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Opinions divided on.

‘Terrace slot decision

fy SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN

"THE CLOSE 4-3 vote by
city council Oct. 17 uphold-
ing ‘a bylaw which prohib-
‘its slot machines in the city

‘makes Terrace the only place
‘in B.C. to refuse expanded -

gambling by turning down

an application for a commu-'

nity gaming centre. °
There are five such cen-

tres in B.C. and three more

_are in the process of being

~ developed, including one i.

_ Prince Rupert. :
The only. other commu-

“nity to tum down a proposed -
A © bingo hall withslot machines
was the city of Coquitlam,

which in 2005 rejected a re-
-°zoning request for. a bingo

development that was to. be
_ located near a school.

But not everyone . is
pleased with council's deci-
sion.

- Local businessman Gord

Shaben had urged council
to rescind the bylaw and

approve the development,

saying the expansion would

have economic advantages:

for the area.

He would have liked to
see a different outcome.
_ “From a business’ per-
spective, I'm totally, disap-
pointed in it because I think
we missed an opportunity,”
Shaben said. ° |

and. the province could be

ingenious in a way that some’

_ Of the money: that came in
.could have been used to hire

another - [gambling addic-

tions) counsellor.”

“I just think that the city. [

7 | Chris Parent

They argued the ‘Lucky :

‘Dollar Bingo Palace is a so-
cial gathering place where
people go to meet, spend

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has shot down both a charity ent were among more. than bingo. The addition of slot Fence Beers 5 IStAVe en Tol Free t. a88- ir COOP

casino request in 1997 and

‘destination casino request in
= § 2002, Coquitlam does. have

a a full fledged casino. .

«+ Terrace’s- unique - desig- --
nation: is something people -

here should be proud of, says
Chris Parent who presented

a petition. opposing the.addi-
tion of slot machines to city
- council at an Oct. 16 public
hearing. *

“mm just’ really pleased

~ because we’re the only: com-

munity that has-said ‘no’ to

- slot machines 100 per cent,”

says Parent, who presented a
674-name opposing slots to
city council. Local: teacher
Darryl Anaka also presented

an anti-slots petition with |

612 signatures.

. “Even . Coquitlam who

said ‘ no’ to bingo has a ‘ca-

sino.. We should be really

proud of Terrace.”

-honest, I didn’t think we had

‘a chance to beat that much
money,” Parent said, refer-

ring to the potential revenue
for the city, if the slots were
approved,

'- If the bylaw had been

amended and the slots per-:

mitted,. B.C. Lottery. Com-

mission officials said each of '

. the proposed 75 slots could

each generate up to $4,400 -

in revenues for the city.

The maximum the city
revenues could have been
per year was $330,000.

°

50 people who attended the
public hearing at city hall
the night before city council

_ made its decision.

_ accept that ‘money, but. we.
are happy to recycle it back
‘He. says © the ‘outcome .
. §  -wasn’t exactly what he an-..
|. ticipated.
“Twas surprised to be

Seventeen. people. made
_ presentations, ° including lo-
cal. businesspeople, bingo

. players and representatives

_ from community groups
which ‘supported the pro-
posal. An equal number of
individuals and groups ex-

pressed their concerns about

the proposed development.
Even some _ community

groups who receive gaming"

grants through the bingo hall
told council if they could get

_that money any other, way,

they’ would.

“Are we proud we are |

on that list? No,” said Fred

Haines of the Knights of Co-.

lumbus. “We don’t like. to

to the people who can least

afford to-give it away in the’.

first place,” he said. ,
~ “If we could find money
from somewhere else, we

_ would.”

Businessman Bruno. Be-

langer spoke up in favour of ©

the development saying that
it would help attract people
to Terrace who would in turn
spend more money locally.
He told council he’d rath-
er see major..developments

like Wal-Mart and gaming _

happen in Terrace rather
than elsewhere.
Several bingo employ-
ees and patrons also lobbied
council to approve the slots.

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machines would just add to .,
‘that atmosphere of fun, they ;

said.

-and feel the atmosphere,”

said Lucky Dollar employ-.
ee May Dugaro. “It’s just —

‘beautiful to see those people

coming together and being

happy.”
Speaking after, ‘Dugaro

said she was disappointed -

by the decision.

“It would have been able c
to provide activities for [;

people to’come to Terrace
and stay here,” she said of
the slots proposal. “It would

also have given jobs that we:

were.looking for.”

But naysayers said ex-"

panded ‘ ‘gambling. . would
be socially

ration officials say the pro-

vincial average for problem.
gamblers sits at-4.6 per cent .

of the population, but in the

northern part of the province .

the. incidence of problem
gambling is more than dou-
ble — sitting at 10 per cent.

Lucky Dollar Bingo Pal- |

ace owner John Becher’ and

manager Marylin Thodt did ©

not comment on the city’s
decision..

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‘Northern B. c.
Tourism Association

- Annual General fleeting

~& Convention —
~ Oct. 26 - 28, 2006

Coast Inn of the West, Terrace, B. c

. The ‘conference and trade show
"will provide education, industry
supports & benefits of the
Northern B.C. Tourism association.

Everyone interested or involved i in.
the Northern Tourism vies
is welcome to attend.

- Activities include wor kshops,.

. knowledgable guest speakers, field wos :

- to northwest tourism sites, gala dinner,
- live and silent auction, AGM.

To register, call NBCTA:
250-561-0432

“For more information, call Carol. at
- Kermodei Tourism 250-635-4944 -

email: kermodeitourism@telus. net a

Notice of Public Information Meeting

Kutcho Project |.

Environmenta

Smithers, BC

| ‘Monday November 6, 2006 Tuesday November 7, 2006

Hudson Bay Lodge ©
3251 E. Hwy 16

‘Open House: 4: 00 pm —7: 00 pm |
Presentation & Discussion: 7: ‘00 pm - - 9: 00 pm

The objectives of this event are:

e To provide information to the community regarding the
proposed Kutcho Project.

“Western Keltic Mines is proposing to construct and operate an: open on er
pit mine approximately 100 km east of Dease _ Lake, B.C. .The .--] -
proposed Kutcho Project is subject to review under British Columbia's |

| Assessment Act, S.B.C. 2002, c.43.and may be subject —

to review under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

Open House |

405 5th Ave

_ ming Edward Hotel .

Western Keltic Mines is holding open houses -
onthe Kutcho Project i in the following communities:

-Stewa rt, BC

- Terrace, BC

Wednesday November 8, 2006° |

- The Coast Inn of the West
4620 Lakelse Ave.

w.

e To answer questions on the proposed mine s development,
technical and environmental studies. :

-@ To obtain input from community members on the Project |
development.

At each open house location, representatives from Western Keltic.
Mine lnc and BC's Environmental Assessment Office will be available to

attend the open houses to provide information on the environmental

assessment process. Information on the Project can be found at

www.westernkeltic.com or cali Toll Free: 1 -800- 501-1201
4