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Vol. 2: No. 14

Castlegar, British Columbia

75 Cents + G.

Zaim throws in the towel, Tohnaton mops up

By STEVE WEATHERBE

Sterling News Service

VICTORIA—Rita Johnston has
been swom in as the first woman
: premier in

Four hours after Bill Vander
Zalm’ said he would resign as
premicr immediately as a result of

the Hughes Report’s findings, '

Deputy Premier Rita Johnston was
swom in as his successor.

She was chosen by the Social
Credit, caucus at three-hour
meeting and ratified by the Socred
party board of directors before
being sworn in by Lieutenant
Govemor David Lam.

The 55-year-old ex-Surrey

alderman was long rumoured to be -

the choice of a group within
caucus for interim Premier.

Majority of park land in place

By FRANK ISERNIA
Sun staff writer

The City of Castlegar has
almost completed the first phase of
the Twin Rivers Park project, and

is looking forward to the second-

phase scheuduled to start in two
weeks.

Former Premier Bill Vander
Zalm, during a tour of the

By the middle of last week,
according to one source, the group
had secured nearly 35 supporters
within caucus for her, and fora
coup ousting Mr. Vander Zalm if
he did not step down on Tuesday.

But Mrs. Johnston was also
being touted as leader for
leadership of the party in the long
mun. For some within caucus, this
should have ruled out ber being the
interim Premier, since this would
give her an edge in the leadership
race.

But Mrs. Johnston apparently
has been left free to run for the
leadership.

“It is wide open,” said Attomey
General Russ Fraser. “There are no
tules unwritten or written. You are
either premier or not. There is no
such thing as interim premier.

may tum out that what we have
isn’t exactly, appropiate for what
People in the end want to see there.
So we might want to deal with
some additional pieces on the

. periphery.”

Williams explained that Phase
Two of the project involves asking
the public what they think the City
should be do with the land, bow
they would see the plan used, the

ark di

last. week
vane Audrey Moore with a Go

, BC grant cheque for $200,000 to
help.in.the.construction of. the...

park.

} City, Administrator Gary
Williams said that the City has
spent about $110,000 on the
Project so far.

“We've got a majority of the
land,” said Williams yesterday.
“We're actively dealing with two
land-owners, and there may be
some other additional pieces of
Property on the peripheries that we
may want to talk to people about.
Once we have a firmer idea of
exactly how big this is going to be,
and what it is going to look like, it

Pp 1 , the type of uses
they would like to see the park
used for, and any other concerns
the public may have.:v io. isie
“That,” he said, “we would
expect it to take three to four
months, We'll just see how it goes,
and how much input we get.”
However, Williams said that
with summer approaching, it
would be a bad time of the year to
have any kind of public

Mr. Vander Zalm prevented the
planned ouster by informing the
Socred caucus: just a few minutes
before it met’ at 2 p.m. yesterday
that he ‘wonld resign immediately,
This he repeated half an hour later
at a press conference.

“Regrettably, the findings ore
not what I expected,” Premier
Vander Zalm told reporters,’ “In
politics there is no court of appeal
in these matters. I must live by the
guidelines I initiated.”

Conflict-of-Interest ‘Commis-
sioner Ted Hughes, using
guidelines the Premier imposed on
his cabinet in 1987, ruled Mr.
Vander Zalm had violated them
repeatedly in selling: Fantasy
Gardens last year to Tan Yu. The
guidelines leave the question of
penaltics up to the ‘Premier

sit down and say this is what they
wanted Then we go to our
designers and ask if they can do
these things.”

Williams explained that at that
point they might have to come
back and revise the design, if things
aren't compatible.

He did however, rule out any
notion that the park would contain
a nine-hole golf course.

Williams believes that Phase
Three, the preliminary design
stage, should be completed by fall,
_.and-construction could fegin.a
early ‘Js next spring. -

Three conflict

By STEVE WEATHERBE

himself. .
Last Friday Mr. Vander Zalm
announced he was resigning as

could be held
replacement.
Since then, however, several

to pick a

soon as a | ip

cabinet

Advanced Education’s Bruce
Strachan, Solicitor General Ivan
Messmer, have insisted the Premier

SUN STAFF PHOTO/ Nancy Lingley

Happier times. Last weal then Premier Bill Vander
Zalm, wife Lillian, and Mayor Audrey Moore studied

ig to Conflict-

Sterling News Service

because of

holidays.

“We may get to a certain point
just before the summer and then
finalize it in September, and once
we finish that phase, we essentially
go into the design stage, where we

VICTORIA—Premier Bill

Vander Zalm used cabinet
and Li Gi

David Lam to give the eventual

purchaser of his Fantasy Gardens

theme park the “red carpet”

Celgar promises better communication

By NANCY LINGLEY
Sun Editor

Celgar mill manager Jim Browne
the

took the form of round table
all i

to the group that d at
Inn. “Our i to

Contractors, local suppliers, and
Celgar all sat down together last
Thursday to try and work out the
bugs connected with a major
construction project.

“It's an attempt to pro-actively
identify and perhaps come up with
some solutions to communication
and flow of material between local
suppliers and the people who are
supplying construction or
equipment to our new plant,” said

you is to listen to you. We cannot
guarantee that we will use your
solutions, but we will make a

Hither Celgar or contracting or
People, an

all three, were seated at each table

to answer questions and act as a

services and

Each local

from the community that will be

maintained by Celgar and

everyone doing work on the site

will have a copy of this registry.” ..
Op

supplier was also asked to fill out a
form that would provide Celgar,
and ulti ly the

of-Interest Commissioner Ted
Hughes, and in so doing broke
three of his own conflict
guidelines.

Mr. Hughes released his report
to the public yesterday, but
Premier Vander Zalm’s lawyers
were informed of what Mr. Hughes
called “the tentative findings of
facts” last Wednesday, two days
before he announced his decision
to step down as soon as a
leadership convention could
replace him.

At that conference, however, be
said at least once he did not know
the report's contents, though
elsewhere he appeared to
contradict this and admitted having
some knowledge of “the facts of
the Hughes Report.”

hs Hughes termed as “bizarre”
ier’s acceptance of

with the details of what their

The B
Seminar, sponsored | jointly by
Celgar and the Castlegar and
District Chamber of Commerce,

By Leigh Rubin

Creators Syndicate, inc.
(©1891 Leigh Aubint

After:the tournament was over,
the judges had the.difficult task ‘ot
separating the winner‘from the loser.

ip could The
registry will be compiled from
these forms said Browne.

Following the round table
discussions, a number of concerns
and requests were expressed.

A local businessman noted that
there was a shortage of labor for
local businesses and wondered if
expectations of high-paying
construction jobs was the cause,

“T think their expectations might
be too high,” said

$20, 000 in $100 bills from Tan
Yu, the eventual buyer of the
Gardens, on Aug. 4,. 1990.
Furthermore, he stated that this
exchange, an apparent advance for
services not yet rendered, “might
appear” to have “compromised”
the Premier.

“Reasonably well-informed
persons could properly conclude
that the Premicr was thereafter
beholden to Mr. Tan Yu. Even if
this was ae in fact true, there is
that itis.”

manager Cathal Fox of H.A.

See CELGAR

+ The premier’ 's own explanation
for the $20,000—that it had been
given him for “safekeeping”—
to Mr. Hughes “borders

on the incredible.”

And he went on to suggest that
the Premier still owed the province
an explanation for the money, and
that the provincial government
might want to launch a public
enquiry to get one.

Mr. Hughes said he found it

“very d: ” that Mr. Vander
Zalm did not mention receipt of
the money during an initial
interview about the events of that
evening, but: “in. my view,

deliberately withheld that fact from

me." In fact, the Premier only
admitted , getting the moncy when

d with a (tape

first interview have

+ blaris for the Twin-Rivers park:

guidielines broken

step down i
There promised to be a
confrontation yesterday when the

. Social Credit caucus met and

reviewed the Hughes Report,
between the “hawks” who wanted ©
an immediate resignation, and the
“doves” who would have Jet the
Premier stay till the leadership

‘convention,

Mr. Vander Zalm actually knew
of the “findings of fact” in the
Hughes Report last Wednesday. In
his resignation speech yesterday,
however, he revealed that he had
hoped that last-minute submissions
by his lawyers would avert Mr.
Hughes’ negative conclusions. —.

The Premier encouraged “all my
supporters to rally around the new
leader.”

Mr. Vander Zalm's announce-
ment followed only by a few
minutes a press conference by New
D ic leader Mich
Harcourt in which the latter
di d his i di

resignation as a result of the

Hughes Report. He said he was

“numbed” by his reading of the
ort.

Mrs. Johnston is a business-
woman who served for nine years
on the Surrey Council. She was
first elected to the Legislature in
1983. A long time supporter of Mr.
Vander Zalm, she was named to
his first cabinet as Municipal
Affairs Minister in August, 1986,
and switched to the ‘Transportation
and Highways postfolio in 1989.

‘SUN STAFF PHOTO / Nancy Lingley

Bill Vander Zalm, _ in thought at a luncheon in Trail
last week, just eight days before resigning as Premier of
the Province of British Columbia.

made by his realtor, Faye Leung,
of a conversation she had with him
about it.
As implausible as it was, Mr.
Hughes stated, he might have
d the
explanation had the Premier “been
forthright and forthcoming about it
at the carlicst opportunity.”
But'since Mr, Vander Zalm was
under oath to tell. the whole truth
about that night, be should in in ne

“bizarre” an event as the payment
of money by $100-bills.

The Premier even furnished Mr.
Hughes with a letter from Tan Yu,
written in the midst of Mr.
Hughes’ inquiry, stating the money
was tumed over for the Premier
and his wife Lillian to buy him a
sculpture,

“This document has all the
appearances of a self-serving

See GUIDELINES