> PRINCE GEORGE
A.
Citizen
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Details page 2 Serving the Central Interior since 1916
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY24,1996
B.C. to sue feds over welfare money
VICTORIA (CP) — The B.C. government is taking Ottawa to court over $47 million in transfer payments it withheld because of the province’s three-month residency requirement for collecting welfare.
The federal government cancelled the transfer payment to the province last month, saying the welfare residency requirement breaks federal law.
But B.C. Social Services Minister Joy MacPhail said it’s Ottawa that’s flouting the rules.
“We are disappointed that we must go to court over this issue,” MacPhail told a news conference.
“The province has diligently negotiated in good faith with the federal government in an effort to avoid legal action. However, $47 million is still owed to British Columbia.”
The province filed a writ and statement of claim in B.C. Supreme Court alleging Ottawa had no legal authority to withhold the payment.
MacPhail provoked controversy by announcing the welfare residency requirement last November.
The restriction, which took effect Dec. 1, forces new arrivals to the province to wait three months before they can apply for assistance. The rules apply to arrivals from other provinces and territories as well as immigrants and refugees.
MacPhail said the restrictions are necessary to stem the flow of more than 2,100 new welfare recipients flocking to the province each month, most apparently fleeing reduced rates in Alberta and Ontario.
“We can’t do it all for all of Canada,” she said at the
time.
Federal Human Resources Minister Lloyd Axworthy said the waiting period was illegal.
Axworthy said it broke federal social-assistance laws that say Canadians may travel anywhere in the country and expect a similar level of services.
Baldwin picks on lemons
by DAVID HEYMAN Citizen staff
If that sweet looking car you just bought from a backyard dealer is leaving a sour taste in your mouth, you might want to give Bud Baldwin a call.
Baldwin works for the Ministry of Consumer Sei vices’in Prince George and one of his many jobs is to pick the lemons off the used car industry vine.
One of the ways he does that is to make sure the only people selling used cars are those who are licenced to do so.
“Where we step in is if we have reason to believe you are selling as a course of business, in other words, you are in a profit-making enterprise,” says Baldwin.
Families are generally allowed to sell up to five vehicles in a 12-month period. After that, it’s still legal but it may result in a call from Baldwin.
Baldwin says the rules are set up to protect consumers. After all, legitimate used car dealers are bound by law to reveal certain aspects of a vehicle’s history: if there’s a lien on the car; if it is an ICBC write-off; if it’s incurred damage over $2,000; if it’s been a lease, rental or emergency vehicle or if it’s registered out of province.
Unregistered car dealers, or curbers, don’t
have to reveal any of these things and it’s not necessarily in their best interest to do so.
The president of the Prince George Auto Dealers Association says curbers sell a “considerable” number of cars in the area. Tom Griffiths says they cut into the business of legitimate dealers and often hurt innocent buyers.
“The reason you buy from a dealer is not that you pay more but these things are guaranteed,” says Griffiths.
“An automobile is a large investment and you want to make sure you’re not being taken advantage of.”
Baldwin says his job is mainly to get people to comply with the rules, not to issue tickets and fines, though he will do that if necessary. In fact, the ministry is taking one person to court next month, alleging he sold at least 10 vehicles in a 12-month period, and there are several other investigations underway.
It’s a $250 fine for a first offence but to be a registered used car dealer, you have to pay $240 a year for a licence and put about $300 a year into a compensation fund. You also need a criminal record check, a registered trade name, a permanent business office, parking for at least 10 vehicles and proper zoning of your property.
“Compliance is our number one goal,” says Baldwin. “That saves everyone a lot of trouble.”
‘Abortion law goes too far’ - judge
VANCOUVER (CP) — Sections of a B.C law restricting protests near abortion clinics violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a provincial court judge ruled Tuesday.
Judge E. J. Cronin said peaceful protests, an offence under the Access to Abortion Services Act, should be allowed in dismissing two charges against Maurice Lewis.
“The act . . . eliminates all peaceful protests and any form of communication or attempted communication regarding abortion within the access zone,” the judge said.
Lewis, 44, was charged in the first test of the so-called bubble zone legislation, which took effect last September.
He was arrested after entering a restricted zone outside the Everywoman’s Health Centre.
B.C. proclaimed the legislation last summer after the shooting of a doctor who provides abortions. It provides 50-metre protest-free zones around abortion clinics and the homes of medical staff.
The judge said the fundamental freedoms of expression, association, conscience and religion enshrined in the Charter must be given a broad and liberal interpretation.
Citizen photo by Dave Milne
Consumer Operations Officer Bud Baldwin checks out the serial number on a car on a Prince George lot. It’s Baldwin's job to make sure car dealers are properly licenced and aren’t selling cars without properly disclosing their histories.
Ca//564-RRSP
PRINCE GEORGE SAVINGS
Ann Landers.................26
Bridge......................29
Business ................21-23
City, B.C.................3,13
Classifieds ................28
Comics .....................16
Commentary...............14,15
Community Calendar .14, 15
Crossword ..................16
Entertainment...............17
Horoscope ..................29
Lifestyles..................25
Movies......................17
Nation....................6, 7
Sports ...................8-11
Television..................16
World ......................20
minutes
JH
■ Due South and North of 60 took the lion’s share of Gemini award nominations for the best in Canadian television. “South” took 15 nominations and “North” snagged 11. Page 17
COOKING
■ Clay pots were the rage in the 1960s and 70s and they’re back in vogue in the ‘90s. Check out recipes
for Shrimp and Ham Jambalaya and Indonesian Beggar’s Chicken. Page 25
HEALTH
■ Two Ontario women lost excess weight and found themselves in a thriving business called Eat Low Fat and Get Fit. “We never sat and thought about building a business,” says one. “It all just happened and fell into place.” Page 25
ODDITIES
■ London’s famed bobbies look thuggish with short hair; a convict
can’t have a sex doll; a singing marathon. The lighter side of the news. Page 15
ANN LANDERS
■ Since her mother died, a 22-year-old woman’s life is a wreck. Ann offers some advice. Page 26
DEPRESSION
■ It’s a baffling illness that robs people of their enjoyment of life. Now, one expert suggests depression is just a symptom of something bigger. Page 27
TRAGEDY
■ The rookie driver of a Toronto subway train that was in a collision that killed three people says he was frightened to find himself at the controls. Page 7
CABINET
■ Prime Minister Jean Chretien will shuffle his cabinet today and has suggested as many as seven ministers could be affected. Page 6
SPORTS
■ The Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders made the best of a bad situation, while the Toronto Maple Leafs added a veteran in hopes of challenging for the Stanley Cup in a three-way NHL trade. Page 8
TELEVISION
Citizen photo by Chuck Nisbett
THE ANNUAL WESTERN HOCKEY League All-Star game in front of 5992 fans at the Multiplex wasn’t a hard-hitting affair with this one of only two penalties in the game. Medicine Hat's Cal Benazic, a former Prince George minor hockey product, hauled down Prince George Cougar Geoff Lynch. Lynch was on his way to the net looking for a hat trick. See story page 8.
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