The Prince George
Citizen
MONDAY, MARCH 28, 1988
Quebecers change minds 5 Jackson wins landslide 11 Kings take advantage 13
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TELEPHONE: 562-2441 \
B.C. DEALING WITH HONG KONG MAGNATE
Billionaire bids for Expo site
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One of the largest pro-life rallies held in the past few years drew more federal government. In light of a January decision by the Supreme
than 450 Prince George residents to join a march Sunday, sponsored Court of Canada to strike down the federal abortion law, members are
Pro-life rally by the Pro-Life and Coalition For Life societies. Marchers went from requesting new legislation which increases protection to the unborn
Prince George Regional Hospital to the offices of MPs Frank Oberle from the time of conception, and Lome McCuish, where they presented a petition to be sent to the
Citizen photo by Lisa Murdoch
TRAVELLERS STRANDED
Blizzard socks Alberta
Citizen news services EDMONTON — A spring storm took a last kick at Alberta today after bombarding the province Sunday with 100-kilometre-an-hour winds and heavy, wet snow that paralyzed dozens of communities and left more than 1,100 motorists stranded.
The system started moving through the Prince George area Friday. By the time it moved out of the area on Sunday, there had been a total snowfall of 7.9 cm in Prince George.
Visibility was improving as the storm gradually moved eastward into Saskatchewan, but Frank Nesbitt of Alberta Public Safety Services said there was still severe drifting in the eastern half of the province and travellers were being told to use extreme caution.
The blizzard conditions in eastern Alberta were expected to last for most of the day.
The storm weakened as it swept into Saskatchewan, but still packed enough punch to bring weather warnings for most of the province
Major bank to offer 'service charge7 list
OTTAWA (CP) — The country’s largest bank announced steps today to make its customers more aware of service charges it imposes and a freeze on new charges until next November.
The Royal Bank said in an open letter to its customers that it will publish a complete list of service charges each Oct. 1. The charges will be implemented Nov. 1 and will not be changed over the following 12 months.
The announcement comes on the eve of the release of a Commons finance committee report which is expected to criticize the lack of information provided by banks on charges to their customers.
A draft copy of the report leaked to the media earlier this month suggested the banks were skirting a section of the Bank Act which demands they obtain agreement from customers before imposing any
charge, either directly or indirectly
The report said the banks were using blanket agreement cards under which customers were waiving their right to be informed of new charges.
And the Royal Bank admitted that customers are at times caught by surprise by the charges.
“One thing is clear: a growing variety of banking services and frequent price changes have made it hard to keep track of what is offered and of the costs and benefits,” the Royal says in the letter.
“Despite our efforts to inform you, some price changes have caught you by surprise.”
In its letter the bank also says it is reviewing some of the fees about which customers have commonly complained, adding “we will amend, reduce or even eliminate some or all of them.”
because of restricted visibility caused by blowing snow.
The last remnant of the storm was expected to move into Manitoba later in the day, but that province was expected to escape with a few flakes of snow. At mid-morn-ing, it was snowing gently in Winnipeg. The forecast was for clearing by noon.
Most major highways in Alberta were still closed, including Highway 2 between Edmonton and Calgary and the Trans-Canada Highway from Calgary to Redcliff, near the Saskatchewan border.
Unable to negotiate treacherous roads during the height of the storm Sunday, thousands of travellers sought shelter in gymnasiums and hockey rinks in communities along the Trans-Canada Highway east of Calgary and along Highway 2 between Calgary and Edmonton.
The wet, heavy snow brought down power lines and left a number of areas without electricity. Driving became next to impossible as falling temperatures turned the slush into ice.
Red Deer, a city of 52,000 in cen tral Alberta, spent most of Sunday without electricity or telephones after the snow and wind brought down telephone and power lines. Even church services were cancelled.
The poor road conditions in Alberta stranded 25 busloads of Canadian skiers at the Big Mountain Ski Resort in Montana, but resort spokesman Norm Kurdtz said everyone had a good time.
The resort organized night skiing and parties for the stranded skiers. Kurdtz said the only problem was that the resort’s automatic teller ran out of money during the weekend.
Camrose, 70 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, received 52 centimetres of snow. Bassano, 15 kilometres east of Calgary, got 30 centimetres.
Gusting winds in Calgary ripped the roof off of one apartment building and severely damaged another.
The Calgary International Airport was closed most of Sunday. More than 120 Air Canada passengers spent seven hours in an aircraft on the runway because airline crews couldn’t see well enough to get them to the terminal building a few hundred metres away.
Passengers on the Boeing 767 were restricted to one three-minute smoking break and were not served alcoholic beverages.
“Most of us just slept and we had our breakfast on the plane,” said Spiro Plagakis, an engineer from Montreal.
TOUGH TALKS AHEAD?
VANCOUVER (CP) — The head of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation turned to Premier Bill Vander Zalm on Sunday for an analogy to illustrate teachers’ wage demands this year.
Vander Zalm justified the 11-per-cent pay raise given cabinet members late last year by saying “it takes me that much to keep the cleaners looking after my suits and shirts.”
Federation president Elsie McMurphy told the organization’s annual convention that teachers would be prepared to settle for a “modest increase — say dry cleaning costs.”
“You will recall the premier stated his $9,200 increase was just dry cleaning money?” McMurphy told 700 delegates to the three-day convention. “Well, think how much dirtier your clothes get teaching school.”
Teachers will negotiate for the first time with the right to strike after legislation last year allowed them to form local bargaining associations. All are affiliated with the federation, which has about 25,000 members.
McMurphy noted that Education Minister Tony Brumet recently told school boards that the government’s education funding will only cover teacher wage increases of 2.8 per cent.
“This is to be the first year of free collective bargaining for teachers, but the government has already barged into this process by trying to dictate a ceiling of 2.8 per cent,” she said.
Retirement financing worries Vander Zalm
VANCOUVER (CP) - British Columbia’s reputation as the retirement capital of Canada is costing the provincial government too much money, Premier Bill Vander Zalm said Saturday.
That’s one of the reasons Victoria is raising the rents at B.C.’s retirement homes, he said in an interview.
“The cost to government for this sort of thing is rapidly rising,” he said. “We’re having to provide a proportionately higher amount of beds (than other provinces).
“We need to keep a balance.”
In its budget last Thursday, the
Social Credit government announced that beginning April 1, seniors will have to pay 85 per cent — an increase of 10 percentage points — of their room and board at longterm and extended-care homes.
For those supported solely by government assistance, the increase leaves just $109 a month for toiletries, telephone, entertainment and medical fees not covered by Pharmacare — a cut of $60 a month.
Vander Zalm said the previous system made B.C. “a very attractive place for people from other areas.”
by Canadian Press
VICTORIA - Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing has won the right to negotiate the purchase of the provincially-owned Expo 86 site, a prime piece of real estate on the downtown Vancouver waterfront, sources close to the talks say.
The sources, who spoke on condition they would not be named, say cabinet has approved negotiations between Li and the B.C. Enterprise Corp., the Crown corporation handling the sale of the property, valued — some critics say undervalued — at $300 million.
The decision makes Li the winner in a high-stakes bidding game over one of the most prized pieces of undeveloped land in Canada.
Li received the green light over a bid by a group of local investors led by BCE Development Corp., say several sources.
“The B.C. Enterprise Corp. has been instructed by cabinet to negotiate with Li Ka-shing.” said one source who has been involved with the bidding process. “Negotiations are proceeding to see if some of the details can be worked out with his bid.”
The B.C. Enterprise Corp. was told to pursue negotiations with Li after a cabinet meeting last Wednesday, the source said. A senior member of the Social Credit party confirmed the decision, as did another source close to Premier Bill Vander Zalm.
“Cabinet decided to go with Li Ka-shing if certain conditions are met,” a source said. “The negotiations will involve a number of things, like the amount of money up front, the terms and conditions of payment.”
Vander Zalm’s principal secretary denied that a decision has been made.
“It’s a confidential process which continues,” said David Poole, also recently appointed to the board of B.C. Enterprise Corp. “There is no announcement, no decision. We hope to have one soon, hopefully in April,”
Vander Zalm also wouldn’t confirm Li had been chosen. He said the cabinet has approved further talks but he would not reveal who was involved.
“I can’t tell you what cabinet said, but I can tell you that cabinet has okayed further talks but I would hardly call that final negotiations,” the premier said Sunday.
Decked out for Expo 86, the 84-hectare site along the north shore of False Creek attracted more than 21 million visitors. Since the fair ended in the fall of 1986, the site has been larg2ly a vacant expanse of pavement, littered with remnants of Expo hardware.
The valuable property, in the heart of Vancouver, contains the B.C. Place Stadium, about $16 million in amusement rides left from the fair and government office space.
NDP Leader Mike Harcourt said Sunday the government should have kept the land and offered long-term leases on small parcels so local entrepeneurs could have been involved.
“I had heard the decision was to go with the Li Ka-shing proposal and that it was a lot richer, but it would take twice as much density. . .that the Li proposal was around $300 million, whereas the one by BCE was around $160 million,” Harcourt said.
“This could get the provincial government into a real conflict Continued page 2
MIGRATING SPIDER CLAIMS DOUBTED
VANCOUVER (CP) — Serious spider bites recently reported in British Columbia are probably caused by a non-lethal spider common in the Pacific Northwest, rather than the potentially deadly brown recluse spider, says the B.C. Drug and Poison Control Centre.
The bite of the Tegenaria agrestis, also known as the Walckenaer spider, “causes very nasty lesions similar to the ones we’ve got” in B.C., said Gillian Willis, the centre’s program director for poison information.
There are no recorded cases of the Walckenaer spider’s bite proving fatal, she said.
And it is unlikely the brown recluse spider has found a home in B.C., she added.
“It does not like the cold weather,” Willis said. “It lives in the hotter climates of the southwestern United States. . .so we believe that this is not the brown recluse that’s the problem. It’s this Tegenera agrestis.”
Provincial museum entemologist Robert Canning
said the Walckenaer spider is found in Vancouver, Victoria and in the Okanagan Valley.
“Its relative, Tegenera domestica, is the large black house spider we’ve all seen scurrying across the floor and in our bathtubs,” he said.
The Walckenaer spider is brown, long-legged, and may be three or four centimetres long, including legs.
Two doctors at Vancouver Children’s Hospital warned earlier in the week that the brown recluse had apparently migrated to B.C.
Dr. Greg Baldwin, said Friday he had “become aware” of the Walckenaer spider since issuing the brown recluse warning and conceded there “is another spider that could cause it. This (Walckenaer) can cause severe reactions as well.”
But Baldwin said he is not convinced the brown recluse spider is not involved, because there have been confirmed instances of brown recluse bites in cold climates.