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PRINCE GEORGE
Citizen
Serving the Central Interior since 1916
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7,1997
80 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 50 CENTS A DAY)
TODAY f|
COMMUNITY
PAGE 13 Wild kittens in need of eye treatments PAGE 3 Impact youth centre could be blueprint
PAGE 13 A global songfest for hospice houses
See page 5 SPORTS
■ In just his second year in the BCHL, Prince George Spruce Kings defenceman Brad Fast has become one of the league’s best blueliners. /8
CANADA
■ Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard’s government got a dressing down from voters Monday night as the provincial Liberals took three of four provincial byelections with increased majorities. The PQ won the fourth riding but its margin of victory was slashed drastically. /6
SHOWBIZ
■ Woody Allen is still bitter about the scandal that cost him his children, but loves life with ex-girlfriend Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn. “My relationship with Soon-Yi is the best relationship of my life,” says the 61-year-old actor/writer/producer.
/17
Cornered
by Baldwin 1997
“CLEAR!”
E-Mail address:
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INDEX
Ann Landers....... ......15
Around Town...... ......15
Bridge............ ......21
Business ......... ...18,19
City, B.C.......... ..3,5,13
Classified ........ . .20-23
Comics ........... .....17
Crossword ........ .....16
Entertainment..... .....17
Horoscope ........ , . ,21
Lifestyles.......... .....15
Movies............ .....17
Nation............ 6
Sports ........... ...8-12
Television......... .....17
World ............ .......7
58307 00100
Council rejects downtown casino plan
Owners of P.G. Hotel sought city’s OK to apply to Victoria for licence
by DON SCHAFFER Citizen staff
There won’t be a destination casino in Prince George.
City council made that clear Monday night when it voted to not write a letter of support for a destination casino behind the Prince George Hotel.
Ted and Robert Coole, owners of the hotel, announced Monday afternoon they hoped to bid on one of the destination casinos the provincial government plans to allow in the province. The proposal would have seen a $3-million, 10,000-square-foot casino constructed.
Council members turned thumbs-down to the proposal, voting 5-3 to continue their categorical opposition to increased gaming in B.C.
“Actually, it’s a relief that it’s over,” Ted Coole said after listening to council’s vote. “We’ve spent two years to date on this project, I’ve lost a lot of sleep over it, and today was the end of the day.”
On several occasions in the past, council made clear its opposition to increased gambling, writing a letter to the provincial government against its gaming policy and turning down
Smuggled smokes mean lost taxes
VICTORIA (CP) — Millions of tax dollars are being lost as tobacco smugglers supply thousands of British Columbians with cheap, tax-free cigarettes, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
Smugglers cost the provincial treasury about $125 million each year. The ministry takes in $479 million annually in B.C. tobacco-sales taxes.
“It’s harder to investigate than narcotics,” said Sgt."Jercme * Bender, a Victoria RCMP commercial crime section officer.
People are more inclined to report drug dealers to police than cigarette smugglers, he said. They are willing to turn a blind eye to the smugglers in exchange for paying $2 for a pack of cigarettes rather than $5.
“It’s basically organized crime,” he said. “It’s coming from back east, Ontario, Quebec and across the border.”
Two accused in porn case due in court
Two Willow River residents charged in connection with a child pornography case have court appearances scheduled this month.
James Darren Bennett, 37, returns to court Thursday to decide on new counsel. His previous lawyer withdrew from the case. Bennett is still in custody.
Nineteen-year-old Crystal Dianne Henricks, also known as Bennett, is next scheduled to appear in court Oct. 24. She also remains in custody.
A bail hearing in provincial court started for Henricks in Prince George last month but it was adjourned and Henricks was taken to the adult forensic psychiatric unit in Port Coquitlam for evaluation.
Both Bennett and Henricks face charges relating to sexual assault and pornography.
Citizen photo by Dave Milne
Ted Coole, left, and brother Robert on the site of their proposed casino, which was turned down Monday night by city council.
developer Richard Doyle’s plea for support for his casino plan at the Powder King ski resort north of Prince George.
“I thought there was a shot,” Coole said. “What council fails to deal with is the reality of gaming in British Columbia as it exists now.
“It’s accessible and under the pre-
sent system there’s no accountability for the addiction end (of the issue).”
Council’s lack of support ends the bid. Under the rules for establishing a casino, operators must have support of the local government to be considered for a license.
Coole tried to stress the government’s creation of support for treat-
ment of problem gambling as one of many positive aspects of a destination casino within the city. He said his proposal would create 100 permanent jobs as well as spinoffs, and would help keep B.C. money in B.C.
But several councillors said the government’s plan to take two-thirds of the gross proceeds outweighed the planned one-sixth that would go to the host community for infrastructure maintenance or other expenditures. That would amount to between $500,000 and $1 million per year for Prince George, Coole said.
“I don’t like the idea of the provincial government laying this particular egg in our nest, even if it does appear to be golden,” said Coun. Anne Martin.
Coun. Don Grantham asked that the city delay making a decision until city staff could prepare a report on the issue, and after the Union of B.C. Municipalities annual general meeting in two weeks.
Grantham, acting mayor Ron Thiel and Coun. Shirley Gratton voted against turning down the proposal outright. Mayor Colin Kinsley wasn’t at the meeting.
Citizen photo by Dave Milne
Education Minister Paul Ramsey flips a burger for delighted students at Edgewood elementary school Monday. He also kept up with students on a 1.4-kilometre run before lunch.
Ramsey promises help for small colleges
by PAUL STRICKLAND Citizen Staff
The funding problems of small colleges will get the attention they require, says Education Minister Paul Ramsey.
Ramsey said Monday he would ask his ministry to respond to recommen-dations contained the recently-released Small Colleges Project Report in time for the 1998-99 provincial budget.
The report, written by College of New Caledonia president Terry Weninger, says the current college funding formula, now applied across the board through the whole province, does not take into account the extra costs small remote colleges face.
They must operate more campus centres and outlying offices than urban colleges and have too few students to enjoy economies of scale. They must also acquire and maintain more expensive equipment for a range of trades and technology programs strongly preferred by residents of rural areas.
Ramsey noted he commissioned the Small Colleges Project Report, which Weninger took a three-month sabbatical to prepare.
“Having taught at community colleges for 15 years, I felt we needed
Fitness at Edgewood
It was a perfect, crisp, fall morning for 71 students to continue the Edgewood River Run.
Edgewood elementary school children from kindergarten to Grade 7 participated in the run Monday with principal Craig Brennan, some of their teachers and a special guest, Education Minister Paul Ramsey.
The run is held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Students may walk, jog or run along three different routes. A short run of about one kilometre is for walkers, 1.4-kilometre path is for those who want to jog at a medium pace, and a longer route of more than two kilometres is for those preferring to run.
Staff approved the idea of the Edgewood River Run last June to supplement the health and wellness portion of the phys-ed curriculum.
better information on what the costs of delivering a college program actually were in the rural and remote areas of the province,” Ramsey said during a visit to Edgewood elementary school. “Terry Weninger did some good work in the report, and I’m going to make sure the ministry treats it seriously.”
■ Whether opposition parties form a coalition is up to them, Ramsey.said. But people, were voting for certain principles and policies when they cast their ballots for B.C. Reform, the Progressive Democratic Alliance or the New Democrats in the last provincial election, he said.
“I think they would be a little concerned if they find the person they voted for decided they don’t represent the party they ran for,” Ramsey continued.
“What I find is that there are as many differences between voters who support Reform and those who support the Liberals, as there are between their followers and those who support the New Democrats,” he said._^
■ Ramsey said he would not comment on a recall movement against him, except to say that he intended to continue working as hard as possible to represent his riding as an MLA.
P.G. Wood employees still playing waiting game
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen Staff
It’s become a long, frustrating waiting game for employees at P.G. Wood Preserving.
Six months after a timber licence was tendered that could protect jobs at the value-added company, the forests ministry still hasn’t made a decision on who gets the timber.
“Couldn’t we just have a decision,” employee representative Denis Jobin said. “Don’t just leave us hanging.”
The tender was announced after P.G. Wood employees waged a public campaign this spring that drew attention to the loss of
about 50 jobs linked to the expiry of the Northwood-owned company’s 10-year, non-renewable licence.
Five companies have applied for the 180,000-cubic-metre timber licence announced in mid March by Forests Minister Dave Zirnhelt.
Slocan Forest Products, Dunkley Lumber, The Pas Lumber and Chunzool Forest Products have also bid on the licence.
More than three months ago, the forests ministry said it would take a month to make a recommendation to Zirnhelt, but local ministry official Terry Irwin now says they don’t know when a decision will be made.
“It’s a little more complicated than we had anticipated," said Irwin.
“It’s only a guess on some of these things on how long they take. There’s other priorities, etc., so it makes it a little difficult sometimes to put a firm date on it.”
Jobin believes there’s only a couple months of lumber left for the P.G. Wood Operation, which makes treated fencing and decking.
When that runs out, the remaining 80 workers job’s could be in jeopardy, he said.
“There’s a lo': of uncertainty.” Zirnhelt re-allocated most of the timber supply under P.G. Wood’s
expired licence to the value-added, small-business forest enterprise program, which excluded P.G. Wood because it’s owned by industry giant Northwood Pulp and Timber.
During the controversy, the employees and the company argued the company should have a chance to bid on another licence.
At the same time, the NDP government said a non-renewable licence was just that — non-renewable. ,
In announcing the timber licence in March, Zirnhelt said the primary objective of the new licence was to protect existing jobs for local residents, including First Nations.
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