Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 19

CITYPLUS TUESOAY, DECEMBER 30, 2003 B3 EDMONTON JOURNAL U.S. seeks to extradite local lawyer Officials consider accused businessman a flight risk; supporters disagree high-profile arts patron attended the hearing, including Senator Tommy Banks, Court of Queen's Bench Justice James Lewis ruled he didn't have the authority to intervene. Ritter has said he doesn't believe there's any basis for a successful extradition application. The charges are smearing his reputation and will hurt his business, Newport Pacific Financial Group, which employs 12 people, he said. He said the Americans want to weaken his financial resources to pursue a defamation lawsuit he filed last year against theU.S.

Securities and Exchange Commission. kent9 thejnurnal.canwest.com GORDON KENT Legal Affairs Writer EDMONTON The United States has filed formal documents seeking the extradition of Edmonton businessman Michael Ritter for involvement in an alleged pyramid scheme, a federal Justice spokesman says. The former chief Alberta legislative counsel was charged in California last October with securities fraud, money laundering, airninal contempt of court, and other offences. U.S. officials beat a weekend deadline to submit a request to extradite Ritter to the Canadian government, Justice officials, but quickly released on $250,000 bail.

Staff Sgt. Joe Mamela of the RCMP economic crimes section said in two affidavits used to support the arrest warrant that Ritter and American associates engaged in a $250 million (US) fraud involving more than 6,000 victims. Earlier this month Ritter's lawyers unsuccessfully tried to have the warrant thrown out, daiming sworn statements from police seeking his arrest wrongly described him as a flight risk and contained other mistakes. Although dozens of supporters of the A Channel slams strikers with $3M lawsuit Local TV station accuses 10 pickets of harassing and intimidating advertisers spokesman Patrick Charrette said Monday. He didn't know when the request, which contains the evidence on which the U.S.

is proceeding, arrived. Charrette wouldn't comment on what the documents contain because they're considered a "state-to-state" communication. The material will only be released if Ottawa examines the evidence and proceeds with an extradition hearing, a decision which must be made by Jan. 26, Charrette said. Rider's lawyers couldn't be reached for comment.

That case will go before the labour board in April. strikers from trying to convince advertisers to suspend their advertising was turned down. Once that happened, the union contacted national advertisers and handed out pamphlets and urged boycotts at local businesses. Pearce said such actions do not constitute the threatening behaviour the station alleges. "There's been no intimidation or harassment at all," he said.

"We've been peaceful and lawful." On Oct 14, ajudge ruled that AChannel could sue striking workers for harassment of local advertisers. Before the 10 lawsuits were launched, both sides had contacted the labour board with daims the other was bargaining in bad faith. Haskins estimated that about one-third of the bargaining unit has crossed the picket line or never went on strike to begin with. Pearce said three workers have left the picket line in the last two weeks. Among the demands for their first contract, the strikers want to raise the average yearly salary of $28,000 by 12 per cent over the next three years.

First-time contracts are difficult to reach in Alberta because no laws force the parties to negotiate. There are currently no talks between the union and the company. rcormierthejournal.canwest.com r. 1 I A i U' '7' RYAN CORMIER Journal Staff Writer EDMONTON A Channel television station is suing 10 of its striking workers for $300,000 each, the latest legal battle in a strike that began more than three months ago. The Dec 23 lawsuits allege the strikers have harassed and intimidated the station's advertisers in an attempt to stop advertising during the strike.

Adrian Pearce, vice-president of the union local, denied that any harassment or intimidation has occurred. "This is just the station's Christmas present to us," he said. "We don't feel this is a very serious threat "To me, it just tells our strikers how mean-spirited the company is to deliver this news just before Christmas." However, Jim Haskins, general manager of A Channel Edmonton, said the strikers being sued have threatened advertisers. Pearce daims that nine national and six local advertisers have suspended their AChannel advertising, thoughhe wouldn't identify them. This isn't the first time the strike has spilled into the courts since it began on Sept 17.

Ajudge earlier turned down a request by A Channel to restrict picketing outside its Jasper Avenue station. A Channel has daimed $5 million in damages for lost advertising. The California indictment claims he and two other men were involved in a scheme designed to give investors a high rate of return on accounts receivable for latex gloves manufactured in the Far East. The money wasn't used for those purposes, it claims. Ritter, 47, was picked up in October by the i Ritter RCMP under a provisional arrest warrant requested by U.S.

You keep the Unicyclist Scott McGrath weaves his at 104th Street and Whyte Avenue en route nan "I'm very flexible but I would like a chance to work in my profession," she says. But some immigrants are getting dos-er to workingintheirprofessions, thanks to the NorQuest program. Yeounbong Jeong, a pharmacist from Korea, is training as a pharmacy technician. Mihrije Pllana, a high school teacher from Kosovo, is working as a teaching assistant. SvetlanaUsova, a mechanical c'ind heating engineer from Belarus, is training as a recreational facilities manager.

"It's difficult to connect with employers," Usova says. "This program helps." The Mennonite Centre for Newcomers estimates there are thousands of professionally trained, new Canadians in Alberta working at menial tasks because they don't qualify for jobs in their fields of expertise. "There is a sad joke that the best place to have a heart attack is in a taxi because the driver is likely to be a foreign-trained doctor," says Jim Gurnett, executive di 7J-- Phone museum on the move MIKE SADAVA Journal Staff Writer EDMONTON Edmonton has had a rich history with the telephone, but most of the artifacts depicting that history will be out of the public eye for the foreseeable future. The Telephone Historical Centre, which had been on 83rd Avenue west of 104thStreet for 16 years, shutdown just before Christmas. A small display will open in the dty archives at the Prince of Wales Armouries in March, but it will be a shadow of what the museum had been, occupying only 144 square metres compared to 630 square metres.

"We have to be realistic about the whole thing," said museum executive director Bert Yeudall. "We are not happy about this, but we have taken the necessary steps to keep things going in the near future." In January, the museum will be dismantled and most of its exhibits put into storage. Organizers hope to resurrect a major display when the expansion of the Provindal Museum is completed over the next few years. Alex Taylor made the first phone call here in 1885. The dty, which owned its own system until the 1990s, had one of the first dial systems anywhere.

Telus, which owns the telephone centre building, gave notice to the museum earlier this year that the $1 per-year-spacewouldbe available only until Sept. 1, 2004. The museum derided to move out sooner. The museum was started and has been operated mainly by volunteers from Edmonton Telephones, which was sold by the city in the mid-90s to Alberta Government Telephones, which eventually became Telus. Telus spokesman Charlie Fleet said the company still wants to support the museum and will contribute $25,000 annually toward operating costs.

"It's important to recognize the history of the telephone in a broader sense and the company itself," Fleet said. Telus has no intentions of selling the building, he said. Part of the building is already used by Telus, and operational staff will move into the space occupied by the phone museum as part of the company's efforts to consolidate its real estate, Fleet said. The telephone museum attracted about 15,000 visitors each year, inducting school groups, Yeudall said. One of the highlights of the museum has been its interactive nature, giving visitors the chance to run an old-fashioned connection system or walk through a simulation of a fibre-optic cable.

msadavathejournal.canwest.com Diver does his best for Huntington's research Journal Staff EDMONTON Despite falling short of his fundrais-ing goal, Derrick Best surfaced in'good spirits on Monday after spending 24 hours underwater at West Edmonton Mall. Best raised $5,000 for Huntington's disease research. His original goal was $24,000, but he said the experience was still worth the effort. An experienced diver, Best had at least one other diver underwater with him during his marathon. Huntington's disease is a hereditary brain disorder that causes loss of physical control, mental deterioration, emotional changes, and ultimately leads to incapacitation and death.

There is no known cure. Best's girlfriend's mother was diagnosed with the diseaseeightyears ago. spare where? RICK M( WILLIAM. THE JOURNAL way through a cluster of vehicles to the University of Alberta on Monday. i Mir i v.

"i 'i; th, I- 1 rector. The real tragedy is it is a gigantic loss for the country that these people are underemployed and not being allowed to contribute to their full potential." He blames conflicting federal and provincial regulations governing immigration and professional credentials. To immigrate to Canada, professionals from other countries have to convince federal officials they have job skills in demand here. But once they get here, they have to convince provincially regulated professional bodies the qualifications from their home countries are equivalent to Canadian requirements. "There are 40 different professional associations in the province, and all ht different rules," he says.

The Mennonite Centre for Newcomers recently started a 10-month program through the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology to upgrade skills of immigrant engineers to meet Canadian standards. Gurnett said more than 200 applied for the 50 spaces. ljohiiHrude9 lhejournal.canwest.com New Canadians often underestimated 1 ft Sl -Til TA iMMMKHHtiMalHMKiNIMiltA'- S. mrlrTr. nliliffi' LARRY WONG, THE I0URNAL These professionally trained, new Canadians, from left, Aster Obsi, Virender Mehandru, Mihaela Popa, Rajnish Kumar and Girish Garge, are having a difficult time finding work in their respective fields.

To help themselves, they are taking a course at NorQuest College that lets them gain work experience and improve their communication skills. Program aims to get professional immigrants working LARRY JOHNSRUDE journal Staff Writer EDMONTON A mechanical engineer by profession, Yung-Chang Lai is ecstatic about landing a job at Home Depot in Edmonton. ButiirJikemanyprofessionally trained, new Canadians, he really does want to work in the retail trade. Since giving up his job as an engineer with the state-owned Taiwan Power Company to come to Canada in 1995, he has worked in a muffler shop, a paint store and as an apprentice mechanic at a service station. But the Home Depot position is his dream job.

"It relates to my hobby," he explains. '1 like doing home renovations and making furniture." 1 Forevery story like his, however, there are dozens others about qualified im-migrant doctors and engineers working below their skill levels at convenience stores or fast-food restaurants because their qualifications aren't recognized here. A new program offered by NorQuest College is aimed at changing that. Started in September, Career Options for New Canadians gives immigrant professionals work experience and a chance to improve their communications rkills to help them get jobs. Lai, who landed the Home Depot position through the program, says he was ready for a career change.

But others are frustrated. Even with the program, they are having difficulty finding work in their chosen professions. "Everyone asks: Do you have Canadian experience?" says Virender Mehan-dru, a mechanical engineer from India. "Unless I can get a job here, how do I get Canadian experience?" Rajnish Kumar, also from India, shares his frustration. "My English isn't a problem," says Kumar, an electrical engineer with 15 years of experience in the petroleumbusiness.

Tve worked on projects in the Persian Gulf and all over the world with the world's largest engineering companies. "We have credentials from our own countries. Nobody wants to try us." The NorQuest program, which provides three months of in-class instruction and seven months of on-the-job training with participating employers, is experiencing a shortage of placements in the engineering and medical fields. It has placed eight of the 13 students who started in September in temporary jobs, some of whom may end up being permanent. Another 13 are to begin in February.

It is financed by tuition fees and government grants. Mihaela Popa, a laboratory technician from Romania, is still waiting for placement in the medical field. She volunteered to work at the lab at the University of Alberta Hospital last year, but the closest she got was a volunteer position in the gift shop..