DUTAOUAiS C2 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN TUESDAY, MAY 17, 1988 By John Kessei Citizen staff writer Robert Tamblyn, a Toronto consulting engineer, made the comments under questioning from a company lawyer. But during cross-examination by Assistant Crown Attorney Ted Gulliver, he said wind conditions the day of the explosion could also have created the reverse situation. Air pressure inside the house could have been strong enough to force air from the house into the garage, said Tamblyn, instead of drawing air and possibly explosive propane into the house from the garage. Tamblyn did not speculate on the likely cause of the explosion. The Ontario Fire Marshal believes the explosion was caused by an overpressure of gas in the townhouse, brought on by a doub- le failure of the natural gas regulator.
Fire marshal engineer Rene Caskanette says in his report that a regulator vent likely froze shut and debris blocked the gas opening into the house. This allowed excess gas pressure into the house, the report says. No evidence has been presented to determine if a barbecue pro pane cylinder found in the garage was empty or full. Forensic evidence indicates only that the shut-off valve on the cylinder appeared to be closed. In earlier testimony during the inquest, the gas company and Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations officials said propane stored in the garage could not be ruled out as a possi ble cause of the explosion.
The inquest was adjourned Monday to June 27. Coroner Walter Harris said conflicting schedules of the eight lawyers representing the various parties has forced a further delay. The inquest began Nov. 16. It was adjourned Nov.
30 for a high court appeal of one of Harris's rulings. It resumed again May 2. as muM Siaw Eksoed snEidl Binisadfes A Consumers Gas heating expert told the inquest into the death of Marielle Lalonde that leaking propane gas from the garage could have been sucked into her Orleans home. Lalonde, 27, died in a fiery explosion April 1, 1987, at her Ho-skins Crescent townhouse. OBE education director retires still accentuating the positive By Pat Bell Citizen staff writer 4 zi v.
i j-. 1 4 Gloucester force getting bilingual policy draft By Ian MacLeod Citizen staff writer The Gloucester police force is to hire a consultant this week to draft a bilingual-services policy for the force. Police commissioner Guy Pot-vin, member of a committee studying bilingualism within the force, said one of the aims of the consultants' study will be to ensure the force satisfies the requirements of Ontario's French Language Services Act. Passed by province in 1986, the act guarantees bilingual services by 1989 in 22 areas of the province where francophones make up 10 per cent of the population or number 5,000. Potvin said Gloucester's population of about 95,000 is about 30-per-cent French-speaking.
He said four consulting firms are competing for the contract, to be presented during a police commission meeting Wednesday. He said the study is to cost about $35,000. Police Chief Lester Thompson said about 30 per cent of the force's 150 officers and civilian staff already are bilingual and that there have only been a handful of complaints about lack of French-speaking police services since 1982. Potvin added that schedules for patrolmen are designed so French-speaking officers are on duty at all times in all sections of the city. Potvin said the consultants' study will look at several questions, including whether the cur She's an idealist and has counted on a team of pragma-tists to put some of her dreams into action.
The one closest to her heart is the Focus on Futures project in several elementary schools where socially and economically disadvantaged students now get nutritious snacks and extra attention. When she was assistant director of education, Lemieux visited all 58 OBE elementary schools in two months, and was stunned to find "pink children and grey children." "I was filled with discomfort and shame to think I hadn't known the needs of some of these children. This was something I took personally and knew had to be pursued. Now the principals all see the program as an important part of what we do with our children to make sure they get the most out of school." If her health allows, Lemieux plans to research additional ways to enrich the lives of school-age children whose early years have not included the experiences an average middle-class family might take for granted. She's thrilled with the trustees' choice of her replacement Bob Gillett, who has been her assistant for the past three years.
"I think I was the right person at the time and Bob is the right person for now. We have lots of respect for each other." When Charlotte Lemieux was a school superintendent several years ago, a teacher came to her for advice. Lemieux started the conversation by asking the teacher to describe "the most wonderful thing that happened in your classroom today." That emphasis on what's important and what's positive in education has been the hallmark of Lemieux's 37-year career. Forced by ill health to take early retirement June 30, the Ottawa public board's director of education says she's happy to know her beliefs and commitment to learning are shared. A huge picnic today at Vincent Massey Park, tagged "an outdoor celebration of Charlotte's Web" after the children's book by E.
B. White, will be her only retirement party. Several thousand Ottawa Board of Education employees are expected to attend. Lemieux, 55, is delighted with the picnic idea. "It's the realization of a dream," she said during a recent interview in her spacious office filled with photographs, paintings and sculptures of active children.
"When you get everybody together, you feel strongly about the whole system. Every player in the team is important. "I would hope it would be an annual picnic after this." Lemieux began her career in 1951 as a teacher with the Otta- Charlotte Lemieux Every player important wa Separate School Board. She also taught at the University of Ottawa Teachers' College, and served as an education officer with the Ministry of Education. She joined the OBE in 1977 as assistant superintendent of program and was rapidly promoted to superintendent of schools, superintendent of academic affairs and then to director of education in 1985.
Describing her approach as "holistic," Lemieux says she has very strong beliefs about the importance of learning and those who work with her know this. "I do what I think I'm supposed to do provide direction. I know where I'm going and where I want the system to go, but at the same time I've allowed people to take their own routes to get there." 1 -Ti til A 'l'-A Board's new education director says students must come first rent level of bilingual services is adequate or whether more can be offered. Thompson said the force's current hiring policy recognizes the advantage of hiring bilingual offi- By Pat Bell Citizen staff writer rprs nnr rlnAS nnr rnlp nut hinna 1 1 i 1 1 Paul Latour, Citizen Sleep stop: A small boy put some free time to good use on the Rideau Street bus mall Monday as his mother kept an eye out for their bus. a umunguai omcer uie person is the best overall candidate for the job.
h4 Action Line Vua But he's convinced that meeting the needs of students must be the primary focus. "Without that, all the rest doesn't matter." Faced with Cutbacks in provincial funding, sharing resources with separate school and French-language school boards and the special needs of children in inner-city schools, there are hard decisions to be made. "But if we can't find ways of serving our children with a budget of $220 million, we'll have to ask what we're doing here." He wants to cut down on the number of high school dropouts. He wants to save taxpayers' money by having the region's school boards work together. One way might be to share school buses, instead of each board maintaining its own bus service.
Gillett is also good at working with trustees who often appear at cross purposes. "He's a realist. He's earned his spurs," says Trustee Alex Cullen. "We're all in this together," says Gillett. "There were 250 evening meetings last year.
You have to want to improve education to put in that amount of time. appointed May 9 to succeed Charlotte Lemieux. He and Lemieux share the same fundamental student-centred approach to education and have been working as partners, although sometimes it has seemed he is the tough guy and Lemieux has taken a gentler stand. Gillett, born in Ottawa and a graduate of Rideau High School and Carleton University, has been an OBE employee since 1969 when he began teaching English and French at Sir John A. Macdonald High School.
Since then, he has been vice-principal at Glebe Collegiate, principal of continuing education, superintendent of continuing education, superintendent of schools and assistant director of education. "I've been very fortunate to get this global view. It's given me a chance to get a perspective on problems I hadn't understood, he said in an interview. "And working with Charlotte has been a real partnership. She is the ultimate humanist and that's very good for an administration." Gillett is well aware that large issues loom for trustees and administration to tackle.
On July 1, Bob Gillett, 44, takes on the top administrative position of a corporation that employs 4,000 people and will spend a 1988 budget of $220 million. That corporation is the Ottawa Board of Education. It operates 80 schools and educational centres, serves 33,000 regular students and 80,000 continuing education students. Appointed unanimously by trustees, Gillett is also the popular choice of OBE staff and parents who make it their business to monitor board actions. "Education in this city will be the better for this appointment," said Elda Allan, who heads the board's community liaison advisory committee.
Two years ago the two were locked in bitter battle over the OBE's decision to close Fisher Park High School. Now they are friends with mutual respect for each other's commitment to education. "He's always available to the community and we've gotten to know him," Allan said. "He's got an open-door policy." Assistant to the director of education since 1985, Gillett was Toddler stable after fall from window Group studies health care for elderly By John Ibbitson Citizen staff writer Consider this possible scenario for the future: Public and private health-care plans face bankruptcy, as an aging population strains their resources to the breaking point. Young and middle-aged citizens are deprived of adequate health care because the huge numbers of elderly demand that the system cater to their needs first.
The break-up of the traditional family forces ever-larger numbers of the elderly into institutional beds and meaningless lives. Now consider this: Workers take paid leaves-of-ab-sence to care for aging relatives. Peer groups of elderly citizens assume responsibility for each other's care. Cities establish self-contained communities for the aged as an alternative to institutional care. To help attain the later vision, an Ottawa-based health-care institute has dedicated itself to examining and assessing options for the future of Canada's health-care system.
The Institute for Health Care Facilities of the Future concluded its second annual meeting in Ottawa Monday. After the meeting, Douglas Angus, executive director of the institute, announced plans for the publication of a report outlining the options for Canada's health-care future. Angus said his institute is working to provide solutions to the "eitheror" dilemma currently faced by many of today's elderly. Too often, he said, "people are either cared for at home, or they're in some kind of institution." One answer may give the business sector a bit of a shock. "It may mean that employers in the country are going to have to start looking at options that some European countries are looking at, namely setting up employment patterns whereby workers can have passes to look after aging members of theii family." Citizen staff Do you need help with a problem? If so, call Action Line at 829-9100 from 9 a.m.
to noon, Monday to Friday, or write to Action Line at The Citizen, P.O. Box 5020, Ottawa K2C 3M4. Please send photocopies of original documents. We cannot acknowledge receipt of all letters. Seniors' lodge sends along cheque For the past two months, I have been trying to get a refund from Rothwell Heights Lodge.
My mother was a resident at the lodge until she broke her hip late last year. She was hospitalized and never returned to the home. The account at the lodge had been paid in advance. The lodge owes about $160 for food and a further $616 for unused lodgings. In addition, there is an outstanding credit in the lodge's tuck shop.
I have had many telephone conversations with people at the lodge and about three weeks ago they finally sent me a statement of account, but no cheque. I was told in a subsequent telephone conversation that the cheque would have to come from Toronto. It is now three weeks since that statement was made and still no cheque. I am hoping you might be able to find out what the holdup is. I find now that my telephone calls are not returned by the lodge.
N. Beament, Ottawa A cheque totaling $867 was mailed to you shortly after my contact. As for the money in the tuck shop, it has to be picked up personally and requires a signature to have it released. The lodge's administrator says she was unaware of any problem concerning the refund and says that one of her staff did attempt to contact you. In any event, apologies have been extended along with the money.
Body shop will cast deciding vote In April, I took my 1978 Thunderbird to Ziebart on Bank Street to have the windows tinted. When the car came out of the shop it had a jagged scratch on the rear fender. I know the scratch wasn't there before they did the work as I had taken it the day before to a local car wash to have it washed and perma-coated. In addition, a Ziebart employee and I went over the car before it went in the garage. When I saw the scratch, a discussion ensued, sometimes heated, with the end result being that the firm's owner refused any responsibility.
I went to three body shops for estimates to get the damage repaired and they all come in around the $200 mark. I would appreciate anything you could do. D. Swinimer, Ottawa The owner of the Ziebart garage flatly denies any responsibility and what's more says he "absolutely doesn't believe there is anything wrong with the car." However, he also doesn't want to see a dissatisfied customer and says in order to keep peace and quiet he would like you to take your car to Algonquin Body Shop. That's where he deals, and, if it A three-year-old Vanier boy was in stable condition Monday after falling from a third-floor apartment window to a parking lot below, police said.
Ottawa police Insp. Garry Rae said the boy, whose name hasn't been released, crawled out an open bedroom window of his family's Blake Boulevard apartment shortly before 9 a.m. and plunged 26 feet to the pavement below. Two bystanders rushed to his aid. The boy apparently climbed a heater next to the window.
The outer window pane was broken, but a neighbor said it had been that way for some time before the accident The boy was taken to Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario with a broken jaw and some internal injuries. The hospital would not release how serious the injuries are. But Rae said his vital signs were stable late Monday. He's in the hospital's intensive-care unit Rae said the boy's mother was in another rooi at the time, concurs with you, will pay to have it tixea. Qtizen photo i Boy fell from windovj.
marked with circle.
