The record, 30 mars 1984, vendredi 30 mars 1984

Weekend Births, deaths .8 Business.5 Classified .10 Comics .14 Editorial .4 Living .11 Sports .6-7 Poverty is now a threat to our national security TORONTO (CP) — Citing threats to national security, the federal government has blocked an attempt by a non-profit group to obtain documents for a lawsuit against Ottawa.Praxis Corp., which carried out work on a federal contract to organize poor people in the late 1960s, is suing the federal government, claiming damages for alleged dirty tricks the RCMP did to discredit the group.Two months ago, after a Federal Court judge ordered the government to provide Praxis with documents it needed to pursue the lawsuit, the government handed over some government and RCMP files.But since that order, the government has filed a certificate under the Canada Evidence Act claiming the release of 115 other documents would hurt national security.The certificate, which blocks the transfer of the documents, says the files would identify RCMP security service sources, targets and methods, would jeopardize the security service’s telecommunications cypher system and divulge its relationships with foreign security organizations.CASE UPHELD In a previous case in which such a certificate was filed, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the government certificate, which stopped two former Mounties charged with theft from obtaining RCMP files.Paul Copeland, the lawyer acting for Praxis, said he thinks the RCMP may have committed several criminal acts when it received and kept some documents stolen from Praxis in 1970.He said the 115 documents the government wants withheld may contain evidence of criminal actions by the RCMP.In 1970, some documents were stolen from Praxis during a break-in.Shortly afterward, they were in the hands of the RCMP, which did not acknowledge it had them until 1977.The government and RCMP documents already released to Praxis, many of them marked secret, show the RCMP began investigating the organization in 1969.They also show the RCMP provided the Privy Council Office and various cabinet ministers with material that led to Praxis being cut off from government funds in 1970.A year after the theft of documents from Praxis, the federal solicitor general warned fellow cabinet ministers about an “extra-parliamentary opposition’’ in a letter naming Praxis and 21 civil servants.Copeland said he has asked the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, which has the right to serve a warrant requesting the documents, to try to obtain them.Court vetoes OTTAWA (CP) —CJMF-FM of Quebec City lost Thursday an eleventh-hour bid to stay on the air when the Federal Court of Appeal refused to overturn a Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decision not to renew the rock station’s licence.The court, in a decision read aloud by Mr.Justice Louis Pratte, said it did not agree with the station that the commission’s decision violated CJMF-FM’s constitutional freedom of expression under the Charter of Rights.Station vice-president Jean-Marc Carpentier said following the judgment that CJMF-FM “will obey the law” and stop broadcasting at midnight Saturday when its licence expires.The CRTC decision had been appealed to cabinet but unless cabinet acts today, the station must go off the air Saturday.The station is considering appealing Thursday’s decision to the Supreme Court but such an appeal will take several days to launch.The commission, in a rare move, failed last month to renew the popular rock station’s licence.It said CJMF-FM’s continued failure to adhere to Wine columnist extraordinaire Tim Belford investigates the qualities of French VDQS vintages while Tadeusz regrets hiring local talent and Mikey keeps trying to keep up with all the trying information this week in Townships week.Sherbnwke Friday, March 30, 1984 40 cents 1 vVcM Doctors’ group slips on the ‘privilege’ banana “The following is a paid political broadcast." OTTAWA (CP) — The Canadian Medical Association put its foot in its mouth Thursday with a passing reference to health care as “a social privilege” instead of a right.The gaffe came in a written brief by the association to a CMA-sponsored study group on the allocation of health care resources.The comment went unnoticed by members of the group but was later repudiated by associa tion officials after a reporter asked them to elaborate.“I really don’t agree with that, to tell you point blank,” said president Dr Everett Coffin “Health care is a right,” added secretary general Woody Freamo."There’s no question “But like any other right in society, you have a responsibility to use it properly.” The embarassing reference was part of a section of the brief that ar- gued both doctors and patients have roles to play in making sure money for health care is spent in the best way possible.“Providers must realize that they have a responsibility for efficient use of resources and consumers must begin to regard health care as a social privilege and not a right,” it said.The study group, headed by former CBC television host Joan Watson, has been holding hearings across the country on issues in health care that doctors feel haven’t been adequately addressed in the past.In its brief, the medical association said breakthroughs in medical technology have had impressive results in terms of better patient care, but the costs are high.Keeping a kidney patient alive by cleaning his blood through dialysis, for example, costs an average of $40,500 a year in a typical Canadian hospital.Opening Night Jitters hits Bishop’s drama department's Dwight McFee, Elizabeth Goodyear, Christian Kristen spring production, or rather its production of a production, (seated) and Bruce Spinney, Jitters continues tonight and Featuring (left to right) Kelly Parker, professional actor Saturday at 8 p.m.in Centennial Theatre.Bourassa preaches federalism to students Cheers and howls greet Mulroney WINNIPEG (CP) — It’s time to tear down walls separating Canadians and find a common ground for both French and English, Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Mulroney said Thursday night.With sweat glistening on his brow in a stifling hotel ballroom, Mulroney delivered an empassioned plea to a standing-room-only crowd of about 2,000 to find room in their hearts for bilingualism and multiculturalism.“I believe in a Canada big enough for you and generous enough for Manitoba and Québec,” he told the crowd that was heavily-salted with provincial Tories.Although Mulroney denies there is any rift to patch, provincial and federal Tories have been at odds for months over the French-language rights issue in Manitoba.His trip to Winnipeg was seen at least as an attempt to reconcile those clearly divergent views.If nothing else, it earned him marks for courage.But the standing ovation Mulroney received at the end of his speech from about three-quarters of his audience also showed most of the Conservatives in the room were ready to listen.GREETED BY BOOS But other parts of his speech met catcalls and boos, particularly the few words of French he injected in a critique of the Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque.Since the speech was open to the general public it was impossible to say whether Tories joined in any of the shouting that forced Mulroney to pause several times.Several key enemies of the bilingualism proposals of the Manitoba government of Premier Howard Pawley were present, including former New Democrat He-b Schulz One thing Mulroney said he could not offer Manitobans was an easy answer but he said the French-language rights issue in the province was “a provincial affair with national consequences.” He made it clear one of those consequences is the fate of the Conservative party, which he said has been successfully split in the past by Liberals.This time, Mulroney pleaded with Manitoba Tories, that must not be allowed to happen.He has said he can do what previous Tory leaders have not, win more seats in Québec.Manitoba Conservative opposition to increasing the constitutional rights of francophones in their province doesn’t make that goal more attainable.But instead of attaching any blame to the Tory Opposition in the Manitoba legislature for defeating the Pawley government’s French-rights package, Mulroney turned back the clock to 1890 and blamed the Liberal government of Thomas Greenway for passing the Official Language Act which first stripped francophones of their constitutional rights.That legislation was overturned in 1979 by the Supreme Court of Canada as unconstitutional and not until then did French regain equal status with English in the courts and legislature.“In one fell swoop, the Liberal Party created an injustice which has scarred the conscience of Canada from that day on,” Mulroney said.He also lashed out at federal Secretary of State Serge .loyal and two decades of Liberal governments in Otta- wa for a bilingualism policy that has only divided Canada.“The sad irony of bilingualism, as it has been implemented by the Liberal government, is that language has been used to keep English and French-speaking Canadians apart.” A proper bilingualism policy should unite Canada, he said.“The purpose of language guarantees is to ensure that English and French-speaking Canadians do not feel like strangers if they cross the Ottawa River.” SHERBROOKE — Provincial Li be ral leader Robert Bourassa whizzed into town Thursday to meet with area students and to spread the gospel of government reform according to a resurrected leader.Bourassa spoke to students of the Faculty of Law at the Université de Sherbrooke, and to Business and Political Science students at Bishop’s Uni versity in Lennoxville and in both places his message remained the same.“Canada is one of the best countries in the world as far as offering the things most of us feel are important in a civilized society,” he said.“Now, while we are in the middle of one of the worst economic crises in our history, this is no time to concentrate on breaking this country apart." Bourassa said he was “deeply committed, both morally and economically, to making Québec completely a part of Canada,” and added that a Liberal government would have no problem signing the Constutional accords that were offered Premier Lévesque in 1980.“In 1971 I refused to sign the package offered me because it did not take into consideration the very special nature of Quebec,” he said “But in 1980 the federal government was willing to offer concessions that would have guaranteed Québec's place in Canada.Mr.Lévesque refused to agree and instead lost us our traditional right of veto.The people of Québec realize this.” Bourassa saved his harshes criticism, however, for the way in which the present government is handling the economy.“The rules of the game Bourassa.Lévesque refused to agree.have changed since the energy crisis," he said, “and we have to be prepared to change with them.The rules of supply and demand are going to come into play like never before, and if we are going to compete with energetic countries like Taiwan and South Korea, then we are going to have to take advantage of the resources we have and remain dynamic.“And make no mistake about it,” he said, “we have to compete with these countries.” He said that Québec must export almost 40 per cent of everything it makes, and in order to do so should be prepared to face the competition head-on.“In order to do that," he said, “we have toexploit our wealth in natural resources, and to make See BOURASSA’S page 3 radio station survival plea broadcasting promises — in particular, to play middle-of-the-road music — undermined commission authority.Pratte said Thursday the commission had the right to make that decision because CJMF-FM had broken promises by playing rock.He said there was no link between the CRTC decision and the charter.The station faces fines of $1,000 a day if it defies the CRTC decision and stays on the air past Saturday.The commission has called for applications by July 4 for the licence to serve the Quebec City market and Carpentier said Thursday the station may apply.Ironically, the CRTC will likely licence rock radio in the market because CJMF-FM’s success — although in contravention of its licence — has demonstrated a great demand for such a station.CJMF-FM went on the air in September 1979, but it betrayed the so-called promise of performance in its licence almost immediately.It had promised to play 84 per cent middle-of-the-road music and about five per cent rock.By last September, it was playing 97.8 percent rock and only 2.2 pey cent middle-of-the-road.The broadcasting format proved popular.In the most recent audience ratings survey, CJMF-FM had 268,000 listeners.More than 100,000 have signed a petition urging Communications Minister Francis Fox and the CRTC to rescind the decision.When it pulled the plug, the commission also said the station wasn’t playing enough French-language music and spoken-word programming.The case Thursday was the first challenge under the Constitution to the commission’s powers.A few years ago, CTV unsuccessfully took the C RTC to court in a challenge of the broadcast regulator’s rights to set levels of Canadian programming.Carpentier said reaction at the station was “calm" when he phoned there after the judgment.He said Québec rock fans will have to be content — at least for the time being — to listen to distant stations on cable or to American stations.CJMF-FM employs about 40 people.The independent station has spent about $1.2 million on equipment and facilities since its launch.Patrick Connolly, QPF By John McCaghcy COWANSVILLE — “Not all the ‘crazies’ come out with full moons.” “In our instance it’s normally when they hear of an upcoming snowstorm and want to know if they can drive to see ‘Tante Lucille’ or some other relative,” Pat Connolly explained.Connolly started his 28th year as a Québec Police Force disptcher with the 3 to 11 p.m.shift, appropriately on March 28.He recalled some of the sights and sounds he has been party to — some exiting, some mundane.“We normally tell the weather-watchers we aren’t Dorval, but as usual we've got to be polite despite the avalanche of calls.” Connolly grew up in St.Claude in the Richmond area, worked for Bruck Mills in Sherbrooke then in 1948 moved to Brome Village where his uncle had a hotel.“That’s where I learned to drink Bradings,” he said, a grin infesting his leprechaun-like face.He started with the then Québec Provincial Police in 1956 when Sgt.Paul Provost headed up a 10-man Cowansville detachment with headquarters under the Caisse Populaire on South St.Subsequent stops included Davignon Blvd.and the present site on Route 202 between Cowansville and Dunham.“I guess the complement on Davignon was about 18 to 20 staff members whereas our current total, including civilian employees, is 41 and we cover a slightly smaller area — having lost Noyan and Clarenceville to the La colle detachment.But we still go through to Lake Memphremagog," he explains.Communications have changed over the 28 years.A semi-automatic telephone and an old radio system that can only be compared to ship-to-shore were the original means.Now computers have become one of the crime fighter’s most valuable assets for an almost instant exchange of information between all Canadian police forces, and with the rest of the world through the RCMP.NEW COMPUTERS March 28, 1984, proved a bit of a dilemma as 180 new computer units came on line the day prior and Connolly was trying to cope with the unfamiliar Comterm keyboard.Persistence coupled with his logic paid off and soon all was under control as he provided assistance to a local municipal force.Reflecting, he says undoubtedly the worst incident in his memory was when he got a call from Montreal ad vising him of a fire in the Noyan area — it later turned out to be the Abel Vosburg murder when over nine fa mily members perished in the blaze.He vividly recalled being in the Montreal Court House waiting to testify in the Prévost inquiry when Cowans-ville’s interim police chief Albert Goyer died following his testimony The mother of the subject of the investigation answered a call for first aid and tried to save Chief Goyer’s life.However, he was declared dead-on-arrival at Monteal's St.Luc hospital.Goyer wasn’t involved in the investigation and had been called to produce the force’s arrest log.“There are others who drove me up the wall about 15 to 18 years ago and much as 1 can’t stand the xxx’s 1 won’t mention their names because they’re back before the courts again.” Connolly has gone through 14 See TWENTY-EIGHT page 3 Pat Connelly.Still going strong in his 28th year on the QPF.> 2—The KKC'OKO—Friday.March :i(t.I»H4 Salvadoran voters ‘screwed’ by bungling clerks at polling stations OTTAWA (CP) — The inconclusive presidential elections in El Salvador were an example of “a democratic system completely fouled up” by bureaucratic bum;ling, the leader of a three-man Canadian observer team says.Gordon Fairweather, just back from the Central American nation, said at a news conference Thursday that at times he felt “almost as frustrated as some of these people” who stood vainly for hours Sunday in muggy heat to try to vote."They were screwed by the system," concluded Fairweather, who is also Canada’s human rights commis sioner.“The people deserved better from the democratic system than what they got.” For all the shortcomings, however, Fairweather said he had seen no evidence of bullying or intimidation of voters.It was simply a case of the people manning the polls being so poorly trained that they couldn’t do their jobs Hon Gould.Canada's assistant chief electoral officer and also a team member, felt there was “a basic conflict between an extraordinarily sophisticated computer system and .the poor clerks and deputy returning officers” who were supposed to run them and see that ballots were cast.The other Canadian observer was F M “Chips" PTUeuI, the Costa Rica-based Canadian ambassador to El Salvador.The three were in El Salvador from Mar.23-28 to observe the election process and already have given a preliminary report to the Exter- nal Affairs Department.RUN-OFF VOTE Fairweather said he will consider the election “a fair expression of Salvadoran voters’ will" if 60 per cent of the 1.8 million eligible voters were able to vote.Final results of the voting aren’t yet available, but it is already apparent there will be another run-off election in 35-40 days, Fairweather said.The self-proclaimed victor is Centrist candidate Jose Napoleon Duarte, but he will face right-winger Roberto d’Aubuisson since neither achieved more than 50 per cent of the vote.Fairweather said he has no difficulty predicting Duarte will eventual ly win the presidency.But he warned that if Salvadoran authorities can't educate the people manning the polls to do a better job before the next elections, “it’ll be another disaster.” It hasn’t yet been considered whether or not Canada will send observers to that election, Fairweather said El Salvador is in a state of virtual civil war, with left-wing rebels battling government troops.There have been allegations of right-wing death squads and charges of atrocities against both right-and left-wing factions.Fairweather stressed that the Canadian observers were looking only at the election process, not at social conditions that he said appeared “desperate.” He recounted taking an hour off Sunday from the election to visit a refugee camp run by the Roman Catholic church.There were 3,500 people in it, displaced from war zones around El Salvador, and it was “a hellhole,” Fairweather recalled."I would love to have a chance another time to look into that,’’ Fairweather said.‘ WE SETTLi ESTATES * TAX PLAN YOUR INCOME * FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION * SPECIALIZE • FARM ROLLOVERS PROFESSIONAL ADVICE W.D.DUKE ASSOCIATES LTD.109 William St., Cowantville J2K 1K9 SI 4-263-4123 President: W.D.Duke, B.Comm C A Vice-President: J.R.Boulé B A.Behind the news —_____ftgi itccora Disappearing bureaucrats: Boivin resigns feeling like a ‘burden’.QUEBEC (CP) — Jean Roch Boivin.Premier René Levesque’s chief aide for seven years and the centre of a controversy over an alleged breach of trust, said Thursday he is resigning because he feels he's become a burden to the government.And the 53-year-old lawyer said he is taking just one happy memory with him —- the $60,000 he won in a bet with former Oposition house leader Jean-Nôel Lavoie on the results of the 1081 Québec general election.We had bet $100,000, but he had only $60,000,” Boivin said.“I don't think I'm a big asset now,” the grey-haired, publicity-shy lawyer told reporters in a rare impromptu news conference.“And I’m tired of public life.” In a voice sometimes tinged with emotion and bitterness, Boivin said he would leave sometime before the end of June to resume the practice of iaw.“People who are near to the premier seem to be favorite targets.It’s part of the job, I guess.I don’t like public life and I’ve been a little too close to it for my tastes.” UNDER FIRE In recent months, the PQ’s rank-and-file members have criticized the premier’s palace guard for isolating Lévesque from the real world Lévesque has been urged to get rid of some of his top aides.Boivin, who has been associated with Lévesque since the birth of the PQ in 1968 and who ran twice unsuccessfully as a PQ candidate, has also become a favorite target of the Opposition.Last year, the Liberals laced into him and Lévesque after premier and aide were accused by the Montreal daily La Presse of influencing an out-of-court settlement between the James Bay Energy Corp.and the Québec Federation of Labor.Boivin had held at least 22 meetings in the premier’s private office with union and company lawyers in the days leading up to the out-of-court deal.The settlement apparently reached there was for $800,000.That was $100,000 less than the company’s legal fees in the case, which was a lawsuit resulting from the union sacking of a James Bay damsite.Damage to the site destroyed by the union men totaled over $30 million.Lévesque has sued the paper and its reporter.Then last month, Boivin was the target of a series of articles in Le Devoir that said a police report sugges- ted he be charged with breach of trust for having recommended Luc Cyr, a contractor with extensive PQ affiliations and an allegedly shoddy work record, for a top job at the Québec Housing Corp.Boivin is suing the paper for $750,000.The chief Crown attorney in Montreal has said his staff decided not to prosecute Boivin because the police report showed no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.THE WORST DAY Boivin said the worst day of his career in the premier’s office was the day last February he woke up to hear the Le Devoir story broadcast on the radio.“It upsets me a little bit that I can be suspected of dishonesty.“I don’t understand anything in that whole mystery of the Québec Housing Corp.All I did is, one noon-hour, I said to (Housing Minister Guy) Tardif —- he wanted the name of someone — I said Luc Cyr.That’s the story of the Québec Housing Corp.” “I’m not running away,” he said, explaining that he has wanted to resign since last fall.“I’m awaiting my day in court with joy.” As for the James Bay Energy Corp.incident, he said his conscience is clear.“Maybe I had bad judgment, maybe I acted wrongly, on a tactical level, maybe I did crooked things — I mean crooked in the sense of not skillful (tout croche — ed.) — but I don’t feel personally, if I look into my conscience, that I did anything crooked.” NO POWER’ Boivin has often been called the power behind the throne in Lévesque’s office, but he said that his power was an invention of the media.“If ever I write a book, it will be about the myths in politics — especially the myths spread by journalists.You make me laugh, you guys.I laugh every day thinking about you.“Power?I don’t have any.I have a certain influence.” Questioned by reporters, Lévesque said Boivin’s imminent departure is “not exactly something I’m happy about.” Later, in the National Assembly, he said that “a man ends up by getting fed up with having his reputation dirtied.” There was no immediate indication as to who might replace Boivin.And top federal taxman moved to Privy Council despite ‘good job’ OTTAWA (CP) — Prime Minister Trudeau refused to explain Thursday why the top bureaucrat in the Revenue Department, a senior deputy minister who has held the post for more than six years, was suddenly removed in the midst of a prolonged Conservative attack on tax system.In the face of Tory charges that ® Bruce MacDonald has been made a scapegoat for Revenue Minister Pierre Bussières, the prime minister defended the competence of both men and his own judgment in selecting them.But he would not tell the Commons why MacDonald had been moved to the Privy Council office, effective April 3, nor why he was being replaced by Harry Rogers, the current , comptroller general., Conservative MP Chris Speyer, who led the five-month attack on the minister regarding alleged misconduct by tax officials, said Thursday that Bussières, not MacDonald, should be removed.But Trudeau emphatically rejected that idea.“If the minister had any idea of retiring, I would have dissuaded him and refused his resignation.” Trudeau also brushed aside the suggestion that MacDonald was to blame for the department’s problems, which have been highlighted by the Tories in a series of public hearings they held .across the country throughout March.He had "extreme confidence in the competence of Mr.MacDonald.” He added that MacDonald remained in Revenue Canada for six years and eight months “because I believe — • and I still believe that he was doing a Weathe ' Mostly cloudy today with moderate winds out of the north.High 2.good job.” The tax department changes were announced earlier Thursday in a one-paragraph news release from Trudeau’s office, issued following a cabinet meeting at which the matter was discussed.Neither Trudeau nor Bussières would elaborate outside the Commons, although both were pressed for an explanation several times.MacDonald was out of town and Rogers said he would not comment until after April 3.WRONG MAN LEAVING Perrin Beatty, head of the Tory task force investigating complaints of aggressive tax collecting by department officials, agreed with Speyer that the wrong man was leaving the department.“There’s no question there have been problems with senior management in the department, that many of the systems put in place have been bad systems,” he said in an interview.“But the fact is that successive ministers have been grossly negligent in terms of discharging their responsibilities.There’s been a vacuum at the head of that department and to blame the deputy minister for filling the vacuum left by a weak minister is very unfair.” The revenue portfolio, a junior posting, has seen eight ministers in 10 years.Bussieres was appointed in September 1982.Beatty was presiding Thursday over the last day of task force hearings, the results of which will form the basis of Tory tax policy.He has played a major role in the questioning of Bussieres and was in the Commons Feb.24 when the minister refused to give his unequivocal support to his deputy minister.Bussieres’s evasive answers fanned rumors of a split between the minister and MacDonald.DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES A top civil servant, who knows them both, said the problem resulted from —________________ftgl ¦BBCOIm George MacLaren, Publisher Charles Bury, Editor Lloyd G.Scheib, Advertising Manager Mark Guillette.Press Superintendent Richard Lessard, Production Manager Debra Waite, Superintendent, Composing Room CIRCULATION DEPT.-569-9528 Subscriptions by Carrier: 1 year • $72 80 569-9511 569-6345 569-9525 569-9931 569-9931 569-4856 $55 00 $32 50 $22 50 $1300 Back copies of The Record are available at the following prices: Copies ordered within a month of publication 60c per copy Copies ordered more than a month after publication $1 10 per copy weekly $1 40 Subscriptions by Mail: Canada: 1 year - 6 months -3 months * 1 month - U S.A Foreign: 1 year - $100.00 6 months - $60.00 3 months - $40.00 1 month -$20.00 Established February 9.1897, incorporating the Sherbrooke Gazette (est.1837) and the Sherbrooke Examiner (est.1879).Published Monday to Friday by Townships Communications Inc./ Communications des Cantons, Inc., Offices and plant located at 2850 Delorme Street, Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1K 1A1.Second class registration number 1064.Member of Canadian Press Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations A a difference in philosophies over how the Income Tax Act should be administered.MacDonald, a trained statistician, was interested in numbers and efficiency, said the civil servant, who asked not to be named.Bussières, a former philosophy teacher, was more inclined to emphasize service and public information.In order to shield the department from political interference, both men have equal powers under the act, a situation that led to considerable friction, the civil servant said.The problem was exacerbated by the Tory campaign against Bussières, who was called on in the Commons to defend his own actions and those of his deputy minister.Bussières was further hampered by the department’s policy of not releasing details on individual cases, unless they are settled in the courts.Since November, the Tories have raised incidents almost daily that the minister could only say do not reflect depar- tment policy.The Tory attack has borne some fruit, resulting in several important changes at Revenue Canada, including the appointment of independent management consultant William Farlinger of Woods Gordon, who is conducting a one-year study.SET UP TASK FORCE Bussières also instituted a five-man public relations task force to recommend changes in how the department communicates with the public.Their report, due in April, will touch on everything from the wording of tax forms to the way in which employees answer the telephones.Several key Tory criticisms were also addressed in the Feb.15 budget.Finance Minister Marc Lalonde, who is responsible for changing the legislation which Bussières only administers, lengthened the period in which a formal objection could be filed to a tax assessment and exempted about 350,000 senior citizens from paying their taxes in quarterly instalments.He also changed the Income Tax Act to enable the department to return a taxpayer’s money immediately if he is successful in an appeal.Previously, the department kept the money if it intended to appeal.The Tories labelled these and other changes “froth at the tip of a wave” and called instead for a parliamentary committee investigation, the institution of which was their bottom line.Speyer said Thursday he would have preferred an all-party parliamentary committee because it would have allowed revenue officials to tell their side of the story.Testimony at the Tory hearings was lopsided because tax officials had been forbidden by Bussières to appear because he felt the inquiry was too partisan.SEIZED PIGGY BANK One of the most damning stories of heavy-handedness by tax officials involved the seizure of an U-year-old British Columbia boy’s bank account.It was later proved to be the bank’s mistake, but it still tarnished the department’s image.And during the Winnipeg hearings the group was told of a farm auditor who thought a mare was a type of a cow.This was cited by a local chartered accountant as proof tax auditors need more specialized training.Speyer said service could improve under Rogers, the new deputy minister who left his job as vice-president of Xerox Canada Ltd.in 1978 to become Canada’s first comptroller general, basically the internal management consultant for the federal government."I’m not asking that Revenue Canada ever become popular,” Speyer said.“No tax department can ever be popular.What I am asking and what Canadians have a right to expect is that (tax officials) carry out their assignments with a sense of objectivity and neutrality and some sense of social conscience.” News-in-brief Air Canada makes it into black MONTREAL (CP) — Air Canada made it back to the ranks of the profitable in 1983 with a modest $3.8-million profit even though its passenger volume fell back to 1977 levels.Of the country’s other major airlines, only Nor-dair, which is 86 per cent owned by Air Canada, and Pacific Western Airlines made money in 1983.CP Air, second in size to Air Canada.finished with a $16.4-million loss, compared with a $39-million loss the year before.In a statement accompanying today’s release of the annual report, Air Canada president Claude Taylor described the $3.8 million profit as modest in comparison with the airline’s needs.No tears shed for murderer MONTREAL (CP) — While the West African state of Guinea is mourning the death of President Ahmed Sekou Toure, the widow of Toure’s former justice minister says she will shed no tears.Kadiatou Diallosays her husband, DialloTelli, was a victim of Toure’s purges, which human rights organizations said sent thousands to their deaths or prison.Diallo said in an interview her husband’s blind faith in Toure finally led to his betrayal and death in 1977.“He (Telli) had a blind faith in Sekou Toure, one could even say a naivety.Telli couldn’t imagine that one could be so openly wicked.” Kadiatou said that Toure, who led Guinea to independence from France in 1958, had a “sick fear" that Telli wanted his job.Toure was a self-taught union leader with a grade seven education, trained by the French Communist party.She said Toure envied Telli’s success.“My husband had an international audience that Sekou Toure didn’t have.” Native women get status back OTTAWA (CP) — A special fund may be created to finance the flood of Indian women and children who could return to reserves as a result of proposed legislation to eliminate sexual discrimination in the Indian Act, Indian Affairs Minister John Munro told a Commons committee Thursday.As many as 23,