The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 25

NEIGHBORHOODS C2 ACTION LINEC3 CLASSIFIEDC5 ADO' SECTION PAGES C1-C16 TfBaiis woan? tops mm By Randy Boswell Citizen staff writer The large crowd and the wide strip of ice taken up for the races made skating virtually impossible in the narrow pathways along that section of the canal. But mushy conditions didn't dampen the spirits of many Win- Winterlude visitors. Danis predicted that the larger crowds this year would mean $5 million more. It cost $3.5 million to run the festival. The NCC spent $1.5 million, and corporate sponsors covered the other $2 million.

Sunday's main event, the Mol-son Canadian Trotting Classic, drew an estimated 50,000 spectators as nine area harness drivers and guest Michael Wilcox from England steered horses down a quarter-mile stretch of the canal in 30-second sprints. "I wasn't very good," admitted Wilcox, who finished ninth. "But it was a great crowd." "I believe some people gave up going to the Quebec Winter Carnival to come to ours," said Danis. "The weather has been beautiful for 10 days and today was the peak." Sunday's events were held not only on the canal and Dow's Lake, but also at Jacques Cartier Park in Hull, Petrie Island in Cumberland and other sites in the area. Danis said this is the first year the NCC's attempt to diffuse Winterlude activities throughout the region has "kicked in" with the public.

During last year's festival, about $40 million was spent by lf Winterlude officials are calling this year's festival on ice the biggest and best ever. As the event wrapped up under blue skies Sunday, a high, final-day turnout probably pushed attendance totals past 1.5-million, said National Capital Commission spokesman Jacques Danis. That's up from about 1.3 million last year, and Danis attributed the increase to near-perfect weather, better promotion and a greater variety of sites and activities during the 10-day event. icnuuc visum such as micnei Bissonnette. "I love it," said Bissonnette, 35, a district manager with Revenue Canada who's on temporary leave from his job in Trois-Rivieres, Que.

"This is better than the Carni- val in Quebec. This has so much more participation." Chris Mikula, Citizen Jacques Cartier Park hosted snowboarding championships lectrologists rotes i MDs removing hair By Jane Wilson Citizen staff writer I III jl i nil a a If ness has declined about 20 per cent province-wide in the last two years. OHIP insures the service by doctors as long as the excess hair is on the "beard" area of the face or neck and is associated with abnormal hormone levels or drug treatment, said Dr. Nancy Mayer. Electrolysis is a permanent method of removing hair.

The hair root is destroyed after repeated treatments using a needle and electrical current. A spokesman for the health ministry said there has been an increase in OHIP billings for hair removal, but could not provide exact statistics. With few exceptions, such as optometrists, doctors are the only professionals who can bill OHIP. Electrologists take no standard training and they have no disciplinary watchdog to license or review their work. Ingrid Shapiro, who runs an electrolysis clinic in her Ottawa home, argues that the OHIP definition of "abnormal" hormone levels may be too broad, allowing women with minor problems to get insured treatment.

Mayer, one of the first three doctors in Ontario to provide electrolysis, said the private businesses may be running into trouble because there is a glut of trained people. Dr. Diane Quintal said the decline in business among private electrologists may be partly because the OHIP service "is better known now among hairy women who do have an underlying (hormone) problem." Whiskers have sparked a dispute between local electrologists and doctors who offer hair removal under OHIP. Several Ottawa-area electrologists non-medical specialists in removing unwanted facial and body hair have gathered 400 names on a petition to Health Minister Elinor Caplan. They charge dermatologists with monopolizing the market for removing women's facial hair.

And they want the right to bill the provincial health plan for clients referred by a doctor. But Caplan said OHIP monitors doctors' claims for hair removal and covers only medically-necessary treatments. Still, independent electrologists can't compete with a service that appears basically free, said Judy Coleman, of Coleman's Studio of Electrolysis on Wellington Street in Ottawa. Removal of women's facial hair used to comprise about 80 per cent of the electrology business, she said. Soon, she'll be left with plucking eyebrows, and removing hair from underarms and bikini lines.

Coleman, who has been in the business for 14 years, said she has laid off two employees and an electrolysis school she operates has dropped to two students from six. Robert Mueller, president of Gregory System and owner of six electrology clinics in Ontario, including one in Ottawa, said busi Morning fire at Tri Graphic Printing forced police to block off traffic on Industrial Avenue Wayne Hiebert' Citi2en Firefighters battle warehouse blaze By Mike Blanchfield Citizen staff writer damaging the equipment. Firefighters had no idea of the cause, but believe the blaze started in a paper storage area of the warehouse. There were no injuries in the fire. Police blocked off both ends of Industrial Road, west of St.

Laurent Blvd. and east of Alta Vista Drive, making it difficult for employees of other businesses in the east-end industrial park to get to work this Dawson McVeetors, Ottawa fire inspector, sasid there was heavy smoke, fire and water damage to equipment in the warehouse. He said a damage estimate would not be available until late today. Rupert Annamunthodo, the office manager for Tri-Graphic, said it was too early to tell what impact the fire would have on business. "We cannot make any decisions until we find out the damage, "said Annamunthodo.

"We do not think it's going to affect the printing, but we're not sure at this point." As of late this morning company officials could get nowhere near the scene of the blaze, said Annamunthodo. The cement building contained "at least a couple of million dollars" of printing presses, typesetting equipment and a quantity of printing stock whose value Annamunthodo could not estimate. Nobody knew this morning whether the fire had spread, It took firefighters four hours to control an early morning blaze in the warehouse of an Ottawa printing company on Industrial Ave. today. The fire was first noticed around 6:20 a.m.

in the warehouse of Tri-Graphic printing on Industrial Ave. The administration offices in another building about 30 metres from the warehouse were not affected by the fire. Lucky for bureaucrat, Judge 'Guz' is gone high-level Toronto bureaucrat didn't know it, but Garry Guzzo ended 10 years as a provincial court judge recently, threatening to cap his career Jim" DAVE BROWN Citizen staff 1 BROWN'S BEAT by having that man's butt parked in an Ottawa jail. At the receiving end of the wrath of "The Guz" was the man at the head of COMSOC, the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services. His name is Peter Barnes.

His title is deputy minister. He was in trouble because Guzzo felt he was as high as the court could go to make a point aimed at the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa-Carleton. As he led up to his last day on the provin Drew Gragg, Citizen James Cheung gives Cathy Chow money envelope 2,000 help welcome in New Year of the snake cial court bench (family division) Feb. 3, Guzzo was in full fury at the CAS. At one point, accusing a CAS lawyer of providing his court with incorrect information, he ordered Mel Gill, the society's managing director, and Jennifer Blishen, head of legal services, to appear before him.

When they did, he de Guzzo had his court move to the woman's home. The man's clothes were hung neatly in the closet beside her's in the master bedroom. Another errant ex told, through his lawyer, a story of such stark poverty that most hearts in the courtroom melted. Not the Guz. He observed that if the man's life was so tough, 90 days in jail would be like a holiday.

And that's what would happen if he didn't pay up. Even the man's lawyer was surprised when he paid the several thousand dollars owed that same day. Guzzo explained later. The man was a taxi driver. Guzzo worked as a cab driver while he went to university.

He knew how much money the man likely had. In another case, he delivered a similar threat to a man pleading poor. The man, in anger, reached into his pocket, pulled out a roll of money, threw it on the courtroom floor and stormed out. There was $7,600 in the roll. Again, The Guz had a simple explanation.

Guzzo not only plays the ponies, but owns them. "I used to see the guy at the track. I was at the $10 window. He was at the $50 window." Guzzo, 51, practised family law and was a successful civic politician before accepting the call to the bench 10 years ago. He now moves on to become vice president and corporate counsel for Shenkman Corp.

During his last few years as a judge, it seems he was not a happy camper. He says he wasn't happy with the operation of the provincial court system. Citing a couple of examples, he pointed out there is a large pay gap between judges on the family bench, and those in the criminal courts. Currently, provincial judges have to keep detailed records of their daily time, to prove they're putting in a day's work. He found that demeaning.

His departure will be felt by people such as the truck driver, trying to fight staff lawyers representing a publicly-fufled system. Guzzo By Allyson Latta Citizen staff writer Will be missed cess because he made a lot of money working overtime Saturdays. The court order was ignored because CAS staff necessary to supervise the visits wasn't available Sundays. He gave the father two-hour visits. They were cut to one hour.

The judge warned that any more loose play with court orders would result in the deputy minister being hauled before his court to face contempt proceedings. Peter Barnes really didn't have much to worry about. By the time of the next appearance, Guzzo would not be on the bench to make good his threat. The judge's wind-down wasn't bombast. It was the way he operated, and made him something of a legend in court records.

Years ago, a CAS official pleaded the society didn't have available space for an older child between court appearances, and asked the judge to provide temporary accommodation by having the child jailed. Guzzo solved the problem by ordering the child delivered to the home of the society's managing director. It was not Gill at that time. The CAS found room without bothering the boss. But it was his intolerance of non-paying fathers that earned him a place in local lore.

When a separated father begged the court to understand why he couldn't keep up his child support payments, Guzzo asked questions. The man answered that the woman who owned the home where he lived was only a friend. He was paying rent. He was sleeping in an unfinished basement. can Church hall.

As they ushered in their new year, they were also giving welcome to the Year of the Snake. Opening the event was the ritual battle between the Chinese Lion an adult and a baby and the New Year's "monster." During the afternoon, James Cheung, dressed as the Chinese God of Fortune in a spectacular red-and-gold silk embroidered gown, beamed as he distributed lei see, or money envelopes. Although the packets contain only a penny, they represent a year's worth of good fortune. "Many people have very good hope about this year," said Vivian Liang of the Chinese Community Association of Ottawa. "But they also have a little fear.

A snake, like a dragon (last year's symbol), stirs things up too." Ngech Te loves the Chinese New Year celebration in Ottawa for what it teaches her two young daughters about their cultural heritage. Filled with colorful rituals, such as the traditional Lion Dance, the event is one of the happier reminders of the war-torn world she left behind in Cambodia. "If the children ever go to China or to Hong Kong, they will know something about Chinese culture," says Te, a seamstress who came to Canada as a refugee in 1982. Te, along with her husband and daughters, Hong, 9, and Houng, 6, were among more than 2,000 people Sunday who attended the party at St Luke's Angli livered a message: "Someday, some man, or family, who knows their rights, is going to appear in court. When that happens, I assure you, the lawsuit is going to be astronomical." The case in point involved a truck driver who turned to the CAS for help with his mildly-retarded son.

The single parent later found himself fighting for access rights to visit that son. Although the CAS has not proved the man an unfit parent, it seems to feel it can offer the boy better. The man couldn't afford a lawyer and didn't qualify for legal aid. But, whether he realized it, he had the best kind of representation. Guzzo saw him as an underdog in a bureaucratic fight.

The Guz has a soft spot for underdogs. The judge had issued temporary access orders he later found were arbitrarily changed by theCAS. He gave the father Sunday ac-.