Woman fights Employment Insurance battle dudy Smith Contributing Writer YOU'RE Iaid off from work and you apply for and get Employment Insurance (EI). So far so good. But what if EI staff decides you are a liar and harasses you for money the department claims it overpaid you? If you are North Vancouver's Melinda Peters, you fight back. In her case the battle lasted through a wedding, a pregnancy and the birth of her daughter. _ Peters, 29, went on EF in early January 1996 after a temporary job ended at the TD. bank. She worked. the last week of January and reported the earnings. _. A cheque came ovo weeks later and she realized nothing had been deducted. When she asked EI staff why, they told:her a mistake had been made. They would correct it iby taking the money from a later cheque. When she received a cheque for one week in early March, a relieved ’ Peters thought the matter was straightened out. Then she got married. “They cut:me off right away because they said I had to prove I didn’t go on a honeymoon.” She asked how the department could possibly prove she went on a hon- eymoon. It couldn't. But apparently she had to prove she didn’t. “I did all the paper work and then J started getting my cheques again, said a still-incredulous Peters. Peters transferred her claim to Ontario when she and her new husband moved there.:In October 1996 she was told an audit was to be conducted ‘on her claim. “I thought well, they can go right ahead. I was totally hon- est about everything.” In November EI staff told her she had failed to report earnings from the -TD bank in Vancouver. They didn’t believe her when she explained. the moncy had already been deducted. Peters received seven letters demanding ‘$151. Each increased in severity of tone. Letters started arriving from a collection agency on behalf of Revenuc Canada. To add to the nightmare, the correspondence came from three different EI. representatives with three different addresses. She senc letters to all three plus the collection agency begging them to straighten it out. Peters didn’t receive a single letter in return. ” When she moved back to North Vancouver in June 1997, she assumed | the matter had been resolved. She hadn’t had a letter for six months. Then in: December 1997, “I got a nice letter from them saying J had gone away and hidden on them and they were glad they finally found me.” And so it began again. ‘-. Turning up the heat, EI staff said they were now going to deduct the money she “owed” from her i income tax, “We ll, good for them, f don’t Wednesday, May 20, 1998 — North Shore News — 3 NEWS photo Tesry Peters NOW that her two-and-a-half-year battle with the government is over, Melinda Peters and daugh- ter Lyric can relax. Peters stil! wants a formal apology from Empicyment insurance staff for the stress she and her family suffered. Her first trip to the North Vancouver Lonsdale EI office was a waste of time. Even in the computerized parallel universe that is bureaucracy, they had to transfer her file from Onzario. The process took two months. She made an appoiniment with an EI staff member who told, Peters she had looked up her file: and saw thar Peters definitely owed the money. “She told me I should just be thankful that they were not charging me a fine for nor declaring I worked.” ’ Peters told the woman she was not satisfied and wanted to see her file. “She stood up, she was saad, she was screaming at me, pointing her fin- ger at me, that they had spent “enough money on me, that it’s only $151 and thar I should j just pay it because she’s not going to de anything more for me and that’s it.” Peters demanded a starement of all the money she’s received irom EI and the woman agreed. Six weeks later the statement arrived showing the money had in fact been deducted from her March cheque to compensate for her overpayment that January. She called them with the information and finally she said they believed her. “The statement I got was mailed May 2, 1998, and this all started January 1996. All for $151.” Three times since then, Peters has tried to talk to an EI supervisor about her treatment bur has never had s reply, She is filing a formal complaint and wants an apology for all the stress she : and her family. have endured. ” Department Drug mishap scuttles cruise Robert Galster News Reporter robert@nsnews.com ‘A graduation cruise came close to turning into a float- ing coffin for two of its guests. A Grade 12 Carson Graham stu- dent and her date were found unconscious aboard the Abitibi shortly after the pleasure craft left Coal Harbor’s Barbary Coast man- _na last Thursday evening. The vessel turned around and the two were rushed to hospital. They have since been released. According to Vancouver -Police spokesman Const. Anne Drennan the young couple had taken GHB or gamma-hydroxy- - buryrate, Drennan added that the ovo likely ingested the substance by first diluting 1t.in juice. She said the drug was used in the "60s as an anesthetic, but quickly fell out of favor because its side-effects include. seizures and respiratory - arrest, Bur it has been staging a come-. back: in yecent years in the U.S. underground drug market because of its euphoric and hallucinogenic properties. : ‘The drug's resurgence has also)!" led to various nicknames, including . Liquid X and Easy Lay, The latter is. a reference to its ability to put its: users into a deep ‘sleep and as a. result. vulnerable: co. run-ins with: sexual predators. Fo However, according to John : Ladds. of “Canada’s Healt - Prorection . Branch, GHB - only: * became a controlled substance on March 26 when. the — federal Controlled Drugs and Substances . Act was changed ro include it. - Before that it was an unregulated; and legal substance, said Ladds. .-. “But he cautioned against taking the drug lightly. “Te has been found in the systems - : work because I’m a stay-at- -home mom now.” on iy ‘Journalists laud former North ‘Van city councillor, columnist “Michael Becker "News Editor © michael@nsnews.com - FORMER North Shore newspaperman and North Vancouver City councillor Ralph Hall passed away on the weekend. He was 71. - Hall was found dead in his West 12th Street apartment on Monday. Despite suffering from gout and bad legs, he commuted by bus in recent years to The Richmond News where he worked as an editor and columnist since 1982. Hugh Dickson worked as a reporter at The Citizen, a North Shore-based newspaper while Hall was editor there. Said Dickson, “He was.an astute newspaper man and he hid an excellent knowledge of the history of North Vancouver.” Dickson said chat. Hall claimed to ‘be the first baby born in North Vancouver General ‘Hospital (now the activation wing of Lions Gate Hospital) and had said he was delivered by Dr. Carson Graham. In early years Hall enjoyed playing soccer, lacrosse and ‘baseball. ‘He later coached the North Shore senior men’s team based at Mahon Park. EI staff wouldn’t comment on her story. As a child, Hall attended St. Edmund’s Catholic school. While still in Grade 12 he wrote about sports for the North Shore Review. At 19 he was offered a job as an edi- tor with the paper. The Review competed against the North Shore Press at the time. Hall was hired as the founding editor of The Citizen in 1959, after former Vancouver Sun managing editor Hal Straight bought the Press and renamed it The Citisen. Hall served as editor of the paper to 1975. Hall left after the Sterling chain bought the paper and cut proofreading costs to save some money. The cost-cutting measure had precipitated some embarrassing moments. Said Hall in an interview for The Richmond News caclier this year, “For instance the new RCMP police chief was named Fuchs, only the h became a k (42 times in one story). That’s when I walked.” Hall wrote a column entitled Hallerings for the North Shore Review in the 1950s and later for The Citizen. Dickson said Hall had an encyclopedic knowledge of the history and the people of the North Shore, sports and music. Hall owned several. hundred records, swing-era big band, to folk and jazz. David Empey, a former sports writer with the Vancouver Sun and The Citisen, first met Hall when Empey was pitch- ing for the North Shore senior men’s tcam. Said Empey, “Ralph was Mr. Newspaper on the North everything from NORTH Shore notable Ralph Hall dead at 71. _ See Ingested page § i spaperman Ralph Hall dies Shore for a long while. He was a profession-:. al, he enjoyed life and he was a very compas- _ sionate guy. ¢ “His column (Hallerings) was one of, the™ best.read_ columns around. Ralph-Hall:was the Jack Wasserman of the North: Shore.” Empey remembers Hall as a “morning , guy.” He’d often come in to work at The Citizen at 6 a.m. for some golden quiet time ~ before the phones started ringing at 9 a.ra. “After work he loved to play records and: “idrink beer. Sinatra was his favorite, He was No. 1,” said Dixon. Hall told a Rickmond News reporter that ©: “he became a-newspaperman thanks to. his” “Since my. early teens my hobby has. been . .. reading. I spent a-lot of time in the North ae Vancouver library reading everything I could get my hands on. Reading remains my main hobby. T want to know something about everything.” Said Hall of his role as a columnist, “I may not have much money, but I do have a lot of opinions.” Hall served as a North Vancouver. City councillor from 1976 to 1987. He was fond of fine food and had a reputa- tion as a gourmet chef. ; Dickson said chat in his later years Hall became i increas- ingly reclusive. “One suspects that as the greatest light in the entertainment industry went out with the death of his beloved Frank Sinatra, it was the last straw for Ralph and he simply.gave up,” said Dickson. lifelong love of reading. Said Hall in January, -~