Canada Manning called dictator by NORM OVENDEN Southam Newspapers OTTAWA — Reform Leader Preston Manning and party executives are being accused of threatening to blackball Reformers in a Saskatchewan riding unless constitutionally legal plans to nominate a candidate last month were scrapped. The accusation comes in a memo sent to all Reform MPs. The four-page document is being widely circulated across Canada to party members unhappy with Manning’s leadership. The episode in the Saskatoon-Humboldt riding is being used as another example how Reform’s Calgary headquarters runs a tight ship and will tolerate no internal dissent. Richard Chambers, president of the Saskatoon-Humboldt constituency association, calls Manning a dictator for attempting to interfere with the riding’s plan to select a candidate in the spring to raise his profile instead of waiting for fall contests as ordered by party officials. “We made the assumption it was our choice and we were viciously attacked,” Chambers said. During the four-month squabble, Manning contacted Chambers and the eventual candidate Jim Pankiw. In the memo, Chambers said the leader warned he would be advised not to visit the riding during an election campaign because party guidelines had been violated; that Saskatoon-Humboldt wouldn’t receive the full benefits of the national election campaign; and that if the candidate got elected the new “MP would not receive any caucus appointments because his constituency did not follow the nomination guidelines.” Moose Jaw Reform MP Allan Kerpan, who acts as caucus liaison to the province’s 14 ridings, played the middle man between Chambers and Harry Meyers, the powerful chairman of the Reform’s executive council. “It was like two bulls knocking heads and neither one would back off,” Kerpan said Friday. “It was very divisive.” He said the party’s constitution gives the riding the exclusive right to decide the nomination timing, which he suspects is the main reason why the April 13 nomination wasn’t nullified. The MP agreed local Reformers had been threatened by the heavy handed actions of party brass. “They took strong measures to try and make sure this thing didn’t happen.” But Kerpan said there is wisdom to delaying the selection process until the fall to maximize publicity before the 1997 election. He believes the Saska-toon-area Reformers should have looked at the bigger picture of the national team plan rather than strike out independently. “One of our worst problems has been what I call friendly fire. If you’re going to get that from any particular riding, why would you want to spend extra time bringing Preston into those particular ridings.” Manning said in an interview he told the riding officers they could proceed as they planned, but indicated they would create problems. “I said if it developed into a local fight then I’d be inclined to stay away.” There have been other cases where the party executive used its authority to keep control, such as the expulsion of four Manitoba officials in 1991. The party has been weak there ever since. Meyers said the membership gave the executive council “absolute discretion” over the timing of nominations. The Prince George Citizen - Saturday, May 18,1996 - 7 Nemetz Commission of Inquiry NOTICE Created by Order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council number 0544 dated April 24, 1996, the Nemetz Commission of Inquiry invites brief written submissions on the following issues: 1. The adequacy of rules and regulations governing the use of proceeds from licensed gaming and in particular the use of proceeds from gaming for political purposes. 2. The adequacy of existing legislation including the Society Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 390 governing the use of assets of societies and supervision of directors and officers. 3. The activities of the Nanaimo Commonwealth Holding Society as they relate to 1 and 2 above. 4. The handling of matters related to the Nanaimo Commonwealth Holding Society and related entities by public bodies or officials since bingo licences were first issued in 1970. A full copy of the Terms of Reference are available from the Registrar. Please forward written submissions by August 31,1996 to: Theresa Johannsen, Registrar Nenietz Commission of Inquiry P.O Box 48360, Bentall Centre Vancouver, B.C. V7X 1A1 ^ Telephone: (604) 631-3163 Fax: (604) 685-0265 8 Boys honored for heroism by FLORENCE LOYIE Southam Newspapers EDMONTON — Life just won’t be the same for two Peerless Lake boys who’ve been honored twice in the last couple of weeks for saving the lives of two children in a house fire. Stanley Houle and Earl Okemow, both nine, were among 48 recipients who received bravery decorations from Gov. Gen. Romeo LeBlanc in Ottawa on Friday. The boys received Medals of Bravery, Canada’s third-highest award presented “for acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances.” Two weeks ago, the boys travelled from their isolated Alberta community 400 km north of Edmonton to Toronto to pick up a bravery citation from the Annual YTV Achievement Awards. The boys were culled from 150 finalists, whittled down from a record 1,500 nominations. YTV even sent a film crew to Peerless Lake to re-enact the Fed. 23, 1995, fire which would have claimed the lives of Okemow’s younger brother and infant sister had it not been for the boys. Houle, the more talkative of the two, was rather nonchalant about their citations in a telephone interview from Ottawa on Friday. “We just wanted to get the kids out. We didn’t want them to die.” Houle and Okemow were outside playing hockey when they heard Okemow’s five-vear-old brother knocking on the window. When they turned, they could see flames eating at the living room curtains. The children’s mother had gone for some water at a nearby pump house. “We went inside, but it was too hot. So we went outside and took our jackets off and put snow on them,” Houle said, recalling the fire. The boys re-entered the house and covered the two younger children with their jackets. Okemow tried to pull down the burning curtains, but Governor General Romeo LeBlanc chats with eight-year-old Stanley Houle and 11-year-old Earl Okemow both of Peerless Lake, Alberta, after investing the two youngsters with Medals of Bravery. couldn’t. The fire was intensifying and Houle had to kick open the burning front door for them to leave. Moments after the children escaped, the house turned into a fireball. Within two hours, it burned to the ground. Poor unite to fight politicians SAINT JOHN, N.B. (CP) — Canada’s poor are caught in a war zone created by uncaring politicians, the president of the National Anti-Poverty Organization said Friday. “There is a virtual war, not against poverty but against people who are poor,” Jean Swanson told a conference on poverty. Swanson accused politicians of viewing poor-bashing as an easy road to popularity. “Show me a politician who won’t claim that zillions of dollars can be saved by cracking down on alleged but unproved welfare fraud,” she said. Finding ways to fight back is one of the purposes of the weekend conference, which has attracted low-income people from all four Atlantic provinces. The region suffers from chronic hign unemployment and frustration has led to recent angry protests over cuts to social programs. Organizers hope poor people from all four provinces can send a united message to their governments. However, there was little optimism politicians will listen. PQ had plan to beat financial show by Canadian Press MONTREAL — The Parti Quebecois government had socked away $37 billion in liquid reserves to absorb any financial shock waves a Yes victory would have set off in financial markets after last fall’s sovereignty referendum, a Quebec news magazine reports. L’Actualite says the province’s finance department, the Caisse de depot et placement pension-fund manager and Hydro-Quebec had access to $17 billion, enough to buy back all Quebec and Hydro bonds in circulation outside the province in case of panic sell-off. Half of these bonds are held by Quebec institutions, 10 per cent are owned in other Canadian provinces and the rest is held overseas. As well, three Quebec-based banks — National Bank, Laurentian Bank and the Mouvement Desjardins — held $20 billion in liquid assets so that the PQ government could negotiate “sovereignty-partnership” with English Canada from a position of strength. ImprovedHealthCare is essential... but so are Doctors, Nurses and Patient care. We ve got a Health Plan. The Next Generation of Leadership m a aam »>■ ammm mmarn BC Liberals Campaign Offices Ol Al 14SS Second Amine. 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