Weisgerber ‘main target at local meeting THE - LEADER of 8B.C.’s Reform. party says the party's board: is. investigating why a planned all-candidates meeting ‘for. leadership hopefuls in Abbotsford ‘last. week. turned into. a meet-and-grect. session for. only: one of the five candi- dates, Jack Weisgerber.” » By Karen’ ‘Mason Contributing Writer. Party leader. Ron Gamble. made «the statement after two of the candi- dates and some members of the pub- lic raised questions about the inci- ‘dent at another all-candidates meet- ‘ing in North Vancouver.on Monday: ' ¥ Bight. : ~The meeting ‘was the last in a ‘series that has provided ‘the leader- ship contenders with the opportunity - to give speeches and answer ques- “tions from party, members in.more than:.a. dozen locations ‘across the _ Province." |. » The’ campaign tour has been marked ‘by ; growing suspicions among some: party ‘faithfuls_ that Weisgerber,’a former Social Credit house leader who: crossed ‘the floor this year, with: three colleagues “to REFORM B.C. teadership hopefuls gathered Monday in North Van to meet with supporters. At the. NEWS photo Brad Ledtwidge / He told the North Vancouver crowd that some of his former, Socred supporters who have. been working to build Reform party mem- bership in Abbotsford, promoted the event as a chance for voters 10 ineet Weisgerber, and not necessarily the rest of the leadership candidates, Weisgerber said he didn’t protest the decision to make him the only. speaker because he knew that “the next evening, less than 10. minutes drive away, in Aldergrove, there was already advertised an all-candidates foruni,” and the others would have an opportunity to campaign at. thal time. AS to the accusations that he's using past Socred successes to hijack the race, Weisgerber said, “Pye deliberately not gone out of my: dyay to bing high-profile Socreds santo, the party because | want. to i iake sure that we have a solid buse Of grassroots membership and that “we don't seem to be trying to over. podium, Ron Gamble of North Vancouver is flanked bys Joe Leong (left) and Peter Pollan (right), ; whelm people.” join Reform. is stacking his candida: : cy with old supporters in an attempt to hijack the race. j For some, those suspicions were confirmed in Abbotsford, when the other four candidates, Gamble, Wilf : Hanni, Joe Leong and Terry Milne, turned up to take part in an all-can- didates meeting, but were forced to leave after. the majority. of the crowd voted not to hear them speak. . “Abbotsford really drew a'line in the sand,” said Milne, who believes ‘the party's director of communications. the way , Weisgerber handled the affair is out of line with Reform’'s commitment to openness. In a clear reference to the inci- ‘dent, Milne told the close to 75 pea- ple» who attended the . North Vancouver meeting, “We in_ this ‘party welcome former Social Credit members, und members of any other _party, if they. have truly turned to Reform. But, the people of this province will not support a party of Socreds in Reform clothing.” y truck traffic banned from Lillooet Road NORTH VANCOUVER District's attempt to 1 ccess to” North Shore BB ing truck, “occasions. Under . the revenue-sharing agreement between. the province and the municipality, the dis- . trict cannot restrict access to the road, he said. He added’ that ministry staff can find no evi-.. Ty. Highways approved ‘bylaw: beeen ‘truck 30,000 kilograms (66,138: Ibs. ) om using:Li looet ‘the ylaw’s s tacit goal, of: stopping. logging -in the ~. eymour, and" ‘Capilano - watersheds, because the ; : ty’ of logging trucks use Capilano Road. Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) st’ majo! atershed operations superintendent Derek Bonin estimates that-885 logging trucks with loads used Capilano Road in 1993, while only 33 used Lillooet -Road to access Seymour watershed...’ “Tn 1994, 600 of 630 expected loads will travel on Capilano Road. ‘Transportation ' Ministry media relations officer « Jim Davidson said the ministry.did not approve the “ “bylaw for Capilano Road because provincial money - helped .with itaprovements to that road: on three ‘dence of, revenue sharing between the provincial ‘: government and the municipality for improvements to Lillooet Road. : ‘District Coun. Ernie Crist, a proponent of the | “bylaw, said he does not: believe council'.should "epeedl the decision because ‘ ‘it would be a waste of ., : He instead called for council to double its efforts © to force the Greater. Vancouver Regional District to. » Stop, logging i in the watershed. He said the bylaw is .. a clear message to the GVRD that the district wants © the’ logging stopped. He termed the'decision a psy- : “> chological ‘victory, adding, “We're making) an’. , important point.” Council had passed the bylaw banning vehicies over 30,000 kilograms from using Capilano and Lillooet roads on Aug. 8. That_effectively limited only logging trucks, which can weigh up to 51,000 kg (112,434 tbs.), including their load; from ‘using the. roads: In, contrast, B.C. Transit buses have a gross weight of 18,000 kg (39,683 Ibs.), stated a June {3 district staff report. District traffic and administration manager - Gavin Joyce said logging trucks smaller than 30,000 kg may'still be able to use Lillooet Read. He has prepared a report that will go to councillors Friday and be discussed at Monday's council meet- / f room tactics.”. - Vancouver RCMP. © ' Hanni-also made a not-so-veiled - reference to ,Weisgerber in his speech, saying, “Anyone who aspires to lead this party must prac- tice openness and accountability in . his own leadership campaign and in 7 the running of the party when he“ becomes leader. There is no room in this party for old- fashioned back Weisgerber said what pened : in Abbotsford was. an unfortunate misunderstanding. Despite the focus on ‘Weisgerber, the candidates had an opportunity to tickle. some other. issues . at Monday's mecting. : They responded to. questions - from the crowd on topics ranging from government funding of abor- ‘tions to native land claims to federal ‘proposals on tougher gun control legislation. . An estimated 4,200 B.C. Refonn | ’ Party members have until Dec. 31.to| o : mail in:their completed, leadership ballots. The party's, new: ‘leader will’ «, be announced in mid-January... Defence counsel hears. ‘an, interesting story From page 1 Canadian passport.) aa The undercover’'a agent allegedly ‘told “Ashrafinia / that.‘ he . needed . ports, entry into. Canada‘ and, some cases, hotel accommodation «' . Vlug called Straith ithe alleged criminal ac ‘another passport for his brother in vd Toronto who woud | likely: not get. , refugee status. : j “On Aug.''23,: the undercover. agent -allegedly .gave Ashrafinia a =, description of the person who wanted the forged, passport. On Aug. 24, a man reported his Iranian’. passport | stolen to the North The RCMP. undercover ‘Agent allegedly ‘received the’ man's: doc-”’ -tored passport in connection. with | his request for a forged passport,a few weeks later. The price: $1,800. .. Straith flipped through pages of. alleged ctiminal immigration activ- ities dssociated with the accused. The. federal Crown lawyer said the.” undercover. RCMP officer allegedly received ‘unsolicited endorsements’ about Ashrafinia’s work from: members: of the local.’ Iranian community. They indicated ° that their relatives had used his, forged documentation to get into and stay in Canada. The: undercover agent also _Teported: that Ashrafinia and anoth- ‘er person wanted $8,000 for an ille- gal immigration. The price, Straith ° said, included air fare,. fake pass- “, “His communication , with the undercover police, I’d ask how that - went?” said Vlug, who'is aiso deaf and was communicating. throug! an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. ©’. -.: ' Viug said his client knew about - “An‘undercover (ratte ‘officer) is not" very effective in'the iranian ~The: undercover RCMP. officer: involved i in the investigation that so’ far: has: resulted in the charge: of.: seven people with various infrac tions has an Iranian-ethnic back-* ground and is fluent in Farsi... Meanwhile; ‘ Paradis: acknow!l-. ; - edged . that “Ashrafinia understood */ the English the judge spoke, to the ASL interpreter in court. ;-° : “ Paradis ordered : Ashrafinia fot: to change his address.; Ashrafinia is slated to appear in | court again on Dec. 14! .