Referendum eyed for gambling

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

The expanded gambling debate could become a referendum question at the upcoming municipal election this November.

All indicators at The Richmond Review's press time Wednesday pointed to council voting in favour of changing its policy barring expanded gambling. (Check out The Richmond Review's website today at www.richmondreview.com for the latest results.)

Council heard 21 submissions Tuesday night during a standing-room-only public hearing. Nine were against expanded gaming, 11 were in favour and one was neutral. It also received 55 written submissions in support of expanded gaming policy and 76 opposed to it.

Coun. Evelina Halsey-Brandt said Wednesday morning if she's pressed to make a decision she will vote in favour of the policy change and will then recommend that the issue be put on the ballot on Nov. 16.

That would keep Richmond within consideration for a second full-service casino, complete with 300 slot machines, and at the same time give Richmond residents the final say about expanded gambling, she said.

But Coun. Lyn Greenhill expressed her concerns that the gambling issue could hijack the election.

"From a democratic point of view, it's the way to go," Greenhill said. "But it will become the issue. It will hijack the election process."

Coun. Kiichi Kumagai said he doesn't support putting the issue on the ballot because he's already got a poll which shows most Richmond residents want a full service casino.

"Once we make our decision, why should it go on the referendum? I know what the community wants."

Vic Poleschuk, president of the B.C. Lottery Corporation, told council that the lottery corporation will decide in the next few months the fate of four casinos slated for relocation. He said a change in Richmond's policy does not mean a second casino would be forced on Richmond without council's approval on that specific application. Council would have the option of holding another public hearing once it received specific information about the second casino.

A second casino would infuse city coffers with $2 to $4 million in revenues, Poleschuk said. That's in addition to the current $1.5 to $2 million the city has received annually for the past two years from the existing Great Canadian Casino location on Sea Island Way.

Sara Tregebov urged council to bring in slot machines and not to monitor her morals.

"It (morals) is not your concern," she said.

Tregebov and her friends travel to New Westminster once per week and that's a "great gain for New Westminster an a great loss to Richmond."

"We are all adults and in control of our own minds."

Frances Clark, an outspoken advocate for the disabled, also urged council to open the doors to a full-service casino. She believes a second casino is in Richmond is inevitable (either on Musqueam land or at Vancouver airport) but in those two scenarios the city would not receive a share of the revenues.

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie questioned Clark's position, and said he recalled a previous presentation in which she said alcohol and drug addicts have disabilities. He questioned why Clark would then advocate expanded gaming, which some studies suggest would increase the number of problem gamblers in Richmond.

Anna Bloomfield questioned why the issue of expanded gaming was again being raised when there are other ways of raising new revenues.

"We'd be better off without them," she said of slot machines.

And when Bloomfield announced that Vancouver council had earlier Tuesday evening voted to bar slot machines at its casinos, that was met with a resounding applause from many who packed city council chambers.

Richmond's John Luk said although the potential revenues may be enticing, it will come at a cost: "It's the lives of families."

"You are opening the floodgates. Remember you are writing history."

Council was expected to listen to as many as 29 more submissions Wednesday night before making a decision.

Of the nine members on council, only Mayor Malcolm Brodie and Coun. Sue Halsey-Brandt were opposed to the idea, while six others were leaning in favour of it. Coun. Bill McNulty said he hadn't made up his mind yet.

Youth worker service gets cut-for now

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

Riley Quinn is concerned that an important service for children like herself may not be available next year.

Richmond Youth Services Agency has been told a contract to provide child, youth and family workers for children five to 12 years old in local schools has been terminated as of July 15.

Although there is indication that the service could return next year in a different form, the school district has yet to receive any word from the province.

Riley, 11, said her life has changed for the better in the past two years since she has received assistance from a child, youth and family worker.

"The government doesn't think they help, but they do," Riley said. "I just want (the workers) to be back, because they helped me a lot."

Her worker and others like her help children learn social skills, anger management, and dealing with peer pressure.

"She makes all sorts of kids feel like they're people," Riley said.

Richmond Youth Services Agency will lose seven full-time staff who provided assistance to 450 children over the past year, through referrals from local schools.

Alexander Bell, manager of children and youth services with the agency, said there's been a lot of shock among the clients and the schools, and there's fear that nothing will replace the service.

Richmond School District associate superintendent Bruce Beairsto said the province has indicated plans to channel the money directly to the school district, and make the district responsible for the service. But Beairsto said the school district's union would insist the service be provided in-house, and contest the Richmond Youth Services Agency arrangement as contracting out.

"In all likelihood we may not be able to pass it out of our hands into (the agency's) hands even if we wanted to," Beairsto said.

Bell said there is a danger educational goals will take precedence with a school board provided program, he said.

"They may be getting good grades in school, but they're suffering from anorexia," he said. "So, great, they're a perfectionist."

Beairsto said the service has been valuable, adding he is happy to see the funding is expected to continue.

"We've been told that it's going to come to us, but we haven't got it yet."

City to celebrate Environment Week

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

Environment Week kicks off Saturday and city staff have some big plans for people of all ages.

Locals are urged to come out to the Sea Island Conservation Area to clean up the marsh and remove some non-native plants. The clean-up begins at 11 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m. and will help people learn about the diversity of wildlife found in the mouth of the Fraser River. Those interested are urged to meet at the McDonald Beach parking lot at 11 a.m.

If you're not interested in getting your fingers dirty, residents may consider a cycling or walking tour of Richmond's West Dyke on Sunday, between 10 a.m. and noon. Several nature stations will be set up between Terra Nova and Garry Point, giving locals an opportunity to learn more about Richmond's environment.

Later on Sunday, slugs will take centre stage during the ever popular Slugfest at Richmond Nature Park, from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be a slug beauty contest, with categories including beauty, weight, largest and smallest. To top it off there will be the Great Richmond Slug Race.

To end Sunday with a bang, the city is offering a historic and wildlife tour of Steveston harbour from 5 to 6 p.m. Pre-registration is required for this naturalist-hosted tour, which costs $8.

If the stars are more to your liking, then check out the powerful telescopes from the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre at Garry Point Park on Friday, June 7 from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Locals can view early sky objects such as Jupiter, Mercury and Venus.

Locals are urged to bring in their cans and bottles as residents take a run at a World Record during the Enviro Fair, the grand finale for the week's events, on June 8 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For the kids, there will be two inflatable bouncers along with other entertainment, including a professional play entitled The Big Bug Mystery.

There will also be a draw for a "Nature and Historical Steveston Harbour Tour" compliments of Vancouver Whale Watch.

There are many other Environment Week events for the whole family to enjoy and most events are free. Pre-registration is required for some events as space is limited.

For more information, pick up the City's Summer Recreation and Cultural Guide, available at civic facilities or on-line.

New group home rules approved

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

Organizations hoping to open licensed group homes will now encounter more hurdles after Richmond council passed new regulations on Monday.

Council approved the final recommendations of its group home task force, with some staff revisions, bringing for now an end to the long-standing debate about regulations for group homes housing seven to 10 people.

"I think it should bring closure to the issue," Coun. Harold Steves said.

Council also approved a protocol agreement with Richmond Health Services that would require organizations opening a new facility to conduct extensive notification of neighbours in the area. A fact sheet would also be prepared describing the proposed facility, and an informal neighbourhood meeting would be held.

The first permit for the home would be a one-year interim permit, and the city would solicit comments from the community prior to Richmond Health Services issuing a permanent permit.

Steves said these steps go a long way toward alleviating the concerns some people had about particular types of group homes.

"This is not that same as having public hearings, going through the rezoning process, but certainly it can be just as effective in terms of allowing citizens to have input into the decision."

But Coun. Evelina Halsey-Brandt said the changes are nothing more than "regulation for the sake of regulation." And in reality, they would not apply to drug and alcohol recovery homes such as the one at the centre of the debate in the first place.

Residents in the Odlin Road area sparked the group home debate in 1999 when they protested the opening of Turning Point, a drug and alcohol recovery home, in their neighbourhood.

A city-initiated task force spent six months and $110,000 last year educating the public and trying to reach a resolution to the issue. But many of the recommendations were rendered impotent by recent changes in guidelines for group homes with seven to 10 people to the province's Community Care Act. Unless a group home provides medical care, it no longer requires licensing.

Therefore, homes like Turning Point do not require licensing under recent changes to provincial regulations, and there is little the city or Richmond Health Services can do about the location of new homes and how a facility is run.

The singing life

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

Audrey Fricker is the senior member of the Richmond Chorus in more ways than one.

"Without researching it, I believe I am the oldest member of the chorus," says the 78-year-old singer, "and nobody holds it against me."

But Fricker-who will be singing alto with the group when they present their last concert of the season, Fanfare to Summer, June 1-brings more than just age to the stage. She brings a wealth of experience, much of it gained by singing with some of the most respected and talented choirs in the city.

Fricker says she never received any degrees in music, and was surprised to be welcomed to the choirs.

"Most of the time it was a fluke," Fricker says, in her typically understated, self-effacing manner.

Since moving to Vancouver from Guelph, Ont., in 1970, Fricker has sung in the Cantata Singers, the Vancouver Bach Choir, Vancouver Chorale, Christ Church Cathedral Choir and several smaller groups including the Elektra Women's Choir.

These choirs put her under the tutelage of noted conductors James Fankhauser, Bruce Pullan, Patrick Wedd and Morna Edmundson.

"They're all very good to work with," Fricker says. "They inspire you. They demand a lot but they don't kill your voice."

Although she sang hymns in the church as a girl, Fricker didn't really start singing in earnest until she started raising her own family in Guelph, where she sang with the Guelph Light Opera Chorus.

When she moved to Vancouver in 1970, she took her sons down to Christ Church to join the boys choir, but the boys weren't interested. But Wedd invited Fricker to join his choir, and didn't seem too worried her resume at that time was lacking academic training.

She also got involved with the choir at University Hill Secondary, where her daughter attended. Edmundson, who now co-conducts Elektra, was a 14-year-old student at the time, and says Fricker helped instill in her a passion for good music. Although Fricker was simply volunteering at the time, the choir teacher noted her strong musical background and eventually sat at the piano and let Fricker take the lead role.

"She really gave us all...excitement about singing good music and it came from the love of music on her part," Edmundson says. "I still remember some of the music we did 15 years ago."

Fricker quickly became enmeshed in the local choir music scene on a number of fronts, and says that's what she's always loved best: the variety.

"Generally speaking, the repertoire is totally different," she says.

Since joining Richmond Chorus in 1994 and moving to Richmond soon thereafter, she has continued on with Elektra, a group she's sung with since it started 15 years ago.

And she doesn't show any signs of stopping.

Last weekend, she was joined by about 30 of her fellow Richmond Chorus members for Chorfest, an annual choir festival held this year at Capilano College.

Some highlights of her singing career include singing Gustav Mahler's Eighth Symphony at Lord Thompson Hall in Toronto with the Vancouver Bach Choir and attending the World Symposium on Music in Australia with Elektra.

Fricker looks forward to continuing to sing with the Chorus and help the group as they host Chorfest when it comes to Richmond in 2004.

"As long as I can keep singing, I don't really aspire to do anything more. I don't think I've had a particularly exciting life. I just enjoy what I do, and have met some really nice people in the choir world."

Edmundson says Fricker's "infectious enthusiasm for good music" pervades everything she does.

"What an incredible lifetime of choral music she's had," Edmundson says.

In Fanfare to Summer, the chorus will sing a variety of songs including Oscar Peterson's "Hymn to Freedom," "Too Darn Hot" from the musical Kiss Me Kate, and Pavane by Gabriel Faure.

Richmond Orchestra will also perform at the concert, which is being held at Fraserview Mennonite Brethren Church (11295 Mellis Dr.) this Saturday at 8 p.m.

Summit of Hope to tackle Denali in their climbing fundraiser

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

It's time for mountain number two, and it will be a huge leap from Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro to Alaska's Mt. McKinley.

Two Richmond residents are among a group of climbers who are flying to Alaska June 4 to climb North America's tallest peak (20,320 feet), raising money for kids with cancer.

"This is a way more difficult climb," said Russ Barstow, leader of Summits of Hope, who will be joined by fellow Richmond resident Chris Stiegelmar.

The group successfully conquered Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet) last year and plans to climb Argentina's Mt. Aconcagua (22,834) in 2003 and Nepal's Mt. Everest (29,034) in 2004.

Conditions on Mt. McKinley, also known as Denali, are hazardous at any time of year. Many lives have been lost in attempts on the summit. Temperatures can drop to between -30 and -70 C below zero, winds can whip up to 150 km/h and the mountain is home to crevasses 60 feet wide and 300 feet deep.

Barstow has spent a lot of time in the past year ice climbing in the Rockies. But, he admits, he's a little bit nervous with this one.

"It's a big mountain. And there's a lot of danger with this climb. But at the same time, I'm really excited. It's going to be wild."

In recent weeks, group members have visited local schools, where many students plan to follow the expedition's progress via updates on the web site, www.summitsofhope.com.

The Kilimanjaro expedition raised $46,000 for the oncology department at B.C. Children's Hospital, and Barstow hopes to surpass that this time around.

As with the previous expedition, the team will be selling prayer flags for $50 apiece. Purchasers can include a message of their choice on the flag, which will be carried to the mountain's peak. To contribute, visit the web site or call Barstow at 604-219-1117.

Casino firm sues over slots

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

Richmond-based Great Canadian Gaming Corporation is taking Victoria to court over its recent decision to not allow the casino firm to introduce slot machines at four of its locations, including one on Sea Island Way in Richmond.

Great Canadian lawyer Bruce Butler said the suit against both the province and the B.C. Lottery Corporation alleges "breach of contract, unfairness and a number of other matters."

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court after the casino firm was told it would not be permitted to relocate or upgrade its facilities in order to accommodate slot machines. Slot machines are huge revenue generators and Great Canadian stands to lose revenues to competing casinos with slots.

Great Canadian and other B.C. casinos signed 10-year contracts with 10 year renewals with the B.C. Lottery Corporation last year.

Butler said his client fears that the decision would bar Great Canadian from slot machine revenues for as many as 19 years.

In January, at a public cabinet meeting, Victoria announced that some of the seven existing casinos without slots would be permitted to relocate or upgrade, Butler said.

Then in late March, Great Canadian was informed it would not be allowed to introduce slots at its four existing casinos: two in Vancouver, one in Richmond and another in Victoria. However, all four of Great Canadian's competitors who currently don't have slots will be permitted to relocate, Butler said.

Four community casinos have been selected for relocation and the City of Richmond is considering tossing in its hat for consideration as a site. Should another casino land in Richmond, it would be a full-service facility with up to 300 slot machines.

High stakes

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

The math seems simple enough: add 300 slot machines and infuse city coffers with an extra $6 million annually.

But as city council members have learned, the issue of gambling is much more complex and there are nearly as many opinions as there are people.

There are those who advocate expanded gambling because of promises it will reduce property taxes, draw tourists and provide other community benefits such as generating much-needed funds for local charities.

And then there are those worried about the social implications of having more people exposed to gambling, and the small percentage who become problem gamblers.

However Dr. Nigel Turner, a research psychologist with Ontario's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, said Richmond residents should expect neither the gloom-and-doom nor financial-windfall scenarios. Instead, what will happen will likely be somewhere in between, he said.

One argument on the pro-expansion side is that slots are already available outside Richmond, and since gamblers are already heading for those areas why not keep the money local by bringing in the one-armed bandits and reaping the financial rewards.

"It's a seductive argument," Turner admits.

But he cautioned that the financial picture isn't quite as rosy as advocates contend.

Should Richmond get $6 million annually-its share of revenues generated by the slots-that money will be siphoned from other areas such as local restaurants, entertainment facilities, shopping malls and even rent payments.

"That $6 million is coming from somewhere. That's $6 million that would be spent on something else."

With the Great Canadian Casino already in Richmond, the focus of the concern seems to be the addition of hundreds of slot machines.

What does research say about slot machines? Are they really highly addictive? And will introducing them to Richmond really have a detrimental impact on the community?

Slot machines are one of the more addictive games and are, according to Turner, the number one reason why people are in treatment in Ontario.

"A lot of this has to do with availability," he said, adding that there are certain barriers to gambling that people regularly face.

The fewer or less imposing the barriers, the more likely a person is to gamble, he said.

For example, unlike poker and blackjack whose rules may seem complex to the uninitiated, one-armed bandits are simple games that only require money to be deposited and the pulling of a lever.

As a result, someone new to a casino will be less inhibited from playing the slots, since the potential embarrassment is nearly zero and only a mindless machine will notice. Table games, such as mini-baccarat, have learning curves that may deter the shy and also have higher minimum stakes, starting at $25 a hand. Slot machines, on the other hand, can be played for as little as 25¢ per play, and offer a low starting point to initiate gambling.

Convenience and access are also barriers to gambling, Turner said.

"The closer a slot machine is to you, the less of a barrier there is," he explained. It's very similar to alcohol consumption; one will drink more if access to the source of alcohol is closer, he said.

But Turner doesn't believe that the current 15 minute drive to slot machines in Vancouver would be enough to deter Richmond gamblers from making the commute, although the drive may be a barrier for the city's seniors population. Barring slots may also reduce the level of new initiates to slot machine gambling.

"We're likely to do something if it's convenient."

According to Turner, although legalized gambling has been around for decades, research is still at a relatively primitive stage, and no great consensus exists among scientists about controversial issues.

David A. Korn of the University of Toronto's department of public health sciences, encourages in a recent article in The Electronic Journal of Gambling Issues (www.camh.net) the "adoption of a public health perspective on gambling issues."

"The value of a public health viewpoint is that it examines the broad impact of gambling rather than focusing solely on problem and pathological gambling behaviour in individuals. It takes into consideration the wider health, social and economic costs and benefits; it gives priority to the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged people; and it emphasizes prevention and harm reduction."

According to Korn, who cites a number of studies in the mid-1990s, there is evidence problem and pathological gambling increased with the introduction of new gambling opportunities in states such as New York, Iowa, Minnesota and Texas.

"These findings support the general conclusion that gambling expansion is associated with...increases in problem and pathological gambling."

In his article, Korn also looked at the impacts of gambling on special populations, including lower-income socio-economic groups, women, First Nations people and older adults.

Citing numbers from Statistics Canada, lower income households spend proportionately more than do higher income households, he wrote.

"...These data suggest that gambling expenditures may be regarded as a voluntary but regressive tax that has a proportionately greater impact on lower income groups."

Although there are concerns seniors are vulnerable to gambling problems springing from fixed incomes, social isolation and declining health, Korn points out that seniors may also receive "health benefits from gambling activity and its impact on social connectedness."

Turner cautioned that although there is a lot of good information on the Internet, there is also a lot of bad information on-line from both anti-gambling and pro-gambling groups.

Will slot machines draw tourists?

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

Will the introduction of slot machines into Richmond be an economic boon and tourist draw?

According to Howard Blank, executive director of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, parent company of the Great Canadian Casino, slot machines introduced to Coquitlam and Nanaimo have been a hit, drawing people from neighbouring communities and outlying areas.

Of those playing slot machines in Coquitlam, 55 per cent live there, while 45 per cent come from outside Coquitlam and 11 per cent from outside the Lower Mainland.

Those numbers are significantly different from Richmond, which doesn't offer slot machines.

Of those going to the Great Canadian Casino on Sea Island Way, 79 per cent live in Richmond, with only 10 per cent coming from elsewhere in the Lower Mainland and 11 per cent from outside the Lower Mainland.

In Nanaimo, which has a full-service casino with slots, only 43 per cent of the people who play the slots actually live in Nanaimo, with 37 per cent being tourists and 18 per cent off-island visitors.

However Dr. Nigel Turner, from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, cautioned that as more and more communities within a geographic region introduce slot machines, the number of people who travel between communities will decline.

Turner explained that the boom in the number of casinos across North America has in part been fueled by neighbouring cities feeling pressured to introduce casinos in order to compete with other nearby cities that already have one.

However, as more casinos or slot machines are introduced, the relative impact of new visitors declines, he pointed out, to the point that only locals gamble at local casinos. This doesn't apply, however, to communities that rely heavily on tourists to gamble.

But Blank said that if the provincial government allows for the Richmond casino to expand, he promises it will become the best facility in the region.

"We feel Richmond is ideal in its proximity to (Highway) 99 and the airport. If allowed to build in Richmond, we will make that our flagship."

Asked whether Victoria is considering allowing the existing Richmond casino to expand, Blank said: "We feel we will be given consideration and we feel optimistic with our chances for Richmond."

Help not wanted for gamblers

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

As few as 1 in 100 problem gamblers seek help from specialized treatment programs, according to a recently released Ontario study.

Dr. Brian Rush of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health said he studied some 2,224 clients in treatments programs and found that they represent only a small fraction of the estimated numbers of problem gamblers.

"Only a small percentage of people experiencing problems related to gambling are seeking help from specialized treatment programs."

According to Rush, Richmondites shouldn't infer that just because a neighbouring community hasn't found increased problems associated with expanded gambling, that that won't happen in Richmond.

"I would definitely say they can't," Rush said Friday.

Rush's study looked at the characteristics of people seeking help for problem gambling in Ontario.

The study found the small number seeking treatment "suggests a large unmet need for treatment in the community."

Some have argued that the estimated number of problem gamblers is overblown.

However Rush said that even if the true figure is only half, that still means only about one in 50 are seeking professional treatment.

"I think our data is clear that a big percentage is hidden. The fact that problem gamblers are not turning up in specialized treatment facilities is in no way an indication that these people are not out there."

Rush encouraged jurisdictions to monitor gambling-related problems in other ways, such as through credit bureaus, welfare and doctors.

"They've got to be turning up somewhere else," Rush said.

Published in the February 2002 edition of the Electronic Journal of Gambling Issues, the study also found that nearly a quarter (22.8 per cent) of the 2,224 clients were seeking help for a family member/significant other's gambling problem.

However Walter Soo, vice-president of operational development for Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, said that in the case of slot machines, when they are put in a controlled environment as an alternative to illegal gambling, the addiction figure does not go up, but it in fact does down.

Soo referred to one study which found that the percentage of problem gamblers dropped from about six per cent to about three per cent in Alberta following the introduction of legalized gambling.

He said the casino industry recognizes there is an addiction factor.

"(But) people who gamble are going to find a way to gamble."

Attempted murderer gets seven years in jail

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

A Richmond man has been sentenced to seven years in jail for shooting his common-law wife six times last summer.

David Brighton was found guilty of the June 22, 2001 attempted murder of Sandra Stavely, the mother of Brighton's twin boys.

Brighton shot Stavely in the family home, near No. 1 and Williams roads, as their twin boys sat outside in the family minivan. The dispute was seen and heard in part by concerned neighbours, who called police and that led to a dramatic sequence of events that included a police officer kicking down the front door after hearing shots fired.

Richmond Provincial Court Judge Ron Fratkin handed down the seven-year sentence Thursday as Brighton's brother, friends and relatives listened. Fratkin said Stavely's physical and emotional scars will be with her and her two children for the rest of their lives.

Fratkin said there's no doubt that Brighton's relationship with his children, family and friends has "forever changed," but Brighton's suffering "pales in comparison with what Ms. Stavely will suffer...That's why this is such a tragedy."

Brighton's lawyer Kris Pechet said outside the courthouse that the normal range for this type of offence is seven to 10 years. Crown counsel Maura McGivern had argued for a sentence between nine and 11 years.

Pechet, who argued for a four-year sentence, had hoped Fratkin would take into consideration the role Vancouver therapist Richard Clark played in the days and weeks that led up to the shooting.

Pechet said his client sought relationship counselling from Clark, but when Brighton expressed concerns that Clark was having an affair with his partner, Clark denied everything. In fact, court testimony revealed that Clark and Stavely were meeting secretly and eventually consummated their relationship on the night before the shooting. They are currently still a couple.

Fratkin agreed that Clark exacerbated the situation and that Clark's lack of forthrightness resulted in Brighton being "confounded, confused and bewildered by the situation."

On the night of the shooting, Brighton testified he intended to kill himself when he pulled out the handgun. After claiming he'd lost sight of his wife, Brighton said he reacted to some shadows he spotted moving under a computer desk and shot blindly at the figure. He struck Stavely several times, including twice in the head.

Pechet said it's unlikely the sentence will be appealed.

Businesses cool on pay parking

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

A majority of businesses that responded to a recent Richmond Chamber of Commerce survey are opposed to pay parking in the downtown core.

In response to a question whether pay parking would hinder or benefit their business, 80 per cent said parking meters would have a negative effect.

The city is planning to introduce pay parking in commercial areas of the city's centre by August 1. The chamber acknowledges pay parking is inevitable, but wanted the city to understand the concerns of local businesses.

"What we've said is you have to be sensitive when you make policies," said Gary Cohen, chair of the chamber's transportation committee.

The most common concern was the added cost to business or employees who may now have to pay to park their cars at work.

But Coun. Rob Howard, who manages commercial properties, said pay parking can also be a boost for business by forcing turnover and keeping spots free for customers.

"We know that parking gets abused," Howard said.

The city anticipates $704,000 in revenue the first year, and $3.2 million by the fifth year of pay parking.

BB gun-toting teens get taken down

Martin van den Hemel, Staff Reporter

Two Richmond teens were staring down the barrel of a police handgun Tuesday and they won't soon forget it.

A passing motorist contacted police after spotting the two youth at a bus stop at No. 5 Road and Steveston Highway, brandishing what looked like a semi-automatic pistol. A police cruiser was dispatched and the officer spotted the youth fitting the description.

What happened next could have ended in tragedy in other parts of the world.

Richmond RCMP Const. Peter Thiessen said the officer, who was observing the pair from across the street, saw a 16-year-old male pull out a silver-grey handgun and pass it to the 19-year-old boy. The officer then called for backup.

When the older youth spotted the police officer, he pulled it out of his waistband, held it in his hand and began walking toward the officer. The officer then executed a takedown, drew his weapon and ordered the youth to drop the gun and to get down on the ground. The youth complied.

As this was happening the second police officer arrived and did a takedown of the second youth.

Both were then handcuffed.

It was at this point that the officers learned the "gun" was in fact a BB gun the older youth had purchased.

Thiessen said locals need to know that carrying around a replica weapon and showing it in public isn't wise.

What's even worse is holding one in your hand while you are approaching a police officer.

"I wouldn't want to think about what could have happened here. You can't be carrying them around in public...and you can't walk up to a cop with it in your hand."

The BB gun was seized and will be destroyed, Thiessen said, although the two teens will not be charged. But both received stern warnings.

RCMP Corp. Davis Wendell said police have "tremendous concerns" about the sale of BB guns and children's toys that look exactly like dangerous handguns. Some of the toy guns available are so realistic that it's difficult to distinguish them from the real deal, Wendell said.

Ex-NPAers form new slate

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

Four ex-Richmond Non-Partisan Association councillors will be running under a new slate this November, called Richmond First Voters.

"I think what this group brings to the table is strong, experienced leadership the city needs during turbulent times," said Coun. Rob Howard, who is joined by current councillors Kiichi Kumagai and Bill McNulty, and Corisande Percival-Smith, who was defeated in 1999 after 22 years on council.

Although they say they are a team of independents joining together to share campaign resources, they share a common focus on free enterprise and fiscal responsibility.

And although they don't yet have an official platform, rising property taxes will likely be top of the list.

"I want the city to move in a different direction," said Kumagai, who was the first to join the new slate in March.

"It's all related to money. The people love the beauty of the city, the way it's managed. The only thing they don't like is the taxes."

McNulty and Kumagai quit the Richmond NPA in January, and Howard-first elected in the October 2001 byelection-left the non-partisans soon after. All three criticized their former party for its lacklustre campaign, and even less inspiring results. The Richmond NPA, which formerly held a majority on council, only elected one person to the four available positions.

"Too many things went wrong, and I didn't have enough confidence that they would get fixed," Howard said of his departure.

The fortunes of McNulty, Kumagai and Percival-Smith, in terms of votes, also declined between the 1996 and 1999 municipal elections. After ranking 1-2-3, respectively, in 1996, they dropped to third, sixth and out of contention in 1999.

They admit name recognition for the new organization will be a challenge, but believe their extensive combined experience is their biggest asset.

"Many of our supporters are still supporting us, regardless of what we're doing," McNulty said.

"I've had nothing but positive encouragement," Kumagai said.

The group plans to run a slate of seven candidates for council, and is also looking to run a slate for school board.

Percival-Smith was unavailable for comment.

Airplane hall-of-famer

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

Dan McIvor was only about five years old when he had an inspiration that would define his career.

One summer, his mother took him out to a lake and he started throwing stones.

"This yellow thing went over our heads and made a hell of a racket and I said 'what's that?'" said McIvor, 90, who is being inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame at a dinner this weekend in Richmond.

His mother told him it was an airplane sent out to search for forest fires. This was before the day of waterbombers, but McIvor stuck on an idea that stuck fast.

"I said the plane would drop a pill on (the fire), and it would go out," said McIvor, who lives in Burkeville, near Vancouver International Airport. "It was years before I found out they didn't, but I never forgot it."

McIvor developed a fascination with planes that grew into a driving passion, fueled by the first time he saw a plane about three years later.

"I'll never forget the feeling I got when I touched the side of that fuselage," he said. "I guess that's when I decided I was going to be a pilot."

He dropped out of school as a teenager, and eventually ended up working in a bank, which was only a frustrating distraction.

"I wanted to get out of that." But he couldn't afford the cost of booking time in a plane to get his license.

In a fashion that seemed logical enough to McIvor-who recently received a chainsaw for his birthday and still has a workshop full of projects-he set out to build a plane of his own.

He bought plans, and lucked out on a deal for a load of Sitka spruce.

"I made all the ribs in my bedroom. My wife wasn't too happy about it, but it was either that or the kitchen."

He also purchased steel and learned to weld at night school.

But he never finished it. The Second World War broke out, and getting supplies would be difficult, and buying gas, near impossible. So he stored it in the attic.

Months later, his bank manager called him into his office, where McIvor met with the local squadron leader, recruiting for the air force.

"He said 'Here's the man you want in your squadron, you should see his airplane.'"

The squadron leader was so impressed he offered him a job as air frame mechanic.

As soon as he could, McIvor enrolled in a flight training course with the air force, and was stationed overseas. But again, just when it seemed he would be flying, he was cut short by severe stomach ulcers. He was grounded, and sent home within months of his arrival.

Back in Vancouver, he joined Pacific Western Airlines, working on a forestry contract for five years.

"The whole time, I was trying to get somebody to use airplanes to put fires out, but nobody would," McIvor said. Later, working with MacMillan Bloedel, he got a more sympathetic ear.

On the first attempt, he took 50 paper bags each filled with three gallons of water, and dropped them on a small fire. It worked.

Soon after, they equipped a Beaver aircraft with tanks. It could hold 80 gallons of water. When he used it to extinguish a forest fire near Sechelt within 10 hours, almost every charter plane in the province became equipped with water tanks. The financial lure to charter operators was significant, McIvor said.

They eventually switched to Otters, which carried 160 gallons, but McIvor had his sights set on something much, much bigger: the Martin Mars.

The Mars were, and still are, the world's largest flying boats. They are the size of a 747 jet, with a 200-foot wingspan and a height of 50 feet. In 1959, literally the day after McIvor mentioned his interest in the Mars to a colleague, the U.S. Navy put the world's last four remaining planes up for sale.

McIvor managed to purchase all four for $100,000. McIvor led a crew that fixed the planes up and converted them to carry water.

The converted planes carry 7,200 gallons of water, weighing about 27,000 kilograms. They pick up the water by skimming the surface of a lake at least seven kilometres long, and small probes pick up the full payload of water in 30 seconds.

"I just felt fully at home in that airplane, every time I was in it," said McIvor. "I put out every fire I worked on."

Waterbombing is dangerous work: one of the four planes, with a crew of four, was killed when the pilot pulled up too quickly and the wings folded. But McIvor recalls an incident where he saved a life-something he learned only after the fact.

He called by a wood shop one day looking for white pine, and the man at the shop happened to have been a forest fire fighter. The man said he was on the ground, fighting a fire, when he realized he'd become surrounded by flames. The temperature had heated immensely, and he felt his skin begin to blister and his jacket was smoking. Suddenly, he was drenched and shivering. The water bomber had scored a direct hit.

"To think I had saved that guy's life and didn't even know it."

McIvor retired as a pilot in 1967.

When he learned two months ago that he was joining the Aviation Hall of Fame, he felt very honoured.

"When you look at the book of people who are in it, they're pretty important."

Coast Capital merger approved

Chris Bryan, Staff Reporter

Coast Capital Savings merger with Surrey Metro Savings was officially approved Wednesday..

Members at Surrey Metro voted 84 per cent in favour of the arrangement, making the new institution the largest of its kind in Canada, by membership, and the second largest in terms of assets.

Coast Capital chief executive officer Paul Duncan said the drive to merge has come from an increasingly competitive market in financial products and services in recent years. In the traditional business of loans and mortgages, for instance, profit margins for financial institutions have declined significantly, he said.

"It's good for consumers, but it means that credit unions have to look at how they operate," Duncan said.

New technology has become increasingly expensive as well. By spreading the costs over a larger member and asset base, the cost per member goes down, he said.

The new credit union will be under the name Coast Capital Savings. Combined, there are 42 branches, a combined membership of 300,000 and assets of $6 billion.

Coast Capital Savings was formed in December 2000 through a merger between Pacific Coast Savings and Richmond Savings.

Duncan said the larger scale allows the organization to provide a wider range of services, such as financial and retirement planning.

As there is no overlap of branches, the company has no plans to close any branches, or layoff any branch staff.

Duncan said there will be some job losses in management this year.