Random drug testing pondered / 7
Clothes bank helps women re-enter job market /33

Vipers end Kings run/ 8
Photo shoot turns `Desperate' / 26

CITIZEN
Serving the Central Interior since 1916

PRINCE GEORGE

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2005

$1.00 (HOME DELIVERED: 57 CENTS A DAY)

Veil drops on Gomery probe
OTTAWA (CP) -- A week after the national media began trumpeting the emergence of "explosive" new testimony at the federal sponsorship inquiry, Canadians are finally learning the dirty details. Justice John Gomery partially lifted a publication ban Thursday, opening the public spigot on damning new allegations of federal Liberal party corruption in Quebec. Tales of cash-filled envelopes left on restaurant tables, personal family ties to former prime minister Jean Chretien, and current ministerial assistants who were once paid from the national unity purse to do Liberal party work -- it's the stuff of sleepless nights for Liberal stalwarts. But notwithstanding the breathless anticipation and electoral jousting the suppressed testimony caused in political circles over the past five days, analysts remain cautious whether this is the match that re-ignites national outrage. Pollster Darryl Bricker of Ipsos Reid believes the latest details may be more devastating than broad talk of squandered millions. "When you talk about putting 5,000 bucks in an envelope and walking to the bathroom, people understand that," said Bricker. "This is lurid. It's easy to understand. The black hats and the white hats are pretty obvious." A little more than a year ago, Auditor General Sheila Fraser galvanized public opinion when she reported that as much as $100 million of the $250 million federal sponsorship program went to Liberal-friendly Quebec ad firms for work of dubious value. Calling it a blatant and shocking misuse of public funds, Fraser set in motion a series of public dismissals, police investigations and a lasting 10-point plunge in popularity for Prime Minister Paul Martin's government. -- see also pages 4, 7

Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

HELLO CN CENTRE -- Over 1,100 fans came out in force to see members of Canadian band Blue Rodeo perform at the newly-named CN Centre. The band is touring in support of the Are You Ready album, their latest work in a career that has spanned more than two decades.

Coal company secures permit for northeast mine
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff Western Canadian Coal Corp. has received a permit to operate a second mine in northeastern B.C., the latest development in re-establishing the area as a major overseas coal exporter. The B.C.-based company plans to spend $180 million on the Wolverine mine near Tumbler Ridge to produce 1.6 million tonnes of coal a year. The company expects to employ 220 people at the Wolverine mine. The job total could reach 500 when all of its mining operations go into full production in three years. Western Canadian president and CEO Gary Livingstone said Thursday they're already clearing land to start work on the mine's foundation. The permit for the Wolverine mine is another step in the company's plan to produce five million tonnes of coal a year by 2008, said Livingstone. Coal prices have surged in the past year, but Livingstone said its coal projects would not have been able to get off the ground unless the provincial government supported resource-based industries. The B.C. Liberal government has reduced taxes, cut red tape, streamlined the environmental assessment and permitting process, and tried to increase security on the land base. It also has invested money in geological science and mapping, and promised money for resource roads, as well as saying it will monitor its royalty and tax structure, part of a 10-year mining plan unveiled three months ago. "You can't downplay the importance of markets and pricing, but, if you didn't have the proper business climate, then we wouldn't be here, we would be somewhere else," said Livingstone. Western Canadian Coal already has the smaller Dillon mine in production, which is part of its other coal mining area just southwest of Chetwynd. Western Canadian Coal just requested to quadruple production at the Dillon mine to nearly one million tonnes a year, and continues to work toward applying for a permit for another mine near Chetwynd, the Brule mine. B.C.'s junior mining minister Pat Bell said the new mine is anoth-

er example of how mining is back in the province. "It will add significantly to the employment and investment picture in the Tumbler Ridge area, and that spills over to Prince George and it spills over to Mackenzie and it helps the entire North," said Bell, the MLA for Prince George North. Western Canadian Coal is just one of several companies tapping into a surge in world coal demand by taking advantage of alreadyproven coal resources in northeastern B.C., as well as excess railway and port capacity. It could mean $500 million or more in annual direct economic activity, and close to 900 mining jobs within four years, much of it providing benefits in northern B.C. There are also spinoff benefits in trucking, rail and port handling jobs, as well as construction jobs. The Tumbler Ridge area, 400 kilometres northeast of Prince George, has a rich coal mine history. Just two years ago, the Bullmoose coal mine closed, ending two decades of coal mining in the region. Two years before, the larger Quintette Coal Mine closed.

Man, son nabbed Province mulls over by Murphy's Law B.C.-Alaska rail link drive! f r e e st
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INDEX
Ann Landers . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . 38-40 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . 3, 5, 6, 13 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . 17-22 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Coming Events . . . . . . . 2, 29 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Entertainment . . . . . . . 25-27 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-11 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15

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and determined he was not suffering by FRANK PEEBLES from life-threatening injuries, but was Citizen staff One of the biggest pot cultivation likely using the property for growing busts in local history ran off the road marijuana. A search warrant was quickly obtained and executed. and right into the RCMP's lap. "It was a trailer (in the 6200-block of "The guy had a bad day. First his car runs off the road, he spends the night Arline Road) and underneath in the stuck in his truck in the ditch, then he basement, the whole thing was a growgets arrested and so does his son," said operation. We seized 1,600 plants and, Sgt. Tom Bethune. then there was a freezer full of dried bud Two local men are that weighed in at now facing charges. about 15 pounds. "The guy had a bad day. And then there was The sequence of events started on First his car runs off the $ 2 1 , 0 0 0 c a s h , " Bethune said. Tuesday night when road, he spends the As a result, the the primary suspect, whose name will not night stuck in his truck residence's 49-yearold owner (the dribe released until in the ditch, then he charges are sworn, ver of the demolgets arrested and so ished vehicle), and crashed his vehicle does his son." somewhere along his 21-year-old son, Chief Lake Road. Po-- Sgt. Tom Bethune, RCMP both face charges of cultivation of marilice were called to the scene Wednesjuana and possesday and found the vehicle demolished sion for the purpose of trafficking. and abandoned. "It was sophisticated. This is one of "A concerned citizen notified the po- our better busts," said Bethune. "He was lice that the driver had flagged this citi- allegedly doing a hydro bypass so he is zen down on the road advising he had also charged with theft of hydro." The suspects were not previously been trapped in the vehicle since early the night before," Bethune explained. known to police. RCMP would not spec"The concerned citizen drove the driver ulate on the probable value of the marihome and then advised authorities the juana, although sources tell The Citizen driver was injured and probably needed the dried bud from the freezer by itself would have a street price of around medical attention." Police came to the driver's residence $20,000.

by MARK NIELSEN Citizen staff B.C.'s small business and economic development minister is taking a cautious approach to the idea of a 1,800kilometre rail link from northern B.C. to Alaska. "There's a lot of work to be done to find out what the benefits could be and what the physical product should look like and ... who finances it because these things don't happen for free," John Les said in an interview prior to a lunchtime speech Thursday during the Alaska-Canada Rail Corridor Conference at the Civic Centre. Estimates put the construction cost at $4 billion for a mainline-standard rail link, and Les said most of that money should come from the private sector. "I don't see this as an opportunity to play with the public's money in a way that's irresponsible," he said. "I think we need to be careful about these things and, if there's an economic justification for building this railway eventually, I have no doubt that we should be able to attract private investment." The two-day conference has drawn more than 100 people to discuss the opportunities of a link to Fairbanks, Alaska, starting in either Prince George or Fort Nelson. Yukon Economic Development Minister Jim Kenyon said the idea has been touted for at least 13 years. He said gov-

ernment's role won't be to pay the bill but, to map out a route and get the jurisdictional ducks in a row. "Our job is to make sure the route is ready to go," he said. However, Kenyon said once the groundwork has been laid and the economic studies have been completed, the private sector will step up to the plate. "You're going to see a momentum like a rock rolling down a hill, it's going to take on a life of its own," he said. Mayor Colin Kinsley said government needs to champion the proposal to draw the private sector's attention. The project has been billed as the most cost-effective way to carry the material needed to build a pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48 states and, once completed, it would be used to open up areas along the line to resource-based development. The U.S. military is footing the bill, estimated at between $480 million and $550 million, for a 115-kilometre extension of an Alaska Railroad Corp. line to Fort Greely, which would bring the line to within 320 kilometres of the CanadaU.S. border. From there, it would be a matter of knowing where the southern section of the project would reach Alaska before work on a completed link could begin, Alaska Railroad Corp. strategic planning director Bruce Carr said in a presentation.

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