Sure bet that no casinos for Sea to Sky Corridor The provincial government has announced it has 49 proposals from companies keen to cash in on the casino life, but none of those will be in the Sea to Sky Corridor. Proposals have to be approved by the "host municipality" or the municipality next door to the proposed charitable and destination gaming facility site by Dec. 29, says the Lotteries Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Employment and Investment, evaluating the proposals. Who or what the proposals are is strictly hush-hush, committee chair Peter Clark says, until the government goes through them. Acceptable proposals will be revealed sometime early in 1998. The good neighbours policy applies to First Nations groups, too. Squamish town councillors recently voted unanimously against expanded gaming, which triggered an announcement from Squamish Nation that it was dropping plans for a casino licence on band land, at least for the time being. Squamish councillors were voting to stop a casino plan in the Klahanie Marina Resort proposal for Darrell Bay. Keith Windross of K.P. Projects Ltd., the marina's development company, tried to convince Squamish council to go for a community referendum on the company's plans, but councillors didn't bite. An October telephone poll of Squamish residents conducted by MarkTrend Research of Vancouver found a majority opinion against a casino. Squamish councillors said they based their opposition on the phone poll result. The Mount Currie band earlier made a similar announcement to pass on casino plans, opting to concentrate on developing a resort complex, after Pemberton expressed a distaste for a gambling facility in or near their community. Whistler council has for years maintained an anti-gambling position.
