Whitby Free Press, 2 Jun 1993, p. 9

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Whitby Free Press, Wednesdav. June 2 1993. Page 9 Whitby resident expelled from Reform Party By Mike Kowalski Criticizing the party hierarchy has costa Whitby man his mem- bership in the Reform Party of Canada. Louis Allore, a director of the Reform Part 's constituency association in ntario riding, has been expelled from the party. Allore, a Whitby lawyer, is one of four people who recently had their memberships revoked by the arty's executive council. The four include John Gamble, a former Progressive Conserva- tive MP, who was stripped of his nomination as a Reform Party candidate in Don Valley West (Toronto) due to his association with extreme right wing groups. Besides Allore and. Gamble, the others were the president of the Don Valley West consti- tuency association and Gamble's campaign manager. According to Ra eform Party press release, the council ter- minated the memberships of the four men for activities judged to be "improper, unbecoming or likely to adversely affect the interests and reputation of the Party." But Allore, who plans to appeal the ruling, says the deci- sion to kick him out of the party was made because he challenged council's right to take away Gamble's nomination. In a letter to Reform Party Leader Preston Manning, Allore claims council violated the party's constitution at least six times in its treatment of Gamble. Allore wrote his letter on April 28 as a party review panel was examining the original April 2 decision to nullify Gamble's nomination. "I didn't even know John Gam- ble, I wasn't even supporting Gamble. I saw the incident as a violation of the constitution," Allore explained. But rather than refute the charges in his letter, council opted to silence him in this fashion, Allore contends. His first indication that council was even contemplating such action came when a reporter called him for a comment about the May 21 decision. "I heard nothing about the letter until I found out from the ress," said Allore, "I didn't even now there was a complaint." A member of the party since January 1991, Allore is disgusted with the manner in which his expulsion was handled. 'That was the first time I heard from anyone. What does that say about our party if I can't write to the leadership?" he asked. But while upset with council's action, Allore is not overly surpr- ised. "I've had reservations about what's been going on in the party well before Gamble," he said. As a result of a letter he wrote to party chair Clifford Fryers last October, Allore claims he was Answers to Whitby Trivia from page 5 1. Thelma Corner payed the part of Oueen Elzabeth Il in the Coronation parade at Whitby on June 2, 1953. 2. The Whitby Herse Show was held at Centennial Park in 1913 andi 1914. 3. The building from Donald Travel teoM Dad's Store was a hotel tram 1900 te 1917. It was called the New Armstrong House and later the Windsor Hotel. 4. The plaque in the library henours Arthur Allin for denating $1 13,000 in his estate for the construction of the building as a town hall in 1959/60. subjected to an "investigation"by the party. In his letter, Allore charges a party official with ridiculing both the United and Anglican Churches in comments the offi- cial made to MacLean's maga- zine. "Bigotry, or the appearance of bigtry ,inour Party is unaccep- ta le, Allore wrote to Fryers. Allore never received a res- ponse to his letter, but he did obtain minutes of a December council meeting in which council directed a subcommitee to "in- vestigate" complaints from Ontarioriding. "Assess whether or not the Ontario (riding) Director is caus- ing difficulties in other ridings in the province of Ontario..." the minutes state. Allore said be soon learned that the director was himself and that the "investigation" was con- ducted by Wayne Hutchinson, a party member in Ontario. Hutchinson assured him that the com laint was without foun- dation, ut that ie could not identify the complainant or the nature of the complaint. (Hutchinson, an Alliston businessman, would not discuss the matter and referred The Free Press to Gordon Shaw, the party's executive director.) Al ore's attempt to learn more about the incident and his demand for an apolo from council were both rebuffcd. He received a terse one-para- graph letter from executive coun- cil secretary Mike Friese. "Reference to your letter of March 22, 1993, we deny that Executive Council conducted a "secret criminal-like investiga- tion" against you. We consider this matter between yourself and Executive Council to be closed," Friese wrote. Allore still does not know what rompted the investigation, but e suspects it was his October letter which criticized the party official. "I don't know if that person is still there. He's a frien dof Man- ning's who has sole distributor- ship in Ontario of all (party) memorabilia and supplies, said Allore. In the first of two interviews, executive director Shaw said council took steps against Allore and others "whose actions were generally in support" of Gamble. "He (Allore) wrote a letter to the people on council which made accusations -about the people on council and the party leadership'" said Shaw. "We felt it didn't support Reform Party principles,' he added. In a subsequent interview, Shaw declined to respond to Allore's claim that the council violated the party's constitution. "I wouldn t want to comment because he asked for arbitration. It wouldn't be fair to council," said Shaw. Shaw also dismissed Allore's claim that he was "investigated" Impact of cutbacks FROM PAGE 1 should prepare for the worst with respect to the social con- tract negotiations, for whatever ha pens will likely be passed on to local ratepayers. "If they go ahead with every- thing in its entirety, what do we do? lose down the town for one doy a month?"he asked. (The government had been proposing that public sector Dog missing A hunting dog valued at $3,000 went missing last Tues- do in Brooklin. e owner told police the valu- able canine was tied to a fence at the rear of his Baldwin St. build- ing. employees take a number of' un- paid days off as one alternative to cutting jobs, but has since backed away from that position.) Assault charge A 35-year-old Courtice woman was attacked by a patient bran- dishing oapair of scissors Friday at the Whitby Psychiatric Hospi- tal. Police say the patient, a 34- year-old Whitby woman, grazed the hospital em plee's chest and cut her hands be ore other staff managed to subdue her. The worker's injuries weren't serious, but police note "they could have been." The patient is char cd with assault and weapons dongerous and is being held in custody. by the party. "I wouldn't categorize it as an investigation," he said. Shaw explained that "someone" lodged a complaint about Allore with the party, but when the person was asked to substantiate the comlaint, he/ she would not pursue it. "We didn't feel it was some- thing he (Allore) needed to be informed of. We have a number of such things like this crop up," he said. Shaw also denied Allore's claim that the decision to expel him was to stifle dissent within the art . Th at shis feeling, I can't com- ment on that," he said. Shaw said party members can disagree with part policy and decisions provide its done within the framework of the party's structure. The 21-member council is elec- ted by members at convention and administers the party according to the wishes of the membership, he said. "I'm executive director, but I take direction from the council," Shaw added. A three-member arbitration panel of party members will decide Allore's fate Shaw said. He rejected Alore's request that an outsider, namely a retiredjudge, head the panel. "The party has an arbitration process which requires that it be done by members of the party,» said Shaw. "It should be members of the party who ultimately decide who is a member of the party." Shaw added that this is the first time an expelled member has applied for reinstatement. Despite his difficulties with the party bosses, Allore is not prepared to abandon the Reform movement. Are you sheltering your retirementor sev erance pa.ckage from.Income Tax? Q Thze decisions you make now will affect your income for the rest of your life. [J Make sure you know ail the options before yoa decide. ~ Cal me for a free consultation on how to' get the most out of your retirement/severance Spackage. DEREK DUTKA Serving Whitby and Oshawa since 1986 666-RRSP 114 DUNDAS ST. E., SUITE 202, WHITBY Cncept' CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF WHITBY 1993 FINAL TAX NOTICE The third instament of taxes for 1993 is due and payable June 15, 1993. Taxes may be paid at any Whitby bank without collection charges, or at theMunicipal Office, 575 Rossland Road East, Whitby. Ontano. In addition, taxes may be paid by telephone through TD Bankline or Canada Trust EasyLine. If you have not received a tax bill and you are responsible for payment, please contact the Tax Department at 668-5803 to obtain the necessary information. If payment is not received by the due date, penalty will be added on the first day of default and the first day of each calendar month so long as non-payment continues. at the rate of 1-1/4 per cent per month. or part thereof. LYNN PIKE SUPERVISOR OF REVENUE "Honestly, the local people on the executive are decent people,» he said. "They want to change the national leadership and so do I, but you can't do it outside the party." Al ore said the Ontario riding executive backs him, but is split on how to best show support. "The people in our riding are basically holding their noses and s ayng let's elect someone first and then change the party.» Allore said local members used to say "let's send Don Sullivan (Ontario riding candidate) to reform Ottawa. Now "our association is saying we're sending our candidates to reform the Reform Party." Sullivan could not be reached for comment, while riding asso- ciation president Marnee Stern of Ajax would not discuss it. "It's a private matter between Mr. Allore and head office," she said. Stern also refused to comment on a letter she wrote to Manning about the Gamble affair, a copy of which was obtained by a Toronto newspaper. "(The party) executive has dis- played a treacherous and fla- grant abuse of power," Stern states. "Rather than adhering to the constitution, they seem deter- mined to carry out witch-hunts and lynchings. This tyrannical, top-down, power-hungry aggres- sion must cease," she a ds. Stern did not deny writing the letter, but said her correspon- dence with the party is a private matter. Allore, of course, shares Stern's feelings. "I wouldn't sleep nights with a Reform Party government with the existing mentalit of the Calgary people," he said.

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