Page 8, The Herald, Friday, Aprii 10, 1981

VANCOUVER (CP) —

B.C. Resources Investment .

Corp. is bowing out of the
battle for control of forest
products giant MacMillan
Bloedel Ltd. leaving the
way clear for Noranda
Mines Lid. of Toronto.
Corporation president
Bruce Howe, looking cen-
fident and relaxed, said
Thursday the board of
directors vated

unanimously to dispose of

its 4.2 million MacMillan
Bloede! shares and to
abandon its attempt te
secure an additional 6.2
million shares.

He called the bidding war
with Noranda historic, and
said it has. placed the
provincial holding company
in the enviable position of
ownlng a large block of
shares that has
dramatically inereased in
value. .

Average acquisition price
of shares in that block was
$39, Howe said, sub-
stantially lower than the
current price of MacMillan
Bloedel shares which closed
at. $52.50 Thursday on the
Toronto Stock Exchange. In

- disposing-of its shares now,
BCRIC stands to make a

profit of about $56 million

Howe said part of the
profits will to pay debts with
the rest being ‘used for the
business of the company,
which he later said is to
make a profit. He added
that the directors have not
decided .whether to tender
their shares under the
Noranta bid or ta sell them
on the open market,

Trading in MacMillan
Bloedel on the Toronto
Stock Exchange was more
than 30° times normal
Wednesday wiih 706,000

shares changing hands in”

the first hour of trading.
Action subsided
somewhat Thursday, but
was still much higher than
normal with 98,777, shares
traded. A‘ company
spokesman said that in ‘the
‘fast 1'4 years 6,000 to 10,000
shares traded on anaverage
day. _
Howe said BORIC was
neither a buyer nor @ seller
in these transactions. Both
the corporation and
Noranda were banned from
block trading while the
takeover bids were in place.
Noranda’s current bid
expires April 24; BCRIC's
‘expired Thursday.

BCRIC had started the
bidding ‘for’ MacMillan
Bloedel in March when it
offered $46 cash a common
share for 6.2 million shares.
Added to the shares it
already owned, this would

have given the corporation -

49-percent interest.

.Noranda entered the
running later in’ March with
a. combination cash and
share bid valued at $56 a

“share.

BCRIC then announced it
would raise its cash offer to
equal Noranda's, however,
this new offer was never
filed with the stock ex-
changes, rendering it in-
valid. .

Howe said Thursday the
offer was not-filed because
the directors were in‘ the
midst of aseries of complex
discussions with stock
exchange authorities on the
terms and conditions of the
offer when Noranda in-
creased its bid to $2 a
share, “It kind of took our
breath away, and we
decided to sit back and

monitor the situation.”

But Noranda had made its

bid thinking the BCRIC ©

offer was official and there

- Was much confusion among

analysis and the parties
involved when it was

‘revealed that the new

BCRIC offer was invalid
and its offer for $45 a share
still stood, .
The board of directors for
MacMillan Bloedel had pre-
viously rejected BCRIC’s
after as too low and stib-
sequently recommended
shareholders accept the

Noranda offer. Calvert

Knudsen, chairman of the
board, said the Noranda
offer was more attractive
because the price was
higher and this higher price
was extended to more.
shares — 8.9 million com-
mon shares and 50 per cent
of the company's con-
vertible shares, .

When announcing the
board’s recommendations
Monday, Knudsen said he
was not concerned about the
unorthodox actions of
BCRIC, but later in the
week he called the holding
company a predator and a
corporate marauder.

Knudsen also denounced
what he called BCRIC’s
priviledged status in the
province.

“] disagree with the

1

-holding in the company toa

7

that if BCRIC had not made

concept that BCRIC should

havea protected position or =a run on MacMillan Bledel,
special priviledges. I also control af the -compaiiy,
disagree with the Idea that + which made a profit of $113

BCRIC — which is a
government-created in--
strument —- should ‘be
allowed to make hostile
takeover bids,

“Frankly I'm just ap
palled at the idea of the
provincial government, the
premier of this province,
creating an enterprise that
is free to become a preda-
tor, a corporate marauder.”’

Knudseri said the cor-
poration is sheltered
because government
legislation restricts share-

small minority, thereby’
preventing takeovers or
shareholders. forcing a
board change,

In contrast to his harsh
comments for BCRIC,'
Knudsen praised the
Noranda directors on
Monday, calling them
astute investors who had a
unique appreciation of

MacMillan Bloedet.

However, it appears that
even their takeover bid is

“million fast year, would not

now be facing a shift-to
Toronto-based Noranda, )”
“No one else would likely

- have come oul of ike closét. .

There was no imminent
threat whatsoever.”

If it is successful in its bid
" for 49-per-cent interest; In

MacMillan Bloedel,

Noranda will ‘have .to
dispoce of its 23-per-cent in- ~

terest in.B.C.’s second-

‘largest forest products.

B.C. Forest
Ltd.,

company,
Products

million or 33 cents a share,
compared with $16.3 million
or 53 cents a share for the
corresponding 1900: period.”

Norama has assured the

‘provincial. government it
-will do. this.

Aside from its mining
interests, Noranda also

owns shares in. Northwood .
Pulp and Timber Ltd. which

operates
plywood mill anda pulp milt

sawmills, «a

Noranda’s way clear in MacBlo bid |

classified action line |

.

which - ,
Thursday reported first- ~
* quarter net earnings of $10.3

not 100-per-cent welcome,
as Knudsen's comments
Wednesday showed, He said

in the Prince George ares;

_ Northwood Mills Ltd. and

Northwood Building
Material Ltd. 3

Fear of terrorists causes woman to panic in El Salvador

OTTAWA (CP) -
Monique Gauthier was so
afraid the riflecarrying men
who appeared on the
doorstep of her home in El
Salvador last week were
terrorists come to
assassinate her that she
demanded they kill her
there rather than dump her
‘bullet-riddled body beside a

was absolutely

terrified," she said In an
interview Thursday, “I
thought they were ter-
Torists, ; :

- “So I said, ‘Tf you have
come to kill me — kill me
now so my father won't
have to search the fields for
my body.’ - :

“Then my father (Adrian
Gauthier} * said, ‘Those
aren't guerrillas — they
would have killed you im-

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS A

DOLLARS

mediately,’”
Gauthier, who returned to
Canada Wednesday, said

. that calmed her and the

men revealed themselves as
plainclothes police in-
vestigating an . anonymous
tip that she was using her
pickup truck to transport
weapons for guerrillas
battling the government.

They drove the 45-year-
old - marine biologist em-
ployed by the Salvadoran
government from her home

‘in the quiet Pacific Coast

port of La Libertad to
national police
headquarters ‘in San
Salvador, There, officials
recognized the falsity of the
accusation, but insisted she
remain for her own
protection. oa

“Y was treated ex-

cellently,” Gauthier said in -

a telephone interview from

her sister's home in Laval-
des-Rapides near Montreal,

“Thad a regular room and
my niece, who was living
with us for five months, had
Junch with me almost every

. day.”

But when the fishermen
Gauthier worked with saw
Salvadoran marines
guarding Adrian, his wife
Marie-Louise, and Mo-
nique’s 26-year-old niece Jo-
celyne Gauthier, they.
searched roads and fields
for her body.

They stopped when they
learned Monique was safe.

Salvadoran _ authorities
advised Gauthier to retum
to Canada until guerrilla
activity 1s smashed and the.

pebple’ who ‘denolincied her *

are arrested. Officials
promised to keep the fishing
co-operative she was organ

Izing running until her
return, which she hopes will
be in two months,

Gauthier, who has worked
in El Salvador since 1976,
said she believes she was
denounced by “one of those
who exploit the fishermen”
she was organizing.

She said it was the third
time she was denounced and
believes that each time her
accusers were “only trying

to frighten me" and woul
not try to kill per. o
The former. United
Nations employee said none-
of the bombings and
assassinations that have

‘terrorized .the capital have
occured in La Libertad. ~

She said the common
people have little sympathy
for the guerrillas who are
destroying their ability to
achieve what most want

NOTICE =
Of of
HEARING

| (SEC. 936 MUNICIPAL ACT)

Take Notice That the Municipal Council 9°
of the District of Terrace, sitting as 6
Council pursuant to Section 936 of the
‘Municipal Act,-will at the hour of 7:00 In
the afternoon, on Monday, April 27th,
| 1981, In. the Council Chambers of the.
Municipal Building, hear representations
by the Building Inspector and others'as to
why the following premises or parts
4 thereof should be declared a nuisance:

"1, 4824 Little Avenue, folio 05453.000,
legal, Block 3, D.L. 349, R5, C.D.,
Plan 3047 (Former Alma

_ Apartments) ,

*,And Further Take Notice that should the

. ‘Council declare that any of the premises
of parts thereof be a nuisance. then
Council witl be asked to order that the
same be removed, pulled down or

_ otherwise destroyed. .

And Further Take Notice that should you
wish to make representation to the @.
Council regarding the premises listed 2
above, you may appear at that time, date
and place to make your representation fo
Council. : ;

This Notice Is given by the Council of the
District of Terrace this 3rd day of April,
1981. .

E.R. Hallsor
Clerk-Administrator

35-7324

hat we have

Mazda comes up with a car
_ that’s a bargain at the price | .

an
SENSE

BY MICHAEL A. WALKER, Director
FRASER INSTITUTE, VANCOUVER, B.C.

When Peter Lougheed turned off .the oil spigot a few
weeks ago he fired a shot in the oil war that is likely to find
its mark. The oil thal will no longer be pumped from Alberta
eastward will have te be replaced on world oil markets at a
Price about double the price set by the federal government.

he result will be a further increase in the subsidy that must
be paid to eastern consumers by oi] consumers elsewhere
inthe country. This subsidy of oi! will show up as an increase
in the price we all pay at the pump and fer our fuel oil.

Inan attempt tofix the “blame” for this increase, Mare
Lalonde dubbed the increase the ‘‘Lougheed Levy.” And in.
so doing he was attempting to enhance the image, already:
widespread, of the blue-eyed arabs in western Canada. Bui,
is that image deserved? Are the oil producing provinces
really ‘‘ripping off" the rest of the country and gelting the.
lion’s share of the oil revenue pie?

In its recently promuigated National Energy Program,
the federal government has certainly gone to great lengths
to leave that impression. According -to their calculations,
the split of the oil resources income pie in October 1980 was
14 per cent to the federal governrnent, 38.9 per cent for in-
dustry and 47. per cent for the provinces. Looking at only
the tolal share going to governments, the feds claim only 2
per cent goes to Ottawa while a whopping 77 per cent flows

the producing provinces.

In analyzing the federal position, however, one dis-
covers a few strange aspects of their calculations.Firsl,
there is the matter of the Petroleum Compensation Charge.
This federal tax on all oil refined in Canada is imposed to
Pz for the world priced oi] which must be imported to supp-
y eastern Canadian needs. In calculating its share of the cil
revenue ple, Ottawa only counts the Petroleum Compensa-
tion Charge (tax) to the extent revenues exceed (he cost of

subsidizing imported oil.
| ‘The second strange aspect of the revenue pie according
to Lalonde is the way in which the total size of the pie is
calculated. In figuring the total amount of oi] revenues
available to the industry. and the two levels of government,
the feds have effectively valued total Canadian oil preduc-
,tion at the “‘made in Canada’ price of oii. However, we are
discovering that when we try to replace the iost Alberta
production by importing more oil, we must pay the full
world price lor il. This suggests that the aclual-value of
Canadian oil is higher than is implied by the price set by the
federal goverment. -

If Canada were to ex

ample, it would be sol

rt all of the oil it produces, for ex-
at the world price — around 40
dollars per barrel currently. And if it weren't for the
ptohibition of exports by the National Energy Board, they
could do precisely that. So, it seems reasonabie to value the
oil belonging to the producing Provinces at the world price.
If the oil revenue pie is determined in this way,
however, the revenue shares look considerably different, Ot-
tawa's share jumps to 56.7 per cent while industry gets only
19.6 per cent and the producing provinces 28.7 per cent. Of
the total government revenue, Ottawa gels 70.5 per cenl
while the producing provinces get only 29.5 per cent.

This dramatic reversal of shares also reverses the rales of
Ottawa and Alberta. Alberta is now seen as the long sulfer-
ing contributor to the commonwealth whereas Otlawa is
seen as the principal teneficiary from the exploitation of
Canadian oil.

But, which of the two pies is the correct one? My awn view
is thal the federal government currently receives the lion's
share of oil revenue. True. it spends it all by keeping the
price of oil In Canada at only half the world level, but.tha!
unplicit subsidy has proved to be very important to Ottawa.
A year ago the Conservative government was proposing la
elirninate much of the then ex Sting subsidy by imposing an
excise tax on petroleum products. The present government
‘was elected on the strength of a promise not to eliininate the

cludes it must be the real thing.

One thing is clear, Peter Lougheed thinks Ottawa is get-
ting too much and Alberta too little. Marc Lalonde thinks
precisely the opposite. As the calculations suggest — they.
are literally poles apart. Don't look for a permanenl settle-

subsidy. So, the subsidy and the oi! revenue ple which in- |:

| ment until the two pies look more alike. J

ANNOUNCEMENT

The Public Heartng date for the Thornhill Official * |
Settlement Plan has been changed to April 15, 1981
at the Thornhill Community Center commencing at
B:00 p.m. This has been done In order io meet
statutory requirements for the advertising of the
public hearing. We apologize for any Inconvenlence
created by this change In date,

. There with be a public information meeting on
Friday, Aprli 10, 1981 to answer any questions —
regarding the Official Settlement Plan.

Planning Department
Reglonal District of
Kitimat-Stikine

REGIONAL DISTRICT OF
KITIMAT-STIKINE

WOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Notice Is hereby given to all interested parties that a
Public Hearing for By-law No. 132, 1979 and amend-
ments thereof of the Reglonal District of Kitimat-
Stikine,

"A by-law to establish an Offical Settlement
Plan for Electorel Ares. ‘E' (Thornhill) of the
Regional District of Kitimat.Stlkine””

will be held at 6:00 p.m. In the Thornhill Community
Centre on April 15, 1981,

Coples of this by-law and its amendments may be
Inspected at the Terrace Public Library during thelr
open hours or at the offices of the Regional District of
Kitimat-Stikine fram 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during

‘ fous | ATCA CVEREN CHDEE
DN Qe Val! 2 .
tte hn JAYACAM TSE,

Nias coped eet
i ct

a

Fey THMRMUTLL: FLEo tan AREA tT

nF THE RESTONAL LASHLEY ar
eae Te dur

here is acar .

\ \ for the ‘80s.

The. new Mazda
GLC sedan embodies

everythingautomo-

bile. manufacturers
are aiming for these
days.

It’s roomy. thrifty,
reasonably peppy,
pleasing to the eye,
Dassingly comfort-
able and realistically
priced.

That isn’t to say it's
the only one of its
kind; Volkswagen,
Toyota, Datsun,

’ Honda and even Ford
also have similarly
conceived units. The
GLC-sedan, which is
a GLC hatchback

with a trunk, is bet- -

ter than some and
equal to others, But
in its price range, it's
- . eeond to none.,
* It’s a front-wheel-
drive, four-door
sedan weighing in at
873 kilos (1,925 lb.). It
thas = rack-and-pinion
ateering, front disc/
rear drum brakes,
four-wheelindepend-
ent suspension, and a
four-cylinder over-
head camshaft engine

| Mazda GLC: Roomy, thrifty, peppy, comfortable, and pleasing tothe eye.

EENA AUTO METAL

4842 Highway 16 W. 635-657) | |

displacing 1490 ee,
cranking out 68

horsepower at 5,000. .

ig as new as the car
itself, which came out
in January this year.
The old GLC engine
was some 50 cc small-
er and lacked the rev-

-ving power. and

torque of this model.
Mazda’s so-called,

Stabilized Combus-.

tion System seems to
have hit the mark
both in terms of
power and efficiency.
A quarter mile (.4025
km) atceleration run
gives it a rated 18.6-
second elapsed time,
which is slower than
the VW Jetta but
faster than a Honda
Accord. 0-100 kivh is

Reprinted from Vanoovver Province.

‘ mpg) city. As usual,

among the top 10 cars
‘for fuel efficiency. ’ Pye driven several
_Tmgladtoseethat of this car's competi-
_ ithas adequate head- — tors, and I will say
room; too many ofthe. that Mazda's newest
imports are unfit for has a more comfort-
‘anyone over six feet. able driving position;
tall. My six-foot-four than either the VW
teat neighbor can get Rabbit or the Toyota
in and out of this car = Tercel. For a vehicle
with relative ease, al- that costs $6,745, it’s:
though he'd be wlittle just about right. O

cramped if he had to
stay in the back seat
for any length of
time.

The handling prow-
esa of the GLC sedan
is more than decent;
Toyo Kogyo has
plainly taken peins in
this department, and
for such a small car, -
the GLC has a good,
wide road stance that
helps substantially on
hard corners and
switchbacks. '

_ One complaint
here, though: The
front-wheel-drive

estimated at 11.9 see-
onds.

In terms of fuel
consumption, the E-_
series engine is very

frugal, delivering & drive configuration is
stated performance quite headstrong
of 6.3 litres per 100 under hard accelera-
km (53.44 mpg) high- —_ tion and has a charac-

way, and 6.6 litres

teristically irrita
per 100 km (41.68 Yee

clutch lag between
gear changes, It's not
a big thing, but 100,-
.000 km down the
road, it could get
tiresome.

those figures are
overly generous, but
the GLC ts: rated