The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 1

TABLOID HOUNDS A TV-industry scandal has drawn the worlds celebrity journalists to Vancouver, B4 AUSSIE WILD WEST Western Australia has draws like the Pilbara region that justify the long journey, Fl STAYING AFLOAT B.C.'s boating business is becalmed on a sea of consumer debt but it's still big business, D12 MONEY ie Weetenl i un sa $1.25 retail $1.35 coin box Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, February 1, 1997 $1.75 minimum outside Lower Mainland The Chinese celebration in Vancouver is tempered by events in Hong Kong DRIVING FORCE Motorsport may be under a cloud here, but in the U.S. optimists like 'tTit-J Seattle racing ngurebruceMcLaw V- just want more. SPORTS, HI Steven Chia (right) isamongLower Mainlanders pondering the possibilities of the future as the year of the ox promises change. Martin's budget must woo voters, cut federal deficit a- tjt. I fy The Liberals are expected to concentrate on benefits for the poor and needy as the probability of a 1997 election increases.

ft ft i1" 1 If cf IS mm 1 Mi mt ERIC BEAUCHESNE THE YEA i My 1 Will A 1 1 OFTH Southam Newspapers OTTAWA Finance Minister Paul Martin Martin plans to use a budget slated for late this month to polish the Liberals' image as a party that cares, with handouts or tax breaks for poor children, the handicapped, students, universities, charities and construction workers. But a finance department insider played down the size of the deficit reduction gain, saying the deficit is no lower than $19 billion and that no more than $1.5 billion is available for pre-election goodies. Up to $500 million will be spent on the working poor, $450 million for extension of the existing infrastructure program, and $500 million, spread over several years, for a new-style infrastructure program underpin hospital and university research. fl Tax breaks will be enriched for post-secondary students facing soaring tuition fees, for charities bearing a heavier burden in the wake of government spending cuts, and for the disabled. BUDGET Deficit-watching All levels of government are dealing with deficit reduction.

Vancouver city council expects to raise taxes up to six per cent and increase user fees to deal with a $27.5 shortfall. A14. Finance Minister Andrew Petter says he has found a way to lift the province's capital spending freeze. A3. Barbara Yaffe says B.C.

lags in debt-reduction. A3 IAN LINDSAYVancouver Sun IAN MULGREW Please see Votes, A3 Vancouver Sw) Vancouver's Chinatown from Hon's soup house to the Sun Yat-Sen Garden is brimming with boxes of pale green bok choy, trays of tanned dumplings and warm bread wheels decorated with scarlet jujubes mimicking the Eight Trigrams of Chinese Philosophy. In Richmond, Mandarin and Cantonese voices resound in celebration in the cavernous temples to Chinese cuisine that dot the landscape. Thursday night, those of Chinese descent will sit up in the light of flickering candles, "watching the year steal away," and at the stroke of midnight celebrate the start Please see Chinese, A6 New TV station planning local focits BENEFACTOR GARY HO Bl GREAT LEAP FORWARD FOR CITY'S CHINESE MEDIA CI WEATHER Peruvian hostage talks set to begin WILLIAM BOEI and ALEX STRACHAN Vancouver Sun Vancouver will get a new TV station in September. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission awarded a licence Friday to Baton Broadcasting and Electrohome Ltd.

The two firms are merging into a single company controlled by the Eaton department store family of Toronto. The CRTC rejected four other applications, including one by CanWest Global Communications of Winnipeg to open a second TV station in Victoria. But the commission said it recognizes ft need for another station in the provincial capital, and hinted it will welcome applications from other companies. Baton's new station, CIVT, will be marketed as Vancouver Television. It will employ 119 people and promises to pump more than $140 million into B.C.'s program-production industry during the next seven years.

Please see Decision, All MIXED RECEPTION B4 INDUSTRY SCRAMBLE Dl CHRIS WATTIE Iiaiiij tries to break through Friday's predicted cloud and rain turned into sun so maybe we'll get lucky and weekend showers will do just the same. A15 Lotteries, A2 INDEX ing 72 hostages at the Japanese ambassador's residence in the Peruvian capital. "As time goes by, offers made by the government are being progressively reduced," Fujimori told an Argentine newspaper before he left for Canada. But there were signs he might soften his stand this weekend. Hashimoto was expected to urge him to discuss the main demand of the Tupac Amaru guerrillas: freeing 400 of their jailed comrades, mostly Peruvians, in return for the hostages.

Please see Standoff, A4 Canadian Press TORONTO Peru's president, struggling to find a solution to a six-week hostage crisis in Lima, was expected to get a plea for prudence today from his Japanese counterpart. President Alberto Fujimori and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto meet in Toronto today in their first face-to-face encounter since the standoff began. They are said to be at odds over how to respond to the rebel hostage-takers' demands. Fujimori has so far taken a tough stand against the- uerrillas hold A17 Births Deaths Books Bridge Business Careers CIVT's broadcast plan Mainstream channel similar to BCTV. Emphasis on local regional drama, news, arts entertainment.

On air Sept. 1, with basic cable. 60-minute daily newscast at noon; supper-hour, late-night newscasts. Also, community news, multicultural, information programs Eventually, to show Melrose Place, Savannah, Moesha, Drew Carey, Ellen. C5 G9 Dl D4 B3 Gl.

H6 F12 A19 Lautens A19 Letters A18, B6, C2 Lotteries A2 Maclntyre H2 Movies B6 Nation Provinces A3 New Homes El Palmer A18 Parry B2 Religion C3 City Limits Classified Comics, Kids Coyne Crossword B3, CIO, Bid to host Olympics torched by tourism industry G4 Saturday Review CI C3 Shaw D12 C9 Sports HI A18 Theatres B5 B4 Todd C3 E19 Travel Fl B3 Weather A15 A2 Westcoast People Bl D12 World A8 B7 Yaffe A3 Dykk Earthweek Editorials Entertainment Gardening Horoscope Hume Kane Landers Despite the economic boost to Vancouver, Philip Owen backs Tourism B.C's reservations about the feasibility of the 2008 In the running EDWARD ALDEN CLASSIFIED Gl, H6 Reader Sales and Service 24-Hour automated service 736-2281 Outside the Lower Mainland 1-800-663-2662 24-Hour automated service Classified 730-7355 120 PAGES FOUNDED 1886 VOL.111 No. 223 business and other mainstays of the city's tourist economy, said Bruce MacMillan, vice-president of sales and marketing for tourism B.C. "We're not willing to take that risk at this time," he said. i Tourism Vancouver would favor a joint VancouverWhistler bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics instead. Owen said he is not at all sure Vancouver would benefit from hosting the Games.

He said Vancouver hotels are already full in the summer, there isn't a lot of vacant land on which to build Olympic facilities and the city's transit system isn't adequate to handle the numbers of people involved. "And you know how people in Vancouver feel about change," he said. "A lot of people are saying, 'Enough already. We are changing and growing too fast" An initial application to host the Games was submitted Friday by the Vancouver Olympic Advisory Committee, an umbrella group formed under the leadership of the amateur sports organization Sports B.C., to the Canadian Olympic Association. Toronto is the only other Canadian city vying to host the Games.

The association will decide in November which city to put forward for Canada, with the final selection to be made by the International Olympic Committee in 2004. "Vancouver has the ability to put on a best-ever showing, proving its rightful place among the world's great cities and investing in a legacy that will have long-lasting, positive benefits," said David Podmore, a committee member and president of Greystone Properties, which is also one of three companies competing to build a new Vancouver convention centre. Please see Games, A4 Vumoimr Sun A successful bid by Vancouver to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games could bring 350,000 visitors to the city and pump about $3.5 billion into the regional economy, according to studies prepared for a group that has filed an application to host the Games. Despite such numbers, the city's tourist industry is not supporting the bid, and Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen also expressed strong reservations Friday. Hosting such a huge event in the middle of the busy summer tourist season could jeopardize the Alaska cruise Vancouver is vying with Toronto to win the Canadian bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The decision will be made in November. An initial study estimates the Games would bring 350,000 visitors, $3.5 billion in economic benefits and 55,000 person-years of employment. The Vancouver tourist industry does not support the application, and favors hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics instead. S9J.60 nil!" I MiwyiiMw mm ymi ml A A A TW The Sofas a la Carte Floor Model Sale. In order to make room for The New Collection, we've reduced all our floor models by up to 50.

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