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     PRINCE GEORGE    ii
Citizen «rl
   P/m>i r  7 H 7 X / /  / /
              Serving the Central Interior since 1916
THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2002
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                                                  INDEX
Smoking rules a major drag, pub owners say
                                                                                           by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff
   Pub owners in Prince George are not happy with amended smoking regulations calling for separate smoking rooms and top-quality ventilation systems.
   To comply with the rules, announced Wednesday by the B.C. government, most owners will have added expenses to create and clean separate space for smokers and non-smokers.
   Lee Sexsmith, owner of the Bonnet Hill Pub, said “Our industry is not in good shape, and there are few owners who’ll be able to afford to renovate.
   “It looks like we’ll be able to stay in business and serve our customers, but 1 think we still have some things to work out.”
   Ted Coole, owner of the Prince George Hotel, said he’s “disappointed in the approach.”
   “I was hoping (the government) would take it out of the hands of the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) and look at it in the sense of communities making the choice.”
   WCB intends to implement the rules by May 1 and will be responsible for enforcing them, said Scott McCloy, WCB communications director.
   McCloy said although WCB staff is not yet familiar with the regulations, “it’s our understanding there are a number of options within the regulations like outdoor areas and structurally separated indoor areas.”
   When asked how WCB would enforce the rule that says workers can only spending 20% of their time in smoking areas, McCloy said he doesn’t know at this point.
                                                                                    Only pubs, restaurants, casinos and
     FACTBOX
   The new regulations in brief:
   ■ Smoking rooms must be structurally separate, comprising no more than 45% of the public space in pubs and restaurants and 65% in bingo halls.
   ■ Air from smoking rooms must be ventilated directly to the outside or cleaned through a system meeting 95% operating efficiency at a 0.3 micrometre particle size. None of the air can be circulated back into public areas.
   ■ Employees must give consent to work in a smoking room and are protected from discrimination if they don’t give consent.
   ■ Employee workstations cannot be located in smoking rooms.
   ■ Workers can enter the smoking room intermittendy to perform their duties, but cannot work more than 20% of their shift in a smoking room.
  bingo halls can allow smoking. All other facilities will continue to be nonsmoking to protect workers from second-hand smoke, McCoy said.
    Coole said he’s concerned the regulations are “isolating 50% of the patrons from each other and the extra expense (has) to be borne by owners. These are tough times and yet we’ll be faced with extra expenses.”
    Sexsmith said: “I think the Liberals are trying to do the right thing, but I think there are a lot of people trying to push their own agendas here.”
Golf, curling club losing big money
                                                                                      by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff
    The Prince George Golf and Curling Club is bleeding red ink from some parts of its operations far greater than its financial loss from the Roll-a-Dome, financial documents obtained by The Citizen show.
    The club’s last financial report filed with B.C.’s registry of societies from 2000, and a consolidated statement from 2001, shows the club’s restaurant and lounge lost $746,774 between 1999 and 2001.
    During that three-year period, its squash and handball courts lost $81,663, while curling was $243,136 in the red. Losses from miscellaneous items, which include publishing a newsletter, were $54,334. The loss from the roller rink was $44,175.
    The golf course and driving range, operations that made money, netted the club $557,423 from 1999-2001.
    Total operating losses during the three-year period amounted to $430,274.
    The club has said it has to shut down the Roll-a-Dome because it’s a financial drain. Members of the semi-private club are voting next Wednesday on a $1.5-million offer to buy a five-acre parcel of land, which includes the Roll-a-Dome, for a casino. The offer comes from numbered company, 621884 B.C. Ltd., whose sole director is John Major, the owner of the downtown Casino Hollywood.
    Proceeds from the sale, which also needs city approval, would be used to
  pay off the club’s debts.
    Club manager Denis Dunkley declined comment until after the vote. PGGCC board of directors president Andy Clough could not be reached for comment. Dunkley said Clough was also not prepared to comment until after the vote.
    A vote on the same $ 1.5-million offer last month was turned down by the club membership.
    At the time, Dunkley said the members wanted more details on the proposal and to find out if there were any other prospective buyers.
    The city has to approve the sale of the land under a covenant from the early 1970s. The covenant also stipulates any proceeds are supposed to go to pay off the debt of the club. Any cash left over is to go to develop other recreational land approved by the city.
    The financial documents show that as of 2001, the club’s operating fund showed a’loss of $602,669, but that was only after $370,674 was transferred from the club’s capital asset fund. The capital asset fund totaled $2.17 million in 2001.
    According to the year-end report from 2000, the club then had long tp*-rrt debt of $980,000
    User groups ot the Roll-a-Dome, like soccer, ball hockey and boxing, are opposed to its shutdown and sale. More than 10,000 petition signatures have been collected protesting the closure by Al Work, who leases and rents out the building.
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 SNOW WORRIES AT ALL — Larhonda Hamm pulls, instead of pushes, daughter Natisha, 2, in her stroller because of fresh snow on the road in the Hart area Wednesday. Mom and daughter were on their way home from the store.
  Ann Landers..................17
  Bridge.......................20
  Business .................22-24
  City, B.C.............3,5,7,13
  Classified ..............18-21
  Comics ......................16
  Coming Events.................2
  Crossword ...................16
  Entertainment................17
  Horoscope ...................20
  Lotteries....................15
  Lifestyles...................17
  Movies.......................17
  Nation........................6
  Sports ....................8-12
  Television...................17
  World.....................14,15
   Citizen photo by Dave Milne
  Still no word from American lumber sector
   There’s still no word from the U.S. industry on its response to an American government request to come up with its own proposal to end the lumber dispute with Canada.
   The U.S. industry had been asked by U.S. special lumber envoy Marc Raci-cot to respond by Monday.
   “I’m not surprised,” federal trade official Andre Lemay said Wednesday. "Are they stalling or are they simply not ready? It's hard to say."
   Lemay, a spokesman for the International Trade Ministry said he expects the American industry could still respond by Friday or early next week.
   One positive aspect of the dispute is Racicot appears to be committed to remaining as special envoy, added Lemay.
                                                                                                                                                — See petition story on page 5
 Gov’t job cutbacks could hit economy hard: prof.
                                                                                    by SCOTT STANFIELD Citizen staff
    The proposed cutbacks to government jobs, the first phase of which is expected to be announced today, could have a devastating effect on the local workforce as well as the public service sector, says UNBC economics professor Paul Bowles.
    To his understanding, Bowles said the cuts could affect as many as 700 full-time jobs in the Prince George area, which would be “a significant loss to the community.”
    “It’s not simply the number of jobs, but they’re good jobs too,” he said.
    Prince George North MLA Pat Bell has downplayed the severity of the job cuts in the North.
    “(Today’s information) is not going to be complete by any stretch of the
  imagination. We’ve said all along this is a three-year plan, and three-year plans have to be adjusted and modified as you move through them.”
   The situation, Bell added, should start flushing out in the coming days when more information about the cutbacks becomes available.
   “I’m still pretty confident that my original estimates that Prince George and the surrounding area - Fort St. James, Vanderhoof, Mackenzie, McBride, Valemount and so on - will not be anywhere near as severely affected as some in the larger centres of the province like Vancouver and Victoria,” he said. Feb. 19 - budget day -is the “critical day” when the cutback situation should become more obvious, Bell added.
                                                                                                                                                                  — See related story on page 7
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