’ Act

ly KITTY McKINSEY
OPTAWA (CP) — The gov-
ernment fulfilled one of its
campaign promises Wed-
neaday by introducing a bill
to allow greater public’ ac-
cess to federal government

flea — with certain ex-
ceptiona.
The bill would dispel the
atmosphere of secrecy that
ryades the bureaucracy
cnUSe it would place an
onua on the government to

To get tough
on failures

OTTAWA (CP) — The
federal government hopes to
ease a situation that has seen
thousands of Canadians walk
away from homes because
they cannot keep up with
mortgage payments.

The walk-aways are
coating Canada Cort eee

ousing C le
sums because he federal
agency haa pinaured thelr
mortgages. Many are
Ontario and Quebec.

Elmer MacKay, minister

responsible for the agency,
in an interview this
‘woek that CMHC is making it
harder for people with
agency-guaranteed mor-
es to. abandon the homes
bought, probably with a
small down payment.

He sald the corporation
bas been unduly generous in
allowing homeowners to
walk away from their
mortgage obligations.

“T don't think the policy
was sufficiently business-
like in ali cases.”

‘MacKay sald the policy
now is to launch legal Potion
forecover costs and arrears
from those who would
default on their mortgages
without good reason,

The ation won't act
against defaulting
homeowsers in desperate
fnanclalctroumnstances, and

he said laws in some
provinces make it impos
tiple to take defaulers 4 to
court. Nor does it
chage walkaways of past,
The corporation’s 1978
annual report said claima
against the fund had risen to
$191.8 million by the end of
the year from $46.9 million in
1977, partly because of a
government decision to
emphasize privately-
financed low-cost housing
rather than public ho
An aide to MacKay sa id
the corporation has about
pes : this could fa
6 an put a
severe strain on the fund by

spring.
Meabont half the total repre-
cents claims on the mor-
tgage fund, because they

‘were privately mortgaged
"prough the

and insured

ation, The rest were
bullt with direct corporation
loans,

In the Commons this week,
Conservative Don Bleskarn,
MP for the Torontcarea
riding of Mississauga South,
complained about the large
number of townhouses the
housing corporation has had

to repossess in his com-

He va 7 7 units had b been
repossesse uga
through June,

Govt charged _

iON, why fe

with

VANCOUVER (CP) —The .
federal government has been
negligent and secretive in its
investigation of feed ahip-
ments contaminated with
dangerously toxic
polychiorinated biphenyls,

F MLA Gordon Hanson
charged Wednesday.

And PCB levels that
prompted: the. slaughter : of:
250000 ochickenss!: inv
Washington state are being

Fuel oil
shortages
seen in
two year

; WS s he

WINNIP aaa ’
Canada’s en minlsters
have been told there is a 75-
per-cent chance the country
will face fuel shortages
within two years, Manitoba
Finance Minister Don Craik
said Wednesday.

Craik, who is also the
province's energy minister,
sald the information came
out ofa meeting of provincial
and federal officiala that waa
bald Tuesday in Calgary.

“The Canadian public,
generally, and even some
gavernments are not aware
of aome of the concerna
which exist regarding

supply.”
No charges

for arson

VICTORIA (CP) — Sons of
Freedom Doukhobors who
admitted during the trial of
John J. Verigin that they
committed arson will not be
charged, Crown counsel
Brian Waddell said Wed-
nesday,

Although the Freedonites
did not ask for protection
under the Canada Evidence
they will not be charged
because ‘it's just not the
practice’, Waddell, a
Kelowna lawyer, said in a

ha,

secrecy

‘described as safe in British
Columbla by federal au-
tharities, said Hanson, the
member for Victoria.

Dr. A. B. Morrison, federal
health protectlon "branch
spokesman, said some
chickens fed contaminated
grain shipped to three Ab-
botsford mills had levels of
‘PCB's ae high as’.09 parts |
per nilllion, +: "-

Morrison said PCB con-
centrations were much lower
in B.C. because the con-
faminated tallow shipped
into Canada from a feed
plant in- Billings, Montana,
was first diluted in Seattle.

David Fora of Fora Farms
in Puyallup, Wash. sald
35,000 chickens have: Ate
slaughtered on is fa

«ga at, a)

parte per million.

“Why ia the same level of
contamination deemed to be
a health hazard south of the
49th Parallel but not in
Canada?” said Hanson.

“Lam not satisfied that the
federal government has con-
ducted thorough testing of all
food products possibly con-
taminated with PCB's, After
considerable questioning 1

-was told only that the
government started with the
big producers and worked
back from the retail end."

Hanson aaid levels ranging
from 44 to 27 parts per
million were found in
pheasant carcasses, at
Campbell's Farms” in
Aldergrove, B.C.

“We don’t know if the.
higher readings in pheasants ;

are caused by more highly-
contarainated. grain in clr-
culation or if pheasants have
a different metaboliam from
chickens or turkeys, as

Agriculture Canada has
suggested.
Dr. Morrison sald last

week that the levels in
animal feed and food
products in the U.S, were
much higher than in ated
“Some were running as high

as 1,000 parts per million.’

’ {alaphone interview,

WANTED

Retired people or people with cars
(to daliver: papers to drops in
- Terrace & Thornhill. Please apply
at the Daily Herald office.

abow viby documents should
be withheld from public
view, said Privy Council
Preaident Walter Baker.
Initlal Indications are that
all parties support the
legialation and it should be

Kad ow iy
law as early as

ee who introduced the
bill in the Commons, told a
newa conference it will

enable taxpayers to see what
the govern is doing with

their m
Because a jusee would
make the fina] decisicn on
whether the government
could withhald information,
It will “dramatically affect
the way the government

operates from now on,"

Baker said,
“The government cannot

act capriclously,” he added.
“Jt can never again say 10,
you're not going to have that
information.”

The freedom-of-
information bill establishes
the principle that citizens
have a right to know what
the government is doing, and
itspells outexceptions to this

Exceptions are made for as
Canada's relations with
other countries, military
intelligence and current
police investigations. The
government will still be able
to keep secret any infor-
mation, that could harm
federalprovincial relations
or would reveal a private
company’s trade secrets,

Liberal John Reid (Kenora
— Ralny River) said his
party “welcomes this bill

and is going to do everything

it can to make sure it is
passed by Christmas.”

New Democrat Ian
Waddell (Vancouver
Kingsway) said the bill is

‘long overdue,”

Buthe criticized it bacausa
it does not apply to Crown

ations auch as the

and Air Canada as well

as goveramea departments
agencies,

Baker said commercial
Crown corporations were ex-
cluded because they com-
pete with private companies,
which would gain an unfair
advantage If they could get
information on Crown
corporation operations.

Conservative Ged Baldwin
(Peace River), a strong
advocate of information
freedom, gave the govern-

ment bill ‘a Bplus or an A-
minus,”

He predicted that “within
three yeara we wil] have
forgotten we ever had a
secret society,” if public
servants and cabinet
ministers accept the spirit of
the legislation.

The bill contains a major
change to the Federal Court
Act to foree cabinet
ministera to defend in court
thelr desire to withhold in-
formation.

A cabinet minister now
can refuse to hand over
facie to Famply by or

cial Inquiry simply
swearing that discloaure %
the documents would harm
federal-provincial relations
or would endanger Canada's
hatlonal security, a term
that has never been defined.

The Heraid, Thursday, October 25, 1977 Page §&

Freedom of information law in the works

Baker admitted that
without revisiona to the 4-
year-old Official Secrets Act,
the freedom-ofinformatlon
bill is “an airplane with one
wing.”

Last week, the Commons
voted unanimously to set up
a committee to recommend
changes to the secrets act

The leglalation, which
Baker estimated would cost
$5 million to $10 million a
year to implement, would
allow any Canadian citizen,
landed {immigrant of
Canadian corporation to re-
quest government = in-
formation.

A government department
or agency would have 9
days to produce the
requested document or

explain in writing why it was
not avallable.

A citizen could appeal Po
bureaucrat’s decision not
reloaoe information to a takes

of ombudsman called an
information cocnmilesianar
who, Baker sald, would have
“extracrdinary powers."

Citizens would hava a
further avenue of appeal te
the Federal Court of even
the Supreme Court of
canada, which In Siena

e aay
between applicants and
cabinet ministers,

Minutes of cabinet
meetings would continue t te
remain secret,

discussion

far the cabinet by use
bervice wou bevome
public.

om Walt

Saturday night |
beautiful.

att PEELS UOTE Ae

th usitt 4

Tah Perth tr |

ul well.
ate eilld!

ll ae

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