Oilers win in double overtime /9
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2006

Canucks Moms, fire coach tots work /12 out /25

Cindy Margolis to pose for Playboy /16

80 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 59 CENTS A DAY)

RV fines cause concern
by MARK NIELSEN Citizen staff City council's decision to start issuing tickets to shopping centre owners who allow campers to stay overnight on their parking lots is sounding alarm bells for Tourism Prince George manager Deborah Kulchiski. A bylaw must still be drafted and adopted before the measure comes into force, but if council follows through on its decision, made during Monday night's meeting, Kulchiski said it will make an already tough tourist season even worse. It won't take long for word to get out, she said, if the move leads to RVers being told to find other places to camp out. "There are actual RV websites that will tell you which c o m m u n i t i e s d o n ot e n c o u r a ge overnight stays," she said. Kulchiski estimated 20 per cent of the 26,000 people who passed through Prince George's visitor information centre last year were in recreational vehicles. Tickets would be issued to the property owners, not the RVers nor the retailers if they lease rather than own the land. For example, if a bylaw enforcement officer found an RV had parked overnight at Wal-Mart, the ticket would be issued to SmartCentres, formerly First Pro Management, because it owns the Westgate land. Under the province's community charter legislation, the tickets can carry a fine of up to $1,000 for each violation, but administrative services director Rob Whitwham said the fine could be lower depending on what council decides. Chuck Woodbury, editor of the rvtravel.com website, agreed with Kulchiski's concern. "I think the RV community will be enraged and they are so vocal," he said. A better alternative, in Woodbury's view, would be to impose a limit of 12 or 16 hours on the amount of time RVers can stay in a parking lot, something he said has been successfully introduced in other communities. -- See CASINO on page 3

Citizen photo by Dave Milne

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL -- Instead of draining the bucket on the basketball court, Kevin "Special K" Daley of the Harlem Globetrotters helped himself to Christine Kuhlman's bucket of popcorn while sitting on her lap during the game Tuesday at CN Centre against The Nationals. For more, see page 8.

Decision thrills RV park owners
by MARK NIELSEN Citizen staff Recreational vehicle park owners are welcoming city council's decision to proceed with ticketing shopping centres who let RVers stay overnight in their parking lots. Blue Spruce RV Park and Campground owner Ted McAffee was particularly pleased, saying he's lost about 25 per cent of his business to Wal-Mart. "Before Wal-Mart came we were full every night in July and August," he said. McAffee said he didn't have a problem with travellers who stop in a parking lot at midnight to get some rest; it's those who stay for two or three days that are a problem. And he dismissed as ridiculous concerns that RVers will boycott Prince George if the city starts issuing tickets -- they would be issued to the property owners, as opposed to the campers or the retailers who are leasing locations at shopping centres. "There's no way they're going to boycott," he said. "When they're travelling through, they stop in the big centres because that's where they get the services and the things they need." Robin Fulton, president of the Prince George RV Park Owners Association, called the move a step in the right direction and hopes the city will follow up by patrolling the trouble spots and issuing tickets. But with Prince George operators making most of their money over just two and a half months during the summer, he also said it may be not be enough for some. "I fully expect that we will lose at least one RV park this year because this has come too late, because the operators have been losing too much money," Fulton said. He contended RV parks create a larger economic spinoff than big-box retailers. "We send roughly 1,000 to 1,200 RVs to local businesses for service every year," he said. "We send a couple thousand people to restaurants every year, and that's just our little park and we have only 50 sites." Prince George Truck and Equipment co-owner Max Schultz agreed with Fulton's assessment, saying he gets plenty of referrals from RV parks during the summer. -- See BYLAW on page 3

High : 12 Low : 4 page 2

Softwood lumber deal in works
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff With reports that Canada and the U.S. are trying to reach a deal by Thursday to end the softwood lumber dispute, Conservative MP Dick Harris said Canada will not sign off on a deal without consulting with the Canadian industry. "I can tell you this, Mike Wilson (Canada's ambassador to the U.S.) is not about to sign off on anything that industry hasn't approved," Harris, MP for Cariboo-Prince George, said Tuesday from Ottawa. Harris noted, however, that there are contrasting views from industry across Canada. "Even in B.C. you've got the Interior forest industry and the Coastal industry that have two different views, but somewhere in the middle of all that has to be something they're all going to agree on," said Harris. "And absolutely on the basis of that, would the makings of a deal come together." Harris reiterated International Trade Minister David Emerson's position in the House of Commons Tuesday that there is no deal. But Harris, a harsh critic of the previous Liberal government's handling of the softwood file, said there are some circumstances under which a deal is worth pursuing. "Maybe the Americans might get a little bull-headed and do some legal wrangling, but the fact is they've been losing (legal battles) and losing big-time," he said. "If we can get a deal on our terms, prior to anything else happening, then let's do it. Otherwise we're going to continue with the litigation," said Harris. Sources told the Canadian Press that while there's no agreement yet, discussions to reach a framework for negotiations are underway in Washington. Talks between Wilson, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., and deputy U.S. trade representative Susan Schwab are aimed at having a framework in place by Friday, the sources said. That's the day after a deadline passes for the U.S. to request a final appeal of a NAFTA panel ruling that rejected the basis for punitive countervailing duties on Canadian lumber imports. Although Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President George W. Bush signalled last month a renewed interest in pursuing a negotiated settlement, one Canadian forest industry group was critical of the quick move to reach a deal. Carl Grenier, the executive director for the Montreal-based Free Trade Lumber Council, said the timing to reach a deal was poor, particularly before the U.S. has to decide whether to launch its f inal appeal on the NAFTA panel ruling on countervailing duties. Working to reach a deal quickly now, and before getting assurance from the U.S. it will abide by NAFTA panel rulings, plays into the Americans' hands, said Grenier. He maintained that even if the U.S. decides to challenge the latest NAFTA panel ruling on the countervailing tariff, it has no chance of succeeding and the tariff will drop to zero. That will leave only anti-dumping tariffs of two to three per cent, he said. -- See U.S. on page 3

INDEX
Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . . 26 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Business . . . . . . . . . . . .22-24 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . . . .3,5,13 Classifi ed . . . . . . . . . . . 18-21 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . 16 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,7,14 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

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