Federal charges faced

A CANADA-WIDE inves-

tigation of alleged misrep-

resentation of profit involv-

ing travel vouchers has

resulted’ in five charges

against two North . Vancouver brothers.

By Anna Marie D'Angelo aI

News Reporter

David Kalenuik and Nathan Kalenuik were charged under the federal Competitions Act last Friday.

Their company, Investors Choice Product Brokerage Lid., carrying on business as Fortune in Motion Ltd., was also named in the charges.

Industry Canada marketing branch officer Dave Shoobert :said the allegations against the brothers: involved disclosing eaming potentials which’ were ‘not what the average person in the multi-level marketing plan was making:

f° “They'd allegedly say if you - join our plan, this is how much

money you would make.” said

| Shoobert from Ottawa. He declined to give the numbers involved.

F The federal government began its investigation into the “brothers last summer, said . Shoobert.

‘.° The brothers allegedly used only examples of people who «had made. a lot of money _ through the business. The offences were allegedly . committed in: 8 Barrie, Ontario on Now, 26, 1994, -: J Ottawa on Nov, 29, 1994: ® Bumaby on Dec. |. 1994; - Bf Edmonton on Dec. 5, 1994: +f Kamloops on Jan. 17,1994,

Team enforces international

sea standards

COAST GUARD Capt. Guy Thompson is one of 40 B.C. safely inspectors making sure “rustbuckets” and “floating coffins” don’t leave western ports.

By fan Noble News Reporter

Inspectors aim to check 25% of ships moving through B.C. ports - each year to determine whether the vessels meet international stan- dards.

ifa ship doesn’t. repairs may be teauired before the ship suils.

West Vancouver-based Thompson said inspectors establish a priority list of ships to be inspect- ed, All cruise ships are inspected, as © are tankers carrying oil and chemi- cals.

The third priority are vessels more than 10 years old flying cer- tain flags and carrying high density cargoes such as concentrates, potash and sulphur.

One such vessel is the AP/ Angad, an (8- year-old bulk carrier flying the Indian flag.

“The indian flag vessels with regard to safety inspections have not had a good record.” said Thompson.

Although the carrier had visited the port six months earlier, in March of this year the ship was detained in Port Moody during a run to pick up potash and sulphur.

The job: of inspecting the ship in North Vancouver fell to Thompson.

Inspections can take as little as four hours, but

. the Angad's inspection took days because of the

number of problems found. Thompson said. The APJ Angad suffered from severe corro- sion in its topside’ water. ballast tanks: hatch coamings were in poor.condition leading to toss of structural strength. Hatch covers were e corrod-

nd sales cas

Those were the main items, said Thompson.

Would Thompson have sailed on the ship in that condition?

“No, | wouldn't,” he said.

However, while being monitored by Thompson, the ship's repairs were made by Vancouver's Intermarine Industries.

The ship sailed from Vancouver with a load of grain May 2.

“There's sno doubt the vessel is a lot more

seaworthy now, "Thompson said.

Ship inspectors scrutinize areas such as the ship’s structure and safety equipment, and officer certification.

Substandard ships pose more of a hazard to the crew on board while at sea than to people using the Port of Vancouver. Thompson said.

According to an article written by a Transport Canada public affairs spokesman, some poorly maintained vessels have received names such as

NEWS photo Terry Peters

BULK CARRIER APJ Angad: shown at Pier 94, did not pass coast guard inspections. it received extensive repairs locally before being allowed ‘to leave the Port of Vancouver.

rustbucket or floating coffin from safety inspec- tors. "

Thompson said most ships arriving © in Vancouver provide a regular service and run sea- worthy operations.

Problems occasionally occur’ with “tramp ships.” which don’ { arrive in B. C. ports regular-

ly.

In all cases ships are, detained: “for problems “the officers are well aware of the condition of the vessel.” Thompson said.

A computer in St. Malo, France, provides information to ports around the world on the repair history of ships. Inspections now occur at ports worldwide. said Thompson, duc to “a con-

' siderable, outcry” in the maritime world about the’

high losses of substandard ships.

OF 1,413 ships that visited B.C. ports i in 1993.2.

40.5% . were inspected. About 20 ‘vessels are. detained each year. ;

h use faultec

"NORTH VANCOUVER DISTRICT’s practice of using money from land sales to pay. for operational expenses is “dis-

astrous for taxpayers.” said Coun. Ernie

Crist.

e By Tan Noble pa seca

..News Reporter

- Millions the district has spent, on mainte-

nance items such as ‘painting .and’ road improvements should have. come. from tax levies, not the land sales that did fund them, ‘Crist contends.

“ “The money has been squandered." he said. “It’s also the ultimate in irresponsibility and stupidity.” : “tts a nice way of covering incompe- tence, ’Cristadded.

: District director of. financial services Michael Hoskin said nearly all the money from district land sales has been spent or car- “marked for projects.

= But he disagrees with Crist’s assertions that the money has been squandered. “,. “Money has been spent in accordance with

the capital budget approved by council.” he «said, =” Crist said cash from land sales should have “been placed in the Heritage Fund, and the

Council looking at capital funding changes ;

interest from the fund used to pay for capital items, which include additions to the district’ S infrastructure. Crist said...

Crist added the cash then could have been there for future generations.

Money from land sales goes into the Tax.

Sale:Land Reserve Fund. All of the $12 mil- lion remaining in the fund has been assigned for‘expenditures.

In the past [5 years, that fund has con- tributed $179 million towards $361 million in capital expenditures.

The Heritage Fund now contains about $5 million. If land sale money had been put in the Heritage Fund, the city would now be making about $20 million in interest, Crist added.

Crist said the need for cash to run the dis- trict: propels the municipality’s push to sell land for development in contentious areas such as Cove Forest and Mountain Forest.

“What are you going to do when the land is gone?” he asked, estimating that will occur in

-10 years.

Because of the district’s urgency for cash, the district must sel] land at giveaway prices,

and even sells when the market is depressed, -

Crist said. That puts the district al a disadvantage, said Crist, so developers have the district over

a barrel, : The district has two separate budgets. The,

_ operational budget is used to run the district

and includes items such as salaries and main- lenance. |

The other budget, the capital budget, pays for capital expenses such us equipment, parks, recreation ,complexes,. and libraries, said Hoskin.

Crist said some items in the capital budget, which is: mainly funded by land sales. are real- ly operational expenses.

Although the district is in the throes of a five-year plan to transfer nearly $5.5 million from the operational budget to pay for capital expenditures, Crist said that is not enough.

He said the $5.5 million should be maved immediately, then taxes should be raised on average $140 a year for taxpayers to cover the shortfall.

“That figure could be sharply reduced by.

making our municipal operation more effi- cient.” he said.

According to municipal atfairs ministry spokesman Juliette Proom, revenue from land sales must be put into a special reserve fund. which can only be used for capital expenses.

However, deciding what is a. capital expense and what is an operational expense

‘can be cloudy. she said. -

Is a roof that needs fixing every 30 years a ' capital or operational expense? she asked."

“That's where things get grey,” she said.

Crist said cash to pay for. fixing roots, painting buildings and replacing equipment has been wrongly taken from the capital bud- get instead of the operational budget.’ :

To get around the Municipal Act, the dis- trict calls what it does something else, Crist | said.

Road patching becomes road reconstruc- tion, which meets act requirements, but is con- trary to the spirit of the law, Crist added.

Hoskin, however, disagrees. “Items in the

‘ capital budget are proper capital expendi-

tures,” he said.

Hoskin said district council has been look- ing at how it will fund capital items in the future. Council wants ‘to reduce reliance. on the sale of land for capital funding. a

With more of the operations budget ear- marked for capital items for the next five years, other revenue sources may be needed.

Operations may be scaled back, ineffi icieny | :

cies could be reduced’ or taxes may go up. “That's an issue addressed each year by coun- cil.” Hoskin said.

He said the district clearly ‘recognizes’ it cannot continue selling land to pay for capital : expenses at the pace it has. :