
In
Dawson
Creek
as
early
as
Dec.
1
,
but
by
Dec.
3
he
said,
residents
were
convinced
the
government
would
announce
a
gas
pipeline.
"Dawson
Creek
is
a
small
town,"
Cameron
said.
"And
everybody
knows
everybody
else
and
everybody
else's
business.
It
was
common
Prince
George,
British
Columbia
Most
of
the
seats
still
to
be
decided
were
from
constituencies
in
northern
India,
a
centre
of
Janata
strength.
In
Washington,
U.S.
state
department
officials
said
it
was
too
early
to
judge
the
effect
of
the
elections
on
U.S.Indian
relations.
They
added
no
valid
assessment
is
possible
until
a
new
government
is
formed
in
New
Delhi.
Hours
after
the
announcement
that
she
had
lost
her
own
seat,
the
59-year-old
prime
minister
ordered
the
end
of
the
state
of
emergency,
under
which
she
imprisoned
thousands
of
her
opponents,
and
the
restoration
of
all
civil
liberties.
Proclaimed
in
Jupe
1975
to
keep
her
in
office
after
her
conviction
on
a
charge
of
campaign
irregularities,
the
emergency
led
to
a
voter
revolt
that
contributed
to
her
downfall,
the
defeat
of
her
son
Sanjay
in
his
first
bid
for
office,
and
the
eclipse
of
the
dynasty
her
father,
the
late
Prime
Minister
Jawaharlal
Nehru,
established
30
years
ago.
The
chief
contenders
to
succeed
her
are
twt
former
leaders
of
the
Congress
party
who
broke
with
her,
Morarjl
Desai
and
Jagjivan
Ram.
Desai,
now
81,
was
Mrs,
Gandhi's
deputy
prime
minister
in
1969
when
she
split
the
party
in
a
struggle
for
power
with
conservative
leaders.
He
and
other
conservatives
formed
the
Opposition
Congress,
and
in
January
it
merged
with
three
other
opposition
parties
to
form
the
Janata.
Aug.
24,
the
deal
was
made
with
Carma
to
buy
the
land
from
Olichny
and
Smith.
Aug.
27.
realtor
Dave
Pearson,
acting
for
Olichny
and
Smith,
approached
Russman
to
buy
the
land
and
the
same
day
council
was
discussing
Cranbrook
Hill
development
policy.
At
.the
same
closed
meeting.
Aid.
Don
Currie
moved
the
city
get
a
firm
proposal
from
Russman,
Aug.
28,
the
deal
to
sell
the
land
to
Olichny-Smith
was
signed.
March
14,
1974,
Carma
made
the
final
payment
for
the
Russman
land
to
Olichny-Smith.
March
15,
Olichny-Smith
made
the
final
payment
to
LEADER
TO
RESIGN
NEW
DELHI
(AP)
Prime
Minister
Indira
Gandhi
decided
today
to
resigp
following
the
loss
of
her
seat
in
Parliament
and
reverses
suffered
by
her
Congress
party
in
the
Indian
general
election,
her
spokesman
said.
Opposition
leaders
began
talks
aimed
at
forming
a
new
government.
The
prime
minister's
spokesman
said
Mrs.
Gandhi
would
formally
submit
her
resignation
Tuesday,
ending
11
years
as
leader
of
the
world's
second
most
populous
nation.
China
has
the
largest
population.
The
Congress
party,
which
has
ruled
India
since
independence
from
Britain
30
years
ago,
trailed
by
a
wide
margin
in
the
parliamentary
returns
and
appeared
unlikely
to
win
enough
seats
to
stay
in
power.
With
results
declared
in
races
for
393
of
the
542
seats
in
the
lower
house
of
Parliament,
the
new
Janata
(People's)
party
and
its
allies
had
211
seats,
only
61
short
of
a
majority
with
149
still
to
be
decided.
The
Congress
party,
which
won
two-thirds
of
the
seats
in
the
1971
elections,
had
134
seats.
The
pro-Moscow
Communists
won
seven
seats,
and
independents
and
other
groups
split
the
remainder.
Pakistan
ripped
by
riots
LAHORE
(
Reuter
)
One
of
Pakistan's
main
opposition
leaders
refused
to
leave
jail
today
until
Prime
Minister
Zulfikar
All
Bhutto
lifts
a
state
of
emergency
and
frees
all
political
prisoners.
Retired
Air
Marshal
Asghar
Khan,
a
former
air
force
chief
arrested
last
Thursday,
delivered
his
ultimatum
to
Lahore
prison
authorities
after
hearing
Bhutto
had
ordered
his
release.
Observers
said
Asghar
Khan's
refusal
to
leave
has
setback
hopes
of
ending
a
bloody
confrontation
with
the
opposition
which
has
flared
into
widespread
anti-government
violence
costing
at
least
70
lives
in
the
past
week.
Oil
tanker
breaks
up
PORTSMOUTH,
Va.(AP)-The
U.S.
Coast
Guard
said
today
that
a
676-foot
Panamanian
tanker
with
a
crew
of
39
broke
in
two
after
an
apparent
explosion
Sunday
in
the
Atlantic,
140
miles
off
the
North
Carolina
coast.
The
coast
guard
said
27
of
the
39
crew
members
of
the
20year-old
Japanese-built
tanker
Claude
Conway
were
rescued
by
ships
and
aircraft.
The
other
12
crew
members
were
missing.
A
coast
guard
spokesman
said
five
of
the
rescued
were,
injured.
The
tanker
was
reported
to
be
empty
at
the
time
of
the
explosion,
the
coast
guard
said,
The
tanker's
stern,
on
which
most
members
of
the
crew
had
congregated,
and
the
bow,
were
sighted
early
today
by
another
merchant
vessel,
the
Moss
Point,
Three
other
merchant
ships
and
a
coast
guard
helicopter
sped
to
the
scene
and
picked
up
survivors
throughout
the
morning
in
clear,
calm
weather,
removing
most
of
them
from
the
tanker's
stern
section.
"As
far
as
we
know,
no
one
was
taken
from
the
water,"
the
coast
guard
spokesman
said.
"Some
of
them
could
have
been
in
lifeboats,
but
there
are
no
confirmed
reports
of
that,"
June,
1974,
city
boueht
80
acres
from
Joe
Kuene
that
Is
north
of
the
Russman
property
for
$200,000.
References
to
the
Russman
property
and
cily
negotiations
for
its
purchase
disappear
from
council
minutes
after
Aug.
27.
City
manager
Chester
Jeffery
said
he
was
informed
about
that
time
by
phone
that
the
property
had
been
sold
and
likely
made
a
verbal
report
to
council.
He
said
the
Russman
deal
was
not
unusual
for
the
city
at
that
time.
Soon
after,
the
emphasis
of
purchases
shifted
from
the
central
area
west
of
15th
Avenue
where
the
former
Russman
land
Is
to
the
southern
area
of
the
hill
nearer
Highway
16.
At
the
beginning
of
the
events
surrounding
the
Russman
property
sale
the
city
was
dealing
for
land
at
about
$850
to
$1,000
an
acre,
Olichny-Smith
paid
$1,000
an
acre
for
Rus-sman's
land
and
sold
it
for
$2,300
an
acre.
In
June,
1974
the
city
had
to
pay
$2,500
an
acre
for
the
Kueng
Land.
Former
Alderman
Don
Currie,
now
living
In
Chase,
said
In
a
telephone
Interview
he's
surprised
the
city
didn't
buy
the
Russman
property.
He
thought
the
deal
had
been
made.
Litnosky
said
he
doesn't
remember
why
he
voted
against
picking
up
the
option
because
he
was
in
favor
of
buying
the
land.
,
He
said
he
remembers
arguing
with
Moffat
about
the
land
and
Moffat
saying
the
city
didn't
need
it,
that
it
"can
always
be
picked
up
later."
Indian
voters
dump
Gandhi
c
TODAY
'Are
there
any
questions?'
jg&ft
r
(featured
inside)
The
Vancouver
Canucks
picked
up
three
of
a
possible
four
weekend
points
and
are
still
in
the
thick
of
the
playoff
race.
Page
13.
Added
facility.
Page
3
Bridge......................
20
Business
..............................8
City,
B.C
2,
3,
25
Classified
............
.16-24
Comics
............
30
Crossword
........................
18
Editorial
4
Family.....
26,
27
Horoscopes.......................l2
International
.....................5
National
..............................9
Sports......................
13-15
Television
30
THE
WEATHER
A
frontal
system
moving
across
the
province
has
brought
39
mm
of
snow
In
the
past
24
hours,
A
small
ridge
of
high
pressure
is
expected
to
bring
clearing
overnight,
but
the
weatherman
predicts
another
frontal
system
will
bring
more
snow
and
occasional
rain
by
Tuesday
afternoon.
The
expected
high
today,
3;
the
overnight
low
-2;
Tuesday's
high,
4.
The
high
Sunday
was
3,
the
low,
0.
On
March
21,
1976,
the
high
was
7,
the
low,
-4.
3
(
NOW
HEAR
THIS)
Wednesday's
record
of
two
sets
of
twins
born
at
the
Prince
George
Regional
Hospital
became
more
unusual
when
another
set
of
twins
appeared
Thursday
morning
to
stretch
the
record
to
three
sets
within
24
hours.
According
to
statistics,
twins
occur
once
in
every
83
pregnancies
but
the
possibility
of
three
sets
being
born
within
that
short
space
of
time
must
be
rare
indeed.
Prince
George
got
a
pat
on
the
back
Saturday
for
its
"colorful
characters"
from
Frank
Belnder,
B.C,
Association
of
Colleges
executive
director.
Beinder
spoke
to
college
councillors
here
about
former
school
trustee
"Ham"
(Mayor
Harold)
Moffat,
and
its
colorful
architect
Desmond
Parker,
He
added
when
colleges
were
first
being
formed
"nobody
made
more
noise
about
local
autonomy"
than
the
people
at
the
College
of
New
Caledonia,