Province The Prince George Citizen - Monday, February 18, 2002 - 5 CP photo OFF TO THE GULF — Well-wishers watch the HMCS Ottawa sail past Clover Point near Victoria on Sunday as the ship heads off to the Arabian Gulf. The troops will be gone for about six months. Clark trial should hear wiretap evidence today Rumours of doc dispute ending have been greatly exaggerated VANCOUVER (CP) — The trial of former B.C. premier Glen Clark is expected to begin hearing wiretap evidence on Monday. For the past two weeks, the court has heard from undercover officers who conducted a surveillance operation that observed Clark meeting his friend and neighbour Dimitrios Pilarinos. The surveillance evidence is expected to put some of the wiretap phone calls in context. Clark faces charges for breach of trust and accepting a benefit in relation to the government’s issuing of a provisional casino licence to Pilarinos. The Crown alleges Clark, who resigned after the investigation was revealed, received renovations to his Vancouver home and an Okanagan cottage in exchange for helping Pilarinos and his business partner obtain the licence. Michael Farnworth, a former B.C. cabinet minister who was in charge of gaming at that time, is expected to testify later in the trial. worth of free work for Clark. The former premier’s lawyers; claimed that Clark and his wife paid all' the invoices submitted by Pilarinos. Clark resigned as premier in August 1 1999, five months after police raided ; his home looking for documents to try . to determine whether he had received free renovations from Pilarinos. Pilarinos faces nine charges at trial, ; including the allegation that he offered ■ Clark a benefit as consideration fpr , Clark’s assistance and influence in the ■ granting of a casino licence. He is also accused of offering Clark a • share in the casino proceeds. The Crown alleges Pilarinos, a build- Sorry for any inconvenience this may have ing contractor, did about $10,000 the CORRECTION NOTICE In our 1-3W Top 10 of the Weekend flyer, on page 2, women’s Outline sport & casual socks are 3 for $5.99. Women’s Outline dress socks are 2 for $5.99. On page 4, Save 10% on candy and fine foods offer excludes Godiva. VICTORIA (CP) — The B.C. Medical Association denies a newspaper report that a backroom agreement reached Friday has put an end to its ongoing arbitration process with the government. The Victoria Times Colonist reported Sunday that doctors would receive an 11 per cent pay raise but not be allowed to bargain for more. Government and medical sources told the newspaper that B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell attended a Friday meeting with the association, where it was decided the current arbitration process would be shut down. But Dr. Heidi Oetter, association president, said Sunday that she believes the process is going ahead. “There has been no official response from the government and it is our absolute 100 per cent expectation that this government must implement the arbitrator’s report,” said Oetter. Former chief justice Allan McEachern awarded the province’s 8,000 doctors a retroactive interim 11.3 per cent pay hike over two years on Feb. 9. It was part of the initial phase of a binding arbitration process begun under the former NDP government. The finance minister said the government would have to borrow money or raise medicare premiums by up to 70 per cent to cover the award. Doctors have argued for a 28 per cent raise over four years and they hoped the second phase of arbitration would bring wage parity with their counterparts in neighbouring Alberta. A full-time doctor in B.C. earns an average gross income of $249,000 a year, compared to $260,000 in Alberta. The government will breach the binding nature of the arbitration process if it pulls out of the second phase, Oetter told the Times Colonist. “I don’t know what the membership would do if the government chose to walk away from the binding nature of this,” she said. “The interim award Mr. McEachern came down with does not give us parity with Alberta,” said Oetter. In August, the government recalled the legislature to impose a contract on nurses and members of the Health Sciences Association, which includes pharmacists, occupational therapists and technicians. Nurses were given a raise of 23.5 per cent over three years. The Health Sciences Association got raises of 5.5 to 14.25 per cent. In January, the legislature was recalled again and existing contracts with hospital and home care workers were reopened to strip some of their provisions, including future raises the government argued would add hundreds of millions in costs and make it difficult to lay off or reassign staff. Police move search *5>M441, to house on pig farm i^Sjr Pressing Legal Issues? Talk to Mitch Houg. Mitch Houg has joined the litigation team at Wilson, King & Company. Mitch will analyze your situation, determine the relevant facts, identify the issues and advise you of the probable outcome! Whether he negotiates a settlement outside of court or advocates for you in the courtroom, Mitch will work on your behalf. If you have a legal problem of any kind, including Forestry or Construction Disputes, Homeowner issues, Government issues or Estate Litigation, Mitch can help. Contact Mitch at (250) 960-3200. S88S.WILSON. KING &. COMPANY R A R R I > T E R S \ \ D Hi I It It O R ' 1000-299 Victoria Street, Prince George, B.C. • V2L 5B8 § Phone (250) 960-3200 • Fax (250) 562-7777 § PORT COQUITLAM (CP) — Police have begun searching a house on a pig farm at the centre of an investigation into the disappearance of 50 women from Vancouver’s downtown eastside. The farmhouse was not included in the initial search warrant for the 4.5-hectare farm. While police in white suits went through the house taking photographs and making notes on the weekend, trailers were brought in to provide sleeping quarters for the dozens of officers involved. The joint RCMP-Vancouver police investigation is into its second week of a painstaking search of the property, which consists of a collection of outbuildings, construction debris and junked cars. Most of the 50 women who disappeared between 1983 and late 2001 worked as prostitutes in the seedy downtown eastside of Vancouver. No charges have yet been laid in the investigation and police say the two brothers who own the farm are not considered suspects at this point. CRAlCH&W*<”™IEAS-i 2^ Cur ope & Britain Travel Extravaganza Friday - February 22nd Mom charged with murdering baby VANCOUVER (CP) — Neighbours of a woman charged with second-degree murder after the death of her baby say she was frantic with worry while waiting for an ambulance. One described how Darlene Trick, 28, thrust her five-month-old son, Brandyn Samson, into his arms on Thursday morning. “She was yelling, ‘My baby is dying’ and she handed me the baby, but it wasn’t breathing,” said Mustapha Odaa. “He was limp and blue and his head was turned backwards,” he added. The child was rushed to B.C. Children’s Hospital in an ambulance but died shortly after arrival. Trick was charged Saturday with second-degree murder. And in a strange twist, Trick also faces a charge of impaired driving as a result of an accident involving the ambulance. The vehicle was taken over as her son was being transported and subsequently “crashed into a front end-loader at children’s hospital,” said police. 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