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FEBRUARY, 1970

ON COLISEUM LEASE
"SELLOUT" CHARGED BY RANKIN

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By
VANCOUVER ALDERMAN
HARRY RANKIN

The PNE Board of Direc-
tors is at it again — giving
away concessions to foreign
promoters at far below cost.
This time it’s the lease of the
Pacific Coliseum to the Van-
couver Hockey Club.

The Pacific Coliseum was
built and paid for by the citi=
zens of Vancouver. But we
haven't any say in how it is
operated. These decisions are
made by a small-self-perpetu-
ating group of business men
closely tied in with profes-
sional sports promoters.

U.S. Promoters

Vancouver Hockey Club
Ltd. speaks for the group of
U.S. millionaire promoters

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

who are to secure the fran-
chise for the Vancouver en-
try into the National Hockey
League. The franchise alone,
to be purchased from the Na-
tional Hockey League, will
cost them $6 million, and this
doesn’t include the purchase
of hockey players who are
bought and sold by the NHL’
moguls like cattle at an auc-
tion market. .

The PNE Board of Direc-
tors leased the Coliseum to
the U.S. owners of the Van-
couver NHL team for a ridi-
culously low rental. The ren-
tal rates are as follows: 15
per cent of gross gate receipts
up to $1 million; 6% per cent
for the next 2.3 million dol-
lars, and 10 per cent for the
remainder, This will probably

LOCAL 1-405 MEMBERS
ATTENDING SAFETY MEETINGS

KOOTENAY FOREST PRODUCTS, NELSON

work out to less than 10 per ~

cent for the total. If the Coli-
seum were privately owned,
you can be sure the owners
of the NHL team would have
to pay two or three times as
much. What the PNE direc-
tors are doing is using a pub-
licly owned building to sub-
sidize a group of U.S. million-
aires.
TV Revenue

But that’s not all. The PNE
contract with the NHL pro-
vides that the promoters will
have exclusive right to retain
all revenues from television
broadcasting. The promoters
will pay the original capital
cost of adding sufficient light-
ing for color television. But
after that the entire cost of
maintenance, operating and
replacement.shall be paid by
the PNE. What a sweet little
gift this is to the U.S. pro-
moters at our expense!

But that’s still not all. The
contract with the U.S. pro-
moters lasts until 1983. How
do you suppose the new lease
will be negotiated? Will the
PNE be able to set new: ren-
tal rates that it considers fair?

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e608
s008

LOCAL 1-424 1'WA DELEGATES shown in picture attend-
ing Quarterly Meeting January 19, voted to conduct a
referendum for a one dollar dues increase. The meeting
was held in the Local’s headquarters in Prince George.

Not at all! If the two parties
can’t reach agreement, the
case will be submitted to bind-
ing arbitration with a judge
of the supreme court appoint-
ing the arbitrator. In other
words, the PNE Board of Di-
rectors has given away the
right to fix its own rental
rates on a publicly owned
building being leased to pri-
vate business. If this isn’t a
sell-out, I don’t know what it
is.
Additional Seating
One more point. The agree-

major cause of short chain life—
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Special long-life features

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Alloy steel body triple heat treated
for toughness. Rails and groove
precision ground, hardened. Slim
contour less likely to pinch

in the cut.

ment also provides that when-
ever the NHL promoters so
decide, the PNE must at its
own expense install additional
seating facilities.

The above are only addi-
tional reasons why I keep de-
manding that City Council
and the taxpayers of Vancou-
ver shouldn’t vote another
cent to the PNE until its oper-
ation is taken out of the hands
of this small group of busi-
ness men and returned to the
citizens of Vancouver where
it belongs.

Ask your Oregon dealer for a
Super-Tronic roller nose bar to get
more mileage from your chain.

CANADA, LTD.

Qane

OREGON Saw Chain Division

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