if Buying or Audited Circulation 12,968 A Victoria Weeklies Publication Wednesday July 31,1991 40¢ ide BUSINESS A18 CALENDAR A10 CLASSIFIEDS A22 COMMUNITY A9 GARDENING Al4 OPINION ~ AZT SPORTS A1g OUTDOORS A13 BEYER AZT GRENBY Al8 HAMPSON A13 LANG Al4 TOP OF THE PILE A7 CONSERVATIVES DISBAND | The provincial Progressive Conservatives decide to Call it quits affer being without a leader for 7 years Page A4 COMMERCIAL RECYCLING A pilot project at Thriftys and a local hauler start recycling initiatives meant especially for for businesses 10 use Page Al5 SCHOOL COACHES MEET The fate of high school sports could be decided as coaches are optimistic about the next school year Page A21 GETIING TO THE TOP And back io the bottom again. lis about elevators in ine Capital Region Page B1 LOTS OF EXCITEMENT A previerw of what's on for the Victoria Airshow can be found in Section B this week Page B4-5 Victoria WEEKUES ="4)2070, Sidney, BC. V8L 385. Second Review office hours The Review office, at 97'26-First St. in Sidney, is open from 9 am. until5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Mail to Box class mail registration number 0128. Eleven Socredis resign, call for Huberts by Glenn Werkman The Review The local Social Credit constitu- ency association was in disarray last week as 11 executive members resigned and one considered chal- lenging former finance minister Mel Couvelier for the nomination. Many of those who resigned are 20-year Socred supporters. They vowed to continue working for the party but said they could not support Couvelier, the party’s can- didate in Saanich North and The Islands. Constituency president Mel Hemblad tendered her resignation Wednesday, citing comments that “were made in a closed-door con- stituency association executive meeting July 23. She would not say what the comments were but when asked if she would support MLA Terry Huberts should he challenge Cou- velier for the nomination at an Aug. 25 re-nomination meeting, Hemblad’s response was “abso- lutely.” Hemblad emphasized her deci- * sion was not based on Couvelier’s actions at the recent party leader- ship convention and said members have been talking about resigning for some time. “T hesitated to do it because the timing is not good with (party) unity an issue,” Hemblad said. “But there is not any good time to do it.” Former director Dave Goulet, a Sidney alderman and one of the first to resign, last week announced he was considering challenging Couvelier for the nomination. Monday, Goulet said: “‘After serious consideration and a lot of pressure to run against Couvelier, I’ve decided I owe it to the people of Sidney who voted for me to serve my term.” Goulet estimated 75-100 people urged him to seek the nomination and he has heard that others are considering taking a shot at the candidacy. Lee Mesher is another director who resigned last week and told The Review she would support Huberts as Social Credit’s candi- date in Saanich North. “With Mel Couvelier 1 think we would lose to the NDP.” Mesher Continued on Page A31 Police search for vehicle affer man hurt in hif-run Police are searching for a vehi- cle involved in a hit-and-run acci- dent on Canoe Cove Road in North Saanich about 3:45 p.m. Monday that sent a man to hospital with a broken leg and head injuries. A 31-year-old Victoria man was struck from behind while he was walking northeast along the right sanscha grounds made tax exempt Sidney council has voted to waive 1992 taxes for the grounds and improvements around Sanscha Hall, but not for the hall itself. Council on July 22 gave three readings to a bylaw granting the exemption to the Memorial Park Society. The bylaw still has be to adopted, although that is expected in August. Exemptions for the following tax year must be passed by the end of August the preceding year. The society asked council in June for an exemption on all its property, including the hall, but council sided with a legal opinion obtained by the Town stating taxes should continue to be collected on the hall. The basis of that opinion was that under the Municipal Act, councils cannot assist commercial operations, either directly or indir- _ ectly. The opinion said if the society, or the Sanscha Hall association which operates the building, agrees not to Tent to commercial enterprises, council would be assured it was not breaking the Act by giving an exemption. The society has five parcels of land at Sanscha Park. Four parcels encompassing Sanscha Park will be exempt for the 1992 tax year because they are used primarily for recreational purposes, the tax exemption bylaw says. The fifth parcel which contains the hall will be taxed in 1992. Ald. Bob Jones told aldermen he opposes tax exemption status for the hall, but could support the bylaw because that doesn’t change, Sanscha Hall began commercial operations when it was forced to pay taxes in 1987, aldermen noted at the June council meeting. In 1990, the Memorial Park Society, which pays taxes as a donation to Sanscha, paid about $16,000. The society was given a $10,182 grant by council this year to offset its 1991 tax bill. Aldermen agreed to the grant at a special council meeting called Friday, June 28. In effect, the society paid the full amount to the Town before the June 30 deadline, and the Town handed over the grant. The net bill is just over $6,000. Richard Holmes, society vice- Continued on Page A31 side of Canoe Cove Road. “We have no description at all of the suspect vehicle but the right rear mirror is damaged,” RCMP Sgt. Andy Rosequist said Tuesday. “We're looking for witnesses and we'd ceriainly appreciate a call from anyone who can help us out,” Rosequist said. Persons noticing recent damage to a passenger-side mirror of a vehicle are asked to call Sidney RCMP at 656-3931 or Crime Stoppers at 386-8477.