Date:

Monday, December 6^th, 2004

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie, Chair
Councillor Linda Barnes
Councillor Derek Dang
Councillor Evelina Halsey-Brandt
Councillor Sue Halsey-Brandt
Councillor Rob Howard
Councillor Kiichi Kumagai
Councillor Bill McNulty
Councillor Harold Steves

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

MINUTES

1.

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the General Purposes Committee held on Monday, November 15th, 2004 and on Monday, November 22nd, 2004, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

COUNCILLOR ROB HOWARD

2.

YVR RESOLUTIONS ON OPEN SKIES AND FIFTH FREEDOM RIGHTS

(Memo:  Nov. 12/04; File No.:  01-0153-01)  (REDMS No. 1354217)
 

Cllr. Howard advised that Ms. Anne Murray, Ms. Anne Murray, Vice President, Community & Environmental Affairs, Vancouver International Airport, was in attendance to respond to questions.

Discussion then took place among Committee members and Ms. Murray on the following matters, during which support was expressed for the proposed resolutions:

§           

the inequity of the amount of rent paid by the Vancouver Airport Authority in comparison to other Canadian airports

§           

the inequities of the ‘open skies’ agreement

§           

the need to rectify Canada’s current International Air Policy to allow Canada to keep pace with the rest of the world

§           

‘fifth freedom’ rights and the impact to Vancouver International Airport and to the City if these rights were obtained and additional flights were approved from Vancouver to other international locations

§           

the degree of power which the Airport Authority has in determining how many carriers would have flights leaving during the evening hours.

During the discussion, advice was provided by Ms. Murray that forwarding the recommendations, once adopted by Council, to the Transportation Standing Committee of the Federal Government, would eliminate the need to send correspondence to the 300 Federal Members of Parliament.

Federal Rent and Airport Competitiveness

It was moved and seconded

WHEREAS the Vancouver International Airport is an economic generator and facilitates job creation province wide with the most recent economic impact study showing that the airport is responsible for a total economic output of $5.183 billion and 54,182 person years of employment;

AND WHEREAS the Vancouver International Airport Authority has paid over $660 million in rent to the federal government for a facility which had a historical cost of $255 million;

AND WHEREAS the return from Vancouver International Airport should be provincial and national economic growth, not rent;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Richmond call upon the federal government to adopt a new rent policy that is fair, equitable, transparent and sustainable and includes:  a 50% reduction of total rent throughout the airport system; the elimination of rent entirely for all but the eight largest airports, and tying future increases directly and proportionately to changes in passenger and freight traffic;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be conveyed to Prime Minister Paul Martin, the Honourable Jean-C. Lapierre, Minister of Transport, the Honourable Raymond Chan, MP, and the Honourable John Cummins, MP, the Federal ‘Standing Committee on Transport’, Premier Gordon Campbell, Minister of Transport, Ken Falcon, the Honourable Geoff Plant, MLA, Linda Reid, MLA, and Greg Halsey-Brandt, MLA, UBCM, the LMMA, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, requesting their support, and the provincial and federal governments.

CARRIED

Federal Aviation Policies and BC’s Competitiveness

It was moved and seconded

WHEREAS the Vancouver International Airport is an economic generator and facilitates job creation province wide with the most recent economic impact study showing that the airport is responsible for a total economic output of $5.183 billion and 54,182 person years of employment;

AND WHEREAS the connectivity provided by the airport is essential both to keeping British Columbia companies competitive in a global economy and to attracting new economic development and high quality jobs to the Province;

AND WHEREAS only 40% of Canada’s current bilateral air treaties with other nations allow access by foreign carriers to YVR;

AND WHEREAS this restrictive International Aviation Policy puts the Vancouver International Airport at a competitive disadvantage with U. S. West Coast airports and prevents it from maximizing its potential as a Gateway between Asia and North America;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Richmond urge the federal government to:

(1)

enter into immediate negotiations with the United States for a true Open Skies agreement including fifth freedom rights;

(2)

pursue planned aviation negotiations with the Government of China to seek substantial liberalization and improved market access; and

(3)

introduce Canada’s own Open Skies aviation policy and pursue it on a global basis with its trading partners;

AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that this resolution be conveyed to the Prime Minister Paul Martin, the Honourable Jean-C. Lapierre, Minister of Transport, the Honourable Raymond Chan, MP, and the Honourable John Cummins, MP, the Federal ‘Standing Committee on Transport’, Premier Gordon Campbell, Minister of Transport, Ken Falcon, the Honourable Geoff Plant, MLA, Linda Reid, MLA, and Greg Halsey-Brandt, MLA, UBCM, the LMMA, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, requesting their support, and the provincial and federal governments.

CARRIED

(Cllr. Howard left the meeting at 4:25 p.m., and did not return.)

FINANCE & CORPORATE SERVICES DIVISION

3.

TRIPLE SIX BAR & K, 8320 ALEXANDRA ROAD – EXTENSION OF HOURS

(Report:  Nov. 9/04, File No.:  12-8275-30-006/2004-Vol 01) (REDMS No. 1281516)

A brief discussion ensued between the Chair and the Manager, Customer Service, Anne Stevens, on the status of a report which would review the hours of operation of neighbourhood pubs and primary liquor establishments, and whether it would be appropriate to approve the application now being considered.

It was moved and seconded

That the application to amend the liquor licence for Green Culture Enterprises Inc. doing business as Triple Six Bar & K at 8320 Alexandra Road, to extend hours of operation from Sunday through Saturday 12:00 noon to 2:00 a.m., NOT BE SUPPORTED (for reasons outlined in the staff report dated November 9, 2004 from the Manager, Customer Service).

CARRIED

4.

Sale of Surplus Land from 7280 Garden City ROAD (RZ 04-262818)

(Report:  Nov. 17/04, File No.:  06-2290-20-054/Vol 01) (REDMS No. 1356466)
 

It was moved and seconded

That the sale of 438 square metres of surplus land from 7280 Garden City Road to Am-Pri Construction be approved for $207,449, and that staff be authorized to carry out the necessary steps to complete the transaction.

CARRIED

URBAN DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

5.

DRAFT RICHMOND PROBLEM GAMBLING PREVENTION & TREATMENT STRATEGY

(Report:  Nov. 30/04, File No.:  08-4040-04-01/2004-Vol 01) (REDMS No. 1362982, 1362983)

The Manager, Policy Planning, Terry Crowe, accompanied by Social Planner Lesley Sherlock, provided a brief overview of the staff report.  He also introduced Vince Battistelli, Executive Director, and Clarence Chan, Gambling Counsellor, of Richmond Addiction Services (RAS).

Discussion then took place among Committee members, staff and the delegation on:

§           

whether the treatment of gambling addiction should be a provincial or local responsibility

§           

the provision of funding for the project

§           

the purpose and primary objective of the project

§           

the involvement of the provincial government in the project

§           

the participation of casinos to mitigate the influence of gambling and whether anything could be done to regulate casinos to provide this mitigation

§           

the number of Richmond residents who were suffering from gambling addictions; whether this figure was realistic, and what strategies were being used to provide assistance to them

§           

the rationale for recommending a five year pilot strategy

§           

the rationale for now approving grants to RAS for programs which addressed problem gambling

§           

the rationale for the decrease in the number of ‘self-referrals’ from 1998 to 2004

§           

whether RAS would require additional staffing to meet the demands of problem gamblers

§           

the number of people who have lost their families, homes, etc., because of inadequate programs to provide assistance to problem gamblers.

During the discussion, staff and the delegation were congratulated on the preparation of an excellent report and strategy.

Also during the discussion, staff were requested, when undertaking their analysis of the situation, to explore the availability of gambling through the Internet, computers and cellular telephones.

Reference was made to a recent resolution adopted by Council which increased the Grants budget to $500,000 to provide funding to those agencies which deal with addiction issues, and the suggestion was made that a referral should be made to staff for a report on what the City could be doing to deal with addictions, and to possibly incorporate suggestions which had been made by RAS.

As a result of the discussion, the following amended motion was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That:

(1)

The draft Richmond Problem Gambling Prevention and Treatment Strategy (Attachment 1 to the report dated November 30^th, 2004 from the Manager, Policy Planning) be endorsed;

(2)

The draft Richmond Problem Gambling Prevention and Treatment Strategy be forwarded to the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch (GPEB) of the Ministry of Public Safety & Solicitor General (MPS&SG), and the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) and that they be requested to:

(a)

take a leadership role by finalizing the Strategy in collaboration with other stakeholders,

(b)

recognize the final Strategy as a five-year Provincial pilot strategy, and

(c)

fund the final Strategy;

(3)

The draft Richmond Problem Gambling Prevention and Treatment Strategy be forwarded to the:

(a)

BC Ministry of Education;

(b)

Great Canadian Casino Corporation;

(c)

Richmond Royal Canadian Mounted Police;

(d)

Richmond School District Board #38, and

(e)

Richmond Addiction Services (RAS),

for their comments and support;

(4)

Richmond Addiction Services (RAS) be thanked for their valuable service and that their continued collaboration be requested in finalizing the Strategy.

(5)

City staff host a meeting of all stakeholders in early 2005, to encourage them to finalize the Strategy and implement it.

(6)

City staff report progress to Council through the General Purposes Committee, before April 30, 2005.

(7)

the Provincial Government be requested to address the issue of annual funding to RAS to better enable them to deliver gambling prevention and treatment services in Richmond.

CARRIED

It was moved and seconded

That staff report to Committee on (i) interim Richmond initiatives which could be taken with regard to addiction issues, and (ii) the suggestions made by RAS.

CARRIED

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (5:20 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the General Purposes Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Monday, December 6^th, 2004.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie
Chair

Fran J. Ashton
Executive Assistant, City Clerk’s Office