BRITISH COLUMBIA
Mountie a ‘poster boy’ for failure, says lawyer Ex-cop who perjured himself in Dziekanski case in court for sentencing; his lawyer is seeking house arrest. A7
NANAIMO REGION
Change sought
E-bike taxes not riding high with enthusiasts
Justin Trudeau, leader of the federal Liberals, wants Canada’ss electoral system updated
There are provincial cash incentives for electric cars, but sales taxes on e-bikes add to their cost. A3
Nation & World, A8
The newspaper of record for Nanaimo and region since 1874 || Wednesday, June 17, 2015
» City
POLITICS
Council now faces decision on buying back hotel land
Support grows to shift how we vote SPENCER ANDERSON DAILY NEWS
The currently vacant site for the proposed SSS Manhao 21-storey hotel off of downtown Nanaimo’s Gordon Street. Council voted Monday against giving a one-year extension for its right to buy back the property. [SPENCER ANDERSON/DAILY NEWS]
Vote may decide future of Gordon Street site SPENCER ANDERSON DAILY NEWS
N
anaimo city council will revisit its option to buy back the proposed site of a 21-storey, $50-million hotel project next to the Vancouver Island Conference Centre next Monday, albeit with a shorter extension than what was sought by the developer. The decision will be another key vote for the project. On Monday of this week, council voted 5-4 to turn down a one-year delay on its right to buy back the property from Chinese tourism firm SSS Manhao International Tourism Group at the original price of $565,000 paid by the firm to acquire the land from the city in 2013. Under an option to purchase agreement signed by the developer, the city can now buy back the site because the developer missed a May 30 deadline to
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Mainly sunny High 20, Low 12 Details A2
“I don’t care how many years it takes, I just want the project moving.” Jerry Hong, city councillor
obtain a permit to begin construction the foundations of the building. Five councillors, including Jerry Hong, Bill Bestwick, Jim Kipp, Bill Yoachim and Gord Fuller, voted to deny the one-year request, citing concerns about a lack of construction on the site as well as a lack of communication from the developer on progress on the site. Mayor Bill McKay and councillors Diane Brennan, Ian Thorpe and Wendy Pratt had supported the request. However, council unanimously backed a motion from Hong that would seek a six month exten-
sion of the option to purchase agreement. In practice, that means the city would have the right only to buy back the land if SSS Manhao has not obtained a building permit and started construction work by Nov. 30. Under the motion, city staff would also be directed to get a formal commitment from the developer to invest $100,000 in improvements to Piper Park and give up its right of first negotiation for management of the conference centre. Hong said he would likely support the new motion, which would provide the pivotal fifth vote to see it passed on council. However, he said he will also seek assurances from the developer that a construction timeline provided to council Monday night will be followed. Under that timeline, site preparation and foundation work would begin in early November.
“I don’t care how many years it takes, I just want the project moving,” he said. Hong said Monday that work on Piper Park would be “a gesture of good faith” to the city. SSS Manhao’s lawyer Perry Ehrlich said he and other representatives for the company left Monday’s council meeting “devastated” the city has not granted a one-year extension. However, he said he was “pleased that staff . . . had taken the initiative in this regard,” he said, referencing the city report. Ehrlich said he is seeking direction from his client. Spencer.Anderson @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4255 » We want to hear from you. Send comments on this story to letters@nanaimodailynews.com. Letters must include daytime phone number and hometown.
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Canadians head into this year’s federal election with three of the four major parties in favour of reforming how voters cast ballots and how MPs are elected. The New Democrats and Green Party have supported proportional representation for years, but Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau announced Monday that his party too supports scrapping the current first-past-the-post system and replace it with an alternative system, amid other proposed measures. The first-past-the-post system is often criticized for producing election results that are out of sync with how the population actually voted. With only a few exceptions, the system has awarded majority governments to parties with less significantly less than half of the total ballots cast, for example. However, the system is also credited with providing clear-cut election results and being simple to understand. Proponents also cite its tendency to create a strong local link between constituencies and MPs. Still, issues like proportional representation rarely, if ever, show up as major campaign issues. Dennis Pilon, a leading expert on Canadian electoral reform at York University in Toronto, said he doubts the issue will have much impact. “I don’t think that voting system reform is going to be decisive in this campaign,” he said. Pilon believes the issue may be used as a “boutique” policy in an attempt for a party to consolidate support at the expense of other parties. “These kinds of policies are designed to say, ‘Hey, come to us instead of the other guys,’” he said. Wendy Bergerud, a national council member for Fair Vote Canada based out of Victoria, said she thinks promises to scrap FPTP will resonate come election time. “A lot of people I talk to want to see the voting system changed,” she said. Spencer.Anderson @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4255
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