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PRINCE GEORGE
High today: 20 Low tonight: 7 Details page 22
MONDAY, JUNE 2,1997
TODAY
COMMUN
PAGE 13
Cadets wrap up an active year
PAGE 13
City firms give cash for school supplies
PAGE 3 Fraser River almost at the flood stage
SPORTS
Canadian Donovan Bailey won the much-hyped 150-metre sprint against American Michael Johnson when Johnson, trailing Bailey, pulled up lame with an apparent thigh injury about 50 metres from the finish line. /12
BUSINESS
■ The value of the dollar will rise over the long term as long as inflation remains lower in the U.S. and Canadian governments continue to cut their budget deficits, says Bank of Canada governor Gordon Thiessen. /18
• •
MOVIES
■ As courtroom comedies go, Trial and Error is funnier than the mega-hit Jim Carrey film Liar, Liar. It’s smarter, just as giddy and much less dependent on the slapstick for which the rubber-faced Carrey is famous./17
WORLD
■ Profiting from voter anger over unemployment and a colossal miscalculation by French president Jacques Chirac, leftist parties scored stunning victories in France Sunday and won the right to share power with the conservative president. /15
Cornered
by Baldwin 1
“I’ll give you fifty bucks for it. And a ride back to town."
E-Mail address:
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INDEX
Ann Landers..... .......14
Around Town---- .......14
Bridge.......... .......21
Business........ .......18
City, B.C......... .....3,13
Classified ....... ... .20-23
Comics ......... .......16
Crossword ...... .......16
Entertainment ... .......17
Horoscope...... .......21
Lotteries........ .......15
Lifestyles........ .......14
Movies..........
Nation .......... ......5,7
Sports .......... .....8-12
Television....... .......17
World........... .....6,15
58307 00100 " 8
Citizen
Serving the Central Interior since 1916
80 CENTS (HOMEDELIVERED: 50 CENTS A DAY)
Now it’s YOUR turn
Campaign is over and voters have final say today
by Canadian Press
The five major party leaders are home today, their future in the hands of 18.75 million voters.
After 36 days in which hundreds of speeches were delivered, thousands of pamphlets and lawn signs handed out and tens of thousands of words in news coverage produced, the people are left with pencils and ballots in about 53,000 polling stations.
They have 1,672 candidates to choose among in 301 ridings.
The final hours of campaigning saw optimism everywhere. Prime Minister Jean Chretien predicted he’ll win his second straight majority.
Preston Manning had high hopes for Reform’s longed-for breakthrough
CITY POLLING STATIONS, PAGE 3
in Ontario.
Tory Leader Jean Charest looked for resurrection in the Atlantic region, while taking a few last shots at Manning.
Alexa McDonough of the NDP went home to Halifax, where she wants to win her party a Maritime toehold.
Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois stumped in Montreal, saying he’ll stay on as leader come what may.
Chretien finished his campaign in his home riding of St-Maurice.
“I’m very confident that the people of the country will give us the mandate that we need,” he said as he sought to become the first Liberal
prime minister to win consecutive majorities since Louis St. Laurent did it in 1953.
Manning, who has borne the brunt of political criticism from all his opponents in the waning days of the campaign, finished his electioneering before a friendly hometown audience of about 2,200 in Calgary.
He denied the labels of bigot and extremist, which his opponents saddled him with for his rejection of dis-tinct-society status for Quebec and his contention that politicians from Quebec shouldn’t dominate the unity debate.
Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
DEMONSTRATION OF SUPPORT — A Silent Walk to raise awareness for the deaf starts off Sunday morning from the picnic area of Fort George Park. The walk is supported by the Prince George Deaf Children’s Society, the Prince George Interpreters’ Association, the Northern Interior Association for the Deaf and the Prince George branch of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association.
Hunger strike grows at regional jail here
Citizen staff
A hunger strike at Prince George Regional Correctional Centre continued to gain support Sunday as inmates refused their noonday meal brought around by guards, says an inmate in the remand wing.
Prisoners plan no violence or confrontations, but will continue a peaceful demonstration of their discontents to get the message out to the public, Al Cummings said Sunday. He estimated 150 of the institution’s 200 inmates were fasting.
PGRCC is calm, and there are no problems at all in terms of security, agreed Al Hyatt, director of operations.
Some inmates began the hunger strike at PGRCC late Thursday, Cummings said.
According to another prisoner, Dave Holmes, who called The Citizen Saturday, there are five reasons for the protest. These are:
■ Only family members are allowed to visit people being held at the jail, he said.
■ The lack of medical treatment.
■ The quality of food served.
■ “The number of lock-ups,” when inmates are confined to their cells.
■ When an inmate is due in court, he has to be in the “bull pen” by 7 a.m., although sheriffs don’t pick them up for the trip to the courthouse until 9 a.m., and they’re only given a bag lunch, Holmes said.
At least once a year prisoners stage some type of protest at the correctional centre, although they’re not always hunger strikes.
On remand from Terrace, Cummings said lights are on 24 hours a day at RCMP city cells there,
Some inmates are participating in the hunger strike for different individual issues, jail director of operations Al Hyatt said Sunday. But there is a fair amount of peer pressure involved, he said.
SWITCHBOARDc 562-2441
in Smithers and in other northern B.C. communities. Rations are minimal and always the same, he contended.
If an arrested person pleads not guilty and his trial date is typically set seven or more months in the future, conditions in RCMP cells and the PGRCC remand wing are worse than for inmates found guilty and sentenced, Cummings said.
Often people who are innocent plead guilty because they might get at most a six-month sentence and better conditions in jail than those who plead not guilty and are kept longer in remand wings where conditions are marginal, Cummings said.
Inmates are denied visits by girlfriends prison authorities do not recognize as common-law, and are not allowed visits by friends, he said. Inmates facing charges to which they have pleaded not guilty need all the moral support they can get, Cummings said.
Some inmates are participating in the hunger strike for different individual issues, Hyatt said Sunday. But there is a fair amount of peer pressure involved, he said.
On the matter of friends’ visits, the PGRCC administration considers the merits of each individual request, Hyatt observed.
Normally visits are restricted to members of an inmate’s immediate family. But under special circumstances, visits by friends may be allowed, he said.
But given staff resources, for security reasons there cannot be constant visits from friends when there are approximately 200 inmates in PGRCC, Hyatt said.
CLASSIFIED: 56.2-6666
3 men missing in Tachie River
Citizen staff
Police and volunteers continued their search late Sunday afternoon for three men missing since their boat overturned on the Tachie River about 7:30 Saturday night.
The boat had four passengers. One man was able to swim ashore, and was taken to hospital in Fort St. James, RCMP said.
The other three men were still missing Sunday afternoon.
Both police and local residents continued to search for them, RCMP added.
Police did not offer further details before press time.
Charest continued to whack Manning in 11th hour campaigning in Montreal.
He predicted voters will reject what he called Reform’s message of intolerance.
“Say No to Mr. Manning and allow the real national voice to speak,” Charest told a crowd of about 200 at a party rally.
In Nova Scotia, McDonough kept to her jobs campaign, following an agenda she’s clung to despite the national unity distractions.
“Let Jean Chretien go to the unemployment office or comb through the daily ads in the newspaper in search of jobs that aren’t there,” she said to wild applause in a union hall in Sydney, N.S.
Drivers
warned
Citizen Staff
An RCMP roadblock could be coming soon to a highway near you.
ICBC and the RCMP have resumed their summer Enhanced CounterAttack Program in a number of regions in B.C. and in the Prince George area as well.
“Summer is a high-risk time on the road,” says Darlene Hyde, ICBC vice-president for public affairs and road safety. “Drinking drivers just add to that risk. While 20 years of CounterAttack programs have made a huge difference in the number of alcohol-related crashes, we know that we can reduce that number further.”
Police have two new enforcement tools that came into effect in May.
■ The Administrative Driving Prohibition is designed to complement existing sanctions agaipst drinking drivers. A driver who fails or refuses a test for alcohol will immediately be served with a Notice of Driving Prohibition.
This 90-day driving prohibition begins 21 days after the notice is served. The Administrative Driving Prohibition is separate from any other charges that may result from the incident, and provides a swift deterrent to drinking drivers.
■ Police can also remove a prohibited or unlicensed driver from the road immediately by impounding the vehicle being used.
The officer will issue a notice of impoundment to the driver, arrange for vehicle towing and storage and ensure driver and passengers have access to transportation. The vehicle will be held for 30 days.
The 1996 campaign ran from June 6 to Dec. 6. This year’s began Friday.
The roadchecks turn up more than just drinking drivers, authorities say. “Last year’s campaign also resulted in thousands of violation tickets for people driving unsafe vehicles or driving without a licence or insurance,” said Bill Mercer, ICBC manager of strategies for dealing with impaired drivers.
Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
WAITING FOR THE BIG MOMENT — A few of the College Heights Secondary School 1997 graduates stand ready to enter the Prince George Civic Centre Saturday afternoon to receive their certificates. After a welcome from principal Fred Egglestone, the graduates heard greetings from trustee Barb Hall, School District 57 superintendent Wendy Herbert and parent representative Ruth Meger. Math teacher Dan Watt delivered the address to graduates, and Archie McLean delivered the valedictory address.
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