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Casino group willing to put its money on Chilliwack bingo hall Great Canadian Casino wants to buy charity-run association Robert Freeman The Progress The proposed sale of the Chilliwack Bingo Association to the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation has not been approved by either board of the two organizations, Roy Fraser, chairman of the Chilliwack association, said Monday. “It’s a proposal,” he said, adding that he could not comment further because of a confidentiality agreement. But Fraser did say a reported $1.5 million sale price is “ridiculous.” Why the five-acre property the CBA bought on Young Road to build a new community gaming centre was up for sale in the first place remains an unanswered question for now. City council approved building the proposed Chances community gaming centre by a narrow 4-3 vote in September, 2009. Mayor Sharon Gaetz and Coun. Chuck Stam were unavailable for comment Monday. But former city councillor Diane Janzen, now running for federal election in Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon, said she would be “very interested in seeing how exactly” the 55 non-profit organizations that locally managed the Chilliwack bingo hall would be impacted by the proposed sale to the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation. “I strongly supported those organizations, and I want to see them continue to receive funding,” she said, but voted against the gaming centre in 2009.
Conservative Mark Strahl speaks during the all-candidates meeting at the Coast Chilliwack Hotel on Thursday. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Letter sparks candidate controversy Robert Freeman The Progress Conser vative candidate Mark Strahl reacted swiftly to media reports that he had “misconstrued” a letter from the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce as an endorsement of his bid for election. “I did nothing of the sort,” Strahl said in a Thursday news release. “I simply read from a letter that they wrote, which is posted on the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce’s own website,” he said. “The letter speaks for itself and could not be more clear in
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its support of a low tax policy for Canadian businesses.” In an earlier news release, issued after Strahl read the letter at an all-candidates meeting hosted by the chamber, executive director Lisa Caruth said the chamber’s position on federal corporate income tax rates “should not be misread” as an endorsement for any particular candidate or political party. “No information was made available to any candidate prior to the event, with the exception of information the public can find at www.chilliwackchamber. com,” she said. However, she goes on to say that the specific passage read
by Strahl was from a letter sent to his father, former MP Chuck Strahl, on March 2, before the election was called. “Taxation is one of the policy priority areas identified by our membership, therefore a letter to our local MP at the time was relevant and an appropriate action to take,” she said. Dogged from the start of the election campaign by allegations that his nomination was “tainted” by his relationship to the former MP, and by its short duration, Strahl has also been fending off criticism for missing all-candidates meetings in Hope and Chilliwack. The candidate said he missed
both meetings because of “prior campaign commitments.” Last week, Strahl announced he would do a “telephone townhall” meeting Wednesday night, and Liberal candidate Diane Janzen reported she held a similar meeting the same night. Yesterday (Monday), New Democratic candidate Gwen O’Mahony said her party decided not to hold a “telephone townhall” in which calls are made to voters across the ChilliwackFraser Canyon riding. “I don’t think they’re all that effective,” she said. “People are sick to death of telemarketing schemes.” Continued: DEBATE/ p3
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