The Prince George
Citizen
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15,1991 51 CENTS
Ruling no surprise - Strachan
by PAUL STRICKLAND Citizen Staff
The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to uphold Ottawa’s move to cap transfer payments to B.C., Ontario and Alberta two years ago was not a surprise, Health Minister Bruce Strachan said today from Victoria.
It means the trend toward a diminishing federal presence in this province will continue, and local taxes will rise to cover resulting shortfalls in certain areas of social services, he said.
The federal government and the provinces struck a bilateral agreement 20 years ago under which Ottawa would make transfer payments to provincial governments for post-secondary education, health and welfare services within the provinces.
Two years ago the federal government moved to limit increases in these transfer payments to the three richest provinces to five per cent a year over five years, in order to save an estimated S2.14 billion.
“When the federal government capped those payment unilaterally, we complained to the courts that one party cannot unilaterally change the terms of a bilateral agreement,” Strachan said. “That was the essence of our argument. The courts have now found that, yes, the federal government can.
“I must admit it was not a decision that was unexpected. However, we took the position
— the three provinces of Ontario, Alberta and B.C. — that we had to challenge this action of the federal government.”
There is no impact now on B.C. because Victoria has figured the reduction in transfer payments into two budgets since the federal government’s decision to cap the transfer payments.
RICHEST PROVINCES CAN LOSE WELFARE PAYMENTS
Decision could cost B.C. billions
Tobacco ad fight
not over, gov’t says
Southam News
OTTAWA — Anti-smoking groups breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday at the federal government’s decision to continue its fight to stamp out tobacco advertising.
Justice Minister Kim Campbell announced she has appealed-a recent Quebec court decision which permits advertising of tobacco products.
“The health community will be very pleased,” said Garfield Mahood, executive director of the Non-Smokers’ Rights Association.
“There’s a very big human pricetag here,” said Mahood, referring to the millions of people who he says will die from the effects of smoking.
Ottawa banned tobacco advertising with the Tobacco Products Control Act in June 1988.
But tobacco companies challenged the law and a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled in their favor one month ago, saying that the ban violated the constitutional rights of tobacco companies.
The federal government over-
stepped its bounds with the legislation, Mr. Justice Jcan-Jude Chabot ruled.
The ban, however, will remain in effect, pending the appeal, said Owen Lippert, spokesman for the minister.
Any tobacco companies that advertise before the appeal is complete run the risk of prosecution, he said.
Tobacco companies have indicated they will decide whether to advertise on the basis of legal advice, said Jacques LaRiviere, vice-president of the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers’ Council.
LaRiviere said it’s no surprise that Ottawa decided to appeal the ruling.
The decision demonstrates the government is committed to its national plan to reduce the use of tobacco, said Andree Dumulon, national co-ordinator of the Canadian Council on Smoking and Health.
“It is one of the bright stars in the current government’s legislative policies," added Mahood.
MILLS VS. UNIONS
Although the government has continued to make full payments pending the ruling, it announced in this year’s budget that the cap would be extended to five years instead of the original two.
The provinces feared today’s ruling would lead the federal government to try and change other cost-sharing programs dealing with health care and education.
In March, the National Council of Welfare, the federal advisory group, warned a recession was not the time to cut welfare and social services.
“It is no time for cuts in our safety net of last resort,” the group said.
“Any weakening of the plan would be disastrous to the men,
women and children who depend on it for the bare necessities of life.”
In another ruling today, the top court rejected a claim by the Temagami Indian band for 10,000 square kilometres of land in Northern Ontario, about twice the size of Prince Edward Island.
The Supreme Court agreed with two lower courts that any claims the Indians had over the mineral-and forest-rich territory had been extinguished by an 1850 treaty which ceded much of what is now Northern Ontario to the Crown.
But the 630-member Bear Island band claims it wasn’t represented by the Indian who signed the treaty and gave them the equivalent of S25.
Competitiveness key
KAMLOOPS (CP) — B.C. pulp and paper mills are determined to become more competitive — even if it means taking on unionized workers backed by an overwhelming strike vote, says the industry’s chief negotiator.
“It wouldn’t matter if it was 100 per cent,” said Eric Mittem-dorfer, president of the Pulp and Paper Industrial Relations Bureau.
The province’s 19 mills must be able to operate year-round, including compulsory overtime on holidays, to be competitive with U.S. mills, he said.
Earlier this week, members of the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada and the Canadian Paperworkers Union voted 96 per cent in favor of striking to back their contract demands.
But that vote doesn’t change the
industry’s stance that it wants changes, Mittemdorfer said Tuesday.
“We’re not trying to break new ground in this area, we’re just playing catch-up,” he said.
In return, the industry pays its workers well and most workers volunteer to work for overtime rates on statutory holidays, he said.
Pulp union president Stan Shewaga, which is jointly bargaining with the Paperworkers Union, said his union has no desire to adopt U.S. labor practices.
Bank rate
OTTAWA (CP) — The Bank of Canada bank rate fell today to 8.84 per cent from 8.88 per cent.
Citizen photo by Dave Milne
A pile of rubble is all tint's left of the infamous McDonald Hotel at the corner of George Street and Third Avenue. The demolition of Mac attack the “Mac,” which has been reluctant to bite the dust, makes way
for a new view of the Holiday Inn and Plaza 400 as well as a new provincial courthouse expected to be completed in 1994.
by STEPHEN BINDMAN Southam News OTTAWA — The federal government can unilaterally cut billions of dollars in welfare payments to the three richest provinces to help reduce the deficit, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled today.
In a 7-0 decision, the country’s top court said Ottawa does not need provincial approval to change a 1967 agreement to pay half the costs of welfare and social programs in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
In his 1990 budget, former finance minister Michael Wilson limited increases in payments to the three provinces under the Canada Assistance Program to five
★
per cent regardless of their actual costs for two years.
But the three provinces, which stand to lose billions of dollars over the next few years, went to court to challenge the five-per-cent cap, arguing that Ottawa cannot change the agreement without their approval.
In June 1990, the British Columbia Court of Appeal agreed, saying the provinces had a “legitimate expectation” that Ottawa would seek their consent before trying to change the 50-50 cost-sharing agreement.
The federal government appealed the ruling saying it was “entirely inappropriate” for the courts to get involved in a political squabble between governments.
But the Supreme Court said today Ottawa does not need provincial approval to amend the funding plain.
Allowing the provinces to block passage of a federal law would be “to negate the sovereignty of Parliament,” the court ruled.
“Parliamentary government would be paralysed if the doctrine of legitimate expectations could be applied to prevent the government from introducing legislation in Parliament,” wrote Mr. Justice John Sopinka. •
“Such expectations might be created by statements during an election campaign. The business of government would be stalled while the application of the doctrine and its effect was argued out in the
courts. Furthermore, it is fundamental to our system of government that a government is not bound by the undertakings of its predecessor.”
As well, the courts should not “supervise the federal government’s exercise of it’s spending power” in order to protect the autonomy of the provinces, Sopinka said in the unanimous ruling.
Ottawa has said it will save S2.14 billion over the next five years by limiting increases in social assistance payments to the wealthy provinces and today’s ruling would have a significant impact on the federal deficit.
The cap would not apply in other provinces which are considered “have nots.”
‘BIG HUMAN PRICETAG’
LEADERSHIP RUN TOOK TOLL ON WIFE
Couvelier won’t run in next election
VICTORIA (CP) — Former finance minister Mel Couvelier, who threw his support behind B.C. Premier Rita Johnston at the Social Credit leadership convention last month, said today he will not run in the next provincial election.
Couvelier, 60, said in a news release his leadership campaign took a heavy toll on his wife, who recently underwent heart surgery.
He also said he has reached the point where personal needs override all other concerns.
He has been publicly feuding with Grace McCarthy, who finished second in the leadership race, over his decision to support the premier at the convention where Johnston beat McCarthy by 60 votes.
Couvelier, who finished third at the July convention, surprised many delegates when he supported Johnston on the second and final ballot.
He was fired earlier this year by Johnston over an alleged breach of confidentiality. He had already been nominated to run in the provincial election which must be called this year.
Couvelier, 60, is a former mayor of the Victoria suburb of Saanich and onetime accountant.
His first victory at the provincial level was a comfortable 3,500-vote win in 1986 in Saanich-and-the-Islands, a two-member riding
which redistribution has split into two single
seats.
A president of the moribund B.C. Liberal party in the 1970s, Couvelier was a new face in the Socred camp when he challenged Bill Vander Zalm for the party leadership in the summer of 1986.
He finished 11th on the first ballot with a handful of votes and swung his support to Vander Zalm, who won the race.
As finance minister, Couvelier brought in a series of balanced budgets and sought to create a business climate that would restructure incentives and do away with artificial grants and subsidies.
Phone: 562-2441 Classified: 562-6666 Circulation: 562-3301
Low tonight: 10 High tomorrow: 30
Puttin’ on the Ritz 5
Major job loss feared 13
Ball titles decided 15
Toward a better pickle 23
INDEX
Ann Landers .... 22
Business........26,27
City, B.C..............2,3
Classified .... 30-35
Comic...................24
Commentary...............5
Crossword...............32
Editorial................4
Entertainment ... 24
Family..........22,23
Horoscope...............32
International .... 13
Lotteries...............16
Movies..................24
National................12
Sports..........15-18
Television..............32
"I hear your wife had triplets."