The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 3

THE VANCOUVER SUN, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 21)06 AA3 NATION. IN BRIEF Wrapping up warm to face the storm tar i Wiretaps show Gretzky told the truth He insisted from the start he didn't learn of wife's gambling habit until police arrived i ''V'. i i IK." at. vJ V- ft DARREN CALABRESECANADIAN PRESS Iranian visitors Flrozl Afrough (left) and husband Hosseln bundle up for a blustery day In Halifax, N.S., on Sunday. A nor'easter dumped record levels of snow along the U.S.

eastern seaboard, and a weakened storm reached Atlantic Canada. The storm also caused flight trouble In Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Janet Jones, Wayne Gretzky Morning line Feb. 5 Janet Jones allegedly wins money betting on the Super Bowl. Feb.

6 Wayne Gretzky is recorded asking how Jones can avoid being named as a participant in gambling ring. Feb. 7 New Jersey police charge Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet and two others for running a gambling ring. MACDONALD TOP TORY HALIFAX Rodney MacDon-ald, 34, wrestled the leadership of Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservative party away from older, more seasoned men on Saturday to become Canada's youngest sitting premier. MacDonald, Nova Scotia's current tourism minister, will inherit the minority government of Premier John Hamm, who announced his retirement last fall after a decade in public life.

Mac-Donald will be sworn in Feb. 24. HARRIS TO TESTIFY TORONTO Sam George's decade-long campaign to uncover the truth behind his brother Dudley George's death at the hands of a police sniper reaches a crescendo this week as Mike Harris submits to the scrutiny of the Ipperwash inquiry. The former Ontario premier will face a gallery of spectators, a room full of lawyers and damning allegations he uttered an obscene slur in demanding native protesters be removed from a'provincial park on Sept. 6, 1995.

Last November, former attorney-general Charles Har-nick stunned the inquiry in testifying he heard Harris say "I want the f- Indians out of the park" during a meeting held hours before George was shot. N.S. BATTLES OVER SUNDAY HALIFAX Nova Scotia's Conservative government hopes to stamp out the latest brushfire of discontent over its ban on Sunday shopping by limiting the ability of pharmacies to expand their grocery sections. Last fall, grocery giants Sobeys and Atlantic Superstore complained that newly renovated pharmacies are allowed to open on Sundays and have become unfair competition. Nova Scotia has the most severe restrictons of any province on Sunday openings.

JOHNS FACE CAR SEIZURE EDMONTON Two years after passing a law allowing police to seize cars from men trying to buy sex on the street, Alberta is now ready to enforce it. Transportation Minister Lyle Oberg says the government will proclaim the law this spring. Those who lose their cars will have a chance to get them back by going to "john school." Sun News Services MPs split over decision to throw Hargrove out ofNDP BY BETH DEFALCO and ANGELA DELLI SANTI Specific information on when a wiretap conversation was recorded appears to support Wayne Gretzky's contention that he had no prior knowledge of an illegal gambling ring involving his wife and Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet. A New Jersey state police wiretapped conversation of Gretzky asking Tocchet how Gretzky's wife, Janet Jones, could avoid being named as a participant in the ring happened last Monday the day after Jones allegedly won money betting on the Super Bowl, sources told the Associated Press. A person with knowledge of the investigation confirmed the wiretap was recorded last Monday, the day Gretzky's lawyer said New Jersey detectives showed up at the Phoenix coach's doorstep looking to speak to his wife.

"Published reports that Wayne had spoken to Rick Tocchet about his concern for Janet prior to officers appearing at Wayne's house on Monday are completely ludicrous," said Gretzky's lawyer Ron Fujikawa. "It's absolute balderdash," On Tuesday, New Jersey authorities announced charges against Tocchet, a New Jersey state trooper and another New Jersey man for running a nationwide sports gambling operation. State police said wagers primarily on professional football exceeded $1.7 million in the five weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. Gretzky, revered as hockey's greatest player and now in his first season as Phoenix's coach, said he was unaware of any gambling accusations until Tocchet called him last Monday night. But when reports surfaced that a wiretapped conversation between Gretzky and Tocchet happened within the last month, questions over whether Gretzky knew about the ring before authorities contacted him last Monday spawned a publicity firestorm for the first family of hockey.

In all, sources say Jones bet at least $100,000 US on football. Jones has not been charged with any crime but is expected to be subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury investigating gambling activity, lawyers said. New Jersey police say placing a bet is not illegal but that it is against the law to act as a broker or to profit from gambling. Associated Press Newspaper j) Voices The Vancouver Sun Read Aloud This story can be heard online after 10:30 a.m. today at www.vancouveraun.comreadakHKl.

3 D5iut his message, Layton "actually complimented the CAW and our role during the election and said there was some differences of opinion and we'd have to iron those out," he said. He'll see Layton today at a meeting of the Canadian Labour Congress in Ottawa. Hargrove said he's not sure what he'll say to Lay-ton, but that he's confident he wasn't part of the decision. The decision to kick him out of the party is due punishment, considering Hargrove broke the NDP's constitution by encouraging people to vote Liberal, said Winnipeg NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis. "It was a clear-cut case of Buzz Hargrove suggesting people in the party vote for people other than New Democratic candidates, so on that basis, he is contrary to the stated objectives and constitution of the party." Can West News Service spokesman Karl Belanger.

The Ontario wing of the NDP voted to revoke Hargrove's party membership on Saturday because of his support for the Liberals, which they say violated the party's constitutioa Since party membership is controlled by provincial wings of the party, the Ontario executive's decision means Hargrove is out of the federal party as well. The news came as a surprise to Hargrove, especially since he said Layton called him Friday and left a lengthy voicemail message praising the role of the CAW during the election. "I don't think Jack Layton knew about this or was part of it. I'm convinced of that because it's completely contradictory to the message he left me on my cellphone, and that was Friday afternoon," Hargrove said Sunday. In BY CARLY WEEKS OTTAWA New Democrat MPs are at odds over the decision to kick Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove out of the party because of his decision to endorse the Liberals in the January federal election.

"I think it's pretty harsh justice," NDP MP Pat Martin said Sunday. "I think it's regrettable on all kinds of levels, really." NDP leader Jack Layton also dis-agrees with the decision to remove the powerful union leader, say MPs Joe Comartin and Brian Masse. They say they'll try to reverse the decision to oust the high-profile union leader from the party for backing "strategic voting" in the last election and supporting the Liberals. Layton wasn't available for com-ment Sunday, said party 1KHI rxii inn. i i.

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