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Wednesday October 30 the HERALD Page 13 OTTAWA REPORT Jousting on CBC over property rights Most of us watch the TV news and dont think that hard about what goes on behind the camera So let me share a small ex perience with you A month ago I started to organize a oneday conference on property rights after the govern ment announced its intention to put them in the Constitution That meeting took place a few days ago with over a dozen national organizations and two dozen MPs from four parties there Well the Journal decid ed to do an item on property rights I received a call from a Journal producer to discuss an in terview and agreed Over the next week there were three or four more calls each more detailed The day before the show was to be taped I was sent a one- page fax outlining what to expect and some subject areas to be discussed Thats when I learned Id be debating a law professor When I arrived at the Journals Ottawa studio across the street from Parliament Hill I was ushered into a room and told that the law professor was already in the studio After a nice lady powdered my nose I was led into the studio to meet Prof Jack Lon don white the incident was being recorded The had flown Jack London Into Ottawa from Winnipeg where hed cancelled classes that day at the University to come and take me on The set had been elaborately prepared A small square table was set under a couple of bright lights The top of the table had been covered in black felt and three Importantlooking law books were placed on top The professor had a wad of at least 30 pages of handwritten notes he was studying I felt somewhat in adequate laying out the three-by- five inch piece of note paper that had my whole argument on it The doors closed the producers and technicians disappeared into the control room the two of us sat at the table each with a camera and an operator behind us The signal was given and we went at each other for about minutes There was no pause no editing no redoing anything And here I was debating constitu tional law I The professor tried to argue that property rights are dangerous They could cause laws on rent control or the en- Garth Turner be equal to other rights to life liberty and security of person And the definition of property should be broad so that a tenant getting unfairly evicted or a woman losing matrimonial pro perty could use it in defence I called the professor a scare monger for suggesting property rights would hurt the environ ment or encourage the spread of weapons And he suggested I was promoting something that would benefit only the rich and corpora tions In the end I dont know who was more convincing Personal ly I was happy to have survived Even Prof London looked reliev ed when it was over He took the flight to Win nipeg I walked back to my office wondering just how it is I get myself into these things vironment or division of assets in a marriage to be challenged He said society could be fundamen tally altered if we gave the courts this new area to explore But I argued that every right we have is defined and restricted by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms itself Article one says all our rights are subject reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society That means laws passed by governments to prevent pollution are more important than an in dividuals right to own the land being polluted This right would Turner pressing for referendum QUEENS PARK REPORT Changes to teachers pension plan A few days ago the new Educa tion Minister Tony Silipo an nounced changes to the Teachers Pension Act which will end a long and difficult dispute between the teachers and the provincial government His announcement signalled the outcome of a series of negotiations aimed at improv ing the teachers pension fund and at creating a partner ship between teachers and the government for the administra tion of the Ontario Teachers Pen sion Plan Decisions about the pensions will be made by a board compos ed of nine members four ap pointed by the teachers and four by the government And at the re quest of both partners Gerald the current chair of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board has agreed to stay on in that capacity Mr Bouey is also the current fund administrator for the plan These changes will take effect at the beginning of next year and involve active teachers and another 38000 retirees The legislation will give teachers an equal say in the investment deci sions of the pension plan and an equal share of future surpluses or deficits They will now have a real vested interest in seeing the fund properly managed In other news from Queens Park Im really pleased that the Employee Wage Protection Pro gram finally became law on October Bill was one of the pieces of legislation delayed back in May by the Noel Duignan Optimist winner The Optimist Club of Georgetown has announced the winners of the Optimist Trip of the Month draw for October are Robert and Norm Guthrie The winners will receive an ex pensepaid trip to any destination of their choosing said Optimist mem ber John The draw called the Trip-of-the- Month is running for five more months and half the proceeds are used to pay for costs of the trip while the other half goes back into the community For more information or to buy a ticket call Mr at obstructionist tactics of the Con servative members at Queens Park Royal Assent for the EWPP means that more than 17000 workers will soon get the back pay theyve earned and claimed Up to cheques will be in the mail before the New Year The focus of the program is to help employees recover money that theyve earned but havent been paid by their employer because of bankruptcy insolven cy or similar reasons You may be interested in the following key points about the Employee Wage Protection Program the EWPP covers workers for up to in unpaid wages vacation termination and the program is retroactive to October 190 the program is administered through the Ministry of Labours Employment Practices Branch and funded through general tax revenues a radio and print ad campaign was scheduled to begin on Oc tober 24 to provide more informa tion brochures will soon be ready for employers and employees special information lines in clude the following tollfree number for your use 18002689036 How Do Employees Apply to make a claim call or visit the Ministry of Labour Office nearest you Bring proof of where you worked such as wage slips or company ID card the Employment Practices Branch will investigate each claim for validity employees will receive their cheques as soon as possible To date there is a backlog of claimants so it might take a few months to receive a cheque The Ministry has already processed over of these claims and cheques began going out a few days ago an employers responsibilities for payment of wages is no dif ferent than it used to be There has always been liability for directors under the Ontario Business Corporations Act the only difference in the liability under the EWPP is how the liability is enforced It means that the Employment Practices Branch can now take action to recover employees owed wages from company directors as a result of amendments about another important matter I recently received a letter from the program coordinator of the Legislative Page Program and I would like to encourage Grade and Grade 8 students with a minimum scholastic average of per cent or equivalent to-con- applying for this unique ex perience A special pamphlet has been mailed out to Halton North Schools but if you would like your own copy or more information please call my Milton office at 8781729 Tuesdays through Fridays By RENMEMacKENZIE Thomson News Service OTTAWA A loose coalition of property- rights advocates was told Monday there is a distant possibility the federal govern ment will hold a referendum on constitutional proposals to over rule objecting provinces HaltonPeel Conservative- MP Garth Turner told the group the referendum is possible after con cerns were raised that the three NDP governments in Ontario Saskatchewan and British Col umbia could unite to defeat the proposal to entrench property rights in the Constitution Turner said at the conclusion of the miniconference in Parlia ment Hills historic East Block he and other Conservatives have been pressing the government for a referendum Personally I hope that we do have a referendum Turner said The legislation exists to enable it and the government is not ruling it out Most of the governments September proposals to amend the Constitution and its Charter of Rights and Freedoms will re quire the approval of Parliament and any seven provinces representing 50 per cent of the population Until now Quebec and measures to create a distinct society of the province have been regarded as the only major stumbling blocks on the road to approval The property rights proposal has been seen by many as a bargaining chip that could be abandoned or traded in ex change for consensus on the distinct society clause And an Alberta delegate to the halfday conference organized by Turner suggested the three new governments could gang up to crush the property rights amend ment At several points in the meeting it was made clear that the main objections to a property rights provision in the Charter have been voiced by leftwing governments and organizations Most of the delegates to the con ference were realtors and homebuUders The government has admitted that it is preparing plebiscite- enable legislation but Govern ment House Leader harvie Andre has said only that he wants a bill before Christmas Several cabinet ministers have argued the referendum bill is an instru ment the government should have in its drive for national uni ty Strategists have said the unity debate could ultimately be settl ed after a national referendum The 15 delegates representing organizations at Turners con ference agreed to circulate a na tional petition urging the govern ment to proceed with its property rights proposal They also agreed their proceedings should form the basis for a formal presentation to the joint SenateCommons com mittee that is airing the constitu tional proposals at hearings across the country While the delegates unanimously endorsed the princi ple of enshrining property rights in the Constitution they avoided any attempt to define the term Turner said the task of defining the vague reference in the con stitutional documents should be left to the courts and they should be allowed the widest possible latitude in future cases involving the Charters property provision But he dismissed the com plaints of property rights op ponents who have said constitu tional rights could put social rights and environmental protec tion laws at risk Individual rights to hold and enjoy property will not override societys rights he said in a state ment at the end of the conference WELCOME TO HALTON HILLS AIMITRONO AVI FOB PLUMBING All The Local News Horns 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