The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 22

B1 0 The Vancouver Sun, Saturday, March 30, 1991 Reyat lawyer says lie had doubts about jury trial TAXPAYER Legislated Balanced Budgets The Taxpayer Protection Act requires: The provincial government to prepare a plan to balance its budget over five years. The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations to prepare a plan each year to reduce its debt. The growth in government spending will not exceed growth in the economy over a five-year period. protection plan Tax Rates Frozen for Three Years Tax rates on most provincial taxes, such as income and sales tax, are frozen for three years Toronto exploded in the air off the Irish coast, killing all 329 people on board. Some of the passengers and their baggage aboard the flight originated in Vancouver.

Hilford, delivering his closing argument at Reyat's Vancouver trial, said the Crown's case should fail because it is based on the false premise his client is a Sikh militant. He said the Crown's image of Reyat as a "religious zealot" seeking to avenge the government of India's military assault in 1984 on the Golden Temple at Amritsar isn't supported by the evidence. "The upset and anger he felt over the raid on the Golden Temple was no different from the reaction of other Sikhs in the Duncan area," Hilford said. Describing Reyat as "just an ordinary guy, an auto electrician, who lived in Duncan," Hilford said the Crown failed to prove his client is connected with any radical Sikh organization. If the court accepts Reyat is not a militant Sikh, the Crown's entire theory regarding his conduct as a Sikh terrorist begins to unravel, Hilford said.

He noted the Crown called evidence to prove a man named Singh" checked a suitcase aboard the Tokyo-bound CP Air flight but didn't board the aircraft. Hilford said the Crown didn't prove, however, that Singh's" suitcase was the bag that exploded in Tokyo, nor that it was to be transferred to the Air-India flight. And the Crown certainly didn't prove any connection between Reyat and the mysterious 'L. Singh," the defence lawyer added. Since the Crj)wn failed to prove Reyat is a Sikh militant, has no evidence of any connection between Reyat and Singh" and cannot prove the suitcase was destined for the Air-India flight, the whole theory of Sikh terrorism collapses, Hilford said.

The defence lawyer's argument caused the judge to remind him the same person who bought the CP Air ticket also bought a ticket for the ill-fated Air-India flight. But Hilford pointed out there is still no connection between Singh" and Reyat. Prosecutor James Jardine earlier argued the Crown proved manslaughter because it has shown Reyat's unlawful conduct in making a bomb resulted in the unintentional death of the two baggage handlers. Hilford is to resume his closing argument Tuesday. By LARRY STILL Suspected terrorist Inderjil Singh Reyat elected trial by a judge alone because his lawyer, Mark Hilford, didn't think an impartial jury could be found, the lawyer says.

Hilford told a court he feared a jury would associate Reyat, formerly a resident of Duncan, with an Air-India flight that went down off the Irish coast the same day a suitcase bomb exploded in Tokyo. "I did not think I could find jurors who could disabuse their minds of the Air-India disaster," Hilford told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Raymond Paris. Hilford said jurors might have come to court thinking, 'the Air-India crash was an act of Sikh terrorism and Reyat is a Sikh, so he must be guilty of the Tokyo bombing." The lawyer told Paris he was confident that he, as an experienced judge, would recognize there is no connection between Reyat and the Air-India disaster. Reyat, 39 is charged with the manslaughter of two baggage handlers killed when a suitcase bomb from a CP Air flight from Vancouver exploded as it was being transferred to an Air-India flight at Tokyo's Narita Airport.

On the same day, June 22, 1985, an Air-India flight to Bombay from (J-' beginning January 30, 1991. Provincial property taxes, not included in the freeze, are expected to decline for many taxpayers. No new provincial taxes can be introduced. What This Means to The Taxpayer A slowing economy means more concern over Five arrests cap cocaine probe jobs and paycheques. The Taxpayer Protection Act puts our commitment to affordable government into law.

By freezing tax rates and legislating balanced budgets, we are ensuring that the cost of government does not exceed your ability to pay. The Taxpayer Protection Act will help maintain British Columbia's status as the best place to live, work and invest. Honourable Elwood N. Veitch Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations 'Taxpayer Protection Plan designed to make government affordable for all British Columbians." Alberto Antonio Manzano, 25, and Aureliano Mejia Ruiz, 27, both of 1720 East Second and Guil-lermo (Willie) Constantino Lopez, 26, of 3134 East 17th Ave. The following Vancouver residents were charged last December as part of the same investigation: Romualdo Gonzalez-Gonzalez, 53, of 2614 Triumph Carlos Hector Veloso, 53, and Carlos Arnualdo Veloso, 30, both of 1 796 East 35th Hernan (Nano) Osvaldo Veloso, 28, and Ivonne Tatiana Veloso, 24, both of 31 19 East 54th and Mohammed Ayub (Abe) Hanif, 28, of 214-3863 East Hastings.

Five persons have been arrested and more than two kilograms of cocaine seized following a nine-month investigation involving RCMP drug squads in Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg and Montreal. The bust came after Mounties penetrated "several high-level cocaine-trafficking organizations within Vancouver's Hispanic-speaking community," a news release from Vancouver RCMP headquarters said. The Vancouver residents charged with cocaine trafficking are: Carlos Amador, 47, of 5458 Sherbrooke Alonso Ramon Medina, 37, of 201-3538 Windsor 'twn Dedication noted in life of Davis B.C. SPECIAL Oil. MPICS CHARITY AUCTIO.

1991 FORD FESTIVA Donated by Ford Motor Co. of Canada and the British Columbia Ford Mercury Dealers. 1991 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF Donated by Volkswagen Canada Inc. and the Metro Vancouver Volkswagen Dealers. 1991 SUBARU JUSTY Donated by Subaru Canada Inc.

and the Subaru Dealers Association of Greater Vancouver. PAPPAS FURS DESIGNERS LTD. Silver Fox Mink Jacket Beaver Coat B.C. Energy Minister Jack Davis was remembered Thursday as a dedicated public servant who worked long hours serving British Columbians, even through his long bout with cancer. The 74-year-old Rhodes Scholar and long-time Liberal and Social Credit politician died Wednesday night at his West Vancouver home.

Former cabinet minister Grace McCarthy said she will miss Davis. "He made a tremendous contribution to this province (and) we all admired his fight against cancer." Premier Bill Vander Zalm said Davis dedicated his life to serving B.C. with the "utmost commitment." "His intellectual strength, courage, dedication and loyalty will be sorely missed by all who knew him," Vander Zalm said. New Democratic Party leader Mike Harcourt said Davis stood out because of his straightforward approach to providing information about his ministry. "Jack Davis will have a lasting and positive im, ict on British Columbia.

He made a tremendous contribution for many decades," Harcourt said. Finance Minister Elwood Veitch said Davis was a brilliant scholar. "He just kept in there giving sage advice right up till the end." Provincial NDP house leader Mark Rose a member of Parliament at the same time as Davis remembers long weekend flights to B.C. from Ottawa. "He always had a particular seat, a single seat at the tail end of the plane where he would work all the way home," he said.

"If you wanted your money's worth from a public servant, you got it from Jack Davis." Davis, a former parliamentary secretary to former prime minister Lester Pearson, switched from the Liberals to the Socreds in the mid-1970s. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; two sons, John and Steven; a daughter, Merilyn McKelvey; and three grandchildren. A private family service will be held in West 1991 HYUNDAI SCOUPE LS Donated by Hyundai Canada Inc. and the Hyundai Dealer Advertising Association. 1991 TOYOTA TERCEL Donated by Toyota Canada Inc.

and the Vancouver Toyota Dealer Advertising Association. PAINTINGS By Robert Genu, Toni Onley, Carl Brenders, Susan Newman, Joyce Mitchell, Ken Wesman Plus Many More. Tickets Available at Automobile Dealers Association OFFICE 294-8330 CATHAY PACIFIC Marco Polo Business Class 2 tickets to Hong Kong SoteyNo. S16025 M.D.A. ADA special Olympics Annual Fund Raising Annual runu 'J vO Vancouver.

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THE HONORABLE DAVID C. LAM..