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First Nation publishes financial statements under new legislation BY KARL YU THE NEWS BULLETIN
Junhao Chen, representative for SSS Manhao International Tourism Group, centre, and Allan Beron, general contractor for hotel construction, chat with guests prior to a ribbon-cutting ceremony to announce construction of the new Vancouver Island Conference Centre hotel Wednesday.
only huge for the hotel, it’s going to be huge for the conference centre and what’s good for both of them is excellent for the City of Nanaimo,” he said. SSS Manhao hotel representative Junhao Chen said, via a translator, his company wants to bring more guests to the city, which he said is paradise to Chinese people. Construction is expected to be complete by 2016 and the hotel operational a year later. The Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce and the Suzhou Commercial Association of Canada also took part in a signing event on Wednesday to formally establish a new relationship between the two groups.
Coun. Eric Wesley topped the Snuneymuxw First Nation band council with compensation totalling $314,801 for the year ended March 31, according to recently released financial statements. Douglas White III, lawyer and former chief, received $108,022, while incumbent Chief John Wesley, who was elected in December, received about $14,400 in his time as chief and $11,825 in his previous role as councillor. According to a schedule of council remuneration and expenses, $307,201 of the money Eric Wesley received was for construction-related services, while $19,524 paid to White was for legal services. Coun. Paul Wyse-Seward was also paid for construction-related services to the tune of $2,800. White’s expenses totalled $24,767 while Chief Wesley’s combined expenses totalled $4,479. The band recently broke ground on construction for a community building and gymnasium. Eric Wesley could not be reached for comment and White and the First Nation’s administration did not return calls by press time. As part of the First Nations Financial Transparency Act, which became law in March 2013, First Nations must provide financial information on an annual basis. Based on the financial statements, there is a wide range in band council compensation across the country. The Stz’uminus First Nation, with a comparable population base, remunerated its chief John Elliott $87,650, while Coun. Timothy Harris received the most compensation with $97,627. Elliott and Harris’s expenses totalled $16,518 and $19,205 respectively. Full financial reports can be found on the federal department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development’s website.
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CHRIS BUSH THE NEWS BULLETIN
Ribbon cutting signals construction phase
I
GROUND-BREAKING unlikely to start before October.
BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
SSS Manhao has announced the start of construction for a multimilliondollar conference centre hotel. Nanaimo dignitaries and the SSS Manhao International Tourism Group held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday on the site of a future 21-storey hotel to mark the start of the construction phase. The project is expected to get underway this October and be in operation by 2017,
although the company is still in the process of securing a building permit. Mayor John Ruttan said the recent announcement is “exciting.” The Gordon Street lot has sat empty for nearly a decade after failed attempts to build a hotel by Triarc and Millennium developments. Now SSS Manhao, a B.C. affiliate of a major Chinese tourism company, has plans to create a $50-million hotel, which designs show will have connecting tunnels to Piper Park and the conference centre, a swimming pool and 14 commercial units. It’s also expected to draw 70,000 Chinese tourists each year. “It looks like it’s going to finally work out,” Ruttan
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said. “It’s about five years late, but I am still so excited because this is one of the primary things that I always felt was an important goal for me and for the city to have.” City officials have believed that quality hotel rooms are key to the Vancouver Island Conference Centre meeting its potential and relying less on taxpayer subsidies. This year, conference centre operators predict they will be over budget by $119,000, due to lower than expected revenues last spring and fewer bookings. According to Ruttan, SSS Manhao has indicated it wants the conference centre and conferences to be its primary market. “This is going to be not
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