Tuesday December 4, 2012 (Vol. 37 No. 97)
V O I C E
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S O U T H
S U R R E Y
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Uphill battle: An avid world hiker, Erin Little – seen here in Peru –will take on the world’s largest free-standing mountain when she faces Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the BC SPCA. › see page 11
News conference follows community backlash against South Surrey proposal
Biz groups host pro-casino ‘united front’ Alex Browne Staff Reporter
Surrey and White Rock business leaders are joining in a “united front” to support the Gateway casino/entertainment complex proposed for South Surrey. In a news conference scheduled for Tuesday morning, representatives of the South Surrey White
Rock Chamber of Commerce, the Surrey Board of Trade and the Cloverdale and District Chamber of Commerce were scheduled to speak in support of the complex. “We’re presenting a united front in support of this – that’s what’s different,” said Surrey board CEO Anita Huberman, who added that both she and South Surrey White
Rock chamber executive director Cliff Annable would be among those speaking. Huberman noted that while the business organizations have long supported the $100-million casino, hotel and entertainment complex, proposed for 10 Avenue and 168 Street, Surrey council’s decision to delay discussion of the project
until Dec. 10 means a public hearing will not take place until Jan. 14, and it will be at least the end of January before the fate of the proposal is known. “We wanted to create a bit of momentum and buzz for this before everyone leaves on holidays, and then renew our support in January,” she said.
The business support also comes at a time when a community backlash against the project has emerged, ranging from scores of letters to the editor and jeering of advocates at public meetings, to the formation of ad-hoc organizations and Facebook groups vowing to fight the proposal. › see page 2
Ex-boyfriend ‘not guilty’
Men charged in killing of teenager Kevin Diakiw & Sheila Reynolds Black Press
Gord Goble photo
Wheels up
Trevor Pearson – with Bob Welbourn, a national cyclocross champion, gaining ground on him – lifts his bike over an obstacle during Saturday’s B.C. Cup finals cyclocross race, held at South Surrey Athletic Park. Welbourn eventually caught Pearson and went on to win the 2.5-km elite division race.
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One of two men charged in the homicide of SFU Surrey student Maple Batalia will plead not guilty, his lawyer said outside court this week. Gurjinder (Gary) Dhaliwal and a second man charged in the case, Gursimar Singh Bedi, appeared in Surrey Provincial Court Monday. On Sept. 28, 2011, 19-year-old Batalia was gunned down on the third floor of the Central City parkade, Gurjinder Dhaliwal beside Simon Fraser University, following a late-night study session with friends. Just before 1 a.m., she had left for the parkade, where she was shot multiple times in what police believe was a targeted attack. She died in hospital. Maple Batalia At a news conference Saturday, police announced that Maple’s ex-boyfriend, Dhaliwal, 20, and his “associate,” Bedi, 22, had been charged in her death. Dhaliwal is charged with first-degree murder, while Bedi is charged with manslaughter with a firearm and accessory after the fact. › see page 4