Fort McMurray Today from Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada • 1

Fort McMurray VOL 9 NO 58 THURSDAY DECEMBER 30 1982 35 cents By DOUGTATTRIE Today stall writer delegates from his Athabasca constituency will have to make up their own minds on minister Marc Lalbndc However the former president of the Alsands Energy Ltd Ed A across the country will come into effect in Fort McMurray on March 14 against anything that infringes on freedom" He said the defiance of the law is jusified because the compulsory part of-the law was passed by Cabinet order rather than by Parliament and has never been tested before the courts not sure it -is a Shields said sec why a person be able to sell peanuts by the handful or the He said he is opposed to a compulsory though not voluntary use of the metric system we can have two languages why we have two systems of measurements?" Under the present law businessmen would need a special permit to use the old measurements Shields 1 said adding don't think right should it matter how a Fort McMurray grocery store sells its -Shields said metrication will raise casts for businessmen while making trade more difficult with the United States points which the federal government says are negligible Shields also said he would support Joe Clark by voting against a leadership review at the Progressive Conservative convention to be held in Winnipeg Jan 27 But he said the other six new oil sands mining project will be announced within a year local MP Jack Shields predicted in an interview yesterday Shields also said he would support Conservative leader Joe Clark at the Tory convention Jan 27 as well as supporting those who defy the metric conversion laws Shields said oil industry sources have told him the new oil sand mining project would sell the bitumen to Syncrude Canada Ltd and Suncor Inc for upgrading The Athabasca MP would not release any further details shrugging off questions about which oil companies were involved in the project Shields said the turnaround in the oil industry reflected in the planning of programs such as a new oil sands project parallels a general economic revival year will be good The economy has hit the bottom" he said predicting better times He Attributed the change in oil industry fortunes to the more flexible attitude of the federal government towards the oil industry The Liberals were shocked at the collapse of Alsands earlier this year Shields said blaming the collapse solely on National Energy Policy (NEP) enforced by former Energy leadership ability want to influence them" he said adding subject never came up when the delegates were Some elements of the federal Conservative party have said Clark cannot win the next election and are trying to oust him from the leadership Any rejection of a leadership review by the convention would mean Clark has the support of the party regardless of how close the vote was Shields said Czaja also blamed the Lougheed-Trudeiau energy pricing agreement high interest rates inflation and falling world oil prices newly-appointed Energy Minister Jean) Chretien has a reputation as a good fellow It was no coincidence he got the job" Shields said In other matters Shields said he would support any merchants who defy metric conversion (aw by selling goods such as groceries and gas by the pound or gallon The law introduced in stages' CJOK throws a birthday party THE BIGGER THE BETTER Four-year-old Lee Rosenkranz probably had the biggest Christmas stocking in McMurray after he won this prize from a local auto-dealership in a pre-Christmas promotion McMurray Drew Stowell made the presentation to the happy youngster The new 10 000-wait frequency requires that the station change from 1230 on the radio dial to 550 but it will intensify signal making it possible to get clearer reception at the two oil sands plants and at Grcgoirc Lake Station manager Dan McAllister said the problem of buildings affecting reception within the city will also be overcome The actual power increase will not be implemented before spring or summer though because transmitter location needs to be McAllister said clear the land until A second project in the works is application for an I'M license McAllister couldn't say exactly when such a station would be implemented depends on how fast we get the application together" Once the application is submitted there must be a public hearing formal approval and land preparation for a transmitter site His best estimate? by our next In the meantime CJOK will content itself with adjusting to 24 houts of broadcasting The current staff of 18 includes new announcer Peter Williams who will handle the midnight shift Williams is no newcomer to McMurray He left the city because of a bout with cancer but the disease is presently in remission The local radio station is also staffed by five other radio announcers lour news and sports staff three people in sales two commercial writers and four office staff including the station manager CJOK is one of three radio stations owned by the OK Radio Group I hc other two are CKER in Edmonton and CTOK in Wcstlock just north of Edmonton By CYNTHIA LOCH Today stall writer Nostalgic reminiscing will be tempered by new hopes and expectations tomorrow night as Fort McMurray residents join CJOK staffers to celebrate the radio 10th anniversary Local radio station CJOK is holding its bash at the Sheraton Northwoods Prime Time nightclub where it will broadcast live throughout the evening to mark the commencement of its new 24-hour format Until now the radio station has maintained a 6 am to midnight broadcasting formal with sister station CFOK Radio in Wcstlock filling in the remaining six hours each morning There will be invited guests such as Roger Charest and Stu Morton co-owners of the OK Radio Group which owns CJOK and two other radio stations in Alberta and Athabasca MP Jack Shields attending the event City council members and long time diems of the station have also been invited as well as the general public to help make the celebration a memorable event CJOK will begin broadcasting live from Prime Time at 9 pm and will continue until 2 am providing the nightclub with music and the community with a New Eve atmosphere Despite the emphasis being placed on graduation to a 24-hour format bigger and better things may be in the works for the radio station during this coming year Pending formal written approval from the federal Communications Commission in January CJOK will increase its power from 1(XK) to 10 (XX) watts New year offers some good news Tenth heist baffles Edmonton city police EDMONTON (CP) A daring daylight robbery of a guard in a crowded downtown department store marks the city's 10th unsolved major theft in two years the same thing all over again" said Del Bob Kirkhope at the scene of eighth armored-vehicle robbery this year 5 Although police investigators declined to link $100000 'robbery to other recent holdups there are similarities On Wednesday the robbers took away the revolver and handcuffed him The same thing happened in a $22-million Loomis guard robbery near a downtown bank Nov24 and in an $85000 guard robbery at another Edmonton department store Nov29 Staff Sgl Cliff Tetzlaff whose tactical unit is co-ordinating the police investigation into the robbery rampage said the guard on Wednesday was 'making a routine delivery guard was coming up the escalator on the way to the credit he said man followed him up and the others were Police said the three men positioned at the top of the escalator may have had their guns in clear view of shoppers for as long as two minutes before the robbery occurred The guard had gun barrels pushed into his stomach ear and back during the incident but was unharmed His assailants three wearing balaclavas apparently split up before making their escape At least two ran down a nearby stairwell A salesclerk who witnessed the robbery said the incident appeared unreal a play" and that the robbers' big black handguns looked like toys heard all this commotion and a guy yelled: out of my way or she said turned around and saw all these ladies just jump back and these guys ran Eyewitnesses spotted three of the men carrying white money bags dart into a van parked at a service entrance The escape vehicle was found abandoned 20 minutes later Police believe the robbers transferred to a waiting stationwagon Armed robberies in Edmonton have netted culprits more than S5 million in the last two years None of the money has been recovered Meanwhile a Vancouver police official said there may be connections between the Edmonton robberies and a recent holdup at a downtown department store in the coastal city arc definitely some similarities but we're not sure it's the same group of said Sgt Bob Desmaris of Vancouver's major crimes section co-operating with the Edmonton force and we will be keeping an eye on suspects they might Handcuffs were also used in Vancouver's robbery The string of armored-car robberies in Edmonton started Dec 16 1980 when two men hit a Loomis guard for $303000 as he left the students' union building at the University of Alberta Tetzlaff said the growing trend toward robbing guards instead of banks could have been inspired by word of successful robberies of this type spreading around the community A niakuc iLiLiAY retired workers who contributed to the plan are based largely on earnings and the number of years individuals contributed to the plan Those who retire in 1983 will get monthly cheques of up to $34515 Maximum for those retiring in 1982 was $30765 GOOD AM) BAD For consumers the first two months of 1983 will be both good and bad as increases in the cost of mailing letters and eating dairy products are offset by decreases in the cost of heating homes and driving Rates for first-class letters will increase six per cent to 32 from 30 cents Feb 15 All other postal levies will rise six percent Jan 15 Jan 1 from $24789 and for each person in a married couple to $19487 from $191 12 Family allowance payments in most provinces will increase Jan I to $2852 per month per child under 18 years of age from $2691 Payments vary slightly in Alberta and Quebec But the child tax credit $343 for each child for the 1982 taxation year will continue to be indexed to inflation There is also some good news for the 14 million people eligible for Canada Pension Plan benefits Payments will increase by 112 per cent to match inflation in recent months CPP payments made to all increases in federally-regulated wages prices and benefits to six and live per cent over the next two years LIMIT PENSIONS Old age pensions paid to all those 65 and older will increase 15 per cent Jan 1 to $25062 from $24692 Payments are adjusted every three months However guaranteed income supplements paid to seniors with little or no income aside from the basic pension will continue to be tied to the inflation rate Poorest seniors receiving the supplement will get a further hike offsetting fully any potential pension loss Maximum monthly supplement for single people will rise to $25260 OTTAWA (CP) Canadians will get some breaks in 1983 but the bad news outweighs the good in the wake of the worst recession since the 1930s Inflation which hit a 2W-year low of 98 per cent in November is expected to continue dropping slowly to about eight per cent And energy costs will be lower than predicted starting with a temporary drop in consumer prices for gasoline and home heating oil Jan 1 But federal payments to pensioners and mothers will not cover inflation income taxes will jump and postal rates and dairy prices will increase Unemployment now a record 15 million including those who have given up looking for work is expected to get worse The unemployed get a small break as maximum weekly benefits rise 10 per cent to $23 1 from $210 But those who still have jobs and their employers will contribute more to the unemployment insurance fund Workers will pay a weekly maximum of $886 up from $578 while employers fork over a weekly maximum of $1240 instead of S809 Senior citizens and mothers also face some bad news Increases in old age pensions and family allowance payments usually tied to the inflation rate will be limited to six per ccm The move is can of ihe government program atnud at keeping Advisory group to meet in city A provincial advisory committee on student affairs will conduct a public meeting in Fort McMurray during the first week in January The student affairs advisory committee will be in the city to hear and receive submissions dealing with student-related issues in post-secondary education Past meetings have included discussion on student housing and living arrangements food service on-campus lounge areas student financial aid and long-term tuition fee policies The committee will use the information it receives to advise the Alberta Advanced Education Minister Dick Johnston of possible policy changes The advisory committee is one of six educational committees reporting directly to the minister of advanced education The other committees include: college affairs further education tcchnical-vocaiipnal education university affairs and native education The native education advisory committee also reports directly to the minister of Alberta Education The meeting of the student affairs committee will be held from 1 to 3 pm Friday Jan 7 in the -executive board room at Kcyano College Groups associations or individuals wishing to meet with or submit proposals to the student affairs advisory committee during its meeting in the city should telephone Janina Vanderpost at 427-5991 (collect).