* OTTAWA (CP) — The highest food price increases in six yeara helped push the cost of Hving up by 1.4 per cent last month, Statistica Canada reported “today, The federal agency said food prices soared in May by 3.3 per cent, led by beef and imported fresh vegetables such as tomatoes dnd let- tuce. The12-month inflation rate in May was nine per cent, the highest rate since last December, and a departure from the one-month moderation in April which resulted fram the reduction of provincial retail sales taxes provided in the federal government’s April budget. Prices of beef, which is the largest meat item for most consumers, rose by 10.5 per cent in the month and were 52.5 per cent higher than a year earlier, In recent years, however, beef prices have been largely depressed because of over-supply, producers say. Fresh vegetable prices Were up 22.2 per cent in May from April and were 29.3 per cent higher than in May, 1977. FOOD A MAJOR FACTOR The jump in food prices accounted for ‘about seven- tenths of the: over-all in- crease in‘ the cost of living, Thel. 4per-cent rise in the over-all cost of living was the highest since July, £975, before mandatory wage-and- Price controls were brought PAGE 6, THE HERALD, Thursday, June 15, 1978, Highest food cost increase in years in by the government in October of that year. Food flationin 1978 of fourper cent prices continued to rise at prices are largell wn- Initially. high levels. controlled by the program, © Now, officials have been ‘The consumer price which the government began talking of a seven-per-cent, figures were released a day dismantling in April, 12-morth rate by the end of .after Statistics Canada Besides food, higher 197. . ‘ reported there were 933,000 housing charges and costecf In April, there was a actual unemployed in May, tobacco. and alcoho] in. significant moderation inthe down 66,000 from April. But creased the index. Nor-food inflation rate because of the the jobless rate, vinen ade prices rose by sixtenths of reduction in provincial sales justed for seasonal changes, one per cent In May, 6.2 per tax. In particular it affected remained-unchanged at 8.6 cent in the 12-monith period, Clothing and transportation per cent. The consumer price index . x -t which is the most widely- _ Used measure of {nflatioa, stood at 173.6 in y, L alls compared with 171.2 in April a W y er c S_ and 159.2 in May, 1977. sn att it li ection of consumer g and services costing $173.60 wi ness a lar in May, would have been . valuedat $171.20in Apritaod == OTTAWA (CP)— RCMP —_‘The Mounties testified in $150.20a year earlier inMay. lawyer Pierre Lamontagne. May they learned later that The fast rise in food prices continued over the next two years before . moderation in 1976 which. helped bring down the in- flation rate. ENERGY COSTS RISE But since 1976, the over-all inflation rate, largely due to food and energy costa, has tigen again. The govern- ment, in introducing controls Veterans fear loss of EDMONTON (CP) Delegates to the Royal Canadian Legion's national convention made a bold commitment Tuesday to work for the preservation of Canada but were more —_ cautious on the issue of preserving their own organization. Responding to a call by a legion official who’ said the unity issue has produced a crisis “every bit as severe as the one faced ... . in 1914 and 1999," delegates adopted a resolution.to muster all the legion’s resources in a fight for unity. But faced with three regolutions to extend legion privileges to younger members and to rejuvenate the aging organization, the delegates chose the most cautious approach after an emotional debate. The strongest resolution would have given veterans’ sons and. daughters, registered as. associate members, voting and office- holding rights at all levels of the organization. — REJECTS CHANGE aut many opposed the “JT sit before you in a wheelchair,’ said Danny Wilkinson of Toronto, a Second World War veteran who lost both legs. “I would not have sons and daughters holding office in something that is strictly a veterans’ organization.’’ A strong, 651-member Ontario delegation voted heavily against the resolution, opting instead for a motion to give sons and daughters voting privileges at the branch level—but nothing more, Fred Winn of Vancouver told delegates they would be ‘Kirkland Lake, group voting for the demise of the legion unless sons and ughters were given the right to hold office, at least at the branch level. The average age of the Second World War veteran— the majorlty of members—is about 61, he said. “In another 25 years... he'll be 86. [can’t see myself attending a legion con- vention at the age of 86 and being of any use to my fellow -comrades.”’. IGNORING DUTIES Legion President Doug McDonald of Brantford, Ont., had earlier expressed concern about the numbers of dedicated legion workéra, and said some branches are concentrating on social activities and ignoring worth-while proj- ects, McDonald sald he felt deep concern for smaller bran- ehes which are having problems recruiting members. / On the unity issue, delegates were told by former, president Bob Kohaly that the Jegion owes it to their dead wartime comrades to fight for a unified country. Bob McChesney of “Ont., chairman of the legion’s unity study group, said the legion, with more than 400,- 000 members, has an obligation to work for unity and could not watch idly as. the country fell apart. Delegates also passed a resolution urging rein- statement of capital punish- meat for murderers of prison guards and police officers, The conference, attended by about ut §,500 delegates, ends Thursday. Walkout stops Star production MONTREAL (CP) — A walkout of 200 production workers at the Montreal Star prevented publication of the English-language dally’ 4 flrat edition today, The workers, members of the International Typographical Union (ITU) and the International Printing and Graphic Communications Union, have been without a contract for more than a year. The ITU has staged several slowdowns to protest / the lack of progress in negotlations. A company official sald the parties were meeting to. discuss the welkout. A key issue in the dispute is technological change. The newspaper is to convert to computer typesetting later this summer and plans to lay off most of its typesetting staff. Another 600 employees, members of the Newspaper Guild, are under contract until the end of this month and have only recently started negotlations with ihe newspaper, which has a average weekday circulation of 170,000. n Contract disputes also have shut down two French- language dailies in the province—Le Solell in fuse bec City and La Tribune ns Solel] journalists and editorlal support . steff, members of the Con- federation of National Trade Unions, have been on strike fornmore than nine months, The 100 journalists voted last wee to = accept management's latest con- tract offer, but said wouldn't return to work the32 support workers get an acceptable agreement. La Tribune decided Tuesday to suspend production indefinitely until it settles a contract dispute with ITU members. The workers had refused to work Monday, forcing the paper to carmel its Tuesday edition, in 1975, had hoped for in- sald Wednesday he wants to that who establish Jean Castonguay, | the Mounties tried to recruit aa an informer in 1971, Is a llar. Lamontagne told a royal coeegdein oe ee t the only way he could do that is by questioning Castonguay about his past. However the royal com- missioners blocked this approach, saying Castonguay's credibility can’t be tested in this way because his testimony Tueeday was no different in toalor respects than that of the two RCMP members who tried to recruit him. “The testimony of the witness is basically the same as that of the othern- witnesses,” Mr. Justice, David C. McDonald, the commission’ chairman, said. "You do not, as a result, have the right to test his credibility.” Céstonguay has teatitied that he thought the Mounties were going.to frame him.on drug charges when they picked him up after work Oct. 20, 1971. Instead, he said, asked him to become an informer, Casto- nguay said he hadn't been in- volved in Montreal's radical milieu since 1968 and be wasn't interested. Nevertheleas, he agreed to meet the Mounties after thinking it over. He met them a few days later in a hotel roomnand told them -again he wasn't interested,. ° then asked if he could call his’ wife. Castonguay was told he could, he and the Mounties costs., Nevertheless, food lf Castonguay hadn't called his wife, she was to have , Montreal police and a lawyer come to the room. Castonguay said only that he had asked his wife to have a lawyer stand by. Lamontagne singled out two differences in testimony given by the Mounties and Castonguay: —Castonguay's claim that he didn’t feel free to leave the hotel room without permission. Lamontagne said RCMP testimony proved that Castonguay was free to leave if he wished. —Castonguay’s suggestion that he may have been fired from a job two weeks after Tefusing to become an in- former because of RCMP action. Mr. Justice McDonald said the royal commission's investigators will have to check with the employer to find whether the RCMP were involved. Castonguay, 36, alleged harassment ina 1974 vesit to his wife by a Mountie who said Cas y was wanted for unemployment insurance fraud. During the visit to his home, Castonguay has said, the Mountie criticized his paintings as Communist, a criticism that still rankles the artist. ’ No charges were ever placed against Castonguay for fraud. Lamontagne began the day by asking Castonguay . YVLLLE MARIE, Que. (CP) — Eighteen survivors of a canoeing accident on Lake Timiskaming’ during a wilderness training ex- edition were reunited uesday with anguished friends and parents in a local civic centre. Many survivors wept, happy to. be alive, but sad- dened by the drownings on Sunday of 12 school friends and an instructor at St. John’s school during. a violent storm on the north- western Quebec lake. Parents and friends had boarded a chartered bus after names of the victims MONTREAL (CP) — Devoir says it has sbiained an internal Parti Quebecois document which proposes holding a series = of referendums on the party’s sovereignty-association platform. ‘The newspaper qitotes the document as saying that the PQ’s promise to hold a referendum .is only a political strategy and not a legal obligation, and that instead of a single referen- dum there could be several. The document, prepared by the party’s central committee for study by riding associations, says: “Nothing prevents there being several successive referendums. “These could deal with the same point until a ‘yes’ vole is obtained. They could also deal with separate points. “For instance, there could be a first one on the very principle of sovereignty, which would undo the current situation and.set the process in motion, and a second one on the future con- on agreements with Canada.” NEW LINKS The government would seek agreements fo set up whether he had taken part in -. terrorist activities. . Mr. Justice McDonald said» this was asking the witness to draw legal conclusions. Provinces meet to discuss constitution SASKATOON (CP) -- Pre- mier Allan Blakeney said Wednesday that a meeting of provincial ministers responsible for con- stitutional matters has been called to discuss the federal government’s proposed changes in the constitution. Blakeney told a news conference that the meeting, called by Saskatchewan Attorney-General Roy Romanow, is to be held as soon as possible to lay the groundwork for the annual premierf' conference scheduled for August in Regina. Blakeney said the outline of federal proposals tabled in Parliament this week con- tains nothing new. . He said he will be more interested in the govern- ment's ‘bill, which it has promised to intraduce before the end of the month. The premier said that for Saskatchewan the key issue in any move to change’ the constitution .Hes in the division of powers between the provinces and the federal government. He said that the vrovince wants a clear definition of the responsibilities of the two levels of government in the control and taxation of natural resources, Another area of concern is the control over the national transportation system, particularly as it affects the _ movement of grain and goods from the Weat, he sald. ‘ Legend has it that Queen Elizabeth | of England gambled with loaded dice, months rent and drive awa EXAM : f $48. ‘sper manth tease end price $2,175.00 ar simply return $1,975.00 or simp $1,825.00 or simply return 78 Fiesta 3 dr. $99.00 per month $158.00 pe fease end price $1404.00 or simply return $2,275.00 R PRIVATE USE OR BUSINESS AUTOVEST Batore you buy, Investigate the advantages ofthis rent- fo-own plan. All monies pald apply to purchase. Why tle up your cash or borrowing power. Based on 36 month lease Pl 78 Econoline Van $134.00 per month lease end price ly_ return 74 Zephyr Sedan $124.05 per, month lease end’ price or simply return ]-¢ 8 F150 4% 4 lease end price or simply return tet and last ys PLES: ‘Ja C 100 Chav pu $127,00per man lease end price $1,875.00 or simply retura $129, a0 per month lease and price $1,875.00 A simply return ‘AR Olds Cutlass £E9.00 per month lease end price $2,025.00 i or simply return ft r month For FURTHER CALL LARRY HAYES- RICHARDS COLLECT 987-7111 - BELMONT LEASING LTD. — 1140 MARINE DRIVE NORTH VANCOUVER. B.C, D.004794 INFORMATION economic ‘astociation, which 5% Kort ni - arrangements stitution, and eventually, one — may have died were read Ménday night at the private boys’ school in Claremont, Ont., about 35 kilometres northeast of Toronto. “Meanwhile, Corener Dr. Leonard Julien of Rouyn, Que., said some of the 13 victims spent'gs long as 12 hours in the water, which: : was about 6 degrees Celsius, before they drowned. Dr. Julien said all the victims were wearing ‘good -life jackets ... attached to the neck and stomach.” The coroner said the victims might have been suffering from exposure before they drowned but the- could take one of four forms: : a free-trade zone, a customs union, a common-market- - type economic union or a monetary union. “Most of these association involve limitations, transfers and sharing of Quebec’s sovereign powers,” says the document, titled Quebecers, the future belongs to us. It emphasizes the view- that sovereignty and economic association are compatible. . “Sovereignty is the preliminary step to association, association is the logical followup to sovereignty,” it says. while. effects of the cold would not be known until the autopsies were completed. Police said the bodies of -the teacher, 21, and the dead students, all between'12 and 14 years,, Will be flown today to Toronto. The 19 survivors, including three teachers and 15 boys, returned home early today. Amemorial service will be held Friday in an Anglican church in west-end Toronto. An inquest will be held within four weeks. the tragedy occurred after a group from school, which teaches self- . reliance and survival, began Could be more than one referendum i in Quebec The document is one of a series. An earlier booklet in the series deait with government achievements since the PQ came to power in November, 1976, and another studied the federal system, claiming the central government has far more powers than the provinces. It said provincial powers in fields such as urban af- policy and telecom- munications. Canoeing accident victim from exposure eiug up the lake, about 720 | idlometres northwest of Otiawa. The group, 27 boys bet- ween 10 and 15 and four instructors in four bere a ntly was unaware overe storm advisory that had been issued for the area only hours earlier. Richard Bird, a professor from Queen's University m Kingston, Ont., and counsellor who accompanied the 3i-member group, wept as he told a news conteree how he rescued three the from the lake, only to have them die Inter WERE TO He said the expedition set out from Temiscaming, Que., about 8:15 am. EDT Sunday in only light winds bound for Moosonee, Ont., on James Bay, about 350 kilometres north of here, to meet an older group of 20 students and teachers from St. John's, The other group, who had set out on Saturday from Wawa, Ont., were told of the accident Tuesday at their campsite, about 130 kilometres north of Sault Ste. Cain, 87. After stopping for lunch on the east shore, the 22-foot cedar canoes, laden with food and baggage, left for the west shore, about two kilometres away, to get out of the wind, Bird said. 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