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At the conference at the Valhalla Inn in Kitchener. Davis was asked if he had a reaction to the recent re port of the British committee. headed by Lord Kershaw. which recommended against any, quick passage of the Canadian govern- ment request in its present form, He wais asked in ihe same ques- tion if his support of the constitu- _tional package had diminished any Davis made the unusually strong statement that any tampering with the Queen's traditional role in Can- ada "would be over my politically- deceased body." The Tory premier was apparent- ly trying to put a little distance be- tween himself and the federal Li- berals in response to a student's question on his support of Trudea- is constitutional package. He said his position on patriation of the constitution "has been sub- stantially the same for ten years." and cited his involvement in the 1971 premiers conference in Vic- toria where "every premier and the prime minister agreed on en- trenchment... and many things that are (now) included in Pierre Tru- deau's package" At least not in this provincial eltctitrn campaign: - Davis must see it as no-win si- tuation for him, where he has to at- tempt to deflect voters' attention from an issue which could cost him among anti-Trudeauites. while not veering from his own self- proclaimed stand that appears to support Trudeau. He's not about to be slinging arrows at the prime minister or Trudeais method of achieving his ends, if only to keep people's minds off his involvement in the matter. The premier insisted that he's not supporting Trudeau, but rather that "l'm supporting my own point of view." At a press conference later in the day. Davis demonstrated his gift for circumlocution and his deter- mination that. while he'll vehe- mently support the Queen and his own oft-repeated patriation goals. he won't be drawn into the ta.ngled web of the ongoing constitutional battle shaping up politically in 0t- tawa and Britain. But he told students at Wilfrid Laurier University in no uncertain terms that any support he has for Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's plan to patriate the constitution is based on the condition that Canada “should remain a constitutional monarchy with the Queen as head of state." In last Thursday's vastt to the Twin Cities. Davis steered clear of any controversial statements In reply to questions on the hot potato of patrjatior! proceedings. -- _ Premier Bill skirts BNA controversy By Philip Jaluvac Premier Bill Davis isn't about 'to enter the constitutional fracas in this 1981 provincial election cam- paign, but he's making it clear that he'll come out swinging for the monarchy, It is on these sensitive pomts that Davis must feel a need to minimize differences between himself and the federal Conservatives, and the perception of him "being in bed" with Pierre Trudeau and the fe- deral Liberals. Davis must reckon he can for- cefully get back to the country on the whole after that. In an interview last week. Li- beral MPP Herb Epp. the incum- bent in Waterloo North riding, said he anticipates Davis "will suffer with Conservatives" due to his sup- port of the Trudeau constitutional package and lack of whole-hearted support for the prevuous Tory go- vernment of Joe Clark. He'll be his own man, It would seem, while cleverly avoiding those Issues which could cause alienation among traditional Com servative voters in Ontario. After all. there's an election to be won and a majority government to be had Davis and premier Richard Hat- fietd.of New Brunswick are the only two of ten provincial premiers who support the federal govern- ment's initiative in bringing home the Canadian constitution with a charter of rights and a complicated amending formula. As Davis told students at Wilfrid Laurier, “I‘m very careful about who I get into bed with." Afterwards he told this reporter "you don't go through something as fundamental as this (constitu- tional change) without some dif- ferences of opinion." adding he wasn't overly concerned about any real danger to British-Canadian re- lations because "they're too long- standing." 'Pressed again later in the day following his talk to the Confedera- tion Club at the inn. Davis re- mained determined not to venture an opinion on the political aspects of the patriation controversy or to answer a question from this re- porter again as to whether the Bri- tish had any right to "look behind" the Canadian government propo- sal. A touch exasperated, but not flustered. Davis finally smiled and said "look. I think it's a great thing for you to write about... but with- out involving me." . The premier basically repeated his statements made earlier in the day at Wilfrid Laurier University, citing in particular his support of the constitutional monarchy. and emphasizing that "any concept of a republic is not acceptable to me" - while noting that it's basically a non-issue in this campaign, as "the other political parties (in Ontario) are in agreement" with the thrust of his stand on the constitution.. Davis said a lot in reply, but didn't really answer either part of the question, nor nola¥ly, It must be said, to deny that rudeau had mlsled the Canadian public. by the apparent misleading on the part of the Prime Minister as to tus negotiations with the British. Willis said the city did not plow on a Sunday two weeks ago because it is a long-standing municipal policy not to unless absolutely necessary. He said works crews have to be paid double time for Sun- days, and that could increase snow removal costs for all taxpayers. Works commissioner Jim Willis also disagreed with Rektor. He said plows were out on city streets last Tuesday until 5 pm. then called in because of rush hour traffic "I'm not going to risk a $50,000 piece of equipment in heavy traffic," he said. Rektor said while city taxes continue to increase each year, the quality of snow removal does not im- prove. He said if this is the kind of service residents can expect, he would be in favor of reconsideration of the use of studded tires. Council and staff did not agree with Rektor Alder- man John Shortreed said the city has excellent snow removal and he pointed out that Waterloo taxes have not increased for three years, Plows were back in operation by 9 pm. Willis said. and after that, about 40 millimetres of rain fell, so the slush and ice were inevitable Stan Rektor told Waterloo council Monday that the city's snow clearing effort during last Tuesday's storm was of "extremely poor quality." He said the quality is the same every time there is a major snowfall. Rektor said that city plows were not out in time during the first hours of the storm, and by the time it started to rain at 9 p.m.. the accumulated snow turned to ice and slush, causing ruts and dangerous conditions on the streets, _ He also criticized the works department for not clearing snow on a Sunday two weeks ago, He said if the snow had been plowed that day, city residents would not have had to put up with a full week of bad road conditions. By Stan Clarke Snow removal in Waterloo has "gone downhill in the past few years." according to a Chelford Cres- cent man. WINTER WOES Resident tells city to clean up its snow was moo canomcuLygoguoav. FEBRUARY IO. mm - PAGE 3 Alderman Bob Henry told Rektor that Waterloo's snow removal is just as good as in any other Ontario city, including Kitchener. In an interview with The Chronicle after the meet- Ing. Mr. Henry repeated his contention, and said he does not think a review of city snow removal is ne- cessary, "Streets are in rough shape all over," he said. Henry said he recently visited Peterborough, and said its streets are in terrible condition. “I think we have to face the fact that Canada has winter." Shortreed said, He said this area experien- ces "three to six" major storms a year. and the in- convenience ns not all that great, Alderman Doreen Thomas said that Waterloo snow plowing can be improved if taxpayers are will- ing to pay for it, She complained about some Wa- terloo businessmen plowing their parking lots onto city .sidewalks. especially along Bridgeport Road and Devitt Street. Alderman Glen Wright said Rektor's 'Oregon trail' remark was exaggerated, “even though I put a dent in my covered wagon that morning." He said he does not see how the city could improve snow clear- ing without an expensive financial investment. “If it weren't bad. t wouldn't be here wasting my time." Rektor said, “I think over the past few years, the quality of snow removal in Waterloo IS not what it can be.” Willis said there were " or 10"places in the city with bad ruts. like the Empire location. Only graders will remove that kind of frozen snow. and graders are quite expensive to operate. Rektor was not satisfied with Willis' answers. He said city streets have resembled "the old Oregon trail" in the past few weeks. and maintained that Kitchener streets are in much better condition. I Alderman Richard Biggs said that city streets have been in poor condition lately. He said he no- ticed "ruts over a foot deep" near Empire school last week, and that concerns him.