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12 the examiner Thursday Dec 1978 GRANBY Que tCPl coroners inquest into North Americas worst bus acc1 dent in which 40 persons died last summer near Eastman Que ended Wednesday after two days of testimony The victimsumost of them mentally or phyically disabl ed members of club for the handicapped from Asbestos Quedrowned when the chartered bus in which they were riding apparently lost its brakes sped down steep hill and plunged into Lac dArgent on Aug Although the bus floated for about 15 minutes before sinking only seven nonv handicapped people in cluding the driver managed to escape before it sank Coroner Armand Drouin expected to include general recommendations for improving bus safety in Quebec when he hands down his verdict near the end of January it took two 12h0ur days for Dmuin to hear the testimony of two dozen witnesses in cluding three survivors of the TORONTO tCPi The One tario government bid farewell Wednesday to GovGen and Mme lules Leger with dinner of French cuisine and renew ed endorsement of the monar chys role in Canada More than 500 guests gathered in downtown hotel ballroom for candlelight din ner of pate en croute beef chausscur ice cream and On tariowine Premier William Davis paid Loele left and Alain Pouliot two survivors of the bus accident in which 40 people died in August listen to testimony during the second day of cor oners inquest in Granby Que Wednesday The passengers were members of group for the handicapped from Asbestos and their relatives and volunteer workers CP Photo Bus inquest verdict expected in January accident and the owner and driver of the illfated 1956 General Motors coach BRAKING SYSTEM BAD The inquest also heard ex rts from the provincial and ederal transport depart ments who agreed that the buss air braking system was in such bad condition that when serious leak developeddperhaps hours or perhaps only minutes before the crashrthere was no way for the driver to maintain control on the steep hill leading to thelake Experts also testified the buss handoperated emergency brake had not been working for at least month before the tragedy But they said the brake could have done no more than slow the bus down even if it had been functioning David Petcpiece an in vestigator for the federal department of transport told the inquest Wednesday that he almost drove into Lac dArgent himself when he tried to reenact the accident with the same bus during his investigation Edouard St Gelais chief mechanic with the Quebec transport depart ment takes the stand at coroners inquest In Granby Que Wednesday He told the inquest into the bus accident that cost the lives of 40 people last August combination of mechanical defects and lack of maintenance might have caused the accident CP Photo 500 bid farewell to Legers tribute to GovGen Leger and his wife Gabrielle for the dignity and selflessness they have exhibited in their official roles Your excellencics you have spared no effort on our behalf and we are deeply indebted to you both the premier said GovGen Leger retires next monthafter fiveyearsin office Davis won sustained ap plause when he reiterated his governments position that the Petepiece said that in simulating the descent the bus was loaded with 6000 pounds of cargo to approx imate the weight of the passengers and driver REMOVED AIR USE mechanic disconnected an air hose leading to rear brake to simulate the loss of air pressure which occurred when rear brake malfunc tioned on the night of the tragedy Testifying as the coroner and spectators in the crowd edcourtroom watched the re enactment on video tape Petepiece said the bus drove through stop sign at intersection beside the lake and barely made 90 degree turn at less than 10 miles an hour Three survivors told the in quest on Tuesday that they estimated the speed of the bus at 40 to 50 miles an hour as it passed the same stop sign on the night of the crash Driver Denis Martel brotherrinrlaw of the buss owner Gilles Bolduc estimated the speed at 25 to wmiles an hour monarchy must he retainwl as an important institution in Canada The laws of our parliaments must continue to be made and approved in the name oi the Queen he said IIXIENDS INVIIAIH Davis also said the irovince hopes the Queen Motliir will visit Ontario next summer to participate in July celebra tions at Queens Park Return order CSJH ruling to be asked TORONTO CP The Divi sional Court of Ontario will be asked to rule on royal com missioners power to order Globe and Mail reporter to return from Washington DC to testify about two stories he wrote last year Mr Justice Horace Krever of the Ontario Supreme Court head of the royal commission on confidentiality of health records will ask Divisional Court made up of three justices of the Supreme Court to decide whether he has the power to issue three orders The first would require The Globe and Mail to order reporter Lawrence Martin to return and testify The second order would re quire senior officer of the newspaper to find out Martins sources for the articles The third order would instruct the newspaper to produce any of Martins notes or memoranda which might be relevant to the commission The commissioner proposed making the orders after lawyer Alastair Paterson repesenting the newspaper and Martin said The Globe and Mail had no in tention of ordering Martin to appear and that Martin was not prepared to testify if he would be required to disclose his sources In Nov 14 1977 article Martin said sources close to the operations said the RCMP had gained unauthorized access to confidential medical files in the early 19705 and had leaked semitive information from them in an attempt to disrupt radical groups The article said the health records frequently were obtain ed from aid informants One paragrap described medical files as among the Mounties prime sources The frontpage story ap peared under headline saying RCMP distributed private OHIP data to disrupt ex tremists Paterson told the commission Wednesday that Martin was willing to appear to establish the accuracy of his stories but that if he testified he un doubtedly would be required to disclose his sources Paterson said Martin could be found in contempt of the commission and jailed if he did not disclose the sources Richard JDoyle editor inchief of the The Globe and Mail testified Wednesday that the newspaper had no reason to believe the stories were inac curate have great deal of faith in the reporter Doyle said know his track record Harvey Strosberg commis sion lawyer asked Doyle about the fact that some persons quoted in Martins articles have testified that they were misquoted that their coin ments were taken out of con text or that some of what they were described as saying was untrue Singing PCs celebrate Christmas gt Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark his wife Maureen McTeer left and Flora MacDonald PC Kingston and the islands dont need their vt songsheets for rousing chorus of Oh come all ye Faithful Wednesday at the PC Christmas party in Ottawa CP Photo No comment on trip pass report OTTAWA lCPi State Secretary John Roberts refused Wednesday to confirm or deny report he has made rcserva tions with Air for himself and his wife to make $6000 trip on pass to Rangoon Bur ma later this month But the minister told reporters he only uses passes SimpsonsSears Ltd Beg and Was refer to SimpsonsSears Ltd prices Store address 509 Bayfield St Georgian Mall Christmas Store Hours Mon to Fri 930am to 930 pm Saturday 930 am to 530 pm that all cabinet ministers receive from the two major Canadian airlines for business reasons He said he pays for any part of trip that could be classified as vacation And he said he never discusses vacation plans in public Montreal La Presse reported the reservation Wednesday and this prompted questions in the Commons about whether ministers use passes for vaca tions This follows by only couple of weeks disclosure that Alber ta Premier Peter Lougheed us ed passes to go on vacations Prime Minister Trudeau said all cabinet ministers receive passes so they can conduct their duties across Canada At his instigation the leaders of all opposition parties also received theipasses ere were no guides but the prime minister hoped MPs would use the passes according to their consciences One Low Price Colonial Style Features hardwood frames with no sag spring construction Colonial style sofa suite features deep button tufted semiattached back Made of durable 100 nylon flocked velvet cover in gold color print with maple finish wood accent This twopiece suite is made by Sklar and consists of sofa and chair 55290 $59998 PIECE SET Contemporary Suite Features hardwood frames with no sag spring construction This piece contemporary suite features button tufted foam filled low back chair Made of 100 Olefin in earth toned check pattern Two piece suite consists of sofa and chair smartly styled to suit modern life style Made by Meridian 55790 $59998 Traditional 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