Sommers scandal haunts Bonner By MAURICE RUSH The Sommers scandal of 1956-58 has come back to haunt Robert Bonner, chairman of B.C. Hydro and former Socred attorney general, Only now are the full facts emerging about the notorious Corruption scandal which shook the cred government 20 years ago. When Bonner was the chief law enforcement officer. He played a key role in the Sommers case and Was widely criticized, during the two years he failed to act, for Covering up for Sommers. When approached recently by a Victoria radio station to answer a umber of questions about his role - inthe Sommers scandal, Bonner is Y reported to have refused to answer any of the questions on the grounds that he is not going to comment on something that happened twenty years ago. Although it’s true that the Sommers case happend long ago, it has a direct bearing today because the man who played the key roleas attorney-general then is now head of the most important Crown corporation in B.C. The question today is: Can a man who played the role Bonner did in the Sommers case have the con- fidence of the public in carrying out his functions as one of the province’s leading public servants as head of B.C. Hydro without a full ‘Smear tactics’ hit cont'd from pg. 1 ‘That campaign was reflected in € anti-labor resolutions which Were put before the Socred con- - Yention last month, and in the anti- labor resolutions which were adopted by the Union of B.C. UNicipalities convention in September. ‘And at the same time, we have had a number of Socred ministers Tunning around the province Conducting a smear campaign designed to make out the trade Union movement as the villain in all of this province’s economic Woes,’’ The president of the B.C. Tovincial Council of Carpenters, 1 Zander, reacted to Williams’ Statements in much the same ener: ‘‘He’s just trying to smear he trade union: movement or Somehow infer that it isn’t run in a €mocratic manner. It’s too bad thathe wouldn’t take the time from “Us. campaign to go into some of € corporate board rooms of this Province and see how well the Stockholders are protected and how much say they have in how their money is spent. “The trade union movement is for far move careful and far more open when it comes to spending its money.”’ Zander said that the trade union movement in B.C. had been given a “clean bill of health’’ following a _ complete investigation by the Coordinated Law Enforcement Unit and the attorney general’s department last year ‘'so Williams’ latest diatribe is nothing more than a smear campaign.” “It’s obvious that this is just a continuation of the Socred anti- labor campaign. Quite simply, the Socreds don’t: recognize the trade union movementor working people in general as their allies, so they are going to do everything possible to try and discredit us in the eyes of the general public. “With these types of statements, Williams is obviously inferring that trade unions are not democratic. That is utter non- sense,’’ Zander stated. airing of his role in the Sommers case? The Sommers case surfaced in recent weeks because of a statement by former premier W.A.C. Bennett which sought to defend Sommers. Following this Chief Justice J. O. Wilson, who presided at tthe Sommers trial which found Sommers: guilty of bribery and conspiracy and sent him to jail for five years, publicly disagreed with the former premier. This later led to startling revelations by Sommers himself which hinted at offers made to him while in hiding in the U.S. of payments of $600 for life if he would stay in the U.S. “to further his education.”’ However, the most damaging piece of information for former attorney-general Bonner was the disclosure this week of the written report by RCMP inspector W. J. Butler which was prepared at Bonner’s request 20 years ago and which was kept secret until now. The report which was turned over to Bonner, and which he refused to divulge at the time despite public demands, found. that ‘‘there is definite indication of wrong-doing on the part of Pacific Coast Ser- vices Ltd., R. E. Sommers, C. D. Schultz, and B.C. Forest Products Tides ; Bonner ordered the Butler in- vestigation after a lawyer and accountant walked into his office on Dec. 7, 1955 with evidence of Sommer’s involvement in corrupt practices. Bonner refused to act on this evidence which was later made public by the same lawyer and accountant at a hearing of Chief Justice Gordon Sloan’s Royal Commission on the forest industry. Seven hundred and seven days were to elapse between the time the evidence was placed before Bonner and the holding of preliminary court hearings against Sommers and the others involved. A further damning piece of evidence was brought out at the Sommers trial concerning Bonner. According to testimony given by Sommers, Bonner acted secretly soon after the evidence was first brought to him by calling in Sommers and telling him to “get back the notes” he had given H. W. Gray for his “‘loans.”’ According to Sommers, Bonner helped him draw up the necessary legal papers ‘‘to make sure they were in proper legal phraseology.”’ This fact was brought out at the time in an article by Jack Brooks who is now the Vancouver Sun’s city editor. A question people today are bound to ask about Bonner’s in- volvement in the Sommers scandal is why did he not act when the police report indicated wrong doing, and did he help Sommers as was brought out at the trial? Of course, the biggest question of all is this: Was Bonner not negligent in his duty and undeserving of public confidence today, when he allowed himself to sit on the in- formation he had and refused to take action for two years to bring -high-placed people to justice in BiGe An important sidelight in the whole affair is that Sommers, who was minister of lands and forests in the Social Credit government, was the key person in the giveaway of Crown forest management licence scheme. The charges against him involved bribery and conspiracy in dealings with certain forest companies. The scandal was part of the period of the wholesale giveaway of public forests to the big monopolies. The main beneficiary of the forest giveaways was MacMillan Bloedel.. This giant in the forest industry received the major share of Crown forest lands from the Socred government. After Bon- ner’s defeat and retirement from public politics he went on to become. the top man in the MB empire. The ghost of the Sommers case will not go away. It will keep returning to haunt oné of the main players in the drama of 20 years ago — former attorney-general Robert Bonner. The public will demand that Bonner either answer the questions about his in- volvement in the Sommers case and allow a full airing of the issue, or resign his post in B.C. Hydro. It’s amatter of morality and public confidence which Bonner cannot escape. ~ STUDENTS cont'd from pg. 1 adding that tuition fees should be frozen and, where possible, rolled back to 1972 levels. University president Douglas Kenny attempted to allay fears that any fee increase would be instituted without considerable notice but affirmed that an ‘in- crease had been discussed by the board of governors which was now consulting with other universities. Emphasizing that any fee in- crease would be the result of grant reductions by the education department, Kenny stated that he was opposed to any increase although his qualified his op- position, noting that if there were a choice between higher fees or poor quality education, he would opt for higher fees. “However, fee increases are a poor idea,’’ he said. Opposition to any tuition in- creases at the university has already been widespread as the student society began a campaign two weeks ago to collect letters demanding that fees be held down. More than 7,000 students have signed their names to the letters. For rides to the p | WOTE NOVEMBER 17: VOTE COPE | For real change at city hall we need a mayor and 10 aldermen committed to: @ ending land speculation : @ decent, affordable housing for every citizen @ reducing taxes on homeowners @ real protection for tenants @ community representation at city hall @ fast, efficient, low cost public transit olls and voting information phone 251-1207 br Real Change- For Alderman vote: JIM CORK LIBBY DAVIES BRUCE ERIKSEN ATIBA GORDON SOL JACKSON For School Board vote: MIKE CHRUNIK IRENE FOULKS BETTY GREENWELL DEBRALEWIS — For Park Board vote: ‘JOE ARNAUD | TONY BJARNASON DONALD GREENWELL SID SHELTON - VOTE CONNIE KEHOE AL KING PAUL MURPHY JACK NICHOL HARRY RANKIN HELEN O’SHAUGHNESSY DAVID STONE JOHN TURVEY MIKE WALLACH SHAWN HATCH DOUG LAALO JOHN RADOSEVIC iene PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 12, 1976—Page 3 Pe.