Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 1

BSSt COPY AVAII ARl mririixitmmft.J Superior Telecom Solutions Comfort Zone ACC Canada's last good year EntertainmentDI (403) 423-5880 I y- i) Home GardenG1 The (rm ti wn sn Edmonton QJyMJLWJ.JL ilLLOUil Canssa Anderson, 6. Grade 1 Partly cloudy. High a WeatherC12 http:www.edmontonjournal.com EDMONTON'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1903 Thursday, September 18, 1997 III! 1 (J 1 -'KS- .4 1 Local group makes bid to buy the Oilers. But ssshh! It's a secret! 8 U.S. balks at signing land-mine accord MIKE TRICKEY Southam Newspapers Ottawa More than 90 nations have approved a Canadian-led treaty to ban the production, transfer and use of landmines, but the world's biggest users and producers have refused to sign it Russia and China had announced previously they would not sign and the United States opted out Wednesday after the negotiating conference in Oslo rejected its demands to delay the removal of U.S.

mines from the Korean peninsula. The U.S. also wanted land-mines redefined so it could continue to use them to protect its anti-tank mines. "We're very disappointed and we regret that the United States decided not to join at this time," said Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, who has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in promoting the ban. But Axworthy said the signatories "were not ready to pay any price" to gain U.S.

approval for the treaty which will be formally signed Dec. 2 in Ottawa by at least 90 nations. The treaty will liklely take effect in the year 2000 and grants participants 10 years to remove buried mines, with a possible 10-year extension. Negotiators in Oslo rejected the American plan Wednesday after granting the U.S. a 24-hour delay to come up with a compromise solution.

"We always regarded it as a bit of a longshot, but it was a longshot we felt worth taking," said chief Canadian negotiator Ralph Lysyshyn of the one-day delay U.S. President Bill Clinton defended his country's position, saying the treaty as written would endanger the lives of 37,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea who are separated from one million North Korean troops only by a heavily mined demilitarized zone. Clinton reacted angrily to suggestions that the U.S. is now in the same position as Russia and China, who also have rejected the treaty "We've destroyed lh million landmines.

I don't think any other country at Oslo can make that claim," he said. Clinton also announced the U.S. would boost spending for landmine removal around the world and step up the destruction of its own landmines. Canadian officials say the Americans under-estimated international resolve to rid the world of an estimated 110 million buried land-mines. They claim 25,000 lives every year and render vast stretches'of land uninhabitable and unusable for agriculture.

Southam News JAC MacDONALD Journal Staff Writer Oilers here till 2004 lawyer RIC DOLPHIN Journal Staff Writer Northlands have a veto preventing the team from being moved out of the city until 2004. Pocklington is free to sell the team to American buyers, but Uteplo says any outside buyer would be bound to keep the team in Edmonton for the seven remaining years of the North-lards deal before being free to move it Uteplo says he believes that, given the escalating price of NHL franchises, an American group might be prepared to buy the team at a premium North American price, lose a little money "maybe $5 million a year" on the team for seven years, then move it to a large-market U.S. city where it would instantly be worth much more than the accumulated investment to date. Edmonton Now that a local offer has been made to buy the Oilers, what happens next? Will the team stay here even if Pocklington rejects the offer? Ron Uteplo thinks it will, at least for the next seven years. Uteplo, 46, the City of Edmonton's general manager of corporate services, was one of the man lawyers on the 1994 deal struck among Pocklington, the city and Northlands over the useoftheColiseum.

Under the terms of that deal, Economic Development Edmonton and Edmonton ri group of local investors made an LTu offer Wednesday to buy the Edmonton Oilers, but they're not saying anything more than that. Economic Development Edmonton president Rick LeLacheur told a news conference he delivered a sealed offer to purchase the team to Midland Walwyn Capital agent for the sale, early Wednesday afternoon. "A local investors' group is very bullish on making this work," LeLacheur said Both he and Edmonton lawyer John Butler refused to identify the people behind the bid, or to say how much was offered for the team. A local buyer would have to offer a minimum $70 million US for the team or it could be sold to American interests. It is also not clear if the offer includes Peter Pocklington's rights to the lease on the Edmonton Coliseum, or any of his other sports 'News' conference leaves everyone in the dark, Cam Cole saysC1 Canadian teams can survive in cities like Edmonton, Ottawa's general manager saysC1 Houston still very much interested in buying the franchise02 NHL wants the team to stay putC2 Cujo should be any new owner's first priority, Kevin Lowe saysC3 Oilers plug on despite the uncertainty, beating the Senators 5-4 in OTC3 are also said to be involved, as are several others.

Al Skoreyko, general manager of Northlands Park, which owns the Coliseum, said the investors want to stay out of the limelight. "We have people doing this out of a sense of community and not out of ego." Northlands has not seen the offer and doesn't expect to get involved until sometime after the purchase is completed, he said. Please see OILERSA20, Back page of this section enterprises, including the Edmonton Drillers. The bidders have formed a company, the Edmonton Investors Group Ltd. Its sole director is another city lawyer, Michael Crozier, who is a partner at Bryan and Co.

"The group we represent is credible in all respects. The proposal we have submitted today is a serious proposal," Butler said. Much work remains to be done and success is not guaranteed, he added. Pocklington declined comment, as did Midland Walwyn representatives. LeLacheur could not say why the bidders are refusing to be named, except that they are unaccustomed to intense media attention.

It is believed the local group is headed by Cathy Allard Roozen, part-owner of the Vancouver-based WIC television and radio empire, and Bruce Saville, who heads Saville Systems, which manufactures telephone operating software. Jim and Harry Hole of the engineering firm, Lockerbie and Hole, A-Channel sets sights on young viewers Three decades in the tarsands RICHARD HELM Journal Staff Writer Thirty years ago this month, Alberta entered a new era when the Great Canadian Oil Sands plant began producing crude oil from viscous "tarsands." The idea of mining for oil rather than drilling for it had been around for generations. But the company later renamed Suncor, was the first to invest millions to extract a substance that is like rock in winter and molasses in summer. In a special supplement today, the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald jointly trace the story of Suncor and, later, Syncrude the twin producers of 'liquid r- 1 -4m Jr. Bumpy Ride Singer store in nearby Commerce Place.

"I think it's great," Gascoigne said. "It's just brought a little bit of life back to the street. "It puts people back into that building and, another thing, that building is clean now. It was starting to look a little run-down." The new station, owned by Brandon-based Craig Broadcast Systems, is scheduled to sign on at 0 p.m. with a two-hour invitation-only party, airing live, that will feature performances by Jann Arden, Colin James, The Philosopher Kings and Bobby Cameron.

The party will take place in a huge tent set up along a blocked-off portion of 102nd Street, directly outside the studios. Please see TVA20, Back page of this section Edmonton The A-Channel blazes its way into Edmonton living rooms tonight, making a splashy debut as the city's first new TV station in 23 years. The last-moment preparations that go with launching a new urban television service were visible for all of downtown to see Wednesday The A-Channel's studios in the old Hudson's Bay building are designed, like those of CityTV and MuchMusic in Toronto, with storefront windows to permit passers-by to see television in the making. One observer cheered by all the feverish activity is Bill Gas-coigne, manager of the Henry Wonderword F5 THE JOURNAL Telephones A2 Ann Landers G5 Births F1 Bridge F8 F1 The A-Channel is broadcast on Ch. 7 locally, Jg Ch.

51 on UHF On Videotron, it bumps KXLY (ABC) to Ch. 13, which bumps KSPS (PBS) to Ch. 22, which bumps Vision TV to Ch. 55. On Shaw, it bumps KXLY (ABC) to Ch.

47 7 Sections ANews, Opinion BCity CSports DEntertainmsnt EBusiness FClassified GHome Garden, Life Comics B5 Crossword B5 Dr. Donohue G5 Horoscope F2 Lotteries A2 Obituaries B6 Opinion A16 Television D2 0 55829 00050 2 Greg Southam, The Journal space. YOU'LL BE NEEDING 1 Twent y-ftfve percent MORE. 25dff FALL FASHIONS Starts Fr-diy Check out our Fall Fashion Sale at Eaton's, Edmonton Southgate. Starts September I9th.

Selected fashions for women and men. Excludes Factory Outlet. Savings off regular ticketed prices. Offers end Oct. 3, 1997.

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