national Thr Citizen Tuesday, September 20, 1983 — 5 EIGHT CHARGES sT) News chains trial continues by Canadian Press TORONTO — Crown Prosecutor Claude Thomson continued his opening arguments today as the trial involving Canada’s two largest * Newspaper chains entered the second day of •'•'whatis expected to be a complex and lengthy k proceeding. Thomson referred to two documents today that he said will be entered later as evidence. • One of the documents outlined the chronolo-/KgicjU order of events that led to the laying of weight conspiracy, merger and monopoly ^charges against Southam Inc. and Thomson ’.Newspapers Ltd. The second was an an unidentified document, which he said investi-, gators retrieved in 16 pieces from a Southam . v^astepaper basket. 11 The two companies, which pleaded not guilty to eight conspiracy, merger and monopoly ^.charges, have been at the centre of controversy and public hearings for more than three years after a series of changes in Canada's newspaper industry. Monday’s court session, which lasted less than three hours, sparked a protest from TTiomson Newspapers' lawyer Lome Morphy when prosecutor Thomson said he would deal separately with some aspects of the case rather than group them together. ’ The prosecutor told reporters later his whole ' 'ease might be thrown out if he tried but failed •to prove an inter-relation between several alleged offences. Prosecutor Thomson, who indicated the Ontario Supreme Court trial might continue until Christmas, also said he will exhibit about 300 documents and call on more than 50 witnesses . as part of his case against the companies. The charges, laid under the federal Combines Investigation Act, include four conspiracy counts and four merger and monopoly counts against the two companies and nine * subsidiaries. The charges followed an investigation by the federal Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs into the Aug. 27, 1980, closings of n the Thomson-owned Ottawa Journal and the Southam-owned Winnipeg Tribune, and the 1979 closing of the Montreal Star, then owned by FP Publications Ltd., a company later bought by Thomson. Also on Aug. 27, 1980, Thomson sold to Southam its 50-per-cent share in Pacific Press, which publishes the Vancouver Sun and the Vancouver Province. ■jr:J Thomson also sold to Southam its one-third juShare in the company that published the Montreal Gazette, a share FP Publications acquired after the demise of the Montreal Star. The moves made Southam the sole publisher of English-language daily newspapers in Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver, and Thomson the publisher of Winnipeg’s only remaining English-language daily at the time. Southam now owns 17 dailies in Canada (including The Citizen, Prince George I, and has 27.5 per cent of the total Canadian daily circulation, while Thomson owns 40 dailies with 20 per cent of the circulation. The totals include ■’■'some papers with both morning and afternoon editions. TEACHER'S THEORIES COUNTERED Holocaust survivors visit Eckvilie school ECKVILLE, Alta. (CP) - High school students in this central Alberta town listened intently and some wept openly as three Holocaust survivors told their horror stories Monday. But outside the school, the youths scattered like mice being chased by cats to elude waiting reporters who had been banned from the three-hour meeting. The three guests, Aba Beer and Lou Za-blow of Montreal and Vera Slyomovics of Vancouver, were brought to Eckvilie to counter the teachings of Jim Keegstra, the high school teacher fired for telling his students the mass slaughter of Jews in the Second World War did not take place. Slyomovics, 57, a survivor of Auschwitz, said the meeting was an emotional one for many of 80 senior high school students. Auschwitz, a town in Poland, was the site of perhaps the most infamous of all the death camps built by the Nazis to solve what Adolf Hitler called the ‘‘Jewish problem.” An estimated four million of six million Jews killed by the Nazis were put to death, mostly by poison gas, at Auschwitz. ‘‘There were 12 young ladies with tears in their eyes,” Slyomovics said of the meeting. ‘‘When they talked with me, they were reaching out.” After seeing a film depicting the experience of Jews at the hands of Nazis, she said the students seemed reluctant to ask questions. But they opened up after the group was broken into smaller segments. Most of their queries were highly personal, centring on her own experiences and those of her family and friends, Slyomovics. She said she didn’t know if she had been able to influence many of the students with her stories. But ‘‘if I change two from the group, that’s good enough for me. Two will influence two more.” However, Brad Andrew, one of Keegstra’s former students, said nothing the Holocaust survivors said Monday had changed his mind. “He (Keegstrai was a very learned man,” said the Grade 12 student, son of the woman who organized a petition to oust Keegstra from the school. ‘‘In his way, he was a good teacher. I have to admit I believed him in some ways and I still have my own set opinions. But in some ways I didn’t believe him.” Andrew was one of only a few students who would even pause to talk to reporters. He said most of his classmates are fed up with the constant stream of reporters who have descended on Eckvilie since the Keegstra story first came to light. Residents have become as adept as politicians between elections at evading reporters, answering questions with a firm "no comment” or politely repeating the litany: ‘‘I don’t know.” Some townspeople view the media with anger, some with nervous apprehension. One group of students, when approached by a reporter Monday, hastily backed up and hid around a corner. Slyomovics said students told her they wish the national publicity had never started. “They were telling me that they are ashamed to say they come from Eckvilie," she said. ‘‘But the man (Keegstra) had to be exposed. Cancer is not something you can shove under the carpet. “What is so frightening is that I understand he was a good teacher. They really felt this man was good to them. He built up credibility and what I worry about is the disillusionment." Keegstra, who was unavailable for comment. will put his popularity in the town to the test Oct. 17 in the civic election. Women outnumber men OTTAWA (CPI - The latest population estimate for Canada stands at 24.889.800 as of June, 1983, Statistics Canada reported Monday. Males make up 12.323.600 of the figure, while 12,566.200 are female. The agency said the estimates were obtained by adjusting preliminary figures between June 1, 1982. and May 31. 1983, for births, deaths, immigration and emigration. The last population estimate published by the agency says there were about 24,739,400 people as of Jan. 1. The last national census was in 1981. The agency also said Monday that people 65 and over make up 10 per cent of the population, compared to 8.1 per cent in 1971. However, people aged 17 and younger comprise 26 8 per cent of the population, down from 35.7 per cent in 1971. The decline is attributed to a continuous decline in birth rates during the last two decades, the agency said. Maggie wants to marry boyfriend OTTAWA (CP) - The Citizen says Prime Minister Trudeau and his estranged wife, Margaret, are close to a permanent separation which she hopes could lead to a divorce and allow her to remarry. Margaret said Monday negotiations with her husband on a separation agreement are close to being resolved, the newspaper says. She said once agreement is reached, divorce would be a very simple step, the Ottawa newspaper says. Margaret has lived apart from the prime minister for more than six years under a temporary separation agreement. She said she wants to end the marriage and hopes to wed Fried Kemper, a wealthy real estate man she has been dating for several months, the newspaper says. A spokesman from the prime minister’s office said simply: “We have no comment.” Margaret refused to come to the door later to speak to reporters about the story. The Citizen said Margaret called back following the interview Mon- (0 A If >Tinm i r>* “EDUCATION CUTBACKS” Teachers in the Prince George School District are concerned about the negative effects on students and education in this District as well as the potential impact on human and employee rights, v Members of the Prince George District Teachers’ Association have voted to leave school on Wednesday, September 21st at 2 p.m. to signify their opposition to the Provincial Government’s current legislative and budget proposals. THE PROPOSED FISCAL FRAMEWORK for this School District will see an 11% reduction in the District budget by 1986 with no change in enrolment. —There are NO PROVISIONS for INFLATION IN THE COSTS of supplies, heat, light or transportation during this period. —This District faces the LOSS OF PROGRAMS, the LOSS OF SUPPORT SERVICES for children and LARGER CLASSES because of the elimination of positions, even if there were no increases in salaries or other costs. —DISRUPTION OF SERVICES and classes must occur as early as January 1st. The proposed 1984 budget means that the District will be SHORT $2.5 MILLION for maintaining the present level of services. THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION will continue to centralize control in Victoria and reduce ' decision-making for children by locally elected School Trustees. —Trustees will NO LONGER have* the right to establish LOCALLY DETERMINED levels of programs. —Locally elected Trustees will NO LONGER have REPRESENTATION on the College of New Caledonia Council — removing the only elected representation from the College Board. day and asked the newspaper not to use the story. It was made clear to her that the subject of the interview — her separation agreement and future divorce — would be published, it said. “I should have learned my lesson,” she is quoted as saying. “This is none of your business. ... It’s very unjust, very typical." She said there was nothing to report until an agreement to end the marriage was reached, the newspaper said. Reports that she hopes to end the marriage could jeopardize the negotiations, Margaret said. She gave the Ottawa newspaper no hint of the terms of a permanent separation agreement. She said she now feels "more liberated," would like to be independent and wants “things settled.” OPERA HOUSE INCIDENTS Homosexual ring uncovered ORILLIA, Ont. (CP) — A crowd of about 25 people hurled insults and catcalls as 20 men charged with gross indecency involving homosexual acts left provincial court Monday. The men were arrested earlier this month following a police investigation into complaints of harassment of the public, including juveniles, in a public washroom at the Orillia Opera House. Warrants were issued on 32 men on charges of buggery, fellatio and masturbation, and 27 of the warrants have been served, Orillia police said. Five of the 20 men who appeared in court Monday were committed to trial in a county court, which probably will not take place until January, one of their lawyers said. Fifteen of the accused, including two who are in hospital, were remanded to court dates throughout the fall. Several of the men will appear next Monday. On Friday, Mr. Justice Joseph O'Brien of the Ontario Supreme Court refused a request by Orillia lawyer Richard Clarke for a ban on publication of the men’s names. Clarke, acting for seven of the accused men, had argued for the ban to avoid embarrassment of the accused and their families arising from the charges. Meanwhile, Orillia police have come under fire for their handling of the scandal, primarily from the media. In an article in the October edition of the homosexual magazine Body Politic, entitled Anatomy of a Small town Sex Scandal, Orillia police are criticized for the way arrests were made. In the article, police are accused of dragging two teachers from classrooms in front of astonished students. “The Orillia police investigation has already caused repercussions from which it will take years to recover: wrecked marriages, attempted suicides, ruined businesses and reputations. . . the article said. However. Police Chief Ken Boyd called the magazine’s charges “totally erroneous." "We didn’t wish to jeopardize anyone’s employment,” Boyd said. “There’s no validity to that statement.” Big. Mac listens to P.E.I. CHARLOTTETOWN (CP) — The Macdonald commission is receiving conflicting messages from the public about government’s role in the economy, Michel Robert, a commissioner from Montreal, said Monday. “There seems to be a contradiction between dependency and the desire not to be dependent," the constitutional lawyer said in an interview during the commission’s Charlottetown stop. Robert said groups are telling the federal royal commission on the economy, now in its third week of hearings, they don’t want government involvement but they do want subsidies. In presentations to Donald Macdonald and his team of commissioners on Monday, groups criticized government involvement in business but said subsidies are needed to offset high transportation and energy costs. RADIAL VALLES SALE ENDS OCTOBER 1 ECONOMY RADIAIS DLC Radial Whitewall pi«s/kohi3 DLC Radial Whitewall pi9*/7$rm ALL SEASON RADIALS STEELBELTEI) RADIALS 6195 Trane 12* Whitewall P2I5/75R14 Trax 12* Whitewall P235/7SRIS 799s 879S 721 * Metrix All Season White Letter pi»s/7oru 4 721 Metrix All Season Whitewall P2IS/75R1S 949s Coupons cannot be used in conjunction with other discounts. w, I !L_Z l.ight truck Kudial Savings! I his*oii|s»Mc»»sl »*•' M't xlisomni |vr tuc Minimum 2 9>r«* puri h.isc on Nlccllcx KIM .hhI I ’ ^ >"K H* Itt-pb I xpirx^ I Mnhrf II. 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