Cllixrn photo by Tim 8wank>
Watch out, Toller...
“Look, mom, this is silly. If I were supposed to be skating I would have been born with skates instead of feet,” Kyle Loxam, 3, seems to be telling his mother. Leona Loxam was one of a number of mothers taking their offspring skating at the College Heights tennis courts.
More
jobless
forecast
Jury now reduced to minimum of 10
Library or rink?
OTTAWA (CP) - Unemployment, which stood at post-Depression record levels in 1977, will be even higher this year in spite of faster economic growth in eight provinces, the Conference Board in Canada predicted today.
The board, a private, nonprofit forecasting agency, says in its latest estimate that the average jobless rate for 1978 will be 8.4 per cent compared with the 1977 average of 8.1 per cent.
The board says unemployment will rise in seven provinces, remain steady in Ontario and Nova Scotia, and decline in British Columbia.
But real economic growth will be greater this year than last in most provinces. Only Alberta— which had the highest growth rate in 1977—and Saskatchewan will show declines this year.
Nationally the board predicts a growth rate of 4.7 per cent in 1978, compared with 2.9 per cent last year.
Despite the decline in Alberta’s growth rate this year, the province will continue to lead the others, the board says. Heal growth in the province in 1978 will be 5.4 per cent, compared with6.3 percent in 1977.
Of Alberta’s major industries, agriculture and mining, including oil and natural gas production, will not contribute to over-all growth this year, the board says. The province’s jobless rate—lowest in the country—is expected to climb slightly to 4.5 per cent because of a four-per-cent rise in the labor force.
Saskatchewan, the other province to show a decline in real growth, will have the lowest growth rate in the country at nine-tenths of one per cent. In 1977, the rate was 1.7 per cent.
Saskatchewan’s jobless rate will rise to five per cent from 4.6 per cent in 1977, the board says.
—British Columbia: The 1978 growth rate will be 4 8 per cent, up from 3.8 per cent last year and unemployment will decline slightly to 8.4 per cent from 8.5 per cent in 1977.
(irowth is not expected for the key forestry and mining sectors of B.C.’s economy bul there is sufficient strength in other sectors to provide for the over-all growth increase.
The jury in a B.C. Supreme Court murder trial here has been reduced to the minimum possible after one of the remaining 11 jurors suffered a heart attack Monday.
If any one of the remaining jurors were to suffer an accident now, the case would have to be retried, say court officials.
Paul H. Thiessen, jury member in the trial of three men accused of killing a city couple June 11, suffered the attack Monday.
The jury had been excused Friday until today while Mr. Justice R.P. Anderson held a hearing on the admissibility of certain evidence.
Thiessen is in stable condition at Prince George Regional Hospital. Another juror, Wal-
lace Sergeant, was released from his duties Jan. 10 after it was learned his wife. Joanne, who works for the RCMP, had access to and had read files relating to the case.
It is possible to continue a trial with 10 jurors but no fewer.
The hearing on admissibility of evidence is expected to continue until 2 p.m. today when the jury will be recalled.
Piara Singh Thind, 34, and his wife Gurdip, 24 were shot to death. Their bodies were found in a ditch 27 km east of Prince George.
John Arthur Haw, 19; Meva Singh Gill, 20, and Meva’s father Kehar Sing Gill, 40 are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Gov't eyes our diet
WINNIPEG (CP) - The health department is putting together a program aimed at encouraging Canadians to improve their eating habits, a federal-provincial food strategy conference was told • Monday.
Dr. A.B. Morrison, assistant deputy minister and head of the health protection branch, speaking on behalf of Health Minister Monique Begin, said
the new program will be based on the recommendations of a committee of experts’ report on diet and cardiovascular disease and on a Nutrition Canada survey.
The report and the survey stressed the need for Canadians to consume more fruits, vegetables and whole grain cereals, fewer calories and less fat, sugar and salt.
Council will debate the future of the proposed new library Feb. 6 when it considers a priorities list of city projects eligible for provincial grantsof one-third of the cost.
Council tabled consideration of the priorities list, required by new government rules of eligibility for the recreation facilities grants, when aldermen couldn’t decide whether the new library, not yet approved, is more important than a $556,000 shopping list of hockey rinks, tennis courts and softball fields already built or planned this year.
The recreation grants, total fund for which is about $12.5 million, are available after April 1 with a maximum $400,000 grant per project limit.
The grant is paid civic and private groups building recreation buildings or facilities but municipal governments must submit priority lists of all projects in their communities for which grants are requested.
At least one private group, Prince George Auto Racing Association, also wants provincial money for a facility.
'ANOTHER STUPID STATEMENT'
Mayor burned up over fire cost
Prince George should let buildings burn, says Mayor Harold Moffat, because it costs too much to fight fires.
Moffat made the claim during council discussions Monday on the hirinp of eight new firemen this year.
“Maybe we should let it burn,” he said. “I see on this report it cost $1.3 million fire damage last year but we’re paying more than $2 million for the fire department.”
“I hope that’s tongue in cheek,” retorted Alderman Ed Bodner, ‘‘because when somebody dies they'll come back on us for ‘another stupid statement by the mayor' and we’ll be liable.”
Fire chief Harold Dombierercame up four men short of the 12 he says he needs for this year.
"I’m trying to develop a minimum force and those 12 are catch-up people not extra staff,” he said.
Dornbierer was granted four men last December to be hired this month and council voted to grant him an additional four in November. Aldermen Bodner and Elmer Mereier voted against the hiring of only four men.
Alderman Art Stauble said the hiring even of only the eight men this year will cost the city $200,000 in wages in 1979 in addition to an estimated $80,000 this year.
The
15* Copy
Citizen 1
—t--------Vol. 22; No. 11 Prince George, British Columbia
Tuesday, January 17,1978
$37.9 MILLION BUDGET
Council holds line on property taxes
by TOM NIXON Citizen Stnff Reporter
City council adopted a hold-the-line provisional budget of $37.9 million Monday.
The budget, which must be approved now by Victoria, is $4.7 million increase on last year’s $33.2 million budget but city officials say there should be little increase in taxes for most city landowners.
The deficit in the provisional budget now stands at $874,000. cut from $1.7 million during reviews by council last week.
City treasurer Chuck Schattenkirk said the “shortfall" will be reduced further by a carry-over of money from 1977 and an added $300,000 tax revenue from new construction.
Mill rates and actual tax bills won’t be calculated until the school district budget and government education cost-sharing are set, assessments are finalized by the B.C. Assessment Authority and the budget is finalized by the city.
That is unlikely to be completed before April.
Using last year’s tax rate as a yardstick, however, a $500,000 predicted shortfall this year would likely cost the average city taxpayer less than $10 on his tax bill.
The increase is unlikely to be more than half a mill on the old scale.
Property taxes this year are complicated by a new assessment system and formula based on actual values set by the provincial government last year.
Under the new assessment system, city mill rates are likely to be between eight and nine mills for the urban landowner.
Last year’s urban owner paid 52 mills.
The actual tax bill, however, will remain roughly equal to last year’s bill.
Inflation
9.5 pet. 1977
Parlez-vous? Not much...
VICTORIA (CP) - Provincial education ministers here to discuss the crucial question of minority language education were greeted this week with a "Welcome to British Columbia” banner which was incorrectly translated into French.
The banner, with large blue letters on a white background, was mounted prominently in the main conference room of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.
The sign incorrectly read in French: "Bienvenu a la Colombie Britannique.”
Several of Quebec’s bilingual officials said the correct translation should have been: "Bienvenue (with an e) en (not a la) Colombie Britannique."
'STEALING FROM NEIGHBORS'
Ad campaign hits UIC cheaters
OTTAWA (CP) —The Unemployment Insurance Commission (UIC) announced plans Monday to spend $1 million on an advertising campaign “which frankly tells unemployment cheaters to stop cheating and warns them of the penalties of getting caught. ” Employment Minister Bud Cullen said in a statement: "We must do everything we can to deter and prevent this sort of activity."
"The numbers of instances where we have detected abuse of the unemployment insurance program have increased markedly over the past three years,” said Cullen, who admitted the UIC cannot rely entirely on control mechanisms to detect fraud and abuse.
The announcement of the anticheaters advertising campaign coincided with a suggestion by Cullen that the federal government might take further measures to tighten the unemployment insurance program He said in a speech to the Montreal
Chamber of Commerce that although the program was tightened considerably last year, the government believes it should be further reviewed "to see if there are steps that we can take to bring it back closer to insurance principles."
The program has been criticized recently on a number of fronts.
See also page 21
Opposition critics in the Commons have blasted the government for tightening the qualifying standards at a time when the national unemployment rate is at its highest level since the Depression. Statistics Canada reported last week that 8.5 per cent of the national workforce was unemployed in December. Auditor-General J.J. Mac-donell said in his annual report last month that because of a weak control system, the UIC failed to detect an estimated $95 million in overpayments in 1976.
Macdonell said he would monitor the commission’s efforts to improve its financial controls.
Cullen said Monday “a recent national public opinion survey showed that most Canadians wanted the unemployment insurance program tightened up."
"A great majority of Canadians feel there is a need for stricter controls of unemployment insurance and consider the introduction of the new stiffer entrance requirements as a step in the right direction.
“More than eight Canadians in 10 believe the program is being unfairly used by many people."
The newspaper and television advertisements, which will start Jan. 24 and end March 20, carry the message:
"Cheating on unemployment insurance is stealing from your neighbors, friends, fellow employees, employers and the government of Canada."
in
OTTAWA (CP) - Higher food prices were the major factor behind a substantial seventenths-of-one-per-cent rise in consumer prices in December, Statistics Canada reported today.
The federal agency said that food costs, which account for 27 per cent of the total consumer price index—the most widely used measure of inflation—jumped 1.6 per cent last month.
During the 12-month period ending in December, consumer prices rose 9.5 per cent, the highest year-over-year increase since January, 1976.
The government’s antiinflation target for most of the last year was six per cent. But a trend to higher food prices which began last winter with the onset of bad weather continued throughout the year.
In 1976 there was an actual decline in food prices, which helped moderate increases in the consumer price index. But between December, 1976, and, December, 1977, food prices jumped by 17.7 per cent.
In December, 1977, the price of fresh vegetables soared by 10.6 per cent in the first week while beef cuts rose in price by 5.2 per cent. The two were major contributors to the food cost rise.
Higher prices for fresh milk in Ontario, for some other meats and for restaurant meals also had an impact. These were partially offset by lower prices of coffee and some fresh fruit.
Two-thirds of the increase in the consumer price index was accounted for by food. Nonfood items rose in price by only three-tenths of one per cent last month.
The index stood last month at 167.2, up from 166.1 in November and 152.7 in December, 1976.
That means consumer goods and services valued at $100 in 1971 would have cost $167.20 last month, $166.10 in November and $152.70 in December, 1976.
Since November, 1976, when the 12-month inflation rate was only 5.6 per cent, there has been a steady upward trend in inflation. This is in spite of the government’s wage-and-price control program which will start to be dismantled April 14.
The board in an optimistic news release today said the “sharper than expected” increase in food prices during December should end the recent upward spiral in food costs.
"The outlook is for a gradual decline in the annual rate of inflation, as measured by the CPI, beginning in 1978,”
Family.................. .......2:1-24
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City, B.C.............
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Sports................... .......1315
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TODAY
$e*vfe!$•
’Warden? It’s Kneivel. He’s out again f
O
DC
(featured inside)
• Prince George bowlers won just about everything and dominated the all-star team at the north zone roll-offs during the weekend. Page 13.
# Do you want to live longer and avoid injuries in sports? Get into better condition. Page 13.
c
THE WEATHER
J
A broad low pressure area over the Central Interior is expected to bring Prince George cloudy skies with some snow flurries and mild temperatures today and Wednesday.
The forecast high today is -6, the low -11. The high Monday was -6, the low -10, with no precipitation. On this date last year the high was 8, the low 0.
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NOW HEAR THIS)
• Asked if water polo is a rough sport, Bill Sherwood, chairman of the sport for the Northern B.C. Winter (James, said: "Well when the Czechs and the Hungarians play the pool turns red." We get the point.
• A local soccer player was asked what position he plays. Usually left inside, he replied. "Yea," commented a colleague, "whenever they go outside to play, he’s left inside.” Ouch.
• A local couple with an overly-active child were complaining about his disobedience to a friend, who just happened to be in the counselling business at school. The friend told the parents that psychology was the answer and proceeded to talk softly to the child and explain what the youngster had done wrong. The kid bit him.