KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK THURSDAY
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OCTOBER 22, 2015 | Volume 28 No. 127
LEARNING TO FLY TODAY’S WEATHER
Graham Agassiz and the Red Bull Rampage of 2015
Sun and clouds High 13 C Low 1 C
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PERFORMING-ARTS CENTRE REFERENDUM SATURDAY, NOV. 7
‘Yes’ group gets ‘Not Yet’ opponent ANDREA KLASSEN STAFF REPORTER andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
A former city councillor has launched a campaign against the city’s proposed performing-arts centre, pointing to the CITY AD SPURS new Cascades Casino’s COMPLAINT plans to build a theatre Kamloops resident has as a sign the downbeef with wording. town project isn’t well thought-out. INFORMATION “Reality-wise, MEETINGS SET they’re looking at There will be two held 1,000 seats to 1,200 on Wednesday, Nov. 4. seats,” Nelly Dever told KTW, a number she STORIES PAGE A11 said she was quoted by Cascades’ general manager. Dever, who is the only member of the PAC Not Yet committee who has publicly identified herself, said she has spoken to theatre directors in other cities who warned her a casino theatre is a “yellow flag.” “Quite often you are competing for the exact same acts,” she said. “Of course, you can’t bring in school acts and you’re not going to bring in dance acts and you’re not going to bring in the youth acts. But, when it comes to entertainment that is coming across the province, those acts can stop there.”
MORE PAC NEWS
See CASINO, A6
ENTRANCE, STAGE LEFT The museum celebrates 40 years of Western Canada Theatre
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A kinder, gentler Conservative party? Cathy McLeod (right) and a supporter watch Stephen Harper’s concession speech on election night. McLeod was re-elected as an Opposition MP and is ready to hold the new Liberal government to account.
CAM FORTEMS
STAFF REPORTER
cam@kamloopsthisweek.com
A
more positive outlook, what highprofile Conservative Jason Kenney called “sunnier ways,” could have been used by the party in its failed election campaign, said re-elected MP Cathy McLeod. McLeod, who was returned to office with 35 per cent of the Kamloops-ThompsonCariboo vote, spent the last few days cleaning up after the successful campaign and attending to constituency business. The coming weeks will include Conservative caucus meetings in Ottawa and preparation to select an interim leader. While the three-term MP is not brooding over what could have been, she said Conservatives will have to understand why they lost power in a decisive majority switch to the Liberals and leader Justin Trudeau. “One of the things Jason Kenney said — sunnier ways — perhaps would have been more enticing,” McLeod said. When outgoing Prime Minister Stephen Harper
DAVE EAGLES/KTW
came to Kamloops during the campaign, he focused on recent news the government achieved a balanced budget and warned of the spectre of an NDP government — part of the Conservatives’ unsuccessful fear-based campaign. With Harper stepping aside as leader, McLeod declined to speculate on successors. With two terms as a government MP, the Conservative will have to
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adjust to life as part of the official Opposition. Her budget and staffing won’t change, but she no longer has easy access to ministers to press for local projects and issues. “Rather than having a coffee with the minister and having a chance to directly speak with him, there’s a more formal process to catch his ear,” she acknowledged. With a history as a Conservative riding for the past 15 years, the city
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was the recipient of government spending prior to the election, including $3 million in July toward the emergency water intake on the North Thompson and $2 million to Thompson Rivers University’s trades and technology programs. McLeod said she will continue to focus on making community groups aware of funding and helping them write successful applications. She noted the prov-
ince will be keen to bring infrastructure spending to the riding. For now, like most Canadians, McLeod is waiting to see Trudeau sworn in as prime minister and for the machinery of government to resume turning. She will also be sworn in again in Ottawa, taking her place on the Opposition benches in the House of Commons. McLeod will rejoin a B.C. Conservative caucus that is half its pre-election size. While the majority of Conservatives in the Interior retained their seats, gone are KootenayColumbia MP David Wilks and Kelowna’s Ron Cannan. “You have to take the cards you’re dealt and every card provides opportunity,” McLeod said. “We have an important role ahead to hold government to account and look a the future of our party.”
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