The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 19

1-44 9i.7L 11. iP4 r- If PETER BATT1ST0NI Vancouver Sun WATERSCAPE: A boat shed's mixture of weathered wood and bright paint is part of the atmosphere in Ladner Reach on the south arm of the Fraser River in Delta. CITY LIMITS B2 SPIN B7 SECTION LOWER MAINLAND TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2000 The Vancouver Sun CITY EDITOR JOHN DRABBLE 605-2445 Electoral fraud case lacks evidence, lawyers say An application to throw out the lawsuit against three NDP MLAs comes Monday after the third and final petitioner had testified. tion, made a similar argument. Finlay and Aikenhead argued the petition before the court says the three MLAs had to have made misrepresentations to constituents during the election.

Although misrepresentations may have been made by others, there weren't any by Bowbrick, Hammell and Conroy, said Finlay. David Lunny, acting for the three disgruntled voters, argued SEE EVIDENCE, B3 through "fraudulent means" as defined by the Election Act. "My lady," Finlay said to Justice Mary Humphries, "it's what the petitioners saw and heard that is germane regarding whether Mr. Conroy violated the Election Act. "Now we have the evidence and the petition must be dismissed.

There is no evidence of Conroy's involvement." Lawyer Ian Aikenhead, acting for Multiculturalism Minister Sue Hammell and Bowbrick, the minister of advanced educa ment announced the two budgets were in fact significantly in the red. Help B.C. is essentially chak lenging the party's right to govern by trying to have the three NDP MLAs removed. A win could prompt the government to call a general election. Finlay, who represents Ed Conroy, NDP member for Ross-land-Trail, said Kuzenko's testimony and that of the other two petitioners last week provided no direct evidence that the three MLAs won their seats Justice Mary Humphries said she will rule today on the dismissal application.

Holly Kuzenko, one of three petitioners who launched the suit with the assistance of the citizens' group Help B.C., testified Monday she voted for NDP candidate Graeme Bowbrick in the May 1996 provincial election. She said she was swayed be cause the NDP said the 1995-96 budget was balanced and the 1996-97 budget would be balanced. Kuzenko's testimony mirrored that of two others who said they voted for their NDP MLAs because they believed the party's claims that the budgets would be balanced. Shortly after the NDP won the 1996 election, the govern GREG JOYCE CANADIAN PRESS The case against three NDP members facing an electoral fraud lawsuit should be dismissed for lack of evidence, their lawyers argued Monday. The application to throw out the electoral fraud suit, first launched almost four years ago, came after the third and final petitioner testified.

Orchestrating a massive musical event Residents vow to fight moth spraying plan inBurnaby Symphony aims to break world record LINDSAY KINES 31 (xx! JEFF LEE VANCOUVER SUN Burnaby residents who lost an appeal to the Environmental Appeal Board to halt spraying of an insecticide to get rid of a European gypsy moth infestation say they won't give up without a fight. Despite the assurances of both health and forests officials that the application of a bacterium called Baccillus thuregiensis kurstaki (BtK) won't affect them, the residents say the spraying program near Burnaby Lake should be halted. And they cite a scientific study that suggests a variation of the bacteria led to problems in test mice. But Tim Ebata, a forests ministry spokesman, said there is no evidence that BtK, which specifically targets caterpillars of some species of moths, has ever affected humans. On Friday the appeal board upheld the ministry's plan to SEE SPRAY, B3 v' i ill i i VANCOUVER SUN It's lonely in the French horn section of the Grand Forks high school band.

fVf; Jn fact, for the longest time," Ashley Reekie was the French horn section. "There's a new Grade 8 guy, but I've been the only one for three years," Reekie, 16, said Monday. "And I don't really get to play with other French horns at all." Until now. On May 15, at 12:30 in the afternoon, Reekie will join the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and up to 10,000 student musicians from across the province in a private event at B.C. Place where they will attempt to create the world's largest orchestra.

If all goes well, the orchestra hopes to earn a spot in the Guinness Book of Records by obliterating the old mark set in 1998, when Simon Rattle conducted 3,503 musicians at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England. Bramwell Tovey, who studied with Rattle at the Royal Academy of Music, will conduct the record-breaking attempt as the Vancouver symphony's incoming musical director. The orchestra will play Canada, as well as the works of two Vancouver composers: Stephen Chatman's Fanfare for the Millennium and Frederick Schipizky's Ten Minutes of Nine, MARK VAN MANENVancouver Sun NOTABLE: Conductor Bramwell Tovey (left), the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and about 10,000 other musicians will perform several works at BC Place on May 15, including a piece by Frederick Schipizky (right) in a bid to become the world's largest orchestra. Tattoo artist found guilty of sex assault can't wait to make the trip to Vancouver with 40 band members. She has never been to the Vancouver Symphony; she has never seen a band with more than three French horns.

Now, instead of playing alone, she will be one of 120 in her section. Asked what she will do when confronted with so many kindred spirits, she said: "I just want to listen." which is a 10-minute arrangement of Beethoven's Ode to Joy from the Ninth Symphony. Tovey, whose image will be broadcast on two big-screen televisions for all the players to see, acknowledged at a press conference Monday that creating music with so many musicians will be a difficult feat. "The great thing about it will be, of course, trying to keep the whole thing together," he said. "Are we going to be able to cope with it from the point of view of time lag? Are we going to be able to cope with it from the point of view of volume of noise? "I guess this is what a world record is all about, a voyage of discovery." But beyond setting a record, Tovey said the event also draws attention to B.C's unsung music teachers and the importance of exposing children to music.

"Whether or not you are a professional instrumentalist or perhaps you're just a new band member in your school band or orchestra we are saying to you that this message of music is a wonderful one that brings people together," Tovey said. In Grand Forks, Ashley Reekie Searchlight bylaw feared to attract legal challenges i i ii NEAL HALL SUN COURT REPORTER An east Vancouver tattoo artist was convicted Monday of sexually assaulting a customer while applying a tattoo. Percy Lemaigre, who works at Native Images Tattoo at 2765 Commercial Drive, will be sentenced June 5 in Vancouver provincial court. He is free on bail until then. "It really burns me that between now and sentencing, he is free to do tattoos on other women," the sexual assault victim, who cannot be named, said Monday outside court Lemaigre violated a position of trust and showed no remorse for his crime, she said.

Instead, he got on the witness stand and lied, she added. Lemaigre was found guilty of sucking the young woman's nipple while applying a tattoo above her breast "I was there to have my husband's name tattooed on me," the victim said. "I was young and a newlywed." She testified Lemaigre also exposed his penis to show off his tattoo work. The victim, in her 20s, said she's been worried about contracting hepatitis ever since the incident, which occurred on March 15, 1999. She went to hospital immediately after leaving the tattoo shop.

bylaw about the township using the authority of the Municipal Act should be taken out The Municipal Act does not specifically give a municipality the right to legislate searchlights, Lyster wrote. "The difficulty in this situation is that without clear authority in the Municipal Act, there is a strong likelihood that the bylaw will be challenged," he wrote. Lyster also recommended the bylaw be passed. Famous Players and theatre managers have told council the lights are an essential part of the theatre experience and serve as an advertising tooL They have offered to reduce the nights the lights are operational to four nights a week, or 208 nights a year. The bylaw is also expected to have an amendment added that will clarify how a business is Jtt's almost a year since Famous Players opened the Colossus Theatre and began lighting up the night sky.

STERLING NEWS SERVICE Langley Township's searchlights bylaw could be more open to legal challenges because of a last-minute amendment It has been almost a year since Famous Players opened the Colossus Theatre in Langley and began lighting up the night sky jwith three to four powerful searchlights. Although neighbours and backyard astronomers complained about the lights in the summer of 1999, repeated delays have held up the creation and passage of a bylaw to limit the lighting. In a report to council, township planner Terry Lyster stated a section in the The original bylaw said a business could operate the searchlights for 30 nights out of the year, with operation no more than three nights in a row. Operation would also be limited to up to 11 p.m. each day.

Colossus, which includes a number of food franchises, could conceivably have rotated the use of its searchlights among the on-site franchises, extending the number of nights it could use the lights. Light opponent and Walnut Grove resident Patricia Hiob said she is still hearing complaints from neighbours and residents about the lights. "It's sort of a low-level irritation," she said. Hiob said she would like to see the bylaw stronger than it is now, but she will be gkd to see it passed before the one-year anniversary of the theatre's opening. Su files LIGHTING UP THE NIGHT: The Famous Players Colossus Theatre in Langley has 18 conventional screens, one large format IMAX screen with 3D capability and several powerful searchlights..