The record, 23 novembre 1994, mercredi 23 novembre 1994

[" acy rs , 1994 November 23 ig Eo wp Births, deaths .12 Classified secs 10 COMICS .\u2026\u2026\u2026vssssoseseossersess 11 Editorial .\u2026.\u2026.\u2026.\u2026\u2026ssesess 4 Education see 5 Farm, Business .7 Living .\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026eececesseencess 6 SPOItS .\u2026enrescessessense 13 Townships .\u2026.\u2026.\u2026\u2026ees 3 WEATHER D Pace 2 WP 40 cents CHRIS BELL GRADE 1 NORTH HATLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Automatic doors criticized Has man confessed to wrecking train?By Tom Blackwell À man has confessed to sabotaging a railway line in Ontario that turned a Via Rail train into a speeding fireball and forced passengers to jump to safety, a federal official said Tuesday.\u201cIt was reported to us that a 21-year-old man had confessed,\u201d said Gary McLaughlin, director of the federal Transportation Safety Board's rail investigation branch.The safety board will likely Auditor general: Tax cheats cost billions, sloppy spending more By Jim Sheppard OTTAWA (CP) \u2014 If Auditor General Denis Desautels has his way, the federal government will today start sharing his dream of the future, not dwelling on nightmares of the past.Desautels warned in his annual report Tuesday that tax cheaters cost the country billions of dollars, that some dangerous criminals may be wrongly free and that high-risk foods like baby cereals may not be properly inspected.He also urged Ottawa to come clean on the possible negative impact of its proposed social program cuts.But despite chapter upon chapter of criticism, the report fits snugly with many of the government's ambitions.Parts could have been pulled from Finance Minister Paul Martin\u2019s budget, others from Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's red book of election promises.In fact, Desautels told a news conference he is optimistic the government will work with him stop investigating the possibility that the hunk of rail the train hit before it burst into flames got there accidentally, he said.The agency was waiting to see if charges would be laid today.\u201cJust because someone confessed doesn\u2019t mean he did it,\u201d McLaughlin said.Provincial police wouldnt confirm there was a confession but said no charges had been laid.Officers at the Brighton t 4 Tax system full of holes \u2014 Page 2 Ottawa By Gord McIntosh OTTAWA (CP)\u2014 The federal government is a huge landlord that gouges itself for millions of dollars in unnecessary property costs every year, Auditor General Denis Desautels said Tuesday.Desautels, in his annual report to Parliament, estimated that real estate owned by Ottawa is worth $40 billion to $60 billion.Yet the government has no accurate figures on how much it costs to operate and maintain its properties, he said.Desautels identifies a number of problems: @ Ottawa does not know how much it would cost to comply with existing laws relating to health, safety, heritage preservation and the environment.© Maintenance of aging buil- its own worst landlord Ottawa has been reluctant to invest in cost-saving measures.@ Politics have interfered with decisions about buying and selling properties.\u201cAs a result, the government continues to spend millions of dollars more than necessary on its real property,\u201d Desautels said.To make matters worse, Ottawa will have to cough up $2 billion over the next decade to make up for years of neglected maintenance of office buildings and to deal with environmental-protection issues, he said.At the Department of National Defence alone, inefficient property management is costing $100 million a year, Desau- tels said.The backlog of maintenance work on military installations dings has been delayed and would cost $1.7 billion.to implement many of his recommendations.That's a far cry from the not- too-distant past when the annual auditor general\u2019s report was little more than a litany of complaints about mismanagement and government indifference.Desautels was light on nightmares in this report.But he still portrayed a dark federal fiscal picture._ He urged the government tr.© Thoroughly investigate whether it is getting its money\u2019s worth \u2014 about $7 billion a year \u2014 in spending on science, technology, research and development.© Update legislation and improve management procedures ensure nuclear safety.@ Tighten Ottawa\u2019s control over its vast property holdings to save millions of dollars a year.© Thoroughly assess why it is throwing ever-increasing amounts of money at native Canadians in programs that are often ineffective and inefficient.Opposition reaction was fast and furious.The report is \u201calist of horrors,\u201d said Bloc Québécois Leader Lucien Bouchard.Reform Leader Preston Manning said it shows \u201ccontinued mismanagement on the part of the federal government.\u201d Desautels says the biggest problem facing Canada is massive government debt.The growing interest payments on it are See AUDITOR Page 2 \u2018Prove it\u2019 \u2014 Ontario premier Rae Parizeau warns Quebec By Don Macdonald TORONTO (CP) \u2014 Quebec will continue to irritate English Canadians like a persistent toothache until the province separates, Premier Jacques Pari- zeau said Tuesday.Parizeau told a business audience the rest of Canada should realize Quebec indepen- Scapegoat in Somali\u2019s death?dence will be good for everyone and the only alternative is more years of pain.\u201cThis Quebec problem is like a never-ending visit to the den- detachment are \u201ccurrently interviewing a number of persons in relation to the VIA Rail Train Fire,\u201d police said in a release issued shortly before 8 p.m.Insp.Doug Charles of CN Rail police would only say that detectives were investigating.\u201cThere has been some interaction between investigators and some people who have been interviewed,\u201d said Charles.He woul- dn\u2019t say whether anyone was in custody.The blaze started when fuel tanks on Via\u2019s Train 66 to Montreal from Toronto were ruptured by a 140-kilogram piece of rail placed on the track in the eastern Ontario town of Brighton.Forty-five people among the 407 passengers and 11 crew members were taken to hospital after the accident Sunday.Most had been released by Tuesday.Meanwhile, a transportation watchdog group says power doors that frustrated people trying to Last year there were only four or five of the famous Salvation Army kettles in Sherbrooke but this year there will be 20, says officer Pierre Croteau.The Christian charity is hoping to raise at least 31000 per kettle.for the full story, please turn the page.escape the fire turned passengers into \u201cprisoners\u201d who coul- dn\u2019t exit without the help of staff.The sliding doors are part of a design that was supposed to make the inside of Via\u2019s LRC trains seem like an airplane interior for business travellers, said Harry Gow of Transport 2000.But the doors may not be ideal for emergencies, he said.\u201cThe downside is that you are a See TRAIN Page 2 RECORD: GRANT SIMEON problem tist,\u201d Parizeau said in a speech to the Canadian Club.\u201cQuebec wants more powers, more autonomy.You never say yes and the drilling never stops.\u201d Trooper Brown not to blame \u2014lawyer By John Ward OTTAWA (CP) \u2014 A five-year prison term given to a Canadian soldier convicted of manslaughter and torture is \u201c- grossly inadequate,\u201d prosecutors say in written submissions to an Appeal Court.The Court Martial Appeal Court reserved decision Tuesday ELITE | PLYMOUTH CHRYSLER INC.1138 route 220, St-Elie d\u2019Orford on an appeal of Pte.Kyle Brown\u2019s conviction in the beating death of a teenager in Somalia last year.Today, prosecutors are to ask the court to double his sentence to 10 years.\u201cThe crime under appeal, on all of the facts, is very close to the crime of murder and, accordingly, should attract a sentence at the higher end of the appropriate range,\u201d prosecutor Lt.-Col.Peter Tinsley said in a written brief filed with the court.Brown was convicted last March of manslaughter and torture in the death of Shidane Aro- ne.The teenager was beaten and brutalized in a Canadian compound near Belet Huen, Somalia, while the Canadian Airborne Regiment was on UN duty.He is the first person ever convicted under the torture statute.In his written brief, defence lawyer Pat McCann says Brown is a man of impeccable character See SOMALIA Page 2 won't go away Parizeau\u2019s one-day Toronto visit was his first outside Quebec since September's provincial election.It was aimed at showing the crucial trading relationship between the two provinces would be unharmed by separation.He also appealed for tolerance.\u201cI know there is a strong temptation to portray people we disagree with as demagogues, dumb and evil,\u201d said Parizeau.\u201c(But) it is not helpful for Canadians and Quebecers to regard each other with anything less than civility and respect because we will be neighbors forever.\u201d An emotional Premier Bob Rae, who met with Parizeau for 45 minutes before the speech, We welcome our English-speaking friends WE AIM TO SERVE YOU WELL! COME AND TRY OUR \u201895 MODELS said the separation debate is about passion \u2014 not a cold calculation of economic costs and benefits.\u201cHe should be under no illusions about our determination to fight to keep Canada together,\u201d said the Ontario premier, who asked Parizeau to soon hold a promised referendum on sovereignty that poses a clear question.Emerging from a 45-minute meeting with Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau, Rae said he told the PQ leader there would be a strong reaction if Quebec decides to separate.\u201cYou can\u2019t tear apart a country See PARIZEAU Page 2 1138 Route 220, St-Elle d'Orford (5 minutes from Carrefour Shopping Centre) 564-1122 > 2\u2014The RECORD\u2014Wednesday, November 23, 1994 Marketing, genetics help Hereford herd Melbourne breeders enter high-tech sweepstakes MELBOURNE TOWNSHIP (DW) \u2014 Come calving season this winter, two Hereford breeders in Denmark are going to be nearly as excited as Wayne and Arlene Gallup about cattle births NR wh Ek