B.C. Bovernment Employees Union representatives Randy Pearson, Oli Magnusson and Gary Steeves were in Ter- taca recently to urge local entrepreneurs to be cautious in evaluating the provinclal government's offer to sell li- quor stores under the privatization plan. As an investment, they claimed, LCB’s are not as secure as they might seem, Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 27, 1988 3 Victims of Douglas pick up the pieces TERRACE — Crown Counsel Vern Frolick has asked Judge George Lamperson for nothing less than a 20-year sentence for 57-year-old William Gareth Douglas. Douglas, a former Salvation Army captain, was found guilty on 12 counts of gross indecency following an eight-day trial in Terrace County Court last Friday. by Tod Strachan The verdict was the result of evidence given by seven Canyon City men who told the court that they had been sexually abused by Douglas in Canyon City dur- _ ing the mid-sixties. According to their testimony, the seven, who were between six and 12 years old at the time of the crimes, were forced to per- form sexual acts with Douglas in the teacherage attached to the Canyon City school where his wife was the teacher. After hearing the evidence Douglas told the court he knew such behaviors would have been wrong “‘if they had been com- mitted’’, but he denied that they had. . However, while making hi continued on page 23 _ Union reps warn buyers ~tempted by LCB sell-off © Regional district demands details who were in Terrace recently. ‘TERRACE — Anyone who thinks there is an instant fortune to. be made by buying a govern- ment liquor store should give some facts a close inspection before investing, according to a © group of B.C. Government Em- ployees Union representatives by Michael Kelly The B.C. government has an- nounced the intention to sell 140 of .its 217 government liquor outlets to private owners, a move that would put every store between Vanderhoof and the Queen Charlotte Islands except the Terrace and Prince Rupert - outlets into, private hands. The’ t stores are being held by the government because each em- -ploys more than 10 workers. “Tt’s a myth that you can buy a liquor store and get rich,’’ said Gary Steeves, technical services director for the BCGEU Van- couver headquarters. ‘‘We be- lieve business people should question this as an investment. The licensing future is uncertain - how long will the rules remain unchanged? Remember, there have been four reviews of the (li- quor distribution) system in the past 10 years, and they have all affected policy.”’ Steeves explained that the Li- quor Distribution Branch has what is called a ‘“‘unitarian pric- ing policy’, meaning that a given alcoholic beverage costs - the same to the consumer no matter where in the province it is purchased, The policy is possi- trace. and Prince " Rupert’ ble, he said, because the govern- ment holds a-distribution -mon- opoly, allowing the cost of ship- ping, which is certainly higher in the Northwest than it is in the Lower Mainland, to be averaged across the system. ; “It is our belief they (the _ government) will continue to sell off stores (beyond the presently suggested level). It’s Vander Zalm’s statement of principle,’’ Steeves indicated, ‘“‘The ques- . tion is, if the stores are sold, how long will the distribution system last? Will licensees have to deal directly with all the pro- ducers?’’ Steeves cited as an example the Kitimat LCB, which the. - BCGEU: figures.would--have..a.- market value of about $5.8 million, not including land or in- ventory, a value calculated by multiplying the store’s net revenue last year of $1.16 million (1986 annual LDB re- port) by a factor of five years. He claimed that a bank involved in financing the purchase of such a venture would want evidence of five to ten years’ market guarantees. “If the government deregu- lates the system (by allowing businesses to sell alcoholic beverages), the LCB would be worth nothing,’’ he said. ‘Even if the number of beer and wine outlets is increased, the market is going to become more frag- mented.”’ The Liquor Distribution Branch, with a profit of $425 Million last year, is the fourth Northwest Community College largest source of revenue for the B.C. government, Prince George BCGEU rep Randy ‘Pearson said B.C. taxpayers should be asking themselves how the government intends to re- cover that portion of the revenue lost when the 140 stores are sold. Those profits, he noted, do not include the six percent social ser- vices tax, which put $54.2 million in government coffers during 1986. | The cost of alcohol abuse, he added, has been estimated at over $2 billion annually for B.C. Dennis Murray, the civil ser-- vant charged with evaluating the _ privatization proposal for liquor “Stores is -diie-to’ tabléjhis ‘final _ report in Cabinet on Feb, 29, ae’ ‘, ik w AAMAS TA on privatization The Kitimat-Stikine Regional District board continues to express concern over the privatization of government run li- quor stores and has agreed to reinforce their position by . writing a letter to an ‘‘Action Group” recently established by the government to determine how to privatize liquor stores with ten or fewer employees. Director, Ruth Hallock said the main concern is the word “how”? in correspondence from the Ministry of the Attorney General, ‘‘We don’t want to know how. We want to know if we should,” said Hallock. Other members comments varied from that of Kitimat director Bev Rodrigo, who said, “I’m not opposed if they have to operate under the same rules as now,’’ to others who expressed concern that the public could successfully lobby for easier access and relaxed regulations concerning liquor distribution if privatization were to take place. . According to Dennis Murray, the chairman for the Action Group on the Privatization of Liquor Distribution, the government has asked his group to complete their study and _ file their report by Feb. 29, 1988. f ne ¢ ROMINA TON? 1 ened vay ANA hat Hap onthe YouWere Born? Come read all about it when we use our computer to print your “Special Edition” of iN} You'll see famous people who share your birthday, popular tunes the year you were born, the year’s top story—and much more! 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