FRED ISNiT | — ig aor Wwe F, A TOBIN THE J SHIPYARD GRAY, FRED. NWT NER . TORONTO (CP) — The federal government is considering ways to put poorer municipalities on a more equal footing with wealthier communities, Urban Affairs Minister Andre Ouellet said Wed- mesday. Ouellet said at a national municipal conference there are at least three possible ways that Ottawa can help financiallytroubled com- munities. A direct tax rebate to . reimburse Canadians for some of the municipal tax burden they bear would he one approach, the minister said. Another would be in- creased federal aid for such programs as home rehabilitation and neigh- borhood improvement. And a third method might be transferring funds to the provinces for municipalities. He reiterated that he was aympathetic to the miinicipal financial plight and that he was ready to argue for a better deal with his federal cabinet col- leagues and provincial governments. The minister was speaking to the annual END TO DISPARITY Help for poor communities eyed by federal government conference of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). The FCM has been arguing for years that the provinces and the federal government should share revenue from income and sales taxes with ~ municipalities. - However, Ouellet did not accept arguments that all municipalities needed substantially increased revenue to cope with pressing local needs. Some communities had trouble providing ad uate services ause of their financial problems while others were much better condition, he said. Residents of some com- munities were pay a much larger share ar their income for municipal taxes than people in other municipalities, he said. The cost of interest payments for municipal orrowings also varies considerably across the country, the minister said. Some municipalities, were paying as much as 20 per cent of their revenue in interest charges while others were paying less than 0 ee cent. here were also sub- stantial differences in costs ALCAN FAVORED of municipal services per resident, And there were big differences in property taxes across the country. Some municipalities might be caught in a “‘double-edged trap,’’ Quellet said. They migh be faced with trying to provide adequate local services with above-average property tax rates. This could discourage people from coming into th community and frighten away business investment. He said he was concerned that some Canadians have to pay considerably higher taxes to get adequate ser- vices than other Canadians. “This variation in the fiscal ability of municipal government is of direct concern to me because it carries with it significant implications for federal programming,’’ the minister said. Some federal programs were not as flexible as they should be. Some programs required communities to pay a share of the cost emselves. This was much more difficult for poor municipalities than for richer ones. The municipal financial problem has been examined No decision on pipeline, Trudeau tells commons OTTAWA (P) — Prime Minister Trudeau rejected . suggestions Wednesday that his government may have 'prejudged the issue of a northern pipeline and decided in favor of a line along the Alaska ‘Highway. John Crosbie, the Progressive Conservative energy critic, asked the prime minister whether he accepted Energy Minister Alastair Gillespie’s opinion that he saw no environ- mental problem with such a line since a highway already has been’ built. “That's just one man’s flying opinion,” Trudeau shot back, referring to an aerial tour of the route made by Gillespie during the weekend. He said Gillespie and the rest of the federal cabinet had supported the ap- niment of a commission o study the economic, social and environmental effacts of a pipeline in the Yukon. That report would be one of many the government will consider before it makes a decision by late aummer on competing projects to move tosouthern markets U.S. natural gas from Northern Alaska and Canadian gas from the Mackenzie delta. Trudeau, under questioning from Con- servative House leader Walter Baker, again romised the opposition that ey will get a chance to debate the pipeline issue before the government makes a decision. But he again turned down opposition suggestions that @ special Commons com- mittee he set un to study the pipeline, se. another inquiry is not uc-ded and the Commons can make its views known through the de- te. That debate is expected around July 1 when the Na- tional Energy Board, the federal regulatory agency, is to present its recom-' mendations to cabinet. The beard will tell govern- ment whether a pipeline should be built in the North and which of two competing proposals it should accept.. Last week, a special report by the Berger ipeline commission on the impact of a Mackenzie Valley pipeline on the Northwest Territories said construction should be delayed 10 years to allow settling of native land claims. . Mr. Berger of the British Columbia Supreme Court also called for a permanent ban on pipeline construction across the Northern Yukon on grounds it ig too envi- ronmentally sensitive to support such a major project. Justice Thomas. COAST GUARDSMEN READY FOR SPILLS OTTAWA (CP) — The Canadian Coast Guard says it can respond swiftly to disasters at sea, including cil spills, under a new marine emergency plan. The 55-page plan, tabled in the Commons Wednesday by Transport Minister Otto Lang, sets out detailed precedures _ for co- ordinating various branches of government to cope with moerine accidents. fhe emphasis is on water pollution and methods by ‘which the coast guard can use its 160 vessels and $10 million worth of clean-u equipment to combat oul spills on botli coasts and in the Arctic, said Capt. Michael Greenham, head of the coast guard emergency service. The Canadian Forces retain primary respon- sibility for search and rescue, Greenham said, and the first task of the coast guard is to support the military in saving lives. When no lives are in danger the coast guard and a variety of other agencies co-operate in clearing away wreckage and cleaning up oil spilis from marine ac- cidents. If a spill occurs in Canadian territorial waters the coast guard takes the main responsibility for co- ordinating a cleanup. In the Great Lakes, the coast guard co-operates with the Ontario natural resources . department. pills in harbors are the main responsibility of the National Harbors Board; in the seaway, the &t. Lawrence Seaway . Au- thority; in the Arctic, the energy and northern affairs departments; from jand- based sources, the en- vironment department and the provinces. Greenham said the co- ordinated response was developed gradually following the 1970 oil pill in Chedabucto Bay, N.&., caused by the grounding of the oil tanker Arrow. The government had -no contingency plan for dealing with oll spills when the Arrow accident occurred. | Speculat ‘ QUEBEC (CP) — Since last weekend's strategy meeting of the Parti Quebecois cabinet, political: gossip in the provincial’ capital has, increasingly centred on a_ single question: Who: will be the. winners and losers in a planned mini-shuffle of the inet? Following the strategy session called to assess the PQ’s first six months in power, Levesque announced unday that no current ministers will be dropped or demoted. But he sparked hope among backbenchers and perhaps a bit of concern among his ying thet colleagues by saying two or three new ministers would be named, allowing by an independent study group appointed by FCM tepresentatives and the federal and provincial governments. The study findings, released more than a year ago, were to be discussed at a national. conference of the three. levels of government. However, provincial overnments rejected the ‘tri-level conference” last fall, much to the disap- pointment of FCM leaders. some ‘‘overworked”’ ministers. who cw hold more tharr one portfolio to drop one. ere are rumors that an announcement may be made as early as Friday, although the premier may efer to hold off until after e biennial PQ convention, scheduled later this month. A likely addition . to cabinet-— PQ members of the national assembly have been openly touting his promotion—is PierreMarc Johnson, son of former Union Nationale premier Daniel Johnson. Johnson, member for the Montreal-area riding of Anjou, is head of the party fund-raising campalgn currently in progress. ; EX-PREMIER'S SON oe ion on new PQ cabi "Another Political observers say the 31-year-old doctor and lawyer has made a strong impression on his colleagues. Speculation is that he may eventually replace Social Affairs Minister Denis Lazure in a department that accounts for more than 30 per cent ofthe provincial udget, . However, since Levesque has indicated that no ministers will be demoted, Johnson may take tem- porary charge of another portfolio, migration. That responsibility ig cur- rently held by Jacques Couture, who doubles as ‘labor minister. possibly im- NO INCOME GAINS DURING CONTROLS TORONTO (CP) — The new chairman of the federal anti-inflation board says Canadians must prepare for no gains in real income even after federal controls are ted. Harold Renouf told a meeting of the Federation of Canadian ‘Municipalities that continuing problems with costs will mean no gains in salary. increases above increases in the -cost of living. “We are facing a period of economic adjustment that will have to be recognized,” Renouf said. He ‘said the board will begin lifting controls on Oct. 14 of this year but, some ‘form of control is to continue, into early 1978. The federal government would bring out a major policy paper on endin controls later this monte Renouf said. ' He predicted no major changes in the future operations of the board and denied it would change to a low-profile agency and quietly disappear. “The best and indeed the only way that the AIB can fulfill its mandate to educate, cajole and per- suade the public that the at- tack on inflation is serious, is to be in the public eye, for good or bad, as much as is possible.” , ROTHSCHILD COLLECTION King's ransom paid _to clean out mansion MENTMORE, England (AP) — Collectors and dealers from around the world paid a record total Wednesday for furniture treasures from a fabled Rothschild collection. The first of 18 sessions of what Sot’sjeea s jwtts call the “sale of the century” brought in more than $2.2 million—almost twice the record for an entire estate auction, Inside the blue and white auction tent covering the courtyard of Mentmore Towers, 50 miles northwest _of London, big numbers flashed by with the speed of inflation on a board that dis- - played bids in six curren- cies. “J feel I got a very good buy,” said Farrokh Nazerian, an Iranian dealer living in London after he paid $153,000 for a 200-year- ld enamel orange tree with singing birds in the bran- ches anda tiny pipe organ in the tree’s base that plays bird calls. “7 was willing to go to anything for it,” Nazerian, said. “I have spent arter of a million pounds $425,000) sofar today, and I might spend ‘another quarter of a million later.” The rambling, 75-room Mentmore Towers manor house and its contents are being sold by the Earl of Rosebery to pay inheritance taxes. The house was built and its furnishing collected by the earl’s great grand- father, Baron Meyer de Rothschild. Dr. Annella Brown, a 57- earold surgeon from oston, arrived by helicopter from London and took off two hours later, the owner of a Louis XVI candelabra that cost her 800. ‘ : Dr. Brownsaid sale prices were running about one- third over top estimates, making it likely that the Earl of Rosebery will gross more than the $6.8 millions predicted by Sotheby's. That’s well over the $5.1 million at which he valued the house and contents as a gift to the British govern- ment to make good his inheritance taxes. The oevernment turned the offer own, claiming it could not afford to accept it, and asked for cash instead. A gold-encrusted writing desk made 200 years ago for Marie Antoinette goes back to the Palace of Versailles where it came from. Palace representatives bought it for The Earl of Rosebery himself, who early in the sale ran around in shirtsleeves repairing the ublic ‘address system, ught back his own Louis XV desk for the highest sterling amount ever paid $97,000. for a piece of furniture. The first session eclipsed atleast two auction records: the $1.3 million set in the sale of the entire Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge estate in Madison, N.J. backbencher frequently mentioned as cabinet material is Jocelyne Ouellet, member for Hull, ‘who may take over one of the portfolics headed by Lucien Lessard, transport and public works. Observers also say Pierre de Bellefeuille, legislature secretary to the com- munications minister, may be put in charge of either the cultural affairs or com- munications departments. Louis O‘Neill currently holds both portfolios. A less-talked-about cabinet prospect is Guy -Chevrette, former member of the Cliche Commission inquiry into violence and corruption in the construc- tion industry. Peaceful start GENEVA (AP)New U:S.- Soviet weapons talks opened here Wednesday with a ‘full exchange of views” on. conflicting approaches by the two superpowers to a treaty to limit strategic arms, - U.S. State Secretary Cyrus Vance and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko met at the Soviet mission here following the signing of a convention banning man-made natural disasters in warfare. Their talks will also centre on peace prospects in the iddle East. Wednesday's extended session’? 4tween Vance and Gromyko suggested the process of arranging a compromise may. have begun in the deadlocked strategic arms limitations talks (SALT). A U.S. spokesman said there was a demonstration of “good faith on both sides” and that they were to ‘resume discussions today, again at the Soviet mission. In Washington, Carter briefed congressional legders.on the status. of the talks. Congressmen said afterward neither the U.S. nor the Soviet Union had changed its position. net - ’ Meanwhile, there have been suggestions from within the PQ caucus that Speaker Clement Richard may be asked to step down because of problems he has had in handling national as- sembly proceedings. Often contradicted by overnment house leader bert Burns, Richard may be named to cabinet to smooth his ruffled feathers, observers say. Speculation is that he would be replaced by either Jean-Gu Cardinal member for Prevost and former Union Nationale education minister, or Louise Cuerrier-Sauve, member for Vaudreuil. Both are deputy speakers. BOTH © J. A. Nolli The appointment of John A. (Tony) Nolli as Division Cus- tomer Service Manager of the British Columbia Telephone Company's Northern Division is announced by R. H. Stevens; Vice-President— Customer Ser- vice. Bom in England, where he re- ceived his formal training: in Electronics and Telecommuni- cations, Mr. Nolli joined B.C. Tel in 1956, He has served in . various engineering capacities until his appointment in 1970 as Northern Division Engineer. In his new position, Mr. Noili is responsible for customer ser- vicein the Company's Northern Division which extends from Quesnel north to the NWT/¥T border, west to the Queen Charlotte Islands and east to the Alberta border, peur CHILDRENS: Scrubbie Jeans (Wide leg or flares) Size [+14 ecscesesessessersneeesensseseneteneaanacenerenessseseneaees Size CT tor® 27.99 Girls JUMpsusts oe cccccstseneneenenseeenlLess: 20.% Scrubbie Jackets Reg. 114.95 - Now Size A. | 1.95 " Size 8-20. ccesmmenanmiitinnunnnpiiinnninniantl Oe LADIES: Special Selection of Blouses . Special Selection of Tan Jay.ieerceccccniecenesne Less 20% Can-Can Pantihose..............0.....0... MENS: Scrubbie Jeans Wide leg or flare .....,..... ) Special Selection of Mens Leather Jackets .-Less 20% Do not forget to vote in the Baby Contest! 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